August 08, Monday
Monday was always the busiest day for Lily but unlike most people she's never hated Mondays. In fact, she loved them. Lily loves the increased workload and meetings that she has on this day. She loves the update of profits that she receives from every company under their corporate umbrella. Today, however, she wasn't following her usual Monday morning routine. Today, she chose to cancel her morning schedule to welcome the VP of the Operations Department, Mr. Rossi.
Mr. Rossi has been working with the company for more than twenty years. Aside from her grandmother, he was the person who helped the most with Lily's professional development when she was still just her grandmother's secretary. Mr. Rossi is a bubbly, tall guy in his fifties who owns an antique 1950's car which he loves to show off during antique auto exhibitions. He hates coffee and he loves dressing in layers of colors to make himself appear younger.
Why does Lily know so much about him? It's because Mr. Rossi is the person whom her mother is supposed to marry. Lilian wanted Mr. Rossi to be Bec's husband because the man is smart and cunning. Moreover, the man is also very good-looking and he has gorgeous piercing blue eyes. Aside from this, he is also from another influential Italian family.
When Bec knew that Mr. Rossi was to be her husband she immediately refused this arrangement because she knew that the man already had a woman. In the end, Bec ran away from home and Mr. Rossi married his childhood lover who died just five years after their marriage.
After his wife's death, Mr. Rossi to chose to work for Lilian and he had been working for the company since then. When Mr. Rossi met Lily, she broke down and cried in front of him. He couldn't stop apologizing as he felt that it was his fault that Bec ran away from home. To compensate for this mistake he chose never to marry again.
Now that Lily thought about it, she really didn't understand the man at all. She felt that he was hiding something from her - and maybe Lilian too - but she couldn't figure out what it was, which made Lily even more eager to discover the man's secret.
One good thing about Mr. Rossi coming here is the fact that the man practically devoted his entire adult life to running the company. Lily knew that she could trust him to solve any crisis involving the company. Moreover, Lily also felt that no matter what secret he was hiding, he would never harm her.
Now that they are both in Hong Kong, Lily felt that this would be the perfect opportunity to unravel the secrets of whatever happened in the past.
Lily spent the whole morning with her executives as they welcomed Mr. Rossi to Hong Kong. At this point, Lily felt that the incredible weight on her shoulders had lessened. Now that Mr. Rossi was here, Lily could finally get some time to watch some videos and tutorials for her performance.
After all, Lily firmly believed that practice makes perfect.
After lunch, Lily - together with Yang Mi - went to a business meeting at one of the top tea houses in Hong Kong. This meeting was in regards to the bidding that Mr. Han was about to participate in in China.
Mainland China is a very difficult market, especially for foreign companies, so she wanted to make sure she had an ally inside the country. Today, she was planning to meet with another construction company in China to negotiate a collaboration for a project. To a normal businessman, this was just a simple move by a foreign company that wanted to increase their presence in China. However, Lily had another motive for this meeting.
"President Zhuo, I was not expecting this meeting at all," Wang Yinxing gave Lily a polite smile before he looked at the attendant who wastaking their orders.
"Always expect the unexpected, Mr. Wang," Lily answered. They were inside an elegant tea house. Unlike most tea houses in China that had VIP rooms, this place only has a few tables with a generous amount of space between them, enough to give each of their guests a suitable amount of privacy.
Apparently this tea house is always fully booked, but Mr. Wang and the owner had a good relationship so the latter made some arrangements for this meeting.
"Ah… true," Wang Yinxing gave a slight laugh before his face grew serious. "I heard from your secretary that this is about the bidding for the new SkyHigh Lights in Yangtze River?"
In response, Lily gave a small smile to the man in his forties. Based on her research, Wang Yinxing was one of the most cunning businessman in the construction industry in China. She knew that he would not let a big whale like Lily go without a very good deal.
And this is what she was counting on.
"The Facci Groups' goal has always been the global market, and I believe that this is a perfect opportunity for us to enter China," she answered. Moreover, she needed to tighten her influence in China to be able to stand a chance against the Mu Family.
"Good... Good... This is a very good opportunity indeed, and I'm sure that the company who wins the bid will prosper in the construction industry - but I have to be blunt with you. My company is not big enough to go against the biggest construction conglomerates in Beijing or Shanghai," Wang Yinxing lowered his gaze as if he was truly embarrassed by this fact.
Lily instantly beamed inwardly at the man in front of her. You see, this is why she loves dealing with cunning people. They are always nice to play with. She gave the man a smile as she leaned in and extended her hand towards him. "Then… let's make your company big enough to fight against these companies," she said, her eyes becoming sparkling little crescents as she gave him a beautiful smile. "What do you say Mr. Wang? Are you willing to look at the deal that I''ve prepared for the both of us?"