Milady's Fine Gentleman 200 INTERIM

An entourage of men in black suits entered the Xue Shipping. It was led by Master Xue, Xue Mingli, followed by Chen Linyun, Butler Lee and some of the most trusted executives. Everyone made way and bowed at the mighty procession. They traversed the foyer, along the spacious hallways, and one by one entered the conference hall.

Those who were already there stood up at the sight of the owners and top executives.

Not too shortly after, the meeting commenced.

"As you all know, my two sons are currently occupied by something important at the moment. As the proprietor and dedicated front-runner of Xue Shipping, I am introducing to you, and appointing another asset to the company, my son-in-law, Chen Linyun…"

"He will be the Officer-In-Charge while my two sons are away. I believe you've heard bits and pieces about his prowess. He's well-known for his breakthrough business both in China and Country D, which led him to become an ambassador of goodwill for both countries. In terms of competency, I have confidence in him. Please bestow the same trust and confidence that we have on him."

All this while Chen Linyun was waiting patiently and rigidly beside Master Xue until he was done with his introduction. When he's finally done, he stood up slowly and meekly bowed at the crowd of executives. "I'm Chen Linyun. Let's achieve goals one by one each day. I'm excited about this new endeavor."

"My father-in-law is too kind and generous with praise. I don't want to be forestalled with impressions, rather, let's get to know each other through our workmanship. I value principles and respect the hard-earned long tenure of our seasoned executives, and I am hoping to learn from you as I would like to reckon, you will also learn from me until we achieve synergy and stability for Xue Shipping. As my father-in-law said, I am only here for the interim until my brothers-in-law resume position. However, in this short time, I will exert and dedicate all my efforts in making Xue Shipping flourish."

He bowed again. Most of the executives applauded in welcome, but others grimaced at the sight of another green inexperienced young lad from outside of the shipping industry who was there in front of them saying that he will lead them.

Others challenged him. "Sure, you're rightfully an heir by marriage, and you've excelled in your own field, but what do you know about shipping? It's not a simple field that you can study overnight! There are technicalities that you need to study for a very long period of time!"

*Ahem* *Ahem*

Master Xue cleared his throat, reminding everyone of his presence. "Does anyone here question my decision of delegating my extremely competent son-in-law as the OIC?"

The executives fidgeted in their seats but no one spoke. They all turned their gazes away, looking separately away from the master's fiery eyes.

What else could they do? Even if they had doubts, they could not voice out their opinions, even more so, their opposition. They might easily toy around with the young blood such as Xue Guangxi, but Xue Mingli was still a god in that company. Who could say that his decision was wrong? No one in his right mind would blurt out such nonsense in front of the true king, the emperor high and mighty as he was.

Originally, the idea was to expose and to finally reveal the young master's demise. However, at the last minute, Chen Linyun requested to postpone it, rather announce that he be there only as a replacement, a substitute for the interim. His reason being that Xue Guangxi wasn't stable yet, and was still too young to stand on his own, and the news of the young master's death would impact Guangxi more negatively than do him any good. It will put a lot more pressure on his shoulder since he would be the only living son of the Xue's in the public's eye.

Announcing Xue Minhe's demise would only cause more damage than benefit at present, even with Chen Linyun's intervention in the company.

"I will consider your silence as acceptance to my decision. Chen Linyun, go ahead and preside the meeting." Xue Mingli gave the floor to his son-in-law.

Chen Linyun nodded in acknowledgment before proceeding, "I would like to take off from the last executive meeting. Anyone please summarize the last executive meeting and kindly enumerate the agenda for today."

As was told, one of the directors, the Commercial Marine director briefed every one of the minutes of last meeting and agenda moving forward. The crucial topic of securing market share and decrease in demand from the oil segment was touched considerably, even excessively. Such was how things work. People tend to highlight the problems more and tend to create even more panic than the situation requires.

"Any developments from since the last meeting?" Chen Linyun asked.

"Sir, the landscape is almost the same, if not… if not worsening, even. The demand for ships was dwindling. More and more ships are underutilized, staying at Anchorage, doing nothing while they still burn fuel, and their auxiliary engines keep on running. There's no requirement nor client who would charter our vessels."

"Is there a problem with our vessels? I mean, no offense meant whatsoever, but, that's a genuinely raw question from a layman's perspective."

"Ahh, Sir, our vessels are topnotch. The current scenario is an aftermath of the optimized sourcing strategy of oil companies. Their requisitions and purchases of bulk petroleum products all pass through this newly built trading house – Shuilong Trading. We still could not secure a contract with Shuilong Trading, let alone have a meeting with them. The whole trading house is elusive. It's difficult to even set up a meeting with Mister Jin Yuan. He's the only connection to that trading house." The Commercial Marine director finished in resignation. He was shaking because he was too scared to be yelled at and humiliated for his incompetence.

Chen Linyun's mouth twitched ever so slightly. He did not throw a fit, contrary to the expectations of few. Rather, he said, "I see. You've done what you can do. I'll take it from here. Consider it done." He committed with such a stoic face, neither arrogant nor ambitious.

Some of the executives gasped in bewilderment, some snorted in disbelief. Under their breath, they muttered, "What a show-off. Only results count. Words are no more than words without results."

What they did not know was the single fact that the very owner - the sole decision maker of Shuilong Trading was right before their eyes.

Chapter end

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