Xue Yi appeared to be a truly attentive boyfriend.
He solicitously poured Su Ran half a glass of red wine and handed her a warm towel to wipe her hands.
Hypocrisy reeked from every gesture.
He Lujie spoke up with a chuckle, acting like an elder pleading on behalf of a junior. “President Lu, the most important reason for requesting this meeting today is to apologize to you. A few days ago, Little Yi and his girlfriend had a bit too much to drink, and she accidentally barged into your room. I hope she didn’t disturb you too much.”
Su Ran let out a heavy scoff in her heart.
So, they knew exactly what had happened.
However, from the perspective of a rational person, she couldn’t yet understand why Xue Yi and his uncle would voluntarily bring this up.
Surely they didn’t actually believe she had been the one taking advantage of Lu Jingxing that night.
Lu Jingxing turned his head slightly toward Su Ran and asked at a leisurely pace, “Was there such a thing?”
Su Ran’s almond-shaped eyes flickered. Before she could speak, Assistant Du cut in. “It should have been last Wednesday. Miss Su went to the wrong room. Seeing that she wasn’t feeling well, I called a waitress to settle her in the secondary bedroom to be looked after for the night. You went to bed early that day and left early the next morning, President Lu, so you weren’t aware.”
Du Heng explained seriously and methodically, as if he were stating simple facts.
Lu Jingxing gave a light “Oh.” “I see. In that case, it wasn’t a disturbance. Miss Su, don’t take it to heart.”
He Lujie laughed. “Yes, don’t take it to heart, haha. Little Yi, you and Xiao Ran should toast President Lu together.”
Don’t take it to heart? What right did He Lujie have to decide that for her?
This was like putting a piece of transparent tape over a ten-centimeter-long gash. They claimed everything was fine, but everyone knew exactly what was going on underneath.
Ultimately, she was the only one who felt the pain.
Xue Yi held his wine glass with both hands, bowing and scraping like a lapdog. “It is an honor to meet President Lu today. Xiao Ran and I would like to toast you.”
Su Ran bit the inside of her cheek and didn’t move.
Lu Jingxing ignored Xue Yi entirely. His gaze swept past him as if he were merely a puff of foul air.
He didn’t pick up his chopsticks, didn’t touch his glass, and didn’t respond. He simply sat there, cold and austere.
Xue Yi grinned awkwardly. Everyone present understood that he wasn’t worthy of toasting Lu Jingxing; even being in the same room was a step far above his station.
He also knew that if he hadn’t used Su Ran’s name, even his uncle wouldn’t have been able to book a meeting with Lu Jingxing so easily.
“Haha,” He Lujie quickly spoke up. “President Lu, regarding the cooperation with Fuda Bank, have you considered it?”
Lu Jingxing acted as if he hadn’t heard a word, completely ignoring He Lujie.
When the boss disdained to speak, it was Assistant Du’s job to handle the proceedings. “Small matters like this are managed by the Chief Financial Officer. Since Governor He has asked, I will mention it to the External Finance Department.”
Upon hearing this, the fake smiles on He Lujie and Xue Yi’s faces immediately became more relaxed and genuine.
“Thank you so much, President Lu. And thank you, Assistant Du, for giving us this opportunity.”
Su Ran had a sudden realization, feeling as though she had been struck heavily in the chest.
They wanted Lu Jingxing to think he had slept with their woman.
Even though they weren’t happy about it, they weren’t going to make a fuss.
If Lu Jingxing was willing, they could offer her up to him at any time.
After all, his nephew’s girlfriend couldn’t be slept with for nothing. They couldn’t get “justice” back, but they absolutely had to take the opportunity to demand some benefits.
You were the one cheated on, drugged, and used. And yet here he is, the one who cheated, now voluntarily playing the cuckold for profit.
So the “grievance” belonged to them, and the benefits did too.
And she was just a tool, a bargaining chip to be traded at will.
Xue Yi’s family was truly, damnably shameless.
Seeing that the goal had been achieved, the female PR hostess began to circle the table to refill drinks. “If there’s any dish President Lu likes, Miss Su, why don’t you serve him some?”
Su Ran’s fury had nowhere to go. “If you want to be lowly, leave me out of it.”
The PR hostess wasn’t bothered at all, her face still plastered with a seductive smile.
A male salesperson chimed in, “Miss Su is thin-skinned. You should just stand there and serve President Lu.”
The PR hostess looked eager to try. She stole a glance at He Lujie, but then quietly retreated, unwillingly.
He Lujie rotated a plate of oysters in front of Lu Jingxing. “President Lu, these Belon oysters were specially ordered in advance for you by Xiao Ran. They were flown in from the UK and arrived fresh this afternoon.”
The implication of the oysters was self-evident. He Lujie was even more vulgar and despicable than Boss Zhao.
Su Ran had no intention of saving his face. She retorted directly, “Vice Governor He, this is our first time meeting, isn’t it? I never said such a thing.”
Xue Yi tugged at the corner of Su Ran’s clothes and whispered in her ear, “My uncle is planning for your future. If we please him, we can bring up the investment. Just endure a little today, and we can secure the investment in one go.”
Lu Jingxing watched Xue Yi and Su Ran whispering, their distance less than two fists apart. His eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.
Su Ran only regretted that she had been taught too much about manners and integrity.
If she had missed just one ethics class, she would have flipped the table right then and there and smashed the plate of oysters into Xue Yi’s face.
Seeing that Su Ran was “embarrassed” to speak, Xue Yi took the initiative to ask, “President Lu, regarding the investment plan for Tianlei Food Factory, my girlfriend would like to discuss it with you again.”
Although it was just a side note, he felt he should still give Su Ran some face. A slap followed by a sweet date would prevent her from making a mountain out of a molehill again.
After all, his uncle had said he needed to maintain his relationship with Su Ran so he could extract more information about Lu Jingxing to sell to his secret backers.
Su Ran didn’t hide the disdain on her face. “Xue Yi, first of all, I am not your girlfriend. We broke up a long time ago. The reason was your cheating, and I was the one who dumped you. Second, this morning, Tianlei already signed an investment agreement with Gaoshan Capital. The funds are already in place. You don’t need to bother trying to trip me up anymore.”
Both Xue Yi and He Lujie’s hearts sank.
The information they had received was that Lu Jingxing had intentionally had the investment department draw up a contract with predatory terms to force Su Ran to submit.
He Lujie had intended to go with the flow, using Su Ran as a favor to help Lu Jingxing make her bow her head. He hadn’t expected the two of them to have already settled the deal in private.
Sure enough, there were no truly virtuous women in this world, only whether the price was high enough.
He Lujie immediately put on a flattering smile. “It’s wonderful that President Lu stepped in. Little Yi was so worried he was about to secretly mortgage their wedding house for Xiao Ran.”
Su Ran scoffed, laughing with contempt. “Did Vice Governor He not hear what I said? Xue Yi cheated. I have evidence of his infidelity, and I dumped him long ago.”
He Lujie feigned ignorance. “Just a small spat between two people. Young girls are often sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. President Lu, don’t mind her.”
The PR hostess immediately chimed in, “Miss Su should toast President Lu.”
“That’s right. President Lu has helped time and again. Miss Su has to show some appreciation.”
With no one stopping them, the two became even more bold.
“President Lu is so magnanimous and handsome. You two should at least have a cross-cupped toast.”
“These oysters are so large, fresh, and tender. Miss Su, why don’t you feed one to President Lu?”
Today, Su Ran had truly witnessed that there was no bottom to human depravity; there was always a new low.
From the corner of his eye, Du Heng watched Lu Jingxing, calculating how many seconds it would be before his boss exploded.
In the upper circles, no matter how filthy things were behind the scenes, they wouldn’t let a few small-time nobodies spout such foul language at the table.
Normally, these two would have been thrown into a monkey cage by now.
“Do you like eating?” Lu Jingxing suddenly spoke, his voice ice-cold.
The chill in his eyes made several people shudder.
He Lujie immediately glared at the salesperson and the PR hostess. “My apologies, my apologies. It’s my lack of discipline.”
These two were sent by his big backer. Their original intention was just to stir up an ambiguous atmosphere, but he hadn’t expected them to ignore his commands once they arrived.
They acted without regard for his life or death, seemingly only to humiliate Lu Jingxing and Su Ran.
He was having a stroke of rotten luck.
Lu Jingxing nodded slightly toward a corner of the room. His voice was like a cold, bladed wind from a desolate valley. “Crouch over there and eat every single dish on the table.”
“President Lu, we were wrong.”
The PR hostess still tried to use a soft touch to overcome his hardness, not forgetting to sway her hips coyly as she apologized. Because she was terrified, her swaying was stiff.
Su Ran felt nauseous.
Du Heng sent a message, and a few bodyguards entered from outside immediately. They dragged the salesperson and the PR hostess to the corner and dumped all the food in front of them.
A bodyguard kicked the man. “Feed each other. Finish it within half an hour. For every ten minutes you go over, I’ll cut off a finger.”
The PR hostess clung to the bodyguard’s leg. “Big brother…”
As soon as she spoke, she stopped, paralyzed by fear. The bodyguard had pulled out a gleaming, sharp knife, his gaze solemn as if he were ready to chop at any moment.
The male salesperson was slightly smarter. The more the other person ate, the less he would have to. He grabbed a piece of salmon and stuffed it into the PR hostess’s mouth.
The two of them grabbed each other’s cheeks, eating and feeding at the same time. Their faces and bodies were covered in food scraps and soup.
Du Heng watched He Lujie with a blank expression. “While they eat, you talk.”
Xue Yi’s legs felt weak; he wanted to leave.
He Lujie waved his hands hurriedly. “Nothing, there’s nothing else. We’ll take our leave.”
Su Ran let out a mocking laugh. “What’s the rush, Governor He? I still have something to say.”