My Paranoid Girlfriend Asks Me to Be Her Kept Woman (Rebirth) - Chapter 19

Lin Yi finally closed her eyes and stepped out of the range of the sunlight.

It was as if colorful little dots were dancing before her eyes. Because Zhao Qi had left without saying goodbye, it made her recall the unhappy days of her previous life again.

But no matter how difficult the days of her previous life had been, until the very last moment, someone had still held her hand tightly. In this life, she had already walked to the woman’s side, yet their two hearts seemed to be separated by a wall. She could embrace the woman, but she could not touch her heart, and so she worried constantly over gains and losses.

Zhao Qi was distracted.

She had never been distracted by private matters during work before. Now, she was staring at the screen, but her heart had flown off to other concerns.

Lin Yi’s phone call had completely shattered her calm.

She frowned repeatedly in discomfort, yet she did not know how to break through her current anxiety.

“Qi Zhao, are you feeling unwell?” The head of the European branch beside her noticed Zhao Qi’s distraction.

Her brows were furrowed, her expression solemn.

Her chestnut-brown curls rested loosely on both sides of her shoulders. Her left hand propped up her cheek, and the tail of her brow slanted sharply into her temple, giving her a striking presence. She clearly looked like a petite young woman, but because of her prominent features, thick brows that flew toward her temples, and ink-black eyes, she radiated a pressure that kept people at a distance.

Even these tall, handsome European men were forced to lower their heads before her.

Zhao Qi lifted her eyelids. The sharpness at the corners of her eyes was pressing, without a trace of confusion left.

The moment she opened her mouth, fluent and authentic English came out.

“I was thinking about the project you just reported. I believe the company’s requirement is low risk and high return. But this project requires an investment of more than a billion from the start. Where will the initial funding come from? Can the branch shoulder it alone?”

Zhao Qi’s gaze settled on the branch head. Her eyes looked at the man calmly, but the words from her mouth forced his heart to pound in alarm.

“I’ve looked over the branch’s cash flow. Monthly cash flow is in the tens of millions, but I don’t think the available funds are anywhere near that much.” Zhao Qi clasped her hands together and rested them beneath her chin before continuing, “Can you guarantee that this project investment will yield high returns?”

“And,” she opened the materials on the table and tapped the places she had marked with a black pen, “this project clearly states that the return cycle is ten years. Can you be certain that once the money is invested, returns will be obtained in the near term, rather than the project dragging us down?”

The branch head, who had been trying to express concern for Zhao Qi just moments earlier, now turned dark-faced. He had not expected this “princess” parachuted in from headquarters to truly be here to find fault. She had only landed a few hours ago, yet she had already grasped the situation here. It seemed he had underestimated her. She had clearly come fully prepared.

He dropped his friendly facade and argued, “This is a project in cooperation with the local government. With government backing, as long as we invest the money, it will naturally generate benefits.”

Zhao Qi sneered. “If business under heaven were all that easy, would we still need to hire professional executives like you?”

“I think you’ve been sitting far too comfortably in that seat beneath you!”

What credibility did that cooperating government still have? After the subprime mortgage crisis a few years ago, the local government was still trapped in foreign debt. If it had money, why would the government not lead such a ‘good thing’ itself, instead bringing it out to search for investors?

Was it really looking for investors, or speculators?

“What do you know?!” The branch head was so angered by Zhao Qi’s retort that he exploded. He pointed at Zhao Qi. “How many years have you even worked? Do you understand this place better than I do?!”

The corner of Zhao Qi’s lips curved up, exceptionally cold.

Standing beside her were the bodyguards her eldest brother had specifically instructed her to bring this time. Both were broad-shouldered and burly. Not only were they a head taller than the Europeans present, they were now watching everyone in the conference room like tigers eyeing prey, looking extremely difficult to provoke.

Zhao Qi’s voice was indifferent. The louder the other side became, the calmer she grew.

“This is Zhao Group’s territory, not your kingdom.”

“You know very well what you’ve done over these years.”

“This project ends here.” She stood up and slammed her palm onto the table with a bang. “You had better conduct yourself accordingly.”

“In a few days, a new representative will come to replace you. I hope that when they arrive, you will already have packed your things.”

Zhao Qi looked arrogantly at everyone present. One after another, the people in the room lowered their heads, not daring to meet her sharpness.

She gave a cold laugh. “Today’s meeting ends here.”

After saying that, she nodded at the bodyguards and left.

One of the bodyguards carried Zhao Qi’s handbag and lowered his head as he followed behind the young miss.

After leaving the company building, one bodyguard went to get the car, while the other remained beside Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi let out a long breath and called her eldest brother, Zhao Chengye.

“Eldest Brother, have him come over tomorrow for the handover.”

Zhao Chengye asked in surprise, “You resolved it that quickly?” He had thought it would take at least a week.

Zhao Qi stared at the white cloud in the distance. It was a cloud like cotton candy, hanging alone in the sky, the only one around.

“I couldn’t be bothered to say more. There are obvious problems with the accounts.”

Zhao Chengye laughed. “Why are you in such a hurry? Spend some time in Europe. Big Brother has a vineyard manor in the European countryside. Go visit it while you wait for Xiao Chen to arrive.”

“He still hasn’t arrived?” Zhao Qi raised a brow.

Zhao Chengye replied, “Today’s flight was delayed. It’s raining over here. He should arrive tomorrow.”

“Raining…” Zhao Qi murmured.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just feel like when I went back, Huaicheng didn’t seem to have had a single rain.”