“President Qi, we can start taking action now. They have no more tricks up their sleeves,” a subordinate reported the news.
Qi Zhongjing nodded casually, not particularly bothered—he didn’t even view them as worthy opponents. “Go ahead. Make some noise.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll definitely make them shed a layer of skin.” The subordinate had been feeling stifled for days and could finally stretch his muscles. “We’ve already coordinated with the Meng Corporation to act in sync.”
They really thought the Qi Group would just let them throw mud, form cliques behind the scenes to pressure the company, and attempt to sway President Qi’s decisions.
If President Qi hadn’t wanted to see what these people were truly capable of, would he have let these “clowns jumping on a beam” bounce around for this long?
With a single order from Qi Zhongjing, the Qi Group moved. Partnered newspapers began publishing, and news media outlets started dropping hints.
“Little Meng” and the Qin family wanted to play the public opinion game? In terms of seniority and scale, the Qi Group was their ancestor.
By the time Meng Qiang and Qin Qingsheng received the news, reports had covered all of Y City and the entire country. Multiple trending topics were reserved, and gossip weeklies and major news outlets were blooming everywhere.
Murder for Money, Fratricide: The Deeds of the Little Meng Decision-Maker!
To Snatched the Property of a Deceased Brother’s Widow, a Wealthy Family Stages a Drama of Kinship Betrayal!
Wealthy Family Grudges: The Meng Family Property Dispute.
The Qin Family Frames Their Own In-Laws Just To…
Various eye-catching headlines were plastered across the front pages of major popular platforms. Without exception, they all dragged the Qin family and Little Meng through the mud. Every tactic they had used to smear the Qi Group was now being retaliated tenfold.
Little Meng and the Qin family, who were already morally compromised, were hit with a massive wave of negative reviews. Public discussion exploded, and their online reputation plummeted to freezing point.
Wealthy family feuds—this topic was a massive click magnet. Ordinary citizens were naturally obsessed with the gossip of the upper class, and click rates for the reports soared.
Meanwhile, the stock prices of the two companies plummeted, visibly evaporating before their eyes.
“!” Meng Qiang and Qin Qingsheng were dying of rage. Unlike the Qi Group, for whom such matters wouldn’t hurt their core, they felt the genuine heartbreak of seeing their capital vanish.
As the reputation of the two families crashed, positive reports about the Qi Group and the Meng Corporation were updated simultaneously. One depicted the Qi Group as a heroic figure offering “charcoal in the snow,” while the other portrayed the Meng Corporation as a “poor little thing” whose father had died and brother was injured, struggling to pull the company along while being persecuted by close relatives. The fact that Qi Zhongjing and Meng Lingyao had known each other since childhood was also brought out as a backstory—Qi Zhongjing was subtly paving the way for the future.
To the upper class, Meng Lingyao’s “poor little thing” image might seem foolish for being schemed against by relatives, but for the general public, it garnered immense sympathy. After all, he combined a tragic life story with exquisite looks—the perfect narrative arc.
Naturally, Meng Lingyao had to establish an image of a vulnerable but resilient leader steering the near-bankrupt Meng Corporation forward.
Pitiful yet inspirational.
“President Meng, this is bad! Our stock price has crashed!” As the reputation of Little Meng and the Qin family continued to slide, the two families were overwhelmed with chaos.
“What?!”
Qi Zhongjing hadn’t done much; a simple public relations war was enough to make them lose their footing and leave them with no time to care about anything else.
Secretary Qian couldn’t help but marvel; President Qi’s move was truly masterful, and the timing was perfect.
By building the Qi Group’s image as glorious and upright, he might have offended a few elite families, but he gained immense favor with the general public.
In the future, whenever the Meng Corporation was mentioned, people would know how the uncle’s and aunt’s families had conspired against them, and how their childhood friend from the Qi family had disregarded his own interests to save them. How could such a glorious tale not be discussed with relish?
Furthermore, the Meng Corporation wasn’t left behind. In its current state, showing weakness to the grassroots was actually better—look at how the previously sluggish stocks were now starting to rise.
They had tried a public relations war with Little Meng and the Qin family before, but they couldn’t compete and let the other side take the initiative. After the Qi Group’s capital injection, things had remained lukewarm because the Qi side insisted on stabilizing first, lengthening the timeline and waiting for the right moment to strike together.
This time, it could be considered a successful counterattack coordinated by the two families.
Even the calm Secretary Qian couldn’t help but curl his lips up at the sight of Little Meng’s miserable state. The old employees of the company were calling it “deeply satisfying.”
Today is a good day; everything you wish for can come true… This cheerful music was playing throughout the entire Meng Corporation.
…
Meng Lingyao knew about this and, logically, should have been very happy. While he was indeed pleased to see Meng Qiang and Qin Qingsheng’s families suffer, he was also pondering another matter. It had been a week since his “marriage,” which meant he had been sharing a bed with Qi Zhongjing for a week.
In this week… nothing had happened.
If one were to speak of the most intimate contact, it was rolling into each other’s arms every morning.
The first day was awkward; the second day was still unacceptable; by the third day he expected it; by the fourth day he was gradually accepting it…
Now, he could wake up in Qi Zhongjing’s arms with a blank face, pull himself out, calmly wash up, kill time in the gym, take a shower, eat breakfast, and go to work. In the evening, he would eat the dinner Qi Zhongjing had leisurely prepared, watch a movie, play games, wander around, look at company documents to arrange tomorrow’s work, and then lie down to sleep with Qi Zhongjing. The next day, he repeated the process.
A simple two-point line; life was extremely regular.
But it was precisely because it was too regular and too “normal” that the whole thing felt extremely abnormal.
Didn’t Qi Zhongjing want to humiliate him and sleep with him?
Why did they get that bright red marriage certificate?
Meng Lingyao couldn’t figure it out at all; the whole affair reeked of a bizarre atmosphere.
He didn’t believe for a second that Qi Zhongjing had done all this just to actually marry him.
What was the situation between him and Qi Zhongjing? Anyone you pulled off the street in Y City knew the deal.
The thought of “real marriage” existed in Meng Lingyao’s head for a single second before he laughed at his own wild imagination.
How could Qi Zhongjing possibly want to marry him for real? They had fought so fiercely before, wishing the other dead.
Moreover, this kind of “marrying off” was a form of humiliation in itself. Qi Zhongjing was undoubtedly placing him in a female role. Regarding this, Meng Lingyao was disgusted to the core. Because of his childhood experiences—and as someone who had been friendly with him for a few years back then—how could Qi Zhongjing not know about those things from his past?
Perhaps, this was exactly the result the man wanted.
He hated being treated like a girl most of all, especially being called “little beauty” or “little sister”!
The more Meng Lingyao thought about it, the more everything clicked into place. The slight gratitude he had felt toward Qi Zhongjing vanished instantly. As he realized the motive behind Qi Zhongjing’s actions, his confused expression turned to one of loathing.
So that’s it. Why was that guy being so kind?
It turns out his sinister intentions were here.
It wasn’t about wanting to sleep with him to humiliate him; it was purely about making him feel shame on a psychological level.
Perhaps… Qi Zhongjing even found the idea of sleeping with him to humiliate him disgusting.
Having “clarified” the whole situation in his mind, Meng Lingyao clenched his fists.
Interest exchange. This is an interest exchange.
Whatever Qi Zhongjing wanted to do, he had tacitly agreed to it. He should cooperate with the game Qi Zhongjing wanted to play.
He had to have the “spirit of the contract.”
Perhaps he should show the reaction of being humiliated to meet the other’s expectations?
But… Meng Lingyao thought about that scene and felt uncomfortable all over. His personality wouldn’t allow him to cooperate with Qi Zhongjing’s whims.
What kind of thing is he that he deserves my cooperation?
He had agreed to Qi Zhongjing’s transaction to save the company, but there was no written rule saying he had to be “cooperative.” After mulling it over, Meng Lingyao decided that he probably couldn’t provide the reaction Qi Zhongjing wanted.
Ding-dong, ding-ding-dong! A notification popped up on his phone, interrupting his thoughts.
Meng Lingyao opened it to see a message from Lin Qingwan. The gist was: When are you going to invite Qi Zhongjing home for dinner? Lin Qingwan had mentioned this many times.
Now that Meng Lingyao was the head of the house, and since he was the one communicating with the Qi Group, it was best for him to extend the invitation. Because he had been avoiding and changing the subject, his mother had been constantly pushing him.
After all, the Qi family had no blood relation yet lent a hand when the Meng family was in deep trouble; they had to show their gratitude.
A dinner invitation was just to express the Meng family’s attitude. As for why it wasn’t a formal business banquet—for Lin Qingwan, business cooperation had other arrangements; she just wanted her son to reconcile and have a private relationship with Qi Zhongjing.
To be honest, the Meng family was gaining a huge advantage here. Even if she knew her son felt uncomfortable, she would still do what needed to be done.
A mother’s considerations for her child are always far-reaching.
Meng Lingyao looked at it and decided not to wait for another day—today was as good as any.
He replied directly to Lin Qingwan. She didn’t react for a moment since there was no prior arrangement, but she didn’t panic. After confirming with her son, she immediately went to make arrangements.
Meng Lingyao then sent a message directly to Qi Zhongjing.
Meng Lingyao: [My mom wants you to come to my house for dinner tonight.]
It was a very blunt message, giving Qi Zhongjing no choice to refuse, written in a tone that suggested everything was already settled.
Qi Zhongjing saw the message instantly; he would notice that specific notification tone no matter what he was doing.
To him, a message from Meng Lingyao was like a huge meat pie falling from the sky.
He didn’t notice the obvious boundary Meng Lingyao was drawing, nor did he care about the commanding tone.
His eyes accurately extracted the keywords: Mom, home for dinner.
Surprise descended upon him, and Qi Zhongjing lost his usual composure. He stared fixedly at the words on the screen, his smile slowly widening, and his fingers flew across the phone.
Qi Zhongjing: [Okay. I’ll pick you up after work and we’ll go home for dinner together.]
Qi Zhongjing, feeling incredibly sweet inside, responded.
Meng Lingyao: [My mom doesn’t know about our transaction. I need President Qi to cooperate a little.]
Qi Zhongjing: [No problem.]
Qi Zhongjing, basking in his good mood, agreed wholeheartedly.
The first time going to the mother-in-law’s house—what should I prepare?
Qi Zhongjing pondered this and quickly stood up, looking down at his clothes. Is this too formal? Will the mother-in-law like my outfit?
A new son-in-law’s first visit is always nerve-wracking and awkward, and even a billionaire CEO couldn’t escape this trope.
After pacing his office for a bit, Qi Zhongjing went to his lounge. There were some clothes prepared there, but after looking for a long time, he couldn’t decide which set was suitable for meeting the mother-in-law. He hadn’t even prepared any gifts.
He remembered a set of jewelry in his personal collection that seemed very appropriate. Additionally, for his “brother-in-law” who was still in a coma, he should arrange some supplements suitable for both Lin mother and the brother.
While Qi Zhongjing was tossing and turning over Meng Lingyao’s one sentence—feeling anxious yet filled with deep joy for his first visit—Meng Lingyao had no idea about the chaos he’d caused. After sending the message, he simply continued with his work.