Brian Carter replied: If you like to drink it, I'll bring you some again another day.

Samuel Bennett finished his shower, water dripping from his hair. After reading the reply, his handsome face was filled with anger, and the restlessness that had briefly subsided inside him began to smolder again.

He called to book the club’s climbing room, deciding to burn off his excess energy.

Brian Carter waited for a while with his phone, started to feel sleepy, and simply turned it off and went to bed.

The next morning, Brian Carter arrived at the company half an hour early. He had finished last week’s meeting report, but since he couldn’t access the internal system, he had to print it out and hand it to Eleanor Parker.

“You did this?” Eleanor Parker was a bit surprised, since Brian Carter had only been brought in temporarily and was only expected to complete the translation task.

Brian Carter said, “Even though it was a last-minute assignment, it’s better to see things through to the end.”

Eleanor Parker opened the report, intending to just glance at it, but the more he read, the more carefully he looked. The report was detailed and concise—“detailed” showed attentiveness, “concise” showed skill.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Have you done reports like this before?”

Brian Carter was afraid he’d be asked more, so he didn’t answer, just nodded slightly.

After handing in the report, Brian Carter temporarily left the sales department.

Henry Bennett had already passed its rapid development phase and maintained steady expansion. When this campus was built, plenty of space was reserved. For example, several floors of the office building were designed to be multifunctional and could be repurposed at any time.

Yisi and Henry Bennett had basically completed their integration, so the sales department moved over first to facilitate business merging.

Brian Carter took the elevator to the twelfth floor. The hardware was mostly in place, and everyone was tidying up odds and ends. He helped settle things and took the opportunity to get acquainted with the people from Yisi.

The entire project team was present. After finishing up, they held a meeting. The highest project leader was Yisi’s sales director, followed by two project managers in charge of sales and pre-sales consulting, then the sales team leader and several senior solution sales staff.

Henry Bennett had already notified everyone that Brian Carter would be joining them. The group dared not voice their displeasure, but in their minds, this “young master” didn’t know anything and would only get in the way.

Besides, when Brian Carter was a shareholder, they had to flatter him. Now that he had no shares and no real power, he was just “Eric Carter’s son”—a sentimental title with no substance.

New king, new courtiers—it’s always been this way. Their reluctance was obvious.

The atmosphere at the conference table was awkward. Brian Carter looked around; almost everyone seemed to be avoiding him like a hot potato, afraid that involving him would cause trouble.

After a long silence, suddenly the sales team leader spoke up: “Why don’t you follow me for now? I’ll show you the ropes.”

Brian Carter looked over. The sales team leader was Matthew Wright, gentle and friendly, with both a scholarly air and a good-natured vibe. He wasn’t very noticeable among the group.

He nodded to him in thanks.

When the discussion turned to the project, the promotional event was imminent, the bidding period was short, and time was tight with heavy tasks. The director boosted morale, saying, “It’s the same for everyone. We have little time, but so do our competitors. Don’t rush—let’s take each step steadily.”

Brian Carter flipped to the list of competing companies. There were two: one was a foreign company, the other was—Duheng.

He remembered that David Thompson’s son was named Edward Thompson, so he looked up and asked, “Duheng is...?”

“Yes, it’s Edward Thompson’s company,” the director smiled slightly. “But that doesn’t matter. In business, there are no fathers and sons. Mr. Thompson has always kept business and personal matters separate. He values this project highly and has repeatedly instructed us to go all out to win it.”

Brian Carter hadn’t expected this and mused, “It’s a tough spot—both are his own flesh and blood.”

“Of course Mr. Thompson sides with Yisi,” the director, a company veteran, also knew about the Chu family’s affairs. “Maybe Edward Thompson does too. He and Alice are dating, so they’ll be family in the future.”

Brian Carter was slightly stunned—so Alice Carter and Edward Thompson were together.

The director asked, “Any other questions? Feel free to share any thoughts.”

Brian Carter’s expression was calm, betraying no emotion. He said, “Since Mr. Thompson values this so much, will he come to supervise in person?”

The director shook his head. “Mr. Thompson is on vacation and won’t be involved in this project.”

After the meeting, Brian Carter went alone to the calligraphy and painting gallery in the west wing, carrying two cups of coffee as he strolled around. The place was like a small art museum, displaying only works by company employees.

Soon, Matthew Wright arrived as agreed. “Chu...”

Brian Carter handed him a cup of coffee and said, “Leader Wright, just call me by my name.”

Matthew Wright had worked at Yisi for over ten years and was solid in his business skills, but compared to others at his level, his social skills were a bit weaker. He wasn’t good at beating around the bush and said, “If there’s anything you want to know, just ask me. I’ll help you get up to speed as quickly as possible.”

Brian Carter asked directly, “What are Yisi’s chances of winning right now?”

Matthew Wright was stunned for two seconds. An outsider would usually be curious about specific, surface-level things, but Brian Carter went straight to the outcome—a typical, forward-thinking leadership mindset.

“It’s too early to say,” Matthew Wright replied. “But I’m confident. We have an excellent team this time. The director and the others are battle-tested and have won even bigger deals before.”

Brian Carter had guessed as much and joked, “You must be quite something yourself.”