Chapter Twenty: Fearless in the Face of Threats

Xi Jingpeng grew anxious and shouted, “Did Luo Yichen never threaten you? Why don’t you treat him the way you treat me? He has a wife but treats you like a lover, and you don’t care. I’m a single man trying to pursue you—what’s wrong with that?”

“I... I...” Shang Qi was choked up, unable to speak.

Xi Jingpeng said, “I’m not trying to scare you, but the Luo Corporation is already in deep trouble. If you don’t want Luo Yichen to end up with nothing, you’d better listen to me.”

Shang Qi fell silent, struggling fiercely within herself. Finally, she said, “I don’t want to become a bargaining chip between you two. I believe Luo Yichen is capable of handling everything.”

One had to admit, Shang Qi was an exceptionally clever woman. In this situation, the best course was to stay out of it, ensuring Luo Yichen would not be controlled by anyone. At the same time, this would invisibly increase the pressure on Xi Jingpeng. To be the woman of a CEO, one must learn when to intervene and when to hold back. This was the second principle.

Xi Jingpeng was not surprised by her answer. He took a deep breath and asked, “Do you love him that much?”

Shang Qi answered decisively, “Yes. Before his divorce, I couldn’t love him. But now, I want to try.”

Those words pushed Xi Jingpeng’s heart into an abyss. He gripped Shang Qi’s arm tightly and said, “Fine. I want to see if you two really can live happily ever after.”

Shang Qi struggled fiercely again. At that moment, Xi Jingpeng secretly took her phone from her bag. Once released, Shang Qi said nothing more and immediately tried to leave. Watching her retreating figure, Xi Jingpeng spoke with deep affection, “If you ever get into trouble, come find me anytime.”

At that instant, Shang Qi shivered. She deeply felt this man’s unwavering devotion, but she knew she must not hesitate now. Without looking back, she said, “Forget about me!”

Years of waiting vanished in an instant. Xi Jingpeng clutched the phone tightly, his heart aching. He felt dizzy, as if wandering through purgatory with no escape. He swore he would win Shang Qi back, following her figure as she walked away.

When Shang Qi returned to the hall, Luo Yichen was already growing impatient. He approached and asked, “Where did you go?”

“To the restroom,” she replied, afraid he would confront Xi Jingpeng again and unwilling to tell the truth. What she didn’t know was that Luo Yichen, anxious, had already sent waiters to the restroom three times to find her, but they said no one was there. If she didn’t show up soon, Luo Yichen would have rushed into the women’s restroom himself.

He looked at Shang Qi in puzzlement but didn’t ask further. At that moment, Xi Jingpeng appeared before them. He said, “President Luo, what a coincidence!”

Luo Yichen, recently overwhelmed by loan troubles, glared at Xi Jingpeng with intense envy. But having spent many years in business, he knew when to advance and retreat. Under these circumstances, he could not afford to make things worse with Xi Jingpeng.

Suppressing his anger, Luo Yichen smiled and said, “Xi Jingpeng, what a coincidence indeed!”

“There’s an even bigger coincidence!” Xi Jingpeng’s eyes flicked toward Shang Qi as he pulled out a phone and said, “Qi Qi, I found this at the restroom door. It must be yours!”

Shang Qi looked down; it was indeed her phone. Luo Yichen’s inscrutable gaze fell on her. Shang Qi glared bitterly at Xi Jingpeng—wasn’t he deliberately letting Luo Yichen know they had just met? Before she could reach for it, Luo Yichen took the phone and handed it back to her.

He said, “Don’t be so careless! That morning, you left your phone at the villa, causing me to go back just to get it for you.”

Xi Jingpeng scoffed at his performance and turned to leave. Luo Yichen called after him, “Xi Jingpeng, let’s have a drink sometime!”

Shang Qi tugged on Luo Yichen’s sleeve, blushing, “What nonsense are you saying now?”

Luo Yichen was quite upset about her lying to him. He shrugged and left the restaurant alone. After getting into the car, he remained silent. The heavy atmosphere made Shang Qi feel utterly uneasy. Luo Yichen’s imposing presence was oppressive without any anger.

Unable to bear the silence, Shang Qi said, “I just happened to run into him. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you’d have a conflict.”

Luo Yichen pulled the car over and frowned. “What did he say to you?”

“He talked about the loans.” Seeing it was pointless to hide it, Shang Qi decided to be honest.

“And?”

“He told me to leave you if I wanted to save the Luo Corporation.”

Luo Yichen’s face darkened with anger. “Did you agree?”

“No.”

He calmed down a bit and asked, “Was there anything else?”

“No.” Shang Qi felt like a criminal being interrogated and found it awkward. “Can you stop making such a big deal out of this?”

Luo Yichen said nothing but silently calculated Xi Jingpeng’s intentions. Sending her phone was clearly a deliberate move to drive a wedge between him and Shang Qi. It seemed impossible to find a breakthrough through the loan issue. The Luo family wasn’t his alone; Xi Jingpeng still lacked the strength to dominate everything single-handedly.

Shang Qi couldn’t stand the silence and thought he must still be angry. She said, “I didn’t know he’d be here. I didn’t go looking for him.”

Luo Yichen snapped back to reality and saw Shang Qi looking like a guilty child, pitifully staring at him. “Now you realize how serious it is to make me angry?”

Shang Qi pleaded, “I know. I won’t lie to you again.”

Luo Yichen smoothed her hair and said, “I’ll be busy for a while. You have to behave and cause me less trouble.”

“Is the funding problem really that serious?” Shang Qi felt the heavy pressure Luo Yichen was under; it must be a tough situation.

“Don’t worry about it. I have it under control,” Luo Yichen said no more.

After this commotion, both of them were weighed down by worries and lost the mood for romantic moments. Luo Yichen took Shang Qi home and then left. He drove back to the Luo family mansion. He hadn’t returned for three days straight and feared his grandfather and mother might worry.

As soon as he entered, the butler said, “Young Master Sun, the young master is back.” Luo Yichen wondered why his father had returned this time, as he only came home during the New Year.

Luo Yichen’s father, Luo Shixun, had long been in business in the United States. Due to a youthful infidelity, he had been permanently separated from Luo Yichen’s mother, Yao Minzhi, who insisted on not divorcing and had stayed loyal all these years. The Luo family also harbored a secret unknown to outsiders: Mu Lichen was Luo Shixun’s illegitimate son.