Chapter 272: What’s More Important—Business or Your Wife?

November 11th.

Sunday.

10:20 a.m.

Inside the CEO’s office of Hongsheng Group.

Luo Guosheng was carefully reviewing a document handed to him by his secretary.

He was reading it word by word, line by line.

Because this document involved a bridge loan within the group—a substantial sum.

Even though the Finance Department had already gone over it multiple times and confirmed there were no issues before passing it up to him, as the CEO, Luo Guosheng still had to scrutinize every detail himself.

Otherwise, he simply couldn’t bring himself to sign it.

But accounting was always a meticulous task.

Before long, Luo Guosheng began to feel dizzy, a splitting pain forming in his head.

He couldn’t help but press his fingers to his temples.

Just then, a soft, flirtatious voice reached his ears.

“Tea is ready, President~”

He looked up.

A curvaceous woman in a tight-fitting secretary uniform approached with a steaming cup of tea in hand.

She gave him a playful wink and said, “President, it’s fresh Huishan Maofeng. I even picked out the tenderest tea tips just for you.”

“Please, have a taste.”

As she spoke, she placed the teacup on the desk in front of him.

The rising steam drifted up to his nose.

He twitched his nose slightly. “Smells like tea?”

“No,” the woman corrected him with a serious expression. “President, that’s floral aroma!”

“Alright, alright,” Luo Guosheng chuckled, his face lighting up with a pleased smile. He reached out and gently took hold of the woman’s wrist.

With a light tug, she let out a soft “Ah!” and tumbled right into his lap.

“President~” she murmured coyly, trying to get up.

But Luo Guosheng wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her fully into his embrace.

“President, the door’s not locked~”

“Don’t worry. No one comes by at this hour.”

“Oh, really~?”

Hearing that, the woman suddenly lifted her head, brushing aside the hair that covered her eyes. With a shy, sultry look, she whispered, “President~ I want to try over by the window today.”

“Can we~?”

But just then, a rapid knock came from the office door.

Knock knock knock, knock knock knock.

Luo Guosheng, who had just started to get in the mood, sighed and gently helped the secretary up, giving her a look.

She gave him a sultry glance in return and nodded.

Clicking across the floor in her heels, she walked to the door and opened it.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses immediately stepped in.

“CEO Luo! Bad news! There’s a problem with the poultry supply chain!”

——————

Wang Quan had always known that there were people in this world called geniuses.

Self-taught.

Born with extraordinary talent and ability in certain areas.

Just like that boss of his, who was the same age as his own daughter.

She looked just like a high school student—because she was a high school student.

And yet, when it came to business, she possessed a skill and instinct that far surpassed ordinary people.

From the very first time they met, when she was running a tiny shop, to now—just in Jiangzhou alone, there were already seven branches of her “Shi Ning Chicken” fried chicken chain.

And that didn’t even count the branches spread across twelve other cities in the province.

Altogether, there were probably at least twenty or thirty stores.

But that was just one small part of the business.

From what Old Wang knew, the delivery company “Run Fast” and the Sunflower Poultry Farm in Tianjia Village were also her creations.

She had practically built a full vertical supply chain—from breeding, to processing, to finished products, to retail.

And she was only in her second year of high school.

Give her a few more years, and wouldn’t she be at the very top of Jiangzhou’s business world?

Old Wang didn’t consider himself particularly capable, but he did have one strength.

He had a good eye.

He knew who to follow.

Just like when he first started out in business and joined the Jiangzhou Restaurant Entrepreneurs Association. By sticking with them and riding the coattails, his business had finally gotten on track.

If the association hadn’t self-destructed later, he wouldn’t have been nearly wiped out along with them.

Fortunately, the young boss had pulled him out just in time.

Sure, the price was giving up a third of his company’s shares.

But to be tied to her in business?

Old Wang felt like even that was too little.

He honestly wouldn’t have minded handing over half the company just to feel secure.

But seriously, the young boss was incredible.

In just one night, she managed to make more than half of Jiangzhou’s poultry farms fall under the “Jiang” name.

Sure, she had previously acquired shares in some of those farms.

But those were just small stakes—not nearly enough to justify a full rebranding.

Unless, in the meantime, she had been continuously injecting capital into those farms.

And if that were the case, the amount of money spent must have been enormous.

So then, what exactly was her goal?

At this moment, Old Wang stood at the window of his office, staring blankly at the slaughter line operating below.

He was lost in thought.

Just then, his phone rang, snapping him back to reality.

He walked back to his desk and picked up the call.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

“Oh, Department Head Qian, I’m really sorry, but we’ve only got fewer than a thousand healthy birds left in stock.”

“The rest… well, most of them aren’t in great condition.”

“What? You want all the healthy ones?”

“Department Head Qian, that… those chickens… huh? A 30% price increase?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll have someone deliver it right away…”

…

A moment later.

After the call ended.

Old Wang patted his belly and muttered to himself.

“Has the thirst for chicken really gotten this desperate?”

As he spoke, he let out a soft chuckle.

He pulled out an unopened cigar from the drawer, clipped the cap, and lit it.

Taking a small puff, he murmured, “This is going to be fun…”

——————

At the same time.

Every large-scale poultry farm in Jiangzhou that could be considered even remotely capable had received a call from Hongsheng Group.

However—

The total number of broiler chickens they could provide was nowhere near enough to meet Hongsheng Group’s demand.

Not even close to a fraction.

This threw the entire Procurement Department of Hongsheng Group into chaos.

“Did you call the ones in Runzhou?!”

“Yes, but it’s not enough!”

“How short are we?”

“Still 60% short!”

“Call again!”

…

“Tianhua in Suizhou can supply 10%!”

“Send a truck immediately!”

“But they want payment upfront!”

“Give it to them!!!”

…

“Ningzhou Muyang can do 15%!”

“Ningzhou Qinmei, 10%!”

“Huzhou Tongda, 15%!”

…

After a full thirty minutes.

Qian Meiming from the Procurement Department, drenched in sweat, finally placed the purchase list in front of Luo Guosheng.

“CEO Luo,” he said, panting. “Mission accomplished… barely.”

However—

There wasn’t the slightest hint of a smile on Luo Guosheng’s face. He took the list with a dark expression, glanced at it, then tossed it onto the desk.

“Qian Meiming.”

His voice was calm. So calm, in fact, that it sent a chill down Qian Meiming’s spine.

“When is the Blackrock Group order due?”

“Uh, the 22nd, CEO Luo.”

“And what day is it today?”

“…The 11th…”

“So you’re planning to keep buying at high prices from out-of-town suppliers for the next few days?”

Qian Meiming looked like he was about to drop to his knees.

With his bloated, greasy figure huddled up like that, Luo Guosheng’s face twisted with disgust.

“You have one day.”

“If you don’t solve the supply issue—”

“The entire Procurement Department can pack up and go home!”

As Qian Meiming scrambled out of the office in a panic, practically crawling,

Luo Guosheng sat in silence for a moment.

But he couldn’t suppress the fury boiling inside him.

With a sudden sweep of his arm, he sent all the documents on the desk flying to the floor.

With a loud crash, papers scattered like snowflakes.

The violent outburst startled the female secretary standing nearby.

“CEO Luo…”

“You, out too.”

“Sir, I—”

“Get out!!!”

Moments later.

Luo Guosheng sat on the sofa, trying to calm himself.

Under normal circumstances, if someone tried to pull a stunt like hoarding supply to mess with him, he’d respond immediately.

Whether to retaliate or wait and watch, he always had options.

But not this time.

He had just fronted the funds to take on a massive processing order from Blackrock Group.

With year-end financial movements and bridge loans still pending,

The group’s cash flow was currently in a complete dead zone.

If anything went wrong during this period—

Even a minor disruption in the capital chain could shake the entire company.

Just then.

A stout, middle-aged man with glasses and a cap walked in from outside.

“CEO Luo.”

Hearing the voice, Luo Guosheng looked up and squinted at the man.

“Find anything?”

“Yes, CEO Luo,” the man said, adjusting his glasses and speaking in a low voice.

“It’s a boss with the surname Jiang behind this.”

“What’s his motive?”

“Still unclear.”

“Can you get in touch with him?”

“We can try…”

…

Half an hour later.

At the old stinky tofu shop on Shijin Street in downtown Jiangzhou,

Jiang Ning and Qi Wen were sitting by the window, each nibbling at small pieces of stinky tofu.

“Jiang Jiang, let’s go take some photo booth pics later, okay?”

“Sure.”

“But before that, I want to buy a few dresses!”

“No problem!”

Seeing how readily Miss Jiang agreed,

Qi Wen suddenly giggled and said,

“Let’s wear matching outfits for the photos!”

Matching outfits?

Miss Jiang immediately guessed what Little Qi was thinking and quickly shook her head.

But just then, the iconic Nokia ringtone chimed.

Jiang Ning pulled out his phone, glanced at the number, and answered.

“What do you want?”

“Business talk?”

“What’s more important, closing a deal or shopping with my girl?”

“Go on, don’t bother me. I’m busy~”

(End of this chapter)