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Names mentioned in this chapter (which can also be found in the glossary ):
-向以茉( Xiàng yǐ mò)- Xiang Yi Mo, the female lead
– 纪衡宇( jì héng yǔ)- Ji Heng Yu, the chairman of Ji Company and he suffers from gynophobia
-陆望尘( Lù wàng chén)- Lu Wang Chen, used to be a special forces soldier and has retired to take over the family business, Huasheng Group.
The moment the two men looked at each other, it was apparent they were love rivals in this matter, just with one look.
“You’ve told her about everything?” A cold breeze accompanied the words that spilt out from the man’s throat.
The eyes that were staring at Ji Heng Yu contained lesser warmth.
His dark eyes communicated with him.
On the other hand, Ji Heng Yu had his usual expression, calm and collected, with a somewhat indifferent curve on his lips.
“Mm… It was a slip of the tongue.”
He spoke in an indistinct, muffled voice as if the words were hidden in the fog.
“It turns out that Chairman Ji will also misspeak.” The corners of Lu Wang Chen’s mouth held a cold smile as he flexed his fingers and flicked the ashes of his cigarette.
Ji Heng Yu’s words were simply the funniest joke he had ever heard in his young life.
The first eighteen years of this guy, Ji Heng Yu, although the impression he gave that he was—
A clean, white paper, unaware of worldly affairs. Whenever he met anyone, he would smile and be very polite, like a courteous nobleman.
But Lu Wang Chen knew very well.
A dagger was always hidden in his smile. <sup>[1]</sup> He was more shrewd and scheming than anyone else.
Otherwise, he would not have done what he did when he was 18.
When the Ji couple passed away, Ji Company was in turmoil, and everyone wanted a piece of the pie.
At the age of eighteen, Ji Heng Yu was thought to be easily taken advantage of by the cunning shareholders and foolish and extremely annoying relatives.
Outwardly, he was grieving the loss of both parents and appeared to be obediently manipulated under their arrangement. But behind their backs, he revealed fangs the world had never seen before.
In private, he carried out his tasks vigorously, speedily and decisively. By the time everyone looked back, he was already in control of Ji Company.
Yet, he still wore that smile and looked as if it had nothing to do with him. The people who had been stabbed by Ji Heng Yu and pulled off a few pieces of flesh hated him so much that they gnashed their teeth.
They always disliked him and wanted to get rid of him. In the end, they schemed and schemed… The person that got into trouble was always them!
There were more examples of such bitter lessons, and they gradually reconciled themselves to their loss and recognised the situation clearly, not daring to act presumptuously.
At the same time, some people had also figured it out.
This boy from the Ji family was not a weak and harmless little sheep but a smiling tiger <sup>[2]</sup> that ate humans without batting an eyelid.
So the probability that Ji Heng Yu would misspeak or such was probably the same as Jing Qian’s scalpel not being held steadily.
“Humans aren’t saints, after all.”
Ji Heng Yu randomly uttered these words. A huge return for a very small investment.
Lu Wang Chen snorted lightly.
He’s such a fucking “honourable and just” [3] person.
There was always an inexplicable sense between love rivals that there was no need to bring everything to the surface and speak clearly. Both of them knew certain things about one another.
This was especially true when they were best friends who knew each other and had a need to be on the same page.
One person knew the other’s true intentions in accidentally spilling the beans, mentally expressing his tacit approval.
The other person, too, was well aware that that person would certainly understand what he was attempting to do and would still agree with it understandingly.
There was a tacit mutual understanding.
Ji Heng Yu smiled and asked Lu Wang Chen, “Don’t talk about me anymore. How come you are here? I remember…”
“Neither the old Lu family residence nor Jingzhu Royal Garden, where you often reside, is in this direction.” As if to say that he shouldn’t and had no reason to be in this place.
“Heh.” Lu Wang Chen narrowed his sharp eyes.
His coarse fingertips quickly extinguished the flame of the cigarette, and he tossed the still half-finished cigarette into the bin. He pinched and rubbed his index fingers and thumb twice, rubbing off the ashes left on his fingertips.
The man met Ji Heng Yu’s indiscernible gaze and moved closer to the young girl beside him.
He took out an expensive bracelet, embedded with blue diamonds of almost flawless clarity, from his pocket, carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, and handed it to Xiang Yi Mo. He said, “I took it off and put it in the bathroom when I helped you take a shower last night. I had forgotten about it when I sent you to Shangcheng in the morning.”
<sup>[1]</sup> 笑里藏刀(xiàolǐcángdāo)- A dagger hidden in one’s smile/friendly manners belying hypocritical intentions.
<sup>[2]</sup> 笑面虎(xiàomiànhǔ)- The literal translation is 'smiling tiger”. It means an outwardly kind but inwardly cruel person/man with a big smile and evil intentions/wolf in sheep’s clothing.
[3] 冠冕堂皇(guānmiǎntánghuáng)- dignified/upright/solemn. It can also refer to when one seems honourable and just on the surface, but it isn’t the case in reality.