Ji Yu's eyes flickered briefly. Li Mingxuan had abandoned his wife in a remote village for eight years, yet here he enjoyed the finest comforts without hesitation.
Xu Ming bowed slightly. "The Master is in the study on the second floor. Please allow me to take you up."
Ji Yu followed him up the spiral staircase, her footsteps steady. At the top, they turned right to the first door. Xu Ming knocked three times. A deep male voice came from within.
"Come in."
Xu Ming turned the knob but paused, looking back at Ji Yu. She lifted her chin slightly, her voice calm and firm.
"You don't need to come in. Li Mingxuan and I need to have a good chat."
Li Mingxuan's voice floated out, cool yet commanding.
"Mingming, you've been busy for a month. I'll give you half a day off. Go back and rest."
Xu Ming bowed, smiling faintly. "Thank you, Marshal."
With that, he retreated down the stairs, leaving Ji Yu alone.
She pushed the door open.
Inside, Li Mingxuan sat behind a large desk. A portrait of himself in a tuxedo hung on the wall behind him, the pose heroic and grandiose. Ji Yu's lips curved faintly. Narcissist.
Li Mingxuan lifted his head. For a brief second, disgust flashed in his eyes. He quickly masked it, but Ji Yu saw it clearly. People were visual creatures, and to him, Ji Yu's strong, sturdy figure could never be considered beautiful.
"It seems you're doing well on that country planet, cousin," he said carelessly, leaning back in his chair with one leg crossed over the other.
Ji Yu guessed he didn't even want to look directly at her, afraid her presence might ruin his mood.
She smiled faintly. "Of course, I can't compare to you. You and I are husband and wife, so calling me cousin is inappropriate. Master Li, you can call me Sister Yu."
His brow furrowed. He sat up straight, eyes sharpening. "The guards said you came to ask for a divorce."
"That's right." Ji Yu nodded without hesitation. Then, as his expression began to ease, she added lightly, "But I've changed my mind. I regret it now."
His composure cracked. He stood and strode toward her, his voice controlled but urgent. "Ji Yu, I can make it up to you. There's no love between us, and I never touched you. After the divorce, you'll have money. You can find a man who loves you."
Ji Yu only gazed at him steadily. She saw the effort it took him to remain calm. This was the man who had commanded the Li family for eight years, who had crushed rivals in countless business wars, yet at this moment, he was speaking in a voice almost pleading.
But she was unmoved. She had fought on battlefields against a hundred thousand Zerg soldiers. How could a man like him shake her?
Her voice was clear and cold, each word sharp as a blade. "I endured eight years as an abandoned woman in a rural village. Eight years of rumors, mockery, and mistreatment. Do you think all of that can be erased with a pile of money?"
She thought of the original Ji Yu—those eight years wasted, the best years of a woman's life spent waiting for a husband who never came. In this society, a woman's worth was tied to a man. To be abandoned was to be despised, to be treated as nothing. The pain and humiliation the original Ji Yu bore could never be measured in coins.
Li Mingxuan's face darkened. For once, he could not speak. It was he who owed her.
At last, he slammed his hand on the desk. The sound cracked through the room. His palm turned red, but Ji Yu only watched indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with her.
The silence grew heavy, stretching until it was almost unbearable. Then Ji Yu smiled faintly, her tone soft but unyielding.
"Well. I'm not against divorce. But the compensation—" her eyes locked onto his, unwavering, "—must satisfy me."
..
..
The air in the study was heavy. The thick curtains were half drawn, dimming the daylight until the only real glow came from the lamp on Li Mingxuan's desk. It painted the room in shadows, giving his face a sharp, almost menacing outline.
But Ji Yu sat there, perfectly calm, her shawl loosely draped over her shoulders. Her expression never wavered, her breathing even, as if she were not sitting across from one of the most powerful men in the city but merely a merchant bargaining for cloth in the market.
Li Mingxuan clenched his fist once more, his palm still smarting from the desk he had struck earlier. His eyes bore into her, but she returned his gaze without flinching.
"You say you want compensation," he said slowly, his voice cold. "Then name your price."
Ji Yu tilted her head slightly, her lips curving into the faintest of smiles. She didn't rush. Instead, she let the silence stretch, watching as impatience flickered in his eyes. Only then did she speak, her tone casual, as though they were discussing the weather.
"Five million US dollars."
Li Mingxuan froze. For a long moment, the only sound in the room was the faint ticking of the grand clock.
When he finally reacted, his lips twisted into a sharp laugh, the sound laced with disbelief. "Ji Yu, do you even understand what you're saying? Five million dollars? Do you know how much that is in the 1970s? Entire companies don't make that in a decade."
Ji Yu's gaze never shifted. "I know exactly how much it is. That's why I want it."
He slammed his palm on the desk again and leaned forward, his voice harsh. "Are you trying to bleed me dry?"
"No," Ji Yu answered evenly, leaning back in her chair with the air of someone completely at ease. "I'm only taking what I'm owed. Eight years of my life, Li Mingxuan. Eight years where I bore the title of your wife but lived like an abandoned widow in the countryside. Tell me—how much is a woman's youth worth to you? How much is her reputation worth, her dignity, her lost chances at life?"
Li Mingxuan's jaw tightened. For the first time, a flicker of guilt crossed his features, though it was quickly buried under anger. "You think money can make up for everything?"
"No," Ji Yu said softly, almost kindly. "But it can compensate. And it can give me a future. Five million. In dollars. Write me an IOU, right now."
Li Mingxuan's face darkened further. He stared at her, searching for weakness, for hesitation, but there was none. Ji Yu's calm was unshakable, her eyes clear and steady, as if she could already see him caving in.
"You're being unreasonable," he hissed.
At that, Ji Yu leaned forward, her voice dropping to a quiet murmur that cut sharper than any shout.
.
.
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