Li Jingchen glanced at him sideways, his casual look filled with contempt.

"Given what your Ouyang family did to her, I don't need to smear her; she won't like you much anyway."

Ouyang Zhoujing smiled but remained silent.

Seeing his inscrutable expression, Li Jingchen gave a faint, mocking smile.

"Even if Maple Leaf Hotel is a new project under Ouyang's company, Song's qualifications are far from meeting the minimum standards for cooperating with Maple Leaf. Are you helping her?"

Although it was a question, the tone was very confident.

The answer isn't actually important, because Li Jingchen already knows.

"Aren't you happy that I helped her?" Ouyang Zhoujingwen asked with a smile. "Since you stepped in to help her terminate the contract of the failed project, you probably don't want to see her without any projects at all."

"This is not your concern."

“I wasn’t worried about it; I just happened to have a project that was suitable for the Song family.”

Li Jingchen sneered, "Suitable?"

Which of the two companies, the Song family, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, and the S-level project backed by the Ouyang Group and with hundreds of billions of yuan in investment, is the one that is truly "suitable" for the Song family?

Having known each other for many years, you could even say they grew up wearing the same pair of pants, Li Jingchen knows Ouyang Zhoujing well enough.

Moreover, he has never been lacking in his keen sense of rivals.

Even though Ouyang Zhoujing denied it repeatedly, Li Jingchen was certain that he had developed feelings and thoughts for Song Nuan that he shouldn't have.

"Zhou Jing, Song Nuan is my woman."

Ouyang Zhoujing chuckled. "I remember she and Qin Yuchuan are still married. You two have already made a lifelong commitment?"

His expression and smile were relaxed, as if it were just casual concern between friends.

Li Jingchen looked at him with his hands in his pockets.

He was more open and honest than Ouyang Zhoujing, with sharp eyes. Perhaps it was the confidence and composure that came with his status. In any case, when it came to topics related to Song Nuan, Li Jingchen always adopted the demeanor of a serious official.

Seeing him like this, Ouyang Zhoujing almost laughed.

He knew how important Song Nuan was to Li Jingchen, and he was even more aware that he couldn't hide it from him.

“I admit, Song Nuan is indeed different from other women.”

Li Jingchen's expression darkened slightly.

Ouyang Zhoujing took a step back, leaned against the wall, and glanced away. "She's beautiful and stubborn... A beautiful but stubborn woman can easily arouse a man's desire to conquer."

"Bang!"

The trash can next to him was kicked over.

"I didn't kick you because this is your company. As a friend, I'm giving you some face." Li Jingchen's voice was cold.

No man wants to hear another man say he has a desire to conquer his woman.

He was a man, and he knew very well what the desire to conquer meant in a man's eyes. It had nothing to do with liking someone; it was the arrogance of the superior in oppressing the inferior, even if it was only in matters of the heart.

Ouyang Zhoujing's gaze was somewhat cold, but it didn't stop him from having a smile on his lips.

He said half-jokingly, "Ah Jing, you always try to test my feelings for Song Nuan. Now that I've told you, you're unhappy. Why bother?"

As he said this, he turned to look at Li Jingchen.

Their gazes clashed in mid-air, and the air seemed to freeze instantly.

With a creak, the door to the reception room suddenly opened.

An Sze leaned out halfway, his eyes clear and foolish, and asked, "Song Nuan is gone? What were you two talking about for so long? Everyone's waiting for you."

"Okay, coming right away," Ouyang Zhoujing said with a smile.

Li Jingchen gave him a cold look, didn't answer, and strode past him toward the reception room.

Ouyang Zhoujing gave a slight twitch of his lips and followed in his footsteps.

As he walked, he said calmly, "I gave her the Maple Leaf Hotel project because it was originally acquired by Song Ningxue on behalf of the Qin family. I had promised Song Nuan that I would not allow the Ouyang Group to have any cooperation with Song Ningxue."

Li Jingchen frowned at him, "When?"

How come he didn't know about this?

“Cheng Yi would never bully her; that was one of her conditions.”

Li Jingchen remembered.

Although the project's leniency wasn't intended to curry favor with Song Nuan, Li Jingchen still held a grudge against his earlier words. "Keep your mind to yourself. As brothers, I don't want things to get too ugly."

"If I really liked her, do you think I would be so open about admitting it to you?"

Ouyang Zhoujing chuckled, and before he could answer, he patted him on the shoulder and walked into the reception room first.

...

Liangcheng Villa District, Beishan Villa.

Fang Yu wrote down the list and handed it to Song Nuan. "Here, these are the people currently in charge of the Maple Leaf project. Including me, there are eight of us in total. I asked around this afternoon, and no one is willing to go on a business trip."

She went back today and checked the location of the charity event that Qiu Rong mentioned.

It's really all mountainous terrain.

“The project team is already small. If we pick two more people to travel with the team, there will only be six people left in the team. I'm afraid we won't be able to handle it.”

Song Nuan pressed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Xu Yiran had just finished get off work and overheard Fang Yu's words. Curious, she came over and asked, "Traveling with a group? What group? You signed up for a tour? Where are you going? Why didn't you take me with you?"

"We're talking about work."

Suddenly, a wicked but useful thought flashed through Song Nuan's mind.

She stared at Xu Yiran with a wicked smile, "Yiran, have you used up your annual leave yet?"

"No, what's wrong?" She plopped down next to Song Nuan, her eyes wide with anticipation. "Are you really going out to play? Then I'll use my annual leave right away."

Fang Yu saw through Song Nuan's plan and looked at Xu Yiran, who was immersed in the joy of the trip, with a sympathetic expression.

"Yiran, I want to talk to you about something."

"you say."

Song Nuan gave Fang Yu a wink, and Fang Yu silently looked away, pretending not to see it.

She can easily tell lies at work, but she can't quite fool her close friends yet.

Song Nuanqing coughed, so she had to do it herself.

"My company's client has an event that requires Song's to send two people to participate, but Song's is currently short-staffed. Could I... borrow you for a few days?"

Xu Yiran exclaimed, "What activity?"

Fang Yu answered quickly, "Charity activities."

"That's great! Where are you going? How many days will you be gone? Are you coming along too?"

Upon hearing this, Song Nuan thought there was hope and was about to reply when Xu Yiran said, "If you go, I'll go; if you don't go, then I won't go either."

"..."

Fang Yu immediately stated, "I won't go. Someone needs to be in charge of following up on the project in Liangcheng, so I can't go. But Song Nuan can; she's available."

Song Nuan: "?"

She glared at Fang Yu, but upon closer reflection, she realized that this was indeed the only way.

The Maple Leaf Hotel was her first project after taking over the Song family business, and with the backing of a large corporation, her personal involvement was the best course of action.

She nodded. "I will go."

"Okay, then tell me the time, and I'll apply for annual leave now."

After the matter was finalized, Fang Yu gave Xu Yiran a sinecure in the Song family to avoid giving people something to talk about in the future, and then sent the list of accompanying personnel to Qiu Rong.

At this moment, Song Nuan's phone kept vibrating.

It was Li Jingchen's call.

She picked up her phone and walked outside. As soon as the call connected, she heard a man's voice, "I've arrived."

"How could it be so fast?"