Chapter 43
Victoria smiled without giving a direct answer.
"Come inside with me and you'll see. I'm taking you to meet someone."
Charlotte said nothing and followed Victoria in. There were three servants there.
Some were sweeping fallen leaves, some were tending to the flowers and plants, and one was just standing quietly by the door, as if waiting for instructions from the person inside at any moment.
Charlotte looked around and figured that the person inside must be quite old.
Sure enough, just as she expected, after going in, sitting by the tea table in the reception room was an elderly man.
He looked about eighty years old, with completely white hair, but his eyes were particularly sharp. His face was flushed, and he looked very energetic, radiating an elegant and refined air.
Victoria walked over with a smile. "Daniel, this is Charlotte, my daughter I just found, the one I told you about."
Charlotte followed her to the tea table, nodded slightly at the old man, and said coolly, "Hello, nice to meet you."
Daniel White looked up and studied Charlotte, his eyes full of curiosity. "You really do look like Victoria. Sit down. I just made some tea. Want to try it?"
Charlotte sat down as he suggested, picked up the teacup and took a sip. "White tea. Should be new tea from this season, less than three months old. The taste is quite fresh and fragrant. If you keep it for over two years, it becomes richer. It's really good tea."
Daniel's eyes immediately lit up, and he laughed. "I didn't expect someone so young to know about tea! Young people these days, it's all coffee or soft drinks. Very few have the patience to appreciate tea anymore."
Victoria was also somewhat surprised.
She never knew Charlotte knew these things.
"I just liked drinking tea for a while. I don't really know that much." Charlotte was modest, then gave Victoria a look.
She didn't know what Victoria's real purpose was, but it clearly wasn't as simple as just visiting an elder.
Victoria caught her look and finally put down her teacup, saying with a smile, "Charlotte, can you tell Daniel everything about your views on company management, completely and in detail?"
Charlotte frowned, a bit confused.
These were all internal matters of their company and shouldn't have anything to do with Daniel.
She didn't know what Victoria was trying to do, but she still did as she was told and spoke directly.
"Daniel, I'll go ahead then."
Daniel raised his hand, signaling her to go ahead.
Charlotte paused briefly before speaking. "I spent a day at the Langley Group and found many management problems. First, the sales department should be the main revenue generator for the company, but due to poor management and no clear monthly targets, the employees have no awareness of pushing for performance. Everyone's just lazy."
"Second, all the company departments are interconnected. Each department's weekly reports should be shared with each other for coordination, but from what I've observed, they're still just creating group chats and sharing in there. It's too inefficient."
At this point, Charlotte took out her phone, opened a website she had made, and placed it on the table for them to see.
"This is a website I created, for internal company use only. As long as department heads upload their reports on time, information is shared and everything is clear at a glance."
"Plus, I put security locks on it. Even if someone else finds out about this website, they won't be able to break in easily. It's a very secure company data collection center."
Daniel listened quietly, and his gaze at Charlotte suddenly became serious and focused.
Charlotte looked up and noticed he seemed a bit excited, but didn't pay much attention and continued.
"Also, among the Langley Group's current senior positions, the proportion of Langley family relatives is way too high. Like Nora in the sales department, she's completely unqualified for her position. This is the downside of family businesses. I think if the Langley Group wants to do better, it must treat all employees equally and judge them by their work ability."
Having said this, she finally stopped. "That's all."
Charlotte picked up her tea and took a sip.
The room was extremely quiet.
Daniel stared straight at Charlotte, his eyes growing more and more intense, as if he had encountered some once-in-a-millennium treasure.
His hands trembled slightly as he took a deep breath. "Found her. I finally found her."
Daniel suddenly stood up.
Charlotte didn't know what he was going to do, but out of politeness could only stand up as well.
"What do you mean..."
Daniel burst out laughing and patted Victoria on the shoulder. "This heir you found for me is truly outstanding, qualified!"
Charlotte froze.
Heir?
Victoria showed an expression of having everything under control and winked at Daniel. "Finding you an heir, of course I'd be selective!"
Daniel nodded with satisfaction. "Good, excellent!"
He sat down and waved his hand, signaling Charlotte to sit as well.
"You must be very curious about why I'm so excited, and you don't know what this heir business means, right?"
Charlotte nodded, glancing at a painting hanging on the wall behind Daniel.
She had once been interested in this painting and had someone look into it, only to learn it had been bought by the White family.
Legend had it that the White family was in the maritime shipping business, controlling the city's port authority. What goods could pass through, which ships couldn't—it all depended on their word.
The profits involved were huge, at the level of a nouveau riche empire.
She never expected that this Daniel she was meeting today was actually the head of the White family.
Daniel smiled and said leisurely, "You don't know me, but you should have heard my name. I'm Daniel White."
Daniel White.
Charlotte's fingers paused.
So he really was the head of the White family, Daniel White.
"The White Group was built from scratch by me and my wife, a full fifty years. We've been the top company dominating the waterways."
"We had a son, also very outstanding. We originally planned to hand the company over to him, but a helicopter accident took my wife and our only son. From then on, I became a lonely old man, and the company had no successor."
At this point, Daniel's tears flowed, and he turned his head to wipe the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief.
Victoria sighed and quickly went over to pat Daniel's back.
Charlotte also poured a cup of tea and handed it over.
"All these years I've been looking for a qualified heir. Those old shareholders in the company and their children all have their own agendas, useless for anything important. They only want to plunder the company, with no intention of running it properly."
"In their eyes, this is a big cake, and everyone is desperately performing in front of me, trying to please me, but I know it's all just an act!"
Daniel suddenly became agitated, staring intently at Charlotte with burning eyes. "I'm afraid if I hand the company to them, it'll collapse sooner or later. Until I saw you, heard what you just said, I felt something in you."
Charlotte asked, "What?"
Daniel smiled. "That drive where any difficulty is just a challenge in your eyes. I know you're capable! I want to recognize you as my granddaughter."
Charlotte was stunned. "What?"
Daniel made his final decision. "From now on, you'll be the heir to the White Group. I'm putting you in charge of my company."