When Lin Feng and Zhu Xiuyue sat down in the reserved private room at the Xinhai International Building, it was around 6:45. After Zhu Xiuyue had called the waiter and ordered the dishes, she instructed the waiter to serve the food in fifteen minutes.

According to Zhu Xiuyue’s calculations, if Jiang Youdao arrived around 7 o’clock, the dishes would be just served hot and ready to eat.

However, Lin Feng and Zhu Xiuyue waited until 7:20, and the person they were expecting still had not shown up. The chef had already prepared all the over ten dishes Zhu Xiuyue ordered and had them brought out, covering the table completely...

"Brother Feng, the dishes are all served, but the guest hasn’t arrived... what should we do?" Zhu Xiuyue looked a bit embarrassed. She hadn’t anticipated that the guest they arranged to meet at 7 would still not be seen twenty minutes later.

If Zhu Xiuyue were waiting alone, it wouldn’t have mattered. When she worked under Liu Heng at Ning Corporation, she would often waste a long time waiting for a meeting with leaders because it was almost a given that guests had to wait for the big shots...

Zhu Xiuyue felt embarrassed because she had dragged Lin Feng into waiting with her, making her feel a bit sorry toward Lin Feng...

Lin Feng was naturally a bit dissatisfied. He hadn’t taken this so-called director seriously at all, but the other party didn’t seem to take him seriously either by leaving him hanging here, making Lin Feng feel frustrated...

However, Lin Feng felt awkward about voicing his complaints directly to Zhu Xiuyue, so he pretended not to care and smiled, saying, "It’s fine, whether he comes or not. Since all the dishes are here, let’s just start eating first!"

"Start eating first...?" Zhu Xiuyue sensed it was somewhat inappropriate after hearing Lin Feng’s words, but seeing Lin Feng had already picked up his chopsticks, she had no choice but to join him in eating...

Initially, Zhu Xiuyue intended just to have a token bite or two, but gradually, she realized she had been working overtime all day and even forgot to eat lunch, so she couldn’t help but dive in, eating heartily. Lin Feng’s astonishing appetite came into play as he devoured the dishes with the momentum of a mighty wind sweeping away fallen leaves, swiftly clearing the contents of four or five plates, which made Zhu Xiuyue feel less awkward...

Around 8:30 in the evening, the door of the private room was pushed open, and a middle-aged man in his forties, full of smiles, appeared at the entrance.

This man was none other than Jiang Youdao, the tardy Director of the Planning and Finance Department of Jiangzhou’s Sports Bureau. Like most leaders in China, his face was glowing, his belly was round, and his eyes seemed almost entirely closed when he smiled, making him appear very amiable yet carrying an inexplicable aura of authority...

When Jiang Youdao appeared, Lin Feng and Zhu Xiuyue had already jointly wreaked havoc on the entire table, leaving it in a desolate state. Witnessing such a bleak scene, Jiang Youdao’s plump face couldn’t help but twitch. Since becoming one of the "big bosses" within the system, in all his years of social engagements, this was indeed the first time he had seen a guest being entertained this way...

Do you want me, a big boss, to eat leftovers?! Just one glance, and a strong sense of dissatisfaction immediately arose within Jiang Youdao’s heart...

"Ah, Director Jiang...you, you’re here..." Zhu Xiuyue, upon seeing Jiang Youdao, suddenly realized that her purpose tonight wasn’t to have dinner with Lin Feng but to get along well with this Sports Bureau leader in front of her...

"Haha... Manager Zhu, your way of entertaining guests is truly surprising!" Seeing the beautiful Zhu Xiuyue stand up to greet him from the table, Jiang Youdao’s stern expression slightly eased, using a joking manner to subtly express his dissatisfaction.

"I’m sorry, Director Jiang, our Director Lin and I have been sitting for a long time, and we were really hungry, so we couldn’t help but eat a little... But don’t worry, I’ll have this table removed immediately and reorder the food!" While subtly expressing her dissatisfaction about Jiang Youdao’s tardiness, Zhu Xiuyue also apologized, stating her intent to reorder, expressing her stance without excessively offending Jiang Youdao—a quite tactful speech indeed.

Upon hearing Zhu Xiuyue’s words, a trace of displeasure flitted across Jiang Youdao’s face. How dare this little girl blame him for being late? Doesn’t she know her place? If it weren’t for her rather pretty appearance, hmm...

"I knew we arranged a meeting at 7 tonight, Manager Zhu. Initially, I planned to leave at 6, but I couldn’t help it. Just as I was about to head out, Deputy Mayor Liu Jingshui of Jiangzhou City, responsible for science, education, culture, and health, suddenly called me over to discuss something..." Jiang Youdao said slowly, looking at Zhu Xiuyue. "I didn’t mean to snub you, Manager Zhu. It’s just that as a subordinate, I had to heed Mayor Liu’s request. Don’t you agree, Manager Zhu?"

Jiang Youdao’s questioning left Zhu Xiuyue’s face stiff. She naturally didn’t know whether Jiang Youdao had just met with Liu Jingshui, but with Jiang Youdao putting it this way, she certainly couldn’t dispute it and had to accept that Jiang Youdao’s tardiness had a legitimate reason, putting all the fault on her and Lin Feng...

"I’m sorry, Director Jiang, I misunderstood. You have so many responsibilities; I should have waited for you..." Zhu Xiuyue almost forced a wry smile as she apologized to Jiang Youdao, "How about I have the waiter bring the menu over, and you can order directly?"

This was more like it... Jiang Youdao finally showed a hint of a satisfied smile. Letting him order himself, he naturally wouldn’t eat the kind of cheap dishes Lin Feng and Zhu Xiuyue consumed. Jiang Ye’s style is ordering the most expensive dishes!

In the attendance of Zhu Xiuyue, Jiang Youdao swaggered to the main seat in the private room, took the bag from Zhu Xiuyue’s hand, and then glanced sideways, somewhat disdainfully, at Lin Feng, asking lightly, "Is this your Director Lin? He looks quite young indeed... As the saying goes, ’a stubble chin has no authority’; running such a big show without much experience, I truly have my doubts about its success!"

From entering until now, this kid hadn’t even greeted him – how disrespectful! Jiang Youdao felt very dissatisfied with Lin Feng’s attitude towards him, vaguely sensing that Lin Feng simply didn’t regard him...

In Jiang Youdao’s eyes, Lin Feng was just one of those rich but foolish second-generation heirs; having snagged some family investment, he casually spearheads a project and throws someone like Zhu Xiuyue, a career woman, to manage it, under the guise of entrepreneurship when in fact, it’s just for fun...

Therefore, Jiang Youdao didn’t take Lin Feng seriously at all.

Seeing Jiang Youdao suddenly target Lin Feng, Zhu Xiuyue’s face turned pale with fright. She never expected Jiang Youdao to be so arrogant, daring to suddenly go against Lin Feng!

Actually, from beginning to end, Lin Feng never regarded Jiang Youdao. From the moment Jiang Youdao opened the door to the room, Lin Feng hadn’t even raised his head...

It wasn’t that he deliberately targeted Jiang Youdao, but rather, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with him...