The quiet tea room, at a square tea table, three figures sat in silence.
Two men, one woman, and the silence lingered.
It’s unclear how much time passed, but Ling Qingzhou’s voice finally broke the silence, hoarse with suppressed anger, his gaze piercing Yi Hansheng: “How long has it been?”
“Cough…” Yi Hansheng cleared his throat, “Not long.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He sneered, “Why should I tell you?”
Ling Qingzhou’s eyes were full of rage, like he was about to kill.
“And the conference in the afternoon and the cocktail party in the evening, did you give me a chance to speak properly? Ha… All you did was talk about old cows eating young grass and keeping mistresses…”
A vein in Ling Qingzhou’s forehead throbbed, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes. He shouted, “Shut up!”
“Afraid of what I’ll say?” Yi Hansheng chuckled, looking like a sly fox, relaxed. “Tsk, tsk, look at you now! Serves you right!”
Yes, it was that smile, exactly the same as when he saw him at the summit today! So, that’s it!
Ling Qingzhou could only stay silent, forcing himself to ignore the provocation.
As for why…
Of course, it was to avoid angering Yi Hansheng, afraid he might say something shocking and infuriating.
His peripheral vision caught Jiang Fuyue, and Ling Qingzhou couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat for himself.
He must not let her know…
Jiang Fuyue had no idea what kind of silent battle the two were fighting. Her probing gaze moved between them, and suddenly, a hint of suspicion flashed in her eyes.
“When did your relationship get so bad?”
Both men: “…”
“I remember you two used to call each other brothers, didn’t you?”
Yi Hansheng: “He’s not my brother!”
Ling Qingzhou: “Who wants to be his brother?!”
Both of them spoke at the same time, filled with disdain.
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
Ling Qingzhou sneered, “It’s been over twenty years. Let’s settle things in front of the young miss today.”
His calling Jiang Fuyue “young miss”… that term…
Yi Hansheng wiped the smile off his face, suddenly becoming serious. “Fine, let’s settle it. Who’s afraid of who? Over the years, you’ve constantly pinned things on me and thrown dirt at me. Let’s clear it all up in front of the young miss!”
In the past, to show loyalty, they both used to refer to Lou Mingyue as “the young miss” in private when talking to the Lou family.
This meant they were ready to air out the issues from back then.
A confrontation that had been twenty years in the making was about to take place.
Ling Qingzhou: “The bid for the Pengshan Theater, the one who leaked the Lou family’s bottom price wasn’t me, it was you! I saw it. The day before the bidding, you met with the other project manager in the underground parking lot. The only ones who knew the bottom price were the young miss, you, and me. It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t the young miss, so it can only be you!”
“Heh!” Yi Hansheng sneered, “When did I meet with the other project manager?! I didn’t even drive those days, how could I go to the parking lot? Am I crazy? You, on the other hand, took a USB drive and copied something, you know what you’re doing! If the information wasn’t complete, how could they have pinpointed our weaknesses?”
Years ago, Ling Qingzhou and Yi Hansheng were both assistants to Lou Mingyue, working as close aides. Although there was competition, they got along well and cooperated smoothly.
Both were responsible for the Pengshan Theater bidding project, but the day before the bid, the bottom price was leaked to the other party, causing them to lose the bid, with a loss of five hundred million.
They both suspected each other, but without solid evidence, they were at an impasse, and things became very ugly.
To clear their names, both handed in their resignations and quickly left the capital, but they didn’t expect that departure would be their last farewell to Lou Mingyue.
For the next few years, they both worked hard in Linhuai, until the news of Lou Mingyue’s death came.
They met outside the funeral hall, blaming each other, and ended up fighting.
“If it wasn’t for you forcing me to leave, the young miss wouldn’t have died!”
“Same goes for you! If I were there, I would never have allowed anyone to hurt her!”
“All your fault!” They both yelled in unison!
And so, the grudge was formed.
