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"I already know all that. I don't need you to vouch for me." Li Rongxiu set down his hot cocoa and pulled out a napkin to wipe his hands. He straightened sharply, then leaned back against his chair. It was a gesture charged with intense emotion, revealing his impatient desire to get up and leave.

Li Rongxiu's reaction made Shen Manyao even more agitated. She unconsciously sped up, saying, "You all know that the Chi family's shipyard originally had thirty percent of its shares held by the Yao family. Since the Yao family is involved, if the Chi family wants to sell the shipyard, they'll naturally offer their shares to the Yao family first. So if anyone else wants to compete, they have to make a better offer than the Yao family's."

Li Rongxiu raised a brow, and Shen Manyao continued, "...But I happened to learn that no matter how much the Yao family offers in the end, the Chi family will never sell the shipyard to them. So, if the Li family can gain access to more inside information from the Chi family during this acquisition..."

Shen Manyao did not spell out the rest, but no matter how foolish Li Rongxiu was, he understood by then. Still, the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt. He frowned and retorted, "How do I know whether you're telling the truth? It's not like you've never lied to me before. Besides, Chi Junrui is currently pursuing the Yao family's eldest daughter with great enthusiasm. If the Chi family really wants to sell the shipyard, their first choice would naturally be the Yao family. That way, he can curry favor with his future father-in-law while keeping the benefits within the family. Who knows, after going around in circles, the shipyard might end up bearing the Chi name again. Why go through all this trouble?"

"The Chi family did originally intend that, but it depends on whether the Yao family is willing to turn back. If the Chi family finds out that the oil leak on the cargo ship was the Yao family's doing... do you think they'll still be willing to make wedding clothes for someone else?"

"What?" This time, Li Rongxiu was genuinely shocked.

Shen Manyao smiled meaningfully. "Why do you think the Chi family's shipyard suffered a cargo ship oil leak at such a critical time? You don't really believe that nonsense in the newspapers about substandard quality, do you?"

Li Rongxiu froze, then blurted out, "You mean the Yao family did this?"

Shen Manyao lifted a stray lock of hair from her neck and smiled calmly. "I never said that. You guessed it yourself. But... when the Chi family and the Yao family established the shipyard together, the Chi family invested capital and held seventy percent of the shares, while the Yao family invested technology and held thirty percent. So nearly all the technical staff at the Chi family's shipyard were hired and trained through the Yao family's channels. I don't believe that, given how scheming the Yao family is, they would leave themselves without a backup plan when dealing with the Chi family."

"...And what does that have to do with our Li family? Whether Chi Junrui and the Chi family brought this upon themselves or not, their current plight is ultimately tied to our Li family. So no matter who the Chi family sells the shipyard to, it won't be the Li family. Besides, the Li family has no connections in the shipping industry. There's no need to offend the Yao family over a shipyard full of holes."

Shen Manyao looked at Li Rongxiu with some surprise. She realized that Li Rongxiu had become quite opinionated today, and he had learned to conceal himself with words. He was no longer the little boy she could fool at will. At that thought, Shen Manyao's heart sank. She swallowed the speech she had prepared long ago and changed her approach as well.

"Don't be so absolute. What cat doesn't steal a taste of fish? Business is business. I don't believe the Li family can watch such a juicy piece of meat enter the market without feeling tempted." Shen Manyao curled her lips leisurely, like an older sister coaxing a younger brother. "Stop throwing a childish tantrum. You know what your elders are thinking, and so do I. Everyone in Wancheng knows. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here with me."

Li Rongxiu truly hated Shen Manyao's all-knowing manner. But as she said, no cat could resist stealing a taste of fish. The Li family was indeed interested in the assets the Chi family intended to sell, though it was not the shipyard, which accounted for the biggest share, but several other infrastructure projects owned by the Chi family. As for the rumors in Wancheng that the Li family was interested in the shipyard, they had merely been deliberately spread by Father Li and Li Rongxiu's eldest brother. As for the truth... it could only be said that it was both real and false. In Father Li's words—

"If the timing is right, it wouldn't be impossible."

But Li Rongxiu had no need to tell Shen Manyao that. He calmly glanced at a coffee table diagonally across from them, where someone sat with his back to Shen Manyao in the lobby. Then he said casually, "I really don't understand. Didn't you and Chi Junrui fall in love freely? Didn't you love each other so much that you couldn't control yourselves? Yet only a few days later, Chi Junrui is chasing Yao Pingting everywhere without caring that you're pregnant, while you're meeting me behind his back and telling me the Chi family's inside information... I really don't understand you two."

Shen Manyao's expression changed at his words, but she immediately said in a tone full of grievance, "What else can I do? Thanks to you, I've become the greatest disgrace and joke in Wancheng's upper-class society. My father threw me out of the family, and the man I love has cast me aside. If I don't do something, I'm going to lose my mind."

"So you met me to take revenge on Chi Junrui? Or on the Shen family?" Li Rongxiu raised a brow. With his intelligence and experience, he still could not understand Chi Junrui and Shen Manyao's worldview. In their previous life, they had broken up and gotten back together, endlessly entangled in chaos. This life was no different. Were they destined to never live peacefully?

"No. I met you to make Junrui return to my side." Shen Manyao's answer surprised Li Rongxiu. She stroked her protruding belly and said firmly, "I want him to understand that if he continues neglecting me, he may lose me, lose our child, and even lose everything. He absolutely cannot bear that outcome."

Li Rongxiu raised a brow. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Shen Manyao gave Li Rongxiu a brilliant smile but said nothing.

"Don't tell me... you think we can still be together?" Li Rongxiu was utterly dumbfounded.

"How could that be?" Shen Manyao shook her head and said bluntly, "Though I do feel disappointed and lost, based on what I know of you, you're definitely not the kind of person who goes back to an old flame. The reason you agreed to meet me today has nothing to do with the Li family's business, does it?"

As she spoke, Shen Manyao suddenly turned and greeted someone behind her. Zhao Qijun, who was hiding in a corner of the lobby and busily taking photos and recording video, nearly dropped his camera. Shen Manyao turned back and smiled at the embarrassed Li Rongxiu, whose scheme had been exposed. "Were you planning to have Zhao Qijun take pictures of us together and post them online? You wanted everyone to misunderstand that I came looking for you because I shamelessly wanted to reconcile with you. That way, Chi Junrui, as the man I cheated with and the father of my child, would become the biggest joke in Wancheng's upper-class circles because he couldn't even keep his wife and son under control. And I, Shen Manyao, would be the fool who gave up being the Li family's young mistress to follow an irresponsible, fickle man, only to be abandoned while pregnant and come crawling back to you. You, Li Rongxiu—and even the Li family—could regain some face while slapping both the Shen family and the Chi family in the face."

Having had every one of his thoughts guessed correctly, Li Rongxiu could only cough awkwardly. He picked up the half-cooled hot cocoa from the table and took a large gulp. Before he had decided what to say, Shen Manyao suddenly stood up and touched his cheek. Her smooth fingers brushed him as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water before she calmly sat back down and said with a smile, "How wonderful. Our ideas coincide perfectly."

"Huh?" Li Rongxiu stared blankly at Shen Manyao. His utterly foolish expression put Shen Manyao in a better mood, and she smiled slightly. "No matter what you want to do, just do it. In any case, the outcome will definitely benefit us both."

"Why would you do this?" Li Rongxiu genuinely felt that his brain was not enough, which was why he had always hated being around smart people. "You know perfectly well that doing this will make outsiders laugh at the Shen family and the Chi family, right?"

"So what?" Shen Manyao shrugged indifferently and took a bite of Napoleon pastry. The rich flavor spread across her tongue, making her narrow her eyes in pleasure. Shen Manyao said casually, "When Junrui went after Yao Pingting for the sake of his family, he didn't consider my feelings. When my father threw me out, he cared even less whether I lived or died. In that case, why should I care whether their reputations and interests suffer?"

"There's an old saying in the Empire: only when one has enough food and clothing does one understand honor and shame; only when the granaries are full does one understand propriety. I resorted to this only because they forced me into it."

Li Rongxiu looked at the Shen Manyao before him, who seemed like an entirely different person from earlier, and nearly collapsed. This was not the Shen Manyao he knew at all, okay?

In a corner of the lobby, Zhao Qijun had been loyally filming in secret. When he saw Li Rongxiu's nearly collapsing expression through the camera, he could no longer be bothered to conceal his whereabouts—as if he had managed to hide them at all—and immediately rose and strode to Li Rongxiu's table. Lowering his voice, he glared at Shen Manyao and said in a deep tone, "What does Miss Shen want? I won't let you bully Young Master Xiu in front of me!"

Shen Manyao's bright eyes swept Zhao Qijun up and down for a long moment before she turned to Li Rongxiu with a smile. "You have a good follower."

Zhao Qijun ignored Shen Manyao and said directly, "Does Miss Shen have anything else to say? If not, please excuse us."

Shen Manyao paused. She suddenly realized that Li Rongxiu's follower displayed a distinctly unusual hostility toward her. Thinking back on the impression Zhao Qijun had always given her, he had seemed like a fawning lapdog, constantly circling around Li Rongxiu. Before this, Shen Manyao had assumed Zhao Qijun coveted the Li family's wealth and power, so he wanted to curry favor with Li Rongxiu and gain some benefits. But judging from Zhao Qijun's behavior today...

Shen Manyao pressed her lips together unhappily. The feeling stirred a strange unease deep within her. The lofty disdain and contempt she had felt toward Zhao Qijun, treating him as someone she could summon and dismiss at will, faded slightly. She gave Zhao Qijun a smile that was not quite a smile. Her expression, like that of a madwoman who had seen through some secret, made Zhao Qijun feel as though a predator had fixed its eyes on him, sending a chill down his spine.

Li Rongxiu, however, did not notice the clash between Shen Manyao and Zhao Qijun. Seeing the situation grow increasingly bizarre, he no longer had any interest in exchanging pleasantries with Shen Manyao. He stood and said, "It's getting late. I need to go home for dinner. Let's go."

At once, Zhao Qijun rose and followed behind Li Rongxiu. Shen Manyao was left sitting alone. Guests on both sides of the lobby and the staff in the corners secretly peeked at her, but she did not care. She tapped the table thoughtfully with her fingertips and murmured, "Zhao Qijun..."

As she repeated the name, Shen Manyao sighed regretfully. The reason she had sought out Li Rongxiu at this time was indeed because she had entertained some thoughts of rekindling their relationship—at the very least, she wanted outsiders to think she had such intentions. Only then could she turn passivity into initiative and resolve her current awkward situation.

Unfortunately, after talking with Li Rongxiu for so long, she had not seized even one chance to take the initiative or gain the upper hand. Li Rongxiu had controlled the rhythm of the entire negotiation, while she had been led along and forced to retreat step by step. It was clear that, in Li Rongxiu's heart, she no longer held the same treasured place she once had. Since that was the case, her original plan would not work. It was better to be straightforward. That would both demonstrate her sincerity and make Li Rongxiu lower his guard somewhat.