After explaining his purpose to me, Cao Xiaobei waved the bunch of keys in his hand, as if I were a hungry wolf and he was holding a piece of juicy meat. The reason he put on such a high and mighty attitude was probably because he was sure I wouldn't give up those 16 shops. He must have heard somewhere that I was tricked and humiliated by his father for those 16 shops...

What frustrated me the most was not Cao Jinbo's scheming, but the fact that my relationship with Ye Zhi was genuinely affected... I was anxious about this, and I hated that such complicated entanglements of interests were mixed into what should have been a pure emotional world.

I didn't rush to answer Cao Xiaobei. I lit a cigarette first, and then asked Cao Xiaobei, "Does your dad know that you're bringing me the keys to these 16 shops to negotiate terms?"

"The house is in my name, so I can use it however I want."

I smiled and replied, "That sounds pretty tough!"

"Do you want it or not?"

"don't want."

Cao Xiaobei looked at me in astonishment, clearly not expecting such a response from me.

I squinted and took a drag of my cigarette, without explaining to him why I had said no.

Cao Xiaobei stood there stunned for a while before speaking to me, "You're not trying to play hard to get with me, are you?... I've already inquired. If you want to develop Jiulongju Commercial Street, you absolutely need these 16 shops of ours... There are only about 200 shops in total on this street. Without these 16 connected shops, it's like a person is missing a leg. If a person is disabled, can he still have a good image?"

"So your whole family sees these 16 shops as my Achilles' heel, and keeps poking at me, right?"

Cao Xiaobei remained silent.

I continued, “You should understand the principle of ‘times change,’ right?… I’ve already gotten through the most difficult period… So, you’re bringing these keys to talk to me today not to do me a favor, nor am I accepting your charity… If I take over these shops, the final profit you gain will far exceed my personal gains… But your father and you insist on making a distinction of rank in this matter, which makes me very unhappy… Because you don’t even have the most basic sense of cooperation. Cooperation should be equal and mutually beneficial.”

"What exactly do you mean?... Do you expect me to apologize and beg you to accept these shops?"

"If that's how you're going to put it, then I'll be honest with you... I think you're unreliable, so I don't want to work with you."

Cao Xiaobei pointed at me and said in a threatening tone, "You'd better watch out, or I'm really not playing with you."

I looked at Cao Xiaobei indifferently… The reason I refused was because I was wary. I was already scared of being schemed against by Cao Jinbo. If I took over these shops and completed the leasing process, and the merchants invested in renovations, what if Cao Jinbo then pulled the same trick of locking the doors? Would the merchants refuse to let me cover the renovation costs? Besides, the fact that Cao Xiaobei came to me to discuss this matter was problematic in itself… Even if these shops were in his name, he had no say in Cao Jinbo's affairs… The reason was simple: he was the parasite Yang Sisi described, and what right did someone who couldn't even be financially independent have to talk about rights… On this point, I had never respected Cao Xiaobei.

Unless he can prove that he can be independent without Cao Jinbo, at least earn enough to support himself instead of spending his days riding motorcycles and playing video games.

Cao Xiaobei suddenly became dejected. He looked down at the large bunch of keys in his hand, then asked me in a low voice, "In Sisi's eyes, am I a particularly incompetent person?... So, no matter how sincere I am to her, she will never think highly of me!"

This time, I was stunned, and it took me a while to reply: "When she left that day, didn't she make it very clear to you... I think the answer isn't with me, but you already have the answer in your heart."

"I want to do something... but I don't know where to start."

"So you came to me with the keys to these 16 shops? ... But you're still just reaping the benefits without contributing anything, because your dad bought the shops... Our studio handled the later operations... Your only contribution was delivering the keys and then waiting to collect the money."

Cao Xiaobei looked up at me, his eyes filled with disappointment... This was unusual; at least it was the first time I'd seen him like this. He used to be arrogant, his gaze often carrying disdain and contempt... Of course, all of this confidence came from Cao Jinbo. No one really knew what kind of person he was, not even himself... Otherwise, he wouldn't be looking at me with such confusion.

He should thank Yang Sisi. Regardless of what will happen to him in the future, at least he now has a sense of crisis and wants to try to do something, which is a good start.

After a moment of silence, I spoke again to Cao Xiaobei: "Do you really want to do something?"

"Um."

“I have an idea… In the future, you won’t have to compromise yourself for me, and I won’t have to be dependent on you, but we can still achieve a win-win situation.”

Cao Xiaobei asked with great concern, "What are your thoughts?"

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