Time flew by.

In the blink of an eye, summer had arrived.

By June 15, the weather was already heating up, but inside the office, Ye Rong felt none of it.

The luxurious office was air-conditioned.

Time passed, minute by minute.

Every now and then, she glanced at her expensive wristwatch, and realizing that the agreed time had already passed by quite a bit, a wave of anger welled up inside her.

But it quickly subsided.

Two months ago, the new-generation smartphone developed by Hualei Technology Co., Ltd. had broken the existing communication paradigm the moment it was released. The compact and convenient smartphone delivered a shockingly disruptive impact on the market.

For the first time, people began to think—so phones could be used like this.

Compared to the unresponsive resistive touchscreens, the capacitive screen design was a major highlight. Although the phone system had a few flaws, its design concept was far ahead of the current era and earned widespread praise.

Even Apple in the U.S. was surprised to find that this revolutionary smartphone design was strikingly similar to their internal development direction.

They were forced to reconsider their strategy.

Ye Rong had also noticed the huge potential of the electronics market, which made her eager to reach a partnership with the other party.

For that, she had specifically invited the other party to her company for a face-to-face meeting today.

But… the scheduled time had passed by nearly half an hour. Even though she still wanted to work with them, she couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated.

This person… really had no manners.

Ye Rong thought to herself.

A knock on the door broke her thoughts, drawing her attention. She called out, “Come in.”

The door opened.

Her secretary's expression looked a little odd. The look she gave Ye Rong was rather complex.

After a brief pause, she finally spoke.

“He’s here.”

“Let him in.”

“Alright.”

After that, Ye Rong stood up from her seat.

She walked over to the cabinet and took out a bottle of vintage red wine.

Heading to the small table inside her office, she uncorked the wine and poured it into a wine glass.

Steady footsteps echoed in the room.

Though she had her back turned, Ye Rong could tell the person had come in.

Once everything was prepared, she set the wine aside.

She turned around with a beaming smile.

“President Liu, you—”

But halfway through the sentence, the smile on Ye Rong’s face froze.

She stared blankly at the figure before her, as if completely dumbfounded.

“You… why are you here?”

“Didn’t you invite me?”

Liu Changqing asked casually as he began walking around on his own.

He sat down on the small sofa, resting his right arm on the sofa’s armrest, head tilted slightly.

His gaze fell on Ye Rong not far away.

A slight smile played on his lips.

“What’s with that look on your face… and why is your collar undone?”

As he asked the question—

Ye Rong snapped out of it, reaching up to tug at her collar.

“You’re the owner of Hualei?”

“Mm. To be precise… I’m the majority shareholder. So calling me the owner is fine.”

“No way… I thought you were in the gaming business?!”

Ye Rong was completely shocked by Liu Changqing’s answer.

She had done some homework on Liu Changqing in the past.

Though his games had made a decent amount of money, it was a totally different field from hers. She had never met the owner of Hualei, and couldn’t get any information about him either. In her mind, she assumed the person was an older, mature man.

That was why she had planned to play some tricks.

Even though she wasn’t young anymore, she had taken great care of herself, and still looked relatively youthful.

She had some confidence in her charm.

But now… everything she had planned was ruined because of Liu Changqing’s appearance.

It shouldn’t be… it wasn’t supposed to be him.

This useless man… how could he be the owner of Hualei?

“This wine… were you planning to share a glass with me? Too bad—I’ve been sober for quite a while now. Sorry.”

Liu Changqing looked at Ye Rong with a polite smile as he said that.

“I’ve done my homework. You’re about to hit a dead end, which is why you were hoping to take a different path. But I’ve got to admit, this time, you actually had good taste. That part surprised me a bit.”

He chuckled.

“To be honest, when I first got your invitation, I was really surprised…”

He stood up from the sofa and slowly walked toward Ye Rong.

His expression darkened.

“So… how does it feel now, standing in front of the man you used to look down on the most?”

“Liu Changqing…”

“Alright, enough talk. Weren’t you here to discuss a partnership?”

He spread his hands, facing Ye Rong.

“Go ahead, let me hear what you’ve got. I’m not going to agree to it, but I’m willing to listen.”

“……”

Every single word from Liu Changqing landed clearly in Ye Rong’s ears.

A sense of humiliation rose within her. At the same time, the expression on Liu Changqing’s face made her feel disgusted.

In his face, she could vaguely see the shadow of her late husband.

That look—waiting to watch her fail…

Just like the very first time they met.

Utterly sickening.

But… Ye Rong didn’t show it.

She took a deep breath, then let it out, forcing herself to stay calm.

She couldn’t lose to Li Zhengmao… she refused to lose to that man. She wouldn’t allow herself to lose to him.

After a moment of silence, Ye Rong quickly came to terms with it. She forced a smile and looked at Liu Changqing.

Using a tone he had never heard from her before, she said,

“My daughter has already divorced Li Chongming. I only just learned what kind of person he really was. But the law has already punished him, and also… Wanran—”

“Don’t talk to me about that.”

Liu Changqing cut her off, clearly repulsed.

Looking at Ye Rong shamelessly say those things, he had always thought she was dirty, but had never realized she could be this shameless.

Even though she didn’t finish her sentence, just hearing part of it, Liu Changqing already knew where she was going with it.

Telling him that Li Wanran had divorced—what was that supposed to mean?

Now, at this point… she thought he was still that same Liu Changqing who had once loved Li Wanran deeply?

Trying to use her daughter…

Looking at Ye Rong, Liu Changqing suddenly felt that this old woman in front of him was truly pathetic—willing to give up everything just for her own selfish desires.

All for the sake of beating Li Zhengmao…

But some things… just can’t be done.

Even if that man was already dead.