Maple Corporation.

Outside a high-end building of Shanghai, the last few people were leaving for home. They were all dressed in luxury business suits; one could tell at a glance that these people were high-level executives in the business world. And indeed, they were.

Words in front of the building said this was the headquarters of the Maple Corporation. Maple is quite young in the business world. They have been around for only seven years. Yet, the tremendous growth that they had shown in these years was enough to establish their place among the big businesses, mostly run by families. Their investment decisions, choices of collaborators and most importantly, a clean record, gave them great financial boost and respect among others in the same field.

However, very less was known about the leader of Maple. Only the highest level of executives were aware of who this person was. Yet, if someone would go bursting through the President's Office of Maple right now, they would see a woman sifting through mountains of paperwork, marking out the problems and double checking with the files on her computer.

When she looked up and reached for the glass of water nearby, one could see how pretty she was. Not in a sweet way, though. Even though her face looked extremely fatigued due to working overtime and she had dark circles under her eyes, she still had a dark aura about her. It made people feel uncomfortable, and made them feel like they should speak every word with careful consideration. People would call her a demonic beauty; someone only to be admired from afar.

Her dark aura was further enhanced by her choice of clothing. She was dressed in a black shirt and black pants. A long coat over it. A simple gold necklace, without a pendant, adorned her neck. All black. That was her dressing style. With some whites and deep blues, occasionally.

Qi Mingxia took a sip of the water. She was expressionless. Those who regularly interacted with her knew, she was almost always like this. She glanced at the files in front of her.

Ridicule surfaced in her eyes. At this moment, her secretary entered. Qi Mingxia looked up.

"Si Xi, you have not left yet?"

Si Xi smiled at Qi Mingxia. "No, President. I thought I will wait for your final decision before leaving. We would be better prepared that way for tomorrow." Qi Mingxia nodded.

"I have decided." Qi Mingxia said. "We will do this project with the Ning Enterprises. The papers submitted by Jiang Enterprises had too many mistakes and loopholes. Clearly, they were trying to fool us and pocket some millions for themselves. Send a message to them tomorrow. Tell them Maple is severing all relations with them and there will be no future projects together. Also notify the Ning Enterprises that their proposal is selected. Schedule a meeting with them as soon as possible."

Si Xi took note of everything. She sighed internally. The Jiangs really thought they could fool President Qi. They probably thought she would not be able to look past their foolish tricks. How could a person, who build Maple from the ground up, not see through such things? They were either overestimating themselves or underestimating Maple.

Well, they will pay for it now.

Si Xi looked at Qi Mingxia. "President, are you leaving now?"

"Yes." Qi Mingxia replied. "You should go back too. And tell the Marketing Department to send me the detailed plan for Black House by tomorrow noon."

Si Xi's back stiffened. Noon? The marketing department were not done yet. Quite a bit of work was left. But she knew telling the President this was useless. The marketing department actually had enough time. Who told them to slack off?

Qi Mingxia noticed Si Xi's expression but did not say anything. She walked out of her office and towards the elevators. The slackers need a reminder that Maple is only a place for the hardworking and talented.

As Qi Mingxia sat in her car, her phone started ringing. It was a call from Yang Junjie. He was her only friend, and somehow she knew she was about to be on the receiving end of lots of whining. Why did it feel like she had forgotten something?

Qi Mingxia picked up the call. "What?"

An incredulous voice was heard from the other side.

"What? What?! Wow. Did I not tell you that I am organizing a drinking party today? Did I not tell you that you must get off work early today? Where are you? We've been here for an hour, yet you haven't showed up."

Qi Mingxia sighed. "I forgot about it. I was busy with work. I will be there shortly."

Qi Mingxia hung up the call. "Drinks it is, then."