In the study of the Zhou family villa in Kyoto, late at night.
Zhou Quan sat on his chair, his gaze calmly sweeping over the man before him.
The man was dressed in loose short sleeves and baggy floral shorts. He was unremarkable, the only thing that drew attention being the wooden clogs he wore on his feet.
"Mr. Zhou, won't you reconsider?"
"Cooperating with our Kawada family, with the powerful Shinobi Corps as your backing, the Zhou family's future will surely be incredibly brilliant!"
The man was none other than Amagi Kojiro, sent by the Kawada family to establish contact and cooperation with the Zhou family.
He had just learned about some of the situation in Kyoto.
Not long ago, the Zhou family, in conjunction with the Song and Xia families, sought revenge against Ye Cangtian. They later failed and fell out with the Song and Xia families.
The matter of retaliating against Ye Cangtian was thus dropped.
But he didn't believe that Zhou Quan harbored no resentment, and therefore proposed cooperation to Zhou Quan.
It was just that this old man, Zhou Quan, seemed stubborn and refused very decisively.
Who was Zhou Quan?
He was the son-in-law of the Bai family, and the Bai family was one of the Four Great Families of Kyoto, holding a special position in China. Therefore, he absolutely dared not collude with foreign powers.
Once any slip-up occurred on his part, the Bai family would surely not let him off.
"Iron Fist, see our guest out!"
Zhou Quan's expression was blank, and his reply was still concise.
Not to mention anything else, Ye Cangtian still held a trump card against him; how could he dare to make any rash moves!
"Mr. Zhou, our offer is always valid. Farewell!"
Seeing that Tie Quan, standing beside Zhou Quan, had already walked up coldly, Amagi Kojiro forced an awkward smile, bowed, and turned to leave.
...
The next morning.
Tang Xinwan and Ye Cangtian's figures appeared at the Kyoto branch company.
The two had arrived in Kyoto the previous night, but it was late, so they returned to the villa.
Tang Xinwan was decisive and efficient. She directly approached Murong Yu, briefly explained her purpose for being there, and then asked Murong Yu to arrange meetings with the heads of the Song and Xia families.
After all, Tang Xinwan was not familiar with the current situation in Kyoto, and coupled with the existing conflict with the Song and Xia families, she truly did not have the contact information of the heads of the two families.
In this regard, she could only rely on Murong Yu, as Murong Yu at least had some connections in Kyoto.
Ten minutes later, Murong Yu returned to Tang Xinwan's side with a cold expression and said, "Chairman, they said they are not familiar with you and do not wish to meet you."
"They also said... if the Chairman sincerely wishes to meet them, then personally call and request an invitation..."
"Hmm?"
Tang Xinwan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. The two families had injected 40% of the shares, which was an astronomical sum.
Tang Xinwan had not expected that they would refuse even concerning financial matters.
However, she could understand their attitude, as the conflict between the two sides was quite deep.
Tang Xinwan felt a headache coming on. With this kind of attitude, even if they met, it would probably be difficult to negotiate.
Moreover, asking her to personally call and request an invitation, she could not back down from that. Didn't she have any pride?
"For them to ask my wife to request an invitation, they are not worthy!"
Just then, Ye Cangtian put down his teacup and said, "Miss Murong, please trouble yourself to call them again and say that I am looking for them for a cup of tea..."
Ye Cangtian had not intended to get involved in these matters. If the Song and Xia families withdrew their funds, everything would be settled.
However, the attitude of the two families was somewhat hostile. Since they were unwilling to follow the proper procedures, he could not be blamed.
Just you?
Looking at Ye Cangtian, Murong Yu gave a disdainful smile, but before the smile finished, she remembered something.
She had heard from people in the Murong family mention Ye Cangtian, saying that this fellow was a notorious lunatic who even dared to provoke the Yuwen family.
Nowadays, very few families dared to offend him!
Perhaps mentioning his name might actually be effective?
Thinking this, Murong Yu walked aside and dialed the phone again.
A moment later, she returned and said to Tang Xinwan awkwardly, "Chairman, they have agreed."
"The time is set for the afternoon, and the location is the Guanhu Teahouse..."
"Alright, then that's settled!"
Tang Xinwan nodded, then cast an odd glance at Ye Cangtian.
She was, after all, the president of the Tang Corporation. It was one thing for them to not give her face, but to give Ye Cangtian face, what was this about?
Were they that afraid of this guy?
...
The morning passed quickly!
Guanhu Teahouse.
With a lake-ring road around it and green plants and flowers, the environment was quite good, which was why many influential people in Kyoto chose to chat or discuss matters here.
At this moment, Ye Cangtian and Tang Xinwan strolled under the shade of the trees, like a young couple, hand in hand, enjoying the beautiful scenery by the lake.
Although they were only holding hands, in full view of everyone, Tang Xinwan was also very shy, her heart pounding wildly. She tried to shake off his hand several times, but failed.
"Oh! It's almost time, let's hurry back, we mustn't be late."
At some point, Tang Xinwan glanced at the time. It was almost the agreed-upon time with the two families.
The relationship between the parties was already poor; if they were late, the matter would likely be even harder to discuss.
Upon hearing this, a smile of awkwardness appeared on Ye Cangtian's face.
He had finally managed to get Tang Xinwan to gradually get used to holding hands, but before he could fully enjoy her soft, boneless hand, it was already time.
What a buzzkill!
There was nothing he could do. Who knew that Tang Xinwan was a strong woman.
He could only lead Tang Xinwan towards the teahouse, but his pace was slow.
Under the pretext of: truly great figures always make their grand entrance last.
...
In the most advantageous third-floor private room of the Guanhu Teahouse, facing the lake.
Song Jianming and Xia Guangzhi stood by the railing, watching a couple slowly approach, their faces almost turning green with anger.
The two were relatively punctual, arriving one or two minutes early.
But Ye Cangtian and Tang Wan'er had not arrived. After waiting for nearly 20 minutes, they finally saw the figures of the two.
"I'm sorry, the scenery here is quite nice. We're late, you don't mind, do you?"
A moment later, Ye Cangtian brought Tang Wan'er to the teahouse private room and greeted Song Jianming and Xia Guangzhi with a smile.
Song Jianming and Xia Guangzhi snorted, squeezed out stiff smiles, and returned to the table.
"Ye Cangtian, we all understand the purpose of you inviting us here for tea today, so let's cut straight to the chase!"
Song Jianming spoke.
Originally, the Zhou family had backed down, and the Song and Xia families, without anyone supporting them, dared not easily offend Ye Cangtian.
But once the arrow was loosed, there was no turning back. Coupled with their resentment towards Ye Cangtian, they decided to take a gamble.
They believed there was a certain chance of success, as injecting funds was a good thing in anyone's eyes.
According to their plan, those funds would temporarily be considered investments in the Tang Corporation, and they would receive dividends annually, secretly accumulating power and corroding the Tang Corporation.
Finally, when the time was ripe, they would annex the Tang Corporation in one fell swoop!
However, they had not expected Tang Xinwan to contact them proactively, and it was regarding the issue of funds. Under pressure from Ye Cangtian, they had no choice but to come to this meeting.
Ye Cangtian glanced at Tang Xinwan, signaling that this matter was not his responsibility. He then got up and went to the railing to continue enjoying the scenery.
Tang Xinwan took a deep breath and looked at the two opposite her.
"It's like this, previously there were some issues within the Tang Corporation, which led to some investment and shareholding phenomena."
"We are here this time to discuss the investment and shareholding of your two families, and to see if you could withdraw the funds and return the shares..."
Since this was a request for a favor, Tang Xinwan's tone was relatively tactful.
She humbly stated that the Tang Corporation was a family enterprise, and the Tang family members had the ability to manage the company and resolve internal issues, and they did not wish for other companies or families to interfere.
Of course, she also thanked those investors for their willingness to offer assistance when the Tang Corporation was in trouble.
Upon hearing this, Song Jianming glanced at Ye Cangtian, who was by the railing.
Seeing that he did not seem inclined to interfere, he could not help but show surprise!