Occasionally, there would be stragglers who were late. They covered their faces with their bags as they circled round to the elevators on the other end of the lobby. Some even entered through the back-door and used the stairs.
At a quarter past eight, three luxury cars arrived simultaneously. At the lead was an Audi Pikes Peak, followed by a red supercar, and finally a black Maybach.
"They're here. They're here. Mister Mu is here," the executives whispered to one another as the cars pulled to a stop. The secretary had informed them earlier that they were to address Mu Jinchen as Mister Mu to be differentiated from the old chairman.
"I've heard of Mister Mu's regard for punctuality. Seems like it's true." The office hour at Chenyu would start at nine in the morning; the chief operating officer thought that he would have to stand for another fifteen minutes.
"Mister Mu is a person who highly values efficiency," one of the vice presidents who had worked with Mu Jinchen added.
"Mister Mu is getting out…"
As soon as Qidong opened the rear passenger door, Mu Jinchen's eyes, which were initially closed, sprung open. His deep, dark eyes gleamed sharply as he got down from the car.
The tall silhouette with the morning sunlight at its back resembled that of a celestial being exuding its ominous aura.
He noticed the rows of senior executives and frowned disapprovingly.
Qidong immediately prompted, "The senior executives are here to welcome Young Master."
Mu Jinchen nodded and strode into the lobby. Before anyone could speak, his low and mellow voice bellowed, "I don't need such surface-level fanfare. You all may go. I want to see everyone ranked manager and above in the conference room at nine o'clock."
His stride never slowed as he spoke. As soon as he finished, he reached the chairman's private elevator and stepped inside.
The senior executives' lamented on the new chairman's behavior only for a moment before they rushed to prepare for the meeting. They only had ten minutes.
"Old Hu, am I getting old? That was really efficient."
"Chief Zhang, I did say that Mister Mu highly values efficiency. He rarely wastes time on these unnecessary matters."
Mu Yuhao—who had just gotten down from the flashy sports car—entered the lobby and saw all the senior executives waiting for the elevators. "Huh? You're done?"
"President Mu has also arrived."
"Good morning, President Mu."
The crowd made small talk with Mu Yuhao. After being intimidated by Mu Jinchen's intense aura, this President Mu was much more approachable in comparison.
"Where's Uncle?"
"Mister Mu already went up."
A look of annoyance was etched on Mu Yuhao's face. He intended to walk the red carpet with his uncle and introduce him to the crowd, yet he already missed everything with just answering one phone call.
"He didn't even wait for me." He was visibly upset.
Several senior executives exchanged profound glances, smelling a hint of internal conflict.
"I'll see you at the meeting."
Mu Yuhao stepped casually into the chairman's private elevator after he spoke.
Seeing Mu Yuhao vanishing into the elevator, the senior executives began to murmur, "It seems that President Mu is at odds with the new Chairman Mu. President Mu usually waits for the elevator with the rest of us, but now..."
"Yeah, I expected the position of CEO was to be assumed by President Mu. Who knew that Chairman Mu concurrently assumed both positions. What's more, we're to address the chairman as Mister Mu. Would it be weird to address President Mu in Mister Mu's presence?"
Liu Lichen was a prodigy to be able to devise this much from Mu Yuhao's single sentence and action. People like this usually tend to overcomplicate the situation.