A Graduation Gift novel Chapter 82

It wasn't until Rufus left her alone that Cassandra closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep. When she recalled Rufus's promise, her face lit up with happiness. It was a good thing that the Tang family's drama didn't ruin the night.

As Cassandra lapsed into deep sleep, dreams filled her head. The peaceful night was pressing up against the windows and around her, held at bay by the marvels of modern life.

In the reception room of Dawn Star Group, Arthur was waiting for someone.

The Union of Real Estate of G City was about to be established. At present, their strongest competitor for the Director of the Union was Tang Group.

Dawn Star Group developed rapidly under Arthur's leadership. Although known for his gentle and cultivated image, Arthur was a sly man and never shied away from playing tricks and resorting to every conceivable means.

Poaching employers and customers from his rivals was a cinch and second nature for him. Given the current situation, he was already working on an even bigger plan.

The door of the reception room swung open and Arthur's assistant Nana entered gracefully, followed by several men clad in suits and leather shoes.

In front was a man in his thirties—handsome, tall, and cool.

Given his demeanor, Arthur thought that he must be the Jasper Li he was supposed to meet today.

Jasper Li was the CEO of the world-renowned TY Securities, which was hailed as one of the most profitable securities companies in the world, and also established the TY Group. In recent years, the group had been even engaged in various industries aside from finance, including entertainment, catering, film and television investment, and luxury goods sales.

However, all the buzz was on its enigmatic chairman.

Being the CEO of TY Group as well, Jasper was in charge of all affairs of the group. But it was the chairman who had the final say when it came to implementation of decisions.

Neverthelesshe the chairman's age and gender remained a mystery to the general public. Rumors said that he came from home and worked overseas before owning the group.

TY Group was quickly able to gain an impressive reputation abroad. In the past two years, it began to develop its business in the country, having even invested in several movies allowing them to garner good box office and reputations.

Because news traveled fast, TY Group quickly went public. Everyone was aware that it was wealthy and fully reinforced as well. Its wealth, making people in business click their tongues in envy, was only the tip of an iceberg.

Dawn Star Group was now in the ascendant, but it was difficult to move up further as it needed abundant funding for its projects. This greatly restricted the company's development.

In a meeting with his clients, Arthur inadvertently learned that TY Group planned to enter the domestic real estate market, first targeting locations in G City. Finding a reliable partner was crucial for the group's success.

As a newcomer, the foreign enterprise had to work twice as hard to cooperate with a leading enterprise in G City.

On the other hand, Arthur also urgently needed huge capital inflows to operate Dawn Star Group smoothly, so he asked his friend to bring him into contact with Jasper Li.

After going over his profile, Jasper agreed to Arthur's request for a face-to-face meeting today.

To show his sincerity in wanting to cooperate, Arthur spent an extensive amount of time preparing for the meeting and sorting out the data of all departments. When Jasper Li arrived, all the material was laid out in front of him, ready for him to browse through.

As usual, Arthur wore an elegant, genuine smile on his face.

"Mr. Li, we are truly looking forward to cooperating with you this time. Our company is rather productive but it lacks funds. You can read the material we have prepared. It has detailed information on all the departments. You can trust our sincerity in wanting to work with you."

All the while, Jasper's face remained expressionless.

After briefly opening the file and reading a few lines, he simply dropped it back on the desk.

Slowly, he said in a deep, alluring voice, "I never doubt your sincerity, Mr. Zhuang. I didn't expect that you would show me all the top-secret data during our first meeting.

A straightforward person does not resort to insinuations. Well, you can draw up the cooperation contract. I'll show it to our chairman. We can sign the papers after he nods in agreement."

Hearing what Jasper said, Arthur went ecstatic.

Since Jasper's answer was affirmative, the conclusion of the contract could be expected soon.

Showing the confidential documents to Jasper Li was risky but worthwhile in order to make his plan feasible.

High risk brought high return, after all. Once Arthur released the news that TY Group was about to cooperate with Dawn Star Group, he would more likely to be voted as the Director of the Union of Real Estate of G City.

With the financial support of TY Group, Dawn Star Group would easily outshine Tang Group.

As Arthur's thoughts started running, Jasper Li caught a glimpse of a smile on his face.

Although his expression remained unmoved, a flicker of amusement sparked in Japer's cold eyes.

"Mr. Zhuang, we do have one condition for the cooperation, though."

Desperate to establish a cooperative relationship with TY Group, Arthur was ready to promise pretty much anything at that point. Looking at the cold man, his face twisted into an obsequious smile.

"Go ahead, Mr. Li. You may rest assured that I will do my best!"

As he rubbed his chin with one hand, maintaining a calm demeanor, Jasper went on to reveal the group's condition, "I heard that you are competing with Tang Group for being the Director of the Union of Real Estate in the city. Our chairman hopes that you can give up the claim to the position."

Hearing Jasper's revelation was like getting drenched in a bucket of ice cold water. A minute ago, Arthur felt that his goal was in sight—the position of the Director of the Union was ripe for picking; but then he was suddenly asked to give it up, so it was no surprise that he was unwilling to do so.

The eager smile died on his lips and his face turned tight.

"I don't understand," he said, his voice wobbly. "Mr. Li, the position of the Director of the Union can bring further benefits to our group's development, which will benefit our partners as well. Why must I give it up?"

Sighing slightly with impatience, Jasper Li gently tapped his finger on the table.

"Our chairman has good reasons for his decision. It's not your place to ask why. Anyway, if you want to cooperate with us, you must give up the position. Of course, I know it's decided by voting. Just ask your partners to vote for Tang Group instead."

Arthur's brain was buzzing and he felt too shocked to either move or speak.

It was his father's lifelong dream and pursuit to overpower and overtake the Tang Group. Now that it was slowly coming to a reality, Jasper Li suddenly told him to withdraw from the competition voluntarily. Given this, Arthur couldn't find any reconciliation with the fact.

His father and Horace had known each other for a long time, but his father was always subordinate to Horace, having to address him as 'Mr. Tang' respectfully on any occasion.

When he was young, his father took him to visit the Tang family. Being part of the inferior group, he'd always be bullied by Lionel yet blamed for being at fault every time they had a fight.

Without fail, his father abused him in multiple ways while Lionel laughed at him as an onlooker. From then on, Arthur secretly vowed to himself that he would dedicate his career to making Dawn Star Group prosper and eventually overtaking Tang Group.

Having been bullied and humiliated by him, Arthur wanted Lionel to eventually look up to him instead.

Once, when Horace was sick, putting Tang Group in a crisis, Arthur found himself very close to his dream. At the time, Lionel was still too weak a figure to turn the tide.

However, he didn't predict Rufus's sudden appearance.

When Rufus entered Tang Group with an excellent track record, he started running the group, taking bold and resolute rectification measures, undertaking several big projects, and even putting the establishment forward as a commercial alliance. All his actions put him in the spotlight for a period of time.

Cassandra, Tang Group's design manager, couldn't be underestimated either. When she won the last bidding, Arthur was beyond pissed off but had to pretend to admire her.

Given all those conditions, Arthur was well aware that he wasn't born into an ideal family status. With this, he knew that he had to eat dirt to make a real difference. In his eyes, people were either useful or useless. Admiring anyone was no option.

With a vengeful heart, he swore to defeat all the people who looked down on him.

In the current situation, however, Jasper Li was forcing him to make a choice.

Having to choose between the cooperation with TY Group and the position of the Director of the Union which he had striven for all that time, he could hardly make up his mind.

Seeing that Arthur was feeling embarrassed and indecisive, Jasper stood up, still keeping his poker-face.

"Mr. Zhuang, I know it's an agonizing decision to make. You need time to mull it over. If you make up your mind within the week, have your assistant contact us. If we don't receive any reply from you, we will find another partner."

Although Arthur put on a polite smile, there was a hint of bitterness to it. As a courtesy, he stood up and bid Jasper Li and his men goodbye.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Li. I have to go back and discuss the matter with my father. The cooperation with you is very important to us as a milestone for our group's development. I can't make the decision alone."

Nodding in understanding, Jasper headed out of the building. As he drove away, Arthur took out his handkerchief and wiped away the sweat trickling down his forehead.

Jasper Li was truly intimidating. Even Arthur had to admit it as he tried to hide his feeling of inferiority in front of the overbearing man.

Having met such a character, Arthur wondered what kind of boss he was working for.