I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Two attendants skillfully flanked him, one massaging his shoulders, the other bringing a cup to his lips. Li Jing'an glanced at them sideways—exquisite makeup, perfect smiles. He was sick of these kinds of women these past two days; the same expressions, the same movements, the same calls, like they were all cut from the same mold.

He frowned and waved his hand impatiently: "Go away, go away, no need."

The smiles on the two attendants' faces froze. They looked at each other, wondering what they had done to offend this distinguished guest. The air in the private room instantly turned cold, and the lively laughter and chatter abruptly ceased. Everyone stared at Li Jing'an, then stole glances at President Guhe's expression.

President Furukawa's face darkened visibly. He jumped to his feet, walked to the nearest attendant, and swung his arm—"Slap!"

A resounding slap landed on the girl's face. She cried out in surprise, staggered a couple of steps while covering her face, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to her knees with a thud, tears streaming down her face: "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

The other attendant turned pale with fright, bent his knees and knelt down as well, trembling like a leaf.

Furukawa, his face ashen, pointed at the two girls kneeling on the ground, his mouth flying as he roared in Japanese, spitting almost onto their faces. He grew more and more agitated as he spoke, raising his hand again.

"Alright!" Li Jing'an frowned, raising his hand to stop him. "What the hell are you putting on an act for? Are you trying to fool me?"

Upon hearing Nozawa's translation, Furukawa's hand froze in mid-air, and he turned to look at Li Jing'an.

"I'm just tired, it's none of their business." Li Jing'an said coldly, then gestured with his chin toward Nozawa. "Nozawa, translate for him."

Nozawa quickly and respectfully translated the words into Japanese. After listening, Furukawa's expression changed several times. He immediately lowered his arms, bowed deeply to Li Jing'an, his forehead almost touching his knees. He straightened up, bowed again, and mumbled a long string of words in Japanese, his expression sincere, while repeatedly patting his chest.

"What did he say?" Li Jing'an picked up his wine glass and swirled it.

Nozawa translated: "The president said that he's not usually like this; he's always had a very good temper. He was just worried that they might neglect Minister Li, and he got a little carried away. Please forgive him."

Li Jing'an glanced at Gu He's perpetually hunched back, gave a soft snort, slowly sipped the wine in his glass, and then said unhurriedly, "It's all just a damn facade. Get up, you're not a kid anymore."

Guhe straightened up, his face beaming with a smile again, nodding and bowing repeatedly.

Li Jing'an put down his cup, his gaze casually sweeping across the crowd before landing on Kawabata Yoko next to Nozawa. His eyes lit up. Oh, there's a fresh female employee here. Time to change things up.

"President Furukawa, our inspection team has conducted a comprehensive inspection of your company's equipment over the past two days." Li Jing'an put down his teacup and spoke slowly, his gaze sweeping across Furukawa's face. "The preliminary assessment results are quite satisfactory, basically meeting our requirements."

He paused, then tapped the table twice with his fingers: "The fact that I'm sitting here today means you all know—I'm definitely optimistic about your company."

Before the words were even finished, the faces of the Furukawa executives were visibly flushed. Some sat bolt upright, others unconsciously gripped their trousers at their knees, and several pairs of eyes were fixed on Li Jing'an's face, as if afraid to miss a single word he uttered. The president of Furukawa himself was even more flushed, his lips trembled slightly, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably, like a string stretched to its limit.

Seeing this, Li Jing'an quickly waved his hand and added half-jokingly, "Don't get excited, don't let this get out of hand. Let's sit down again tomorrow and go over the details and pricing one by one. If it meets our expectations—"

He deliberately drew out the last syllable, glanced at the faces across from him that were holding their breath, and then slowly uttered the second half of his sentence: "Then I can tell you with certainty—Furukawa is the target of our Dongda University's procurement this time. And as long as the cooperation goes smoothly, you will be our priority choice in the future."

The moment Nozawa's translation finished, Furukawa jumped up from the sofa, walked around the coffee table, and bowed deeply to Li Jing'an, his waist almost folded in half, his forehead nearly touching his knees. The executives behind him also stood up in unison and bowed, their mumbled Japanese flowing out like a floodgate, some with tears welling up in their eyes.

Li Jing'an gestured for them to sit down, then took a sip of his tea. Once they had calmed down a bit, he slowly turned his gaze to Ye Ze.

"But President Furukawa—" He tilted his head, "we were able to make contact this time thanks to this Nozawa. That kid's good. I think he's good."

He pointed at Nozawa, his tone filled with undisguised admiration: "He's intelligent, adaptable, and clever. To be able to break through the encirclement of Sumitomo and Komatsu, bypassing so many obstacles to get in touch with me—this kid's something else. Don't mistreat him; he's a talent."

Following his gaze, Furukawa immediately understood. He turned to Li Jing'an and rattled off a string of Japanese, then pointed to Nozawa. Nozawa translated, "The president said I'm a top student from Tokyo University and a key talent the company is grooming. He appointed me as the liaison this time because of my outstanding abilities; he's always had high hopes for me."

Nozawa also bowed deeply: "Thank you for your trust, Minister Li, and thank you for your guidance, President!"

"Hmm." Li Jing'an's smile deepened as he looked at Kawabata Yoko. "Of course, and this young lady too, we can't forget her. Come, come—" He patted the empty space between himself and Nozawa. "Come on over here. We've met a few times, but we haven't really had a proper chat yet."

Yoko froze, unsure whether to stand up or remain seated. She looked at Nozawa in a flustered manner, then at President Furukawa.

President Furukawa stared intently at her, his lips moving silently—the shape clearly spelling "past." Yoko turned to Nozawa for help, her eyes slightly reddening. Nozawa's lips trembled a few times, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he ultimately uttered not a word.

Finally, Yoko bit her lip, lowered her head, and slowly moved to sit down next to Li Jing'an. Nozawa silently moved away to make room for her.

As soon as Yoko sat down, Li Jing'an's large hand naturally landed on her leg, his fingers slightly curled up.

Yoko shuddered, pulling her legs away from Nozawa as if burned, and reaching down to try and shove his hand away. But Li Jing'an's fingers were tightly clenched, and she couldn't break free. He then turned and leaned closer to her, his breath reeking of alcohol, his lips almost touching her ear: "What...don't you want to have a drink with me?"

"Minister...please don't do this..." Yoko's voice trembled as she gently pushed Li Jing'an's wrist away, desperately trying to lean to the side.

Nozawa opened his mouth, as if to say something.

Just then, Li Jing'an suddenly withdrew his hand, leaned back, and the smile on his face vanished completely, replaced by a cold expression. He tilted his head and looked at Kawabata Yoko for a while, then slowly turned to Furukawa, his tone chilling: "It seems your company's employees aren't very interested in this order."

Seeing Li Jing'an's gloomy face and his actions, President Guhe's smile froze.

"Then I have to reconsider." Li Jing'an picked up his wine glass, twirling it between his fingers, his gaze sweeping coldly over the entire room above the rim of the glass.