Shen Nanyue smiled brightly, but the mischief in her eyes was impossible to ignore.
Li Yun’s eyes widened, her expression changing drastically.
“Why should we pay the penalty fee?”
Shen Nanyue took out the contract she had prepared in advance.
Opening it, her slender fingertip tapped lightly on the text.
“Miss Li, as a senior executive of your factory, are you unfamiliar with the clauses in the contract? During the cooperation period, if either party cancels the partnership without valid reason, they must pay the other party a five-million-yuan breach-of-contract penalty.”
“It’s written clearly in black and white.”
After hearing Shen Nanyue’s words, Li Yun let out a mocking laugh.
“I’m not canceling without reason. When we agreed to cooperate with your company, I already made it clear that I would only discuss partnership matters with Mr. Zhao. Now that Mr. Zhao isn’t here, how am I supposed to talk business with your company?”
The smile at Shen Nanyue’s lips faded.
“Miss Li, our company isn’t some unlicensed little operation. All cooperation is conducted according to the contract. We originally thought that after working together for so long, there was still some goodwill between us. But judging from your attitude, it doesn’t seem like we can have a proper discussion. In that case, let’s settle this in court.”
Shen Nanyue put away the contract and called toward the door, “Assistant Xu, see the guest out.”
The next second, the door opened.
Assistant Xu stepped forward and gestured politely to Li Yun.
“Miss Li, this way please.”
Li Yun’s face darkened.
She had originally thought Shen Nanyue was young, and even though she had become the chairwoman of the Shen Group, she was probably just an inexperienced little girl.
Controlling her should have been easy.
She hadn’t expected Shen Nanyue to act so decisively and ruthlessly.
She had planned to coordinate with Old Zhao to give this new chairwoman a hard time.
Instead, she ended up being outmaneuvered herself.
If she left today and the cooperation project with Shen Group fell apart, she definitely wouldn’t be able to explain herself when she got back.
She immediately forced out a smile and looked at Shen Nanyue ingratiatingly.
“President Shen, don’t be like this. We’ve worked together for so many years. I was too stubborn earlier. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against me, okay?”
Leaning back against the sofa, Shen Nanyue smiled at her.
“So Miss Li is now willing to discuss the cooperation matters with us?”
Li Yun secretly gritted her teeth. “Of course. I came here precisely to discuss cooperation.”
“But now Mr. Zhao is ill and unable to discuss the partnership with you.”
“…It doesn’t have to be Mr. Zhao!”
“But considering your previous arrogant attitude, our person in charge no longer wishes to negotiate with you. How about this—you can go back and send another representative to discuss the matter with us.”
A slight curve appeared at Shen Nanyue’s lips, but there was no warmth in her eyes.
Li Yun instantly exploded in anger.
She stood up and pointed at Shen Nanyue as she shouted:
“You’re playing with me? If I don’t change representatives, are you refusing to cooperate with us? Aren’t you afraid of paying the penalty fee?”
She threw Shen Nanyue’s own words back at her.
But Shen Nanyue only laughed softly.
“It’s only five million. Shen Group can afford it. With Shen Group’s status, there are plenty of garment factories willing to work with us. I’m not afraid of breaching the contract. But are you afraid of losing us as a partner?”
“Our contract was negotiated with Zhao Fang! Zhao Fang is a shareholder of Shen Group. He hasn’t said anything yet, so what right do you have to terminate the contract?”
“I hold sixty percent of Shen Group’s shares. Do you think I have the authority?”
The smile on Shen Nanyue’s face disappeared.
She no longer wanted to waste words with her.
“Enough. Even if you change representatives now, I still don’t want to cooperate with your factory anymore. I’ll arrange for someone to handle the termination procedures, and Shen Group will pay the penalty fee.”
“You’re abusing your power! You’re shameless!”
Li Yun’s face twisted with fury as she tried to rush toward Shen Nanyue as if to attack her.
Assistant Xu stepped forward with a grim expression and blocked her path.
“Miss Li, unless you want security to drag you out, you’d better leave on your own.”
All alone, Li Yun knew she couldn’t win against Shen Nanyue right now.
She snorted angrily at Shen Nanyue before finally turning and leaving.
After Li Yun left, Shen Nanyue looked toward Assistant Xu.
“Assistant Xu, have you found a new factory yet?”
“Yes,” Assistant Xu replied, unable to resist asking, “President Shen, are we really going to terminate our cooperation with Huasheng Factory?”
After all, they had cooperated for ten years and worked together seamlessly.
Moreover, President Shen had only just taken office.
Clashing with Mr. Zhao right away probably wasn’t a good idea.
Shen Nanyue merely responded with a faint “Mm.”
“They say a new official must make three bold moves upon taking office. If the fire I light isn’t fierce enough, they’ll think I’m easy to bully.”
If you aren’t ruthless, your position won’t be secure.
That principle was never wrong.
Assistant Xu said nothing more.
Shen Nanyue acted swiftly and decisively.
In just three days, she completely terminated all dealings with Huasheng Factory.
The situation forced Zhao Fang to climb out of his sickbed and come to the company to confront Shen Nanyue.
At that moment, Shen Nanyue had finally found some free time and was about to meet Zhou Yushen for a meal.
At the elevator entrance, she ran into the furious Zhao Fang.
She smiled and asked, “President Zhao, finally recovered from your illness?”
“Shen Nanyue! What gives you the right to cancel the cooperation with Huasheng Factory whenever you want?”
“Oh, so it’s about that.”
Shen Nanyue glanced at the watch on her wrist, looking somewhat pressed for time.
“Well, President Zhao, what unfortunate timing. I have an appointment and can’t be late. If there’s anything, you can speak with Assistant Xu. If you don’t want to talk to him, then wait until I come back and I’ll discuss it with you personally.”
With that, Shen Nanyue ignored Zhao Fang’s reaction, stepped into the elevator, and went downstairs.
Wasn’t this all about making someone wait?
Then let’s see who keeps who waiting!
Shen Nanyue drove to the Huansheng Group building.
Just as she was about to get out of the car, she saw Zhou Yushen walking out of the company entrance.
A radiant-looking woman stepped forward and gazed at him shyly.
The woman looked familiar.
A flash of realization crossed Shen Nanyue’s mind—wasn’t this Gu Linlang, the woman who had previously gone to her studio to cause trouble?
Hadn’t she gone abroad?
Why had she come back?
And why was she approaching Zhou Yushen again?
Shen Nanyue’s previously good mood instantly turned cold.
She didn’t get out of the car and merely watched the scene unfold from a distance.
Zhou Yushen and Gu Linlang exchanged a few words.
Suddenly, Gu Linlang grabbed Zhou Yushen’s arm, but he stepped back to avoid her.
When he looked up again, he saw Shen Nanyue’s car.
His expression seemed to turn cold as he warned Gu Linlang about something before turning and walking toward Shen Nanyue.
By the time Zhou Yushen got into the car, the smile had already returned to his face.
“Let’s go. What do you want to eat?”
“Rather than discussing what to eat first, shouldn’t you explain what’s going on between you two?”
Zhou Yushen cast an indifferent glance at Gu Linlang, who was still standing at the entrance of Huansheng Group.
He had no intention of explaining and merely said lightly, “There’s no need to pay attention to her.”
Shen Nanyue felt as though something was lodged in her chest, making her feel suffocated and uneasy.
Her intuition told her—
There was definitely something between Zhou Yushen and Gu Linlang!
She remembered what Gu Linlang had once said: that Zhou Yushen was her boyfriend, and after the two of them had a falling out, she had chased him all the way to Fengcheng to find him.
Could they really have had a relationship before?
Shen Nanyue wanted to ask clearly, but Zhou Yushen cut her off first.
“I know a really good western restaurant. Let’s go there. I’ll set the navigation.”
Shen Nanyue fell silent.
Zhou Yushen was protecting Gu Linlang!
— The end of the Chapter–
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