Meng Xiyue stood under the projector, speaking confidently. Her usually indifferent eyes now carried the confidence and pride typical of young people.
Standing beside Li Ting, Ding Yaoyao watched the radiant Meng Xiyue, clutching her documents tightly. Her eyes were full of envy and determination. She also wanted to become an independent and strong woman like that.
Clearly, Meng Xiyue’s proposal was very successful. At least, the faces of the several key figures from Tianyu Group attending the meeting showed satisfaction, except for Tianyu Group’s decision-maker, Li Ting.
“Miss Meng, your proposal is very attractive, but the terms of cooperation are too harsh for Tianyu,” Li Ting said.
Meng Xiyue smiled slightly, “I believe Mr. Li understands the enormous benefits behind this proposal.”
Tianyu Group was the largest conglomerate in City S, and as the person in charge, Li Ting was under immense pressure. Especially in recent years, emerging companies were pressing hard, and as the leading company, Tianyu faced enormous pressure. The company’s performance had not been promising in recent years, and Tianyu had to make changes.
Li Ting had just taken office not long ago, and he needed such an opportunity. Meng Xiyue’s proposal hit the mark, but this woman’s ambition was too great. She wanted to take a bite out of Tianyu, not much, but enough to make him feel uncomfortable.
What displeased him the most was that three months ago, Tianyu had extended an olive branch to Meng Xiyue’s company, N.S, but was rejected. The person who rejected them was the woman standing before him.
Li Ting was very tempted by the proposal, but in his eyes, N.S and Tianyu were like ants and elephants. As the dominant party, he was being controlled by N.S. For someone like Li Ting, who was used to having the final say in Tianyu’s decisions, this was a blatant provocation.
“Miss Meng, as you said, the business opportunity behind this is very tempting for Tianyu, but you must know, N.S is not the only potential partner.”
“But no one can do it better than N.S,” Meng Xiyue said, looking directly at Li Ting.
For a moment, Li Ting felt as if he was being firmly suppressed by this woman.
“This proposal has a significant impact on Tianyu. We need to consider it,” Li Ting said.
Meng Xiyue showed no sign of disappointment. After saying a few polite words, she left with Secretary Gao and Assistant Li.
After the meeting room was empty, Ding Yaoyao gathered her courage and said to Li Ting, who was still sitting in his seat, “Mr. Li, why not agree to cooperate with N.S?”
Li Ting was not displeased by Ding Yaoyao’s overstepping behavior. Instead, he raised his eyebrows with a teasing look, “What, do you know her?”
Ding Yaoyao stared at his handsome face, her heart starting to beat faster, “I just think Miss Meng is really impressive.”
Li Ting leaned in close to her ear, his voice carrying a unique sensuality, “You are impressive too.”
In an instant, Ding Yaoyao’s face turned red, but she stubbornly said, “President Li, we agreed from the beginning that we are just in a superior-subordinate relationship.”
Seeing the stubborn light in her eyes, Li Ting chuckled softly, “Alright, whatever you say.”
The pampering tone in his voice left Ding Yaoyao flustered, and in her panic, she ran out of the meeting room.
…
Meanwhile, after Meng Xiyue walked out of the Tianyu Building, Assistant Li looked at her usual indifferent expression and asked, “President, will Tianyu agree to the collaboration?”
Meng Xiyue got into the car and replied decisively, “No.”
Assistant Li exchanged a glance with Secretary Gao, who then spoke up, “President Meng, should we amend the contract?”
“No need, schedule a meeting with the president of the Xia Corporation.”
Secretary Gao was momentarily surprised but dutifully responded, “Yes.”
Meng Xiyue was only 50% confident about the collaboration with Tianyu. After all, three months ago, Tianyu clearly wanted to take over N.S. Now that N.S. has stabilized, there’s no need to look at Tianyu.
Their refusal to collaborate was within her expectations. She wanted to connect with Tianyu not only because they are the leader in City S but also because the company is managed by the male protagonist.
The male protagonist is favored by fate, blessed with good fortune, and the path would be smoother.
Meng Xiyue tapped her leg with her fingertips, realizing this path was not feasible.
…
As usual, Meng Xiyue worked overtime until ten o’clock. She picked up her coat, turned off the lights, and left, accompanied by Assistant Li.
Assistant Li was already accustomed to the boss’s schedule, knowing that after dropping Meng Xiyue home, his personal time would begin.
While driving halfway, Assistant Li noticed a woman walking unsteadily by the roadside. She was dressed brightly and had a graceful figure. He couldn’t help but take a second look and then realized she looked familiar.
“President, that seems to be Miss Xia from the Xia Corporation, Xia Yuan.”
Their company was about to discuss a collaboration with the Xia Corporation, so as an assistant, Assistant Li had familiarized himself with the Xia Corporation early on and had seen Xia Yuan’s photo.
Meng Xiyue looked over and saw Xia Yuan leaning unsteadily against a tree. She frowned and finally said, “Help Miss Xia into the car.”
Assistant Li quickly pulled the car over and got out to help the muttering “why” Xia Yuan. She was still conscious, but as soon as Assistant Li approached, Xia Yuan hit him several times with her bag. “Who are you?”
Assistant Li had to explain.
Xia Yuan didn’t know who Meng Xiyue was, and her wariness only increased. It wasn’t until the car window rolled down, revealing Meng Xiyue’s cold and indifferent face, that Xia Yuan straightened up as if her tail had been stepped on. She walked over with her chin slightly raised in a haughty manner, but because she had drunk too much, her steps were unsteady. After a few stumbles, she finally regained her balance. Feeling extremely embarrassed, Xia Yuan instinctively looked at Meng Xiyue.
To her surprise, Meng Xiyue wasn’t looking at her.
For some reason, this made Xia Yuan even angrier. She glared at Assistant Li, who was trying to help her, and then got into the car with her high heels clicking.
Assistant Li: “…”
Once in the car, Xia Yuan crossed her arms and snorted with an air of defiance. “What, you want to see me make a fool of myself?”
Meng Xiyue didn’t answer her, only saying, “Miss Xia, where do you live? I’ll drop you off on the way.”
Xia Yuan glanced at Meng Xiyue. The other woman was dressed in light-colored work clothes, her expression calm and indifferent. For some reason, Xia Yuan felt overshadowed. She uncrossed her arms and, imitating her brother, sat with one leg crossed over the other, her hand resting on her knee. “What? Are you trying to curry favor with me?”
In a way, Xia Yuan wasn’t entirely wrong.
Meng Xiyue smiled faintly but didn’t speak. In fact, Xia Yuan didn’t need her to say anything and continued on her own, “Don’t waste your efforts. I won’t put in a good word for you with my brother.”
Assistant Li had already explained Meng Xiyue’s identity to Xia Yuan. She wasn’t stupid and quickly realized that she had misunderstood Meng Xiyue today. The other woman wasn’t the kind of social climber she had imagined, but Xia Yuan couldn’t bring herself to apologize. How could she be wrong? It was still Meng Xiyue’s fault for not clearly explaining her identity.
“Hmph, don’t think that just because you didn’t get any benefits from Brother Li, you can come to my brother for cooperation. My brother and Brother Li grew up together; he won’t help you. Give up.”
Meng Xiyue couldn’t help but take another look at Xia Yuan.
Surprisingly perceptive, was it intuition?
Before she could look away, Xia Yuan turned and glared at her. “What are you looking at?”
Meng Xiyue smiled. “Miss Xia, you haven’t given me your address yet.”
Xia Yuan frowned, snorted, and spat out an address, then fell silent.
The car fell into an instant silence. Assistant Li carefully observed the situation in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
Big Boss 1: Meng Xiyue tilted her head slightly, her gaze calmly fixed on the window.
Xia Yuan was resting with his eyes closed.
Neither of them paid any attention to the other.
Meng Xiyue was quite satisfied with this situation. She wasn’t much of a talker to begin with, and after a long day of work, this quiet environment was exactly what she needed.
Soon, they arrived at Xia Yuan’s place. Before getting off, Xia Yuan hesitated for a while before finally saying, “Thank you,” and then quickly got out of the car.
Meng Xiyue glanced at his retreating figure through the car window, her expression softening a bit.
