Rebirth: Pampered by My Children and Husband

Chapter 203: Chapter 203 “For me, or for yourself?

The day after schmoozing, Renda’s director called Xiao Yu.

“Director, have our contracts been signed? I’ll come over and get them right away,” Xiao Yu said as he suddenly stood up and walked towards the door.

“About this contract…” the voice at the other end of the phone sounded somewhat embarrassed, “Our legal department staff looked at it and mentioned several clauses that weren’t quite reasonable, so it hasn’t been signed yet.”

Xiao Yu’s pace halted, “Which clauses? Tell me, and we can amend them right now.”

“No rush, let’s wait until tonight. We will meet at the Flaming Lily Restaurant again this evening.”

Xiao Yu responded, “Okay.”

“By the way, why don’t you bring your girlfriend along for a meal? It looked like she is quite fond of you, coming all the way to pick you up last time; you should really thank her properly,” the director chuckled.

Xiao Yu’s expression suddenly became stiff, and his grip on the phone tightened, “She has a class tonight and probably can’t make it…”

“That’s okay, then. We can arrange another time to meet if she’s busy,” the voice on the phone obviously lost interest and quickly ended the call after a few perfunctory sentences.

Looking at the disconnected call, Xiao Yu’s expression immediately turned cold.

Seeing him standing still, a senior walked over and asked, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you going to Renda to get the contract today?”

Xiao Yu put his phone back in his pocket, his face stern, “The contract might not be signed.”

The senior was stunned, “Why?”

As Xiao Yu had said, he called Renda’s director several more times to inquire about the contract.

But every time the director would ask about Wen Li, and once learning she wouldn’t be coming, the director’s attitude became very dismissive, either claiming there were problems with the contract or that there was no time.

The collaboration was thus indefinitely on hold.

“Didn’t you say the negotiations went well before? Why would he suddenly go back on his word?” the senior asked, anxiously running his hands through his hair.

“I’ll go find him,” Xiao Yu stood up, picked up the laptop on the table, and left the studio.

He waited for a long time outside Renda Technology’s building and quickly stepped forward to intercept the director when he saw him.

“Director, I would like to know what the problem is with our collaboration?” Xiao Yu asked.

The director hadn’t expected him to show up in person and was taken aback, stumbling over his words, “This, it’s not really a problem, it’s just that there are some issues with the contract…”

“I’ve brought my laptop with me. If there are any issues with the contract, we can revise it on the spot,” Xiao Yu gestured with the laptop bag he was carrying.

“You… I don’t have time right now, let’s do it another time,” the director said, trying to slip away.

“No problem, I can wait here for you, after you finish your business, we can talk about the contract,” Xiao Yu firmly implied he was prepared to wait all day if necessary.

“Why go to all this trouble,” the director’s expression suddenly turned troubled, “To be frank with you, you’ve offended someone, there’s pressure from above, and I don’t want to go against the people at the top, so I’ve been holding back your contract.”

Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment, “Offended who?”

“I shouldn’t say, but you should be clear about the incident at the Flaming Lily Restaurant,” the director hinted just enough before patting Xiao Yu on the shoulder, “I have to go, there’s another matter I must attend to.”

Xiao Yu remained frozen in place long after the director had left.

Offended someone?

At the Flaming Lily Restaurant?

Xiao Yu immediately thought of Ji Tingyang, since among those present that day, only Ji Tingyang had a discord with him.

“It must have been his doing behind my back.” Thinking of Ji Tingyang, Xiao Yu’s expression turned grim to the point of being frightening, a sour feeling churning in his stomach, almost reflexively wanting to retch.

The documents he had earlier obtained from Ji Yuqiao turned out to be useless, leaving him unable to retaliate or fight back against Ji Tingyang’s oppression.

He desperately suppressed the discomfort in his chest, his hand at his side clenched into a fist, his nails digging into his palm without realizing it.

The studio, which had just begun to look up, had now hit a bottleneck.

Unable to reach a collaboration with Renda, Xiao Yu had no choice but to give up and look for other companies to partner with.

Just as he was coming out of a company, he saw Wen Li’s figure from afar.

He had been busy running between companies discussing partnerships recently and hadn’t seen Wen Li in a while.

Xiao Yu hadn’t expected to run into her here by chance, and as he started to approach, he saw a man rushing toward Wen Li.

The man stuffed a gift box into Wen Li’s hands, which she reluctantly tried to give back to him.

Xiao Yu paused, then with a stern face, walked over and directly draped his arm over her shoulder, as if telling the man how close their relationship was.

Surprise flickered across Wen Li’s countenance, as if she had not expected him to be there.

However, the man did not spare Xiao Yu a glance, his gaze fixed on Wen Li, “Since you’re busy, I’ll head back first. We can meet another time.”

Before leaving, he gave Xiao Yu a look, his eyes carrying a hint of disdainful indifference.

Xiao Yu’s arm around her shoulder tensed, “Who is that man?”

“Just an ordinary friend,” Wen Li replied with a wince of pain.

“An ordinary friend?” Xiao Yu’s throat let out a few sardonic chuckles, “If he’s just an ordinary friend, then why would he give you such a gift?”

The wrapping of the box was so exquisite that the gift inside must have been incredibly costly.

“How am I supposed to know, and besides, didn’t I return the gift to him?” said Wen Li.

“Really? If I hadn’t shown up, would you have ended up accepting it?”

Wen Li’s eyes widened, looking at him in disbelief, “Are you doubting me?”

“Yes…” Xiao Yu lifted her left hand, his fingertips brushing over the watch on her wrist, he sighed softly, “If you didn’t want it, then why did you accept this watch?”

That night, even though he was drunk, leaning back in the taxi seat with closed eyes, he still heard their conversation.

Wen Li turned pale, her mouth opened but no words came out.

Xiao Yu gripped her wrist tightly, his eyes red and slightly terrifying, the past accumulation of resentments and jealousies in his heart seemed to break free, erupting with fury from his chest, “Do you look down on me in your heart, thinking I’m poor and can’t give you anything?”

Wen Li rebuffed, “I didn’t.”

“I’ve been working hard so that we can have a good life in the future, to buy you the jewelry you like, to take you out for a nice meal, and now you…”

Seeming to have heard enough, Wen Li shook off his hand, “Is it really for me that you’re doing all this, or for yourself? You know what’s in your heart. Don’t use me as a shield for everything.”

Ever since learning about her affair with Ji Tingyang, Xiao Yu had constantly been making silent comparisons with Ji Tingyang.

But every time he confronted Ji Tingyang, it was somehow always said to be for her sake.