Wen Zhi cut Mo Tingjue off coldly.
"What Xu Wan did, how disgusting it was—what does that have to do with me? I'm not close to her, and I don't care. I only want to know one thing: did you bring her back or not?"
Mo Tingjue fell silent for two seconds. Then he admitted, "Yes. It was me. I just wanted you to see it clearly—everything Mo Tingyan has doesn't even amount to a tenth of what I have…"
Images flashed through Wen Zhi's mind: Mo Tingyan's disheveled, lonely figure from last night, the pain of being haunted by nightmares night after night. She could no longer hold back.
She raised her hand and slapped Mo Tingjue hard across the face.
Mo Tingjue froze, covering his cheek as he stared at her in disbelief.
"Xiao Zhi… you actually hit me for him? You… have you really fallen in love with him?"
"Shut up!" Wen Zhi snapped. "I won't just hit you—I'll curse you too. You despicable, shameless bastard. How do you even have the nerve to stand in front of me and say you love me? What, does feeding on human blood taste that good? Get lost. And don't ever show up in front of me again!"
With that, Wen Zhi turned and walked away.
Mo Tingjue was about to chase after her when his phone rang at the worst possible moment. He glanced at the screen—it was his mother. Left with no choice, he answered.
Watching Wen Zhi's figure disappear into the distance, he asked angrily, "Mom, didn't you say that as long as we brought Xu Wan back, Wen Zhi would naturally return to my side after seeing her? Then why did she—"
"Son, forget about love for now," Gu Nian interrupted, her voice tense and serious in a way it rarely was. "Something big has happened to our family. Among the people you know, does anyone have connections with the senior management of Mingguang Group?"
Mo Tingjue's heart sank. "Aren't we already cooperating with Mingguang Group?"
"We were," Gu Nian said bitterly. "But this morning, as soon as I got to the office, they sent a notice—suddenly terminating the cooperation."
Mo Tingjue bristled. "That's a breach of contract. We can sue them!"
"Sue?" Gu Nian said gravely. "Even if we win and they pay tens of millions in penalties, so what? Mingguang Group could crush our company in minutes if they wanted. We'd gain nothing."
"Then… forget the cooperation. Why beg them?"
"How can we?" Gu Nian said with a heavy expression. "We've already fallen out with most of our previous partners. If this cooperation stops, the factories will shut down. Think carefully—do you have any friends who can talk to Mingguang Group's top management?"
Mo Tingjue turned back and glanced at where Wen Zhi had been standing. She was already long gone. He let out a deep sigh and said, "Lin Rui's father… might know someone."
Meanwhile, Wen Zhi went upstairs. Not long after, the pre-flight briefing began.
She sat some distance away from Mo Tingyan, watching him speak calmly and confidently. Mo Tingjue's words echoed in her mind.
Did Mo Tingyan know that everything about his mother had been orchestrated by Mo Tingjue?
If he did, how much more painful would it be for him?
After all, it was his own half-brother—using the person he feared and avoided the most to stab him viciously in the back.
She was lost in thought when Mo Tingyan suddenly met her gaze.
Wen Zhi startled, quickly looking away and lowering her head to take notes.
The meeting ended.
As usual, before boarding, Wen Zhi went to the restroom. When she came out, she ran straight into Mo Tingyan.
He glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he grabbed her and pulled her into a corner of the stairwell, pressing her gently against the wall.
Wen Zhi: "..."
"Don't mess around," she whispered. "It's almost time to board."
She was worried she wouldn't have time to fix her clothes.
Mo Tingyan's fingers slid restlessly along her lower back, his eyes glowing with unmistakable intimacy.
"Why were you looking at me like that just now?"
Wen Zhi hesitated. Not wanting to upset him, she chose not to tell the truth. Instead, she looped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips.
"I was just spacing out. My eyes happened to land on you, that's all. Stop being improper—let me go. We need to leave."
Mo Tingyan was thoroughly pleased by her initiative.
He'd noticed that although Wen Zhi had been irritating him lately, she was also far more proactive with him than before.
Turning the tables, he pressed her back against the wall and kissed her deeply.
Only after nearly half a minute did he finally let her go. He cupped her face gently and said, "I won't be able to go home with you tonight. Nan Zhong asked me out for drinks. You go back first, wash up, and wait for me, hmm?"
Wen Zhi: "..."
Did this man really have nothing else in his head?
She shot him a glare, shoved him away, and walked out of the corridor first.
She realized she'd been paying far too much attention to Mo Tingyan lately. That wasn't like her at all. She needed to rein herself in.
That night, after finishing his flight, Mo Tingyan went to a private club with Jiang Nanzhong.
Once inside a private room, Jiang Nanzhong immediately turned on the massive wall screen. Instead of karaoke, surveillance footage from the neighboring room appeared.
In that room, Huo Ze sat like a king in the center of the sofa. Across the table, Gu Nian wore an ingratiating smile, holding up a glass of wine as she said fawningly,
"President Huo, I found you through President Lin. I heard you're close friends with Mingguang Group's CEO, so I was hoping you could help mediate…"
Huo Ze didn't let her finish. He casually opened a bottle of strong liquor and pushed it toward her, looking at her leisurely.
"First meeting and you want me to drink? That doesn't seem appropriate. Since you like forcing drinks so much, how about this—finish the entire bottle. If you do, I'll consider your request."
Gu Nian's expression stiffened. But when she thought of trading a bottle of alcohol for a project worth hundreds of millions, she steeled herself, picked up the bottle, and gulped it down.
When the bottle was empty, she set it down shakily and said with a strained smile,
"President Huo, I've finished the drink. Then about what you said just now…"
"I really didn't expect President Gu to be this spineless," Huo Ze said lightly. "All this, just for a bit of money—throwing away all dignity."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the screen on the wall, where dancers in the main hall swayed provocatively.
Huo Ze shot Gu Nian a look full of contempt. Thinking of his elder brother's instructions—to trample this woman into the dirt—his lips curled into a malicious smile.
Hadn't this woman mocked his brother's mother for being lowly, even using her to provoke him?
Then let her experience being the "lowly trash" she loved to sneer at.
He looked back at Gu Nian and said leisurely,
"Since President Gu is willing to go this far, how about this—go out to the main hall, replace one of the dancers, and earn the applause of the guests. If you manage that, I'll help you speak to my friend. Deal?"