Never Judge

"Get Camilla on the phone." Cedric said as calmly as he could. "I want to know what happened and why Lucius Ting is acting differently, this is not how we expected the cards to land."

Dave nodded and did as Cedric asked. Rushing out of the room as he tried to contact Camilla.

"I'll have the choppers prepared. We should be able to leave soon. The cars will be driven home separately if that's alright with you." Mae said as she waited for Cedric to respond.

"Yes, I don't mind flying this time. It's urgent." Cedric told Mae

She nodded and turned to leave the room to make the necessary arrangements.

"I guess we should all pack our bags." Katerina said as she dragged her brother and the other boys out. "The sooner we get things done, the better."

"Let's talk about everything further when we get back to the capital, right now I need to focus on this." Cedric told his friend.

"We'll get out of your hair." Ray said as he followed Katerina and the others out.

Cedric nodded and let them leave.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Ian asked Cedric as he gathered his things.

"Can you arrange everything with Seth and with Fernando's family?" Cedric asked. "Ask Mae to deal with Mien as well."

"Alright." Ian said with a nod as he left to do as Cedric asked.

Cedric sighed and walked over to the window, he looked out as he considered his options. 

He could either wait and see how far Lucius Ting would attempt to attack him with this strategy, or he could move his plans forward.

"The down side of me moving my plans forward is that I don't know if Ming is ready." Cedric whispered to himself as he considered the thought.

Cedric walked back to his desk and pulled up some files, he studied the company's trends and tried to see if he had enough inventory to meet the demands with his missing suppliers.

He would still be able to cater to them, but based on their growth, it won't be enough in a few months.

That helped him decide to move forward with his plans, but he needed to get the other party to agree to come sooner.

Cedric quickly took out his phone and dialed an international number.

It didn't take long for the other person to pick up.

"Hello." The voice said in a thick Chinese accent. "I thought we agreed not to contact each other til the set date?" The person asked.

"I have an emergency, I need to pull our plans forward, and I need another thing from you." Cedric said with a sigh.

"How soon?" The man at the other end of the line asked as his thick accent vanished as if it had never even existed.

Cedric was so tempted to laugh, but he controlled himself. He still needed this friend of his to agree, the banter could wait till later.

"As soon as you can fly over, the other side took all my suppliers." Cedric informed his friend. "Ming, when is the soonest you can fly in?"

"Honestly my company can run without me, plus going there will get my father off of my back." Ming replied. "I'll be there in two days. I need to inform him and to get out of a blind date."

"They are still setting you up for those?" Cedric said with a laugh.

"I think they think I like guys." Ming said with a laugh. "And what do they care if I do! It's my life. It's not like they built this business for me." Ming grumbled. 

"Have you found her, the woman you told me about last time?" Cedric asked.

"I found her a long time ago, my friend." Ming said with a laugh. "Sadly, she's with someone now. So you have my full attention." Ming said with a chuckle."

"Great." Cedric said, unsure if he was happy that Ming would be coming sooner or sad for his friend's lost love.

"Is that all you need?" Ming asked.

"I need suppliers too, the ones that Lucius can't tie back to me." Cedric told Ming.

"Send me the materials you need, I might know some people that can help you out. This Lucius guy isn't involved with the government, right?" Ming asked.

"No, he isn't. But he seems to have connections everywhere. He's quite a slimy little thing." Cedric complained.

"I doubt he is smarter than you." Ming told Cedric. "When did he make a move again?" Ming asked.

"A few minutes ago." Cedric informed Ming.

"I'll arrive in three days." Ming said. "We still need him to think he won."

"Alright." Cedric said. He was glad he had a friend like Ming. An outsider's perspective alway helped, especially in a situation such as this where they were too deep in.

"Oh and that tech guy you have? The one that hacked me back?" Ming asked.

"Yeah, what about him?" Cedric asked back. 

"He is brilliant!" Ming praised. "If he wasn't your man I would have already tried to hire him."

"You can try." Cedric said with a grin.

"I'm smart enough to know not to try, your people are way too loyal to you. They would never leave." Ming complained. "Will I get to meet the kid?"

"He isn't that young." Cedric responded with a laugh. "But yes, you will."

"Great, I'll see you soon then." Ming said as he dropped the call.

Cedric shook his head and smiled, the Ming now was a far cry from the boy that was trying to prove his worth to his family.

He knew that the moment Ming arrived in the country it would become headline news. 

It wasn't everyday that Guan Ming, Tech Genius and Mogul arrived in the country.

And the biggest topic around it would be why he had come. People like Guan Ming didn't just go to countries like theirs for no reason.

He was too big to just come over, there would always have to be a reason, and Cedric new the whole country would be quite eager to find out.