Tit for Tat

The Dagger is Revealed.

Bai Yanyun had finally launched her challenge against Li Ruobing.

Even while studying abroad, Bai Yanyun had never stopped paying attention to Li Ruobing. She knew Li Ruobing's interests and hobbies, and she knew exactly what major Li Ruobing had studied overseas. Not for a moment had she stopped wanting to defeat Li Ruobing.

Li Ruobing was indeed formidable. She had astonishing talent for business, beauty that was nearly flawless, and a strong, independent personality. She was almost the perfect woman, but she ultimately had one weakness.

She had never paid attention to artistic things.

So after dropping out of university, Bai Yanyun had resolutely chosen a music academy.

Unexpectedly, Bai Yanyun possessed exceptional talent for music.

Before long, she had become the campus's gifted young woman.

She wanted to utterly crush Li Ruobing in a certain field and let Li Ruobing taste the bitterness of crushing defeat as well!

Who was the uncultured rich boss?

Who was the miser who only knew how to make money and did not understand how to nourish the soul?

A smile appeared at the corner of Bai Yanyun's lips.

Her blade was already pointed directly at Li Ruobing.

Deng Hao also revealed an odd smile as he stared into Li Ruobing's eyes, wanting to see how she would respond.

Bai Yanyun had a beautiful face.

But whenever she displayed a reserved and dignified smile, her eyes always carried a faint trace of superiority. It was subtle, concealing countless emotions that could neither be seen clearly nor understood.

Years ago, when Li Ruobing and Bai Yanyun had first met, Bai Yanyun had looked at her with those same eyes.

Back then, as Bai Yanyun watched Li Ruobing arrive with Li Guodong, her eyes shifted slightly and she smiled soundlessly, maintaining a deliberate distance like a little princess at the center of the world.

Because the Bai family had political backing, while the Li family was purely a business family.

Bai Yanyun had looked at Li Ruobing as though she were the daughter of a nouveau riche, covered in jewels and vulgar beyond measure.

But when Li Ruobing's displayed talent kept suppressing her, Bai Yanyun finally realized how terrifying this woman was.

And when she had suffered a complete defeat in that university confrontation, she understood that when it came to business strategy, she could never catch up to Li Ruobing in her lifetime.

So she had decisively chosen to give up and begun studying music and the arts.

"President Li, Yan Yun asked you a question. Isn't it rather rude not to answer?" Deng Hao said expressionlessly, his tone aggressive.

He knew very well about Li Ruobing's connections in Tongzhou City, but he was completely fearless.

Because behind him stood the Bai family and the Deng family!

Silence.

Su Rui smiled as he gently swirled his wine glass, but he said nothing.

Li Ruobing stood up and slowly drained the red wine from her glass, her brows and eyes cold.

"Heh..." To everyone's surprise, Li Ruobing suddenly laughed. Her smile was filled with mockery and disdain as she narrowed her eyes, leaned close to Bai Yanyun's ear, and asked, "Is this the counterattack you spent five years building up your strength for and worked so hard to bring back to Tongzhou City?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm truly disappointed..." Ignoring Bai Yanyun's expression, Li Ruobing spoke as if lecturing a junior. "I thought five years would make you grow up a little, but I never expected you to still be so childish and foolish!"

Blunt!

Decisive!

Bai Yanyun's face turned extremely unpleasant.

"What does President Li want? Are you trying to bully Yan Yun here?" Deng Hao's expression darkened as he stood stiffly in front of Li Ruobing.

"Deng Hao, step aside." Bai Yanyun took two steps forward and stared at Li Ruobing, a mocking smile at the corner of her lips. "Sister Ruobing, I merely asked a simple question. Why did you have to get so angry? Or are you admitting that you're an uncultured rich boss?"

Li Ruobing frowned.

She truly disliked Bai Yanyun's personality.

She was far too good at putting on an act! Even after her true thoughts had been exposed, she still would not admit them aloud!

Under normal circumstances, Li Ruobing would not bother arguing with Bai Yanyun over a few barbed words. But the issue with the new store's spokesperson had already put her in a foul mood today. Bai Yanyun was still provoking her with her words, while Deng Hao was standing off to the side acting like some domineering boss. Li Ruobing could no longer tolerate it.

"Music? Art?" Li Ruobing asked flatly. "Is this the angle you chose to strike back at me? Playing the piano, attending concerts—do you think I'd feel depressed because I'm not as good as you at such things?"

Li Ruobing truly found Bai Yanyun somewhat laughable.

And somewhat disappointing.

"Yes, I did forget that Sister Ruobing only desires money," Bai Yanyun sneered. "But what use is making more money? Do I lack money? Does my family lack money?"

"When it comes to business operations, I truly am inferior to you. But when it comes to music and the arts, you're not even worthy of carrying my shoes!"

Bai Yanyun finally lost control of her emotions.

Li Ruobing looked at Bai Yanyun and slowly said, "You have improved somewhat, at least. At the very least, you now dare to speak loudly in front of me."

Deng Hao raised his eyebrows and was just about to step forward when his wrist was gripped by a large hand like a steel clamp.

Su Rui swirled his wine glass in one hand and smiled faintly. "Mr. Deng, let the women handle matters between themselves, all right?"

Deng Hao's expression changed slightly. He tried to pull free from Su Rui's hand, but it would not budge in the slightest.

Li Ruobing glanced at Bai Yanyun and continued, "What you just said is precisely why you are inferior to me, inferior to Lin Xiao, and inferior to Xiao Yu."

She named several people in succession, all Rising Business Stars who had stood out in Tongzhou City in recent years.

In this great era, many young people had stepped onto the stage of the Business World and displayed their talents to the fullest.

Lin Xiao, Xiao Yu, Zan Lin, Wang Xiao...

They had all come from the same university.

And Li Ruobing had been the most dazzling person at that university.

"They are like you. Whether in talent or methods, they are inferior to me and have never managed to catch up. But they have not given up. They have always been chasing, learning, and improving through repeated defeats."

Li Ruobing's gaze fell upon the far end of the hall.

"The Shopping Mall is like a battlefield. Until the final moment, victory and defeat cannot be decided. And even after a defeat, there is still a chance to rise again and chase after me once more, until they catch up to me." Li Ruobing withdrew her gaze and looked at Bai Yanyun. "But after losing that one university simulation to me, you decided that you could never be my opponent. You turned instead to studying music and contemplating art... That was you admitting defeat to me."

"From that moment on, you could never defeat me again. You will always be inferior to me!"

Li Ruobing's voice was icy. "Art? Appreciation? Even if you had spent five years abroad, then hired an assassin to secretly kill me after your return home, I would have thought more highly of you for your decisiveness and ruthlessness! But you chose such a harmless method of retaliation... Do you think I have time to play childish rivalry games with you?"

"The field I stand in is a volatile market, a business war where a single misstep can bring utter destruction! Yet your mindset remains trapped on campus, in petty squabbles between classmates! Bai Yanyun... We are not people of the same world. Your little tricks cannot hurt me."

Bai Yanyun froze, her expression slightly dazed.

Li Ruobing's tone was calm, without any deliberate mockery. She was merely making a cool, objective judgment.

Yet everyone could hear the feeling conveyed by those words—a feeling of looking down from above.

Bai Yanyun's chest rose and fell violently. She glared with her beautiful eyes, wanting to say something, yet in the end, she could not utter a single word.

Deng Hao's expression was as dark as water.

He had not expected Li Ruobing's words to be so sharp, much less that she would show so little restraint and brutally tear apart Bai Yanyun's facade.

He sneered and took half a step forward, staring at Li Ruobing's face. "That was too much, wasn't it?"

"Too much?" Su Rui stood up, his imposing body casting a shadow over Deng Hao's face. "I don't think it was too much at all. If you dare to make a move, you had better be prepared to take a beating!"