Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 127: Su Xiaoquian’s Spring Strategy (1)

Dragon Raja 4

“President Su, when do you think we can finalize the contract for this project?” The middle-aged man bowed politely.

Behind the large golden-threaded nanmu desk, the young woman was absentmindedly staring at her screen. “We’ll review it again, and you can also reconsider your bid,” she replied.

The woman was dressed in a Dior suit, wearing red-soled high heels, with her fair legs crossed confidently. She was captivating yet exuded an intimidating aura.

The middle-aged man quickly said, “President Su, we’ll await your decision. I’m good friends with your father, so I’ll go back and see if we can lower the price further.”

The woman finally smiled brilliantly. “Thank you, Uncle Zhao, for making the trip. Just call me Xiaoqian; calling me President Su feels too formal.”

As the middle-aged man left, Su Xiaoqian slouched tiredly in her chair, blowing a large bubble with the gum she’d been chewing for a while. Her phone rang, popping the bubble, leaving it stuck on her lightly made-up face.

Seeing the name on the screen, Su Xiaoqian frowned, but she still picked up and answered with an overly cheerful voice, “Director Yang, what brings you to call your niece personally? Oh! Sure, sure! We can meet up… Of course, if he’s interested, we can definitely start dating! I’d love to have a boyfriend… Thank you for always keeping me in mind. You speak so highly of him, I can’t wait to meet him. But I’ve been really busy lately with work, especially with all this rain and ensuring the company’s drainage and safety… Alright, alright! Once I have some time, I’ll definitely schedule something. Goodbye, Uncle Yang!”

As soon as the call ended, her pager beeped, and her secretary’s voice came through, “President Su, just a reminder that you have a meeting with your uncle tonight.”

“Which uncle? Is it the one who wants money? The one asking for a project? Or the one trying to set me up with a boyfriend?” Su Xiaoqian replied grumpily.

“Your actual uncle! The one who needs money.”

“Got it! I’ll handle it!” Su Xiaoqian ended the call.

Ever since Su Xiaoqian took over her family’s business, she had been sitting in her father’s old office, dealing with various clients and uncles and aunts from all walks of life.

In the eyes of many, she had become a prime target—not because she had gained weight, but because everyone wanted a piece of her. She was young and held a high position. Some people tried to win her over, while others attempted to take advantage of her. The most troublesome were the many uncles and aunts trying to set her up with potential partners. Everyone knew that if they could win over Su Xiaoqian, they’d have access to all of the Su family’s assets. Su Xiaoqian was well aware of their intentions, but she couldn’t afford to offend them. Without these connections, the Su family business wouldn’t run smoothly.

Su Xiaoqian always smiled and agreed, then found ways to deflect. Occasionally, when there was no way out, she would meet with potential suitors. In the past six months, she had met various so-called “heroes” of the city, and among them, the one she found most agreeable was Shao Gongzi.

Shao Gongzi was very straightforward. He said, “President Su, I think you’re out of my league. You’re both beautiful and shrewd, and you know what I’m like. Honestly, I don’t see you as a match either. If we ended up together, I couldn’t keep up with you. We’re both here out of respect for our mutual connections. Let’s just have a nice meal tonight and tell them tomorrow that we didn’t click. In the future, if we can help each other with business, let’s do that.”

Su Xiaoqian was quite pleased with this and, for the first time, shared a bottle of red wine with a potential suitor.

That day when she met Lu Mingfei, she had gotten drunk and cried, reminiscing about her carefree school days—those evenings with the setting sun when all the girls would sit by the basketball court, waiting for Senior Brother Mingfei to come play.

Those days, even the air felt as clean as if it had been freshly washed.

Kicking off her high heels, Su Xiaoqian propped her feet up on her desk, ready for a nap. But just as she was about to doze off, her phone rang again.

Seeing who it was, she froze. It was Liu Miaomiao, someone she hadn’t heard from in a long time. They had once argued over Lu Mingfei.

Now that they had all grown up, it seemed silly to still hold onto grudges from their schoolgirl days. Su Xiaoqian answered the call, pretending everything was fine. “Hey! Long time no see! How’ve you been?”

“Su Xiaoqian, you need to help! They’ve locked Senior Brother Lu in a mental hospital!” Liu Miaomiao didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Chen Wenwen and I have been here for ages, but they won’t let us in!”

Su Xiaoqian jumped up. “Where are you? Tell me the location!”

She bolted out of her office, yelling, “Get the car ready!” Her secretary called after her, “But President Su, you have a meeting with your uncle soon!” Su Xiaoqian didn’t even turn back, shouting, “Sort it out! He can sign an IOU for anything under fifty grand!”

“Gamma Spring, 94th load, stormy night, highway, Action!”

The Maybach crashed through the barrier, speeding into the brightly lit CBD district, driving down the wide, straight road.

All the streetlights were on, and the glass-walled buildings glowed like golden, blue, green, or black gems towering against the night sky. Nono was captivated by the passing scenery, momentarily forgetting her fear. The CBD district within the Nibelungen had a magical, fairy-tale beauty, like an empty amusement park with a spinning carousel and Ferris wheel, and neon lights turning into rainbows.

“I’ve always wanted to see what Nibelungen looks like, but I never imagined it would be like this,” Nono said softly.

The Maybach approached the clock tower, and reflected in the glass walls was the shadow of a god on horseback, looking down on them with a fateful spear in hand.

They had already seen many illusions of Odin along the way, so Nono was no longer nervous. When they passed the Black Prince Tower, she even pointed it out to Lu Mingfei. “That building belongs to a friend of mine.”

“I know. His name is Shao Yifeng,” Lu Mingfei said nonchalantly.

“How do you know Shao Yifeng?” Nono was surprised.

“One day, he suddenly came to see me and asked a lot about the boss. He said Italian men are all flirts, and he was worried you’d get hurt.”

Nono was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into the engine, then immediately turned red with anger. “What right does he have to talk nonsense about me? And how did you respond to him?”

“I told him the boss is a good guy. He’s the last person in the world who’d ever hurt you. But Shao Yifeng looked disappointed.”

“You’re such a meddler! Talking about my life without even asking me first!” Nono crossed her arms, fuming.

“I just wanted to reassure him. He said he likes you a lot, and even if he can’t marry you, he couldn’t bear to see you hurt.”

“You believe that?” Nono snorted. “Do you know how often he changes girlfriends? Lasting a month with him means it’s true love!”

“I believe him,” Lu Mingfei said casually. “Because I feel the same way. If you can’t be with me, you should be with someone better than me.”

“You… you, you, you… what the hell!” Nono was first shocked, then she cursed furiously. “This isn’t something you should be telling me! Do you think we’re doomed, so it doesn’t matter anymore?”

Lu Mingfei was embarrassed for a moment, thinking to himself, I’ve messed up the timeline. I wasn’t supposed to tell her this until after the Seven Star Pond incident, back when I hadn’t yet told her I’d moved on from my old dreams.

“We’ll definitely make it out. Why wouldn’t we? I was just saying that Shao Yifeng made some good points,” Lu Mingfei said cautiously. “He said he eventually understood something: that he liked you because he needed you. It didn’t actually have much to do with you. If you happened to like him too, then that would be his luck, but it wasn’t something he could take for granted. A girl should be with someone she needs. I think he’s right. Liking someone is purely coincidental, and it doesn’t always lead to anything. Since it’s something that’s honest and open… there’s no harm in saying it, right, Senior Sister?”

Nono tried hard to maintain her composure. “And what do you want me to say in response? That I like you too? Don’t be foolish, brother! If you had said this three or four years ago, I might’ve been flattered, but now you’re just adding to my troubles!”

After a long silence, Lu Mingfei finally said, “I didn’t expect you to answer me, nor to listen to me say so much. Not every word needs a response.”

“Gamma Spring, 95th reload, stormy night, highway, Action!”

Lu Mingfei sped down the elevated highway, and Nono sat in the passenger seat, panting heavily. “I’m asking you—where did you get that rocket launcher? Without it, we’d never have made it out.”

To Nono, the last battle had been intense but safe. Lu Mingfei had expertly fired a rocket, causing a chain explosion, giving them the opportunity to escape. Throughout the battle, Nono had barely contributed; it was Lu Mingfei who had led them out, slashing and shooting as if it were second nature. He even swung the empty rocket launcher like a golf club, knocking down several enemies. The spirit warriors seemed to willingly run into his blade and gun, as if the whole thing had been choreographed.

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