The sleek, modern - designed conference room at Zhou Group was bathed in a soft, white glow. Zhou Ruobing, radiating confidence in her tailored power suit, was delivering a compelling presentation. Her articulate voice filled the room, commanding the undivided attention of the assembled high - ranking executives. Suddenly, her iPhone, resting on the polished mahogany table, started vibrating vigorously. The screen illuminated with an incoming call from Ye Long.
Zhou Ruobing's almond - shaped eyes narrowed instantly. A knot of unease formed in the pit of her stomach. What's this guy up to? Does he run into trouble? she wondered. Despite her usual poker - faced demeanor, a flicker of concern briefly crossed her delicate features. After a moment's hesitation, she reached for the phone. "Where the hell are you?" she asked, her tone laced with impatience.
"I'm down at the ground - floor showroom. I've managed to collect the debt, but that receptionist won't let me up to see you." Ye Long's voice crackled through the line.
Zhou Ruobing was floored. The meeting hadn't even wrapped up, and he'd already retrieved the money? Even so, her protective instincts kicked in. "I'm on my way down," she said curtly.
Hanging up, she turned to the room full of executives. "The meeting's over. Any follow - up matters, deal with my secretary." With that, she spun on her designer heels and strode out of the room. The secretary and the executives exchanged bewildered glances.
Zhou Ruobing never cut a meeting short like this. Her unprecedented behavior had everyone whispering and speculating. What on earth could be so urgent?
To avoid arousing Ye Long's suspicion about her true identity, Zhou Ruobing bypassed the private executive elevator and took the public one. As the elevator doors slid open, she stepped into the bustling lobby. Her steps came to an abrupt halt when her eyes landed on Ye Long, who was standing near the reception desk, scanning the room.
Relieved to see that he seemed unharmed, Zhou Ruobing walked towards him. Ye Long met her halfway and handed her a check. As she glanced at the amount, her perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up in shock. "Forty million? What's going on?"
Ye Long shrugged nonchalantly. "The extra ten million's interest. Li Zhaoming coughed it up."
"Ten million in interest?" Zhou Ruobing's eyes widened in disbelief. "How the hell did you pull that off?" The company's top debt - collection team had spent three long months chasing the debt, getting nowhere. And here he was, not only recovering the principal but also scoring an additional ten million in interest in a matter of hours!
"I was just about to tell you—" Ye Long began.
"Bingbing!" A shrill voice cut him off. They both turned to see a well - coiffed woman in a designer Chanel suit storming towards them. It was Zhou Ruobing's mother, Liu Hongxia.
"Mom? What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were feeling under the weather this morning?" Zhou Ruobing asked, clearly taken aback.
Liu Hongxia's face was livid. "Bingbing, did you send someone to collect the debt from Li Zhaoming?" she demanded.
Zhou Ruobing nodded warily. "Yeah. What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Liu Hongxia's nostrils flared. "That bastard Li Zhaoming just called and chewed me out! He's terminating all business with us!"
"Shit!" Zhou Ruobing cursed under her breath. Her eyes immediately darted to Ye Long. Ye Long's jaw tightened, and a dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. How dare that asshole pull a stunt like this after we left?
"Was it him?" Liu Hongxia followed Zhou Ruobing's gaze and sized up Ye Long.
Zhou Ruobing held out the check. "Mom, take a look at this."
Liu Hongxia snatched the check and recognized the company logo instantly. "Forty million? But they only owed us thirty million for the project!"
"Ye Long got him to cough up an extra ten million in interest," Zhou Ruobing explained.
"What?!" Liu Hongxia's eyes bulged. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Li Zhaoming was seething.
Zhou Ruobing's expression turned thunderous. "Ye Long, what the hell happened out there?"
Ye Long took a deep breath. "I brought a friend along. The manager at Li Zhaoming's place not only refused to cooperate but also ordered his goons to attack us. We had no choice but to fight back. Later, Li Zhaoming showed up with more thugs. They charged at us without a word. My friend and I had to defend ourselves. Once we took down his men, he handed over the money."
Zhou Ruobing's face turned beet - red. "Who gave you the green light to use violence? Didn't you stop to think about the consequences? If brute force worked, don't you think the company would've retrieved the debt months ago?"
Ye Long opened his mouth to defend himself. "You never said I couldn't—"
"Don't you dare talk back!" Zhou Ruobing snapped. First, he'd taken down Song Zhong, the third son of the Song family. Now, he'd managed to piss off the owner of a major company. He was like a ticking time - bomb!
Ye Long clamped his mouth shut. He didn't think he'd done anything wrong. If the other side had played nice, he wouldn't have resorted to force. But they'd been aggressive from the start. What else was he supposed to do?
Liu Hongxia's face was ashen. "Bingbing, how could you entrust this to him? Don't you realize we're in the middle of negotiating several high - profile projects with Ambition Development? And Li Zhaoming's a vindictive son of a bitch. He's going to come after us for sure..."
Zhou Ruobing was seething. She'd hoped to teach Ye Long a lesson, make him back off. Instead, he'd made a bad situation worse. Did he really think he could solve every problem with his fists? He was so naive!
Trying to diffuse the situation, Ye Long said, "Look, you two don't need to worry. I'm sure Li Zhaoming won't cause any more trouble. He won't dare to terminate the business."
His words had the opposite effect. Zhou Ruobing's eyes blazed with fury. Liu Hongxia's face turned a shade of purple.
"Shut the fuck up!!" they both screamed at the same time.
The receptionist and the nearby security guards, who'd been eavesdropping, jumped at the outburst. The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as the two women's anger radiated like a cold wave.
Ye Long knew when he was beat. As a low - level security guard, his words didn't carry any weight. "You've outstayed your welcome. Get lost!" Zhou Ruobing hissed, her eyes shooting daggers at him.
Ye Long nodded and turned to leave. Just then, outside the building, a black Mercedes screeched to a halt. The driver's door flew open, and Li Zhaoming, his face flushed and sweating profusely, stumbled out. Without bothering to close the door, he sprinted towards the entrance. A group of security guards noticed and gave chase.
Li Zhaoming burst into the showroom, his heavy footsteps echoing through the room. Just as the security guards were about to apprehend him, he spotted Liu Hongxia and Zhou Ruobing. "Chairman Liu!!" he bellowed.
The chasing security guards froze. Their eyes widened when they saw the two women. Li Zhaoming charged forward like a bull.
Liu Hongxia and Zhou Ruobing tensed up. They thought he was coming to settle the score.
"Security, stop him!!" Liu Hongxia shrieked.
Zhou Ruobing stepped in front of her mother, her fists clenched. "Li Zhaoming, what the hell do you think you're doing? If you so much as lay a finger on us, I'll—"
To their astonishment, Li Zhaoming dropped to his knees. Liu Hongxia, Zhou Ruobing, and the security guards stared at him, dumbfounded.