Xia Lei left, but the room was still in absolute silence.

Who would have thought that Xia Lei wouldn’t even be respectful to Ling Han and Yu Shanhe?

If it were someone else, this matter would have definitely been settled, but Xia Lei wasn’t someone else. He was The One.

“Damn it! That rascal actually didn’t show us any respect at all!” Ye Kun broke the silence in the tea room, and was extremely furious. “Does he think he’s the formidable Sun Wukong? Even if he was Sun Wukong, he wouldn’t be able to flip out of the Buddha’s Wu Zhi mountain!”

Yu Shanhe frowned. “Ye Kun, what are you talking about?”

Ye Kun’s face immediately went rigid. He was fawning over Yu Shanhe, and had not expected that Yu Shanhe wouldn’t stand for it.

Mu Jianfeng, on the other hand, stayed calm. He didn’t speak after Xia Lei left. He remained quiet and his face was calm. What had just happened seemed to be unrelated to him, and he looked completely indifferent.

“Mr Ling, this matter…” Yu Shanhe probingly said, “How will you deal with it?”

Ling Han was silent for a moment before saying, “You already have an idea in your head, so why ask me?”

‘You wily fox!’ Yu Shanhe silently cursed, but wore a smile on his face. “Mr Ling, you were the one who helped Xia Lei get established in the beginning. Without your help, could his Thunder Horse Military Factory develop to the size it is today?”

“I did help him before, you’re right, but that was because of the competition. Besides, I didn’t think that he would be able to make his company so established back then. Can you blame me?” said Ling Han.

“A private company is on the verge of displacing Hanwu Weapons and China Industrial Group, as well as other military industry enterprises. This is a very serious matter to us, and now isn’t the time to play the blame game. We have to think of a feasible and effective way to make Xia Lei lose his control over Thunder Horse Military Factory,” said Yu Shanhe.

“He said earlier that if he can’t get any funds in China, he’ll get a loan from abroad. He’s good friends with the Prince Khalifa of the United Arab Emirates. The prince’s army is also a loyal fan of Thunder Horse Military Factory. It’ll be very easy if he wants to get a loan from the United Arab Emirates’s bank, so this methods that you people are using simply won’t work,” said Ling Han.

“Mr Ling, you have to think of a way. Xia Lei really trusts you and respects you. Besides you, he won’t listen to anyone else,” said Mu Jianfeng.

But Ling Han laughed dryly. “Do you guys think he would still trust me after I stood on your side to persuade him to hand Thunder Horse Military Factory over?”

Meanwhile, in the hallway outside the tea room, a cold smile appeared on Xia Lei’s face. He hadn’t actually left. After he had come out from the tea room, he used his lip-reading ability to interpret everyone’s words inside the tea room. He was very curious about why Mr Z of Bureau ZN, Ling Han, would be meddling in this matter. People had motives in doing things, but what benefit could Ling Han gain from doing this?

Yu Shanhe came closer to Ling Han and covered his mouth with his hand as he whispered, “The person above you is about to retire and I’m the one supporting you by replacing his people. You wouldn’t want me to support your competitor, would you? And you really hate that woman, don’t you?”

Mu Jianfeng and Ye Kun clearly couldn’t hear this whisper, and everyone else in the room couldn’t hear it, but this sentence couldn’t escape Xia Lei’s lip-reading. Yu Shanhe covering up his mouth with his hand couldn’t hold off Xia Lei’s X-ray vision at all.

So this was why Ling Han had gotten involved in this matter.

Xia Lei had also incidentally heard very important information from Yu Shanhe’s whispering and that was that Ling Han wasn’t the person in charge of Bureau ZN. Besides him, there was another bureau chief for Bureau ZN, a woman. Yu SHanhe’s words had also spoke of Bureau ZN’s current situation. The old bureau chief was going to retire and a woman had become Ling Han’s competitor.

Ling Han nodded. “Old Yu, if I didn’t support you, where would I be now? We can’t hurry this matter. Let me think of something.”

Yu Shanhe smiled. “Then I’ll wait for your good news.”

Xia Lei stopped using his X-ray vision. Right now, he had made something clear. Ling Han wasn’t actually the director of some special office. In the beginning, when Ling Han approached him with that identity, Ling Han’s objective was him and the Alloy X Project related to him.

“Lei, what are you doing here?” Tang Yuyan’s voice came from behind him.

Xia Lei turned around and walked towards her. “Nothing much, let’s go.”

“How did the discussion go?” asked Tang Yuyan.

“It was all right.” Xia Lei smiled.

“What did you guys discuss?” asked Tang Yuyan.

“Don’t ask anymore. Let’s go,” said Xia Lei.

“Keeping it a secret from me? How boring.” Tang Yuyan held on to Xia Lei’s arm though she said it was boring.

His arm touched something soft, and that softness melted all the depressing things in Xia Lei’s heart. He was a little embarrassed but it was a little difficult for him to push her aside, since that wasn’t really something that a man could do.

Tang Yuyan brought Xia Lei back to the tea room that Tang Yunhai and Zhang Yumei were in.

“Boy, did anyone make things difficult for you?” said Tang Yunhai, getting straight to the point.

“No.” Xia Lei laughed. “No one can force me to do what I’m not willing to do.”

Tang Yunhai and Tang Yuyan couldn’t help but look at each other. Grandfather and granddaughter seemed to take another meaning from Xia Lei’s words.

“Hehe.” Tang Yunhai laughed dryly. “Come, let’s drink a few cups. It isn’t getting late and it’s almost time to start our feast.”

Xia Lei nodded, secretly thinking, ‘You probably knew what those people were going to do, right? That’s the only reason why you invited me to this celebration. I really can’t trust that many people in China.’

Tang Yunhai and Zhang Yumei left the tearoom, walking towards the dining hall where the birthday feast was taking place. Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei walked behind them. They had only taken a few steps when she reached her hand out to grab Xia Lei’s arm again, intimate and natural, as if she were Xia Lei’s girlfriend, the type who had lived together for many years. On their way to the banquet hall, many people looked over with odd gazes but she didn’t care at all and instead seemed to enjoy it a lot. On the other hand, she made Xia Lei feel very awkward.

“If you can’t get the funds, our Tang family has some. Why not ask my grandfather, rather than some bank?” whispered Tang Yuyan.

“Thank you, but I’ll take care of that by myself.” Xia Lei rejected her without a second thought.

Borrowing money from the Tang family? And he’d need 20 billion at that. The price he’d need to pay was clear, and that was to become a member of the Tang family and marry Tang Yuyan.

Nothing was free in the world. After marrying Tang Yuyan, he would become a part of the Tang Sect and in the future, his life would be hopelessly entangled with the Tang Sect.

“What do you mean by that?” Tang Yuyan pouted. “Is the doorstep of our Tang Sect that high? Are you just that afraid of becoming part of our Tang Sect?”

Xia Lei laughed. “This and that are two different matters. Back when I divorced Shentu Tianyin, our assets were separate. She earned her money and I did my business. We were separate in terms of economics.” 

“So you mean that in the future, after you marry me, we’re also going to be separate economically?” Tang Yuyan suddenly laughed. “All right, I’m fine with that! I’ll ask for a 500 million dowry from my grandfather so that in the future I won’t have to ask you for money to buy makeup products.”

Xia Lei was speechless.

There was no way he could communicate anymore.

Just then, Ling Han, Yu Shanhe, and a group of people walked out of the other tea room.

“Xia Lei, wait up,” called Ling Han.

Xia Lei turned with a smile on his face. “Brother Ling, is anything the matter?”

Ling Han walked over quickly, pretending to be unhappy. “I can’t chat with you if nothing’s the matter?”

“Of course not,” said Xia Lei.

Ling Han sighed. “Official matters are official matters while private matters are private matters. Our relationship as Brothers can’t be harmed because of some work matters.”

“Of course not. Brother Ling, I used to see you as a brother,” said Xia Lei with a smile.

“Then what about now?” Ling Han frowned slightly.

“Of course we’re brothers now.” Xia Lei continued to smile but the answer in his heart was different.

“Hehe…” Ling Han laughed. “Yuyan, can I be a third wheeler in a bit, and sit at the same table as you guys?”

Tang Yuyan was just worrying about how there wasn’t a third wheeler when Ling Han automatically volunteered himself as a third wheeler. How could she be unhappy? She laughed. “Of course, but you might need to give our Lei a bit less wine since his alcoholic tolerance is pretty low.”

“Hehe, so you know how to care for others now.” Ling Han laughed. “Xia Lei, you’re so lucky.”

Xia Lei only felt a headache coming on.

The birthday feast began. There weren’t a lot of people, and there were only about a dozen tables. Every single guest had some status. Xia Lei and Tang Yuyan sat together, and Ling Han sat next to Xia Lei. Yu Shanhe, Mu Jianfeng, Ye Kun and their group sat at another table. No one mentioned the matter about Thunder Horse Military Factory, China Industrial Group and Hanwu Weapons merging again. They didn’t even give Xia Lei a second look. Everyone acted like everything was fine. However, Xia Lei knew that these people were just waiting for the results of what Ling Han was planning to do. 

Xia Lei secretly thought, ‘Why would Ling Han persuade me? He’s a very intelligent person and is very good at hiding himself. He should have known that even if he persuaded me more, I wouldn’t agree. Then, what will he do? Will he use some dirty tricks to force me to submit?’

Former friends and brothers transformed into today’s competitors. It was hard for him to accept these changes. However, when he thought that Ling Han had always been targeting him with this “Mr Z” he became more indifferent about his relationship with Ling Han — That’s right, if it hadn’t all been to target him, would Ling Han have interacted with him in the beginning? Would he have helped him?

Ultimately, all of this was still thanks to the supreme value of the Alloy X Project and AE!

While Xia Lei’s thoughts were roiling, a woman suddenly and quietly walked over and sat at his table.

Xia Lei couldn’t help looking her up and down.

This woman seemed very young, and not yet thirty. She had short hair and her facial features were very delicate and elegant. She was very tall and her body lines were well proportioned. The only regretful part was her somewhat flatter chest which seemed quite small. But from an aesthetic perspective, her attractiveness index was 9.5 while her body was a 9. If she wore a rubber bra that made her chest seem more well developed, her body could be rated a 10.

Women with short hair could always make other people feel confident and refreshed. This woman was clearly even more outstanding. A special aura was on her body, like Hua Mulan or Mu Guiying, if one had to compare her to a character.

Perhaps it was the special aura she had, but that stirred a specific part of Xia Lei’s heart. He couldn’t help but think, ‘Who’s this woman? People who can offer birthday congratulations to Tang Yunhai aren’t ordinary people, but how come I’ve never met her?’

It was also at this moment that Ling Han’s gaze moved towards the short-haired woman. His gaze turned cold.

The short-haired woman’s gaze shifted onto Ling Han, and she had an unfathomable look in her eyes.

Ling Han and the short-haired woman didn’t speak to each other but their eyes meeting each other in that manner caught Xia Lei’s attention. His heart thumped. Was it her?

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