Chapter 98: Chapter 98 What to Do When Someone Harbors Malice Against Lycar_1
"Holy shit!"
"The boss is actually the owner of Meisi!"
"Fucking incredible!"
Liu Ming, who had seen much of the world, was completely shocked! After everyone else had sat down, he still stood there, dumbfounded.
"Mr. Liu, please take a seat!" Meisi’s CEO, Lu Hongliang, first poured a cup of hot tea for Su Xuan and then gestured for Liu Ming to sit.
"Oh, right!" Liu Ming quickly took his seat.
He almost teared up. He was sitting next to Su Xuan, a place of honor! If it weren’t for Su Xuan, he probably would have been seated near the door. He also suddenly understood why Su Xuan had been so casual about the toasting. It turned out Su Xuan was the biggest boss of them all!
Liu Ming stole a glance at Su Xuan. Such a trickster! The boss is such a trickster, deliberately keeping it a secret from me! *Sobs*!
What followed was a foregone conclusion. The bigwigs from Meisi, eager to please Su Xuan, were as if they were on steroids, taking turns toasting him! Su Xuan didn’t turn anyone down, accepting every toast that came his way!
He noticed that as his body grew stronger, his alcohol tolerance increased daily. Handling a scene like this was no longer a big deal, even though he had already had a heavy drinking session with Cen Haonan and the others at noon.
Of course, Liu Ming also basked in Su Xuan’s glory, receiving toasts from the bigwigs. But Su Xuan only let him drink for one round before forbidding him from having any more.
"Old Liu is my right-hand man," Su Xuan said. "If he gets too drunk, there’ll be no one to help me look after Lycar."
Liu Ming was deeply moved!
"Boss, Meisi is holding a limited-time discount event tomorrow..."
As the banquet wore on and Liu Ming saw that the Meisi executives were sufficiently tipsy, he casually brought this up to Su Xuan. It was a topic best raised by him.
"Oh, that event!"
Meisi’s CEO, Lu Hongliang, was a sharp one. Hearing Liu Ming’s comment, he immediately picked up the thread. "Since our boss, Mr. Su, is also Lycar’s owner, that means Lycar and Meisi are family! And family shouldn’t speak like strangers! Here’s the deal! Other hotels get a one-day limit, but Lycar gets three!"
Before he had even finished speaking, Liu Ming shot up excitedly, raising a full glass of wine to Lu Hongliang! An extra two days for the limited-time offer would attract two more days of customer traffic, and the resulting profits would be immeasurable! It was a fantastic deal!
"Mr. Liu, you’re too kind!" Lu Hongliang stood up and clinked glasses with Liu Ming, but his gaze kept stealing glances at Su Xuan.
Seeing Su Xuan looking down at his phone, he couldn’t help but wonder, Isn’t he satisfied with a three-day limit? Otherwise, why would he seem so indifferent?
"Haha! I just had a thought. Lycar is a superior five-star hotel with an incomparable experience, so three days is hardly enough! To let more people experience Lycar’s luxurious accommodations, let’s make it seven days!"
Lu Hongliang looked at Su Xuan again. When he saw Su Xuan put down his phone and raise his glass to him, he finally sighed in relief, quickly raising his own glass to drink with him.
"Mr. Lu, other hotels don’t know the relationship between Meisi and Lycar," Su Xuan said, setting down his glass. "Showing such special favor to Lycar will surely cause dissatisfaction among the other hotels, won’t it?"
"Not at all!" Lu Hongliang immediately waved his hand. "In the online hotel booking business, Meisi holds a monopoly. Anyone who dares to complain will be taught a lesson they won’t forget!"
Though he said this, he knew the painful truth himself. Never mind seven days—even one extra day, or even just one extra hour, would provoke intense dissatisfaction from other hotels. Complaints would fly in, and Meisi’s reputation would suffer for it. The cost to repair the damage would be enormous! This move, while benefiting Lycar, would be detrimental to Meisi!
A female vice president at Meisi, who was in charge of customer complaints, also lowered her head with a bitter smile. But none of them dared to voice their concerns, fearing they would displease Su Xuan or make him underestimate their abilities.
"Mr. Lu, I have a small suggestion." Su Xuan, of course, had no intention of harming Meisi, as he owned shares in the company. He glanced at Lu Hongliang and the female vice president before laying out the plan he had already formulated. "Does this event have a title sponsor? If not, how about letting Lycar take the title sponsorship?"
"Huh?"
Lu Hongliang and the female vice president looked up at the same time, staring at Su Xuan in astonishment. As business veterans, they instantly understood his meaning! If Lycar became the title sponsor for the event, all their problems would be solved in a stroke! Other hotels couldn’t very well complain about the event’s sponsor, could they? Anyone who did would have to be an idiot! After all, it was Lycar that was giving them this commercial opportunity. Not only could they not complain, but they would also have to thank Lycar! This was a win for both Meisi and Lycar!
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
Lu Hongliang spoke to Su Xuan with utter sincerity. "This event was originally organized by Meisi to boost our own revenue—after all, we take a five percent commission. We hadn’t looked for a title sponsor, and I honestly hadn’t even considered it. But having Lycar as the title sponsor would be perfect! It makes our commission even more justifiable. This is a win-win for us!"
"Good! Then Lycar it is!" Su Xuan poured a glass of wine and raised it to the crowd.
Everyone else quickly raised their glasses in response.
Before drinking, Su Xuan joked, "We already agreed we’re family, so Lycar is just the sponsor in name. No sponsorship fee, okay?"
Lu Hongliang burst out laughing. "Of course! But to the public, I’ll say Lycar paid a hefty sum—at least a hundred million!"
Everyone else roared with laughter. In the lively atmosphere, they all raised their glasses and drank together.
My boss is so damn amazing! Liu Ming couldn’t help but gaze at Su Xuan with renewed admiration. Everyone might be saying we’re one family, but are we really? Of course not. At the end of the day, we are two separate companies. A line still has to be drawn between ’us’ and ’them’. Yet, Su Xuan has the ability to navigate between the two companies with such ease. That’s not something an ordinary person can do. It requires strong leadership, immense personal charisma, and a quick, shrewd mind... Otherwise, it would be easy to botch everything and end up alienating both sides. But Su Xuan pulled it off perfectly. Now, everyone genuinely feels like one big, happy family!
Forgetting his usually unfiltered nature, Liu Ming filled his glass to the brim and toasted Su Xuan with pure adoration. Working for a boss like this... it felt great!
Then, a sudden sense of uselessness washed over Liu Ming. It felt as though all his frantic efforts had been in vain. Su Xuan, on the other hand, seemed to have done nothing, yet he had effortlessly achieved what Liu Ming had been desperately working towards. I’ve become useless, haven’t I?
Liu Ming took a deep breath. I have to work harder! I have to double my efforts! I must solve more problems for the boss! I can’t just be a freeloader! I need to have a presence in the boss’s eyes! I can’t become invisible! And there’s still Zhao Ankang, mysteriously supervising me from the shadows. I have even less reason to slack off!
After thinking it over, Liu Ming suddenly turned to Lu Hongliang. "Mr. Lu, what if another hotel tries to pull a fast one on Lycar?"
Lu Hongliang took a bite of the fragrant braised sea cucumber with scallions, wiped the glistening oil from his lips with a luxurious Lycar napkin, and said nonchalantly, "You think we’d let them get away with it? We’d crush them, of course!"