Chapter 139: Competition

"Zhang Wei!"

Upon seeing the young man's profile, Li Wan could not help but exclaim. Although they had not seen each other for a year, his familiar face and features compelled her to call out his name involuntarily.

"Miss Li, you know my brother?" Fatty Zhou, energized by the sight of Zhang Wei, had been about to go over and speak with him, but hearing Li Wan call his name made him ask, a bit puzzled.

"Oh, he and I were... college classmates." Li Wan paused for a moment before realizing Fatty Zhou was addressing her. She forced a smile and replied vaguely.

"Oh, that's a coincidence." Hearing this, Fatty Zhou remembered that Zhang Wei had also been surprised when he saw the Tiancheng Company building yesterday, and had even mentioned having a college classmate working there.

"Fatty, where is the parking lot?" As they spoke, Zhang Wei was peering out of the car window. Naturally, his eyes landed on the broad-shouldered Fatty Zhou, whom he asked directly.

However, as his gaze swept past Fatty Zhou, he spotted Li Wan standing gracefully to the side. A flicker of surprise crossed his face. He knew Li Wan worked at Tiancheng, but given the number of employees there, he had not expected to run into her here.

"Zhang Wei, look who it is! Aren't you going to get out and greet your college classmate?" Fatty Zhou walked up to the BMW, tapped on the roof, and said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhang Wei hesitated for a moment. *It’s been so long since we broke up,* he thought. *I’ll just treat her as an ordinary friend; there’s no need to deliberately avoid her.*

Having come to this conclusion, Zhang Wei opened the driver's side door, stepped out, and said, "Li Wan, long time no see."

Li Wan had not changed much from his memory: the pretty face, the tall frame, the fair skin, and the two dimples that appeared faintly when she smiled—only she seemed a bit more mature now.

"Long time no see, Zhang Wei." The smile on Li Wan's face was somewhat stiff. She never imagined that the man Fatty Zhou held in such high regard would be her ex-boyfriend. It gave her an almost surreal sense of unreality.

The Zhang Wei before her was leaner than she remembered, yet he appeared more spirited. There was a new sense of composure and confidence in his manner, and his once slightly stooped posture was now perfectly upright. He looked every bit the social elite.

This encounter felt surreal for both of them. Romantic feelings are the most mysterious of things; even though they had long since parted ways, seeing a former lover inevitably stirred a faint tremor in their hearts.

"Alright, you two can catch up later. I'll take you to park the car first." Fatty Zhou climbed into the passenger seat of the BMW and urged him on.

"Right, see you in a bit." Zhang Wei nodded and smiled at Li Wan before getting back into the driver's seat. He started the engine, pressed the accelerator, and the BMW sped away.

*Driving a luxury car! Calling a billionaire 'brother'!*

Li Wan watched the BMW disappear, an expression of disbelief on her face. "Is he really the Zhang Wei I used to know? How could there be such a huge change in just one year?"

"If he had half this ability a year ago, we wouldn't have ended up like this," she thought, a wry, melancholy smile appearing on her face. "Perhaps, it was all fate."

***

Fatty Zhou’s excuse about parking the car was just a pretext; his real intention was to take the opportunity to instruct Zhang Wei to keep an eye on both Tiancheng Company and Xiang Xiaomeng from Yueda Real Estate, trying to glean useful information from their conversations.

After returning from parking the car, Zhang Wei did not interact much with Li Wan. Li Wan also seemed to intentionally avoid him, staying by Wu Qian’s side until she led Zhang Wei and the others to the conference room, where she nodded to them and took her leave.

In the conference room, aside from a vice president of Tiancheng, there were four people from Yueda. Both parties merely nodded in acknowledgment without further interaction, and the atmosphere in the room felt somewhat heavy.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and a gaunt old man entered. It was Dong Biao, the chairman of Tiancheng. He cupped his hands in greeting toward Fatty Zhou and Xiang Xiaomeng, smiling, "Apologies for keeping you all waiting!"

After Dong Biao entered, introductions were made, and Fatty Zhou exchanged greetings with Xiang Xiaomeng, formally meeting for the first time. Soon, the three parties entered the negotiation stage.

Dong Biao was a shrewd businessman. He knew that if he negotiated the price of the land with only one party, they would surely use his company's capital shortage to drive the price down, which was why he had invited two real estate firms to negotiate simultaneously.

As long as one company pushed the price down, the other, fearing the first would secure the deal, would be forced to increase their offer. This way, one side would always be aligned with Tiancheng, and the price would inevitably be driven up.

"President Zhou, President Xiang, since we are all acquainted, let's begin the negotiations," Dong Biao said, sitting at the head of the table, his hands crossed.

"I have already prepared the contract. As long as one of you can offer a reasonable price, I can represent Tiancheng and sign with you immediately."

Fatty Zhou and Xiang Xiaomeng exchanged glances. Neither called out a price immediately, as they knew that doing so would trigger a price war, falling right into Tiancheng’s trap and letting them reap the benefits.

"President Dong, what is your bottom line? Perhaps you should start with an asking price," Fatty Zhou suggested with a laugh.

Yesterday, Fatty Zhou had discussed this with Zhang Wei. He would intentionally ask Dong Biao sensitive questions so that Zhang Wei could analyze the information to determine Dong Biao’s bottom line and his resolve to sell the land.

"Winning this plot of land through government bidding exhausted most of our company's capital and human resources; otherwise, we wouldn't be facing this shortfall. I’m not looking for a profit now, just hoping to break even. If I must name a price, it is 110 million!" Dong Biao declared.

*Those bastards in the government cheated me, and now I have to pass this hot potato to you. Forget 110 million—I’d sell it for 80 million!* Dong Biao thought, though his face remained calm. He felt as though he could curse aloud to express his rage.

Through his mind-reading ability, Zhang Wei saw through Dong Biao’s thoughts. However, he did not understand why Dong Biao was so angry or why he considered the land a "hot potato." His intuition told him that Dong Biao’s reason for selling was far more complex than a simple capital shortage.

"President Dong, if you are asking for 110 million, I would rather bid at the government auction myself than buy it from you. At that price, you might as well declare bankruptcy," Xiang Xiaomeng said bluntly.

"Oh? Then in your opinion, President Xiang, what should the price be?" Dong Biao asked, frowning.

"80 million!" Xiang Xiaomeng stated.

"President Zhou, President Xiang wants to buy this land for 80 million. What do you think?" Dong Biao turned to Fatty Zhou.

"I’ll offer 81 million!" Although Fatty Zhou did not want to engage in a price war with Xiang Xiaomeng, he could not watch her walk away with the land.

"82 million!" No sooner had Fatty Zhou finished speaking than Xiang Xiaomeng countered.

Hearing her bid, Fatty Zhou realized a price war was inevitable. Gritting his teeth, he decided to assert himself and overpower her. "90 million!"

"President Xiang, President Zhou is offering 90 million. And you?" Dong Biao picked up the contract on his right, subtly hinting that if she didn't raise her bid, he would sell to Fatty Zhou.

"95 million!" Xiang Xiaomeng bit her red lip, hesitated for a moment, and then called out.

"100 million!" Immediately after her bid, Fatty Zhou added another five million without hesitation, projecting an air of absolute determination.

"President Xiang, President Zhou is offering 100 million. Your move?" Dong Biao squinted, a smile on his face. He was already very satisfied with this price.

"A gentleman does not take what others love. Since Mr. Zhou is determined to have this land, I will yield and let him have it," Xiang Xiaomeng said, her eyes shifting as she calculated the risks and decided to withdraw.

"President Zhou, since President Xiang is stepping down, I officially agree to sell this land to you on behalf of Tiancheng. I am truly taking a loss on this deal!" Dong Biao sighed, feigning heartbreak.

Hearing this, Fatty Zhou felt a twinge of bitterness. He had intended to use Zhang Wei’s micro-expression analysis to determine Dong Biao’s bottom line and resolve. Knowing these was crucial for negotiations, but Xiang Xiaomeng’s interference had introduced a variable that forced them into a price war. Even if Zhang Wei knew Dong Biao’s bottom line, it was now useless—if he pushed the price too low, Tiancheng could simply sell to Xiang Xiaomeng.

"Alright, let’s sign the contract here. It’s perfect to have President Xiang as a witness," Fatty Zhou agreed.

"Indeed, having President Xiang witness this could not be better," Dong Biao said with a smile.

Dong Biao was elated. He could finally offload this "trouble" with minimal loss. Even if Fatty Zhou later discovered that the land was unsuitable for construction, he could blame it on the government’s survey errors. With government documentation and legal formalities in place, Dong Biao would be legally shielded from any liability.

"Wait, Fatty. Don't sign just yet. I have a question for President Dong," Zhang Wei, who had been silent since entering the room, spoke up just as they were about to sign, immediately drawing everyone's attention. (To be continued)