Love 020 : Love and family

Chapter 12 - Surprise!

Weiwei's time in Wuhan was uneventful for the most part. She made all the arrangements she needed to make, including starting a small scholarship in her mother's name for young girls with the her slush fund from contract gigs over the years. She hadn't want to tell anyone but Nai had found a way to get her to open up. A week had passed, and the brightest spot for her each day was the hour she talked to Nai before they went to bed. She didn't know it was possible to miss someone this much. To his credit, Nai hadn't rushed her at all. He knew she needed time, so he simply let her have it. He even went so far as to convince his mom to give her space, " Ma, you need to back off and let her do her thing. She will come to you. Trust me I have got her figured out", he had said.

Meanwhile in Beijing, Hao Mei noticed that Nai was wound tightly like a coil. His friend really missed his girl. " Nai, just because sansao is stuck in Wuhan, it doesn't mean the rest of us don't have a life". They teased him a lot for it, but Nai never said anything in response. Besides, Hao Mei had been rather preoccupied with thoughts of one dashing hacker they had found, KO. KO had quickly become an integral part of the team and Hao Mei really liked him. Their investor pitch was in two days. They had worked very hard on some prototypes, the vision for the company and had practiced their pitch many times. This was the investor they really wanted - Feng Ventures. Lead by president and director Feng, husband and wife, Feng Ventures was a young investment firm that understood tech and had a reputation for being fair.

The day before the pitch meeting, Weiwei had texted Nai and wished him luck as she wouldn't be able to talk. She was going to be in prayers all day and was hosting a dinner for the people that came to pay their respects. Nai for the millionth time, wished he could see her. He needed her, ' How can I be so dependent on her already?', he wondered forlorn wishing she would come home. The next morning, at 10 am, Zhi Yi was ready for the pitch of their lives.

They walked into the conference room to see President and director Feng seated, along with their small board of directors. President Feng stood up and said, " Welcome Zhi Yi. Mr. Xiao, our directors have reviewed the plans you submitted. We are still waiting for one of our directors to join us, but let me brief you on our process. Only myself and director Feng were privy to your identities. The rest of my team, including our board have reviewed blind. That is they have only seen your plans, but all other info including your names and company name was stripped off from the proposal. This is for the sake of fairness. Are you with me so far?"

Xiao Nai: " Thank you for the opportunity and explaining your process to us president Feng. Please call me Nai. These are my friends and partners- Yu Banshan, Houzi  and Hao Mei. Your fairness is one of the top reasons why we wanted to seek funding from  you. Would you like us to start the presentation now?"

President Feng said, " Our board wants to hear more about your proposal. But your proposal indicates that you plan to pivot your company to build security as a service products. I have a board member who specializes in that and I had sent your plans to her ( stripping off your identity of course) for her expert opinion. Her initial assessment is very positive but she may have questions. She is flying in from Wuhan on very short notice from me, so if you wouldn't mind , let us give her a few minutes to arrive. In the mean time, please help yourself to some refreshments".

Nai's brothers were getting nervous, 'who was this consultant?' they wondered. Nai remained calm, he just wanted to get this term sheet and call his Weiwei to give the good news. Just as they were about to walk down from the stage, the double doors opened dramatically. An elegant woman, dressed in a pair of black slacks, a purple blouse and pumps strode in powerfully.  " Thank you for waiting for me. I appreciate your patience ," and set her bags down. President Feng and director Feng walked towards the woman and gave her a hug escorting her to the front of the room where Nai and his brothers were standing. As the woman was setting her bag down, she started saying without looking up, " Thanks for waiting again. I am Bei Weiwei. I am the missing board member. I have reviewed your plans and they look pretty solid to me. Now, who do I have the pleasure of speaking to this mornin...ing?" , and looked up with her eyes widening in shock to see Nai and his brothers. Nai and his brothers were stunned. Hao Mei's jaw was opening and closing like a fish seeing his sansao. No one spoke for a few seconds.