Ruiheng Real Estate. Vice President's office.
Meng Yao sat behind the desk, her fingers tapping the desktop. On the screen was spread the core section of Hongtu Real Estate's Star River Bay scheme. She had read it three times. "Talent Ecosystem Community." This line of thinking was so good it made her unhappy. She originally thought what Lu Yichen had obtained was just an ordinary bidding scheme. She hadn't expected that what Su Wanting had produced was harder than the entire team at Ruiheng combined.
She dialed the phone.
"Yichen. I've seen the scheme. Copying her creative concepts alone isn't enough. The review committee isn't stupid. If the two schemes are too similar, it'll raise suspicions. What we need to do is make her lose face at the bidding venue."
"How do we do that?"
"First step: fine-tune our scheme based on hers. Second step: at the bidding meeting, release negative information about her. She left Ruiheng, didn't she? We can lean toward the angle of stealing commercial secrets."
Silence on the other end of the phone.
"President Meng. This is going too far."
"Yichen."
Meng Yao's voice turned cold.
"She is no longer your ex-wife. She is the opponent. Understand?"
Lu Yichen didn't speak anymore.
"Also, tomorrow you ask her out for a meal. Probe for any latest developments on her end."
"She won't agree."
"Try. Just say you want to properly apologize. Women, you know, they're soft-hearted."
Lu Yichen asked Wanting out. A Hunan cuisine restaurant in the west side of the city. Wanting hesitated for a moment but still went. She wanted to ask about one thing face to face.
Several dishes were ordered. Lu Yichen diligently poured tea and served food. His expression was extremely sincere.
"Wanting, what happened before wasn't right of me. I shouldn't have remained silent when we divorced."
Wanting didn't touch her chopsticks.
"Regarding the Star River Bay project, I know we're opponents. But I still hope it won't hurt our rapport because of past matters."
"Hurt rapport?"
Wanting put down her teacup.
"You paid someone to steal my scheme. And you call that not hurting rapport?"
Lu Yichen's face stiffened for an instant.
"That matter was a misunderstanding. Zhou Wei acted on his own. It has nothing to do with me-"
"Your business card was in the envelope. The money was taken from your account. The backend login log has remote access records. Zhou Wei's phone still has call records with you. Do you think I should believe you or believe the evidence?"
Lu Yichen's lips moved a few times but no words came out. Wanting stood up and placed the teacup on the table with a clunk.
"Stop acting."
When she walked out of the Hunan cuisine restaurant, the wind had picked up outside. She wrapped her coat tighter and got in a taxi. What she didn't know was that the moment she left, Lu Yichen's phone rang.
"How did it go? What did she say?"
"She didn't say anything."
Lu Yichen's voice was very low.
"Scheme progress? Any new movements from Hongtu?"
"She didn't leak a single word."
"Useless thing."
Meng Yao's voice turned cold.
"Can't even handle a meal properly."
"President Meng, I told you she wouldn't tell me. Su Wanting isn't that clueless little girl from a year ago anymore."
Silence on the other end for a few seconds.
"A year ago she didn't know anything. Didn't know about the relationship between me and you. Didn't know that infertility report was fake. Didn't know your mother deliberately forced her to walk away with nothing. She didn't know anything."
"President Meng-"
"Now how much does she know? Are you certain she hasn't investigated the matter of that report?"
Lu Yichen didn't answer. That report was fake. He knew. Lin Hui bribed the doctor to produce it. He also knew. The person who was infertile wasn't her. It was him. But he had never intended to say it out loud.
Meng Yao hung up the phone. Lu Yichen sat in the Hunan cuisine restaurant facing a table of largely untouched dishes. He ordered a pot of clear liquor and drank cup after cup. He knew he had done wrong. But wrong had been done. There was no turning back.
On the way back, Meng Yao dialed another number.
"Help me investigate someone. Su Wanting from Hongtu Real Estate. She used to be at Ruiheng. I need her computer file records from her time at Ruiheng."
"President Meng, this requires IT cooperation-"
"I know. You go do it. Don't contact me until you've obtained the materials."
She hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes. Su Wanting, if you won't let me have an easy time, I won't let you have one either.