nycdaug Chapter 744 Professional counterpart
Chapter 744 Professional counterpart
As Lin Bufan listened, a sudden inspiration struck him, and he casually said, "Da Bao."
"Ah? Your Highness, please speak!"
"How much of a kickback did Jiang Xiaoguo promise you? Is it worth you working so hard to be her advocate?"
"No! Absolutely no kickbacks!" Duan Jiabao denied it outright, her tone righteous and indignant: "I just wanted to help my friend! It's a sisterly bond!"
Lin Bufan drawled, "Oh—? So, this project was actually handled by Jiang Xiaoguo? She's going to be fired from the company if she can't secure this investment?"
“Uh…not really.” Duan Jiabao’s momentum weakened, and she stammered, “This project…is in charge of her boss.”
Lin Bufan's voice suddenly became playful: "Then why are you in such a hurry? Are you afraid that her boss won't get his project bonus and won't be able to afford a Maserati?"
"No! Oh, it's like this..."
Seeing that he couldn't convince Lin Bufan by not telling the truth, Duan Jiabao decided to be honest after confirming that no one was around: "It's just... Xiao Guo... likes her boss, President Zhou. Now, seeing how anxious and worried President Zhou is about this project, and how his situation at the company might be very difficult if the project fails, and he might even be ousted, Xiao Guo wants to help him. And I want to help Xiao Guo!"
After listening, Lin Bufan slowly nodded on the other end of the phone: "Dabao, I can understand your willingness to go to great lengths for your friends."
"Right, right!" Duan Jiabao's voice instantly filled with hope: "Prince, you're the most understanding! So this investment..."
Before Duan Jiabao could finish speaking, Lin Bufan interrupted him with a voice eight octaves higher: "But! You haven't even settled your own life's major event, so where do you get the time to worry about other people's love lives? You're still a single dog yourself, and you're already thinking about playing matchmaker for others?"
"I...I...I..." Duan Jiabao seemed to want to explain something, but in his haste, he started to stammer. Therefore, Lin Bufan ruthlessly interrupted him again: "Alright, stop with the 'I...I...I' stuff. Anyone who doesn't know better will think you're about to lay an egg!"
Duan Jiabao was so angry on the other end of the phone that he stomped his feet. He couldn't catch his breath and started stammering "you you you..."
Lin Bufan leisurely took a sip of tea, his tone full of teasing: "What's going on, Comrade Da Bao? Bad signal? Or did you get a cassette tape stuck?"
"You're the one who's stuck on the cassette tape!" Duan Jiabao caught his breath and spoke fluently, angrily accusing Lin Bufan: "Lin Bufan! How dare you talk to me like that! You yourself are always acting on a whim, doing things entirely based on your mood! You just like watching the fun, bossing people around, what a twisted sense of humor! You like people calling you a prince, are you even a prince?! You have such a handsome face, but you do nothing but cause trouble! You have a terrible personality! And a sharp tongue! Besides being a little good-looking, a little rich, a little talented... you, you're utterly useless!"
"Oh—" Lin Bufan deliberately dragged out his words, saying lightly, "Originally, seeing how worried you were about your friend, I felt a little bit of pity and thought I might be able to help you find a solution. But I never expected, Comrade Duan Jiabao, that you've accumulated such deep resentment and dissatisfaction towards me… In that case, I think this matter…"
"No, no, no! Your Highness! Your Majesty! Ancestor! I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!" Seeing that things were turning around, Duan Jiabao instantly knelt down, his voice so flattering it could drip honey, his speech so fast it was like he had special effects: "I just had a brain short circuit! My CPU burned out! I was talking nonsense! Please don't take it to heart! You are handsome, dashing, elegant, talented, learned, righteous, and helpful... You are the best, best, best boss and friend in the world! I must have been possessed by something unclean! Yes! Possessed!"
"Really?"
"It's true, it's true, it's more real than real gold! Ten thousand times real!" Duan Jiabao swore to the heavens, though Lin Bufan couldn't see it.
“Alright then,” Lin Bufan said, seemingly reluctantly, “I’ll help you since you apologized so sincerely, but I have conditions.”
"Your Highness, please speak! If I, Duan Jiabao, were to even flinch, even if it meant going through fire and water, then I... I am not Duan Jiabao!"
"Heh, you don't need to go through fire and water." Lin Bufan chuckled, then suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming scrutinizing: "Let me ask you first, how's your task that I gave you before I went to Kyoto going?"
Task?!
It's over! It's over!
I've been so busy sharing delicious food with Big Bear lately that I've completely forgotten the task this rascal gave me. What am I going to do now?
and many more?
When did that annoying guy start assigning me tasks?
How come I have absolutely no recollection of this?
On the other end of the phone, seeing that Duan Jiabao didn't answer for a long time, Lin Bufan said in a tone that said, "See, see, I knew you didn't take the task I assigned you seriously. Da Bao, I've told you many times, although I'm handsome, talented, and incredibly charming, a walking heartbreaker who attracts girls, I can understand if you have some inappropriate thoughts about me."
But I've emphasized this to you many times—I'm a man you can never have. Stop having any unrealistic fantasies about me. You need to focus your energy on real life and find a man who doesn't have such high standards..."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Duan Jiabao finally realized what was happening, his voice rising eight octaves in disbelief: "You're not suggesting I find a partner for this task?!"
"What else could it be?" Lin Bufan's tone was utterly matter-of-fact: "It's like if I assign you other tasks, you can complete them!"
"Don't look down on me!" Duan Jiabao retorted defiantly, "How come I can't complete other tasks?"
“Alright then,” Lin Bufan readily agreed and immediately began listing the options: “Right now, the flying car project is short of a researcher to oversee the development of new energy conduction materials. Would you mind filling in?”
Duan Jiabao: ...
Silence is gold!
"It seems the preclinical research team for that Alzheimer's disease neurorepair drug project needs some reinforcements. Why don't you fill in for a while?"
Duan Jiabao: ...
Silence is Cambridge tonight!
"Also, the algorithm optimization team based on the quantum computing prototype, which I mentioned before, is also short of an analyst. Are you qualified?"
Duan Jiabao: ...
Silence is the highest form of contempt!
Lin Bufan sighed leisurely, his tone full of smug satisfaction: "See? You can't do anything, can you?"
"Lin! Bu! Fan!"
This time, Duan Jiabao didn't choose to die in silence, but instead chose to erupt from it: "Are those tasks you're talking about something a normal person could do?! You're clearly making things difficult for people!"
"Isn't dating something a normal person can do? You haven't even managed to do it, have you?"
"Who...who said I didn't finish it!" Duan Jiabao, provoked by Lin Bufan, blurted out in a moment of impulsiveness, "I finished it a long time ago, okay!"
Lin Bufan sat up straight instantly, his eyes gleaming with gossip, and asked with great interest, "Really? Tell me more! Who is the other person? What do they do? How did you meet? How far have things progressed?"
"Well... um... I recently met someone..." Duan Jiabao started to say a couple of sentences following Lin Bufan's lead, but she suddenly realized what she was saying and immediately stopped, saying warily, "Wait! This is my personal privacy, my life, not a work report. I'm sorry, I can't tell you!"
"Hey, don't be so stingy, Da Bao." Lin Bufan's voice was full of temptation, like a strange uncle trying to trick a child with candy: "How about this? As long as you tell me in detail and satisfy my curiosity, I'll help Jiang Xiaoguo... oh no, I mean help her CEO Zhou this time, how about it?"
A long silence followed on the other end of the phone, broken only by Duan Jiabao's heavy breathing; clearly, he was engaged in a fierce internal struggle. On one hand, there was his sister's happiness; on the other, his own privacy…
Ultimately, sisterly affection prevailed.
"...Fine! You win!" Duan Jiabao seemed to have made up his mind, gritting his teeth as he said, "I'll talk! But if you dare to tell anyone, I...I'll take you down with me!"
"Don't worry, don't worry, even if you ask me to go out and tell others, I won't. It would be too unbecoming of me as a prince to talk about such gossip with others!"
Upon hearing this, Duan Jiabao thought about it carefully:
Um--
That seems to be the case!
So, under the warm afternoon sun in Yunmiao Village, with Lin Bufan listening with great curiosity, Duan Jiabao finished recounting this newly begun romance in a hesitant and intermittent manner!
After Duan Jiabao finished speaking, Lin Bufan also expressed his opinion: "Wow, Da Bao, I didn't realize you were so good at finding people! You're such a foodie, and you found a chef, wow, that's a perfect match! We can even save on food expenses from now on! No wonder you're my assistant, you've got some of my style!"
"Lin Bufan!" Duan Jiabao instantly bristled on the other end of the phone, his voice shrill: "Stop talking nonsense! We...we're very serious!"
"Okay, okay, very serious." Lin Bufan suppressed a laugh, then changed his tone, speaking with a hint of bestowing favor: "Seeing as you're so serious and have a bit of gossip attached to it, fine, I'll help you this time. Have your best friend Jiang Xiaoguo send all the relevant materials for that unmanned supermarket project—the business plan, due diligence report, financial forecasts, etc.—to my email. I'll take a look first."
"Really?! Prince! You are truly the best in the world..." Duan Jiabao, whose expression changed incredibly quickly, unleashed a barrage of gratitude like a machine gun.
Unfortunately, before we could finish speaking, the receiver went dead with a "beep-beep-beep" dial tone.
Lin Bufan hung up the phone immediately.
Duan Jiabao held his phone, paused for two seconds, then angrily waved his fist a few times at the screen where the call had ended, muttering under his breath, "You hung up on me! You hung up on me again! Lin Bapi, you nasty bastard! You have a terrible temper! You arrogant jerk! I hope next time you eat instant noodles without the seasoning packet! Your cola is flat! And you get double the price when you go grocery shopping!"
Despite venting his frustrations, Duan Jiabao didn't forget his business. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and immediately found Jiang Xiaoguo's number and dialed it.
As soon as the call connected, the impatient Duan Jiabao started talking rapidly, his tone full of smug satisfaction: "Xiao Guo! Let me tell you, I've done you a huge favor this time. How are you going to thank me?"
Recently, Zhou Xun's insistence on investing in an unmanned supermarket project has caused a major rift between Puling Capital and other board members, with rumors even circulating that Zhou Xun might be ousted from Puling Capital.
Therefore, the work atmosphere at Puling Capital has been very oppressive in the past few days. Not a single person dares to speak loudly, for fear of being fired for the slightest mistake!
Against this backdrop, Jiang Xiaoguo, who had only been with the company for six months and hadn't shown any outstanding performance in any aspect, was very cautious when answering the phone, lowering her voice to avoid attracting attention: "Dabao, I'm at work right now and don't have time to chat. Can we talk about it after I get off work?" She was about to press the hang-up button when she said that.
"Don't hang up! Don't hang up!" In his anxiety, Duan Jiabao couldn't keep them in suspense any longer and quickly revealed the truth: "About your sweetheart President Zhou's unmanned supermarket project, I'm telling you, I've found an investor for you!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xiaoguo instinctively retorted, "What sweetheart? Don't talk nonsense..." She only got halfway through her sentence before suddenly realizing the second half of Duan Jiabao's statement, and was so shocked she couldn't control her voice: "What did you say?"
The sudden increase in volume was exceptionally clear in the oppressive and quiet office area, causing almost everyone to stop what they were doing and turn to look at her.
Jiang Xiaoguo then realized that she had lost her composure. She quickly made an apologetic gesture to the surroundings, covered her phone, and hurriedly walked out of the office area, stopping only when she reached the fire escape.
"Da Bao, is what you just said true? You really found an investor?" Jiang Xiaoguo asked in a low voice, her tone full of urgency and disbelief.
"Of course it's true! Would I lie to you?" Duan Jiabao recounted the story of how he persuaded Lin Bufan with great pride on the other end of the phone, embellishing the details of his "humiliation."
"That's wonderful! Da Bao! You're my lucky star!" After confirming the news, Jiang Xiaoguo was overjoyed: "Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll definitely treat you to a big meal! The most expensive one!"
“Absolutely! Let me tell you, I paid a huge price to…” Duan Jiabao stopped mid-sentence: “Ahem, anyway, remember to send all the project’s business plan, due diligence report, and financial forecasts to my email. Lin Bapi needs to take a look first.”
"Okay, okay, okay!" Jiang Xiaoguo readily agreed, "I'll go find our General Manager Zhou right away and ask him to send you the information as soon as possible!"