Chapter 52

As Qin Jing had expected, Qiao Jian took less than three days to draft all the contract terms, including his personal guarantee. On the morning of the fourth day he sent everything to Old Mr. Chi and then began to wait with anxious anticipation.
But he waited from morning until night with no word from Old Mr. Chi. Nervous, he couldn't help but call him.
The call was answered quickly, but it was the secretary. "Hello, this is Chi Corporation."
"H-hello, I'm Qiao Jian. Is Mr. Chi available?" Qiao Jian asked, nervous.
The secretary paused. "Are you calling about the contract?"
"Yes, yes." Qiao Jian hastily agreed, taking a moment to remember that this was a phone call and the secretary couldn't see his expression.
The secretary replied formally, "Sorry, Mr. Qiao, Chairman Chi no longer plans to cooperate with Qiao group. We're looking for new partners..."
"Why? Did someone offer better terms than mine?" Qiao Jian asked anxiously, interrupting.
Fortunately the secretary didn't mind and replied politely, "Your terms are generous; at present there's no company offering better conditions than yours."
"Then why are you passing me over?" Qiao Jian frowned.
The secretary hesitated. "Because Chairman Chi feels your sincerity is lacking."
Qiao Jian was stunned, clearly not understanding. Before he could ask further, the secretary said "sorry" and disconnected.
Listening to the dial tone, Qiao Jian couldn't believe it. Although he felt the other side had been merciless, he called again out of sheer persistence.
The secretary answered again, sounding resigned this time. "Mr. Qiao."
"Please indulge me this once, one last time," Qiao Jian hurriedly said. "If Chi and Qiao can't cooperate now, it would be a loss for both sides. Could you tell me exactly what I did wrong, what made Old Mr. Chi think I lack sincerity?"
"Mr. Qiao," the secretary sighed, "you should have thought this through before sending the contract. This is a project worth tens of billions. As Qiao Zhenzhen corporation's guarantor, the assets you're offering as collateral amount to less than two hundred million. Don't you see how insincere that appears? Chairman Chi feels you're holding back and are not earnest about cooperating."
Qiao Jian froze.
"This is merely a guarantee, not a call for you to invest more. As long as Qiao Zhenzhen corporation doesn't infringe on Chi's interests, your terms won't be affected in the slightest. Your offer is generous; I myself also hope we can reach a deal. Please consider how you might show greater sincerity." After saying this, the secretary hung up.
Qiao Jian's brow tightened. After a long time, he called Zhao Ying.
"Darling, why are you calling me at this hour?" Zhao Ying cooed.
Qiao Jian hesitated. "Those two apartments I transferred to you earlier, please transfer them back into my name today."
Zhao Ying was stunned.
Qiao Jian stood and began to walk out, explaining the stakes as he went. Embarrassed, Zhao Ying agreed, then turned and called Zhao Lianqiao, telling her the whole story.
"What if he's tricking me? What if I transfer the properties and then he leaves me?" Zhao Ying asked, worried.
Zhao Lianqiao was taken aback. "Chi Corporation? The Chi Corporation in S City?"
"Yes," Zhao Ying replied.
Zhao Lianqiao's eyes widened.
She remembered clearly: the chairman of Chi Corporation, Chi Cheng, had lost a son early in life and a grandson later; with no heir to take over the vast Chi empire, the male lead later joined the company, won the chairman's favor, and ultimately became his heir.
Since she had transmigrated into the story, she'd hoped to meet the male lead before the heroine did. Unfortunately this novel was written entirely from the heroine's perspective; the male lead doesn't appear until the heroine graduates college and interns at Chi Corporation, and there's no depiction of him before that.
Now, with Chi Corporation set to cooperate with Qiao Jian and Zhao Ying about to become mistress of the Qiao household, it meant her chance with the male lead was not far off.
Thinking of the original novel's detailed description of the male lead's looks and wealth, Zhao Lianqiao felt her heart race uncontrollably.
"Zhao Lianqiao? Zhao Lianqiao?" Zhao Ying's voice came through the phone.
Zhao Lianqiao tried to calm herself. "Mom, listen to me. Now is the time to show your loyalty, don't show an ounce of hesitation. Transfer the properties back to him immediately. Don't forget you're carrying his child; he won't abandon you. Hurry and transfer them. This is Chi Corporation, if this goes through and he succeeds, when you marry him your status might double!"
"Really?" Zhao Ying hesitated, but seeing how certain she sounded, she gritted her teeth and agreed.
After Qiao Jian received the properties transferred back by Zhao Ying, he was deeply moved and repeatedly reassured her that they were still hers and that he would only borrow them temporarily. Zhao Ying cooed her agreement, and the two lingered in affectionate whispers for a long while before parting.
But adding those two properties only increased his assets by ten million. He suspected Old Mr. Chi would not be pleased and might even consider him petty.
Qiao Jian thought for a long time. Then, steeling himself, he put up all his personal shares and had the finance department advance the next three years' dividends and divert part of the company funds, cobbling together a fairly substantial sum.
After doing that, he amended the guarantee agreement and sent it back to Old Master Chi.
This time Old Master Chi was finally satisfied; he flew over that afternoon. Each side brought their legal teams and met in the largest hotel's conference room in City A to discuss the cooperation.
"I didn't change your contract terms, I only added one clause at the end. If, before the project begins, anything happens on the Qiao side that harms our interests, we may terminate the contract at any time. If something detrimental occurs after the project has started, Mr. Qiao must compensate the Chi family for any losses, but the project will continue. Exactly which actions count as detrimental are specified in the contract; you can take a look," Chi Cheng said calmly.
When Qiao Jian heard that, it was much looser than the demands he'd set for himself earlier, at least it wouldn't allow the other party to terminate cooperation mid-project, so he immediately had the legal department review the contract. After seeing that only one clause had indeed been added, he agreed without hesitation.
"Then let's sign the contract." As soon as Chi Cheng finished speaking, his secretary brought out the company seal.
Qiao Jian hurriedly signed. By the time all the documents were signed, night had completely fallen.
"Mr. Chi, you've worked hard today. Let me take you out for a meal." Qiao Jian had his assistant put the contracts away and, briskly polite, reached to escort Chi Cheng.
Chi Cheng glanced at him and avoided his outstretched hand. "No need. I have other plans."
"Okay, okay." Qiao Jian agreed quickly. After seeing him off, he went straight to Zhao Ying's.
With the big matter settled, he lounged comfortably at Zhao Ying's for two days. During that time he received countless calls and messages from Qin Jing. At first she was fairly composed, but her texts grew increasingly irritable, causing Qiao Jian to frown repeatedly.
"I remember she used to be on my side, never questioning me. When did she become like this?" Qiao Jian frowned.
Zhao Ying smiled gently. "She's spoiled by the Qin family. It's normal for her to have a temper."
At the mention of the Qin family, Qiao Jian sneered inwardly, but after a moment's thought he still went home.
It wasn't yet time for the high school evening study to end; Qin Jing was the only one at home. When he returned, the living room light was off.
Qiao Jian frowned, switched on the light, and saw Qin Jing sitting on the sofa, looking at him with a cold expression.
"Did you snoop through my closet?" she asked.
Qiao Jian glanced at her. "This is my house. I have the right to look through anything in it."
"...Qiao Jian, don't you have any shame? You're even trying to snatch a Qin family project?" Qin Jing frowned.
Qiao Jian shot her an impatient look. "Enough. What's the point of your fuss? If the Qin family had offered better terms, would the project have come to me?"
"If you didn't sneak a look at my contract, how would you know the terms weren't high enough?" Qin Jing snapped to her feet.
Qiao Jian had just secured a major project and was in high spirits; he didn't get angry at her accusation. "I honestly don't know what you're thinking. Even if the Qin family got the project, what does that have to do with you? You're a married woman who has already left, ultimately it's Qin Zhao's project alone. It'd be better if I got it; at least you and Zhenzhen would have a good life."
So that was his true feeling. No wonder that when the other woman had a son, he completely stopped caring for Zhenzhen. Qin Jing may have suspected it long ago, but hearing it from his own mouth still chilled her to the bone and made her lose the will to perform.
"Let's get a divorce," she said.
Qiao Jian froze, looking at her in disbelief. "You want a divorce from me?"
"Yes, divorce." Qin Jing repeated.
This time Qiao Jian really flew into a rage. "I haven't said I want a divorce, and you're already demanding one?"
"You're not even willing to take this small hit?" Qin Jing raised an eyebrow. "Asking you to give me half your assets is like taking half your life away, is it?"
Qiao Jian laughed angrily. "Split what assets? You and Qiao Zhenzhen are both spendthrifts, my money was squandered long ago. All that's left is this villa. If you want half, fine, I'll give you half, but understand this: my half will not be sold. Don't expect to turn it into cash."
Qin Jing laughed bitterly. "So you won't even give me the house?" Not selling it meant he'd keep living there, maybe with his mistress, just to force her out.
She had hoped he would remember the years they'd shared and at least leave her a place to stay. She had overestimated his conscience.
"Why should I give it to you?" Qiao Jian narrowed his eyes, a flicker of satisfaction at her stunned look. "I earned this with blood and sweat. What do you do besides buy clothes and jewelry? Fine, divorce. I've been wanting one for a long time. But I'm telling you, Qin Jing, don't you dare take a single cent from me."
Qin Jing watched him prance about like a fool and, after a long moment, snorted softly. "Sorry, how much of the assets I get depends on the court's ruling, not your decision."
"Then sue me," Qiao Jian sneered. Although he had gathered a lot of assets under his name for the project, he had a thousand ways to stop her from taking them. If he wasn't certain of that, he wouldn't be divorcing her.