Chapter 296: Friend

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Half of Shi Lu’s body was leaning against the marble railing of the balcony. He tilted his head to look at the person who had arrived. Wearing a long white dress and with her gentle appearance, she looked out of place.

He smiled and said, “Wang Ying, it’s you again.”

Wang Ying reached out to take the wine beside Shi Lu’s hand, but Shi Lu dodged her. After he turned around and leaned his back against the balcony, he propped up half of his body on the marble railing and said, “You never drink, so why did you snatch my wine?”

Wang Ying imitated his posture and leaned back. Then, she raised her head slightly to look at the sky of the city. There wasn’t even a single star, only darkness.

“Alcohol numbs people’s nerves and affect my hands, so 1 won’t be able to make the best embroidery if 1 drink.” After Wang Ying paused, she added, “But today, 1 want to experience what it feels like to be drunk.”

Shi Lu turned to look at her and asked, “Why did you come to this banquet?”

Wang Ying rarely attended any banquets. Everyone said that Wang Ying was a nerd who only knew how to embroider.

Therefore, she was also an anomaly, like Shi Lu.

Wang Ying asked, “Then why are you here?”

Shi Lu laughed self-deprecatingly. “I’ve never been absent from any upper society events.”

Shi Lu was born before his mother married into the Shi family, so he was treated as an illegitimate child of the Shi family and had never been acknowledged by the Shi family. Therefore, he insisted on attending all the banquets, since he wanted everyone to know that there was a child called Shi Lu in the Shi family. Later on, it was Yuan Shu who gave Shi Lu a legitimate status and everyone started to value him.

Wang Ying pretended to be relaxed and said, “I heard from my sister that a piece of good fabric will appear at the banquet, so I’m here to look at the fabric.”

“I don’t believe you.” Shi Lu said with certainty.

After a moment of silence, Wang Ying said in a dispirited tone, “I found out about a family’s secret and find it hard to accept, so I wanted to see how you survive in this place.”

Shi Lu smiled flippantly. “So you’re here to see me.”

Wang Ying pretended to be angry and scolded, “How narcissistic.” However, she was obviously in a better mood.

The two of them didn’t say anything else and simply stood on the balcony silently as each other’s companion. At this moment, the room was noisy, but they hid in the dark to console each other.

On the other side, Shi Xiao sat down beside Li Ci. He had a smile on his face, but his gaze was cold as he probed, “I didn’t know you were interested in software companies.”

Shi Xiao and Li Ci were business partners for many years. The two of them helped each other and had a mutually beneficial relationship.

However, Shi Xiao felt that Li Ci seemed to want to end this relationship and his ambition had already expanded. What the Shi family could give him could no longer satisfy his ambition.

It didn’t feel good to be betrayed by an ally.

However, Shi Xiao couldn’t do anything to Li Ci. After ail, Li Ci had the support of the political world, so Shi Xiao had scruples.

Li Ci didn’t intend to hide it and said, “Since Gao Shan left, I have to invest my money in another company. Chen Chen’s software company has potential to develop, so I’m quite optimistic about it.”

Shi Xiao swirled his wine glass and said aloofly, “Oh, I heard that a while ago, Chen Chen’s software company was officially renamed Stars Software Company and listed on the market. Congratulations.”

With that, Shi Xiao raised his glass to toast Chen Chen. Chen Chen also raised his glass politely in return. “Compared to the Shi Corporation’s software, we’re still far behind. I heard that Yuan An is preparing to go public. How’s the preparation going?”

Shi Xiao clinked glasses with Chen Chen, but didn’t drink the wine in it. It was obvious that he was trying to embarrass Chen Chen.

He frowned slightly, as if he was very troubled. “There’s still room for improvement regarding technology. I’m adjusting it.”

After saying that, the few of them didn’t speak. There was tension in the air, and everyone’s words were filled with probing and aggression.

Finally, Chen Chen put down the wine glass that he had finished and stood up as he said, “I’m going over there to say hello to some people. 1 won’t accompany you guys anymore.”

Then, he pulled Chen Lu away, leaving only Shi Xiao, Li Ci, and Li Ran.

After the outsider left, Shi Xiao became even more straightforward and asked directly, “Brother Li, do you want to end the cooperation?”

The two of them were once friends who knew each other very well. At this moment, there was no need to pretend anymore. Li Ci said indifferently, “1 think you know very well that our cooperation is lacking in sincerity..”