MY BLOOD
Reeyu's head appeared on the doorway at the moment Dao Ming Si sat down on the leather chair of his small office.
"You need anything?" he asked.
Dao Ming Si shook his head. "I need a moment to think. Tell Mr. Chan to give me a couple of hours to think this through, then we'll get back at them."
"Alright then, I'd better bring them to lunch."
"Good idea, thanks, Reeyu."
When the door closed, Dao Ming Si turned to look at Li Fong. Then he shook his head.
"I didn't see this coming," he remarked.
"What's the problem?" Li Fong asked. "You could easily give them another offer, a higher one than what your mother posed."
He shook his head. "It's not the money I'm worried about, Li Fong, but I made my final offer a while ago. What would I appear to be like once I retract from my word?"
"It will make you a very good businessman," Li Fong replied flatly, but Dao Ming Si was shaking his head.
"No, I don't want to do that." Silently he added, 'I don't want to be like my father.'
Li Fong stood up. "Well, either way, you have about two hours to make your mind up. I, on the other hand, am going out to lunch. You joining me?"
Dao Ming Si shook his head. "I agreed to meet Shancai and take her out to lunch."
Li Fong shrugged. "Fine with me. I'll see you in an hour, then. And hopefully by then you'd have reached a decision."
Dao Ming Si hoped the same thing. He asked for the two hours not only because he wanted to think about this. He also wanted Shancai's input.
Shancai was as shocked as he was when he told her about his discovery. He chose to pop up the topic after their meal, during dessert, and, at the mention of Dao Ming Feng's involvement, she obviously lost her appetite.
She laid her spoon down and stared at him.
"What are you going to do, then?"
"I was hoping you'd tell me," he said.
"Dao Ming Si, you know I am new to these things. I couldn't pretend I can give you business advice."
Dao Ming Si shook his head. "You know, if I back off now, it will be a big blow. This is the start of my venture. Alar is the make-or-break part of the whole thing. I couldn't just give up."
"So you want it," she stated.
"Yes, I want it. Badly."
"The question is: Are you willing to take on your mother?"
He didn't answer her question. "I told you, it's the beginning. I couldn't back down."
"But you said her offer was higher."
He leaned back on his chair, sighing heavily. "Yes, and I am not willing to pay a cent more than what I offered."
Shancai scoffed. "That's going to make it harder."
"Now I need to figure out a way to convince Mr. and Mrs. Chan to sell to me without having to up the price."
Shancai dug deep within her memory as to what she had heard about Mr. and Mrs. Chan and Alar Express. She vaguely remembers her mother speaking about the company once before...
A light bulb seemed to flash. "Mr. and Mrs. Chan...do they happen to have any children?"
Dao Ming Si looked at his wife strangely, wondering where the question came from. "I don't think so. Why?"
Her eyes alight with excitement, she leaned forward on the table.
"I remember Mama saying Alar is like Mr. and Mrs. Chan's baby. It's the company that they both built when they got married. They cared so much about their employees and even treated each one of them like family."
His eyes staring at her, his mind working rapidly, he said, "So...what you're saying is..."
"They don't need the money, A Si," she explained animatedly. "They care more about the welfare of the company itself and the people in it!"
Dao Ming Si's face slowly spread into a grin. He raised his glass in salute to her. "And you said you are new to these things."
Shancai could only smile at her husband, glad that she was able to try to help.
Dao Ming Si was whistling when he strode back into his office more than an hour later. He glanced at his wristwatch and found he still has less than fifteen minutes before Mr. and Mrs. Chan arrives for the final talks.
He halted in his tracks when he noted two men in suits standing outside the door to his office. At the side stood an anxious Reeyu, whose face smoothed in relief when he spotted Dao Ming Si.
"Sir!" Reeyu said, walking to meet Dao Ming Si. "I have been meaning to call you earlier, but I couldn't get through. There's someone inside, waiting for you."
"I think I know who it is," he murmured. He gave a reassuring nod at his secretary. "I'll handle this, Reeyu, Meanwhile, wait for Li Fong and take him to the other room while you wait for Mr. and Mrs. Chan. I'll join you later."
When Reeyu went off to follow his orders, Dao Ming Si walked past the two men in suits and strode into his office.
By the window, looking out into the traffic outside, Dao Ming Feng stood.
Hers was an imposing presence, and others are likely to quake on their feet in her presence. But not Dao Ming Si. He had grown through Dao Ming Feng's shadow that he literally outgrew her.
She turned around and regarded him with an imperious glare.
"A Si," she said after a while, smiling graciously, and he marveled at how beautiful she looked. There was never a question about Dao Ming Feng's beauty, cold and calculated though it may be.
"Ma," he acknowledged her with a slight tilt of his head, and walked to his desk.
Dao Ming Feng spread his gaze around the sparsely decorated office. "So this is your office. Very...bare."
"It's just temporary, until I found myself a better one."
His mother seemed to have lost her power to irk him. Now all he feels in the face of her mockery is boredom.
"Of course," she said. "You are my son. I trust you have good taste...in most things, though not in everything."
He knew she was referring to Shancai but he chose not to comment on it.
"What brought you here?" he asked.
She lifted her chin at him. "So you want to be direct. Good. Then let me be straight. We're both after the same thing."
"You mean Alar," he stated, and she smiled.
"Yes. Alar. I want you to withdraw whatever offer you have given Mr. Chan."
"And why would I do that?"
She shrugged. "Because it's wise to do so. I have no idea where you get your resources, but it will be crazy to pay more than what I put on the table for Alar. Are you sure you are willing to disburse that much?"
He lifted his chin up at her and his eyes glinted. "Who said I'm paying more than that?"
"And how do you expect to convince Mr. Chan?"
Dao Ming Si smiled mysteriously at his mother. "Pure heart, Ma. I am planning to use pure heart." He stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to."
He didn't even bother to wait for whatever she had to say. He walked out of his office, even nodded with a cheerful smile at the two men standing outside, then proceeded to the room next door, where Mr. and Mrs. Chan waited.
Dao Ming Cheng was in his car when the call came through, informing him of the latest development.
Their conversation was brief and, after telling the caller to get back at him soonest, he hung up.
He was clearly baffled by his son's actions. Li Fong, the lawyer he had asked to stay closely with Dao Ming Si told him that his son had something up his sleeve. He said Dao Ming Si would not pay a single cent more than what he laid on the table.
"What's on your mind, son?" he asked silently, his eyes cruising through Central Park West from where he was seated.
"Thanks!" Aisha waved goodbye to the other dancers she trained with at the private studio. Her tote bag slung over her shoulder, she strode out of the dance studio and into the sidewalk, ready to go back to the mansion.
The better part of the day she spent at the studio. After having breakfast with Hua Ze Lei this morning she went straight to the dance studio to meet her old teachers when she was first here in Taipei.
And she had a lot of fun doing some routines with them. Of course they still didn't know how big she was in Tokyo, and she enjoyed the feel of just being with them as an equal, and not as a star.
She stepped into the pavement and was about to hail a cab when a flashy grey car pulled up in front of her.
She froze when she recognized the person seated at the driver's seat.
Mei Zuo.
Aisha wanted to run when he moved to get out of the car, but common sense told her that running away would make no sense. After all, what does she have to be ashamed of?
She gave him a smile as he stopped in front of her.
"You're on your way home?" he asked casually.
She nodded.
"Then I'll drive you," he offered.
"No, there really is no need for that," she refused gracefully. "I can take a cab."
"Are you avoiding me?" he asked, and she gaped at him.
"Why would I?" she replied, incredulous.
"Yeah, why would you?" He sighed, shaking his head, smiling a little as he did so. "Man, this is weird."
This time, Aisha smiled a real smile. "Yes, it is." She shook her head as well. "Though I don't understand why. I mean, it's not like we parted on bad terms, right?"
"Why does it feel so awkward?" he asked, genuinely confused.
She smiled, looking at him fully now. "You look good, Mei Zuo. It's been a long time. It's nice to see you again."
"Is it?" he asked suddenly. "Is that all you can say to me after all this time?"
She stared at him, perplexed. "Mei Zuo..."
"You act like you don't care, like nothing happened. You are acting so skittish, looking so guilty, but you act like absolutely nothing happened."
She shook her head, backing up a step. "I don't understand..."
He moved forward in a flash and took her by the shoulders, shaking her. "'You look good, Mei Zuo.' Is that all you can say?"
She wrenched herself free from his grasp and stepped back. "Why are you being like this?"
"Why don't you tell me?" he asked, the muscles on his cheek flexing. He flipped his hair from his face. "Why are you acting so...indifferent towards me? Are you putting on an act again, the way you used to play me before?"
Aisha took a deep breath. "I am not acting, Mei Zuo," she said quietly.
He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "No, I don't believe that. I don't." His eyes slid down to her wrist. "You feel something. You are still wearing the bracelet I gave you."
Slowly Aisha's eyes fell on the blue bracelet on her right wrist. Then, ever more slowly she looked back up and met his eyes. There was such sadness in hers that stunned him.
"Mei Zuo," she said softly, "this isn't the one you gave me."
Slowly it dawned on him.
"This," she said in a whisper, "was given to me by Hua Ze Lei."
Feeling the world fall on one's shoulders would be an understatement, if one considers the feeling that muffled Mei Zuo at that moment.
"I'm sorry," she said softly and spun on her heel, literally running away, hailing a cab as she did so.
Like a statue he stood there, unmoving, only watching her as she got into the cab, then was lost in the stream of traffic.
In the instant that Dao Ming Si entered the room, Li Fong knew he had nothing to do anymore. The intense look on the young man's face said it all: He would win. He will close this deal here and now. He will have Alar, and not Dao Ming Feng.
So he just sat back and watched the Dao Ming Si work his charm.
"Mr. Chan, I know you and your wife value Alar so much. Am I right?" Dao Ming Si asked.
The elderly couple looked at each other and there's no mistaking the affection both had for the company. When Mrs. Chan spoke, it was in a shaky voice filled with emotion.
"It has been our whole life for the past thirty years," she explained. "Believe me, if it was within our power we would not even dream of selling it. But the economy isn't helping."
Dao Ming Si was nodding thoughtfully. "Do you have any idea what would happen to Alar if you sell it to my mother?"
Li Fong smiled inwardly, now aware of the card Dao Ming Si was playing. Genius, he thought. A simple plan, but a stroke of genius.
Dao Ming Si went on. "Alar is just a small venture for my mother. So small, that she would hardly care what happens to it once she acquires it. The moment the title passes to her, she would have the big guns move in on Alar. Everything will be reformatted, and Alar, the very company you built together, will be nothing more than a pawn."
Beside Li Fong, Reeyu stopped taking down notes as he sensed the direction of the meeting had changed. Rapt, he was taken in wholly by Dao Ming Si's persuasions.
Dao Ming Si leaned back in his seat to make his point clear.
"Not to mention the workers would have grim prospects once the reformatting occurs."
Worry was now etched all over the couple's faces and triumph surged within Dao Ming Si. Something inside urged him to push on, and he did.
"Whereas, if you accept my offer, I can assure you that no massive lay-offs will occur. Some will probably lose their jobs, but I can guarantee you that they won't be left in the dark, with nothing. I will do everything in my power to see they are well."
His voice took on a reassuring tone. "I have no big guns, Mr. Chan. But your company will not be lost. Alar will still continue to exist."
"Can you assure that?" It was Mrs. Chan who asked the question.
Dao Ming Si nodded resolutely. "You have my word. But understand, Mr. and Mrs. Chan, my original offer stands."
When the elderly couple looked at each other with relieved smiles on their faces, Li Fong knew Dao Ming Si had won.
Dao Ming Si wanted to whoop with laughter, but contained it. Shancai, he thought, you're my angel!
When the meeting was over and the papers were drawn on the spot, Dao Ming Si, Li Fong and Reeyu left the room and found the hall was empty. Dao Ming Feng and her guards have left.
Li Fong made a clucking sound. "I wonder if she knows that you now own Alar Express."
Dao Ming Si shook his head. "I doubt it. She's too confident of her own victory that she didn't bother waiting for the result of our meeting. She'll find out soon enough."
Li Fong shook his head in amazement at the power struggle between mother and son…and in the background stood the father, watching with an unreadable expression on his face. Dao Ming Cheng is the silent mover in all of these, and no one knows what his intentions clearly were.
Reeyu now looked at Dao Ming Si with respect. "Sir, what you did back there...that was...masterful!"
Dao Ming Si laughed. "Make sure you tell Xi Men that."
The laughter of the three rang through Dao Ming Si's bare ffice. Afterwards, Reeyu looked around. "I'll miss this place, Sir."
"Then better take your fill of it, Reeyu," Dao Ming Si said, "because we'll be moving to a bigger, better place."
Afterwards, when Li Fong left the two, he walked straight to his car but instead of turning the ignition on, he dialed a number to New York.
"It's done," he said to Dao Ming Cheng. "The Young Master won hands down."
In brief words he relayed to Dao Ming Cheng how Dao Ming Si went about acquiring Alar, then hung up.
In New York, Dao Ming Cheng stared at his reflection through the glass paneled wall of his private study.
Dao Ming Si beat his mother at her own game, using Dao Ming Cheng's methods.
"See?" he spoke to his reflection. "You are very much like your father, Dao Ming Si. Like it or not, you are indeed Dao Ming Cheng's son."