Pampering My Husband Every Day | LK Adaption

Chapter 3.1

One week later, Jeon Enterprise building.

Manoban Liren sat nervously and expectantly in the conference room, glancing ever so often at the door as he waited for Jeon Huai to arrive.

Secretary Liu, who had walked in to refill his coffee, reassured him, "Please wait a little longer, President Wu. The general manager is almost done with his end of the discussion. He should be arriving in 10 minutes."

"Yes, yes. There's no rush." Manoban Liren said with some embarrassment.

Secretary Liu left and returned to the secretary's office. "Is the cooperation plan from Manoban Foodstuffs ready?" she asked Assistant Anna.
　　　　
Assistant Anna pulled out the file and handed it to Secretary Liu. "It's been ready. But Sister Liu... this President Manoban, why didn't he bring any assistants with him?"

Usually, when a large partnership like this was on the table, both sides would bring a team over to discuss the conditions. In the three years she had been working at Jeon Enterprise, this was Anna's first time seeing the CEO of one group come alone.

"Maybe the partnership isn't confirmed?" Secretary Liu said in a meaningful tone.
　　
"Oooh... doesn't that mean the rumors circulating around the company are true then? I heard that this partnership is actually tied to a marriage of convenience for the eldest young master." Anna looked as though she had been enlightened.
　　
"Don't waste your time gossiping," Secretary Liu scolded. "Focus on your work."
　　
Before long, Jeon Huai entered the room. Secretary Liu immediately stood up to greet him. "President Jeon, this is the cooperation plan from Manoban Foodstuffs. President Manoban is in the second conference room; he has been waiting for an hour now."

[1] Though Jeon Huai isn't the president yet, he is the acknowledged heir, so I guess some employees are already calling him "President Jeon."

"Alright."Jeon Huai accepted the file and left without looking at its contents. When he finally entered the second conference room, Manoban Liren immediately stood up in excitement. "General Manager Jeon."

"I apologize for the wait, Mr. Manoban," Jeon Huai said in a slightly apologetic tone.

"Oh, no. It's me who came too early," Manoban Liren replied, his eyes glued to the file in Jeon Huai's hand.

Huai chuckled but didn't respond. He took a seat across from ManobanLiren and put the file down on the table. "Mr. Wu, we've reviewed your cooperation plan and found it quite probable. We are very interested in forming a partnership."

Manoban Liren's eyes immediately brightened. "That's... that's wonderful. It is our honor to be able to partner with Jeon Enterprise." He could barely contain his excitement.
　　
"However..."

"Is there a problem?" Manoban Liren instantly became anxious.

"Ah, don't be nervous. We will become in-laws soon, after all. My mother wishes to invite Miss Lisa to our residence for a meal next Wednesday."

"Lisa?" Manoban Liren asked in shock. "She..."
　　
"Is there a problem?" Qin Huai asked with a smile as he tapped his fingers on the file.

It took Manoban Liren only a moment to recover. Thinking back to what the eldest young master of the Jeon family had said before leaving the hotel, he knew that the Jeon family had decided to switch the bride to his niece.
　　
"Okay, then next Wednesday it is," he agreed.
　　
"Good. I'll send someone to Manoban Foodstuffs to discuss the specific details of the partnership next week. If there are no problems, we'll send over the first batch of funds soon after," Jeon Huai continued.

"Yes." Manoban Liren immediately realized that the success of this partnership was dependent on the dinner next Wednesday.
　　
After their talk, Jeon Huai personally saw Manoban Liren to the elevator and returned to his office. He handed the file to his personal assistant, Lin Wei.

"You will be responsible for the partnership with Manoban Foodstuffs. Bring a lawyer with you when you visit them next week. Do you remember what I told you last time?"

"Yes, sir. The additional terms have already been worked out." Lin Wei handed a piece of paper to JeonHuai. He glanced over it and nodded in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Manoban Liren was on his way to his company building. He sat in deep contemplation and showed no reaction when the car reached its destination.

The driver couldn't help but prompt him. "We're here, boss."

"Oh..." Manoban Liren looked out the car window. Floors 20 to 23 of the tall building belonged to Manoban Foodstuffs. There were hundreds of employees sitting inside. This was the product of his hard work over the past several years.

"Take me to the Manoban residence instead."

Though he was confused about why his boss suddenly changed his mind, the driver responded with a "Yes" and started driving again.

***

Manoban residence

When Mrs. Manoban saw him return, she asked him strangely, "Why are you back so early?"

Manoban Liren slumped down on the sofa. A trace of exhaustion was evident on his face. "I just got back from visiting Jeon Enterprise."

"Really? How did the negotiations go?" Mrs. Manoban asked nervously.

"They are willing to cooperate with us," Manoban Liren responded. "But the bride isn't Zhizhi."

"Not Zhizhi? Didn't you say that they offered the partnership in exchange for a bride for their eldest young master? There's no way they're going to give us the partnership without that, right?"

"They don't want Zhizhi because they like Lisa."

"What?" Mrs. Manoban exclaimed in surprise. "Lisa? What does she have to do with this?"

"Did you forget what their eldest young master said before leaving the hotel? He was serious."
　　　　
"What do we do then? Lisa isn't someone who would listen to others easily," Mrs. Manoban said worriedly.
　　
"Mrs.Jeon wants to invite Lisa to their house for a meal next Wednesday, then Jeon Enterprise will send someone to Manoban Foodstuffs to discuss the formal details of the partnership." Manoban Liren gave his wife a meaningful look.

"That means..." Mrs. Manoban understood his meaning almost instantly. She stood up and said, "Let's go find Lisa."

"Then what? What are we going to tell her?" Manoban Liren sighed. "Did you forget how we've been treating her?"

"So? She should be glad for an opportunity to marry into such a prestigious family! I doubt the Jeon family would mistreat her."

"Do you think everyone is like you?" Manoban Liren sneered.

"Then what? If she hadn't burst in that day, would we be facing this problem right now?" Mrs. Manoban retorted angrily.

"You're right—we would be facing another problem. The eldest young master of the Jeon family has no interest in Zhizhi. If Lisa hadn't burst in that day, there wouldn't even be a possibility of forming a partnership right now.."

Manoban Liren understood better than his wife that although it was a marriage of convenience, the Jeon family was more concerned about the eldest young master's opinion. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to arrange a meeting between him and his daughter. However, the eldest young master was clearly not interested in Zhizhi.

"Our Zhizhi is not inferior to Lisa in any way. It's their eldest young master who's blind..."

"Alright, that's enough. What's the use of saying that now?" Manoban Liren interrupted.

"Then what?"

"What can we do? Give up on the partnership..."

"We can't. Didn't you say our company won't be able to hold on for much longer?"

"Then we need to convince Lisa to marry their eldest young master." Manoban Liren looked at his wife. "Call Zhizhi and  Kai and tell them to come back. Tomorrow, we'll go to the hospital together."

Mrs. Manoban wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.