Xie Qingying looked at her watch. It was almost time for lunch. She smiled and nodded. "There's no need for afternoon tea. I'm about to go for lunch. How about we have a lunch date?"
Gu Nianzhi quickly agreed. "Then where are we going to eat?"
"Where are you now?" Xie Qingying tidied up her desk and picked up her bag. She gave a few instructions to the secretary at the door and walked out of her office.
Gu Nianzhi said, "I don't have anything to do now, so I'm more free. I picked a Hong Kong hotel near you. I heard that the lunch and work meals there are good. It's suitable for a media upstart like you."
Xie Qingying walked to the elevator, her high heels clacking in the corridor. "Cousin Nianzhi, you really know how to talk. I can't afford to be a nouveau riche, but this is a place I often go to. The lunch there is very good."
She immediately nodded and agreed. "I'll be there in five minutes."
Gu Nianzhi smiled and said, "You don't have to be so early. I might be a little late, about 15 minutes."
"Okay then, I'll go and reserve a seat to order first. That place is very popular at noon. "As Xie Qingying spoke, she called the waiter she was familiar with and booked two seats.
When she went down from the 18th floor, there were two men in suits and leather shoes in the elevator.
Xie Qingying didn't mind. She looked down at her phone and said to Gu Nianzhi, "I only have an hour for lunch at noon. Is that enough?"
She knew very well that Gu Nianzhi wouldn't come to her for no reason. She must have something to talk to her about today.
Gu Nianzhi felt that it was enough. If they could come to an agreement, ten minutes would be enough.
If they couldn't, it would be useless to drag Xie Qingying around 24 hours a day.
She nodded and said, "Okay, no problem."
Gu Nianzhi took the car keys and packed her things to go out. She sent a text message to Lu Yuan and Lu Jin saying that she had asked Xie Qingying out for dinner.
Lu Yuan and Lu Jin looked at each other and smiled.
This little girl still said she wasn't a foodie!
Lu Jin turned on another screen.
A detailed map of the imperial capital appeared on the screen.
A red dot the size of a pin appeared on the screen. Gu Nianzhi's cute face was on the red dot.
Lu Jin looked at the face and smiled in satisfaction.
Lu Yuan's lips twitched. "This is the imperial capital. You don't have to be so nervous. Even if we don't make a move, why do you think we're weak? "
Lu Jin thought for a moment. "He's him, and I'm me. I can't put all my hopes of protecting my daughter on someone else."
Lu Yuan glared at him. "… Then don't look for me when something happens."
Lu Jin said without hesitation, "You're not someone else. Nianzhi didn't call you 'uncle' for nothing."
It was rare for Lu Yuan not to retort. Instead, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, revealing a warm and serious smile.
…
Gu Nianzhi took the car from the underground parking lot and stepped on the gas pedal. She quickly left the apartment complex and headed in the direction of the hotel in Hong Kong.
At noon, there weren't many cars on the road.
She was lucky. The traffic lights were green all the way. Soon, she arrived at the front desk of the Hong Kong Island Hotel.
Gu Nianzhi said that she was looking for "Miss Xie" to make a reservation. The receptionist quickly led her to Xie Qingying's table.
The Hong Kong Hotel was indeed very popular, especially for lunch, which was basically full.
It seemed that Xie Qingying had a very good relationship with this hotel, so she was able to book two excellent seats in such a short period of time.
The corner of the hall faced a glass window, but it was surrounded by a small and elegant bamboo screen, which allowed for relative privacy.
Seeing that Gu Nianzhi had arrived, Xie Qingying smiled and waved at her. "This way."
Gu Nianzhi also waved and walked over quickly. "Cousin Xie, you've been waiting for a long time, haven't you?"
"I'm fine." Xie Qingying smiled and handed the menu to her. "The Luohan Zhai here is very famous. It has shiitake mushrooms and fungus from the northeast, mushrooms from Inner Mongolia, hollandaise beans from Thailand, and celery from the Mediterranean. The ingredients are especially fresh. They're flown in every day, and the supply is very small. I made the decision to order one for you. What other dishes would you like to order? "
Gu Nianzhi heard Xie Qingying's words and realized that she was also a foodie. She smiled and listened to her suggestion. "The Luohan Zhai is fine. I just had an early lunch, so I'm not very hungry yet."
Xie Qingying replied, "Oh, you can have a good rest now."
Gu Nianzhi nodded.
Soon, the Luohan Zhai was ready and served.
Gu Nianzhi only took one bite and knew that her trip was worth it.
The Luohan Zhai was a vegetarian dish, but it tasted especially delicious. It probably had something to do with the hotel's careful selection of ingredients.
Gu Nianzhi finished half of the plate of Luohan vegetarian dishes and took a sip of water before putting down her chopsticks and getting to the point. "Cousin Xie, I came to look for you today because I wanted to ask you about the Lu Corporation and the Qin Corporation's Private Hospital. Are you sure there's nothing wrong with this information?"
Xie Qingying smiled. "How can there be nothing wrong with it? Is there a pure and flawless expose in this world? "
She took a tissue from the dining table and pursed her lips. She picked up her grape juice and took a sip. She said, "Nianzhi, you're a lawyer. Don't you think your question is very unprofessional?"
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips. "I'm not in the new media business. My profession isn't in this."
"Okay, I was wrong." Xie Qingying held her grape juice like she was holding a glass of red wine. She leaned back in her seat elegantly. The noon sun shone in through the window, and one could see the shadow of her straight nose on her cheek.
Her nose was very similar to Gu Nianzhi's.
They were both the noses of the Gu family.
Gu Nianzhi shrugged nonchalantly and continued to ask, "You knew there was a problem, but you still exposed it. What do you mean?"
Xie Qingying put down the grape juice and clasped her hands on the small dining table. She looked at Gu Nianzhi and said slowly, "First of all, there's nothing wrong with this person's expose. What's wrong is his motive. "
"Second of all, as a new media practitioner, seizing on hot news is our foundation. Do you think I can let go of such news? "
"But you knew there was something wrong with his motive, yet you still exposed his expose?!" Gu Nianzhi was even more confused. "Aren't you worried that Young Master He and General He won't be happy?"
Xie Qingying raised an eyebrow. "There are two parties involved in this expose. One is the Qin Private Hospital Group, and the other is the Lu Corporation."
"As a listed company, the Qin Private Hospital Group is an independent economic legal person. It's different from Qin Baye, who's a major shareholder, and Qin Yaoguang, who was once the director of the group."
"And the Lu Corporation has nothing to do with the He family at all."
"Besides, Young Master He and General He aren't people who can't distinguish between public and private interests. Qin Baye and Qin Yaoguang are the ones who have a grudge with them, not the Qin Private Hospital Group. "
"So why are they unhappy because of this expose?"
Gu Nianzhi smiled bitterly in her heart.
Of course she knew, that's why she kept insisting that the Lu Corporation was her big client.
Xie Qingying didn't let her go. She continued to ask, "Nianzhi, I really don't understand. Is it really because the Lu Corporation is the major shareholder of your law firm that you care so much about?"
"… But this news will divert the current hot news and make everyone sympathize with the Qin Private Hospital." Gu Nianzhi could only explain it this way. "It's not like you don't know why I worked so hard to fight the lawsuit for Qin Suwen, right?"
Xie Qingying said aloofly, "Even without this news, how long do you think the previous hot news would last? People's memories are always short. The online society itself is made up of wave after wave of hot news. If I don't expose it, others will. You don't think I can hide the truth with one hand, do you? "
Was it easy for her new media company to grow from nothing to its current scale?
Most of the time, she was walking a tightrope. She had to strive for truth in the report, but she had to be extremely effective and attract people's attention.
If she didn't expose the other party, someone else would naturally take over. At that time, watching someone else's company develop rapidly, would she be willing to be squeezed out?
"Yes, the hot news will eventually pass. I don't expect the heat brought about by the public trial to last forever." Gu Nianzhi tried her best to persuade Xie Qingying. "But I didn't expect the first person to stand up and change the hot news to be you."
"Yes, the Lu Corporation has nothing to do with the He family, but what about the Qin Private Hospital?"
"There's nothing wrong with the Qin Private Hospital itself. It has the status of an independent economic legal person, but it's the backing of Qin Yaoguang and Qin Baye. Do you really think that a human's feelings and likes can be as clear as a robot's?"
Gu Nianzhi was just short of saying that He Chengjian wouldn't "distinguish between public and private" for anything related to He Zhichu and Qin Suwen..
Xie Qingying naturally didn't know the He father and son as well as Gu Nianzhi did.
She understood what Gu Nianzhi was implying. After a moment of silence, she said, "I understand what you mean, but this is my job. I didn't mean to change the hot topic. I just saw a new hot topic appear, so I quickly grabbed its tail. This is already a professional instinct for me. "
Xie Qingying looked up at Gu Nianzhi and continued, "Just like how you can catch any loophole in the other party's case in court, I'm also naturally good at catching hot topics in my own field. Even if this hot topic might have some adverse effects on me, to me, catching it first is more important than anything else. "
"As for the consequences in the future, that's something to consider in the future."
Just like this time, she had caught this hot topic because the Qin Private Hospital Group was involved. She knew that not only would she be able to ride on the popularity of the world's live broadcast of the trial, but she would also be able to greatly increase her company's performance.
In fact, her company had been increasing its fans recently. It was about to break through the ten million mark and enter the hundred million fan club.
From the looks of it, she already had the capital and scale to compete with the traditional media.
She couldn't, and she didn't want to give up this opportunity.
When Xie Qingying said this, Gu Nianzhi had a good impression of her.
She knew very well that she wasn't the same kind of person as Xie Qingying, and she didn't like her, but that didn't stop her from appreciating her professionalism.
Just like her, this woman viewed her career as very important.
"… But what if your actions affect your marriage to the He family?" Gu Nianzhi asked with a smile. She wanted to know if Xie Qingying had thought through the consequences of this matter.
Xie Qingying looked away and looked out the window at the street view. After a while, she said, "… I don't know. I don't even know if I'll regret it in the future, but right now, I don't."
"It's good that you've thought it through." Gu Nianzhi stood up and waved for the waiter to come over. She handed her credit card to him. "Bill, thank you."
The waiter took her credit card to pay the bill.
After the waiter returned her credit card, Gu Nianzhi asked Xie Qingying with a smile, "Can you send me the information you received? I'm talking about the original information, not the headlines you wrote later. "
Xie Qingying hesitated for a moment and said, "The other party sent the package by express delivery, not by email. I scanned the entire information. Do you want a copy of the scan? "
Gu Nianzhi's eyes lit up. "It's actually a package by express delivery? That's great. Can I see the original? "
"Sure," Xie Qingying replied readily. "My company isn't far from here. Do you want to go?"
"Sure, I haven't been to cousin Xie's company yet." Gu Nianzhi said with a smile. She picked up her small bag and followed Xie Qingying out of the Hong Kong Island Hotel.
※ ※ ※
This was the first update of the day: Chapter 1900, "You Don't Go to the Temple for No Reason".
A reminder for monthly votes and recommendation votes ~ ~ ~
Today was the third update.
The second update would be at one in the afternoon.
There would be the third update at eight in the evening.
PS: Thank you to "Wu Ai Tang" for the 20,000 Qidian coins yesterday and the day before. Thank you to "Old Z 2" for the 10,000 Qidian coins yesterday.
Muah, everyone, little angels ~ ~ ~
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