Brick by Brick (Bxb)

Chapter 37: The Envelope

The three teams were required to give an update of their current status to the television producers and the upper management of Freiheit Conglomerate. Every team would know the revenue earned by the other competing teams and how far behind they were, but no details of their mode of operation were revealed to them, with the exception of the TV crew, of course.

The only time they would get to know those things in full would be at the end of the RSE festival, when they revealed the winning team.

Ming Kai and his team were in the lead, but the other two weren't that far behind either. Anything could happen three months from now, so everyone was still vigilant about what they did.

Terry was improving the functions of the touch screen kiosk on their food truck. It proved a much better and efficient method to taking orders at the counter. Best of all, it saved them the much needed space that could be used instead to house more equipment and food, enabling them to rake up their profits.

While Chen Yu Lin was busy monitoring the sales proceeds, Ming Kai had his work cut out for him.

Although the theme for this year's RSE was 'tourism', Ming Kai felt that they could increase their net returns by attracting the locals as well. He was busy brainstorming for ways to recreate certain local specialties, making it look appealing enough for the locals to want to buy it. It was a tricky task, considering that he also had to discuss this in tandem with the cooks.

Not only was there a need for aesthetics, but Ming Kai also had to choose from the vast selection of food items and consider how they might be easily prepared and sold in a tiny food truck.

Ming Kai was walking back to the office around tea break, nose deep into the stack of new recipes that the cooks have decided were worth giving a shot, so much so that he didn't notice someone else entering the elevator with him.

"Enjoying your read?" Ming Kai turned to look at the owner of the voice, and immediately regretted his decision.

"Indeed, MD Chen." He replied mockingly. "What a coincidence."

"I was thinking the exact same thing," he said and closed in on him. The lift was already cramped enough, yet Chen Tian Lin seemed to be a person who liked making cramped spaces even more cramped. Ming Kai glared defiantly as Chen Tian Lin's fingers caught the base of his chin, lifting his eyes up to meet his gaze.

"You have guts, breaking up with my sister like that." His face was so close that Ming Kai could actually notice the distinct smell of cigarettes. So he actually smokes? Strange that he never noticed. "What should I do to you? She was really hurt, you know?"

"If you really cared for your sister, you wouldn't hurt her any further by forcing me to date her." He retorted.

"Oh, of course I wouldn't. I only forced you to date her because I thought you were a man worth keeping. You have yet to serve your purpose here." He said enigmatically.  

"I'm not the kind who would hurt my sister anyway. But as for you," Chen Tian Lin's eyes shone with a strange light, then smiled coldly. "There are plenty of ways to go about doing that. It doesn't have to be physical." Ming Kai suddenly felt his stomach churn as he realised what Chen Tian Lin meant.

"You wouldn't-"

"Trust me. I would. Therefore, I would hope that you get me some results. Otherwise, your little secret..." Chen Tian Lin replied, his voice cold as ice.

"Chen Tian Lin! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you enjoy making life difficult for other people?" Ming Kai felt his face boiling with rage, all the animosity he could ever feel for a single person condensed like a hard, molten core in the centre of his being. If there was one person he ever wished dead, it was him.