Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“No.” Li Qianxue rejected him rudely. “Find someone else. I’m not interested in being your female companion.”
Su Chenghui’s eyes darkened, but he was still unwilling to give up. “You listened to my plan. This is just a small banquet. If you’re not willing to be my female companion, then let’s go together that day.”
“Su Chenghui, we are going to go together that day anyway. What does it matter if I’m not your female partner? Also, we’re already divorced. If I appear in public with you, aren’t you afraid that others will gmisunderstand our relationship?”
“I know that we’re already divorced. Don’t worry, no one will misunderstand.”
Ever since Li Qianxue announced that she had broken off her relationship with Su Peizhen in Lin City last year, which one of those people didn’t know that they were already divorced?
“No matter what I refuse.” Li Qianxue didn’t give him a chance at all. “Su Chenghui, you don’t have to think about this. You know how much I don’t like standing with you.”
Su Chenghui wasn’t angry at being rejected. His eyes gentle, he looked at Li Qianxue. For a moment, that gaze made Li Qianxue feel as if he was looking at a willful child who was fooling around.
Li Qianxue was inexplicably annoyed. Her face turned cold, and she unceremoniously ordered him to leave.
“You can leave. I still have something to do.”
Su Chenghui wasn’t surprised that her expression suddenly changed. After the recent few encounters, he had become more and more aware of the limits.
If he wanted to get close to Li Qianxue, he had to be careful not to step over her bottom line. He also knew that she still had a grudge against him.
He carefully controlled the boundaries of this place and cautiously tested it out. He would never give up on Li Qianxue.
Li Qianxue’s expression only began to relax after Su Chenghui left. It wasn’t exactly relaxing. It was just a little less annoyed, but it didn’t really relax much.
She knitted her brows tightly, and a trace of gloom flashed across her eyes.
Su Chenghui —
… ..
Sunday, when Li Qianxue arrived at the tennis court, Wang Tao was already there.
He wasn’t the only one there. President Chen of Urban Construction, President Gao of the China Merchants Bureau, and Li Junsheng were all there.
As the President of Tianyu Group’s Lin City branch, Wang Tao was naturally very familiar with these people. After greeting Li Qianxue, the few of them exchanged some pleasantries.
After Li Qianxue greeted them, she turned around and went to change her clothes. When she came out of the changing room, she saw an extremely familiar person coming out of the men’s changing room opposite her.
Su Chenghui. At this moment, he had changed into a white tennis sportswear. This outfit made him look much younger than usual.
At this moment, if someone said that he was less than 40, there would be people who would believe it. Li Qianxue didn’t have the heart to admire his face, which now appeared a few years younger. She only frowned because she saw him.
“Qianxue, what a coincidence.” As he spoke, he glanced at Li Qianxue. Sportswear suited her very well.
Her bright face was more lively because she had changed into a new set of clothes. His body instinctively took a step forward, as if he wanted to see her more clearly.
Was it a coincidence? This wasn’ot a coincidence at all.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I really didn’t know that President Wang had asked you to come.”
If she knew that Su Chenghui would come, she would have directly rejected him.
Su Chenghui pretended that he didn’t understand the meaning behind Li Qianxue’s words and looked at her with great admiration. “Qianxue, you look very nice today.”
Li Qianxue didn’t want to talk more with him. She turned around and walked out directly.
Su Chenghui followed beside her. He held a tennis racket in his hand. “Let’s play tennis together later?”
Without getting a response, Su Chenghui seemed to have remembered something and said, “I remember that you were the one who taught me tennis.”
Li Qianxue didn’t stop walking, but her face became a little gloomy.
Not only tennis? Su Chenghui’s golf was also taught by her.
The Su family’s family background was average, and Su Chenghui’s mother was only a nurse. Even though Su Chenghui had great ambitions, he didn’t have much contact with these things.
After marrying her, even if Su Chenghui wasn’t very willing, he still had the desire to show off in the Li Corporation.
There were many social events in the business world. In the past, playing golf became popular in the upper class of Lin City’s society. She followed Old Master Li to do business, so Li Qianxue naturally socialized with those people from a young age.
After marrying Su Chenghui, in order to make it convenient for him to socialize with those bosses, she taught him how to play golf.
She still remembered the thoughts at that time. To let Su Chenghui be able to socialize with those bosses smoothly was on one hand, and on the other hand, she wanted to have more opportunities to get close to him.
At that time, she was very naive.
She always felt that as long as she gave put in the effort, one day, Su Chenghui would see how good she was, and he would see her virtues.
She was very diligent in teaching. She still remembered how she taught him the bascis of golfing, like how to swing and how to hit the ball.
Su Chenghui was a very smart person. His ability wasn’t only reflected in his professional ability. He also learned these things very quickly.
In the past, she didn’t understand why, but after a long time, she understood that for Su Chenghui, the most important thing was to use the fastest time to succeed and accumulate his network of connections.
That was why he put in extra effort.
She remembered that there was a long time when Su Chenghui didn’t have much time to rest. All of his time was arranged.
Apart from work, he also learned a lot of other abilities. At that time, she had just gotten pregnant. Although her pregnancy wasn’t bad, it was always more tiring than usual.
However, he devoted himself to work. Not only could she not complain, but she also had to be tolerant.
After all, the harder he worked, the less burden she had to bear.
Su Chenghui had his own study on the second floor. At that time, he often stayed in the study until late at night. For a period of time, she thought it was because he worked too hard and wanted to achieve results as soon as possible.
But later, she found out that it was because he wanted to avoid her, didn’t want to be with her, and didn’t want to sleep in the same bed with her.
But at that time, she didn’t know. She thought that he was trying his best to make a mark in the company.
So she didn’t hold back. She shared everything she knew and learned with him.
Not only her, but also Old Master Li. Old Master Li loved her too much. Even though he knew in his heart that Su Chenghui was not a good match, he still agreed to let her be with him after she got pregnant.
After she married Su Chenghui, Old Master Li did the same as her. Old Master Li unreservedly gave Su Chenghui his connections and taught him his experiences bit by bit.
He was also a very talented person. He continuously absorbed everything that he could use like a sponge. These abilities would become additional tools for Su Chenghui in the future.
He gradually transformed in the upper-class society of Lin City. With every move he made, he lost the initial tinge of youthfulness, nervousness, and the awkwardness when he first entered the upper-class society.
There were many people who laughed at her behind the scenes. She was the heiress of the Li family, but she chose a penniless commoner. One had to know that at that time, countless people were waiting to marry into the Li family.
Even rivals like the Luo family, and the Song family had thoughts about it? Yet, she was unmoved. She only liked Su Chenghui.
She watched Su Chenghui improve bit by bit and succeed bit by bit. She didn’t feel afraid that her power would be snatched away. Instead, she felt proud.
When Su Chenghui became more accomplished and he slowly gained a firm foothold in the Li family, the contempt and sour words from him lessened.
Later on, Su Chenghui completed a few very beautiful cases. After using his capabilities and accomplishments to prove himself, those people’s words became that she had good taste. They said that she was shrewd for finding someone of such hidden potential.
At that time, she was happy. She felt happy that she had good taste and that she had chosen such a man for herself.
It was only later on that Li Qianxue realized that she was ridiculously wrong.
“Qianxue?”
Su Chenghui’s voice woke her up from her trance. Only then did she realize that she had already walked to the tennis court outside.
The weather today wasn’t bad. It was a cloudy day. The court was close to the suburbs. When the wind blew, not only did she not feel hot, but she also felt waves of coolness.
Li Qianxue didn’ look at Su Chenghui. Instead, she looked at the court in front of her.
The few who had arrived early had already left the court. President Chen was on President Gao’s side, while Li Junsheng was on Wang Tao’s side. The four of them had already started playing doubles.
Li Qianxue stood there without moving. She had come out today because of Wang Tao’s invitation, and also because Li Junsheng was there.
As for the land in the North District, it hadn’t been completely decided yet. She also wanted to know the latest progress.
Now that they had all gone down, she wasn’t in a hurry to go down.
“Qianxue, let’s go down as well.”
Looking at her with a hint of eagerness in his eyes, Su Chenghui stood beside her. Li Qianxue looked at him expressionlessly and didn’t move.
The memories she had just recalled made her mood very bad.
Su Chenghui acted as if he hadn’t noticed. “Since you’re here, you can’t just watch, right?”
He had a smile on his face, and his expression was gentle. However, Li Qianxue couldn’t control her irritation at this moment. She had an impulse to smash the smile on his face.
She clenched the racket in her hand, and the irritation in her heart turned into anger. She looked at him coldly, turned around, and took the lead to walk to another tennis court beside the fence.
It wasn’t that Su Chenghui didn’t feel the change in her mood at that moment. Although he didn’t know why her expression suddenly changed, as long as she was willing to accept his words, it was a kind of improvement.
He followed behind her, and the two of them stood on two sides. Standing behind the end line, Li Qianxue served first. She held the ball in her hand and exerted force with her wrist. She threw the ball forcefully into the air, then swung the racket.
The tennis ball flew toward Su Chenghui. He had been holding the racket tightly the whole time. When he saw the ball flying toward him, he was ready to attack.
The ball hit the ground and bounced. Su Chenghui swung the racket. The tennis ball flew past him again.
Li Qianxue was annoyed and hit the ball a little forcefully. Although she wasn’t young, because she had been diligent in maintaining her health all these years and also exercised regularly, so her physical strength was naturally not inferior to that of her peers.
Su Chenghui could sense that she was in a bad mood. Some of the balls that flew towards him almost hit his face directly.
He didn’t know how he had offended her again. Since she had done her best, there was no reason for him not to accept the challenge.
At that moment, the two of them were engaged in a fierce battle.
President Gao and President Chen weren’t older than the two of them, but they couldn’t compete with their physical strength. At this moment, they had already retreated.
On the other side, only Li Junsheng and Wang Tao were left in a one-on-one fight.
President Chen and President Gao watched Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue play so intensely. Then, they looked at Li Junsheng and Wang Tao, who were still very robust.
Therefore, during the halftime interval, they suggested that Su Chenghui, Li Qianxue, and Wang Tao and Li Junsheng play against each other.
Li Qianxue played well, but Su Chenghui wasn’t inferior. He was trained by her, so he was very familiar with her tactics.
Li Qianxue didn’t gain an advantage, so the two of them had a tight draw.
Now that they heard President Chen’s suggestion, they looked at Su Chenghui and thought of Li Junsheng’s skills, so they wanted to suggest that she and Li Junsheng team up.
However, Li Junsheng heard about it and said that he would team up with Wang Tao first.
This way, Su Chenghui would team up with Li Qianxue, and Li Junsheng would team up with Wang Tao.
Li Qianxue wanted to refuse, but Su Chenghui had already gone to the court. Looking at Li Junsheng, who was sweating but in high spirits, she could only follow him to the side.
When Li Qianxue approached, Su Chenghui said in a low voice, “I’ll serve first. We’ll attack first…”
“I know how to play. You don’t have to teach me.”
“Qianxue, I saw Li Junsheng play just now. His skills are good.”
Su Chenghui was sincerely praising Li Junsheng. Even he couldn’t help but praise that Li Junsheng was an extraordinary young man. His skills weren’t bad.
He knew that Li Qianxue didn’t want to be on the same team as him, but he also knew that she hadn’t vented out her anger yet. “Look, we can…”
Wanting to talk about their tactics, he approached her. His hot breath blew on Li Qianxue’s cheek. She didn’t want to listen at all and directly took a step back.
“Su Chenghui, do you want me to remind you? I taught you how to play.”
Su Chenghui was speechless and didn’t say anything else. At the beginning, of course, it was Li Qianxue who taught him, but later, he had more opportunities to play than her.
After Li Qianxue finished speaking, she no longer looked at him. She picked up the racket and stood at the end line. Su Chenghui looked at her position and stood beside her.
This time, it was Li Junsheng who served the ball first. Su Chenghui didn’t move. He looked at Li Qianxue’s eyes and let her receive the ball.
Li Qianxue played fiercely. The anger in her heart hadn’t disappeared. She didn’t like to reminisce about the past. Every time she reminisced, it made her feel uncomfortable.
Now that there were other people around, she couldn’t vent her anger at Su Chenghui, so she could only use serving the ball to vent.
After a few rounds, Li Junsheng, who had wanted to play a game just now, restrained himself. It seemed that he didn’t expect Li Qianxue to have such amazing football skills at her age.
For a moment, whether it was Li Junsheng or Wang Tao, they were all doing their best to deal with it.
After a few rounds, Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue began to work well together. The two of them were extremely aggressive. Li Junsheng and Wang Tao, the two juniors, were unable to gain the upper hand.
After the end of the round, it was Li Qianxue and Su Chenghui who won.
Li Qianxue was already sweating. She held the racket in her hand and felt a lot less irritated after this round.
“Good game, Auntie,” Li Junsheng praised sincerely. The other party was Huo Jinyao’s mother-in-law, so he would always give her some face, but this sentence was from the bottom of his heart.
“It’s not just good game.” Wang Tao’s forehead was covered in sweat, but because he had seen it a few times recently, he joked, “Speaking of which, President Li and President Su are really good at cooperating.”
Wasn’t that so? One advancing while the other retreating, they went back and forth. Whether it was defense or offense, the two of them had a tacit understanding.
“I always thought that my skills were good, but I didn’t expect that I would actually…” Wang Tao panted as he thought about how he had lost to two old people.
However, looking at the two people who looked much younger in their sportswear and didn’t seem to be a few years older than him, the words “old people” were really hard to say.
“Auntie and Uncle are indeed amazing.” Li Junsheng was panting after playing against them for a long time. “Especially when the two of you work well together.”
President Gao didn’t know much about the Li family. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but praise, “As expected of a husband and wife for so many years. This tacit understanding is really incomparable for ordinary people.”
President Chen followed up with a compliment, but Li Qianxue’s expression changed at this moment.
Su Chenghui smiled, and that smile was from the bottom of his heart. He stood beside Li Qianxue, the corners of his lips were slightly raised.
“Yes. As a couple for more than twelve years, our tacit understanding is indeed extraordinary.”
The corners of Li Qianxue’s lips were also curled, but there was a gloomy look hidden in her calm eyes.
She couldn’t flare up. Li Junsheng looked at Li Qianxue, and Su Chenghui and raised his hand. “Let’s rest for a while. We’ll play again later.”
The six of them sat down and walked to the chairs placed on the side.
Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue were left behind. Su Chenghui walked to the front of the seat and pulled out a chair for her.
Li Qianxue wanted to leave almost immediately, but now wasn’t the right time.
She had to sit down. After playing for a while, everyone was a little thirsty. The few men didn’ pay attention. They picked up the water on the table and drank it directly.
Su Chenghui called the waiters in the stadium and asked them to bring warm water over.
“She can’t drink cold water.”
“President Li is so considerate.” President Chen smiled, and his expression was a bit teasing.
“Isn’t that so? I heard that President Li and President Su are the golden couple in Lin City. I didn’t believe it, but today, I saw that it really is true.”
Li Qianxue really wanted to stand up now.
Li Junsheng knew that the two of them were divorced, but he didn’t know the inside story. Seeing that the two of them were working together and working so well together, they were probably going to get married again, right?
“The tacit understanding between President Li and President Su is indeed very good.” The one who answered was Wang Tao. He had been getting along with the two of them a lot these days, so he naturally knew more about them.
Almost as soon as Su Chenghui said something, Li Qianxue immediately followed up.
The two of them often understood what the other person meant as soon as the other person made the first move. Sometimes, they didn’t even need to speak. They only needed to look at each other to understand what the other person wanted to say.
What he didn’t know was that even though Su Chenghui and Li Qianxue hadn’t gotten along for so many years, their tacit understanding in business was indeed strong.
As long as it was related to the Li Corporation, the two of them could always reach an agreement. This had nothing to do with feelings. It was purely due to the habit of time.
Li Qianxue knew that Su Chenghui didn’t like her, but he wouldn’t be careless in his work.
As for Su Chenghui, it would be a lie to say that he didn’t regret it when he impulsively swapped the children back then as revenge. However, the more time passed, the more he couldn’t recover. He could only focus on his work.
After Old Master Li fell ill, the power of the Li Corporation was almost completely in the hands of these two people.
It had nothing to do with love. The tacit understanding that had been honed over twenty years might have been completely applicable to work in the beginning. However, as time passed, they would eventually figure out some private matters.
Others said that they had a good tacit understanding, and Li Qianxue couldn’t refute it at all. Not only could she not refute, but she couldn’t even get up and leave.
That was because President Gao was here today. What he brought was the latest news about the factory that had attracted business.
The group of people sat down and rested for a while. President Gao finally spoke.
“Mayor Li came to me and talked about the land in the North District. Coincidentally, President Zhou of the Environmental Protection Bureau was also here. They talked about some problems that day, but the higher-ups didn’t approve it. Although the land was in the suburbs, it was still a little too close to the city. If the other party really opened a factory there, the Environmental Protection Bureau wouldn’t be able to approve it, so this matter will be settled just like that. You can rest assured too.”
He had asked Li Qianxue out today, so that meant that this matter was settled. Nowadays, every place was focused on environmental protection, and environmental protection was above performance.
It was also President Zhou who had found out that the company had a bad record of illegal pollution discharge in other cities. Now that they wanted to open a factory, they had to choose a new site, and the approval would be stricter than before.
Li Junsheng turned to look at Li Qianxue when he heard that. “Auntie, can you rest assured now?”
“With Mayor Li around, I have nothing to worry about.”
Li Qianxue’s words were beautiful. She also complimented Li Junsheng.
Li Junsheng smiled. He had been in Lin City for more than two years. There was a transfer order from the higher-ups, so he wouldn’t be able to stay in Lin City for long.
However, he really didn’t want to let bad things happen in Lin City while he was here.
The opening of the factory could raise sales performances, but on the other hand, if there were any sequelae in the future, it would become something that he couldn’t do well.
Therefore, after beating President Zhou, this matter could only be put to rest.
At the same time, he could give face to the Li family and the Tianyu Group. It didn’t affect him.
The group of people used the land in the North District to chat. After chatting, they played some tennis. It was already evening now.
Li Junsheng hosted them and invited them to have dinner together. Li Qianxue couldn’t refuse. The land in the north district was under Su Chenghui’s plan. Even if it was a factory, it wouldn’t have much of an impact on her.
However, building a new business area now would allow the Li Corporation’s sales performance to rise to a higher level.
She had to accept this favor, so it was impossible for her not to attend social events. It was just that with Su Chenghui around, she was really frustrated. After getting into the car, she didn’t look too pleasant.
At the dining table, President Chen and President Gao were considered veterans, and their alcohol tolerance was excellent. Li Junsheng had the most authority, but he also drank a few glasses.
Wang Tao had been working more with Li Qianxue and Su Chenghui recently, so he toasted the two of them.
Li Qianxue didn’t actually drink, but Su Chenghui stood up and blocked the alcohol for her. Although they were divorced, the others didn’t know the inside story. When they arranged the seats, the two of them sat together again.
Su Chenghui sat beside Li Qianxue. When President Chen came over to toast, he took the initiative to stand up and pick up the cup in front of him.
“Qianxue isn’t good at drinking. I’ll drink for her.”
He said so, then drank the wine in the cup in one gulp. Li Qianxue watched his actions. Those who didn’t know about it would think that they were still married.
At first, he blocked two glasses of wine for her, but she didn’t say anything. When the third glass came, the anger in Li Qianxue’s heart couldn’t be suppressed anymore.
Who was he to her? Did she need him to block the wine for her?
