At the entrance of Xin Yu Real Estate Corporation.
A sedan stopped.
The driver asked, "Chief Lu, should I follow you upstairs?"
Lu Li replied, "No."
He raised his head and looked at this company building in front of him. Lu Li felt some pride in his heart. After all, this was the first subsidiary company he had founded after coming back from overseas. It was a little accomplishment for him in the real estate development field.
Besides the annual conference that he held, he didn't do much in managing the company. After all, it was just a subsidiary company. It had its independent management group and board of directors.
The lounge decoration had a majestic atmosphere to it. Not bad at all.
The female employee at the counter had her head down, playing with her phone. When she saw that someone had come, she looked up but didn't recognize him. So, she didn't bother about him.
Lu Li raised his brows slightly but didn't say anything. He continued towards the inside of the building.
"Who are you looking for? This place is off limits to unauthorized personnel," said the receptionist at the counter hastily.
With a blank expression, Lu Li said calmly, "Keep playing with your phone. My going upstairs has nothing to do with you."
Just as the receptionist wanted to say something, the elevator opened and Lu Li went in immediately. He pressed the button on the elevator.
The receptionist was stunned. She was in disbelief. That guy had swagger. After thinking about it a bit, she decided to return to the counter and continue playing Arena of Valor.
In the office area.
Lu Li was thoroughly pissed. He swept the area with his gaze. There were some restless employees at first but when they noticed that someone had come, they instantly quieted down. But when they saw that it was an unfamiliar face, they heaved sighs of relief.
One of the older staff, Elder Wang raised his head, "May I ask who you are looking for?"
Lu Li was just there to visit but the first thing he saw when he came was the receptionist at the counter playing games on her phone, which left him dissatisfied. After that, he decided he would go take a look at the situation inside.
"I'm here to look for the leader responsible for Cloud Street." Lu Li had no idea who was responsible for Cloud Street.
Elder Wang was startled. He decided to stand in for the leader for now. "Are you renting a place along Cloud Street?"
Lu Li didn't retort. He nodded and said, "Yes, I'm renting a place in Cloud Street."
He would play along with them, for now, to see just what they were up to.
"Come, please take a seat." Elder Wang was very courteous. He directed Lu Li to the side. "You are the first to come personally to our company to ask about the rental."
Lu Li smiled and nodded. "Who's the person in charge of Cloud Street right now?"
Elder Wang smiled back and said, "Liu Guo Qiang and Zhu Xiu Qin are the two people in charge."
"Oh." Li Lu had never heard these names before. Then, he looked around. "Then are they here right now?"
"They're not in the office at the moment. They went over to Cloud Street to settle some things. We can talk about the rental at Cloud Street here first," Elder Wang said hurriedly. Then, he took out a few documents and opened them. "These are diagrams of the shops in Cloud Street. You can take note of a few and if there are vacancies, we will reserve them for you."
Lu Li nodded but he didn't care about all this. "I heard the rent has been doubled?"
"Yes, it has increased." Elder Wang nodded
"That's a little high." Lu Li was expressionless. Elder Wang was a little surprised. He didn't know what this client wanted. But he still explained passionately.
"The following are what we have concluded from the market. Cloud Street's visitor flow has increased by two folds in the recent period. This price is very fair. You may not know this but just during this period, we've received a total of over a hundred inquiries. It is very popular. If you don't reserve it early, you may not get a place," said Elder Wang. His heart was apprehensive as well. The price increase was high indeed but he had no choice. He was just an employee and these things weren't up to him.
Lu Li flipped through the documents, then placed them back on the table. "If I want to negotiate, do I look for those two in charge?"
Elder Wang was stunned. He felt that this man was a little too direct. He then glanced around and said softly, "If you want to negotiate, you can look for Director Liu, Liu Guo Qiang."
Lu Li nodded. "What about the other director, Zhu Xiu Qin?"
Elder Wang laughed, "I suggest you look for Director Liu. It's better to just forget about Director Zhu."
*Ring ring*
Elder Wang's phone rang.
He answered the call. It was a colleague from the investment department.
"Elder Wang, the talks at Cloud Street have collapsed. They all want to move. We are about to get really busy."
Elder Wang didn't try to avoid the topic. "It can't be. Are they all moving? Then Master Lin is moving too?"
"Mmhmm. They're all moving. Director Liu was initially still negotiating with Master Lin but then Tian Hong Commercial Street came into the picture and messed everything up. I think that there'll be problems."
Elder Wang was astonished. "It can't be. Let's not talk so much for now. I have a client here. What time will you all be back?"
"Not sure. Director Liu and Director Zhu seem to be quarreling. Anyway, things are really complicated right now. Let's leave it at that. I'm hanging up…"
Although the loudspeaker wasn't turned on, Lu Li had heard it all.
At that moment, there was an employee hugging a paper box, looking very sad.
Seeing this colleague being fired, the other colleagues were all saying their goodbyes.
Lu Li pointed there, "What's going on?"
Elder Wang glanced over, then sighed, "He's been fired."
"Did he do something wrong?" asked Lu Li.
"He didn't do anything wrong," said Elder Wang as he shook his head. Then, he remembered that he was talking to a client, so he instantly refocused himself. "Let's talk about the matter regarding the shop."
Lu Li ignored Elder Wang. He made a gesture with his hand. "Hey kid, come over here."
Lil' Jun was already in a bad mood because he was fired. When he heard someone calling for him, he didn't think much and just went over.
Lu Li scanned him from head to toe, then asked, "What's your name?"
Lil' Jun didn't know why this man was asking for his name but he saw that he was dressed rather classily and didn't look like an average person. This expressionless face of his made Lil' Jun feel like he was talking to a leader.
"Gu Jun."
Lu Li asked, "Why have you been fired?"
"I didn't satisfy my superior, that's why I got fired," said Gu Jun unhappily.
The surrounding colleagues signaled to Gu Jun not to talk so openly but Gu Jun wasn't afraid at all. "Don't try to dissuade me. I've already been fired. How can I still be scared of her?"
Lu Li raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."
Gu Jun put down the box and looked around. "Since I've already been fired, I'm not afraid. Let me tell you. My superior, Zhu Xiu Qin, haggles over every penny. Her tolerance is so low. I was fired just because I suggested to her that this 100% rent increase was unreasonable. Because it was a bad call, she fired me."
"In our department, she might be the second-in-charge on paper, but she's really the first-in-charge. The reason she was able to enter this company is that she has a relative who's the vice-chairperson. In here, she tyrannizes us. If anyone speaks badly of her, she would instantly fire that person without any other reason, without even giving a chance for him or her to justify himself or herself."
Gu Jun had a fire in his heart. Now that he had been fired, he wasn't scared at all. He would say anything he wanted.
Lu Li frowned. "How could there be such a leader?"
Gu Jun laughed, "That's nothing. There are even more screwed up things. Lil' Chen, our former colleague, was fired because he forgot to pour her a cup of water. Don't you think this leader is a joke?"
Lu Li nodded. "She's a joke indeed."
"Chief Li…"
At that moment, the employees saw that the leader was back.
"Lil' Jun, that's enough. Chief Li is back.
Chief Li said, "What are you all doing? Why are you all crowded around here and not working?"
At that moment, the crowd dispersed.
Chief Li nodded, then prepared to return to his office when suddenly, he saw a figure sitting down there. His expression changed as if he saw a ghost.
Elder Wang came over hurriedly and was about to explain to Chief Li that he was a client, but then he saw that Chief Li was in front of that man, greeting him respectfully, "Chief Lu, why are you here?"
Chief Li was dumbfounded. He had never thought that the ever-busy Chief Lu would appear there. If he didn't see him with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that he was there.
And, what have those employees said to Chief Lu?
They don't know about Chief Lu's background. They didn't say things that they shouldn't have, did they?
Lu Li stood up and patted Gu Jun on the shoulder. "You don't need to leave. Stay. As long as you don't damage the company's well-being, no one can fire you.
Then, he directed his gaze at Chief Li. "Make a trip to Cloud Street with me."
Chief Li nodded swiftly. "Yes, sir."
At that moment, the surrounding employees were all dumbfounded.
F*ck.
They still didn't know who that man that Chief Li addressed as 'Chief Lu' was. Nobody knew. But judging by the way things looked, he seemed like a very powerful man.