Chapter 43: This Is Stupid
The next day, Zhao Lifei received a text from her grandfather requesting her to go to his office. After getting dressed and skipping breakfast, she made her way to Zhao Corporation.
She stepped out of the public cab, dressed in a professional attire suitable for an executive meeting. When the wind blew, she immediately regretted the decision to do so. Her coat wasn't enough to cover the skin exposed by her pencil skirt.
Not wanting to be in the cold any longer, she hurried into the lobby. In her haste, she didn't realize that a familiar black Maybach was pulling up to the entrance of the building at the same time.
She swiped her keycard and made her way to the private elevator which garnered attention from some curious eyes.
The regular employees were used to seeing her walk around the building, but not many people knew what she did or who she was. Every time they see her board the private elevator made for the CEO, the Vice President, and the company executives, they would question her position.
A few of them originally thought she was a mistress to one of the executives, but that idea was rejected. In order to have a private keycard, one must approach the CEO and ask for his permission to make a new one. And none of the executives were foolish enough to place a priority on a mistress.
The rest of them guessed she was probably the only female executive on board, but that idea seems far fetched because she was rarely in the office.
Her identity to almost all of the workers was a mystery.
- - - - -
When Zhao Lifei walked to her grandfather's office, she found it empty. One of his secretaries notified her that he was waiting for her in the private meeting room downstairs.
Zhao Lifei frowned at the location, but nonetheless, made her way there. Once she got to the board room, she found herself standing in the same room as many of the company's executives.
On the edge of the round table was the regal and majestic Zhao Moyao whose composure was of an old and wise Emperor. To his left was the Vice President, Wu Yuntai.
"I apologize for my late entrance." She said as she walked into the room.
Internally, she was fuming. Her grandfather said to arrive at 9:30, but she came 30 minutes early so technically, she wasn't late.
But why did he give her the wrong time? She figured it was because he wanted her to skip the boring introductions of the meeting and to arrive right when he needed her there.
Zhao Moyao always knew his granddaughter would arrive at his office at least 30 minutes than planned.
Everyone except Zhao Moyao and Wu Yuntai was confused at the presence of this seemingly insignificant woman. The presenters warily stared at her whereas the executives silently looked down on her. How could she arrive at such an important meeting 15 minutes late?
"Sit here." Zhao Moyao gestured to the empty seat on his right.
Wu Yuntai sensed her hesitation and encouraged her with a warm smile.
Zhao Lifei wasn't surprised to see the man who had no blood relations to her family, yet, held the second highest position in the company.
Unlike most families that passed the title of Vice President to their son or daughter, Zhao Moyao decided to give it to the boy he raised as his own son. To him, none of his sons were worthy of holding such a major position aside from having a few shares in the company.
She walked to the seat while the presenters watched her every move until she sat down. When Zhao Moyao nodded for the presentation to resume, it finally did so.
As the minutes trickled by, Zhao Lifei felt more and more displeased at what she saw. She frowned upon seeing the numbers on the presentation. The estimated revenue and cost of the project was outrageous and clearly falsified.
The project wanted to open an enormous five-floor mall in Shenbei. As if the idea itself was not foolish enough, the costs were absolutely horrible and miscalculated.
To the average eye, it seemed normal and fine to use at least 200 million to open an enormous mall like that. But she knew better.
Even if she added major inflation for all the manpower and materials needed to build it, as well as paying off the governmental fees and the cost of signing partnership deals with other companies, opening a five-story mall in that area should not take more than 150 million. What was the purpose of the remaining 50 million?
Zhao Corporation has deep ties with different companies, granting them exclusive deals to be able to have the prestige of working on one of their projects.
Putting any partnerships aside, it shouldn't have cost that much in the first place. If it came down to resources, it would not be best practice to shell out another whopping 50 million. It could only point to one thing: the presenters themselves would pocket the money to spend as they please.
Not only that, but the estimated revenue was incorrect. They were off by tens of millions.
Were these beginners? Or were they just trying to swindle Zhao Moyao out of his money? Spending 200 million is not a simple matter even if the company was worth billions.
Her eyes scanned the executives that seemed to be onboard with the numbers. A few of them questioned it, but none of them realized the major red flags being waved.
Her frown deepened at how incompetent they were.
She searched the room for familiar consultants that was usually present and found none of them there.
This certainly made her wary.
She was a part-time consultant for her grandfather, mainly because she felt indebted to him. But she didn't think he trusted her to the extent of not hiring other people to check the numbers on these presentations.
Turning her gaze towards Zhao Moyao, she saw his expression was serious, but his eyes were drooping in a bored and nonchalant matter.
To the eyes of the people that didn't know him that well, he didn't look displeased at the numbers on the screen.
As a matter of fact, some even thought he was intrigued by it because he had been watching the presentation the entire time. But Wu Yuntai and Zhao Lifei knew better than anyone else that Zhao Moyao was severely unhappy at the scheming members of the board.
Did these fools think he had gone senile with old age? His face might've been worn out, but his eyes were as sharp and clear as his days in the military. He would be firing a lot of his men today. It was time for a change in the executive board.
Zhao Lifei turned her attention back to the arrogance of the presenters.
Judging by how confident they looked while spitting such lies, she knew this wasn't the first time they did this. Neither of them looked nervous, hesitated, or became anxious while lying to such important people.
She nearly rolled her eyes at their foolishness. This was a blatantly stupid plan on their part.
Zhao Corporation already had major shares in the largest mall in Shenbei, why would they risk their resources to build another mall that would not even rake in that much revenue and lessen their profit?
Growing tired of listening to their lies, Zhao Lifei raised a hand to stop the presenters. "Permission to speak?"
They exchanged glances and was about to brush her off because what could a simple woman contribute to it?
She looked incredibly young too, so they figured she didn't have a lot of experience.
The presenters scoffed at her. Who did she think she was? It's not like she was another member of the board that had the authority to question them.
"Request granted. What do you have to say, Lifei?" Zhao Moyao listlessly said, his eyes flickering to his prized granddaughter. His expression didn't change, but internally, he was smiling. It seemed the genius would finally make her move.
As much as he doted on her, he deliberately didn't mention her surname because it would show her ties and connection to him.
The presenters were shocked at their boss's words but wisely kept their mouth shut.
"With all due respect, gentlemen." She began, her eyes trailing to everyone in the room.
"This is a stupid project."
And just like that, the presenters lost their patience. "And what credentials do you have to say so-"
"I've barely begun my argument. Don't get provoked by five simple words." She glared at the man that spoke up. Her gaze was fierce, like a deadly snake ready to strike. Everyone felt paralyzed by her frightening stare. Where had they seen that type of glare before?
"First of all, Zhao Corporation already has ties to Imperial Star Mall, why would we need to waste money, time, and resources to build another one that would directly compete with it? Not only would that be a slap to Imperial Star and their strongest backing, Ling Conglomerate, it would also sever the ties we have with them."
"Secondly, the project will suck the company dry. The annual revenue will be lower than expected, the benefits would be horrible, our reputation would be ruined for attempting to compete with a partner company, and the money you want for this project is severely beyond the average cost!" Zhao Lifei proceeded to ruthlessly list her long list of reasons of why this project is not worth it.
Each word she said was like a sharp jab to the men in the room. They never expected such a young woman to walk into the room and be at par with men twice her age. She looked youthful with her dainty face and frail stature. They had misjudged her.
While Zhao Lifei tore them apart, a man was fascinated while watching her.
Yang Feng stood in the hallway with his people. Only Chen Gaonan was nowhere in sight because of his latest mission. But Yang Feng was still surrounded by a group of people ranging from his secretaries, consultants, and even an attorney. All of them were equally in awe of the powerful aura coming from the woman inside the room.