The next morning at 8:40.

When Su Cheng arrived at his desk, a cup of coffee was sitting on it.

Sister Lin from the next desk leaned over.

"Brought it for you. Americano. Didn't know what you drink, so I ordered the most basic one."

"Thanks, Sister Lin."

"No problem." She lowered her voice. "Team Leader Liu left pretty early last night. But before he left, he asked where you live. Asked twice, actually."

Su Cheng set the coffee down.

"What did he say?"

"First time, he asked where you live. Second time, he asked—who you usually deal with." Sister Lin glanced around. "I just feel like something's off about him. Do you know anyone?"

"Know who?"

"Fair enough." Sister Lin smiled. "Just asking around. By the way, there's a meeting this morning. Team Leader Liu specifically requested you attend."

"What kind of meeting?"

"Negotiating a partnership with Zhao Group. Major client."

Su Cheng nodded.

Conference room.

Liu Wei sat at the head of the table. Liu Xin and two sales reps sat beside him.

Su Cheng took the seat at the far end.

"Zhao Group arrives at ten," Liu Wei said. "The Young Master, Zhao Rui, is coming to negotiate personally. If we close this deal, our targets for the second half of the year are locked in."

"Team Leader Liu," one of the sales reps spoke up. "Zhao Rui is... not easy to deal with. I heard he's got a temper. Last month he publicly reduced a supplier's manager to tears."

"Rich people all have tempers," Liu Wei said. "It's fine. We'll just prepare accordingly."

"Is he going to demand exclusive rights?" the other sales rep asked.

"Very likely." Liu Wei rubbed between his brows. "But our bottom line is—we can give exclusive rights for the west district. The east district is non-negotiable."

Su Cheng leaned back in his chair. He didn't speak.

Ten o'clock sharp.

The conference room door opened.

A young man in a suit and tie walked in. Leather shoes clicking loudly.

Two assistants followed behind him.

Zhao Rui.

He scanned the room. His gaze lingered on Su Cheng for a second—then moved on.

"Team Leader Liu," Zhao Rui said with a smile, extending his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Mr. Zhao, you flatter me." Liu Wei smiled back. "Please, have a seat."

The negotiation began.

The early part went smoothly enough—price, delivery schedule, payment terms were all roughly agreed upon.

But when it came to exclusive rights, the atmosphere shifted.

"Here's what I mean," Zhao Rui said, leaning back in his chair. "Since we're partnering, I want exclusive authorization for ground promotion in the west district."

"Mr. Zhao, about that..." Liu Wei hesitated. "We're already in talks with two other companies for the west district..."

"Those two?" Zhao Rui smiled. "You mean Shengda and Tianyu? Both of them have cash flow problems. Talking to them is a waste of time."

Liu Xin held his teacup nearby. He didn't respond.

"Exclusive isn't that hard, is it?" Zhao Rui continued. "Give me the west district. Three hundred thousand orders a month. I'm confident. And—I can prepay three months of deposit."

"Prepay?" Liu Wei's eyes lit up.

"That's right. Three months. Money first, work later."

Liu Wei hesitated.

"What, you don't trust me?" Zhao Rui smiled. "Or—do you have a better option?"

Nobody spoke.

Zhao Rui scanned the room. His gaze landed on Su Cheng.

"Who's this?"

"A new intern," Liu Wei said quickly. "Don't mind him, Mr. Zhao."

"An intern?" Zhao Rui smiled. His tone was light. "I thought your company's executive team was quite young."

The remark cast a chill over the room.

Liu Xin lowered his head and took a sip of tea.

Su Cheng didn't respond either.

Zhao Rui stood up. "Fine. Think about the exclusive arrangement. I'll wait three days for an answer."

He tapped a business card on the table.

"Contact my assistant."

At the door, he turned back and looked at Su Cheng.

"Intern—where'd you buy that suit?"

Su Cheng looked down at his clothes.

"Taobao."

Zhao Rui laughed. "Not bad. You've got good taste."

But the smile carried a barb.

Footsteps faded away.

The conference room went quiet.

Liu Wei rubbed his temples. "This is trouble."

"Team Leader," a sales rep said quietly. "Zhao Rui's terms are actually pretty decent..."

"Decent?" Liu Wei's voice rose half a notch. "If we give him exclusive rights, all the ground promotion in the west district ends up in his hands. He can raise prices whenever he wants. We won't even have room to push back."

Su Cheng gathered his notebook. He didn't speak.

But his fingers tapped the desk lightly twice—a steady rhythm.

Twelve o'clock.

Su Cheng was scrolling on his phone at his desk.

An unfamiliar number called in.

He answered.

"Mr. Su Cheng? There's a package for you in the first-floor lobby. Please come sign for it."

"I didn't order anything."

"It's a food delivery. Insulated container. Pretty big."

Su Cheng went downstairs.

A dark blue insulated bag sat at the reception desk. The character "Shen" was printed on it.

He opened it to take a look—

Two tiers of food containers. The top tier held braised pork ribs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and blanched shrimp. The bottom tier held soup.

A sticky note was attached on the side:

"You expect to eat the company cafeteria food? I had our house cook prepare this. — Big Sister"

Su Cheng closed the lid.

He was carrying the insulated bag back to his desk when Liu Xin happened to step out of the break room.

"Brought lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Girlfriend made it?"

"No."

Liu Xin smiled. "Alright. Enjoy."

But as Su Cheng sat down, Liu Xin caught a glimpse of the character on the bag—

The "Shen" character.

Gold-embossed in black. Elegant handwriting.

Liu Xin stood there, teacup in hand.

He stared at the "Shen" character for three seconds.

That Maybach last night—license plate ending in three eights. Only one in the entire city.

Shen Hanyan.

Shen Group.

The "Shen" character on the bag used the exact same font. He'd worked in marketing for years. He was especially sharp when it came to brand logos and typography. He absolutely could not be mistaken.

An intern.

Picked up yesterday by the chairman of Shen Group personally.

Today, receiving an insulated lunch box stamped with "Shen."

—Who comes to work just to clock in?

Liu Xin's grip on his teacup tightened slightly.

Then he turned around, walked back to his office, and closed the door.

Sister Lin leaned over.

"Su Cheng, that lunch box of yours—pretty high-end."

"A gift."

"A gift? From who?" Sister Lin's eyes lit up. "Your second day at work and someone's already delivering meals?"

"Our house cook made it."

"You... have a house cook?" Sister Lin was half-skeptical. "You're a monthly intern. You can afford a house cook?"

"A friend's family."

Sister Lin didn't press further. But on her way back to her desk, she exchanged a glance with Little Wang at the next station.

Neither of them said a word.

1:30 PM. Break room.

Sister Lin walked in with her cup. Little Wang was filling his with water.

"What do you think that Su Cheng really is?" Little Wang lowered his voice.

"No idea." Sister Lin shook her head. "But yesterday I saw a Maybach picking him up downstairs."

"A Maybach?" Little Wang's cup paused mid-air. "You saw it clearly?"

"I was working overtime until eight. Walked down and saw it right there." Sister Lin kept her voice low. "Couldn't make out the plate, but there aren't many in the city. And he's just an intern..."

"Stop guessing." Little Wang said. "Just don't cross him. That's all that matters."

"Like I'd dare cross him." Sister Lin laughed. "I even brought him coffee this morning."

Little Wang sighed. "We've been here three years. Nobody's ever delivered us a meal."

"Some people are just born lucky." Sister Lin walked out with her cup. "Let's drop it. Bad if someone overhears."

Afternoon.

Liu Wei was on the phone in his office. His expression wasn't good.

"Zhao Group changed their mind? Weren't they supposed to give us three days?"

He couldn't make out what the person on the other end said.

"A price hike? Fifteen percent?"

He slammed his phone onto the desk.

"Damn it."

Liu Xin pushed the door open.

"What happened?"

"Zhao Rui changed his tune," Liu Wei said. "Says the exclusive arrangement has to wait for their board meeting. But they want the letter of intent signed first—and with a fifteen percent price increase."

"Isn't that just playing games?"

"They've got money. They play you however they want." Liu Wei rubbed his face. "If this deal falls through, I won't pass my year-end review. Your year-end bonus is on the line too."

Su Cheng stood outside the door.

He didn't knock. He turned and walked back to his desk halfway through the conversation.

But after sitting down, his fingers hovered over his phone screen for a moment.

Fourth Senior Brother was the type who hated being bothered with trivial matters. Last month, a junior brother had asked for his help after getting into a conflict. He'd spent half an hour scolding him. "You can't even handle this kind of crap?"

But the Zhao Rui situation—wasn't trivial.

A Young Master of Zhao Group, backed by an old fox like Zhao Zhenguo. There was no way Su Cheng could dig up anything useful with his intern status at this company.

Su Cheng picked up his phone. Typed four characters. Deleted them. Typed again.

"Fourth Senior Brother, help me look someone up. Zhao Group. Zhao Rui."

He sent it. Then put the phone back in his pocket.

End of Chapter 2: Delivered to Your Door