Chapter 39: A Gentleman of Disrepute

Shuangxu wanted to pretend she hadn’t seen him and leave.

But everyone else had eyes on their faces, and Old Fang, a seasoned veteran, immediately went over to flatter He Tingzhou.

“Mr. He, thank you so much for your appreciation of Feixue. If it weren’t for your discerning eye and timely assistance, we might not have made it to this point. You are Feixue’s benefactor, and everyone here at Feixue admires you deeply.”

“Really?” He Tingzhou said pointedly. “Some people don’t seem to admire me.”

“How could that be?” Old Fang said. “Every time our CEO mentions you, he’s moved to tears.”

…Don’t flatter him too much.

Old Fang winked at her, and Shuangxu knew He Tingzhou was referring to her, so she had to respond: “I’m deeply grateful for Mr. He’s kindness.”

She lowered her eyes and didn’t look at He Tingzhou’s face, focusing on the third button of his shirt as she spoke. He Tingzhou said, “How about I take off this button and give it to you, so you two can chat alone?”

Shuangxu endured and made up an excuse: “Sorry, I have a stiff neck today.”

He Tingzhou put his hands in his pockets and sneered, “I saw you turning your head just now, you looked pretty flexible.”

“…”

“Mr. He is a busy man, with millions of dollars at his fingertips. We won’t waste your precious time. Let’s go.” Shuangxu’s tone was respectful but distant. She turned and left without a word.

Not only were the executives behind He Tingzhou surprised, but even the people from Feixue thought she was audacious.

“CEO, you’re crazy! You even dare to confront Mr. He?!”

“You guys don’t understand anything!” Little Liao blindly defended her. “The little boss is very close to Mr. He. You only heard her sarcasm, you didn’t see Mr. He’s indulgence!”

Shuangxu glanced at her: “How many degrees are you nearsighted?”

Little Liao was proud: “Six hundred and eighty.”

Shuangxu lovingly patted her head.

Old Fang said earnestly: “CEO, I know you’re close to Mr. He, but when it comes to speaking, you have to be tactful. You’re a rich and beautiful lady from a good family, it’s normal that you don’t understand flattery. I’ll take care of the flattery from now on.”

Shuangxu knew everyone was doing it for Feixue, so she sighed: “Okay, I’ll try to hold back next time.”

Hopefully, she wouldn’t be so unlucky and run into the busy Mr. He every time.

On Monday, she went to Yundun again. Director Fan kept them waiting in the conference room for fifteen minutes before finally arriving.

During the meeting, he openly checked his phone. Shuangxu was sitting to his right, and she took a peek from her angle.

He wasn’t doing anything serious, he was texting someone.

Little Liao wrote and drew in her meeting notes, and after a while, she turned the notebook to show Shuangxu.

She had drawn a pig wearing a suit, with a receding hairline.

Shuangxu pursed her lips and held back a smile: “Focus.”

Midway through the meeting, the frosted glass door suddenly opened from the outside, and Assistant Xu Zhen pushed the door open and stepped aside.

He Tingzhou walked in.

He was tall and leggy, with a powerful aura. The team member who was explaining the PPT was interrupted, and the entire conference room fell silent, all eyes focused on him.

Director Fan hurriedly put away his phone, his stout body bouncing out of his seat, instantly transforming from a swaggering, arrogant client director into a fawning old eunuch beside the emperor.

“Mr. He, why are you here in person? Did your meeting finish?”

He Tingzhou ignored him and walked in.

He looked different today.

He Tingzhou usually gave off a lazy and casual vibe, but today his suit was neatly pressed and his tie was impeccably tied. The tailored fit perfectly showcased his superior proportions, and the dark black color complemented his aura.

He was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. His usually slightly parted black hair was combed back into a slick back, the ends styled naturally messy, seemingly casual but actually very picky.

Director Fan respectfully invited him to the main seat, and he sat down, his right leg crossed over his left knee. His high nose and deep eyes exuded an air of unattainable nobility.

Shuangxu didn’t linger on him for more than a second, but his dark eyes keenly looked over at her.

“Is your neck better, Ms. Song?”

Shuangxu looked away: “Continue.”

With He Tingzhou’s arrival, everyone became noticeably more restrained. The team member giving the presentation stumbled over their words, making frequent mistakes.

“What are you nervous about?” He Tingzhou said. “I’m not a python, I don’t eat people.”

You’re not much better than a python.

Because of his words, Shuangxu subconsciously glanced at him.

Behind him was a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, and the clear sunlight pouring in through his glasses created a different texture than she was used to.

This was the first time she had seen He Tingzhou wearing glasses.

Such intellectual accessories were originally out of place with his aura, but somehow, they were unexpectedly harmonious.

Perhaps because the thin-rimmed glasses softened the sharpness of his bone structure, reducing the sense of pressure he gave off.

Just as Shuangxu was about to look away, He Tingzhou looked at her without warning.

She wasn’t prepared and met his gaze.

The two parts of “He Tingzhou-style” casualness in his eyes were refracted by the lenses, making him look extremely sanctimonious.

Not gentlemanly, but a gentleman of disrepute.

“What are you looking at?” he said. “Do I have a PPT on my face?”

“…”

Until the meeting ended, Shuangxu’s eyes were fixed on the PPT, never looking at him again.

After listening to the meeting content, He Tingzhou picked up the document on the table and flipped through it, asking a question that went straight to the heart of the matter: “When can we get the finished product?”

Old Fang said: “The first prototype is already done, but because the volumetric energy density of hydrogen is very low, the liquid hydrogen tank takes up a lot of space. We haven’t found an effective way to overcome this problem yet…” <–>

He Tingzhou didn’t even look up: “I don’t like repeating myself. If you don’t understand, find a translator.”

Old Fang stammered.

Shuangxu gave an estimated deadline: “Three months.”

“Too slow.” He Tingzhou pressed hard, “One month.”

Shuangxu said directly: “I can’t do it.”

He Tingzhou’s eyelids lifted slightly, his gaze shifting from the documents to her face, his eyes holding an ambiguous meaning: “Pretty bold, this Party B.”

Several employees beside her frantically gestured to her.

This is the big boss, Mr. Song! Control yourself.

She couldn’t control it.

When she wasn’t around He Tingzhou，she was a normal, emotionally stable person.

But once she saw him, she would be forced to recall the night he deliberately teased her and her own embarrassing moment, making her feel incredibly awkward.

She tried to hold it in and said: “I’m just being realistic. If Mr. He likes to eat big pancakes, I can draw one, I can give you a ‘finished product’ next week, but you’ll find it comes with a huge liquid hydrogen tank. Would Mr. He want that?”

He Tingzhou said leisurely: “If I say I don’t want it, will Ms. Song throw another tantrum?”

Suddenly, a wave of burning gazes fell upon Shuangxu, Xiao Liao, after a few seconds of surprise, excitedly grabbed the edge of the table.

The words were so ambiguous, Shuangxu’s ears flushed red.

Director Fan’s small squinting eyes swept back and forth between her and He Tingzhou like a spotlight.

“Mr. He, please don’t joke.” Shuangxu tried to remain calm, “Until the energy storage problem is effectively solved, we don’t want to just give you a half-baked product. Feixue hopes to deliver a product that meets listing standards to you.”

Everyone in the Yundun Group knew that Mr. He was a man who never compromised.

He was decisive and ruthless, leaving no room for negotiation.

Director Fan was afraid of him, not just because he was the boss who held the power of life and death, but also because he feared He Tingzhou himself.

“Two months then.” He Tingzhou was unusually easygoing today.

Shuangxu breathed a sigh of relief.

He Tingzhou leaned back in his chair, watching her, his black eyes behind his glasses were lazy, but his tone was serious and businesslike: “Please send the detailed technical documents to my WeChat, Ms. Song.”

Director Fan opened his mouth, wanting to ask, Don’t you ever use WeChat for work?

But as a veteran of the workplace, he knew the first rule of workplace survival: Don’t ask what you shouldn’t.

Leaving the meeting room, as soon as they entered the elevator, Shuangxu was surrounded by several pairs of piercing eyes.

“Ms. Song, are you close to Mr. He?”

Shuangxu remained impassive: “We just know each other.”

“But Mr. He seems to be a little different towards you…”

Shuangxu said: “Have you forgotten how hard it is to get a partnership with Yundun?”

Okay. Their burning gossip flames were extinguished.

Back at the company, Shuangxu had to re-add He Tingzhou’s WeChat.

The only comfort was that He Tingzhou wouldn’t send her messages, so he wouldn’t discover that she had once had the audacity to delete him.

She sent him the documents he requested, and he didn’t reply.