73: Chapter 73 The Mole in Action

After the two left with their arms around each other's shoulders, Zhang Wei returned to the sofa, sat back down, and called An Xiaoxi: "How are things going on your end?"

At this moment, inside the presidential suite on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel, An Xiaoxi was kneeling on the large bed, her fingers typing on the keyboard in a blur: "Everything is normal here. I've taken care of everything you mentioned." After saying this, she turned on the 100-inch TV and started watching Lurk starring Sun Honglei.

"You have to admit, watching a 100-inch TV is really satisfying. How about we buy one for our place too?"

Zhang Wei retorted irritably: "You're a little rich woman now. If you want to binge-watch in style, pay for it yourself. It's not like you can't afford it."

Three hours later.

Qin Mulin and Xiao Qian were lying on the bed, feeling bored out of their minds. There was no entertainment in their room, so they could only chat with each other. But every conversation eventually reaches an end; at this point, they were nearly at the stage of sharing embarrassing stories from their childhoods, having truly run out of things to talk about.

However, they didn't dare to leave the room. When Minister Han came to deliver dinner earlier, he had warned them repeatedly not to leave the room easily, stating that any violation would be severely punished.

Qin Mulin glanced at the electronic clock on the wall once more; there were only two hours left until the transaction time. It was time to start acting.

He sat up from the bed: "Xiao Qian, this is just too boring. Let's just go to sleep early so we can be energized for work tomorrow."

Xiao Qian looked at the clock and scratched his head, saying: "But Brother Qin, it's only seven in the evening. How can I fall asleep this early? Besides, I already slept for an hour on the plane."

Qin Mulin got up, took two cans of beer from the room's refrigerator, and handed one over: "Come on, Xiao Qian, let's have a drink. You'll be drowsy and fall asleep in no time."

Xiao Qian knew his alcohol tolerance was poor. But on second thought, since he had nothing to do while awake anyway, having a little drink and crashing into sleep sounded perfect.

Thus, the two started drinking together. Before long, Xiao Qian collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep. After checking multiple times to ensure the other was completely asleep, Qin Mulin put on a mask, threw on a jacket, and slipped out of the room.

After confirming there were no acquaintances in the hallway, Qin Mulin carefully made his way to the hotel lobby. He wanted to call a ride-hailing car to go straight to the Hilton, but when he reached into his pocket, he remembered he didn't have his phone with him.

Fortunately, he had some cash in his wallet. Just as he was about to go out to hail a taxi, a simple-looking young man in a hotel uniform walked over: "Sir, are you going out? Do you need me to help you call a taxi?"

The waiter had arrived at the perfect time, so Qin Mulin nodded. The other person spoke a few words into a walkie-talkie and then turned to Qin Mulin, saying respectfully: "Sir, there is a taxi waiting for passengers at the entrance. I will take you there." After saying this, he made a gesture of invitation.

Qin Mulin didn't suspect anything and followed the waiter to the main entrance, where a taxi was indeed parked in the waiting area.

Once in the taxi, the driver, who looked quite young, asked enthusiastically: "Hello? Where to?"

"The Hilton Hotel. Driver, how long will it take to get there from here?"

The young driver glanced at the time on the central console screen and said: "It's just past eight o'clock now. If there's no traffic, it will take half an hour at most."

Qin Mulin leaned forward and looked at the screen in the front, which indeed showed 8:10. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. There would definitely be no problem making it in time for the transaction.

Worried that Xiao Qian might wake up or Minister Han might come to check the room, Qin Mulin urged the driver to drive faster, then leaned back in the seat and watched the city night view outside the window.

He had once been a genius, graduating with a master's degree from a top 985 university and successfully getting hired by Zhu Group. At the time, he was full of ambition and thought he would achieve great things. However, due to the arrogance that came with his high academic qualifications, he often looked down on his colleagues. The result of his arbitrary and dictatorial behavior was that his colleagues gradually distanced themselves from him.

It wasn't until last year, when Xiao Han, who had been hired at the same time as him, suddenly transformed into Minister Han of the Infrastructure Department and climbed directly over his head, that the resentment in Qin Mulin's heart finally exploded.

"Damn it! Clearly this Xiao Han doesn't have my qualifications or capability, so why! This whole thing is the company's corrupt scheme! It's all the company's fault! You forced this betrayal upon me, don't blame me." Qin Mulin muttered to himself.

"Sir, we've arrived at the Hilton. If it's convenient, please give me a good review. Oh, wait, I forgot you didn't call the car using the app. My apologies."

The driver's words pulled Qin Mulin back to reality from his memories. He shook his head, tossed a hundred-yuan bill, and said: "Keep the change." Then he hurried toward the Hilton entrance.

It was still more than an hour before the agreed-upon time of ten o'clock, but Qin Mulin was worried that complications might arise if he waited, so he went straight to the elevator.

Arriving at the fifth floor and finding room 506, Qin Mulin rang the doorbell a few times. After a while, he heard a low voice from inside the room ask: "Who is it?"

Qin Mulin quickly stated his identity, and the door opened. Inside stood a handsome young man frowning: "Why are you here so early? Wasn't it agreed upon for ten o'clock?"

"The situation has changed. In short, we need to trade early. By the way, where is General Manager Shi? Why isn't he here?"

The executive from the competing company he had been in contact with was General Manager Shi. Now that he was nowhere to be seen in the room, Qin Mulin became somewhat vigilant.

The handsome young man shrugged and said: "You came too early. General Manager Shi is still at the company handling work. Tomorrow is the day of the bid, so he's very busy. If you really can't wait, how about I start a video call so you can talk to him?"

Qin Mulin didn't dare to stay a moment longer than necessary; he thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. The young man took out his phone, made a respectful call, then placed a laptop on the table and opened the video conferencing software. Before long, General Manager Shi's face appeared on the screen.

"General Manager Shi, I'll hurry and tell you the plan. However, it was originally agreed that money and goods would be exchanged simultaneously. Regarding the funds, you see?" Seeing General Manager Shi, Qin Mulin was worried the other party might renege on the deal, so he quickly confirmed whether the money was in place.

He saw General Manager Shi on the screen smile and say: "Don't worry, I've already had Xiao Zhang take the 5 million over." Upon hearing this, the Xiao Zhang standing to the side picked up a black briefcase from the sofa. He opened the latches, and it was filled with RMB.

General Manager Shi continued: "Are you reassured now? Hurry up and tell me the Zhu Group's bidding plan. Once we succeed, you'll be President Qin of our company."

Upon seeing the money, Qin Mulin finally set his heart at ease and quickly smiled, saying: "This is all thanks to General Manager Shi's cultivation. The Zhu Group's bidding plan this time is as follows: highlight the advantages of being a large enterprise, promise completion in 15 months, and emphasize the use of eco-friendly materials. However, their biggest weakness is that labor costs are relatively high, so costs are a shortcoming. Most importantly, the amount for the Zhu Group's bid this time is 18.5 billion. This figure has already been finalized; we just need to bid slightly lower than them to secure the victory."

General Manager Shi was very satisfied after hearing this: "Very good. This time we are guaranteed to win. You have made a great contribution, so I will congratulate President Qin in advance on joining our big family."

Qin Mulin was extremely excited at this moment; he was about to become an executive himself. The Xiao Zhang by his side kept complimenting him, which made him feel like he was walking on air.

However, what he didn't notice was the flash of sharp, cunning light that flickered in the other person's seemingly envious eyes.