CLIENT

"We miss you here, Ms. Zhang." The old female CEO secretary greeted her.

"I miss you all here too." She replied, "It's only been a month but it feels like a year already."

"Are you looking for Sir Long???"

"Yes, I asked for a meeting with him yesterday."

"Yes, Ms. Zhang but he's not here yet."

"It's ten o'clock???" She lifted her arm and checked the time on her wristwatch.

"Do you like to wait at his office, Ms. Zhang???"

"Have you called him???" She irritatingly asked.

"Sir Long doesn't like to be disturbed at home."

"Are you sure he's home???" Wang Xiu reacted.

She took out her phone from her purse and immediately dialed Li Jun's mobile number but the CEO was not picking up. It rang all the way through until she heard an automatic voice answer her with "the caller cannot be reached, please dial again later".

"SHIT!!!" She exclaimed.

The secretary awkwardly smiled. Her new boss was not as punctual as his father or Ms. Zhang. CEO Long would often come almost before the afternoon and go home early before five.

"I'll wait for him here at the reception. I don't want to greet him with a smack in the head for being late for our meeting." Wang Xiu informed the secretary.

"Are you sure, Ms. Zhang???" 

"Yes, thank you, Ms. Go," She smiled.

"You are welcome." The secretary nodded.

An elderly man walked in and approached the secretary's table. She remembered the face from a business convention last year. Mr. Han Hui Liang, CEO of one of the Beer makers in Hebei, the "Xue Beer".

'A walk-in client???' Wang Xiu asked in her mind.

"Hi, I'm Mr. Han Hui Liang. I have a meeting with Mr. Long Li Jun at nine. I tried to tell him that I will be late but he wasn't answering my call." The elderly man explained.

Wang Xiu watched at the CEO's every move. The dark blue suit and white shirt were tidy. The grey hair from his thick hair was mixed with black and the old man doesn't mind having bushy eyebrows.

"Sorry, Mr. Han but CEO Long is not here yet. We'll try to call him again and inform him that you are here, sir." Ms. Go replied.

"Okay, I'll wait for him here, then." The elderly man replied.

The elderly man turned and saw her sitting on the lounge chair staring.

"Hi." The man nodded his head.

"Hi, sir." She nodded in reply.

"Your face looks familiar." Mr. Han stared.

"I highly doubt you have met someone with this kind of beauty, sir." Wang Xiu teased.

The elderly man cackled at the young woman's quip.

"May I know, what does a young beauty like you do in here???" The elderly man politely asked.

"I'm collecting my back pay." She answered.

"You used to work here???"

"They fired me." She confessed.

"I can see your cleverness is too much for this place."

She giggled at the subtle compliment from the old man. Wang Xiu stretched her arm and offered her hand.

"I'm Zhang Wang Xiu," She introduced herself, "It's nice to meet you CEO Han Hui Liang."

The elderly man's eyes broadened from surprise. He doubted anyone knew who he was, even the CEO of LCDC doesn't seem to know either but the woman recognized him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Zhang." Mr. Han shook the woman's hand, "I'm surprised you know me."

"I was at the business convention last year with my uncle. You talked about how to be on top of your competitors." She explained.

Mr. Han's forehead crumpled, "Who's your uncle???"

"CEO Long Liu Wei."

"I didn't know Liu Wei had any sister."

"I'm Long Ming Qiu's niece."

"Oh??? I didn't know Ming Qiu had a niece too." Mr. Han retorted, "I'm sorry, Liu Wei and I go way back in college. When we both became CEO, we drifted apart."

"Well uncle Liu Wei already started his retirement, maybe you two could catch up."

"I was hoping for that as well." Mr. Han sighed, "And hope he has forgiven me."

"Why??? What did you do to break my uncle's heart???" Wang Xiu teased.

The elderly man laughed hard from the woman's words. The implication sounded like they were two lovers who went apart.

"I tried to steal his girlfriend." He explained.

"Aunt Ming Qiu???" She asked.

"No, Mei Xiao Yu. CEO Kang's only daughter."

"Mei Xiao Yu???" She repeated the name.

"Oh… well… CEO Kang didn't want Xiao Yu to use his surname. For safety. CEO Kang had a lot of enemies back then. He was just starting to establish his power in Macau." Mr. Han explained.

The elderly man stared at the woman's face. The heart-shaped look. The small rounded eyes with long lashes and thin long nose and thin lips. How can he forget it all??? And not see the woman beside him that completely resembled Xiao Yu.

"How old are you, Ms. Zhang???" Mr. Han asked.

"Mr. Han, you should never ask a woman about their age." Wang Xiu sneered.

She stared at the elderly man with his serious gaze and told herself to stop teasing the CEO.

"Anyway, may I ask why are you here, Mr. Han???" She formally asked.

The elderly man cleared his throat, "I need to add a new factory for my new brewing machines. And in-house quarters for my employees."

"That's a big contract. I know LCDC can handle it perfectly."

"I think I changed my mind." The elderly man stood from his seat.

"B-But… B-But… Mr. Han???" Wang Xiu asked worriedly.

She recalled everything she said about his uncle to find anything that made the CEO back out of his proposed job for the company.

"Did I say something wrong???" She begged

"No. You didn't say anything wrong." Mr. Han replied, "I'm glad you are not working here anymore."

Wang Xiu's brows furrowed by the elder man's words. She recalled his uncle said the same thing.

The old man reached for his pocket inside his suit and handed her a business card, "Here, call me tomorrow. I can give you a job. Any position you want."

"Mr. Han, I haven't even told you what was my position here before???" She felt perplexed.

"You are Liu Wei's… n-niece… certainly he will give you a high position here." Mr. Han assumed.

"Yes, he did." She felt strange by the elderly man's sudden stern reaction.

"That's enough for me. He trusted you. It means I can trust you too." The elderly man set his hand on the woman's shoulder, "I'll be expecting your call."

Mr. Han quickly walked towards the elevator to leave. She still felt odd by the way the man reacted.

The secretary stares baffled like her.

"Damn it!!! What will I tell Li Jun if he found out that a client backed out while talking to me???" Wang Xiu asked.

"I don't know, Ms. Zhang." The secretary replied, shrugging her shoulder.