After Huo Linsheng finished speaking, Zhao Ran didn't say a word for a moment.
She was hesitating and wavering.
Huo Linsheng wouldn't give her too much time to think.
He tapped on the table and urged, "Secretary Zhao."
Zhao Ran came back to her senses and tentatively asked, "Mr. Huo, must it be either Ling Nuan or me? Can't we both stay?"
For the projects personally overseen by Huo Linsheng, Fang Chao usually took charge, but he would bring a secretary to assist him. In the past, for important projects, two secretaries were sometimes chosen to jointly assist Fang Chao.
This was also the reason why Zhao Ran dared to speak up.
"Both?" Huo Linsheng seemed a bit surprised.
Zhao Ran smiled and explained, "Yes. Whether it's me or Ling Nuan who stays, I don't think it'll be a happy thing for the other one.
"I've experienced the feeling of suddenly losing a project I was in charge of. Ling Nuan has done nothing wrong. She shouldn't have to suffer such a setback because of me. If possible, I hope Ling Nuan and I can both stay."
Zhao Ran's words were well - put.
She seemed to be fully considering Ling Nuan's feelings.
Huo Linsheng remained unmoved. "What if only one can stay?"
Zhao Ran took a deep breath and said, "Then I'm willing to give the opportunity to Ling Nuan."
As she said this, Zhao Ran's heart was trembling. It was so painful. By saying this, she was giving up so much money!
But Huo Linsheng smiled.
"Okay, I understand what you mean. I'll think about it carefully," Huo Linsheng replied.
He wasn't really going to think about it carefully.
What he meant by "thinking" was that when he was having dinner with Ling Nuan, he completely sold Zhao Ran out.
"Her goal is to be on the same project as you," Huo Linsheng directly gave the final answer.
Ling Nuan pondered, "Although her proposal may not be accepted, if you really considered her idea... Is Zhao Ran willing to give up the benefits at hand just to harm me, or is she using a strategy of retreating to advance?
"If it's the former, then Zhao Ran must have a very deep - seated intention to harm me.
"If it's the latter, when Zhao Ran offered to give the opportunity to me, she was actually using a strategy of retreating to advance and still wanted the opportunity for herself. Then, her intention to harm me may not be that strong."
Huo Linsheng didn't answer her question. Instead, he continued to remind her, "We can be quite sure that she will take action against you. Next, we should look into the reason. Only by knowing both yourself and your enemy can you win every battle."
The grudge between Zhao Ran and Ling Nuan was actually quite simple.
It was normal for Zhao Ran to dislike Ling Nuan, but it seemed unlikely that she would go out of her way to do something to Ling Nuan, unless there was another reason.
To put Huo Linsheng's words more directly -
Zhao Ran was working for someone.
Ling Nuan immediately had an answer in her heart.
This was no different from an open - book exam.
If she hadn't been too busy before, she would have already taught Huo Xiao a lesson to prevent her from being too bored in the hospital.
"Huo..." Ling Nuan started to speak, then paused and swallowed the word "Sir". She continued, "Linsheng, I have a small work - related request. I don't know if it's okay."
As she said this, Ling Nuan was a bit unsure and even made a gesture to show that it was really a very small request.
Huo Linsheng raised his eyebrows. "Tell me."
"Shen Shaoqing," Ling Nuan first mentioned this name.
As soon as this name came out, the smile on Huo Linsheng's face faded a lot.
"I want to be in charge of the cooperation project between the company and Qingnuan Technology," Ling Nuan stated her request.
She didn't have high expectations, but these days, Huo Linsheng had been so good to her that she had a wrong feeling that Huo Linsheng would tolerate her to a large extent.
So, she wanted to give it a try.
Huo Linsheng didn't immediately refuse. Instead, he asked, "Reason?"
"There are two reasons. First, Qingnuan Technology isn't just Shen Shaoqing's. I also put a lot of effort into it. At that time, I didn't guard against him, so I was kicked out. Now that I have the opportunity, I naturally want to take back what belongs to me.
"For the company's sake, I know Qingnuan Technology well enough to help the company get the most favorable cooperation plan.
"Second, I'll fight fire with fire.
"She cares about my grandma, so Huo Xiao tried every means to cause trouble for my grandma. My counter - attack will start with Shen Shaoqing's company.
"This won't affect Huoshi. This is also the best thing I think I can do for now," Ling Nuan showed a certain amount of trust in Huo Linsheng.
She was being quite frank.
It wasn't that Ling Nuan trusted Huo Linsheng that much. It was just that in Huoshi, once she got involved with anything related to Qingnuan Technology, she couldn't hide it from Huo Linsheng. Her revenge intention was so obvious that Huo Linsheng could easily guess it. There was really no need for her to bother hiding it.
Moreover, it wouldn't have any negative impact on Huoshi, either publicly or privately.
"Okay," Huo Linsheng readily agreed.
His ready agreement made Ling Nuan stunned for a moment. "You just agreed like this?"
Although it seemed that her reasons really wouldn't have any negative impact on the company, he was still... Huo Xiao's husband.
Huo Linsheng raised his eyebrows. "For the first business deal, you have to offer some sweeteners to make the person you're doing business with choose you next time."
Ling Nuan was first stunned, then realized what he meant.
She twitched the corner of her mouth and replied, "Then my payment in kind is quite a bargain."
She had found out about Zhao Ran's plan and also got the opportunity to deal with Shen Shaoqing and Huo Xiao.
Huo Linsheng was not at all ashamed. Instead, he coaxed her, "Do you want to try again? I'm always generous."
Ling Nuan silently lowered her head to eat. "I'm afraid I'll get it but won't have the life to spend it."
Huo Linsheng laughed.
Ling Nuan couldn't go back to her grandma's place for the time being because her grandma's memory was still stuck in the past.
She didn't want to go home alone.
After dinner, seeing her hesitating look, Huo Linsheng took the initiative to say, "Xu Shichen is at the bar. Do you want to go and have fun?"
Ling Nuan looked up at him.
Huo Linsheng explained further, "It's Xu Shichen's newly - bought bar."
Ling Nuan wasn't going to be scared of bars just because of one incident. Hearing this, she happily nodded.
However, when mentioning the bar, Huo Linsheng suddenly remembered something.
"Li Zhaoyang," Huo Linsheng suddenly said.
"Hmm?" Ling Nuan looked at him blankly.
She didn't react at first who this person was.
"Li Zhaoyang got drunk abroad and was picked up by a stranger," Huo Linsheng said concisely, but his words contained a lot of information.
Was this an accident?
Ling Nuan didn't believe it.
She wasn't a kind - hearted person. She didn't feel any sympathy for Li Zhaoyang's ending. She only cared -
"Is the person who picked him up good - looking?"
Huo Linsheng replied, "A homeless man."
Ling Nuan's eyes widened.
A homeless - man?
Huo Linsheng rubbed Ling Nuan's head. "Let's go. Let's go find Xu Shichen and the others."
When they arrived, Huo Qishu was chatting with Meng Shuluo on video.
She was chatting happily when suddenly there was a cheer.
"Brother Sheng is here with his girlfriend!"
A little sister beside her suddenly exclaimed.
This was clearly caught by Meng Shuluo on the other end of the video.
"Linsheng has a girlfriend?" Meng Shuluo's voice came through.