Oil and Salt Don't Enter

On the other side, in the reception room on the first floor of Sunlight Group, Li Xianyu appeared quite restless. She was either smoothing her clothes or tucking her hair, and in less than half an hour, she had changed her sitting posture seven or eight times.

"Are you thirsty? Would you like me to go get you a glass of water?"

The woman in a formal suit guarding Li Xianyu seemed to notice her unease and spoke up to comfort her.

"No... no need."

"You don't need to be anxious. Mr. Chen is helping the president, so he should be out very soon."

Li Xianyu nodded gently and asked tremblingly, "May I ask, the president you mentioned—is that the president of Sunlight Group?"

The woman in the formal suit replied, "It is our Sunlight Group's executive president, Zhao Jinglan."

"Zhao Jinglan?"

Li Xianyu's eyes darted around as she suddenly realized: wasn't that the Zhao Jinglan who had been on the television a few days ago, hailed as the "Rising Star of the Business World" and the "Pearl of the Eight Provinces"?

After waiting for about two or three hours, Li Xianyu had grown somewhat agitated when some commotion came from the main lobby outside.

The elevator doors chimed and slid open, and a woman of peerless, cold beauty stepped out.

People walking around the elevator stopped in their tracks, bowing slightly toward the cold beauty.

"Miss!"

The cold woman merely nodded slightly, offering no other response.

It wasn't until Chen Lie stepped out of the elevator that the frost on the cold woman's face melted instantly.

"Little Brother Chen Lie, you helped me a great deal today. It's almost mealtime, so why don't you join me for a casual meal in the dining hall?"

Chen Lie gave an "mm" and said, "Then I shall follow your lead."

Seeing Chen Lie appear, Li Xianyu immediately pushed open the door of the reception room and walked toward him.

Up close, Li Xianyu realized that the stunningly beautiful woman standing side-by-side with Chen Lie was none other than the "Rising Star of the Business World" and the "Pearl of the Eight Provinces," Zhao Jinglan herself.

Seeing Li Xianyu suddenly walk out of the reception room, the woman in the formal suit behind her hurried to follow.

Upon reaching Zhao Jinglan, she stopped abruptly, lowered her head slightly, and called out, "President!"

Zhao Jinglan nodded slightly, but her gaze shifted to Li Xianyu, her eyes narrowing a fraction: "Little Brother Chen Lie, is this your younger sister? A very pretty young girl, though she doesn't seem to look much like the one in the photo."

The look Zhao Jinglan cast her way brought immense psychological pressure upon Li Xianyu, much like being glared at by a proctor during a liberal arts exam in the past.

Li Xianyu knew that this was perhaps the authority cultivated over time by someone who managed hundreds of thousands of employees.

"Se... Senior."

Unable to meet Zhao Jinglan's gaze, Li Xianyu moved to stand behind Chen Lie.

"This is my younger sister's classmate."

Chen Lie stepped forward, shielding Li Xianyu behind him.

"Oh, so she is your sister's classmate. Let's all go to the dining hall for a meal together."

With that, Zhao Jinglan instructed her assistant and led the way, guiding Chen Lie toward the Sunlight Group's dining hall.

"Let's go, let's have a casual meal."

After Chen Lie said this to Li Xianyu, he followed along.

Li Xianyu hurried to keep up, her heart filled with shock beyond measure.

Chen Xingyao's family background was similar to her own, perhaps even worse, so how did her brother Chen Lie come to know such a high-profile figure as Zhao Jinglan?

Chen Lie and Zhao Jinglan arrived at the Sunlight Group's dining hall side-by-side.

The entire dining hall was empty. Zhao Jinglan picked a spot at random and arranged for Chen Lie and Li Xianyu to sit.

As they spoke, employees began bringing dishes to the table. In just two or three minutes, the table was piled high with exquisite dishes, totaling thirty or forty plates.

"Have a taste, Little Brother Chen Lie. Since I didn't know what flavors you preferred, I had the kitchen prepare a bit more. It's all staff-grade food, so I hope you don't mind."

Zhao Jinglan raised her hand, signaling for Chen Lie to begin eating.

"Then thank you for the hospitality."

Chen Lie stood on no ceremony. He scanned the table and noticed that the dozens of dishes were all nutritional meals, so he began to pick up his chopsticks.

Zhao Jinglan rested her chin on her palm, watching Chen Lie eat, and asked, "Little Brother Chen Lie, I've seen your school's evaluation of you. It seems to say that your blood-qi value isn't very high. Is that true or false?"

"It's true!" Chen Lie nodded.

Faced with Chen Lie's frank admission, Zhao Jinglan was not surprised at all. To a Divine Sense Master, what could a high or low blood-qi value possibly represent?

"Then, can these nutritional meals satisfy your need for nutrients?" Zhao Jinglan asked again.

"Just about," Chen Lie replied while picking up food.

Zhao Jinglan turned her attention to the restless Li Xianyu beside Chen Lie.

"What is this little sister's name?"

"Me? My name is Li Xianyu."

"Little sister Xianyu, why are you so nervous? Do I look that fierce?"

"N-no... not at all." Li Xianyu shook her head repeatedly.

"The dishes on the table are all mild, nutritious meals. They'll be beneficial for you, so don't be so constrained. Just treat this like your own home."

"Um, o-okay."

Li Xianyu picked up her bowl and chopsticks, cautiously mimicking Chen Lie's movements as she began to eat.

Though young, she was not naive. Zhao Jinglan had told her to treat Sunlight Group like home, but if she actually did that, she would be a fool.

As the president of Sunlight Group, Zhao Jinglan's influence was such that at least sixty percent of the population in Dongchuan Province operated according to plans she had set in motion.

Sunlight Group was a behemoth spanning the eight provinces of the Chuan-Shaan region. The upstream and downstream enterprises, various distributors, and nearly a million employees who relied on the group for their livelihood added up to an astronomical figure. If Sunlight Group were to grind to a halt one day, half of Dongchuan Province would likely fall into paralysis.

Li Xianyu did not believe for a second that the president of such a group, who commanded hundreds of thousands of employees, was a simple person.

At the same time, she understood that while the Zhao Jinglan before her appeared approachable, she was an insurmountable mountain to ordinary citizens like herself.

Faced with such a figure, an irrepressible sense of inferiority welled up in Li Xianyu, leaving her feeling uneasy and afraid to look up.

In contrast, Li Xianyu noticed that Chen Lie remained composed. Despite his ordinary attire, he was neither servile nor overbearing. Appearing in the same frame as Zhao Jinglan, he showed not a hint of cowardice or inferiority, as if he were truly back in his own home, eating his meal at his leisure.

Just then, Zhao Jinglan's female assistant approached the table.

"President, there is a matter regarding Manager Zhang. Would you like to..."

Zhao Jinglan raised a hand toward the assistant and said, "Just speak. Little Brother Chen Lie is not an outsider."

"Yes," the assistant said quickly. "It's like this: in order to secure an endorsement for the group's new medicinal liquid, Manager Zhang has been in contact with several members of the Provincial Youth Genius Group. Today, he finally invited one of the members, Xu Yuanhao, to the group headquarters.

Everything was set to sign the endorsement agreement, but before doing so, Xu Yuanhao suddenly requested to meet with you in person."

Zhao Jinglan frowned slightly. "Does Zhang Zhen mean to make me show my face?"

The assistant replied, "Yes. Manager Zhang implied that if you do not meet with Xu Yuanhao, the endorsement deal for the new medicinal liquid will likely fall through."

Zhao Jinglan let out a cold snort. "Then tell him to get lost. A newly qualified member of the provincial genius group thinks he's someone important?

Tell Zhang Zhen that if he isn't capable enough, he can submit his resignation early and pack his bags."

"Yes!" The assistant nodded repeatedly, then leaned in to whisper, "But President, Xu Yuanhao is, after all, a seed for a Grandmaster and a key protégé of the Xu Family. If you have the time, meeting him wouldn't hurt."

Zhao Jinglan waved her hand, signaling the assistant to say no more. "Being a Grandmaster seed doesn't mean he will definitely become a Grandmaster. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't mind meeting him.

But right now, I am entertaining my honored guest."

"I understand."

The assistant acknowledged the order and stepped aside.

Li Xianyu stole a glance at Chen Lie. By all logic, shouldn't Chen Lie be saying something like, "Work is important, you go ahead and handle it, don't worry about me"?

Yet, Chen Lie acted as if nothing had happened. He didn't even look up, just kept his head down and continued eating, showing no reaction at all.

This senior's emotional intelligence didn't seem very high.

The meal lasted for over an hour. Li Xianyu had only taken a few bites of the massive spread, while Zhao Jinglan hadn't touched her chopsticks once. Of the thirty or forty dishes, Chen Lie had cleared almost everything by himself.

Setting down his bowl and chopsticks, Chen Lie wiped his mouth, stood up, and said to Li Xianyu, "I'm finished. Let's go."

"Ah? O-okay."

Li Xianyu hurriedly stood up as well.

"President Zhao, thank you for your generous hospitality. I have things to attend to today, so I shall take my leave."

Zhao Jinglan also stood up. She waved over the assistant who had been waiting nearby and gave a few instructions.

Then, she took out a card and handed it to Chen Lie.

"Little Brother Chen Lie, this has my personal contact information. If you run into any trouble, feel free to reach out. Your big sister would be more than happy to help you resolve any issues."

Chen Lie took the card from Zhao Jinglan, tucked it into his pocket, and nodded at her.

"I've arranged for my assistant to take you back. Follow me."

Zhao Jinglan escorted Chen Lie and Li Xianyu to the Sunlight Group Plaza outside Sunlight Tower, right next to a luxury yacht.

"Little Brother Chen Lie, just take this Sunlight yacht back. Remember to stay in touch."

Chen Lie nodded, stepped onto the yacht, and said to Zhao Jinglan, "President Zhao is very thoughtful."

Zhao Jinglan smiled brightly. "If you really think I'm thoughtful, then change how you address me. Call me Sister Jinglan. Calling me 'President Zhao' all the time feels a bit too distant."

Seeing Zhao Jinglan's insistence, Chen Lie had no choice but to comply. "Sister Jinglan."

Chen Lie's change of address left Zhao Jinglan extremely satisfied, and she personally saw Chen Lie and Li Xianyu onto the yacht.

Once the yacht had departed, the assistant came to Zhao Jinglan's side and couldn't help but ask, "President, what is this young man's background that you would value him so highly?"

"I have no idea!"

Zhao Jinglan shook her head.

She had lowered herself to be so accommodating; logically, even a martial arts genius like Xu Yuanhao from the Provincial Youth Genius Group should have felt honored. Yet, Chen Lie remained completely unmoved, and even getting him to change his form of address to bridge the gap had been such a struggle.

It was as if she weren't facing a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, but an old fox in the business world with decades of experience. It was truly baffling.