Chapter Eighty-Nine: You Are the Only Exception

In the car on the way back, she calmly announced her decision. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to sell that piece of land anymore. I should have told Zhou Yanting, but telling you directly amounts to the same thing now.”

He had guessed as much before they came, so he showed no surprise, only murmuring to himself, “That was exactly what I was afraid of, so I didn’t make it plain. Who would have thought…”

“If you had told me the truth from the start, all this today could have been avoided.”

He asked, “If I had simply given you the money outright, would you have taken it? I only didn’t want you to live so hard a life. But if I say that now, does it sound unbearably insincere?”

“Lin Shuo said the same thing too. He said you got close to me only for that piece of land.”

Xi Mintang’s hands trembled on the steering wheel, and he turned to glance at her. She went on, “It isn’t that I wasn’t shocked, but I didn’t believe him. If I’m not mistaken, the price you offered me should have been much higher than anyone else’s. I don’t suppose that has anything to do with some extravagant compensation for using me and then feeling guilty.”

That was how she was: infuriatingly foolish when she was foolish, yet dauntingly sharp when she was clever. Perhaps some things truly were ruled by fate. Back then, the master of the Golden Hall, Wu Sangui, had flown into a rage for the sake of a beauty; and he, Xi Mintang, had happened to witness her weeping bitterly on the mountain behind the Golden Hall. After hearing all the misfortunes she had suffered, he had abandoned the firm stance a businessman ought to have and chosen to favor her instead. Because of that, the project had been delayed, and in the end he had been forced into a dangerous, unorthodox move.

“Can you tell me what happened afterward?” she asked, desperate to know what had driven Lin Shuo into such furious exasperation.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road and, in a quiet corner of the night, told her everything from beginning to end.

“I came from Shanghai to Kunming for this project. If I handled it well, I’d earn myself a merit; if I ruined it, I might never be able to return to headquarters again. From the first day I arrived in Kunming, I knew exactly what my goal was. In a sense, I was just like you: I could only move forward, never retreat. So I began to make a complete plan.”

“Was I part of that plan?” she interrupted. Every project had its point of breakthrough, and she had been the weakest link.

“No.” He denied it with absolute firmness. “You were the only accident.” In the darkness, the lone streetlamp burning in the alley had drawn swarms of insects, their wings flickering as they hurled themselves toward it without hesitation. It too was a warm and beautiful accident.

She said nothing, and he continued.

“The day I ran into you, I had just gotten hold of the information on every owner of the flower nurseries. When you told me your name was Ni Xiaoxiao, my eyes lit up at once. I thought heaven itself had handed me an opportunity. Yes, I did weigh the matter in terms of profit, but later I realized it was something that could benefit us both.” He turned and gently covered her hand with his. “What’s more, I found that I had already fallen for you beyond saving.”

Her fingers trembled a few times. It was not that she doubted the depth of his feelings; it was simply that she had not heard such words of love in a very long time, and she could not steady herself at once. Yet that tiny shiver also laid bare her own heart. He lowered his eyes, a sour ache lingering within him. He did not know whether it was because it was his first time tasting Dai cuisine.

He withdrew his hand and sat up straight. “What I never expected most was that Maoyuan would suddenly join in and completely disrupt the whole arrangement I had laid out. There was no help for it. In terms of capital, my budget could never compete with Lin Shuo’s. But I couldn’t afford to lose either.”

“So you asked Shundu to help?”

“Dragging Shundu into the water was a last resort. They were only there as decoration; they never truly wanted that piece of land. In other words, they were there to muddy the waters. As long as Li Qingjiang was out front tangling with Lin Shuo, I would have time to come up with a new plan. Once they had fought each other to the bitter end, I would step in and clean up the mess.”