Not long after, a man in a suit, bald-headed, hurriedly strode over from a short distance away.
He looked to be in his thirties, with the complexion of someone who spent a lot of time at business banquets.
As soon as Kevin Shao arrived, he scanned the crowd and quickly walked over to Derek Zhang.
"Ah, Mr. Zhang, I'm so sorry! I just got stuck in traffic for a bit. You really should've given me a heads-up before you came—my apologies!" Kevin Shao laughed heartily, walked up to Derek Zhang, immediately reached out to shake his hand tightly, his face full of apology. "I've just been swamped these past couple days, or else I would've made sure everything was arranged perfectly for you!"
"If it weren't for your support back then, I might still be just a junior project manager at the company."
Kevin Shao joked around. When he first joined Derek Zhang’s company, he was clever and capable. The resort happened to need a manager, so Derek recommended him to White Dragon Mountain Resort.
No one expected Kevin Shao—who didn’t look like much—could really hold his liquor and was a master at handling people. After some back-and-forth, he ended up becoming the general manager of White Dragon Mountain Resort.
Even after Sawyer Summer took over, he didn’t replace Kevin, so now Kevin holds real authority here.
"Haven’t seen you in years, Kevin. Still the same as ever—that’s impressive." Derek Zhang chuckled. "You becoming the GM of White Dragon Mountain Resort is all thanks to your own hard work."
"I only helped you because I saw your potential. But if you hadn’t worked for it yourself, even my help wouldn’t have done much."
Derek Zhang patted Kevin Shao on the shoulder. Kevin’s deferential attitude made Derek feel very pleased, and to everyone else, it just looked like Derek was doing well in life.
"Come, let me introduce you. This is Neil Kong, chairman and CEO of Jinnan Tianhua Trading Co., and this is Sharon Chen of the Oceanport Chen family." Derek Zhang introduced them to Kevin Shao.
"Jinnan Tianhua Trading Co., huh? I’ve heard of your company—very impressive! Mr. Kong, if there’s ever a chance, I hope we can work together." Kevin Shao quickly stepped forward to shake hands.
Neil Kong nodded slightly, looking a bit arrogant. "I’d always heard White Dragon Mountain Resort had great service, but now that I’m here, it doesn’t seem that way at all."
"Uh..." Kevin Shao glanced at Derek Zhang, but before Derek could speak, Sharon Xiao quickly jumped in and recounted everything that had just happened.
"That Henry Zhang! I used to think that kid was pretty sharp, but I never expected him to pull something like this!" Hearing Sharon’s words, Kevin Shao’s face suddenly darkened. He turned to Derek Zhang and Neil Kong and immediately said, "Don’t worry, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Kong! I’ll call that kid over right now. If he doesn’t give you a proper explanation, I’ll deal with him on the spot today!"
Furious, Kevin Shao immediately called Henry Zhang and barked into the phone, "Henry, get over to the back pool right now!"
"What? You’re preparing the banquet? Who told you to do that? Drop it and get over here now—immediately!"
Kevin Shao hung up, his face full of anger.
"I’ve never liked that lobby manager anyway. The guy has no idea how to respect guests!" Stella Cui said, then subtly kicked Lawrence Wang next to her.
Lawrence Wang nodded, "Yeah, totally out of line. If he were my student, I’d fire him on the spot!"
"It’s still Mr. Zhang who’s got the connections, able to call in Manager Shao to handle things." Someone nearby chimed in, agreeing.
"That’s all for Mr. Kong and Mrs. Kong’s sake, isn’t it?" Derek Zhang laughed, then squinted at Lucy Lu and Joy Zheng. "When you first arrived, were you the ones who told him to drive the car away early?"
Right now, Derek Zhang didn’t care why Victor Zhao was afraid of Charles Chen. He worked under Sawyer Summer, and even Victor’s boss Wayne Wang couldn’t talk back to Sawyer Summer.
That phone call just now had completely ruined Neil Kong and Sharon Chen’s reputation, so now Derek Zhang planned to help them pick their face back up, bit by bit.
"If nothing ever happens on my turf, you’ll never understand how important I am!"
Derek Zhang sneered coldly to himself.
He stared at Lucy Lu and Joy Zheng, his expression unfriendly. Even though these two looked much younger and prettier than the other women, Derek knew now was not the time to go soft.
"I was the one who told him to drive the car away."
Before Lucy Lu and Joy Zheng could say anything, Evan Lin, who had been standing quietly off to the side, stretched lazily, walked forward, and spoke up calmly.
"Evan!"
Lynn Chen and Yolanda Fang hadn’t expected Evan to step up at this moment. He really had told Henry to drive off, but the situation was clearly getting tense.
The person who’d just arrived was the GM in charge of the entire White Dragon Mountain Resort. If Evan said the wrong thing, they might get thrown out.
"Evan."
Seeing Evan step forward, Joy Zheng and Lucy Lu tried to pull him back, but Evan just shook his head, gave them a reassuring look, and walked calmly up to Derek Zhang. He glanced at Derek, worried he hadn’t heard clearly, and repeated, "I told Henry to drive the car away. So what, you got a problem with that?"
"If you’ve got a problem, just say so. You might be able to call a manager with one phone call, but believe it or not, I can make one call and have you pack up and leave your job for good."
Evan looked utterly calm, as if he were just stating a simple fact.
The moment he finished, everyone was stunned.
"Did I hear that right?" Someone shook their head, looking at Evan like he was crazy.
"Is this kid joking? One phone call and Derek Zhang gets fired? Must’ve fried his brain with all that studying." Someone nearby stared at Evan, full of skepticism.
"You? One phone call? Who do you think you are?" Ivy Zhang sneered at Evan, rolling her eyes.
"What an idiot," Yolanda Wang chimed in.
Yolanda Fang and Lynn Chen exchanged a look, both a little puzzled.