Chapter Thirty-Three: An Invitation from Shen Qingqiang

“Yes, yes, of course, Mr. Su, my apologies—this is exactly the second thing I wanted to discuss with you. I’ve already reserved a private room at the Marriott Hotel for tonight. I was hoping you and your wife could honor us with your presence, so we could talk in detail about our potential collaboration. Would that be possible?”

“Oh, and I’m planning to invite some colleagues from the industry as well. They all have considerable demand for waterproofing products. I’ll introduce them to you and your wife, and from now on, we’ll all work exclusively with Haoyuan Trading!”

Sensing Su Zheng’s impatience, Shen Qingqiang hurried to clarify his intentions.

“Wait for my confirmation. I can’t say for sure what time I’ll be free tonight,” Su Zheng replied and hung up the phone.

When Chen Muxue finally came in from her errands outside, Su Zheng told her what had happened. At first, Chen Muxue was surprised, then deeply suspicious of Shen Qingqiang’s motives; but upon hearing that he would introduce her to a number of industry leaders, she was instantly moved.

Waterproofing products were but a tiny branch within the construction materials industry—a negligible part of any major project. This meant that to truly grow the company, one had to accumulate as many contacts as possible, constantly seeking collaboration with various construction projects to boost performance.

Now, with such a rare opportunity to meet a group of top players, Chen Muxue wasn’t about to let it slip by. In the end, she nodded and agreed.

Naturally, Su Zheng also hoped Chen Muxue would attend the dinner. He texted Shen Qingqiang to confirm they’d be there that evening.

After work, Su Zheng and Chen Muxue drove straight to the Marriott Hotel. When they entered the private room, they found Shen Qingqiang hadn’t arrived yet, but several people were already seated.

Men and women alike, none younger than forty or fifty, each impeccably dressed, radiating the commanding presence of successful individuals.

When Su Zheng and Chen Muxue entered, many of them were visibly taken aback.

They all knew each other—stalwarts of Qingyang’s real estate industry. Anyone present tonight was someone of standing. But seeing Su Zheng and Chen Muxue, they realized these two were complete strangers—especially Su Zheng, who wore simple casual clothes, and Chen Muxue, whose expression betrayed a faint sense of inferiority. Instantly, the crowd’s gazes sharpened with scrutiny.

“What are you doing here? Did you get the wrong room?” a fat man with a gold chain around his neck snapped impatiently.

The others, though silent, looked equally displeased.

Were it not for Chen Muxue’s lovely face catching their attention, they would have already called someone to throw them out.

Su Zheng remained composed, unfazed by their scrutiny. On the contrary, he calmly took Chen Muxue’s hand and the two sat down.

“Hey, who told you to sit? What are you doing here? Do you even know what kind of gathering this is?” Another man tossed aside his lighter and barked coldly.

Chen Muxue felt uneasy at their words and quickly tried to explain, “Hello, I’m Chen Muxue from Haoyuan Trading. President Shen Qingqiang invited me here to discuss a business deal.”

“Haoyuan Trading? Here to do business? Ha! That’s a good one.”

“Please, can’t you even come up with a convincing lie? You think Shen Qingqiang would bring you here for a deal? Are you out of your mind?”

“Looks like Old Shen’s down on his luck, working with a nobody company like this.”

“Enough, we won’t make a fuss about you barging in, but leave now while you still can.”

The room buzzed with cold dismissal—none of them took Haoyuan Trading seriously.

Su Zheng’s expression darkened. He was about to retort when Chen Muxue gripped his arm tightly to stop him.

“Very well, we won’t disturb your dinner. Here’s my contact information. I hope there will be opportunities to work together in the future. Rest assured, our company will always provide the best quality products and offer our utmost sincerity in pricing.” Chen Muxue, enduring their scornful looks, maintained her smile. She stood and took out her business cards, intent on distributing them.

But no one reached for a card. Clearly, they’d encountered too many like her—self-promoters—and had nothing but disdain and resistance in their hearts.

Yet, Chen Muxue refused to give up. This was a rare chance to meet her target clients; she didn’t want to waste it. Smiling still, she placed a business card in front of each person on the table. Only then did she apologize, “Sorry to trouble you all. I hope we might work together someday. We’ll take our leave now.”

With that, she signaled to Su Zheng to go.

A bitter feeling welled up in Su Zheng. For the first time, he witnessed firsthand just how hard Chen Muxue had to fight in the outside world.

All for the company’s performance, she had to swallow the coldness and disdain of clients, all the while maintaining a polite smile.

No doubt, such situations had happened to her many times before.

Back then, Su Zheng hadn’t known nor could he have helped; he’d even doubted Chen Muxue’s loyalty to him.

He stood and swept his gaze around the room, about to speak when the door to the private room swung open and Shen Qingqiang rushed in, panting.

“Mr. Su… my apologies for being late!” He immediately bowed to Su Zheng and Chen Muxue and gestured for them to sit, greeting the others with a smile.

“Shen, what’s the meaning of this? You invite us all here just to watch you sign a contract with Haoyuan Trading?”

“Exactly. If you’ve got business to attend to, we won’t get in your way. I’ll be off.”

“Same here. What is this nonsense?”

The group, full of self-importance, clearly had no intention of staying—feeling that merely sitting with people from Haoyuan Trading was beneath them.

“Gentlemen, hear me out, won’t you? Why the rush? I’m telling you, whoever leaves now will regret it. I, Shen Qingqiang, keep my word!” Shen Qingqiang said anxiously, then gestured respectfully toward Su Zheng. “You may not know him yet. Let me introduce you: this is Su Zheng, the youngest and most accomplished doctor in Qingyang—a master of medicine that even the city’s top figures struggle to meet. Consider yourselves fortunate to make his acquaintance today. You have only me to thank for it, ha ha…”

Shen Qingqiang beamed, but he didn’t mention Su Zheng’s connection to Qiao Lan. As a businessman, he knew when to keep things subtle; there was no need to spell everything out. Besides, this dinner had been arranged at Qiao Lan’s suggestion—to apologize and show sincerity to Su Zheng. Until she arrived, he dared not say too much.

“And this lady beside him is Mr. Su’s wife, President Chen of Haoyuan Trading. Let’s all get to know each other,” Shen Qingqiang added, hurriedly ushering Su Zheng and Chen Muxue to their seats and signaling the others to introduce themselves.

But the others only looked at Su Zheng with strange expressions, making no move to greet him.

In their eyes, Shen Qingqiang’s words were pure exaggeration—a “miracle doctor”? Someone so young? Had he even finished learning the basics of Chinese medicine? Claiming to be a master—wasn’t he just a fraud?