Chapter 28

Yan Ruoshan gently rubbed her slightly aching head, stopping her work for a moment. Her gaze suddenly landed on the cactus on the desk, lost in thought. This cactus had been a gift from Li Xin, who had said that computer radiation was high and, as a workaholic, she needed to have a cactus to help her. Yan Ruoshan realized she had never watered this cactus, yet it was thriving.

Qian Shaowen brought in a tonic prepared by the servants. He noticed his wife seemed lost in thought, and his feelings were mixed. He knew the news from a few days ago might not have been baseless. Li Xin, that charmingly alluring woman, he had seen her himself. At that time, he had felt something odd; her gaze towards Ruoshan was too soft, almost flirtatious, while her look at him carried a hint of hostility. He had brushed it off as a mere illusion, but now he felt he had been too careless. However, as a smart husband, Qian Shaowen chose to remain silent and not ask Yan Ruoshan, even as countless voices in the Qian family questioned or attacked her, he had been defending his wife fiercely.

"Are you busy with the cooperation project with the Qin family?" Qian Shaowen placed the tonic on the table and said gently.

"Mm." Yan Ruoshan nodded slightly.

"The Qin family has a good relationship with the Shi family; they might not collaborate with the Qian family." Qian Shaowen thought if his health improved a bit, he wouldn't want his wife to work so hard.

"Business is business. I don't believe the Qin family only operates on connections. As long as I can present an impeccable project proposal, I still have a good chance of winning this project." Yan Ruoshan disliked the feeling of losing; she believed she could do it, and she didn't regard Shi Yunyang highly. To her, Shi Yunyang was merely a second-generation rich kid who only knew how to indulge.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself; drink the soup first." Qian Shaowen knew that whatever he said would be useless. If Ruoshan was determined to succeed, she would do so.

Yan Ruoshan took the soup. The taste wasn't as good as what Li Xin made. That woman also enjoyed cooking soup; every time she went to her place, Li Xin always prepared various soups for her, and each time they were different. That day, Li Xin had knelt and begged her not to leave, only to slap her later and throw a check at her face before leaving proudly, yet she had cried messily in the parking lot. Yan Ruoshan realized for the first time that she didn't really understand the woman she had been with for five years, even though they hadn't spent much real time together.

She had allowed Li Xin to exist in her life for five years simply because, after she took over the Qian family's business, the pressure was immense. Li Xin had appeared just at the right time, providing her an outlet for her stress, which had been a wrong start. Who was Li Xin? What kind of person was she? Yan Ruoshan had never paid attention. She had been willing to support Li Xin, treating her like a pet, one that would always wait at home. But after this incident, Yan Ruoshan realized that Li Xin might become a dangerous leverage against her, so she decided to end this mistake. She hadn't expected that the usually docile Li Xin would also show her claws. Just thinking about that slap from Li Xin made the sting on her face seem to linger.

"Have you taken your medicine?" Yan Ruoshan asked with concern for her husband, who had both congenital heart disease and asthma. The attention she gave to Li Xin didn't even measure up to a fraction of what Qian Shaowen gave, which was why Li Xin was so jealous and hostile toward him.

Li Xin didn't know that Yan Ruoshan owed Qian Shaowen a huge debt of gratitude, one that Yan Ruoshan intended to repay for the rest of her life.

"I've taken it; I know how to take care of myself. Don't worry about me," Qian Shaowen said with a gentle smile, wishing he could be healthier.

"It's late; let's go to bed." Yan Ruoshan's typically strong and capable face showed a rare gentleness. She knew if she didn't sleep, her husband wouldn't either. Qian Shaowen's health couldn't handle any more strain, so Yan Ruoshan obediently lay down with him. After a long while, feeling Qian Shaowen had fallen asleep, she quietly got up and went into the study to continue refining her project proposal. As Qin Wanshu had said, this woman had always been diligent. After Yan Ruoshan left, Qian Shaowen opened his eyes and sighed deeply. He wanted to marry Ruoshan, but he didn't want to burden her with the Qian family's issues; that responsibility shouldn't be hers. Unfortunately, his health was failing him.

"This time both the Shi family and the Qian family are very interested in collaborating on this project; which one does Wanshu think is better?" Qin Yu asked Qin Wanshu. In terms of strength, the Shi family and the Qian family were quite comparable. As for connections, the Qin family had a better relationship with the Shi family. However, the proposal Yan Ruoshan provided was impeccable, while Shi Yunyang's proposal, though good, was still somewhat lacking.

"Business is business; you should make the decision, brother," Qin Wanshu said lightly. Though she had a good relationship with Shi Yunyang, she hadn't been involved in the family business for a long time.

"But Yunyang is still a friend of yours. I can always do a favor for my sister," Qin Yu said with a smile. Nothing was more precious than his sister. He handed the proposals from both families to Qin Wanshu.

After reviewing the proposals, Qin Wanshu immediately saw the difference. Yunyang relied on clever tricks and didn't put in the effort, while Yan Ruoshan's attitude alone made her proposal worth choosing.

"I'll make sure you have two equally viable proposals to choose from tomorrow," Qin Wanshu said as she took Yan Ruoshan's proposal.

Qin Wanshu tossed Yan Ruoshan's proposal to Shi Yunyang.

"Tomorrow, if you can't give me a satisfactory project proposal, don't blame me for giving the project to Yan Ruoshan," Qin Wanshu said lightly. Feelings could be complex, but despite Shi Yunyang's unreliability, she had grown up alongside her, so she leaned a bit towards the Shi family.

After looking at Yan Ruoshan's proposal, Shi Yunyang's expression changed. She was shocked; it was one thing not to compare, but once compared, Yan Ruoshan was indeed no ordinary opponent.

"Just one day?" Shi Yunyang felt her scalp tingle. There was no way Yan Ruoshan could produce such a project proposal in just one day. For her to create a proposal on par with Yan Ruoshan's in one night would be exceedingly difficult.

"Otherwise?" Qin Wanshu raised an eyebrow in response.

"Alright," Shi Yunyang realized that if she couldn't come up with a proposal of equal caliber to Yan Ruoshan's by tomorrow, she would be in for some embarrassment.

Shi Yunyang immediately called Qin Teng.

"Qin Teng, hurry up and come over to help me work late!" Shi Yunyang pulled Qin Teng away from a crowd of women.

Qin Teng and Shi Yunyang were quite compatible and had mixed together for a while, even ending up in bed together. Neither was the type to settle down, and it was unclear who was playing whom. However, it seemed Qin Teng had some leverage over Shi Yunyang, as she was the only one who could call him to come over, aside from Qin Wanshu.

Qin Wanshu turned a blind eye to Shi Yunyang cheating right under her nose, but she absolutely wouldn't help Shi Yunyang work late. Suddenly, she recalled that the woman hadn't called her since that phone call fifteen days ago. Strangely, she could remember the time so clearly. Zuo Qinghuan hadn't called Qin Wanshu either, nor had Qin Wanshu made any effort to call Zuo Qinghuan, as if they were testing each other's patience.

Originally, these two jerks who were supposed to have rich and colorful private lives were miserably working overtime.

"Sister Shi, I'm making such a sacrifice here. Don't I deserve some kind of reward?" Qin Teng yawned as he asked Shi Yunyang. Shi Yunyang was becoming more and more attractive. Every gesture exuded femininity, constantly stimulating his male hormones.

"Get lost. Do I look like someone who'd go back to an ex?" Shi Yunyang raised an eyebrow and retorted, "You better nitpick everything. If I lose to Yan Ruoshan tomorrow, you'll regret it." The project plan was mostly Shi Yunyang's work, but she had Qin Teng find flaws so she could improve it over and over. She felt like after staying up all night and overusing her brain, she'd definitely look terrible tomorrow.

"You're really ruthless, Sis. Just one night to make all these changes. If she says a word to your brother, getting a few more days—or even choosing the Shi family—wouldn't be a problem," Qin Teng joked with a smile, clearly taking the chance to rub salt in the wound.

"You don't know your sister by now?" Qin Wanshu was absolutely someone who kept business and personal matters separate, and Shi Yunyang had no doubt about it. The fact that she had let her see Yan Ruoshan's proposal was already a favor. "By the way, how many shares of the Qin family does your sister actually have?" Shi Yunyang was curious about how much of the family fortune Old Master Qin would leave to his beloved Wanshu.

"No idea, but it's enough to last her several lifetimes," Qin Teng said. He had no clue either. His grandfather was strict enough not to leave him a penny, but since Qin Teng didn't care about that, it didn't bother him. However, the exact amount of shares his sister held was something only his grandfather and sister knew. Qin Teng figured that the shares she held were second only to their eldest brother's.

"So Han Shibin's the lucky one?" Shi Yunyang remarked. It seemed that Qin Wanshu was the true financial heavyweight, and Han Shibin had married into wealth.

"Han Shibin shouldn't get any ideas. Do you really think my sister's that naive? I'd bet Han Shibin doesn't even know how much wealth she has." Actually, Qin Teng didn't know either. His sister's fortune had always been a mystery.

No wonder, even after getting married, Qin Wanshu still carried so much weight in the Qin family. A single word from her held more power than anything else.

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