Rong Lan strapped on the cat carrier, looped her arm through Xie Xinxin's, and took the rather heavy bag from her hand. "Yes."
Master? This title... Tang Xingwei twitched the corner of his mouth but managed to hold back the urge to mock Xie Xinxin. He politely saw the two of them out of the pet hospital.
After seeing them off, he took out his phone and sent Xie Xinxin a long message.
Xie Xinxin didn't see the message from Tang Xingwei until she got in the taxi.
—Fortunately, you didn't arrive half an hour earlier. Chu Hengyuan came to the pet hospital today. It was only half an hour apart from the time you guys arrived. If you had run into him, it would have been a disaster. Also, the cat that Rong Lan took away was held by Chu Hengyuan for a few minutes today. I was just thinking about how to attract Rong Lan to come and see the cats and dogs here and see if she was interested in adopting one. Then you brought Rong Lan here. I'm so touched. I'll treat you to a big meal in a few days.
Xie Xinxin didn't expect such a coincidence.
She replied to Tang Xingwei with an emoji, and Tang Xingwei sent another message.
—You'd better not hang around here with Rong Lan. Chu Hengyuan told me that he had an appointment nearby. Try not to run into him. I don't know who Chu Hengyuan is meeting, but I guess he doesn't want Rong Lan to know.
Xie Xinxin replied with a 'Okay' and sent another emoji.
If they hadn't been carrying so many things, they might have strolled around outside. But with the cat and cat litter and cat food, they hailed a taxi by the roadside and went straight home. They had no desire to go shopping at all.
In the car, Rong Lan was teasing her little ragdoll through the cat carrier, completely unaware that just as she decided to adopt the ragdoll, Si Mo passed by the entrance of the pet hospital.
Si Mo headed straight for the second floor of the mall and entered a coffee shop. He had no idea that Rong Lan was in the pet hospital at that time.
Si Mo sat down on the sofa with a cup of coffee in hand, pricking up his ears to listen to the conversation of the people two or three booths away. He thought to himself that he seemed to have come just in time.
"Uncle Xie, have you made up your mind?"
"How on earth did you get these two contracts! Could it be that company... No! The person in charge of that company is a foreigner who is very active in the circle. I signed the previous contracts with him. Are you... friends with him?"
"That's not important. Uncle Xie just needs to know that I have the right to dispose of these two unsigned contracts. If Uncle Xie doesn't do as I say, the consequence will be that the two projects Uncle Xie fancies will not go to the Xie Group."
"...Hengyuan, the Xie family and the Chu family have had a good relationship for many years. Do you really have to threaten your Uncle Xie so mercilessly?"
Si Mo took a sip of his coffee and squinted his eyes contentedly.
Although he thought that the person surnamed Xie would surely lose, he was curious to see how Chu Hengyuan would win this negotiation.
"The relationship between the Xie family and the Chu family is good, and the Xie Group and the Chu Group have always been in a cooperative relationship. But I'm not threatening Uncle Xie with the contracts of the Chu Group. Uncle Xie doesn't have to use the good relationship between our two families to pressure me."
"Hengyuan, you know that since the Xie Group and the Chu Group are in cooperation, I have a lot of opportunities to meet that kid Chu Chuan..."
Si Mo raised his eyebrows. The person surnamed Xie was clearly warning Chu Hengyuan by bringing up Chu Chuan at this moment. If Chu Hengyuan insisted on his way, he would tell Chu Chuan that Chu Hengyuan was not as useless as he seemed on the surface and let Chu Chuan restrain him.
But Chu Hengyuan had never been afraid of Chu Chuan.
Chu Hengyuan didn't want to deal with Chu Chuan, but it didn't mean he couldn't outwit him.
"Sorry, while Uncle Xie and I were chatting, the person in charge of the company has already signed one of the projects. That project was given to a newly-developed small company, not the Xie Group. I didn't expect them to act so quickly. For the remaining project, the person in charge of the company seems to be planning to finalize it within today. I don't know if I leave later, whether I'll be able to put the contract of the Xie Group back in time."
"You!"
"If Uncle Xie keeps hesitating, the remaining project may also be given to someone else."
"Hengyuan! Are you determined to make the Xie family lose face?"
"Does Uncle Xie care more about the face of the Xie family or the one-billion project? It's a pity that Uncle Xie made the decision too late. Otherwise, the two projects together would have been worth two billion."
"You!"
"Has Uncle Xie made up his mind? Even if Uncle Xie has plenty of time to waste with me today, I don't have much time to wait for Uncle Xie to think. I have to go home and cook later."
Si Mo sipped his coffee slowly. The person surnamed Xie seemed to have given up arguing with Chu Hengyuan.
Sure enough—
"Fine! I'll agree to your request! I'll send my wife to the mental hospital within three days. Is that satisfactory to you, Nephew Hengyuan?"
This 'Nephew Hengyuan' was quite sarcastic, but Chu Hengyuan pretended not to notice the sarcasm in the head of the Xie family's tone. His expression remained unchanged. "I'm satisfied. Come to think of it, the suggestion I gave Uncle Xie is also for the good of the Xie family. If the wife of the Xie family has mental problems, she should stay in the mental hospital. Otherwise, she might cause trouble for the Xie family. This time, the wife of the Xie family offended me. I don't have the ability to get revenge, so I can only use this despicable method. If the wife of the Xie family accidentally offends some big shot, both the Xie family and the Xie Group will be in great danger."
"Hehe—"
The head of the Xie family didn't want to say another word to Chu Hengyuan and left in a huff.
Chu Hengyuan wasn't annoyed. He first sent a few messages, leisurely finished the remaining coffee in his cup, and then got up with the contract.
He didn't lie to Uncle Xie of the Xie family. One of the projects had indeed been assigned a cooperation partner. However, the Xie Group was never considered for that project. He just brought an extra bargaining chip to threaten people. As for the other project, if Uncle Xie of the Xie family behaved well enough, that project could be considered for the Xie Group.
He anticipated that the focus of the Xie Group in the last quarter would be on those two cooperation projects. If both projects fell through, the Xie family probably wouldn't even have a happy Chinese New Year's Eve next year.
So by threatening the Xie family with the projects, he was sure to achieve his goal.
When he walked to the front desk of the coffee shop and was about to pay the bill, Chu Hengyuan looked up inadvertently and saw Si Mo sitting on the sofa with a coffee cup in his hand.
He was stunned and almost suspected that the person he saw was Si Mo's twin brother.
After all, it was only a little past three in the afternoon, a proper working time. As an employee hired by his little girl, Si Mo shouldn't be here.