The Subtle Seduction of My Ex-Girlfriend’s Aunt - Chapter 35.1

Chapter 35.1: Song Zhixu’s Gaze Toward Her Was Definitely Not Pure…

Tang Ran froze completely the moment she saw those lines of text.

Song Zhixu had approached her intentionally! All for the sake of the 5% of Song Corporation shares in her hands.

Song Wuqi had approached her for the shares; she hadn’t expected Song Zhixu to have the exact same goal.

Heh!

In her previous life, she had been tricked by Song Wuqi into signing the equity transfer. In exchange, the Tang Group went bankrupt, her mother committed suicide by jumping into the sea, and her other mother, unable to bear the blow, died in a car accident. In this life, she had seen through Song Wuqi, only to nearly fall into Song Zhixu’s trap.

In an instant, an endless chill spread through Tang Ran, freezing her hands and feet. Why?! Why did they have to treat her like this?! Did she look like such an easy-to-fool idiot? Time after time! One after another! First Song Wuqi, now Song Zhixu! What gave them the right?!

Tang Ran clenched her fists, anger roaring in her heart. She wanted to confront Song Zhixu immediately. If she wanted the equity, she could have just said so; as long as the chips were right, Tang Ran wasn’t obsessed with holding onto those shares. Someone as smart as Song Zhixu had plenty of peaceful ways to get them.

Why did she have to choose deception, just like Song Wuqi?

That day in the car, when Song Zhixu said she would help her, her expression had seemed so sincere. Tang Ran had almost believed her—she wanted to believe her.

Her steps slowed as she took a deep breath, suppressing her fury. Right now, she hadn’t even dealt with Song Wuqi yet; she couldn’t afford to tear faces with Song Zhixu. Besides… she hadn’t fully trusted Song Zhixu to begin with.

Tang Ran exhaled slowly. Yes, she hadn’t trusted her, so Song Zhixu hadn’t succeeded in tricking her yet. She was no longer the fool from her previous life. If Song Zhixu was approaching her with an agenda, wasn’t she doing the same?

Leaning her palm against the wall, Tang Ran fought to steady her breathing. She loosened her fists, put the notebook back where it belonged, and strode out of the study. She wouldn’t confront her now, but she didn’t want to stay in this house for a single second longer.

Song Zhixu was still on the phone with a partner. Hearing the noise, she turned to look at Tang Ran. Tang Ran kept her eyes lowered, avoiding eye contact, and said stiffly, “Something came up. I won’t be looking at the course materials today.”

Without waiting for a reaction, she walked straight to the foyer. She was afraid that if she looked one more time, she would lose her temper.

Song Zhixu was taken aback. She told the person on the phone to wait and called out, “Tang Ran.”

Tang Ran’s figure paused for a moment, but she didn’t stop. She opened the door and left.

Click. The door closed.

A frown formed between Song Zhixu’s brows. Tang Ran’s behavior was too abnormal. It was just like that time in the car—she could feel a sense of hostility radiating from her. It had only been ten minutes since Tang Ran entered the study; what could have happened in that time to make her so angry?

After a few brief words with her partner, Song Zhixu hung up and dialed Assistant Jiang.

“What is Manager Song doing right now?”

Startled by the sudden question about Song Wuqi, Assistant Jiang quickly recovered. “One moment.” She made a quick call to track Song Wuqi’s whereabouts.

“Ahem,” Assistant Jiang phrased her report carefully. “The Haojiang Hotel, with Assistant Ye.”

As expected. Every time Tang Ran lost control of her emotions, it was because of Song Wuqi.

Song Zhixu hung up, her gaze falling on the cartoon cup on the coffee table. After a moment, she sighed softly and dialed Song Wuqi.

At the Hotel.

In the dim room, the temperature was rising. Ye Xiaoyu gripped Song Wuqi’s shoulders, her eyes growing hazy.

Buzz— Buzz—

The vibration of the phone shattered the romantic atmosphere. Seeing the screen, Song Wuqi immediately stopped to grab the phone. Ye Xiaoyu pulled at her with tearful eyes, not wanting her to get up.

Song Wuqi patted her hand. “It’s my aunt.”

Ye Xiaoyu bit her lip and reluctantly let go.

“Little Aunt,” Song Wuqi answered, her voice raspy.

Song Zhixu unscrewed the cartoon water cup, walked to the water dispenser, and asked coolly, “What are you doing?”

Song Wuqi panicked, instinctively looking at Ye Xiaoyu before quickly steadying herself with a lie. “At home, organizing materials for the central kitchen project.”

“I see. Did you see the emails sent by Marketing and R&D last month?” Song Zhixu’s voice was indifferent. She tapped the dispenser screen; after the sound of running water, the cup was full again.

“I saw them.” Song Wuqi pushed Ye Xiaoyu’s hand away and sat up, rubbing her temples. She had a bad feeling; she shouldn’t have mentioned the central kitchen project.

Song Zhixu took a sip of the honey water and set it down, her brow relaxing slightly. “When can the preliminary plan be delivered?”

The central kitchen had five production lines. One was a meat processing collaboration with the Tang Group, and the other four were managed by the Song Group. The first phase of the factory was expected to start production by year-end, but the specific categories and suppliers hadn’t been finalized.

Song Wuqi had been so focused on the ancient city development project in Chengdu that she had sidelined this. She wanted to use the real estate project to prove herself to her grandfather.

“I can confirm it today,” Song Wuqi gritted out. She couldn’t delay any longer now that her aunt had asked.

The next morning, Tang Ran went straight home and didn’t return to Shengming Mansion. She was afraid that if she saw Song Zhixu, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from asking why she was lying to her.

For the next two days, she didn’t go back, nor did she text Song Zhixu about the remaining course materials. Similarly, Song Zhixu sent her no messages.

On Friday, Tang Ran attended a Young Entrepreneurs Exchange with Miao Tiantian. With Miao Tiantian, the “networking queen,” Tang Ran’s contact list grew at a frantic pace. She saw Song Zhixu there, but they were across a crowded hall. Song Zhixu was a guest speaker on a panel; Tang Ran caught a glimpse of her from the door and left.

Sunday.

A popular band was performing at ‘He’. To avoid the crowds, Tang Ran and Miao Tiantian used the VIP entrance. As fate would have it, while waiting for friends, they ran into Sun Jiaojiao and her “cronies.”

Sun Jiaojiao flashed the same smug smile she’d had at the expo. Seeing that expression, Tang Ran remembered something. She pulled Miao Tiantian aside and whispered a few words. Miao Tiantian nodded and gave an “OK” sign.

“Some people really have no manners. In such a big hall, they just have to block the doorway,” a snide voice came from beside them. It was Lin Man, one of Sun Jiaojiao’s friends.

“Lin Man, how many pounds of dog food does Sun Jiaojiao feed you every day to make you work this hard?” Miao Tiantian shot back.

“Miao Tiantian, what do you mean?!” Lin Man’s voice shrieked.

“What do I mean? Exactly what you think I mean. Why ask if you understood?” Miao Tiantian rolled her eyes.

Lin Man lunged at her, but Tang Ran pulled Miao Tiantian back just in time. “Woah! You’re so vicious,” Miao Tiantian gasped. She looked at Sun Jiaojiao. “Sun Jiaojiao, you’re so irresponsible. You should keep your dog on a leash when you go out.”

Sun Jiaojiao stood with her arms crossed, acting as if it were none of her business.

“Miao Tiantian, I’ll kill you!”

Tang Ran stepped in front of Miao Tiantian. She ignored Lin Man and faced Sun Jiaojiao coldly. “Sun Jiaojiao, do you want us all to be on the Jiangcheng headlines today?”

The threat was clear. If Sun Jiaojiao let Lin Man keep acting crazy, Tang Ran would blow the incident up. Sun Jiaojiao was a hypocrite who did dirty things but cared deeply about her “model youth” public image.

“Manman,” Sun Jiaojiao pulled Lin Man back, saying pointedly, “You’re the third miss of the Lin family. Why get angry at someone with no upbringing?”

Miao Tiantian’s parents had died when she was young. Sun Jiaojiao knew exactly how to poke that wound. Miao Tiantian’s face changed as she clenched her fists.

Lin Man sneered, “I hear your cousin is about to marry into the Jin family.” In the eyes of Sun and Lin, Miao Tiantian was being phased out of the family business and would soon be irrelevant.

Tang Ran squeezed Miao Tiantian’s fist, giving her a reassuring look. She stepped forward. “Upbringing? Encouraging others to bully classmates, taking nude photos of them, and driving them to suicide… is that the ‘excellent’ upbringing of the Sun family?”

Eight years ago, a student at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School committed suicide. The news said it was academic pressure, but in reality, she had been bullied by Sun Jiaojiao. The Sun family used their power to suppress the truth.

“Should I hire someone to film a documentary about this ‘good upbringing’ to help promote the Sun family?” Tang Ran asked.

Sun Jiaojiao panicked for a second but quickly steadied herself. “Tang Ran, what nonsense are you talking about?” The evidence was long gone.

“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you know best. Heaven is watching. You haven’t been punished yet only because the time hasn’t come.”

Tang Ran’s cold, deep gaze made Sun Jiaojiao falter. It felt less like a threat and more like a prophecy.

“Stop trying to play the mystic,” Sun Jiaojiao stepped back. “You should spend more time thinking about how to manage your company.” She had recently poached two more clients from the Tang Group.

“Don’t worry about us,” Tang Ran smiled faintly. “Compared to us, Shengtang needs to manage its employees better. It’s quite inefficient to work so hard just to grab low-profit orders.”

Shengtang poached by slashing prices—a tactic that only attracted bottom-tier clients. It hurt Tang Group’s volume, but Shengtang wasn’t making money either.

“You’d better keep thinking that way,” Sun Jiaojiao sneered.

“We’ll see. All you’re good at is signing suppliers in advance!” Tang Ran acted confident. As Sun Jiaojiao took the bait, Tang Ran added fuel to the fire: “Sun Jiaojiao, if you like Song Wuqi, have the guts to snatch her openly. Stop with the petty tricks behind my back.”

Sun Jiaojiao’s face darkened instantly.

“Oh wow! So that’s why you’ve been bothering Ranran? You have a crush on Song Wuqi?” Miao Tiantian teased loudly. “Tsk tsk, have you liked her for a long time? Are you too insecure to tell her? Do you feel like you can’t compete with Ranran?”

Miao Tiantian scanned Sun Jiaojiao. “True, you’re not as pretty as Ranran, and your family business is smaller. It’s normal to be too insecure to confess.”

In reality, Sun Jiaojiao had confessed and been rejected. Song Wuqi had turned her down and immediately gotten with Tang Ran. Sun Jiaojiao’s “classy” facade crumbled, her eyes turning predatory.

Tang Ran felt a surge of satisfaction. She had achieved her goal. Of the Sun sisters, Sun Xiao was loud and stupid, while Sun Jiaojiao was a snake who, in the previous life, eventually hooked up with Song Wuqi using underhanded means.

At that moment, the crowd surged as the performance was about to start. As Sun Jiaojiao brushed past, Tang Ran whispered one last provocation: “Whether it’s clients or Song Wuqi—as long as I don’t want to let go, you can’t take a single thing!”

Sun Jiaojiao glared at her with eyes full of jealousy. “We’ll see!”

Inside the VIP lounge, Miao Tiantian suddenly grabbed Tang Ran’s arm and hid behind her. “Why is she here?!”

Tang Ran turned to see a woman with signature wavy hair, striking features, and a deep-V crimson dress that accentuated her curves. She was bold and glamorous.

“Don’t look, don’t look,” Miao Tiantian whispered. “It’s my picky client.”

“Murong Yi is your picky client?” Tang Ran was stunned.

“You know her?”

“Song Zhixu’s friend.”

Miao Tiantian: “…” The world is tiny.

In the private room, more friends arrived. Miao Tiantian had invited about a dozen people. Aside from networking, she wanted to see if Tang Ran would hit it off with anyone “mature and intellectual.” She had invited several women of that type.

Upstairs in the office, Murong Yi was looking at the group photos on her feed. Miao Tiantian “had no time” for her, yet she had time for this massive party.

She scrolled through the photos and paused, zooming in. The lighting was dim, but the next photo was clear.

“Old Song, look. Is this Tang Ran?”

With a look of mischief, Murong Yi held her phone up to Song Zhixu. “The VP of Nemi Tech, the second miss of Xinrou Paper, the heiress of Jinmei Appliances… if I recall correctly, these are all single. This looks like a matchmaking session, doesn’t it?”

Song Zhixu took one look and returned her gaze to her tablet.

“Come on, Old Song. Do you actually have feelings for this girl or not?” Murong Yi couldn’t read her.

A few days ago, under pressure, Song Zhixu had told Murong Yi how she’d become close to Tang Ran. Murong Yi’s first reaction was that Tang Ran was approaching her intentionally. Song Zhixu had been non-committal. She had sensed it long ago but didn’t feel any malice, so she hadn’t avoided her. She told Murong Yi she wanted to see what Tang Ran was after.

But Murong Yi didn’t believe her. Song Zhixu was gentle, but she wasn’t the type to be nice to just anyone.

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