Chapter 108: Six Million

“Speak,” Qin Miaoyu said coldly. “What kind of cooperation do you want, Mr. Li?”

Li Deyong smiled again. “Actually, it’s not just cooperation. More than anything, I want to lend Miss Qin a hand and achieve a win-win-win for all three parties.”

“Three-way win?”

“Of course. The Li family, the Lu family, and you.”

“All right. Then tell me what the cooperation is.”

Hearing the faint impatience in her tone, Li Deyong felt that everything was already within his grasp.

He took out a check and placed it before Qin Miaoyu, motioning for her to have a look.

Qin Miaoyu picked it up. It was for one million.

She looked at Li Deyong. “And what exactly does Mr. Li mean by this?”

“Just a token of sincerity. Miss Qin, please accept it without worry.”

Qin Miaoyu set the check back on the table.

The whole scene was strangely amusing. Perhaps she had read too many novels in which the female lead was shoved a check by the male lead’s family. She had never expected that one day, someone who wanted something from Lu Qianan would actually try to buy her off with money.

“Tell me what it is.”

Li Deyong, who had been slightly surprised to see her return the check to the table, smiled again.

“Miss Qin, I have a very promising project here. But because of the previous two projects the Lu Group cut off from cooperation with the Li family, President Lu is not very willing to continue working with us. So I wanted to ask you to put in a good word for us. If it goes through, there’s more to come—this much.”

Li Deyong held up five fingers and pointed at the check.

Qin Miaoyu understood. He meant another five million once it was done.

“Since Mr. Li can offer me such generous compensation, I imagine the project’s profits are indeed considerable. In that case, why not simply take the proposal directly to the younger President Lu? As long as he sees the profit, I’m sure cooperation would be an easy matter.”

Li Deyong gave a wry smile. “That was my original thought too. But my mother went to see Madam Lu earlier, and because of that, the younger President Lu has become unwilling to hear me out. Even though I assured him the profits would be impressive, he still wouldn’t agree to let me send the proposal over for him to look at.”

“But if I convince the younger President Lu to read your proposal and he still doesn’t like it, what then? He might even blame me for it. Losing a million and making an enemy of the younger President Lu would hardly be worth it, would it?”

“Miss Qin, I can guarantee you this: the profit is such that once the younger President Lu sees it, he will absolutely be tempted. You don’t need to worry about this failing. If the proposal really reaches the younger President Lu’s hands, he may even thank you for it. From then on, Miss Qin will truly have secured her place by the younger President Lu’s side.”

These words were not, in fact, Li Deyong’s attempt to trick Qin Miaoyu. To him, things really were this way. The only wife who could bring him genuine benefit would always be his own wife, while the wildflowers outside were merely for amusement. If one of them ever danced too close to his wife and upset her, he would simply replace her at once.

Qin Miaoyu did not know what Li Deyong was thinking, so she naturally remained wholly skeptical of his words.

“So you do not think I have secured my place already?”

“Miss Qin, people say a man’s willingness to spend money on you is true love. But think about it yourself—how much has the younger President Lu actually spent on you? Matters that can be solved with money are nothing to him, yet if he cannot even spare this little effort for you, how will that do?”

Li Deyong could tell that the clothes Qin Miaoyu wore and the handbag in her hand were not from any major luxury brand. The younger President Lu was not even willing to spend much money on her, so clearly he did not value her all that much.

Even better. A woman this closely connected to the younger President Lu would be easier to hook.

Qin Miaoyu’s thoughts turned over several times, and in the end she did not take the check.

“Take the money back for now, Mr. Li. One should not accept rewards without merit. If I truly get through to the younger President Lu, you can give it to me then. Keeping it now would only make it burn my hands, wouldn’t it?”

Li Deyong beamed. “Very well, very well. Miss Qin, do speak to the younger President Lu about this. If it succeeds, I, personally, will present you with six million with both hands!”

Back at the studio, Qin Miaoyu called Lu Qianan.

By then, Lu Qianan had just reached the front desk of his company. Seeing that it was Qin Miaoyu calling, he answered with a broad smile, startling the employees who saw him. After all, the Lu President they were used to was usually stern-faced and commanding; they had hardly ever seen him smile so gently.

Everyone immediately began to speculate.

Lu Qianan did not notice any of it at all. While listening to Qin Miaoyu speak, he headed into the elevator.

“That second young master of the Li family came to find me. He said he wanted to cooperate with you and asked me to help smooth things over. He also said that once you saw the profits in the proposal, you would definitely agree. What do you want me to tell him?”

Lu Qianan’s face darkened at once. “He came looking for you again?”

The last time the younger Li brother had come to him, it was again about discussing cooperation. He had no intention of working with the Li family again, but since outright refusal might send them running to Grandpa again, he had only given a few ambiguous responses.

No wonder they had not pestered him as much as before. So they had another plan.

“Don’t rush.”

Qin Miaoyu’s voice was soft and gentle, and that alone eased much of Lu Qianan’s anger.

“I told him I would ask you and see what your position was. If it succeeds, he said he would give me six million...”

Lu Qianan frowned. Six million?

The younger Li brother had always been miserly. It was said that even with his longtime companions, his most generous gesture had only been a few hundred thousand at most.

Even with the amount of help Grandpa had given their mother and son over the years, the birthday gifts he sent on Grandpa’s birthdays had never exceeded two hundred thousand, and then he would go on to cry poverty before Grandpa.

And now he was offering six million without blinking. Something about that was off.

“Tell him to send over the proposal.”

Qin Miaoyu was startled. “Lu Qianan, that younger Li brother is clearly up to no good. Even if the profits in that proposal are truly tempting, there’s bound to be some other trap in it. Are you sure you want to look at it?”

“Yes. This is unusual. I want to see what tricks he’s hiding in that proposal.”

Since Lu Qianan had other plans, Qin Miaoyu did not say more. She was just about to hang up when Lu Qianan asked what she had been doing at noon.

Thinking of Chen Anxin, she grew curious and asked a few more questions about Chen Anxin and Assistant Gu.

But Lu Qianan knew very little about that matter as well.

The two of them had been carrying on under his nose, and he had not even noticed at first. By the time he found out, they were already preparing to marry.

He asked why they had not told him sooner, and his cousin answered with perfect righteousness that he had been sunk in the sorrow of heartbreak, and that if the two of them had been all over each other in front of him, it would only have made him jealous.