The Wife From the Contract Marriage Does Not Want to Get Divorced - Chapter 18

Lu Hongyi and Director Liu left the meeting room with a spring in their step. Lu Yanqing had originally intended to stay behind, as Xie Mingyuan looked so furious he seemed ready to tear someone apart.

Just then, her phone vibrated on the desk. It was a message from Xie Siyu.

“Thank you. I can handle the rest from here.”

“I want to eat crab roe buns from Yun shan Restaurant for lunch. (^_^)”

The moment Lu Yanqing picked up the phone, the facial recognition unlocked the screen automatically. Seeing the content of Xie Siyu’s message especially that cute emoticon at the end a faint smile flickered in Lu Yanqing’s eyes.

She replied with a simple “Okay” before picking up her laptop and pen to stand up. Just as she took a step, she felt a lingering sense of unease. She spoke in a gentle tone, “I’ll wait for you at the door.”

As the heavy doors of the meeting room closed, the atmosphere remained stifling.

With no outsiders present, Xie Zhiyao seemed to regain her confidence. She slammed her hand on the table and stood up. “Xie Siyu! Weren’t you quite the talker last night? Why have you turned into a mute today? Closing five Elis stores… the company’s current situation will only go from bad to worse—”

Xie Mingyuan loosened his tie, which felt like it was strangling him. His face, usually flushed from years of social drinking, was now a deep shade of liver-purple. However, having spent over sixty years in the business world, he had seen every kind of monster imaginable. Retaining a shred of rationality, he asked in a low voice, “Now that Lu Yanqing is back, are the other directors of the Lu Group forcing you to hand over the position of CEO?”

The attitudes of Lu Hongyi and Liu Guoming just now had made everything clear. If Xie Siyu stepped down as CEO, the future of the Xie family… would be grim.

This time, Xie Siyu did not dodge. She met Xie Mingyuan’s calculating gaze directly and recounted the intentions of Lu Hongyi and the others, adding a bit of oil to the fire.

With a deep frown and a look of great difficulty, she said, “Dad, you know I’m only the acting CEO. This position originally belonged to Lu Yanqing. If she wants it back, how can I say a single word against it?”

Xie Zhiyao didn’t understand the complexities of the situation. To her, it simply looked like Xie Siyu was siding with outsiders and refusing to help. “Dad, look at her attitude! Maybe she’s doing this on purpose.”

“Shut up!”

Xie Mingyuan sternly interrupted his younger daughter’s instigation. At this point, the goal was to find a way out of the deadlock, not to engage in infighting. “You’ve spent three years hacking through thorns at the Lu Group. Lu Yanqing has to give you at least some face.”

Ignoring Xie Zhiyao’s cold glare, Xie Siyu lowered her eyelids slightly. She unscrewed her fountain pen, and the tip traced mindless wavy lines across the store closure documents.

“Dad, you should focus your energy on next month’s exhibition. I will secure the best position for Elis.”

In the end, the Lu Group’s surname was not Xie.

Xie Mingyuan also understood Xie Siyu’s lack of power. Over the last three years, she had sat in that position and secured many benefits for the Xie family.

Clutching the store closure documents that Lu Yanqing had signed, a calculating look appeared in his eyes. “As long as you and Lu Yanqing aren’t divorced, you still have a say in the Lu Group. Bring her back to the old manor for dinner tonight.”

“By my count, you’ve been married for nearly three years, yet she has never come to the house for a meal. From a standpoint of etiquette, it’s unacceptable.”

Xie Siyu’s finger brushed the rim of her ceramic cup. She neither agreed nor refused. “I’ll ask her about her schedule later.”

“You certainly know how to play the ‘good person’!”

Seeing her father leave, Xie Zhiyao grabbed her bag from her seat and jogged to catch up. As she passed Xie Siyu, her foundation couldn’t hide the distorted expression on her face. “What are you acting for? Back then, you were clearly the one begging to marry Lu—”

Slap—

The slap Xie Mingyuan failed to deliver to Xie Zhiyao this morning finally landed now. Xie Mingyuan had overheard his younger daughter talking nonsense again. This was the Lu Group; there were surveillance cameras in the meeting room!

“You fool, stop provoking your sister.”

Xie Zhiyao’s tears fell instantly. It was from pain, but also from shame. Clutching her cheek, her eyes were filled with shock and fear.

Her father had actually hit her right in front of Xie Siyu?

Overcome with shame and anger, she pushed Xie Mingyuan aside and stormed out of the meeting room.

Xie Mingyuan was left standing there, feeling awkward and embarrassed. “Your sister is immature, don’t hold it against her. Elis will still need to rely on you in the future.”

Xie Siyu sat with her back to Xie Mingyuan, not turning around to witness the farce. she gave a low “Mhm” in response.

In her deep eyes, the gaze was as cold as ice.

Endure a little longer. Now is not the time. Besides, my mother’s belongings are still in Xie Mingyuan’s hands.

“Are you… okay?”

Lu Yanqing had been on the phone in the hallway outside making a restaurant reservation. Just as she finished the call, she saw Xie Zhiyao run out clutching her face. Worried that Xie Siyu was being bullied, she ignored her usual upbringing and pushed the door open without permission.

She moved so quickly she nearly collided with Xie Mingyuan as he was leaving.

“President Lu, I’ll take my leave then. You two talk.”

Xie Mingyuan rubbed his nose awkwardly as he retreated. He should have been angry about Elis closing five stores, but there was no room for maneuver now.

At the very least, he had confirmed one thing: Lu Yanqing’s attitude toward Siyu was not devoid of emotion.

If that were the case, the Xie family could still be saved.

Unfortunately, Xie Mingyuan had no idea. It wasn’t that Lu Yanqing was refusing to give the Xie family a way out it was that Xie Siyu was intent on destroying them.

Xie Siyu turned at the sound of her voice. She didn’t miss the flash of worry in Lu Yanqing’s eyes, and a sudden wave of warmth flooded her heart. She spoke softly, “I’m fine. Xie Mingyuan getting physical in front of me was nothing more than a disguised warning.”

She didn’t mention a word about going back to the Xie manor for dinner tonight.

Every family has its own skeletons. Lu Yanqing still had a rift with her biological mother, let alone a father like Xie’s, who had remarried and had another daughter. Looking at his style of doing things and the way the mother-daughter duo of Zhou Jing had treated Xie Siyu over the years, one could see how biased the father was.

“In the future, if there’s anything difficult, let me handle it.”

She wasn’t a member of the Xie family and didn’t need to care about Xie Mingyuan’s face. Lu Yanqing walked to Xie Siyu’s side.

Her peripheral vision caught the signed store closure documents on the table. She joked half-seriously, “Come to think of it, for the closures to go this smoothly, Second Uncle and Director Liu deserve a lot of credit.”

8:00 PM, Blue Note.

Lu Yanqing sat alone in a booth peeling an orange. That afternoon, Xie Siyu had some business and left the group two hours early. As for why Lu Yanqing hadn’t gone home after work but instead came to a quiet bar, it was because Zhong Wanyi had bombarded her with four or five phone calls.

“You come here and eat oranges instead of drinking?”

Zhong Wanyi clinked glasses with tonight’s birthday girl and turned back to see Lu Yanqing sitting alone in the shadows. Some girls nearby wanted to go over and strike up a conversation, but seeing the wedding ring on her ring finger, they hesitated and stayed away.

Lu Yanqing’s voice was lazy. “Boring.”

If she had known, she would have just gone back to the apartment.

She didn’t know what Xie Siyu was up to; she hadn’t even replied to her WeChat.

Seemingly seeing that Lu Yanqing was preoccupied, Zhong Wanyi shoved a cocktail into her hand. “Don’t make that face. You’re the only one in this room who’s married.”

She, on the other hand, was still a “single dog.”

However, thinking about how Lu Yanqing and Xie Siyu were in a business marriage and likely had no feelings for each other, she couldn’t help but be curious. “Tell me the truth, how do you plan to handle your relationship with Xie Siyu? Will you get a divorce?”

Lu Yanqing set the wine glass back on the coffee table. She meticulously peeled the white pith off the orange segments and popped one into her mouth, remaining silent as if she were seriously considering it.

“Say something! Don’t be so mysterious you can’t even tell me?”

Zhong Wanyi nudged Lu Yanqing’s arm with her elbow, her heart itching with curiosity.

Lu Yanqing was helpless. “It’s not that I’m keeping it from you.”

Thinking of the conversation she and Xie Siyu had in the apartment that night, she hesitated for a long time before continuing, “The girl Xie Siyu had a crush on got married. She said it herself.”

Zhong Wanyi was a bit dazed. “So?”

Lu Yanqing’s curled eyelashes flickered. This time she didn’t eat an orange; instead, she drank the entire cocktail. As the cold liquid hit her stomach, it was the first time she felt uncomfortable.

Even though it was the same drink she usually liked.

Feeling inexplicably irritable, she said, “Stop asking.”

She couldn’t even figure out what Xie Siyu meant herself, so how was she supposed to explain it?

Zhong Wanyi was speechless.

Her phone, which she had tossed into the corner of the sofa, kept dinging. She picked it up and saw that a group chat had 68 new messages.

[Breaking News: The Xianxia drama “God’s Fall” that Su Man is filming has had a massive amount of her scenes cut by the screenwriter. She’s also being bullied by the director and male actors. Photos and videos attached.]

[Image] [Image] [Video File]

No way, she’s a Best Actress winner and she’s getting her role snatched by a newcomer? People would laugh their heads off if word got out.

President Zou of Xinghai Entertainment is Su Man’s girlfriend, right? Hasn’t President Zou been promoting her all these years? Could they have really broken up?

Look at Su Man in the video, she looks so miserable. Her hands are purple from the cold.

In just three years, she became a top-tier A-list artist. Who knows how much money that President Zou poured into her.

All I can say is the entertainment industry is deep…

Zhong Wanyi clicked on the video. In the clip, Su Man was filming a scene where she had to fall into water, and you could even see ice blocks floating on the surface. Even though she wasn’t Su Man’s fan, she found it hard to watch.

“I remember you even asked me to investigate Xinghai Entertainment back then. If I hadn’t met the behind-the-scenes boss of Xinghai six months ago, I would have thought it was your handiwork.”

Lu Yanqing was confused. “What?”

“Su Man’s agency.”

Su Man was able to become a top star within three years all because that President Zou of Xinghai spent money to push her. Zhong Wanyi pursed her lips unhappily; her own idol, Weiwei, didn’t have such good luck.

Lu Yanqing glanced at the phone screen. The group chat was still discussing it, and the content caused her to frown slightly. She gave a serious reminder, “Don’t talk nonsense. It ended between her and me a long time ago.”

When she and Su Man were dating, their biggest fight seemed to be because Su Man wanted to audition for a certain role.

Lu Yanqing happened to know the producer of that show. In the end, because she was too busy with work, Su Man missed the audition and lost the role she loved.

To make it up to her later, Lu Yanqing decided to acquire an entertainment company. However, just a few days before the signing, she witnessed Su Man cheating on her at a mall.

The acquisition plan was ultimately scrapped.

“Fine, I won’t say it.”

Zhong Wanyi exited WeChat, crossed her legs, and rested her chin on one hand, watching the people playing games in the distance.

When she looked back at her side, Lu Yanqing had a slight smile on her lips. Who sent her a message?

The smile was so bright it was almost blinding.

A friend said they saw you at Blue Note. Are you almost finished?

I’m at the door, waiting to go home together.

The contact name at the top of the chat read: Miss Xie.

Zhong Wanyi opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, someone stood up. “Xie Siyu is here to pick me up. I’m heading out first.”

What’s so great about having a wife pick you up?

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