As soon as he stepped out of the doors of Terminal 3, a cold wind slipped through his collar, making Murong Feng shiver. Winter in Beijing was indeed much colder than in Hangzhou.
Beside him, Li Xiangnan also pulled up his coat collar and smiled, asking, "Murong, how long have you been away from Beijing?"
Murong Feng put down his rolling suitcase, tightened his collar, and laughed, "Only a little over two months. I didn't expect it to be this cold in Beijing. It was still late autumn when I left."
At this moment, a man in a suit ran up to them, beaming at Li Xiangnan, "Mr. Li, I'm sorry, there was some traffic, and we just arrived. The car to pick you up is over there." He pointed back, and two black Mercedes-Benz S600s slowly pulled up by the roadside.
Li Xiangnan smiled warmly, "Wang Xiyuan, why did you send two cars? The chairman isn't here." Wang Xiyuan, the manager of the Beijing branch of Huaxia Group, smiled, "Mr. Li, you're just as important. Please, come quickly. There's a cold wave in Beijing these days, don't catch a cold."
Murong Feng didn't move. He smiled at Li Xiangnan and said, "Mr. Li, I won't go to the hotel with you. I'll head home first and also check on some company matters. I'll meet you at the hotel tomorrow for the meeting."
Li Xiangnan thought for a moment and smiled, "Alright, you have plenty of your own matters to attend to. But make sure you come to the meeting tomorrow." He then turned and got into the car. Wang Xiyuan smiled politely at Murong Feng, shook his hand, and also got into the car.
Murong Feng watched as Li Xiangnan's car drove away before turning to head downstairs to the taxi stand to catch a cab home.
He hadn't expected to return to Beijing so soon. He was still in the office of the Strategy Planning Department writing a research report when Li Xiangnan called, asking him to accompany him to Beijing to attend a global communications technology summit. In no time, he was on a plane back to Beijing.
After taking a taxi home, he took a hot shower and changed into a black Zegna suit. The finely textured fabric exuded a low-key luxury, and the tailored cut made his figure look tall and distinguished. Satisfied that his time in the scenic Jiangnan had not affected his physique, he donned a wool autumn-winter coat and headed downstairs to the TOM Beijing office.
Murong Feng's sudden arrival caused a stir within the company. Watching him walk gracefully into the office, the numerous female editors outside were all excitedly chattering. Murong Feng, the company's executive director, was indeed TOM Beijing's number one eligible bachelor.
Ouyang Lanruo had already spoken to him on the phone and was waiting in the office. She still wore her exquisite light makeup and elegant attire, exuding the mature and intellectual aura of a strong media woman.
Seeing her, Murong Feng felt a bit embarrassed, "Sister Lan, thank you for looking after the company during this time. You've worked hard!" Ouyang Lanruo gave him a sidelong glance and laughed, "What can I do? I ended up with a hands-off boss like you!"
She then got serious, "Xiaofeng, as I mentioned on the phone, TOM Group has sent Doris, an administrative vice president and creative and artistic director from Hong Kong. You should meet her." Murong Feng nodded. This was one of the main reasons he came to the office first.
"I want to hear your evaluation of her." Before, Bao Zixian had called Murong Feng. Since Murong Feng had not been in Beijing often, and Ouyang Lanruo, as the chief editor, was responsible for the editorial department, they decided to send someone to handle administrative affairs and fill the vacant position of creative and artistic director at the Beijing office. Murong Feng wanted to hear Ouyang Lanruo's opinion of this new colleague who had been in Beijing for almost a week.
"Well, how should I put it? She's a very capable Hong Kong woman. She used to run a famous PR company in Taiwan, so her Mandarin is quite good. She's been managing well these past few days in Beijing, but... she's a bit open. You'll understand when you meet her." Ouyang Lanruo seemed a bit exasperated.
Murong Feng was curious, "Open?" He asked the secretary to invite the new administrative VP, Doris.
Soon, the door opened, and a dazzling woman walked into the office. She was dazzling because of the slightly excessive jewelry and diamonds she wore. Coupled with her black sequined dress, she sparkled as she entered the room.
Upon closer inspection, her appearance and figure, though glamorous, were still dignified. Seeing Murong Feng, her eyes lit up, and she walked over with a smile, "You must be Mr. Murong, Director Murong! It's such a pleasure to finally meet you. Hello!" She walked up gracefully and extended her hand.
Murong Feng stood up to shake her hand, "Hello, Doris! Welcome to the Beijing office! Please, have a seat." After she sat on the sofa, Murong Feng smiled and asked, "Doris, how are you adjusting to the weather in Beijing? I just returned from Hangzhou and found Beijing's winter too cold."
Doris laughed, "It's alright. I've traveled a lot before. I used to live in London, and the winters there are cold and damp. Beijing isn't too bad in comparison." As Murong Feng assessed her, she was also observing him. She found him to be a charming and attractive boss.
Murong Feng smiled and continued, "Doris, I heard from Zixian about your capabilities. Thank you for joining the Beijing office. I'm sure your presence will greatly improve our management. I'll be away from Beijing for a while, so I'll rely on you and Sister Lan to manage things."
Doris nodded with a smile, "We will, don't worry."
Murong Feng's conversation with Doris went well. He originally planned to have dinner with Ouyang Lanruo and Doris to get to know the new subordinate better, but he received a call from Ding Jun and had to cancel.
Ding Jun, upon hearing he was in Beijing, immediately arranged to meet, saying he had something important to discuss.
Murong Feng rarely saw Ding Jun so serious and knew it must be important, so he arranged to meet at the Beijing Club, a place where they often smoked cigars and chatted.
When they met, Ding Jun was calm and composed. After they cut and lit their cigars, Ding Jun began to explain the situation.
"The current policy of mobile operators is to promote high-quality mobile games, so Baibao Box services are being adjusted. About 90% of the original Baibao Box game services will be taken offline, while selected premium mobile games will be moved onto a new platform. Our 'Wind God' game has high ratings, so this doesn't affect us much. But there's another issue. Moto has the highest market share of mobile phones in the domestic market. We were close to finalizing a deal to pre-install our games on their phones, which would have instantly added millions of users for us. But Moto just notified us that the deal is off." Ding Jun's tone was somewhat downcast, clearly affected by the news.
"Oh? Do you know why?" Murong Feng had previously heard from Ding Jun that the deal was progressing smoothly, so this turn of events was unexpected.
"I talked to the department head responsible for game pre-installation at Moto. He said it wasn't approved by higher-ups." Ding Jun explained, looking at Murong Feng. "You've been getting along well with the senior management at Huaxia Group, right? They're also joining the mobile phone business now, and they've secured several large 3G procurement deals. Is there a chance we could collaborate with them for game pre-installation?" This was the main reason he sought out Murong Feng.
Murong Feng nodded thoughtfully and, after a moment of consideration, decided, "Alright, I'll talk to the people at Huaxia Group. I think there's a chance. As for Moto, try to find out the reason for the issue and then contact Nokia to see if there's any opportunity for collaboration. After all, they still have the largest market share."
Seeing Ding Jun nod in agreement, Murong Feng still felt a bit uneasy. Moto's Wang Yonghui, who had taken Zhao Nian from him, was Moto's Vice President for China. Could he have been behind this?
However, he didn't plan to tell Ding Jun about this personal feud.
Ding Jun then updated Murong Feng on Fengxing's recent business developments. The company had launched three mobile games: "Wind God," "Wind God 2: Dark Battle," and "Sword Hero Chronicles." "Wind God" was the top performer in terms of revenue and user numbers, and it had been confirmed to enter the new mobile gaming platform. Mobile games currently accounted for over 90% of the company's revenue, bringing in nearly 5 million yuan per month. Although the income wasn't very high yet, the online content authorized by TOM Beijing Media had greatly improved. They were also preparing to communicate with some domestic community websites to seek cooperation.
Murong Feng was surprised at the revenue increase over the past two months and naturally praised Ding Jun's abilities. He also mentioned that Liu Xin was currently negotiating with some venture capital firms for the next round of company financing and was also in contact with some new small studios. He told Ding Jun that he had discussed with Liu Xin and would officially appoint Ding Jun as the company's CEO soon, giving him power and responsibility over the overall operation and management.
Ding Jun was not surprised by this decision. With his experience and capability, leading such an emerging company as CEO was not difficult. Moreover, with Murong Feng and Liu Xin not involved in daily management, he had already begun to manage the company comprehensively. The two laughed and settled the matter.
When they talked about Murong Feng coming to Beijing with Li Xiangnan for the communications technology summit, Ding Jun pondered for a moment and suggested, "I've heard about this summit. It's mainly hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, with officials from the ministry, technical leaders of future communication technology research plans, heads of relevant international standardization organizations and forums, representatives of well-known international communication operators and manufacturers, as well as famous experts and scholars from universities and research institutions. Many top figures in the industry will be there. You should try to make connections and see if there are any opportunities for cooperation."
Murong Feng nodded in agreement. Afterward, they enjoyed their cigars, chatting leisurely about the scenic beauty of Jiangnan and the changes in the Beijing industry, feeling quite at ease.
The next morning, Murong Feng arrived early at the Shangri-La Hotel where Li Xiangnan was staying. The summit's venue was in the hotel's conference center.
Dressed formally for the summit, Murong Feng had chosen a navy blue three-piece suit from Alfred Dunhill: a two-button peak lapel jacket, a well-fitting waistcoat, and flat-front trousers that accentuated his well-proportioned figure. An LV silk jacquard tie, high-quality buffalo horn buttons, and gold Bulgari cufflinks completed his luxurious look.
Sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for Li Xiangnan, Murong Feng noticed many foreigners wearing blue lanyard cards around their necks, indicating they were attendees of the summit. He realized the event was indeed of a high caliber.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he spotted someone he absolutely did not want to see.