A perfect day for an outdoor barbecue — the sun was warm and a gentle breeze was blowing.
Song Xinya had the servants set up the grill and was making barbecue for the four children.
The chicken wings were roasted to a charred red, glistening with oil, the fat sizzling down with the fragrant meat. Large chunks of lamb were skewered on iron sticks, the outside grilled to an enticing caramel color. When drizzled with sauce and bitten into, the meat juice exploded in the mouth, bursting with savory aroma.
Prime marbled Australian wagyu beef, a piece as big as a palm, was placed on the charcoal fire. The moment it entered the mouth, the melt-in-your-mouth silkiness and the savory richness of the fat intertwined, the meat so tender it seemed to dissolve on the tongue.
Song Xinya and her younger siblings happily ate barbecue in the yard, while Song Xuanli, Li Cuirou, and Zhang Yingying stood outside the courtyard gate under the scorching sun, roasting like dogs.
The rich meaty fragrance drifted over the high wall and out of the yard. The stomachs of Song Xuanli and the other two grumbled loudly.
Zhang Yingying said, “Song Xinya is doing this on purpose, deliberately tempting us.”
Li Cuirou added, “She has time for barbecue but no time to see us.”
Song Xuanli wanted to turn around and leave, but then he remembered that the Qin family hadn't approved the Song family's bid document yet, so he couldn't bring himself to leave. He had already lost face, and if he couldn’t get things done, that would be a huge loss.
Zhang Yingying clutched her stomach, “Dad, Mom, I’m starving to death. Let’s go grab a meal first.”
Li Cuirou agreed, “Right, since Song Xinya won’t see us now anyway, we can come back after we eat.”
Song Xuanli said, “Given Song Xinya’s style, if we go eat, she’ll open the door and leave, and then we won’t find her today.”
Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying thought about it — that really did sound like something Song Xinya would do.
So the three of them didn’t go eat. With empty stomachs, they stood there from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon.
Nine to five — the three of them clocked in for a very peculiar kind of shift.
As the sun began to slant westward, Song Xinya leisurely rose from her rattan chair.
The sun wasn’t so harsh anymore — time to open the gate and let Song Xuanli, Li Cuirou, and Zhang Yingying in.
The front door swung open, and the butler stood in the middle of the entrance.
Song Xuanli’s slicked-back hairstyle had collapsed into a limp, flat mess stuck to his scalp.
Li Cuirou’s glued-on false eyelashes were half-stuck to her eyelids and half-dangling downward.
Zhang Yingying’s meticulously styled blunt bangs had turned into a messy barcode.
After a full day under the scorching sun, tormented by sweat, the three of them looked utterly disheveled from head to toe.
Seeing the door open, Song Xuanli rushed inside, “I’m going to see Song Xinya.”
The butler, following his mistress’s orders, didn’t stop him.
Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying followed closely behind.
The three entered the living room and saw Song Xanya elegantly and leisurely arranging flowers.
Song Xuanli sat down across from her and said, “You’ve been messing with us all day. Now it's time to talk business.”
This was what they called an open scheme — she was toying with them, and they knew she was toying with them, yet they still had to play along, because they were begging her for a favor.
Song Xinya asked, “Did you bring the contract?”
Zhang Yingying hastily pulled the contract from her briefcase, “Yes, I did.”
She held it out with one hand.
Song Xinya didn’t take it.
Li Cuirou snatched the contract, bent over, and handed it to Song Xinya with both hands, “Madam Qin, please have a look.”
Song Xinya took the contract with measured elegance and began reading it word by word.
The contract drafted by Song Xuanli and the other two — she couldn’t afford to be careless. She had to scrutinize it thoroughly to avoid falling into their trap.
The contract was extremely long, spanning 50 pages, densely packed with text — all highly professional, obscure, and full of legal jargon.
Reading through the entire contract was no less arduous than taking a college entrance exam.
Halfway through, Song Xinya felt as if the words on the contract had turned into tiny ants crawling all over the page.
Her vision blurred and her head spun.
The person who drafted this contract must be a genius — at stuffing it with useless nonsense! Bloody hell!
Song Xinya suddenly understood how Song Tingye felt when doing Chinese reading comprehension — truly arcane and incomprehensible!
Despite her inner frustration, Song Xinya’s expression remained calm and composed, appearing completely unfazed.
Never let the enemy see you sweat — even if your dignity is shattered, don’t show weakness. In front of your opponents, you must never let your aura falter!
Her slender, jade-like hand picked up her water glass. She took a sip of tea, forcing herself to steady her nerves. Just as she prepared to slog through the rest of the arduous contract, the pages were suddenly taken from her hand.
The scent of forest pine wrapped around her nose as the contract was pulled away.
Qin Yuhe sat down beside her, contract in hand. His brow was steady and determined as he read it line by line for her.
His lowered eyes were focused and serious, his entire demeanor calm and reliable. The profile of his face was sharply defined and handsome, exuding a mature, handsome quality.
A man immersed in his work radiates a certain magnetic charm, an irresistible appeal.
Qin Yuhe read the contract at lightning speed — not carelessly, but thoroughly and swiftly.
In less than a quarter of an hour, he had reviewed the entire contract and raised a few incisive questions.
Those questions pinpointed the traps Song Xuanli, Li Cuirou, and Zhang Yingying had set for Song Xinya — holes they had carefully dug with the help of professional legal advisors, hidden very subtly, meant to restrain and ensnare her. But Qin Yuhe saw through them at a glance.
The three people’s schemes fell apart.
Next, Qin Yuhe added several clauses to the contract that favored Song Xinya, maximizing the protection of her interests.
The three of them couldn’t even force a smile.
With Mr. Qin’s keen eye, all the problems in the contract were exposed and revised to be most beneficial to Song Xinya.
Both parties signed, stamped, and affixed their fingerprints.
Rouying Education Technology Co., Ltd. was successfully renamed Yating Education Technology Co., Ltd.
Song Xinya successfully secured a 20% stake in Yating Education Technology Co., Ltd.
Everything was proceeding according to plan. Song Xinya had obtained what she wanted for now — and in the future, she would take even more —
She intended to reclaim Yating Education Technology Co., Ltd. entirely — the company her mother had founded — and sit in both the chairperson and president seats herself.
Don’t ask why she didn’t demand the entire company right now. Because Song Xuanli would never agree, and the cooperation would fall through.
If the partnership collapsed, she’d get nothing.
Rushing to achieve everything at once, trying to swallow a fat man whole, often leads to getting nothing.
Song Xinya picked up the contract and stood up, ready to head back to her room.
Qin Yuhe also rose and walked with her toward the stairs.
Song Xuanli hurriedly called out, “Mr. Qin, about the Song family’s bid…”
Qin Yuhe replied, “You will see the Song family’s name on the list of winning bidders announced tomorrow.”
Song Xuanli and the other two beamed with joy.
In a casual tone, Qin Yuhe added, “The Qin Corporation has a rule: all winning bidder companies must provide their household registration booklets.”
Song Xuanli asked in surprise, “Is that— is there such a rule?”
Qin Yuhe said, “The project I’m giving you is worth ten billion dollars. We need to investigate the background of the winning company’s owner, to ensure every member of their family is clean and that there is no risk of them absconding abroad with the funds.”
At the mention of a ten-billion-dollar project, Song Xuanli’s eyes lit up.
In his entire life, he had never worked on a project so massive.
Working with the Qin family truly paid off.
For a world-class conglomerate and a project of this magnitude, it’s only natural to have higher standards. Besides, what use would Qin Yuhe have for the Song family’s household register?
Song Xuanli presented their household register to Qin Yuhe with both hands.
Qin Yuhe, in turn, handed the Song family’s household register to Song Xinya with both hands.
