MLROCSHR Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Seething Jealousy

Li Yang couldn’t help but sense the explosive anger radiating from Qi Luzhi, but he was still completely clueless as to who had offended the ice-cold CEO this time.

“I still think this project has investment potential. Would you reconsider?” Li Yang pleaded.

He was still optimistic about Xun Qi’s game; the theme was novel, the planning was clever, and it had the potential to be a hit.

“No need to reconsider. I believe our partners not only need to have excellent capabilities but also upright character,” Qi Luzhi said pointedly.

Seeing that Qi Luzhi was being unyielding, Li Yang didn’t want to say more in front of outsiders. “Let’s end the meeting here for today. President Lian, we’ll need some time for internal discussion before making a final decision.”

“Alright, thanks for your hard work, President Li,” Lian Xun replied politely.

After the meeting, everyone scattered like birds, leaving only Qi Luzhi, Lian Xun, and Ling Yu in the office.

Lian Xun pursed his lips and asked, “President Qi, is your rejection of my proposal aimed at the project itself, or at me as a person?”

Qi Luzhi’s attitude saddened him, but he also felt somewhat unconvinced.

He had poured several years of effort into this game project, and he was very confident in it. He didn’t expect Qi Luzhi to devalue it so severely.

Qi Luzhi crossed his legs, calmly took a sip of tea. “Just discussing the matter at hand.”

Lian Xun stared into Qi Luzhi’s eyes, but the other man consistently avoided his gaze. After a long while, Lian Xun’s eyes dimmed, and he slowly lowered his eyelashes.

“I understand.” It was aimed at him!

“Goodbye, I won’t see you out,” Qi Luzhi issued the order to leave.

Lian Xun had many things he wanted to say at this moment, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them. He took a deep breath, pretended to be nonchalant, and waved at Ling Yu. “Ling Yu, let’s go.”

“Okay!” Ling Yu immediately followed Lian Xun, his tail wagging, intending to leave the office.

This President Qi had such a strong aura, it was terrifying.

President Li was much better; he seemed much easier to talk to.

When he reached the door, Lian Xun paused, turned his head, and left a sentence.

“Please keep my relationship with the Lian family a secret, President Qi.”

Once they were out of the Sheng Shao Group Building, Ling Yu couldn’t help but ask, “Boss, do you have some kind of feud with that President Qi? I can tell he’s been targeting you.”

“A feud? I guess you could say that,” Lian Xun chuckled self-deprecatingly.

He should have known that Qi Luzhi wouldn’t forgive him so easily. No one would.

He had foolishly hoped that he could use this opportunity to get inside Sheng Shao Group and see Qi Luzhi every day.

“Ah, then what do we do?”

“How exactly did you offend this big shot?”

“You actually dared to come and ask for cooperation? It’s already giving you face that they didn’t just kick you out directly.”

Ling Yu seemed to forget who was the boss and who was the subordinate, and he lectured Lian Xun.

Lian Xun didn’t feel like paying attention to him at all. He felt wronged by Qi Luzhi’s cold rejection.

Back at the company, Lian Xun became increasingly angry. He called Ling Yu in and ordered, “Didn’t several companies express interest in investing in our project a while ago? That President Zhang or whatever, and that President Wang, get them all to meet me this afternoon.”

Ling Yu looked incredulous. “Boss, did you take the wrong medicine? Yesterday, you were saying they were all useless, and you wouldn’t cooperate with them even if they held a knife to your neck…”

“I… I’m doing this to secure investment as soon as possible, do you still want your salary next month?”

Lian Xun would never admit that he was acting out of spite.

As soon as his salary was mentioned, Ling Yu felt as if his lifeblood had been seized. As far as he knew, the company was indeed running out of money to pay salaries.

“Okay, Boss, I’ll go make the appointments.”

After Ling Yu left, Lian Xun rubbed his temples irritably. Just thinking about how Qi Luzhi looked at him like he was trash made his heart ache.

Afternoon.

Sheng Shao Group.

Qi Luzhi sat at his desk, casually flipping through Xun Qi’s project contract, lost in thought.

Lian Xun asked him to keep his identity a secret, why? Did something happen between him and the Lian family?

Or… was this another new trick that Lian Xun was playing?

Qi Luzhi picked up the phone on his desk and pressed a speed dial number. “Secretary Feng, come in for a moment.”

Secretary Feng quickly trotted in and stood in front of Qi Luzhi, placing her hands in front of her and staring straight at her toes.

“President Qi, what are your instructions?”

Seeing Secretary Feng’s nervous appearance, Qi Luzhi frowned slightly. “Why are you so nervous?”

Hearing this, Secretary Feng quickly glanced at Qi Luzhi, then lowered her gaze and forced an awkward smile. “Nothing.”

Please, President Qi had been like a walking ice machine since the end of the meeting. There was no need to turn on the air conditioner within a hundred meters of him.

Many colleagues who were originally going to ask President Qi to sign documents this afternoon had postponed it to tomorrow. No one wanted to tempt fate at this time. If she wasn’t a secretary who needed to be available at any time, she would have wanted to get as far away as possible!

“Never mind.” Qi Luzhi raised his hand and asked about the important matter. “How much do you know about Xun Qi Technologies?”

“Xun Qi? It’s a new company that was founded three months ago, mainly focusing on 3A Games. But President Li said that their game planning is very mature in all aspects, it doesn’t seem like something a new company could produce.”

“As for Xun Qi’s boss, Lian Xun, I only found records of him attending university in Shangjiang City a few years ago. I didn’t find any other resume information.”

When speaking of Lian Xun, Secretary Feng’s eyes gradually lit up.

“President Lian is an ordinary person with no resources or background, but he founded Xun Qi at a young age and created such an excellent game. He is truly young and promising, talented and good-looking, and he will definitely achieve great things in the future.”

Hearing this, Qi Luzhi’s lips curled slightly, as if he had heard a joke.

No resources or background? Young and promising? Talented and good-looking?

“Why do you know so much about Lian Xun?”

Whether it was her imagination or not, Secretary Feng felt that President Qi’s gaze towards her had become even colder.

She retracted her smile and spoke haltingly.

“I… I went to their company when I was investigating the project. Their… their company looks quite shabby, but all the employees are very professional…”

“You are Sheng Shao’s secretary, so in the future, worry less about other companies’ bosses,” Qi Luzhi interrupted her. “Alright, you can leave.”

Secretary Feng was relieved and quickly left the office without looking back.

Qi Luzhi leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and frowned even tighter. The unhappiness in his heart was gradually replaced by inexplicable worry.

Combining Lian Xun’s strange words today and Secretary Feng’s description, could it be that Lian Xun was kicked out of the Lian family?

How could a young master who had been pampered all his life adapt to a life of hardship?

Qi Luzhi’s imagination ran wild, and he even imagined a tragic scene of Lian Xun living in a cramped rental apartment, eating bread.

His heart felt like a large glass of lemonade had been spilled inside him, with his entire heart soaked in it, feeling sour and astringent.

Qi Luzhi picked up the contract again, scrutinized it for a moment, and got up to walk out of the office.

Li Yang ran into him at the door.

“I was just saying, Qi, about Xun Qi’s project, are you going to re…”

Before Li Yang could finish speaking, Qi Luzhi replied, “I think you’re right. I’m going to Xun Qi right now to sign the contract with them.”

After speaking, Qi Luzhi strode away, leaving Li Yang standing there in a daze.

“What’s wrong with this guy?”

Li Yang scratched his head, not understanding, and not wanting to understand, as long as the project didn’t fall through!

Qi Luzhi arrived at Xun Qi Technologies’ small, run-down office before the end of the workday, but he didn’t see Lian Xun himself.

Ling Yu said that Lian Xun had made appointments with the bosses of other companies, and they had requested to meet at the Coffee Shop downstairs.

When Qi Luzhi arrived at the Coffee Shop, the scene before him shocked him, and the contract in his hand was gradually crumpled out of shape.

Lian Xun was facing away from Qi Luzhi. Across from him sat a middle-aged man, smiling lewdly, with his greasy pig hand placed on the back of Lian Xun’s hand…