“I am so happy, Lingyao.” He reached out, seemingly wanting to touch the other man, but worried about startling him, he settled for grazing Lingyao’s hand—almost like a flirtatious caress.
The gesture gave Meng Lingyao goosebumps. Qi Zhongjing’s deep eyes were like an abyss, looking as though he wanted to pick him apart bone by bone and devour him. The man wasn’t even pretending anymore.
Happy about what? Happy that he finally caught an opportunity to toy with me at will?
Even the hand that had been touched felt as if a snake’s tongue had flicked across it. It was extremely unsettling, a skin-crawling sensation. “You’re too close. Get away from me.”
Terrifying. Truly terrifying! It was as if Qi Zhongjing were possessed by a ghost.
Although Meng Lingyao knew he should be polite to his “golden thigh,” his personality made his words blunt, and he made no effort to hide his disgust.
This was the real him. If Meng Lingyao were truly submissive, he wouldn’t be himself.
He frowned and moved away. His evasive movement was so fast that Qi Zhongjing didn’t even have time to react before the person had scurried off.
“…” Dejection.
Qi Zhongjing, who had wanted to linger a while longer with the man who was about to become his wife, looked at the empty space beside him. A sense of emptiness welled up in his heart.
“I get it. I’ll cooperate and keep it a secret from everyone. I won’t let anyone know about our transaction, and this so-called marriage will stay hidden too. Alright, President Qi, you’ve seen it—the company is a mess and I’m busy. You’re a busy man too, so let’s leave it at that.” Meng Lingyao issued a dismissal order immediately, showing no courtesy to Qi Zhongjing whatsoever.
Just leave, or I might actually hit you.
Fine then. Qi Zhongjing was immensely disappointed; his plan to spend more time with Meng Lingyao had gone bankrupt.
After the man left, Meng Lingyao felt like buying some pomelo leaves to sweep around the room and ward off the bad luck.
…
“Why would the Qi Group cooperate with the Meng Group! Didn’t you say that Qi brat and the little waste were archenemies? How could they reach a cooperation!” Qin Qingsheng, the head of the Qin Group, was currently roaring into the phone in a fit of rage.
On the other end of the line, Meng Qiang, who had just received the news, was also full of questions. The suddenness of the event left him dazed. However, faced with Qin Qingsheng’s blunt interrogation, he was also extremely impatient. He replied crossly:
“How should I know how that little waste managed to strike a deal with the Qi family? Instead of interrogating me, you’d better think about what to do next. Otherwise, if that brat really turns things around, all our plans will fail, and none of us will get anything!”
Why would the Qi Group cooperate with the Meng Group? Not to mention it was a blatant move to subsidize them—a decision that was clearly thankless and unprofitable.
“Two companies cooperating—I don’t believe you didn’t hear even a whisper beforehand! Didn’t you leave so many people in the Meng Group? Not a single one knew?” Clearly, Qin Qingsheng couldn’t swallow this. In his agitation, his tone was extremely foul.
Meng Qiang really wanted to hang up. If it weren’t for their partnership, he wouldn’t have the patience to deal with such a brainless fool.
No wonder the Qin Group was on the verge of bankruptcy under his watch. Such an idiot couldn’t distinguish the priority of matters; for a partner, he was a disaster.
“Enough, enough. Now isn’t the time to assign blame. Let’s think about how to recover our losses. You know how much effort we spent to bring down the Meng Group—wealth and resources have been exhausted. Now that the Qi Group has done this, what else can we do to salvage the situation?”
Qin Qingsheng was still indignant, but he was eventually persuaded by Meng Qiang. He asked with a dark face, “Tell me, what should we do!”
“What the Qi Group did was unethical; they stepped on the interests of many people. The collapse of the Meng Group building was a foregone conclusion. Many were waiting for the day it fell to divide the spoils. Now that the Meng Group has clung to the Qi Group, others can’t divide the cake anymore. Do you think the others will be happy?”
Meng Qiang was confused at first, but his flexible mind quickly found the key.
For the sake of one Meng family, the Qi Group had offended the entire upper class of Y City. If they didn’t get dragged down and lose some flesh, how could they justify that brat’s meddling without seeing the big picture?
In his eyes, the Qi Group’s decision was merely a child’s prank. They were weaving their own cocoon—trapping themselves in a mud pit for a thankless task. He couldn’t be blamed for making things difficult for them.
It was truly the other party who broke their plans first, so they shouldn’t be blamed for taking action.
Qin Qingsheng thought about it, the gears in his head finally turning, and his eyes grew brighter. “Yes, exactly. That’s it. You really have a way.”
Heh! Meng Qiang snorted inwardly. A waste who was useless for anything other than agreeing; the only use for him was to be exploited. “Since we have a plan, I can’t be the only one doing all the work.”
“Brother Meng, how could I let you handle everything? Don’t worry, this small matter is fine with me. I’ll do the contacting.” Qin Qingsheng understood Meng Qiang’s meaning and immediately agreed. His tone changed instantly, acting as if he were Meng Qiang’s loyal follower.
…
Meng Jiu-yin was at the door of her husband’s study. The door was half-ajar. She stood there blankly holding a cup of coffee, unsure of how much she had heard. Her expression was conflicted, mixed with pain. She collided directly with her husband as he rushed out excitedly after hanging up the phone. The coffee cup slipped from her hand from the impact, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
“What are you doing standing here like a statue! Scaring people!” Qin Qingsheng shouted crossly, having barely avoided a full collision. He ignored the shattered coffee cup and didn’t care that his wife’s hand had been splashed with liquid. “Move aside, you’re blocking my way. Don’t just stand there.”
Qin Qingsheng shoved his wife aside, not caring if she had lost her balance, and prepared to leave. Meng Jiu-yin grabbed her husband’s sleeve. “Where are you going? Things are already like that for Xiao Yao… just stop…”
“What do you know! Women’s soft-heartedness!” Qin Qingsheng didn’t listen to a word of his wife’s advice. “The business world is a matter of life and death…”
Meng Jiu-yin’s lips trembled. Her well-maintained face was full of pain over the fratricide. Her voice was timid, all her words condensing into one pale sentence: “After all, he is my own nephew!”
“I’m not the only one acting—your second brother is too! Why didn’t you go advise your second brother not to strike his own nephew before?” A cruel smile tugged at Qin Qingsheng’s lips. He looked at his wife with a mocking tone.
“This whole thing was spearheaded by your second brother. Now you’re coming to play the good person—don’t you think it’s a bit too late?”
Qin Qingsheng’s words were like a sharp knife stabbing into Meng Jiu-yin’s heart. Her expression became more pained, and she looked as though she might collapse, hit hard by the truth.
“Wooo…” A broken, pathetic whimper escaped her throat.
“Fine, fine! I know you can’t get over it, but you should know: even if we didn’t act, the Meng Group would have been ruined by Meng Lingyao anyway. He isn’t someone who can carry the Meng Group. You saw when the Qin Group faced its crisis—it was on the verge of bankruptcy. You and I begged your eldest brother, but what did he do? He watched the Qin Group go bankrupt without helping. He doesn’t care about friends or family in his eyes. The business world is a battlefield; the same logic applies now.” Qin Qingsheng patted his wife’s shoulder, offering a few words of comfort without any real emotion. “You have to think of the children. For the sake of our children’s future, you don’t want to see the Qin Group go bankrupt and let them wander the streets, do you? It’s a good thing for your second brother to take over the Meng Group. That way, at least he can help us. As for your eldest brother’s family, who can they rely on now? That nephew of yours, a playboy—he’d waste the family business sooner or later. I’m just helping him along a bit earlier so the Qin Group can get a share.”
“Besides, we aren’t destroying the Meng Group. We are helping. Only by kicking that playboy nephew off his throne can the Meng Group be saved.”
Meng Jiu-yin said nothing. Looking at her husband’s face, her expression was extremely conflicted. Various emotions intertwined. After a long time, she nodded, giving her tacit consent. Her heart seemed filled with guilt, but she didn’t utter another word in favor of the Meng Group.
…
After Qi Zhongjing left the Meng Group, it was still early, so he returned to the Qi Group. He felt somewhat melancholy having failed to even get a lunch with Meng Lingyao, only able to comfort himself that there was plenty of time ahead.
The news of the cooperation between the two companies had been made public. Clearly, he had received many vague inquiries from partners, all trying to gauge the truth of the matter. The Qi Group’s attitude toward this would also influence Y City’s future attitude toward the Meng Group.
Qi Zhongjing naturally stood up for the Meng Group, making his stance clear. Soon, his attitude would be conveyed to every partner in Y City and spread even further.
This was no small matter. To outsiders, it looked like a foolish act of charity. The news quickly reached the ears of the former chairman of the Qi Group.
Qi Zhongjing soon received an overseas video call from his mother.
Mother Qi was a capable and strong woman. Even after stepping down from the company’s burdens, her aura remained imposing. In the video, visible from the waist up in simple pajamas, traces of her former vigorous and decisive air could still be seen in her features.
When the call connected, Qi Zhongjing simply said “Mom” and waited quietly for her to speak.
Mother Qi understood her son’s personality well and didn’t beat around the bush. She went straight to the point: “People have already come to me to complain, asking me to come out and take control. They say the current decision-maker of the Qi Group has been making brainless decisions lately, which are very detrimental to the Qi Group’s development.”
“Playing a world-class philanthropist, even carving out the Qi Group’s flesh to feed other companies—it’s clear the decision-maker has gone mad.”
Qi Zheng, Mother Qi, spoke calmly, but her words carried an invisible weight. Qi Zhongjing’s expression didn’t change a bit; he even began flipping through a document.
“Yes. I see. I will handle those people.”
To this, Qi Zhongjing expressed his understanding plainly. He would handle the whistleblowers, indicating that he did not believe he had done anything wrong.