The tea house had a good sound insulation effect as the roaring sound of the machinery not far from here could not be heard. Sitting in the tea house made them feel as though they were in another space, isolating them from the noise out there.
The aroma of the tea wafted around the room, which teased Matthias’ olfactory. He knew that Heather was a person who liked to enjoy life and he thought that it wouldn’t be boring in the future when he was together with her. While he was deep in thought, anticipating his future with her, she remained quiet as she flipped through the documents.
At this moment, he remembered some of his old memories. They had once sat by the lakeside while enjoying the breeze and at that time, he would secretly peek at her. It was something that even Myra had taken notice of—when he was with her, he would feel comfortable, but if Heather was there together with them, he would feel nervous.
Although it was a memory from some time ago, he could still recall his nervousness. As he gently stroked his chest, his heart was racing unsteadily and loudly. He was unsure whether it was the aroma of the tea or Heather’s light fragrance; he just couldn’t help but want to get closer to her.
Cough, cough. Upon noticing that sight, Heather softly let out a few coughs and said, “You squashed my documents.” She wondered when they had sat so close to each other as it made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Matthias apologized, having done something dumb once again. He was thinking of quietly approaching her, but his plan had failed even before he could start.
She took a faint glance at him. When she realized that there was a slight issue regarding the distance between them, she moved slightly to the side. After all, she was not used to being so close to him and he had already far exceeded her safe distance with him.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Heather asked.
“Are you hungry?” Matthias countered. With only a pot of tea in front of them, things were indeed looking a little dull.
“Nope,” she answered before continuing to fix her gaze on the documents in her hands.
It was the most frightening when the air suddenly drowned in silence. Looking at her, she looked like she did not want to bother him any longer, so he lowered his head and looked at his phone. Meanwhile, she inadvertently took a glance at him. She felt that he was acting a little strange, but she could not tell exactly what was wrong with him.
Heather poured herself a cup of tea. The tea tasted especially bitter when it was being sipped at the very beginning, but the aftertaste proved to be sweet. It was extremely good, and it was exactly as how the saying went—‘after the suffering came the happiness’.
On the other hand, the teacup in front of Matthias was still full. It seemed like he was not really fond of the tea, so upon noticing it, she responded, “If you don’t like this pot of tea, you can order another pot.”
Her sudden words had left him a little dazed before he looked at the teacup in front of him. He merely took a sip when he first came, but he wasn’t feeling thirsty at that time. All he tasted was just the tea’s bitterness, so he did not drink it again.
On second thought, since Heather had ordered this pot of tea, this could be the kind of taste that she liked. There was an old proverb that went ‘love me, love my dog’, so Matthias should certainly show her that he loved the tea too.
“No, it’s alright. I really like this taste.” In fact, he didn’t like the tea to be that bitter. His tongue was astringent by the bitterness of it and he did not care much about its aftertaste either.
“Tea should be savored slowly.” As she lifted the teacup in her hands, the corners of her lips were slightly raised to reveal a soft smile. She liked tea and she would also love to make friends who liked tea as much as her.
Mimicking her actions, Matthias lifted his cup of tea and took a sip again. As their eyes met, they smiled at each other. This time, he felt that the tea was not as bitter anymore; he could even taste a tinge of sweetness.
“It’s good tea.” He honestly thought that it was a good cup of tea, but Heather had already ignored him and turned her gaze toward the documents once again.
It was a quiet afternoon where the sound of pages flipping could occasionally be heard as the ray of sunlight shone through the window. Her side profile looked as if it was coated with a layer of soft halo and one could hardly resist giving her a kiss.
Time had swiftly passed and it took her a whole three hours to finish pursuing all the documents. Rubbing her temples, Heather felt that she had not read such a thick bundle of information in such a long time.
“Seems like the Locke Group is pushing their luck.” She expressed her initial evaluation on the matter.
A confused Matthias looked at her. He had tried his absolute best to compromise in the collaboration, but he could not understand why she would still make that sort of comment.
“I can’t feel the sincerity from Locke Group in this document. Mr. Locke, you’ve said that you want to sincerely cooperate with the Langston Group, but it seems like you’ve mistaken the definition of collaboration.” When it came to business matters, it had to be dealt with in a business-like manner and she would not give him even a sense of mercy.
Those words had left him even more puzzled, and he was speechless toward Heather’s query. In terms of interests, Locke Group had compromised a lot. If she was still dissatisfied about it and they had to make further concessions, it would become an unequal treaty for them.
“I don’t quite understand what you mean, Miss Langston.” He transformed into his working state in a split second.
”Well, we can cooperate. However, to do such a thing like sharing the same hatred against one enemy, the Langston Group will never be involved in it,” she replied in a gentle manner, but she had also pointed out the main problem.
The corner of Matthias’ lips twitched, and he put on a businessman’s formal smile. “I see. So, this is what you’re concerned about, Miss Langston. Since both of the companies are going to have an in-depth collaboration, it’s not that unreasonable to have the same enemy.”
It seemed like Heather did not care about the concessions that he had made since what she was concerned about was the aspect of in-depth cooperation. She refused to let both of their companies have an extensive collaboration and it seemed like it was because she did not trust the Locke Group.
“In-depth collaboration? Both the Locke Group and the Langston Group are large enterprises, so there’s no need for us to collaborate extensively. Furthermore, we have our own style of running our businesses. It will easily turn into a situation where a great man cannot break a rival.” She continued to play riddles with him. After all, it was her who was not willing to budge.
“If you think that the in-depth collaboration is unnecessary, then I’m afraid that the cooperation between the two groups will be difficult to develop further.” Firmly standing his ground, Matthias could not make any more recessions on this matter. What he wanted was to allow both the groups to have an extensive collaboration, not a cooperation for a shallow project.
Upon hearing his words, Heather gave an unkind smile. “If this is what you think, Director Locke, then I guess you can just refuse to cooperate with the Langston Group.” She would rather ruin this collaboration than submit to his request.
Matthias then took a deep glance at her. He knew that Heather had her own plans and he also understood why she disagreed with the collaboration between the two companies. However, business is business and he could not allow his emotions to outweigh business matters. He needed to gain her trust on this matter. Even though she was no longer working in Langston Group, her words still carried the most weight in front of Robert. If he failed to persuade Heather, then he would be looked down on by Robert.
When Matthias was having this thought in his mind, he could finally understand the meaning behind the words that Robert had told him back then. It turned out that Robert was having such an intention in his mind—to kill three birds with one stone. He could bring Matthias and Heather together on this matter while on the other hand, he could also bequeath something that was difficult for him to convey to her through Matthias. Thirdly, he could even make things exceptionally difficult for Matthias. At that moment, Matthias could not help but admire Robert’s tactics. No matter what, he needed to break through the predicament in front of him. Since Robert had given him a difficult problem to handle, he should just resolve it!
“Alright. Since you’re not satisfied with this document, Miss Langston, then I’ll take it back and revise it.” As his middle finger tapped lightly on the table, the expression on his face turned serious.
“No matter how you amend it, I will never be satisfied with it,” Heather aggressively responded. In fact, Matthias had also made compromises for her. If it was for other people, he would have lost his temper.
“Well then, what should we do to ensure that you’ll be satisfied with it, Miss Langston?” Not losing his patience, he asked steadily. At that moment, she was not only the woman whom he fancied, but also the business partner of his project that he needed to convince.
“We are having conflicting ideas. Right now, isn’t it the most urgent to resolve this conflict of ours? I don’t agree with the in-depth collaboration between Locke Group and the Langston Group since these two big companies do not have the need to form a so-called ally.” However, Heather was still tightly holding onto this point of hers and she would not compromise unless Matthias gave in to her request.
“Miss Langston, the alliance that you’ve mentioned is a little exaggerated. If the two companies are merely cooperating, then I will not need to dedicate so much time in drafting this cooperation plan.” Trying to persuade Heather, Matthias slowly expressed his opinions.
“The Langston Group is now facing a bottleneck and the Locke Group can help to procure new resources involved in the company’s business. This is something that will benefit the both of us, so I don’t understand why you would keep refusing it.” He had long investigated the Langston Group and the company’s current situation was indeed not in an optimistic state.
“In this document, I don’t see the necessity for both of the companies to cooperate. Besides, Locke Group is not the only company that can help in obtaining new resources for our company. I’m afraid that this reason does not make sense.” Unshaken, she skipped the topic of the bottleneck period that the Langston Group faced. It was indeed true, but it was also true that it was not a necessity to cooperate with the Locke Group. If they could fight for cooperation with the Hart Group, then it was bound to be better than cooperating with Matthias.
“Well, what you said is also true. However, you need to understand something. Throughout the whole Bradfort City, are there any other companies that can be so well-capitalized and disposed to make concessions for the Langston Group?” Not willing to surrender, he firmly responded. The concessions that he made were extremely tempting and his principal issues would not be changed. Moreover, it was not a big deal to give more benefits to the Langston Group.
“Well said, Director Locke. Although businessmen do value and will seek benefits, it doesn’t mean that two sides with totally different opinions can come together reluctantly. Also, although the Langston Group is not as strong as before, we still have our own limits. We are not interested in becoming other people’s bullies.” Heather cut to the chase. She would definitely not compromise and would also try her very best not to allow Matthias to achieve his wish.
“Alright, it seems like you and I can’t agree with each other’s opinions.” Matthias did not want to argue further as it could possibly affect their personal relationship afterward.
Upon hearing his words, she smiled without saying a word. What he said was true, so she did not want to argue with him either.
“Please give me another chance then, Miss Langston. I’ll modify the cooperation plan once again. Since the both of us can’t represent the whole company, when the time comes, both of the groups can hold a board of directors meeting together. By then, we can let everyone decide.” Since it was hopeless to persuade Heather anymore, Matthias could only come up with his killer idea. He knew that the people in the Langston Group who wanted the cooperation to happen were not small in numbers, so he would not lose in terms of voting.
As soon as she heard his words, her expression changed in an instant. She did not expect that he would force her into a situation of despair. If they were involved in the meeting together, she was afraid that the directors supporting her would not be many.
“This sort of cooperation plan is not suitable to be brought up to the public, so it is not necessary to make the decision through the board of directors. Moreover, both of us are the ones who hold the most shares in our companies. Can’t we decide on this small plan instead?” At this moment, Heather had no choice but to bring up the matter of shares to support her stand, as she definitely didn’t want to bring the matter of cooperation to the board of directors.
“Miss Langston, you’re really not being careful with your thoughts. We indeed have a lot of shares on our hands, but there are also a few other large equity holders. Are you really ignore them? Don’t forget the current President of the Langston Group—Blake Langston, your big brother. I guess he has a lot of thoughts about this cooperation too, right?” As Matthias spoke, he emphasized the last sentence in an intense manner. A ghastly expression was slowly creeping up on Heather’s face for the situation now had been reversed.
