Evan was surprised, and even Zuri was taken aback.
"Three hundred million?"
"Yes, three hundred million. Boss, can you guess how much equity they asked for?" Evan asked, excitement and eagerness in his voice.
"How much?"
"They only asked for 20% of the shares," Evan blurted out, unable to contain his excitement.
The percentage surprised Zuri once more.
"I was planning to hire a negotiation expert, but they were so sincere that I felt bad even bringing it up."
Zuri smiled at his straightforwardness.
"Once the funds are in, I'll transfer them to your account."
"Just give me two hundred million. The rest can stay in the company. I've sent you a document with a few promising projects. You can check it out. If you think they're viable, why not give them a try?"
In the eyes of many today, the entrepreneurial environment isn't as favorable as it was in the '80s and '90s, and there's little left to create. But as someone from the future, Zuri knew that legends would still be born in the years to come.
Industries that seem insignificant now, ones that many people overlook, would in the future become pivotal, even expanding globally with influence beyond imagination.
Evan had great faith in Zuri's words.
In the past six months, he had come to realize that Zuri had a broad vision and a grand perspective. Whenever they hit a bottleneck, one word from her would solve their problem.
"Okay, no problem."
"Bang, bang, bang..."
A loud knocking sounded from outside. Zuri hung up the phone, walked out of the bedroom, and opened the door.
"Are you Zuri?" the delivery man asked.
"Yes, I am."
The delivery man smiled and said, "These are the custom furniture and appliances you ordered."
As he spoke, the delivery man stepped aside, revealing a huge array of appliances that stretched down the stairs.
Zuri was stunned to see the appliances, which were piled up even on the bottom two steps.
"I didn't buy these. Are you sure you have the right place?"
The delivery man glanced at the doorplate and smiled. "Definitely no mistake. The address is correct, and the name matches too. There's no way it's wrong."
"I really didn't order these. This is too reckless," Zuri insisted.
"No mistake, miss. Please step aside, we need to move these in. Blocking the stairway isn't good."
Without waiting, the delivery man called out to the other workers, and together they moved all the appliances into Zuri's less-than-50-square-meter apartment, filling it to the brim.
Once the job was done, the delivery men left quickly.
Zuri stared at the packed room full of appliances, then quietly took out her phone and dialed Azura's number.
"Azura, did you buy these appliances?"
Other than her, Zuri couldn't think of anyone else who would do something like this.
Azura was puzzled. "What appliances?"
"It wasn't you? Then who could it be?" Zuri was bewildered.
Before she could say more, Azura suddenly exclaimed, "Ah! I know who it is! It must be my uncle. That sneaky man, I'm going to confront him."
Zuri stared at the disconnected call, completely at a loss.
On the other side, Azura stormed into the study, fuming. "Uncle, you're too much! You didn't let me send them, but you went ahead and did it yourself. You're trying to steal my credit and my place. You're so sneaky!"
Leo glanced at his naive niece and coldly uttered two words, "Get out!"
It was then that Azura noticed her uncle was in the middle of a video conference, and she sheepishly slunk away.
In the rental apartment, Zuri was at a loss whether to laugh or cry as she looked at the room full of appliances.
Just then, the door was knocked on again.
Zuri opened the door to see another delivery man. "Is there something else?"
"Are you Zuri?"
"Yes."
The delivery man pointed to the bedding supplies behind him. "These are the items you ordered. Please inspect them."
No way!
More stuff?!
After the delivery man left, Zuri immediately dialed Leo's number. Seeing his personal phone ring during a video conference, Leo glanced at the name flashing on the screen and said to the group in the video, "Let's take a ten-minute break."
The senior executives in the video watched as their boss picked up his phone and walked off-screen.
"What's the matter?"
"Brother Leo, I appreciate the thought, but please stop sending things. My apartment is so small that if you keep sending stuff, I won't have a place to sleep."
Leo chuckled. "Do bedding supplies take up that much space? If the room is too small, you could consider changing your environment."
"What?!"
Now it was Zuri's turn to be confused.
"So, those appliances weren't from you?" Zuri asked.
"No, they weren't."
Then who could have sent them?!
"In a month, you'll be taking your college entrance exams. You need good sleep. If the bedding isn't comfortable, be sure to let me know."
"Thank you, Brother Leo."
This sounded more like Leo. She thought so—how could he suddenly send so many things?
Just then, a text message popped up on her phone.
Farida: [Zuri, do you like the appliances I sent you? I picked out the most expensive ones. If you don't like them, I can have someone exchange them.]
So it was her.
Zuri chuckled and replied.
Zuri: [My place is too small; I can't use those appliances. Could you have someone pick them up tomorrow?]
Farida: [Oh no, did I cause you trouble?]
Zuri: [It's fine.]
They chatted for a bit, and Zuri accepted a few items as a token gesture, returning the rest.
Farida, still unwilling to give up, texted: [Actually, you do have space at home. You could just keep them there. You never know when you might need them. Besides, I own the appliance store, so I didn't spend any money.]
Zuri: …
What a tycoon!
Zuri: [You can say that to me, but don't tell anyone else. Otherwise, you might get beaten up.]
Farida, reassured by Zuri's teasing, felt relieved.
She had been worried that Zuri might be feeling down. After all, she had thought she'd found her biological parents, only to find out it was all a mistake. Anyone would be hurt and bothered by that.
Even though Zuri appeared calm on the surface, they couldn't see the pain in her heart but could understand it.
As she hung up on Farida, Zuri smiled.
She could feel the genuine care and warmth from her.
This feeling was truly wonderful!
Zuri was about to review her lessons when something came to mind. She quietly took out her phone and composed a text message.
Meanwhile, in a VIP booth at a famous revolving restaurant in Shanghai, Nolan picked up his personal phone and opened the message.
Zuri: [Thank you! RB Tech won't disappoint you.]
Nolan's tightly pressed lips lifted slightly.
The man across from him noticed the smile at the corner of Nolan's mouth and was taken aback.
Seeing a text message that could make him this happy sparked endless curiosity about the content of that message.