But how could Fu Ruiming take any of that in at this point? He only felt that Xu Yan was threatening him with his career because she did not want a divorce.
He was a business genius. Even as the second son, unable to inherit the family business, hadn't he still built the country's largest video platform on his own?
By now, Fu Ruiming had long since forgotten how much startup capital the Fu family had given him, or how many connections they had introduced him to when he first started his business.
He sneered. "Xu Yan, I'm not some second-generation rich kid like you, relying on your husband and your family. I built Fruit Video single-handedly. Even my parents and eldest brother can't interfere with my career, and you think you can threaten me?"
Although she knew how arrogant Fu Ruiming was, Xu Yan had still hoped he would retain a shred of reason. After all, there was still quite some time before her originally planned takeover, and she was not ready yet.
But seeing that Fu Ruiming had even less fucking self-awareness than she had expected lifted her spirits again. With an idiot like him, why should she worry about not being able to seize Fruit Video? Besides, she had to play her part well
So she even smiled. "Since you've already made up your mind, how could I object? You're the one who wants this divorce, so go bring it up with your parents yourself. Once they agree, I'll naturally agree too."
Fu Ruiming seemed not to have expected Xu Yan to agree so easily. He choked, and only after a long moment did he stiffen his neck and sneer. "At least you know what's good for you. Of course I'll talk to my parents. Just wait to sign the divorce agreement."
Seeing Xu Yan back down, Fu Ruiming became even more confident and bold in standing up for his little lover. "Now that we've finished discussing the divorce, it's time to discuss what happened between you and Xiao Rui. Hurry up and apologize to her. As long as your apology is sincere, I can let this go, considering how readily you agreed to the divorce."
This time, Xu Yan was truly speechless. She had not wanted to bother arguing with Fu Ruiming, and he had taken that as a show of weakness?
Living in a family that favored sons over daughters, Xu Yan had always known when to bend and when to stand tall to gain more power. But that did not mean she would bow her head when there was no need.
She looked at Ling Xiao Rui, yet felt little dislike for this woman who was about to take her husband away. What she felt more was sympathy.
She would soon be free of Fu Ruiming, whereas Ling Xiao Rui might very well have to endure this man who had □□ and imprisoned her for the rest of her life.
She gave a cold laugh, her gaze fixed directly on Fu Ruiming and Ling Xiao Rui.
"Apologize? May I ask exactly what I've done to this Miss Lin? Did I imprison her and forbid her from seeing you? Did I drug her to induce an abortion like some imperial consort fighting for favor in an ancient harem? Or did I threaten her with her parents? All I did was invite her out for coffee and ask whether she was willing to take twenty million and go abroad for a few years."
Ling Xiao Rui had been nestled in Fu Ruiming's arms, but after hearing Xu Yan speak, she could not help secretly lifting her head to meet her eyes. Xu Yan's sharp gaze startled her.
That's right. When you added it all up, Miss Xu hadn't really done anything too excessive to me. She had even been fairly polite when speaking to me... Instead, all the coercion, threats, and abortion had been the doing of the man beside me.
Ling Xiao Rui shuddered. How could I think that? Ruiming only did those things because he loved me and lost his reason out of jealousy!
Fu Ruiming also recognized that Xu Yan was talking about him. His blood surged, and he pointed a finger at her, but, perhaps out of a guilty conscience, he trembled for a long while without knowing how to refute her. All he could do was sweep his sleeve and storm off with Ling Xiao Rui, leaving a threat behind.
"Xu Yan! Just you wait!"
For a moment, the conference room was so silent that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard. Everyone kept their faces expressionless, not daring to betray the slightest reaction.
Only when Xu Yan chuckled did the silence break. Her tone was relaxed, as though nothing that had just happened had happened at all. "Now that the irrelevant people have left, everyone should have had enough of a break. Let's start again."
Since both the person involved and their superior had said so, the others naturally did not dwell on the matter. Even if they were muttering inwardly, outwardly they all looked as though they were working diligently and discussing matters in earnest.
Ye Jin only felt that what followed-only felt that the negotiations that followed went incredibly smoothly. Xu Yan, who had previously refused to budge even 0.1% on the profit share, was now unusually accommodating.
She no longer spoke ambiguously or laughed things off in hopes of seizing the initiative in the negotiations. Instead, she said directly, "Actually, I don't want to use He Cheng either. An actor with such poor character could have an even bigger scandal blow up at any moment. Even if we can't round up a big-name male star to take over this project, I'd rather use a less popular one. At least the risk would be manageable."
Xu Yan was not lying about that. In fact, the one who had been persuaded was Fu Ruiming. His values were already crooked, and he was a scumbag himself, so naturally he did not think He Cheng's actions were particularly vile.
It was Fu Ruiming's money that would be lost anyway, and Xu Yan could not be bothered to argue with him.
But things were different now. Fruit Video might very well become her asset in the future, so naturally she could not sit by and do nothing.
As for Fu Ruiming, he was currently begging her to divorce him. Presumably, he would not offend her over matters like these.
With Xu Yan deliberately going easy on them, their discussion went smoothly. In just an hour, they had essentially settled the broad framework of their collaboration, leaving only a few details for their subordinates to continue discussing.
None of them had time to spare, so once the discussion was over, Ye Jin and her companion said their goodbyes and left. Unexpectedly, however, Xu Yan warmly escorted them both out of the office building.
Seeing how warm Xu Yan was, Ye Jin could not help saying, "Miss Xu, you're busy with work. There's no need to see us off any farther."
Xu Yan smiled instead. "It's all right. The only thing I scheduled for this afternoon was negotiating with you. I didn't expect things to go so smoothly. Now it's the perfect chance to slack off."
Looking at the sincere expression on Xu Yan's face, Ye Jin felt increasingly sympathetic. She already had a natural fondness for women who
in the workplace
worked hard to make their way, let alone a pretty young lady who was so friendly to her.