Meng Chu never expected that a simple meal could make her feel so guilty.
Even after returning to the company, Cheng Jinyu’s few words kept echoing in her mind.
She almost lost focus during the meeting because of it.
“President Meng,” Jiang Xinya gently tugged at her clothes and whispered a reminder.
Meng Chu snapped back to reality and looked up, noticing everyone in the conference room staring at her.
She immediately said, “Sorry.”
Gu Ting, who had been speaking, glanced at Meng Chu and said, “Let’s wrap it up for now.”
The meeting ended, and everyone stood up to leave the room.
“Meng Chu, stay behind for a moment,” Gu Ting said.
The others, already walking out, quickened their pace.
Meng Chu didn’t close her laptop; she had originally planned to carry it straight back to her office, but now, since Gu Ting asked her to stay, she sat down in her chair instead.
“What were you thinking about during the meeting just now?” Gu Ting leaned against the table and looked at her.
Meng Chu replied straightforwardly, “Sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“You rarely lose focus in meetings,” Gu Ting stared at her and suddenly asked, “Are you too tired?”
Meng Chu was taken aback.
Then she shook her head. “No.”
“What exactly are your plans for cooperating with Linjiang Group?” Gu Ting asked.
Meng Chu said, “The person in charge, Qian Wei, keeps making excuses. One moment he says the group hasn’t decided whether to get involved in AI; the next, he says his boss is considering it. I don’t think he’s sincere about cooperating.”
“Linjiang Group’s factory scale is extremely rare in Shanghai,” Gu Ting said, visibly troubled by the issue.
“What Xingyuan Technology lacks most right now is large-scale, high-quality robot training data. Collaborating with such a large factory would help optimize our embodied robot data.”
Meng Chu understood all this clearly.
She said, “Many manufacturers are still observing. I mean, it’s best to secure Linjiang Group, but if that really can’t happen, I want to expand to more partners. That way, we won’t be too passive.”
Gu Ting nodded.
“I’ll talk to President Qin from Jintai Capital and see if he can invite Qian Wei out for dinner.”
Jintai Capital was Xingyuan Technology’s investor, so it was quite common for investor bosses to help with such relationship-building.
After all, investors usually have wider connections and more influence than Xingyuan Technology.
*
Unexpectedly, the next day, Gu Ting informed Meng Chu about a dinner banquet that evening.
“You managed to get Qian Wei to come?” Meng Chu was quite surprised.
Gu Ting replied, “It’s all thanks to President Qin’s influence. Qian Wei can’t refuse him.”
Meng Chu nodded.
That evening, Meng Chu headed straight to the banquet location.
The private room had been reserved well in advance.
She and Gu Ting arrived early, since tonight they were the ones asking for favors.
The reservation was for 6:30 pm, but it was almost 7:00 pm, and no one had shown up yet.
Gu Ting was reluctant to trouble President Qin with another call—after all, they had already inconvenienced him by arranging the meeting, and now no one had arrived.
They couldn’t keep bothering him without risking a bad impression on the investor side, as if they lacked basic ability.
Fortunately, at 7:00 pm, Qian Wei finally arrived with a few people, fashionably late.
“President Qian,” Gu Ting stood up to greet him.
Meng Chu stood beside him as Gu Ting introduced, “This is our company’s Operations Director, Meng Chu.”
Qian Wei had looked distracted initially, but when he saw Meng Chu, his eyes instantly brightened.
“I’ve been the one calling you, President Meng, and it turns out you’re such a beautiful person,” Qian Wei sized Meng Chu up and smiled. “We should have met sooner.”
The latecomers now stared at Meng Chu with playful smiles.
Everyone from Xingyuan Technology felt their expressions darken a bit.
Meng Chu, however, nodded calmly and said, “I’ve heard much about you, President Qian.”
Unlike Gu Ting, she didn’t reach out to shake Qian Wei’s hand.
“President Qian, please, please, please, let’s sit over here,” Gu Ting quickly interjected.
At first, the atmosphere was still formal, with small talk and occasional work-related discussions.
Gu Ting had already warned them—Qian Wei was not only highly capable at Linjiang Group but also known for his exceptional drinking capacity.
Although business banquets nowadays were less about competitive drinking, when it came to winning over clients, good food, drinks, and company were still indispensable.
Gu Ting had specially arranged for two male colleagues who could drink well to accompany the guests.
Sure enough, after three rounds of drinks, everyone loosened up.
Even the interaction between Qian Wei and Gu Ting became less distant.
“President Meng, you don’t seem to have had much to drink?” Qian Wei suddenly said, looking at Meng Chu.
Although the other two male colleagues were busy keeping Linjiang Group’s people drinking, Qian Wei seemed fixated on Meng Chu.
Meng Chu smiled lightly. “When I drink, President Qian, you’re always talking to others.”
“Is that so? Then this time I’ll be watching you drink,” Qian Wei said with a half-smile.
Gu Ting gave her a look, clearly signaling for her to initiate a toast.
Since they had arranged this banquet specifically to entertain Qian Wei, Meng Chu naturally wouldn’t give up halfway.
She picked up the clear little wine flask beside her, poured a glass, and toasted Qian Wei.
“President Qian, although this is our first meeting, I hope we’ll have the chance to cooperate.”
She downed the glass of white liquor in one gulp.
The sharp, pungent spiciness hit hard.
No matter what she thought inside, her smile remained gentle.
“President Meng is generous,” Qian Wei seemed very pleased with her gesture.
With that opening, others began to toast Meng Chu in turn.
Even with some help in dodging, Meng Chu inevitably was forced to drink quite a bit.
Eventually, she felt she couldn’t hold on and found an excuse to go to the restroom.
She lingered in the restroom a while, washing her hands at the sink.
She felt every breath she took was filled with the strong scent of alcohol.
“President Meng, are you alright?”
Suddenly, a cautious voice came from beside her.
Meng Chu turned her head, looked at the speaker for a moment, and smiled lightly.
“You’re Wang Can, one of President Qian’s team, right?”
Wang Can was Qian Wei’s subordinate and had not said much at the table.
“Right. I didn’t expect President Meng to remember my name,” Wang Can seemed surprised.
She pulled out a tissue and handed it to Meng Chu.
Meng Chu took it and softly said, “Thank you.”
Wang Can lowered her voice. “Honestly, I hate this kind of drinking and socializing too.”
Meng Chu paused in wiping her fingers, then looked at Wang Can and smiled gently.
“Business socializing is unavoidable.”
They were acquaintances at best; Meng Chu wouldn’t reveal her true feelings.
Wang Can seemed to realize she might have said too much and smiled, “I’ll head back first.”
Meng Chu nodded.
After Wang Can left, Meng Chu threw the tissue in the trash and turned to return to the private room.
Just as she rounded the corner, she heard Wang Can’s voice, who had left earlier.
“President Qian, don’t do that, someone might see.”
The young woman’s hurried tone sounded embarrassed and annoyed.
Meng Chu frowned and looked down the hallway.
She saw Qian Wei holding Wang Can’s hand while his other arm wrapped around her waist.
“I told you, I’m drunk. What’s wrong with you helping me?”
Wang Can pushed at his chest, but the difference in strength between male and female was obvious.
“President Qian, don’t do this.”
Qian Wei lowered his head toward her.
“Can-Can, no one else calls you that.”
Then he tried to kiss her face.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the end of the corridor, startling them both.
Qian Wei’s grip loosened, and Wang Can took the chance to push him away.
Wang Can whispered, “President Qian, I’m going back to the private room. If you want to sober up, stay a bit longer.”
Without looking back, she left.
Qian Wei hesitated, then glanced toward the noise at the end of the hallway—toward the restrooms.
But he didn’t pursue it and followed Wang Can back to the room.
Once inside, Qian Wei noticed an empty seat beside Gu Ting and smiled.
“It seems President Meng has been in the restroom a bit too long.”
“Ah, women do take longer,” Gu Ting laughed. “Maybe she’s touching up her makeup.”
But then he said to his assistant Liu Jia, “Liu Jia, go check on President Meng. She drank quite a bit earlier.”
Liu Jia stood and headed toward the restroom.
Upon arrival, she saw a trash can knocked over on the floor for no apparent reason.
She glanced around but saw no staff nearby.
“President Meng,” she called softly.
Meng Chu came out from inside.
Liu Jia asked worriedly, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just drank too much at once and feel a bit dizzy,” Meng Chu said calmly.
Liu Jia nodded and looked at the overturned trash can outside.
“Why’s the trash can knocked over? No one’s cleaned it up?”
Because it was a restroom trash can, Liu Jia hesitated to clean it herself.
Meng Chu glanced at it. “Maybe someone was trying to throw out some trash but tripped and fell.”
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