Just having leverage over Xu Yiran was enough for Song Nuan to obey her every word.

"Can."

"Can I leave now?"

Zhong Qingya nodded. "Whatever, the door's unlocked. But remember, I need to see the announcement of your engagement to Ouyang Zhoujing before tonight, otherwise..."

Song Nuan cursed her inwardly, but remained outwardly calm and composed, saying, "Fine."

The deal has finally come to an end.

Song Nuan picked up her things and left.

The door was indeed unlocked and opened with a turn, but the bodyguard was still there, blocking her way. "Miss Song, you cannot leave for the time being. Please stay inside."

My worst fears came true.

The father and daughter had different motives, and it was Zhong Guan who brought her here. Song Nuan was worried that she couldn't give Zhong Guan what he wanted, and that he might not let her leave.

She turned to look at Zhong Qingya, "Miss Zhong, shouldn't the alliance be in effect by now?"

Zhong Qingya was very annoyed.

"I gave her permission to leave, why are you stopping her? Let her go right now!"

Upon hearing this, the two bodyguards exchanged glances.

Hesitation was evident in each other's eyes.

They were directly under Zhong Guan's command. While Zhong Guan did agree to let Zhong Qingya handle Song Nuan as she pleased, he did not explicitly state whether Zhong Qingya had the authority to release Song Nuan.

"Miss, what Mr. Zhong means is..."

“We don’t even know where he is now. I’m in charge now. You just need to release him. If he asks, I will explain to him.”

The bodyguard had no choice but to release the person.

Song Nuanduo didn't linger for even a second and left decisively.

She took a taxi directly back to the villa and sent messages to Fang Yu and Xu Yiran, telling them to come home. After sending the messages, she opened Ouyang Zhoujing's phone number, but just looked at it without having the courage to dial.

Before she knew it, the taxi had stopped in front of her villa.

Song Nuan got out of the car and went inside.

As soon as she pushed open the door, a dark figure rushed over and gave her a bear hug, almost knocking Song Nuan to the ground.

"Thank goodness, you're alright!"

The culprit, with tears streaming down his face, accused, "Do you know how worried I was about you! I couldn't sleep last night, and every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was news of your disappearance."

Song Nuan gently hugged her back and comforted her, "It's alright, I'm fine."

In just a short while, Xu Yiran's eyes were already swollen from crying.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have dragged you out yesterday, and I shouldn't have left you alone. If I hadn't gone shopping and had gone home with you, this wouldn't have happened."

Song Nuan's vision blurred, and she choked up a little, "I don't blame you."

"But I blame myself."

Song Nuan didn't know what to say to comfort her.

I could only awkwardly change the subject, "Where's Fang Yu?"

"She went on a business trip to the next province and hasn't been in Liangcheng lately." Xu Yiran scratched her hair, looked away guiltily, and tried to cover it up.

But Song Nuan saw right through him.

"Has something happened to the company?"

Xu Yiran blinked. "I didn't say that."

Song Nuan had a headache. "I'm going to take a shower first. You call Fang Yu and tell her to come back right away. I have something to tell you two, something very important."

His tone was more serious than ever before.

Xu Yiran realized that Song Nuan was not joking. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she quickly took out her phone and called Fang Yu.

Meanwhile, the Song family.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was somber. Fang Yu stood at the door answering the phone. She listened quietly, occasionally humming in agreement, and said, "I understand. I'll go back after I'm done."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yu's brows relaxed a little.

This is the first piece of good news she heard today, although a bunch of messy things are still waiting for her.

Back in the meeting room, everyone straightened up as soon as they saw her.

I dared not breathe.

Looking around, Fang Yu didn't miss the expression on anyone's face. Her gaze finally settled on Su Yin's face. "Su Yin, stay. The rest of you go back to work."

The crowd, as if granted a pardon, scattered in all directions.

Su Yin was left feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Fang Yu looked at her coldly, "Starting tomorrow, you don't need to come to work. You'll be suspended for a while. As for how to handle the project and compensation, we'll issue a notice after President Song and the shareholders discuss it."

Su Yin was about to cry.

"Sister Fang Yu, I really didn't mean it, and I didn't take the company seal. Could you please put in a good word for me with President Song?"

Fang Yu pushed her away expressionlessly, "Everything will have to wait until the shareholders' meeting. I can't help you."

Su Yin was in tears, "Then can you tell me, if I have to pay compensation, how much would it be? I just graduated, I don't have much money, and my family isn't well-off either, I really can't afford to pay..."

Her repentance at this moment is probably genuine, without any impurities.

Fang Yu had read Su Yin's file. She was born in a small county town and her family was indeed of average means. Otherwise, she wouldn't have rushed to hook up with Song Zhiren, this fake eligible bachelor, right after graduation.

What a pity.

She felt absolutely no sympathy for Su Yin.

"You signed the project yourself, and the breach of contract clause is clearly written in black and white in the contract. Didn't you read it?"

Su Yin choked up, "I..."

Even if she didn't say it, Fang Yu knew that she definitely hadn't read the contract carefully.

If you had looked closely, you shouldn't have signed such a project with an almost 100% chance of going bust.

"The penalty for breach of contract is 60% of the project payment. If you sign a five-year buyout agreement with Yuanzheng, the minimum annual chip production is two million units, which is ten million units in five years. And this is still the payment for the minimum production."

"Su Yin, if you can't understand the project, surely you can figure out such simple calculations?"

Fang Yu looked at her with cold indifference. "I can only tell you that the compensation will not be less than eight figures. You'd better watch yourself."

Eight digits?

One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand...

Su Yin silently counted on her fingers in her mind. When she reached ten million, her face turned pale, her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground with her eyes unfocused and lifeless.

Tens of millions...

Even if you sold her, you still couldn't afford to pay for it!

villa.

After taking a shower, Song Nuan felt much better, though not completely relieved of her fatigue. Just as she finished drying her hair, her phone rang.

Her pupils contracted when she saw the caller ID.

It is Ouyang Zhoujing.

Slowly swiping to connect, Song Nuan asked softly, "Zhou Jing, is there something you need?"

The man on the other end of the phone did not answer.

After a long silence, his voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, rang out, "It seems that what Zhong Qingya said was true."

"What?"

Song Nuan didn't react for a moment.

Ouyang Zhoujing smiled faintly; the moment the call connected, he already had the answer in his heart.

The fact that she could answer the phone meant that Song Nuan had already left Zhong Qingya's place. Her successful departure proved that she had reached a deal with either Zhong Qingya or Zhong Guan.

“I just ran into Zhong Qingya at the club, and she congratulated me.”

Song Nuan: "..."

“I didn’t understand what she meant, so I asked her, and she told me to ask you. I guessed it then.”

Song Nuan didn't know what to say except to remain silent.

She never expected that Ouyang Zhoujing would find out about her in this way.

A man's pleasant chuckle rang in her ears, "You promised her you would marry me, didn't you?"