The Subtle Seduction of My Ex-Girlfriend’s Aunt - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Stop Jumping Around in Front of Me and Disgusting Me

After Tang Ran handled some routine documents, General Manager Yu from the Marketing Department came to find her.

GM Yu had graduated from an ordinary university, and her academic background was not particularly outstanding among Tang’s management. Her ability to rise from a minor clerk to the General Manager of Marketing was due not only to her excellent business skills but also to her exceptional “eye for the game” regarding social navigation and human nature.

As the only child of Lin Jixin and Tang Wanru, Tang Ran was undoubtedly the future heir of the Tang family business. Regarding the fact that the young boss had been assigned to the Marketing Department as a nominal Vice President, GM Yu was certain that Tang Ran was just there to “grind mobs and level up” to gain experience.

From Tang Ran’s first day at work, GM Yu had assigned her a highly capable young assistant and allowed her to participate in negotiation projects with key clients. GM Yu had set her heart on being the “loyal minister assisting the regent,” but alas, the “Crown Princess” seemed to have no interest in state affairs. Frustrated, GM Yu had eventually let the idea rest.

However, she recently noticed that Tang Ran was acting out of character and showing signs of diligence again. GM Yu’s desire to “ascend with the dragon” was rekindled.

In the afternoon, the Jiangcheng Convention and Exhibition Center was holding its annual catering service bidding meeting, and Tang’s was participating. For this, GM Yu had attended dozens of exhibitions in a row, conducted thorough field research, and worked with the R&D department to customize business sets suitable for different types of exhibitions.

She was confident they could win this bid, so she planned to take Tang Ran along to “brush up” on some experience. Tang Ran, intending to become more familiar with the company’s business, naturally did not refuse.

At the Bidding Site.

The bidding was divided into two rounds: the first was a dish and food evaluation, and the second was the bidding price.

There were five companies participating in the bid. Among the other four, one was from out of town and two were small-scale fast-food companies; none of them were very competitive. Except for one, which Tang’s was quite wary of.

The wariness wasn’t because the opponent was strong, but because that company was shameless.

With China’s opening and development, Jiangcheng’s light industry had grown stronger day by day, and people’s material lives had improved. Food companies sprouted up like bamboo shoots after rain, and Shengtang Food was one of them.

Shengtang was a food company newly established by the Sun family ten years ago. Basically, 80% of its business overlapped with the Tang family’s. Looking at the name “Shengtang” (Prosperous Tang), their ambition was as clear as the day. In the last two years, Shengtang had expanded rapidly, and its factory scale was showing a trend of surpassing Tang’s.

It was Murphy’s Law: the more you hate someone, the more frequently they appear before you. Just as they entered the venue, Tang Ran and her team bumped into the people from Shengtang. The two groups were at each other’s throats right from the entrance.

The leader of Shengtang was Sun Jiaojiao. She didn’t get along with Tang Ran; acting as if she hadn’t even seen Tang Ran, she walked past with her chin held high. Tang Ran treated her as air in return.

“GM Yu, is it because you know your bidding proposal is too trash that you want to use a ‘honey trap’?”

The person speaking was Huang Hui, the Marketing Director following behind Sun Jiaojiao. As he spoke, he sized Tang Ran up with ill intent and a lewd expression. He didn’t recognize Tang Ran and assumed she was just an ordinary employee of Tang’s.

Tang Ran was speechless. When Sun Jiaojiao was a student, she used to form cliques and bully classmates. She never did the dirty work herself, only inciting her lackey sisters to act—she was extremely insidious. To think that after starting work, she still liked to keep “dogs.”

“Director Huang, your mouth is spraying filth at high noon; did you eat laxatives for lunch at Shengtang?”

Before Tang Ran could speak, GM Yu shot back directly. Several staff members passing by couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“You stinking—” Huang Hui pointed at GM Yu, ready to curse, but he swallowed his words when he saw the assistant beside GM Yu holding up a phone.

Last time he cursed at GM Yu, he was filmed. GM Yu called the police, and he received an administrative penalty and had to apologize in person.

“I won’t lower myself to the level of women,” Huang Hui sneered, withdrawing his hand. “Let’s see if you can still laugh in a moment.” Leaving behind a harsh word, he led his people away.

GM Yu frowned, a bad premonition rising in her heart.

“Is something wrong?” Tang Ran asked.

“This man must have tampered with something.” Within the last year, Shengtang had poached several of Tang’s clients both openly and in the shadows.

Half an hour later, GM Yu’s bad premonition came true.

During the first round of dish evaluation, 80% of Shengtang’s sets were similar to Tang’s. Many of the sets for this bid were specially designed by the R&D department; for such a situation to occur, the most likely possibility was that someone inside Tang’s had leaked the information.

By the second round of opening bids, GM Yu could already predict that Shengtang’s quote would be lower than Tang’s. Things were exactly as she expected: Shengtang’s total bid price was lower than Tang’s by 438 yuan.

438.

The insulting intent was self-evident. When Shengtang was announced as the winner, Huang Hui deliberately shot a mocking smile at GM Yu.

“Not only was the base bid leaked, but Huang Hui also bribed Director Yu of the Convention Center.”

Walking out of the bidding room, GM Yu’s face was ashen as she told Tang Ran the latest news she had received. Seeing Huang Hui’s “certain-to-win” look earlier, GM Yu felt something was fishy. She asked around and indeed found out that Huang Hui and Director Yu had played golf together last weekend.

“Shengtang made preparations on two fronts.” Even if Tang’s price had been lower, the review committee led by Director Yu would have given high scores elsewhere to ensure Shengtang won.

Tang Ran thought for a moment and said, “Can we find evidence?” If they could find evidence of Huang Hui bribing Director Yu, Shengtang’s bid would be voided.

“Difficult,” GM Yu shook her head. She said it was difficult, but she hadn’t given up. “I’ll have someone look into it further.”

Coming down from the second floor of the convention center, Tang Ran went to the restroom. Passing by the Area 1 exhibition hall, quite a few people were standing outside. Tang Ran took a casual glance; the ladies were in evening gowns and the men in sharp suits. It seemed a high-end salon was being held.

Coming out of the restroom, Tang Ran immediately saw Sun Jiaojiao touching up her makeup by the sink. But that pretentious look—touching up her makeup was a lie; waiting for Tang Ran was the truth.

Tang Ran wondered if she had accidentally desecrated the Sun family’s ancestral grave at some point, which is why the Sun sisters kept targeting her and taking turns to disgust her.

Sun Jiaojiao was there specifically to see Tang Ran make a fool of herself. She observed Tang Ran through the mirror, but even after Tang Ran finished washing her hands, she didn’t see any expression of anger or resentment on her face.

Seeing Tang Ran pull out a paper towel to leave, Sun Jiaojiao couldn’t hold back anymore and said in a triumphant tone, “Tang’s will never beat Shengtang.”

Tang Ran lifted her eyelids, her tone full of disdain. “Winning by secretly bribing the review committee… Sun Jiaojiao, after all these years, you still only know how to use these underhanded, filthy methods.”

This sentence directly enraged Sun Jiaojiao. “Tang Ran, stop talking nonsense here!”

“Whether I’m talking nonsense, you know very well in your heart!”

“Sun Jiaojiao, since you like Song Wuqi, if you have the ability, go climb into his bed. If you manage to climb in, I’ll give him to you as a gift.” Tang Ran threw the used paper towel into the trash can and gave her a contemptuous look. “Stop jumping around in front of me and disgusting me.”

Sun Jiaojiao’s face changed colors repeatedly. She did like Song Wuqi, but she had never shown it openly; how did Tang Ran know? Could it be that Tang Ran knew she helped Song Wuqi investigate Ning Hao?

Tang Ran didn’t care about her reaction. Having finished speaking, she pulled the door and stepped out.

Just as one foot crossed the threshold, she came face to face with a pair of familiar eyes.

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