In the morning, the finance staff had the contract drafted and presented it to Mu Qingrong for review.
There was nothing wrong with the contract, and the matter of the 80% prepayment was clearly written within it.
"Director Mu, will they really provide the 80% prepayment?" Lin Na, the financial director, still couldn't believe it; she had never heard of such a high prepayment percentage in all her years.
Mu Qingrong said, "It's written in the contract. Once it's signed, it will take effect. If the prepayment isn't fulfilled, we can refuse to start work."
Lin Na nodded, excitedly saying, "These projects alone have a prepayment of about seventeen or eighteen million. With this money, our company's financial situation can be greatly improved. It's just that I don't know when they will transfer the prepayment."
Mu Qingrong also placed great importance on this matter as the company was currently under financial strain and desperately needed this prepayment to operate. This money, arriving even a day earlier, could potentially resolve a major problem for the company.
However, Mu Qingrong couldn't urge them to transfer the money sooner. After all, the 80% prepayment was already unprecedented, and asking for it early could seem rather presumptuous.
Mu Qingrong signed the contract and called Ye Qing in, instructing him to deliver the contract to Liu Yuan.
Mu Qingrong said, "I have drafted the contract exactly according to their previous template; there should be no issues. You let Manager Liu take a look, and if there are any questions or needed modifications, he can suggest them, and the contract can be amended. Also, while you're there..."
As Mu Qingrong spoke, she hesitated, then shook her head and added, "Never mind, there's nothing else. Please deliver the contract as soon as possible."
Ye Qing nodded, took the contract, and left the room.
Watching Ye Qing walk to the door, Mu Qingrong really wanted him to casually mention to Liu Yuan to expedite the prepayment. Yet, when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back. While the money was crucial for the company, she didn't want to give Liu Yuan a poor impression of her, especially since Das Group was to be a significant client for them in the future.
Ye Qing arrived at Das Group with the contract, finding Liu Yuan busy. The company had secured three major orders the day before, and he had been quite prominent in sealing those deals. Spirits tend to be high during good times, and he appeared especially bright and energetic today.
Upon seeing Ye Qing, Liu Yuan didn't dare delay, quickly rising to greet him, saying, "Ye, you've finally come. If you hadn't shown up soon, I was about to come looking for you."
"Is something the matter?" asked Ye Qing in surprise.
"Ah, it's about this project proposal," Liu Yuan indicated the three proposals on his desk. "These three are still not complete; they need further revision and additional content. To be honest, the level of your proposals is too high for me to perfect, so I can only wait for you to help."
Ye Qing didn't refuse, as he had already told Liu Yuan before. He could manage the three proposals, but they must be perfected by him personally.
"Manager Liu, this is the contract drafted by our company. Please take a look. Mark anything that needs changing, and I will discuss the modifications with Director Mu when I return," Ye Qing handed the contract to Liu Yuan, then directly went to take the three proposals and began working on them at a nearby table.
Liu Yuan, previously frazzled by the project proposals, now breathed a sigh of relief with Ye Qing's arrival. Having Ye Qing around inexplicitly assured him of no worries.
Watching Ye Qing busy perfecting the proposals, Liu Yuan felt an immense relief. He looked over the contract several times. It was similar to his previous contracts and required no amendments, so he simply signed it.
While Ye Qing was busy, perfecting the proposals was significantly harder than drafting an initial proposal. By noon, Ye Qing had only managed to complete two of them; the third would have to wait until the afternoon to be perfected.
Nevertheless, Liu Yuan was still astonished by Ye Qing's speed. Such tasks, even if handled by two professionals, might not complete one in half a day. He now believed seventy percent in the fact that Ye Qing was a graduate from Northern University; besides the talented graduates from Northern University, who else could possess such capability?
After viewing the two perfected proposals that Ye Qing worked on, which were indeed well done, Liu Yuan was very satisfied. These two proposals, when handed to Dayue Group, would definitely stand without issue. That is, as long as the final drafts of these three proposals were approved, then his duties in business matters would be completed, leaving only the company's production tasks to be handled.
At noon, Liu Yuan took Ye Qing downstairs to a small restaurant, which was quite crowded as it was nearly noon and fairly packed.
"What shall we eat for lunch today?" Liu Yuan asked, holding the menu, gradually understanding Ye Qing's simple tastes, guessing that today's lunch wouldn't involve fancy dishes.
"Tomato and egg noodles," said Ye Qing.
"Right," Liu Yuan ordered the tomato and egg noodles for Ye Qing and chose two more dishes, which, although simple, aligned well with Ye Qing's preferences.
As the waiter served the tea and they sat chatting casually. Just after taking a sip of tea, Liu Yuan felt a discomfort in his stomach, bending slightly forward, one hand pressing his stomach, the other supporting his body, with a slightly pained expression on his face.
Noticing Liu Yuan's expression, Ye Qing asked, "Manager Liu, is your stomach upset?"
Liu Yuan frowned and said, "It's my old problem, even drinking hot water feels irritating."
Ye Qing asked, "Did you try the method I mentioned to you yesterday?"
"Yesterday's method?" Liu Yuan was startled and took about two full seconds to recall that Ye Qing had talked about it. It seemed like Ye Qing's grandfather was some kind of barefoot doctor from the countryside with traditional folk remedies.
Liu Yuan, of course, didn't believe in those folk remedies from the countryside, so he didn't care much about it and had almost forgotten it.
"I got home too late last night and forgot all about it," Liu Yuan blurted out a lie. He trusted Ye Qing's professional abilities, but that didn't mean he believed in Ye Qing's medical skills.
"You can still try it now," Ye Qing said. "Your stomach has already begun to ulcerate, and it would be hard to heal solely with external measures. The method I spoke of can only provide temporary relief; for a complete cure, you would need to combine it with oral medications."
In fact, the Acupoint Seeking Technique documented that simply relying on external measures could not treat ulcers. However, if assisted by Inner Strength, Vigor Power could enter the body through the meridians and heal it. Since Ye Qing lacked Inner Strength and Liu Yuan certainly didn't have it either, they would have to rely on oral medications.
"Really?" Liu Yuan said skeptically. His stomach was truly uncomfortable, so, curious to see if it would work, he pressed near his chest and asked, "Where did you say to press yesterday?"
"Five fingers below the left side of your chest," Ye Qing directed.
Liu Yuan measured and found the spot, tentatively pressing it with his finger.
Strangely enough, after less than a minute of pressing, Liu Yuan felt the discomfort in his stomach significantly lessen, he belched a few times, and the nauseous feeling also disappeared instantly.
Liu Yuan was amazed and continued pressing for a while longer. As he massaged the area, the discomfort in his stomach gradually faded, replaced by a sensation of hunger.
"How odd! How odd! How odd!" Liu Yuan, eyes wide, looked at Ye Qing and exclaimed, "Why do I feel so hungry all of a sudden?"
Ye Qing nodded and said, "That means it's working."
"This... this is too miraculous," Liu Yuan kept his hand on the spot, his eyes almost bulging out in excitement. "How come I never knew about this folk remedy before? My stomach has caused me so much suffering!"
Ye Qing had merely suggested the method based on what was documented in the Acupoint Seeking Technique, which, in truth, wasn't really a folk remedy. The techniques from the Acupoint Seeking Technique were not ordinary by any means. Treating a common stomach ailment was really quite simple for them.
Before long, the waiter brought over the food. Liu Yuan hadn't ordered a main dish, only a tomato and egg noodles dish for Ye Qing, as he usually just ate some vegetables.
"Manager Liu, your dishes are ready. Are you still not having a main dish today?" the waiter asked. Liu Yuan dined here often and was familiar with the staff.
"Who said that?" Liu Yuan immediately waved his hand and urged, "Hurry up, bring me two bowls of rice."
"Ah?" The waiter was surprised. Liu Yuan had been dining here for almost a year, and at most, he ate half a bowl of rice. Two bowls of rice—was he under some sort of stress or trying to stuff himself to death?
"What's this 'Ah'? Hurry up, I'm starving," Liu Yuan urged impatiently. It had been a long time since he had felt this hungry. Looking at the dishes on the table, he was almost drooling.
"Oh," the waiter hurried into the kitchen and returned with two large bowls of rice.
Liu Yuan picked up a bowl, signaled Ye Qing, and began to wolf down the food.
After finishing one bowl, Liu Yuan showed no signs of stopping as he picked up the other bowl and continued to eat. However, this time he slowed down, chatting with Ye Qing as he ate.
"Ye brothers, this is really weird. Normally, I can't eat much at all; I thought I had a small stomach. Turns out, when I really get to eating, my appetite is actually pretty good," Liu Yuan said joyfully. Only someone with a stomach condition like his could understand that having a good appetite is indeed a blessing.
Ye Qing explained, "You suffer from chronic gastric bloating, and the bloating makes your stomach feel full, so you don't feel hungry. This makes you eat very little. However, stomach digestion continues, which can gradually lead to the development of gastric ulcers—a vicious cycle.
But once the pressure from the bloating is relieved and your stomach feels empty, you start feeling hungry and can eat."
Liu Yuan said, "So the spot I pressed earlier was where the bloating was pressing?"
Ye Qing nodded, and Liu Yuan pressed the spot again, looking at Ye Qing, he couldn't help but say, "Ye brothers, you really know a lot. If you hadn't written so many project proposals, I would have thought you studied medicine!"