After Lin Fan entered the meeting room, Jiang Zhongcheng and Wei Yue'er were outside listening in. When they saw Chen Shihong showing off in front of Lin Fan, Jiang Zhongcheng was dumbfounded, terrified even, wishing he could rush in.

But Lin Fan had told them not to enter, so he had to hold back.

At this moment, Chen Shihong arrogantly demanded that Lin Fan get lost.

Lin Fan calmly said, "Mr. Chen, are you saying you want me to resign? If I don't resign, are you planning to use this as a condition for our cooperation?"

"Haha..." Chen Shihong burst into laughter.

The two men with him also laughed.

"You, as a condition for cooperation?" Chen Shihong scoffed, "You, a mere secretary, are not qualified enough! You should resign voluntarily, at least save some face for yourself. Otherwise, if I have to ask President Lin to have your boss kick you out personally, that would be embarrassing for you, and embarrassing for President Lin too. Have some respect for your boss, young man!"

The two subordinates looked at Lin Fan with smug smiles.

The boss is really something, it's great working under him,

Lin Fan sighed, "I've heard from President Jiang that Mr. Chen is arrogant because of his talent. Seeing you today, it seems true. People with skills do tend to have a temper, which is normal. Mr. Chen is undoubtedly a talented person, but having a temper doesn't mean you can lack principles."

Chen Shihong's face darkened, "How do I lack principles? You provoked me, so I teach you a lesson—that's my principle!"

Lin Fan said, "Principles without distinction aren't really principles, are they? I did throw your guy out, but he brought it upon himself. You really can't blame me for this in any way, and we agreed beforehand that we'd bear the consequences. Now you're asking me to lose my job over this, that's just unreasonable."

Chen Shihong sneered, "Heh, kid, you won't resign, will you? Since you don't want to save face, don't blame me for being rude."

Lin Fan smiled, "Too bad you're not my boss; you can't fire me."

Chen Shihong said, "Oh really, when your boss is begging me to design a skyscraper for him, do you think it'll be hard for me to get you fired?"

Lin Fan said, "Now I should ask you, Mr. Chen, do you know who I am? Apologies, I've been here for so long without introducing myself. I'm Lin Fan."

"Lin Fan..."

Chen Shihong's expression changed, "You're President Lin?"

This young man in front of them was the Lin Fan they were supposed to meet today? The boss of Mortal Group?

Chen Shihong found it hard to believe. Was he being fooled? Although he'd heard Lin Fan was very young, this was too young.

What?

The two men were shocked. He's President Lin? It can't be, not such a coincidence!

Lin Fan turned and said, "Old Jiang, you can come in now."

Jiang Zhongcheng pushed the door open, he'd been waiting for this moment for too long, almost at his wit's end.

Chen Shihong said, "Old Jiang, didn't you leave? It's good you're here. Your secretary here doesn't know his place or the rules!"

Jiang Zhongcheng wiped his cold sweat, "Old Chen, this is our boss, President Lin."

Chen Shihong froze. If Lin Fan was playing him, it was possible, but it was Jiang Zhongcheng saying this!

Turns out, this young man was indeed the boss of Mortal Group, the youngest billionaire in Yun City's history, Lin Fan!

"You're President Lin..." Chen Shihong suddenly became annoyed, "Are you all messing with me? What's this, President Lin disguising as a secretary to toy with people?"

Lin Fan smiled, "Toying with you? I'd call it an interview question. I recognized Mr. Chen's two men outside earlier; the situation felt awkward, so I thought I'd defuse the tension this way while seeing how Mr. Chen handled it."

When hiring, Lin Fan valued both talent and character; skill without character was futile.

Clearly, Chen Shihong failed this interview question. Lin Fan was already prepared to show him the door, and with his temper, Chen Shihong was likely to storm off.

The only regret was that this person was recommended by Jiang Zhongcheng, making it awkward for him.

Chen Shihong looked grim, but he didn't leave in anger; instead, he suddenly laughed out loud.

"Hahaha..." Chen Shihong laughed heartily.

The others were puzzled, wondering what he found so funny.

The two subordinates looked at each other, uncertain whether to laugh along, and the scene turned awkward.

Chen Shihong laughed and said, "President Lin, Old Jiang, you all fell for it, didn't you? Hahaha... I was just joking around with President Lin earlier to lighten the mood!"

Jiang Zhongcheng was drenched in cold sweat, "Joking?"

Chen Shihong laughed, "Of course, I recognized him as President Lin. He's Yun City's richest man, such a well-known figure. How could I not know what he looks like? I was just teasing President Lin a bit. Hahaha... hope Lin Fan doesn't mind."

Lin Fan: "..."

If it really was a joke, he wouldn't mind, but unfortunately, Lin Fan had top-level insight. Chen Shihong was definitely not joking earlier; now he seemed to be joking.

By rights, given Chen Shihong's temper, he wouldn't need to flatter Lin Fan, yet he seemed eager to change the situation. Could it be that Chen Shihong, despite his outward bravado, actually wanted this project very much?

Lin Fan was curious to see what his intentions were.

Slap! Slap!

Suddenly, two crisp slaps, Chen Shihong backhanded two big slaps to his subordinates.

Both their faces turned red.

"You two fools, are you blind as bats! Do you now realize who you've offended? It's President Lin! Now kneel and formally apologize to him!" Chen Shihong shouted.

The two unlucky guys were about to cry; getting hit like this was anything but fun.

Thud, thud!

They knelt and bowed to apologize to Lin Fan, "President Lin, we're sorry, we didn't recognize you. Please forgive us!"

They looked at Lin Fan hopefully, praying he'd forgive them, otherwise, who knows how their boss would punish them.

Lin Fan smiled slightly and said to Chen Shihong, "So Mr. Chen was joking with me earlier. Haha, I must say, Mr. Chen is truly humorous. I've already said I won't hold them accountable; you can let them up."

Chen Shihong shouted, "Quickly thank Mr. Lin!"

The two subordinates, as if receiving a great pardon, stood up and repeatedly said, "Thank you, President Lin."

Chen Shihong turned to Lin Fan, beaming, "After all this fooling around, President Lin, shall we get down to business and discuss cooperation?"

Lin Fan was just about to agree.

Ring!

Just then, a system prompt rang in his mind.

It was the daily sign-in time.

"System available for today's sign-in. Would you like to sign in now?"

Lin Fan responded silently, "Sign in!"

"Ding!"

"Congratulations to the host, you have successfully signed in and received the top-level architectural master skill!"