"Sir, who are you looking for?"
As Lin Yi took a few steps forward, he was stopped by the security guard at the building's entrance.
"Wait a moment, let me check," Lin Yi thought to himself. The big cities sure are formal, with security guards everywhere. Though, this guard is more for show—he's not as tough as Er Gou Dan.
Er Gou Dan was a childhood friend of Lin Yi. Although he didn't know martial arts, he could knock out a cow with one punch.
In Lin Yi's eyes, this security guard was far weaker than a cow—he couldn't even compare.
Lin Yi pulled another piece of paper from his pants pocket, checked the writing on it, and said, "I'm looking for Chu Pengzhan."
"Chu Pengzhan? Who's that? This name sounds familiar..."
The security guard froze and muttered the name under his breath.
"Ah, the Chairman!"
A slightly older security guard standing beside him quickly realized who Chu Pengzhan was. He was immediately startled and grabbed the first guard's sleeve, whispering, "Don't talk nonsense, the captain will fire us if he hears!"
"Ah!"
The younger guard was startled and quickly regretted speaking out of turn. What was he thinking, blabbering on like that? Now, not even knowing who the Chairman was, he was still doing the job of a security guard. Who was he supposed to be protecting?
However, as the security guard looked Lin Yi over again, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Lin Yi's dress was so plain that he didn't seem to be in any way related to someone of the Chairman's stature. One was the chairman of a Fortune 500 company, and the other was a country laborer in town. There didn't seem to be any connection.
Could he be from a construction site, here to complain to the chairman?
As the thought crossed his mind, the security guard grew more alert. He had just watched a similar movie a few days ago, where a migrant worker went to ask the CEO for money.
The guard exchanged glances with the older security guard. Both of them seemed to come to the same conclusion.
"What do you want with Chairman Chu?" the older security guard asked, his voice turning stern.
"It's not me looking for him. It's my old man who told me to find him," Lin Yi answered lazily.
"Your old man?"
At these words, both security guards became even more suspicious. In the movie, the migrant worker was asking for money on behalf of his brother, and now this guy seemed to be here to ask for money for his father.
"Enough with the useless talk. Just tell me which floor Chairman Chu is on. I'll go see him!" Lin Yi said, eager to get to the point.
"Chairman isn't here. You should leave..."
The older security guard studied Lin Yi closely again. After confirming that Lin Yi didn't seem to have any real connection to the chairman, he dismissed him with a wave.
Lin Yi, not in the mood to waste time, was sure that the two guards were sizing him up. He could guess exactly what they were thinking—his clothes were so plain that they probably figured he had no relation to the Chairman.
"Dog eyes look down on people," Lin Yi muttered under his breath.
"If he's not here, then I'll go wait inside until he arrives!" Lin Yi said, stepping past the guards and heading straight for the building's entrance.
"Wait, you can't go in there!"
The two security guards were stunned that Lin Yi dared to barge in and rushed to stop him.
Just then, the elevator doors on the first floor opened, and a slightly plump middle-aged man stepped out, accompanied by a thinner, darker middle-aged man.
"It should be almost time. Why hasn't Xiaoyi contacted me yet? Li Fu, why don't you drive over to the station to pick him up? You've already seen his picture, right?" the slightly plump man said to the other man.
"Okay, Mr. Chu. I'll head there now," Li Fu responded respectfully.
Before Li Fu could leave, Chu Pengzhan heard the commotion by the building's entrance and frowned. "Go check what's going on."
"Sure," Li Fu quickly walked toward the entrance and saw the two security guards blocking a young man from entering the building.
"Uncle Fu, this guy says he's looking for the Chairman and is trying to force his way inside..." the younger security guard explained.
The guards recognized Li Fu right away. Though he didn't hold an official title in the company, he was known to be the Chairman's most trusted person! If anyone were to ask about his position, they'd say he was the driver for Chairman Chu.
But in reality, Li Fu was far more than just a driver.
The security guards treated Li Fu with the utmost respect, almost like a leader, because his words often represented the Chairman's wishes.
"You..."
Li Fu stared at Lin Yi, wide-eyed. "You're Lin Yi?"
"It's me." Lin Yi nodded, glancing at Li Fu.
From the moment Li Fu appeared, Lin Yi had been paying attention to him. By instinct, he could tell Li Fu wasn't Chu Pengzhan—someone like him, a company chairman, would naturally carry an aura of authority, but Li Fu didn't have that. Though he was serious and respected, his aura wasn't quite the same as someone truly in charge.
"Hello!"
Li Fu, knowing how important this young man was to Chu Pengzhan, immediately extended his hand when he confirmed Lin Yi's identity, not daring to be casual.
"I'm Li Fu, Chairman Chu's secretary. The Chairman had me come to pick you up from the train station, but I didn't expect you to arrive so early!"
"No problem, just getting familiar with the route," Lin Yi smiled and shook Li Fu's hand.
Lin Yi had this kind of personality: if you respect me, I'll respect you. When Li Fu was so polite, Lin Yi couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"The Chairman is over there. Please follow me to meet him." Li Fu gestured for Lin Yi to follow him and walked ahead.
The two security guards stood frozen, their mouths agape, still processing what had just happened.
"Is he really the Chairman's guest?" the younger security guard muttered, unable to believe his eyes.
"Of course. If Uncle Fu himself came to greet him, there's no doubt about it!"
The older guard sighed. "We almost offended him. If we had really kicked him out, we'd be in big trouble!"
As Li Fu approached, Lin Yi's attention shifted to the slightly plump middle-aged man. If he guessed correctly, this was the person he was supposed to meet—Chu Pengzhan, the Chairman of Pengzhan Group.
"Lin Yi?"
As Lin Yi walked alongside Li Fu, Chu Pengzhan, approaching from the other side, called out in a friendly tone, extending his right hand for a handshake.