Chapter 585: Head-to-Head
This was not Su Li’s first time. But it had been too long, and she had not expected Xiao Luo to make his move. After she changed into the uniform that Li Zimeng had handed her, she found some discomfort when she tried to walk. Seeing her plight, Xiao Luo went over to help, but Su Li pushed him away. She did not want anyone other than Li Zimeng to know what had happened between them in that conference room.
She lifted her hand to brush away some loose hair. The gesture was just a simple movement, but it made her look incomparably beautiful and gentle.
“Let us go through with the collaboration according to the terms we discussed earlier. I will have someone discuss the specifics with you and draw up a contract based on that,” Su Li said to Xiao Luo before she stepped into the car.
Xiao Luo almost burst out laughing. He thought, how could this woman have such an adorable side to her?
In a steady tone of voice, he said, “Sure.”
He knew that Su Li did not want anyone to catch on to what had transpired moments ago.
“Ahem, hem…”
Li Zimeng suddenly choked and started coughing violently. When she noticed that Xiao Luo and Su Li were looking at her, she hurriedly waved her hand in apology. “I’m sorry, I…”
She could have spent the next few hours explaining, but there was no real reason for her coughing fit. Instead, she settled the matter with an awkward smile. What could she say? That she was impressed by the show they were putting on?
…
…
“Did you guys come to an agreement?” Zhang Dashan asked Xiao Luo after Su Li and Shen Qingyan had left.
Xiao Luo nodded and said, “Sumir will be a brand under Luo Worksop in the future.”
“D*mn, Old Xiao, you really went all out, huh?”
Zhang Dashan smacked his chest, reacting in surprise. “Come on, out with it! How did you get your wife to come on board? Not by getting her off, I hope?” he said.
Of course, Zhang Dashan was joking. Although it did cross his mind that they might have done it in broad daylight after he caught them in a compromising position in the conference room. However, it remained speculation, and he did not believe that Xiao Luo would put Su Li in her place in such a manner. As he would always say, this was not how his buddy would do things.
Li Zimeng, who was not too far ahead from them, almost tripped over herself.
Xiao Luo looked awkwardly at Zhang Dashan and responded in a harsh voice, “You want to get your *ss kicked again?”
Zhang Dashan retreated back a few steps and covered his large bottom with his palms. He could picture Xiao Luo sending him flying through the air with a kick, and he said, “God d*mn you, Xiao Luo. You kick my *ss again like that, and we won’t be friends anymore!”
Xiao Luo could not be bothered with him. He just wanted to return home. Suddenly, his phone rang—it was Ji Siying.
“Siying!”
“Mr. Xiao Luo, Bureau Chief Gu is looking for you,” Ji Siying said. Her gentle voice came over the phone clearly.
Xiao Luo furrowed his brows and asked, “What’s wrong?”
It seemed like there was another mission. Xiao Luo would have to put off his plan to bridge matters between Su Li and him yet again.
“Drug Lady is in trouble,” Ji Siying said, somewhat hesitantly.
Fu Yiren was in trouble?
Why was she in trouble? Didn’t she just head to Japan to warn the Asou Clan not to stir trouble in Hua Nation?
Xiao Luo did not care much about this woman. But she was a fellow NSA agent, and he did not wish her to come to any harm.
“I’ll be right there,” Xiao Luo said before he ended the call.
…
…
In the car, Su Li leaned back in her seat. Her eyes shut as she tried to get some rest. Images of what happened with Xiao Luo in the conference room kept floating up in her mind. That made her grow increasingly embarrassed now that she has completely calmed down. What she would not give to reverse time and stop all of that from even happening!
But then she thought about it a little more—how could she have stopped Xiao Luo when the man had flown off the handle?
A boorish man who knew nothing about romance!
“Why did you get changed, Li?” Shen Qingyan, who was sitting beside her, could not help asking.
“Yeah, Li Li, where did you get those clothes? It looks like what the ladies at Luo Workshop wear!” Chai Zhiying remarked, equally curious and puzzled about this.
Su Li’s face was burning. She scrambled for an excuse. “I accidentally spilled some tea on myself when I was discussing business with Xiao Luo, so he gave me a new set of clothes to change into,” she explained.
So that was what happened!
Shen Qingyan nodded and lost interest in this topic. After all, no matter how creative she was, she would never think otherwise. That was a conference room they were in, and the upper management of Luo Workshop frequently had meetings there. Xiao Luo and Su Li were the most conservative people she knew, so there was no way they would do something so risqué there, of all places.
Shen Qingyan put the matter to rest and chose to change the topic instead. “How did the discussion go? How will Sumir be working with Luo Workshop, specifically?” she asked.
“All of Sumir’s operations will be handed over to him from now on,” Su Li replied.
What?
Shen Qingyan and Chai Zhiying were stunned. What kind of cooperation was that? It was a blatant takeover of Sumir.
Chai Zhiying could not understand why Su Li would agree to such terms. “Li Li, you’re…”
“He is my husband. Since he has ambitions and a plan for Sumir, I should do my best to support him.”
Su Li looked out into the distance as she answered, and her words prevented Chai Zhiying from speaking further. “I’ve grown sick of all the disputes and struggles in the entertainment industry, and I’ll retire once he has accomplished his goals. I’ll stay by his side and be a good wife, raising his children for him,” she added.
Chai Zhiying was shocked.
Shen Qingyan could not believe the words that came out of her best friend’s mouth. “Jesus, what am I hearing here? Are you really saying that, Li? Why does it feel like you’ve suddenly changed?”
Su Li looked at her with a smile. “Maybe women change a little when they meet a man they love.”
She openly admitted how she felt, no longer hiding her feelings.
“Alright then. I had wanted to talk to you about how we should handle that bast*rd. But it seems like I only have that old man, Cai Renhe, on my side now. Jin Yitang poses too big a threat to me. It is like a knife hanging right above my head, ready to drop and take my life at any moment,” Shen Qingyan said.
“Jin Yitang’s advantage is clear, and the only route Huayao Corporation can take is to evolve and pioneer a new market. Otherwise, there will come a day where it will lose to Jin Yitang,” Su Li said, and in her assessment, she accurately pinpointed the problem.
Shen Qingyan glanced at Su Li and replied, “I know that much. Jin Yitang can treat a lot more illnesses than western medicine can. On top of that, they spend less money than we do treating the exact same ailments. As far as I know, they’re currently making the preparations for a new branch. When they open more branches in Xiahai or around the whole country, it will be the end of western medicine. Huayao Corporation’s profit depends on western medicine. So, if Jin Yitang forces us into a corner, my company will not survive for long.”
Traditional Chinese Medicine is powerful but not omnipotent. There are a lot of areas in this field only accessible to western medicine, so this road won’t lead to a dead-end.”
But even if I don’t die, I would be more dead than alive. I will need to focus on the foreign market now. Even if the company becomes nothing more than an empty shell here, it can continue developing if I can establish footholds in the overseas market,” she continued as she spoke her thoughts aloud.
“But I won’t give up on the domestic market just like this. I intend to go head-to-head with Jin Yitang,” Shen Qingyan said.
