I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Li Yaheng didn't recognize Zhou Man, but he clearly saw Shi Qingxiang's strange behavior. This made him subconsciously look at Zhou Man, wondering who this woman was that made Shi Qingxiang react so strangely.

"So everyone knows each other."

With Shen Kang's words, Shi Qingxiang finally came to his senses, but he didn't know what to say and his mind was still a little dazed.

Shi Qingxiang remained silent, and Li Yaheng dared not speak either. Naturally, the people Li Yaheng brought were even more afraid to speak, creating a somewhat strange and awkward atmosphere.

Seeing this, Shen Kang smiled and looked at Li Yaheng, saying, "Director Shi, who is this?"

"Ah? Oh." Shi Qingxiang quickly said, "This is President Li Yaheng. President Li, this is President Shen Kang, whom I just told you about."

Li Yaheng had already stood up by then, speaking very enthusiastically, "I just heard from Director Shi that President Shen is still a college student. I didn't quite believe it at the time, but now that I see, hey, it's true! He's really accomplished at such a young age. When I, Old Li, was your age, I was still just hanging around on the streets..."

Li Yaheng and Shen Kang exchanged pleasantries warmly.

Shi Qingxiang then introduced Zhou Man: "This is Zhou Man, the general manager of Shengyuan Group."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Li Yaheng was also a little confused, and he understood why Shi Qingxiang had acted so strangely earlier.

He certainly knew about Shengyuan Group, and judging from Shi Qingxiang's words, this seemed to be the general manager of Shengyuan Group's Qianlin branch. But why was this General Manager Zhou following behind General Manager Shen like a waitress serving drinks?

However, Zhou Man took the initiative to greet him, saying "Hello, President Li." Li Yaheng could only suppress his bewildered feelings and quickly smiled and said, "Hello, President Zhou."

Zhou Man came over wanting to see how Shen Kang would handle the situation; she didn't intend to steal the spotlight. So after the two politely introduced themselves, Zhou Man remained silent, holding a wine bottle and quietly keeping him company.

Shen Kang picked up his wine glass, had Zhou Man pour him some wine, and then raised his glass to Shi Qingxiang: "Director Shi, I was planning to visit you in a couple of days, but it's such a coincidence that we bumped into each other here. It's such a fate! We must have a drink. I'll drink mine, you can drink as you like."

As he spoke, he downed it in one gulp.

Shi Qingxiang also raised his glass, saying, "President Shen is very generous." He then downed his glass in one gulp.

If it were just Shen Kang coming alone, he would have accepted it casually. But Zhou Man followed him like a waitress, silently pouring drinks for Shen Kang. That's when Shi Qingxiang realized that something seemed off about this CEO Shen. Therefore, he dared not be casual.

After drinking with Shi Qingxiang, Shen Kang drank with Li Yaheng, and then with everyone else present. After a few drinks, the atmosphere became more lively, but something still felt off—Zhou, such a high-ranking CEO, was being treated like a waitress by the side. How could it not feel strange?

Shi Qingxiang couldn't possibly ignore Zhou Man, who was standing right next to him, so he took the initiative to offer her a toast, the kind where he'd drink it all and she could do as she pleased. But Zhou Man just smiled and said to let them talk and not to worry about her.

Shi Qingxiang didn't understand what was going on either, but since President Zhou had said so, he figured he might as well do it that way. So he started chatting with Shen Kang.

He had originally planned to bring Shen Kang along to the later activities, and then they could discuss the important matters together. However, given the current situation and the unclear relationship between Zhou Man and Shen Kang, that idea was naturally abandoned. He decided to get down to business for now.

He then immediately brought up the important matter: "...Mr. Shen, didn't you want to take out a loan before? I wonder if it's been finalized yet?"

Upon hearing about the loan, Li Yaheng's ears perked up.

Shen Kang nodded. "We're making some progress. Yangcheng Bank contacted me, and the talks went quite well."

Shi Qingxiang had only intended to start a conversation, but he didn't expect Shen Kang to say that there was progress, and that it specifically involved Yangcheng Bank. This surprised Shi Qingxiang, and his mind began to race.

Shen Kang then changed the subject: "However, I'm still a little unsure whether it will work out with Yangcheng Bank."

After thinking for a moment, Shi Qingxiang said, "Actually, we've discussed the approval process for your company, Mr. Shen, internally again, and we think it's still worth discussing further."

He was already planning to contact Anjia Household Services again to conduct due diligence. If the due diligence went smoothly, he was ready to release the loan.

Now, an unexpected situation has arisen: Anjia Household Services seems to have a delicate relationship with Shengyuan Group, which makes Shi Qingxiang feel even more that the money can be released.

Of course, there's still a lot going on. Shi Qingxiang was completely confused: Did Yangcheng Bank really negotiate with Anjia Household Services? Or was it just a smokescreen released by Shen Kang? The relationship between Anjia Household Services and Shengyuan Group seems quite delicate. Anjia Household Services isn't asking for much, so why isn't Shengyuan Group investing directly? Are there any concerns? ...

However, these things can be looked up and examined slowly later.

In general, Shi Qingxiang still adheres to his previous stance—if Anjia Household Services' due diligence is satisfactory and the risks are controllable, then the loan can be granted.

Hearing Shi Qingxiang's perfectly clear words, Shen Kang exclaimed "Oh?" and smiled, "Then I'll trouble you for a moment and pay you another visit in the next couple of days?"

Shi Qingxiang smiled as well: "Of course, you're welcome."

After exchanging toasts and chatting for a while, Shen Kang and Zhou Man left.

After the two left, Shi Qingxiang and the others sat down again.

Li Yaheng spoke first, starting the conversation with a seemingly trivial question: "Director Shi, isn't this Zhou Man, the General Manager of Shengyuan Group's Qianlin branch, the same one?"

Li Yaheng interpreted Shi Qingxiang's words as meaning exactly that, so his current question was essentially meaningless. However, many topics require such seemingly trivial remarks as a starting point.

But to Li Yaheng's surprise, Shi Qingxiang shook his head, "More than that."

Li Yaheng was taken aback: "More than that?"

Shi Qingxiang countered with a question: "What is the chairman's surname at Shengyuan Group?"

"week."

As soon as he said it, Li Yaheng realized something, paused for a moment, and then looked at Shi Qingxiang.

Shi Qingxiang didn't speak, he just nodded.

Li Yaheng remained silent for a moment, then spoke up: "Then this President Shen Kang..."

If it were just the general manager of Shengyuan Group's Qianlin branch acting as a wine-serving girl, that would be astonishing enough. But now that he knows the other party's identity is far more than that, it's undoubtedly even more astonishing.

Shi Qingxiang shook his head, "I don't know either."

Shen Kang and Zhou Man walked side by side in the corridor.

"Is Anjia going to expand next?" Zhou Man asked.

Shen Kang nodded, "Yes. Conditions are quite favorable in all aspects, and Yangcheng is almost fully developed. Next, we'll focus on intensive cultivation here, while also expanding our land holdings outside."

Zhou Man then asked, "What's the general plan?"

Shen Kang said, "It depends on the funding situation. If the loan can't be secured, then we'll start with one or two cities. If the funding comes through, we'll work on eight or more cities simultaneously."

"Should we get enough staff?"

"We've been selecting talent. All the store managers from several districts in Yangcheng will be transferred out, one for each city. After they leave, their positions will be filled by our subordinates..."

Zhou Man wanted to find out if Shen Kang was ready, so she deliberately slowed down and didn't rush back.

Through the question-and-answer session, Zhou Man became convinced that Shen Kang had indeed made all the necessary preparations.

This made Zhou Man quite gratified, and also somewhat emotional: "On the day you opened, after I called your company's services, I knew your company wouldn't lose money, but I didn't expect it to be so successful so quickly..."

After expressing her feelings, Zhou Man returned to the earlier topic: "From what you were saying, you failed to get a loan from the Construction Bank?"

"Um."

"The timing is really perfect."

Zhou Man, fearing Shen Kang might not know, explained the reason to him: "The government recently announced a four trillion yuan stimulus package, one part of which is to loosen restrictions on commercial bank lending. I reckon they also have new lending targets and urgently need high-quality companies to lend to help them meet those targets, which is why they're willing to reconsider your loan..."

Shen Kang had guessed it too.

He knew about the four trillion yuan stimulus plan, but for him before, it was just a grand concept. Today, he personally experienced what it meant for "a grain of sand in the era to become a mountain on a person."

Even though he's no longer an ordinary person, he's still so insignificant in the face of this power of the times, easily affected...

"So, you're pretty lucky, kid," Zhou Man concluded.

Shen Kang snapped out of his daze, somewhat unconvinced. "What do you mean by 'good luck'? Even without the loan, I could have found a way. For example, I could have asked President Zhou for a two million to spend. Would you have refused?"

Zhou Man rolled her eyes at him and sneered, "Why should I lend you money? You still haven't paid back that 700,000!"

Shen Kang chuckled: "Isn't the repayment date for that 700,000 still pending?...

Zhou Man said she wouldn't lend the money, but she knew in her heart that if Shen Kang really asked her for a loan, she would most likely lend it to him. However, Shen Kang wouldn't ask, which she could tell from the fact that she only found out today that An Family Housekeeping was short of money.

The two bickered all the way to the private room.

At the same time, the 12th floor of an office building in Wutai District was an office area.

Most of the lights were off, except for one room with a sign that read "Manager's Office," where the light was still on.

The door to the room was open.

A rather pretty woman, seemingly about to leave work, stopped near the room and peered inside.

In the room, behind the office, sat a man who was not yet thirty. Although he was not handsome, his features were quite resolute and he had a certain masculine charm.

The man looked haggard, his hair was a bit messy, and he was smoking heavily.