Su Xiqin looked at Chairman Ling, not appalled as she greeted him calmly with a pink glare on her face. "Hello, Chairman Ling."
Chairman Ling had a lustful smile, and his eyes were locked upon Su Xiqin's beautiful face, not hiding his thoughts at all.
Meanwhile, Mo Xigu had a cigarette in his mouth, and the smoke drifted in front of him, hiding his expression with squinted eyes and making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
Su Xiqin met Chairman Ling's eyes, and she was not some naïve young girl anymore, so she completely understood what his gaze meant; he had an interest in her as a woman.
Alarm bells were ringing in her mind as she wondered what Mo Xigu meant. She turned to look at Mo Xigu, who had his cigarette in his mouth and blowing out faint smoke. His hair was neatly combed to bring out the lines of his profile. Although he was still good looking, at that moment, Su Xiqin felt strange as her heart remained calm like dead water; it did not beat faster for him anymore.
"I thought we are here to talk about the contract?" She leaned close to his ear, and her tone was calm.
Mo Xigu took out the cigarette butt from his mouth, squinted his eyes, and whispered to her ears.
"It is about the contract. There's a project in Chairman Ling's hands, and it's very big. If the Mo Corporation can get it, then it will be saved."
"So?" Su Xiqin's gaze was stern.
"Chairman Ling actually admires you, Xixi. It would be much easier for you to get this contract than us all."
Su Xiqin sneered coldly inside. It had been many years since Mo Xigu called her by the name Xixi, and now he was calling her by it again just for a project.
Did he really think that she was a pawn to him? And she could be easily put to good use by just calling her a sweet name?
"I'm just a designer, and if the company needs me to design any product, I'll be obligated to do so."
The implication was clear; this kind of social gathering was not her duty, nor would she buy into it. Having heard that, Mo Xigu's cold eyes suddenly stared at her pure oval-shaped face without an expression.
"CEO Mo, don't just focus on whispering with Ms. Su; let's drink," Chairman Ling spoke up to interrupt the confrontation between the two.
Mo Xigu casted his gaze over and smiled. "Chairman Ling, I was talking to Designer Su about the content of the contract; let's enjoy the night with drinks."
Mo Xigu picked up the cup filled with the yellow liquor that had been poured in front of him and leaned over towards Chairman Ling, who was smiling like a fat buddha and also raised his cup while his eyes were still locked on Su Xiqin's face.
"Join us, Ms. Su!"
Su Xiqin shifted her gaze and paused, then she reached for the glass of liquor in front of her and smiled as she raised it towards Chairman Ling.
"Come on, everybody drink up. It's a rare occasion that we all gathered here tonight." Mo Xigu's clear voice sounded particularly excited.
The crowd drank it all, then Chairman Ling picked up the bottle. "Ms. Su, the things I've heard about you are nothing compared to your actual presence. Come on, let's have a toast."
Su Xiqin generally didn't like this kind of socializing at the table, but when it really happened, she was ready to take it.
She reached out to pick up the liquor bottle that Chairman Ling held and said, "Chairman Ling, it's my turn to pour the drink."
Chairman Ling was delighted at the sight of this and quickly passed the liquor bottle to Su Xiqin.
"Chairman Ling, I'll drink a toast to you." She held the liquor glass up, not waiting for Chairman Ling to respond as the glass had already reached her delicate lips. By the next second, the golden liquid in the glass had already entered her mouth, and there wasn't a drop left in the cup.
"You can drink!" Chairman Ling clapped his hands.
Su Xiqin wiped away drops of liquor dripping from the corners of her mouth, put down the liquor glass, and got up under everyone's attention. She smiled and said, "Everyone, enjoy your time drinking while I excuse myself for a moment."
Having said that, she moved away from the seat and left the suite, ignoring everyone's puzzled gazes.
"Ms. Su, I'll wait for you to come back and drink!" Chairman Ling's voice came from behind, but Su Xiqin had already disappeared from before everyone's eyes.
"Where is she going?" Jiang Moyu, who was Mo Xigu's best friend since childhood, stared at him and asked. Meanwhile, Mo Xigu was staring at the direction Su Xiqin went off with a gloomy expression on his face.
...
Su Xiqin stood in front of the mirror in Yuntang's bathroom, feeling dizzy.
Her throat was burning from drinking two glasses of liquor, and her stomach was grinding inside. She turned on the tap water, bent her back, and splashed cold water upon her face, trying to cool herself down.
Having settled down a bit, she drew some paper towels and wiped the water off her face as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Mo Xigu wants to use me again, eh? How can human nature be so dirty? How foolish would I be to listen to him again? He's overly confident in himself this time.
She threw away the paper towels, and her eyes glittered with determination as she stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards the elevator.
Su Xiqin was just about to step into the elevator when a force behind her yanked her backwards and dragged her all the way across the hall.
Su Xiqin turned around and saw the person dragging her, and her steps became disordered as Mo Xigu walked in a different pace.
"Let go of me."
However, the person walking in front of her turned a deaf ear, and the footsteps kept going faster instead. Having seen that Mo Xigu was going his own way, Su Xiqin wanted to resist.
She pulled back hard. Although she wasn't as strong as he was, it did hinder his progress and attracted the attention of others in the hall. However, in a place like this, most of them just looked and turned away, except for one who followed them like a shadow from a distance.
Mo Xigu dragged Su Xiqin to a corner where there were fewer people and pressed her against the wall.
He stared at Su Xiqin, and his handsome face appeared to be eerie with his eyes full of anger under the dim light.
"You must please Chairman Ling tonight to secure this project." His words were an order as if Su Xiqin was his puppet.
Su Xiqin smirked and stared at him, then she asked with a calm tone after a while.
"How do you want me to please him?"
"You think about that one yourself."
Such an easy way out, Su Xiqin sneered at his answer.
"But you already have the answer in your heart; why don't you dare to say it? Weren't you pretty straightforward about this last time with that contract from the Zhuosheng Corporation?"
Her defensiveness pissed Mo Xigu off.
"Don't f**king look like you are wronged by someone. Anyways, you have to secure this contract for me. If you don't get it done, do you know what I'll do?"
"I have nothing to fear anymore; I'll see you in court," Su Xiqin fought back as she roared in a low voice.
"Ya! I'll see you in court. Once you're in court, your child will be a real b*stard in the eyes of society. He will be discriminated against, and you'll be the one to blame because you are a complete sinner. But if you secure this project, it will end peacefully; I promise."
Su Xiqin looked at the man she once loved, and all that was left was hatred down to the bones, because he would use her child against her every time, not giving her any room to struggle.
But this time, she didn't want to compromise anymore. Everyone had a limit to their endurance. Once they went beyond that limit, they could experience pain like breaking a rib and they wouldn't care anymore.
In the worst-case scenario, she could just take the child and go somewhere far.
Mo Xigu could tell what she was thinking, but instead he said, "This is the last time. I promise I'll have a peaceful divorce after this."
"Can I really believe what you're saying?" she sneered, but her determination cracked a bit. However, she couldn't let her guard down so easily with the lesson she learned from being lied to last time.
Mo Xigu knew that he was untrustworthy from what happened last time, so he asked her, "What do you need to believe in me?"
Su Xiqin stared at him with cold eyes for a long time and said, "I want to have the drafted divorce agreement first."