Chapter 109 Kind-hearted People
James nodded in agreement. "Then you should go see Norman Shen!"
Since she hade to James for help, Maria didn''t want to go away empty-handed. "How about I
lend you some money, or you lend me some money? Let''s take down Qin Group together. What do
you say?"
However, James remained unmoved by her suggestion.
He was also trying his best not tough. She offered to lend him money? Why would he need to
borrow money to acquire apany? He was James Xi. He wondered if Maria were pulling his leg.
"Leave! Now!" James gave her an ultimatum.
Maria was a little annoyed. Why did this guy have to be so difficult? She was just worried it might be
too hard for her to acquire Qin Group alone. She wanted some help.
Why would she even be here otherwise?
He didn''t agree to her business nst time, and now he shot down her idea about acquiring a
company together. "So we''re done here? I can''t get you to agree to anything."
"Well, we''re not quite done." He was not that stingy.
Hearing his words, Maria''s face softened.
"What would you like at the charity auction? Make a bid and I''ll honor it. Anything," he said
seriously. Maria rolled her eyes at him. She didn''t know that James thought of her like that. Did he
believe she was his mistress? "I don''t want any jewelry! And I don''t want any antiques either!" Maria
said, and stamped her foot.
She had read the auction brochure ahead of time. There were several things there, including
jewelry, porcin, famous paintings, and handcraft works. She was not interested in any of them.
"What do you want, then? HL Group? Gee, I''ll get on that right away," he mocked.
Maria red at him. "Why not? Aren''t you a man of your word?" If James did that, she''d take over in
a heartbeat. Worst case scenario, HL Group would go bankrupt. What else would she be afraid of?
James sighed helplessly. He wondered if this woman would remember the lessons he taught her. It
had been just a few days, but she''d already forgotten how she begged him for mercy.
Maria approached, bent down, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Acting like a spoiled child,
she begged, "James Xi, if you agree to my suggestion, I will sleep with you again."
The man sneered, "If you have time to waste on things like that, maybe you should work on your
stamina."
Maria opened her mouth but couldn''t utter a word.
James was a hardcore jackass! "Nice. Maybe you want to kick a puppy next?" Maria let go of him
and grabbed his hand tightly. She squeezed it tighter and tighter. "You''d better pray the tables never
turn! Otherwise..." If that happened, she would definitely ask him to kneel and show her some
respect.
However, she was too scared to finish her threat. She bit back her words as she didn''t have guts to
say them. "I''ll make your life a living hell!" She could say that. She let go of his hand.
James nced at her indifferently and made ament. "You are so naive!"
Maria was choked by anger. She hated his insults.
She stood there, fuming, ring at him for a time. Maria couldn''t see any way to turn this around.
James continued reading his documents, ignoring her gaze. Finally, her eyes fell on the gray mug
on his desk. She took out the lipstick and applied ayer of it on her lips. Then she picked it up and
drank a mouthful of water under the man''s threatening re.
The lipstick on the grey mug was obvious. James'' eyes were full of disgust.
That was his exclusive mug for water. Nobody else used it. He knew Maria was doing her best to
sicken him.
Maria put the mug back in its original spot, and held his hand, preventing him from throwing the
mug in the trash. She looked into the man''s eyes. "Go ahead. Throw it away. I''ll go find Alina and
mess with her so much you''ll have to hear herin all day long."
After saying that, she snorted coldly and walked towards the door.
When she reached the door, she opened it and raised her voice. "Lorenzo, Mr. Xi wants to see you!"
An obedient Lorenzo appeared at the door. He nodded to Maria politely and entered the entered the
CEO''s office. "Mr. Xi, you wanted to see me?"
James looked as if he wanted to eat her alive. Maria gave Lorenzo an order. "His mug is dirty. Go
wash it." Of course, Lorenzo wouldn''t listen to her. As a special assistant of the CEO, he had never
done a thing like that before. It was below his pay grade. Maria didn''t care. This was deliberately
calcted to mess with him. If he refused, it might indicate that he wasn''t willing to do anything for
James. That meant less brownie points.
Thinking of that, Lorenzo summoned up his courage and said, "Okay. I''ll ask—"
Maria chimed in quickly, "Who are you going to ask? You don''t normally wash your boss''s mug?
What''s the matter with you?"
Lorenzo wished he could sew Maria''s lips shut. He gritted his teeth and said, "Fine. I''ll go wash it
right now.
Watching Maria for a few minutes, James finally knew what she was trying to show him.
So he didn''t stop her this time, because he also wanted to know whether Lorenzo was loyal to him,
or if he secretly worked for Alina and Judy.
Lorenzo picked up the mug and left. Maria snorted at James again and left the HL Group.
As soon as she got in the car, she called Colby. "Hello, Mr. Zheng. It''s me, Maria. I just left HL
Group."
Colby knew that already.
He had eyes of his own in HL Group.
"I asked James. He doesn''t know much about Fosun Entertainment Group. After all, thepany
has just risen in H City. He hasn''t taken the time to look into it yet." Maria leaned back in her seat
and looked out of the window nkly.
What Maria said was true. Fosun Entertainment Group was a little-known in the past. Colby, too,
didn''t pay attention to thepany until recently.
"I see. Maria, thanks for your hard work. You can bid on whatever you want at the charity auction.
Don''t worry about the price. I''ve got you on this one." As soon as Colby came back from P City, he
was off on another business trip. So he couldn''t attend YL Group''s charity auction.
Maria''s expression didn''t change, but her tone was full of joy. "Thank you, my dearest Mr. Zheng. If
you need anything else, just ask." She didn''t even care about the auction. She didn''t care what
James or Colby offered her. But it was useful to her to make Colby think she was incredibly grateful.
"One more thing: HM Group has a project that we''re having a problem with. We can''t seem to make
the client happy. Go see Mr. Qi and I''ll ask him to hand over the work to you. I hope you can take
over and sort things out."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Zheng, but I know what I''m capable of. And I''m not sure I''m up to it. If you
give me something important like that, I''m afraid that..." Maria sounded hesitant.
"It doesn''t matter. Give it a shot. There''s no harm done if you fail." Colbyforted her, making her
thest attempt to sort out the tough client.
Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org.
"All right! I''m not busy with anything right now. I''ll call Mr. Qi right now." In fact, Maria was extremely
busy. When she went to see James just now, it was no exaggeration to say that she had made time
in her busy schedule.
"All right. Bye!" Colby hung up.
YL Group''s charity auction was held in a hotel run by the group. The guests attending the auction
were there fishing for fame and credit. Of course, there were also some people who were really
kind-hearted and wanted to make some contribution to charity, people like James.
HL Group had been taking on social responsibilities all year round. Each year, it invested hundreds
of millions of dors in charity without expecting any return.
Maria made her long wavy hair straight, applied ming red lipstick and donned a burgundy-red
evening dress. She was iparably beautiful.
The moment she showed up, her imposing manner and beauty suppressed everyone. Many people
had been fawning all over Alina earlier, but they all fell silent after seeing Maria.
This was exactly what Maria wanted. Alina was the most famous celebrity in H City and her
poprity had hit a new high. After all, she was part of the Tang family —old money to be sure—
and she was going to be engaged to James soon.
s.