Chapter 85: Does Fu Qingli have a knife scar...?

After the bidding for the Haicheng project was completed, there were still some follow-up tasks and social obligations to attend to, which required Fu Qingli and her team to be present in person.

The project that Lin Xi and his team were in charge of was also entering its final stages.

Both of them got busy.

No matter how busy she was, Fu Qingli would always personally drive Lin Xi to work.

Even if he has social engagements in the evening, he will go home as early as possible to spend time alone with Lin Xi.

During this time, Su Qichao visited Fu Qingli once.

This time, he didn't go directly to their door. Instead, he made an appointment through his assistant, saying he wanted to discuss a collaboration.

Ji Jiali and Zou Song had assumed that Fu Qingli would refuse outright.

Unexpectedly, he agreed without saying a word, and he didn't manage to hook Su Qichao. They arranged to meet at 2 pm that day, and he even had a meeting room arranged.

However, when they saw Su Qichao appear alone, they knew that his talk of cooperation was not genuine and was just an excuse to see Fu Qingli.

Fu Qingli was not surprised at all. She waved her hand expressionlessly to let the executives leave, indicating to her assistant that there was no need to prepare tea.

A hint of displeasure flashed in Su Qichao's shrewd eyes behind his glasses, but he dared not show any displeasure on his face, and greeted her affectionately, "Qingli."

Fu Qingli nodded slightly and beckoned Zou Song and Ji Jiali, who were about to leave, "Jiali, Zou, why don't you stay and listen to President Su's proposal?"

What are you listening to?

It was obvious at a glance that Su Qichao's purpose in coming was impure, and to still have someone stay was simply a silent humiliation.

Su Qichao's face paled slightly, but he dared not speak out against his anger.

Ji Jiali was quite polite, and upon hearing this, he leisurely sat back down.

Zou Song, however, paid no attention to Su Qichao's feelings. He nestled into his chair, as relaxed as if he were at home, and even crossed his legs, adopting an attitude of "I'd like to see what you have to say."

Remembering the purpose of his visit, Su Qichao suppressed his patience, ignored Ji Jiali and Zou Song, and focused his attention on Fu Qingli.

"Qingli, here's the thing: you've secured the island project, but you're young and lack experience in building island hotels and integrating tourism routes."

He paused tactically, wanting to give Fu Qingli some time to think.

To his surprise, he paused, and Zou Song immediately followed up with, "And then?"

This completely ruined the negotiation atmosphere he had hoped to create.

But Zou Song was also involved in this project, so Su Qichao could only suppress his anger, laugh awkwardly twice, and continue, "Look at how the Su family started in the hotel industry and has grown to its current scale. They have a wealth of experience in this area."

This time, he didn't pause and directly stated his purpose: "How about we cooperate? You can outsource this project to the Su family, and the Su family will be responsible for all subsequent construction?"

Fu Qingli chuckled lightly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes: "I know the Su family didn't win this project, and a large amount of financing was required to be withdrawn. Doing this can help you maintain a continuous cash flow, but what benefit does it bring us?"

Su Qichao did not expect Fu Qingli to speak his true thoughts so frankly, but this was the fastest way to solve the current predicament, and it was worth enduring the humiliation.

He had already prepared his explanation: "The Su family has a professional hotel management team. If we subcontract, you won't need to worry about these things."

“Our partners are also very professional, so we don’t need to put in any effort.” This time, it was Ji Jiali who spoke. His gentle and refined face was adorned with a smile, but the subtle sarcasm in his eyes was particularly glaring.

"That's not how it works. You see, most of the companies you're working with are local businesses in Haicheng. They've never handled such a large project before, so their capabilities aren't great, and the quality isn't necessarily guaranteed. Our families have close ties with our elders; we're practically family. Working with family is always more reassuring than working with outsiders. It's a win-win situation, so why not?"

"Uncle Su," Zou Song addressed him deliberately, with obvious sarcasm, "during the competition, Uncle Su, why didn't you remember that we were on your side? You showed no mercy at all, leaving us no way out!"

“That’s right! Uncle Su!” Ji Jiali echoed Zou Song, “Now you’re looking down on local Haicheng companies? When you were poaching their talent, didn’t you praise them as the backbone of Haicheng and down-to-earth pragmatists?”

Su Qichao had been a prominent figure in the business world for many years, but he had never experienced being rendered speechless by a junior like this before.

But now that I need someone's help, I can't let any of my emotions show.

He clenched his fists, trying to calm himself down, and placed his hopes on Fu Qingli, who hadn't spoken until now.

He knew that if Fu Qingli agreed, Ji Jiali and Zou Song would also agree.

But Fu Qingli turned out to be the toughest nut to crack. Even with huge profits in front of him, he still couldn't agree to marry Su Yi'an.

Moreover, nowadays, talking about profits alone certainly won't change his mind; the only thing left to play is the emotional card.

"Qingli, your uncle knows you have negative feelings towards me and the Su family because of your previous marriage to Yi'an. But I just heard that you have someone you like, and I tried to persuade Yi'an to give up and let you and Miss Lin be together. But she was determined to go her own way and only liked you. As parents, we had no choice but to go along with her wishes and try to facilitate the marriage. Now that you and Miss Lin are married and Yi'an has given up, let bygones be bygones. I hope you can forgive and forget and not let that matter affect our cooperation..."

"Su Qichao!" Fu Qingli impatiently interrupted his rambling, "Cooperation is impossible, and so is forgetting past grievances! Please don't bother me again!"

Upon hearing this, Su Qichao could no longer contain his anger: "Then why did you agree to meet? Just to humiliate me?"

Fu Qingli tapped her fingers rhythmically on the table, her dark eyes sharply fixed on Su Qichao, and said, word by word, "So that you'll give up!"

"Don't have any expectations of me anymore. I will not help the Su family. If I have the chance, I will only kick them when they are down."

With that, he stood up and walked out without hesitation. "If you want to know why, go back and ask Su Yi'an what she did!"

Seeing that there was no room for maneuver, Su Qichao slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Fu Qingli, the Su family isn't so easily defeated. Don't think you've won just because you failed once. You'll definitely regret your choice today!"

"Uncle Su, you should think about how to get through this crisis," Ji Jiali said with a gentle smile.

Zou Song immediately stood up and left with Ji Jiali and Fu Qingli, leaving Su Qichao alone, furious: "You juniors, is this how you treat the elders of aristocratic families?! Don't you know manners? Do you have any upbringing?!"

Even from a distance, Su Qichao's angry curses could be heard. Zou Song couldn't help but spit out, "No matter how well-mannered someone is, they won't be polite to their own people!"

"What do you mean by a win-win situation? If we really abandon our original partner and cooperate with him, then we'll be the ones breaking our promises. Who would dare to cooperate with us in the future? The Haicheng City government won't trust us anymore either, and the project will have to be transferred halfway through!"

Ji Jiali nodded: "The fact that he lowered his pride to beg for peace with Brother Fu shows that the Su family is really in trouble right now."

Fu Qingli remained noncommittal, but then curled her lips and instructed Ji Jiali: "Jiali, once they've resolved their funding issues, release that news."

"I understand, I'm really looking forward to this day."

-

Linxi over there.

The second group finished their work in Haicheng earlier than Fu Qingli's group.

The project went smoothly, and Zou Songyi was so happy that he immediately granted her a week's vacation.

That day, Zhou Leyan suddenly called her: "Xiaoxi, are you and Fu Qingli still in Haicheng?"

His voice was low and suppressed, as if he had a lot on his mind.

This is not Zhou Leyan's usual style.

Lin Xi was startled, fearing something had happened, and hurriedly asked, "Yes, what's wrong? What happened?"

Zhou Leyan hesitated for a moment, then chuckled and said, "It's nothing, I was just asking because I'm concerned about you guys."

The laughter sounded extremely forced.

No matter how much Lin Xi pressed for answers, Zhou Leyan kept saying it was nothing, she was just asking out of concern.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Xi became increasingly uneasy.

So, he made a phone call to Yao Wenxiu.

She and Yao Wenxiu texted each other almost every day, so the sudden phone call startled Yao Wenxiu: "Xiaoxi, what's wrong? Why are you calling all of a sudden?"

"Aunt Yao, I'm fine. I just wanted to call home to check if everything is alright with you."

Yao Wenxiu's voice was filled with joy: "I'm doing very well, and my health is good, so don't worry."

"How about Leyan? Is work going well?"

"That brat is pretty good too. He said he solved a big case yesterday, and he seemed to be in a good mood."

But on the phone, he didn't sound like he was in a good mood.

Lin Xi couldn't shake the feeling of unease no matter how she thought about it.

Since she had a holiday, she suggested to Fu Qingli that she go back to Nanqing first.

Fu Qingli hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement: "I'll have Aunt Tao go back with you. If you can adapt, you can stay in Nanqing for a couple more days. I'll come to see you the day after tomorrow."

Linxi has recovered quite well recently, and she occasionally takes the initiative to talk to him about the past.

At this point, she took the initiative to suggest returning to Nanqing, which clearly indicated that her sense of rejection had lessened somewhat.

Fu Qingli naturally wouldn't stop her.

However, he really couldn't leave these two days, so he had to ask Aunt Tao to accompany Lin Xi back first.

"Okay, I think I can adapt. I'll wait for you in Nanqing."

I landed in Nanqing, and it was almost dusk.

Upon learning from Yao Wenxiu that Zhou Leyan was still at work, Lin Xi couldn't wait any longer and had her driver take her directly to the Nanqing Public Security Bureau.

He made a phone call to Zhou Leyan from outside: "I'm at your workplace, are you free to come out now?"

Zhou Leyan's surprised tone turned urgent: "No, why are you back? Are you alone, or with Fu Qingli?"

"I'm alone. I felt something was off about your phone call yesterday, and I was really worried, so I came back to check on things and see what happened."

Zhou Leyan sighed, and then the sound of him jogging came from the background: "There are indeed some things that I think you have the right to know. Wait for me, I'll be there soon."

Zhou Leyan took her to a coffee shop near her workplace.

Inside the café, the warm apricot-colored lights, along with the aroma of coffee in the air, create a tranquil and leisurely atmosphere.

Zhou Leyan's expression was somber, out of place with the surroundings and completely different from his usual demeanor.

After a long silence, Zhou Leyan finally organized her thoughts and took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind: "Have you seen if Fu Qingli has any knife wounds?"