Following the attendant through the hotel lobby, it wasn't yet time for dinner, and the vast hotel was deserted. Along the way, she hadn't seen anyone other than the attendant.
They bypassed several small halls and private rooms, and the attendant led her to the entrance of the VIP lounge at the very back.
Susu asked, "Is this it?"
The attendant smiled and said, "Mr. Qin seems to have prepared a surprise for you inside."
Upon hearing this, Susu couldn't help but smile. She wondered what Tianyi meant. Did he know she and Sophie had made a mistake and wanted to make it up to her?
She said thank you, pushed open the door, and walked in.
The attendant who had followed her didn't come in. There were only two large round tables in the VIP lounge, and Qin Tianyi was nowhere to be seen.
She looked around but still couldn't find Tianyi. She only heard a "bang" behind her as someone outside closed the VIP lounge door.
Susu immediately sensed something was wrong and shouted, "Tianyi, what surprise do you want to give me? Come out quickly!"
But no one answered her.
The VIP lounge was eerily quiet. Susu quickly lifted the floor-length tablecloth on the table and looked underneath.
She had checked under both round tables, and no one was there. Besides the crisp clinking of the exquisite tableware placed on the table as she lifted the tablecloth, there was no sound of anyone.
"Tianyi, Tianyi!" Susu sensed something was amiss and shouted twice, then ran to the door wanting to escape, only to find it locked.
She took out her phone and called Tianyi again, but suddenly felt someone behind her forcefully grip her neck. Before she could struggle, a choking smell made her vision go black.
...
In the morning, as soon as Tianyi arrived at the group, he convened a meeting with all the senior executives as planned with An Jing the night before.
He silenced his phone and put it aside. He didn't even glance at it during the morning meeting.
Although the stock price of Aoxiang hadn't fallen drastically in the past few days, the overall trend was still declining. Now was a critical time for bidding on the urban construction project. If this situation wasn't reversed, the group would suffer significant losses.
Therefore, everyone in the morning meeting dared not slack off. With round after round of detailed analysis and data reports, they all felt the tense atmosphere of the group facing a major battle.
Even An Jing hadn't felt this sense of impending war for a long time. In the past, whether it was Yang Sijie or Lu Yuanhong, although they had posed threats to Aoxiang, they didn't have deep roots in Lancheng.
Groups that could truly dominate Lancheng, such as the Huo Corporation or the former Shu Corporation, had never engaged in a life-or-death business war with Aoxiang.
Although Tianyi had been in opposition with them at times, he also compromised when necessary, resolving conflicts through mutual interests, thus avoiding a head-on confrontation.
The current Xie Zhendong was completely different. In fact, ever since Xie Qining lost two hundred million yuan to buy that dilapidated piece of land, he had already begun to target Aoxiang and make arrangements in secret.
It was as if he had prepared a large net to capture the entire Aoxiang Group.
This discovery sent shivers down the spines of Tianyi and An Jing. Making the Qin family elders oppose Tianyi and letting Huang Xiuli stir up trouble at banquets were merely minor skirmishes to distract them.
In reality, Xie Zhendong's business strategy was the most formidable, making everything Aoxiang did seem to be encountering obstacles.
They were unsure if Xie Zhendong and his wife, Shasha, were working together, but the way Xie Zhendong used Shasha to stir up trouble and exert pressure on Aoxiang through public opinion was seamless.
Tianyi's plan was to tear open this meticulously laid net and let him be backfired.
But tearing open this invisible net was easier said than done. During the morning meeting, Tianyi still hadn't found a breakthrough. wΑp.kanshu伍.net
As it was nearing noon, he could only announce a recess and let everyone rest.
After everyone had left the conference room, Tianyi remained seated, facing a pile of data reports and analysis documents. He just picked up his phone.
An Jing walked over to him and asked, "Aren't you going to eat something? Are you going to continue looking at these in the conference room?"
Tianyi grunted and said, "If you're going to have lunch, help me bring one back."
An Jing patted his shoulder, "Okay."
"By the way, ask my secretary to notify them to continue the meeting at two in the afternoon," he said, glancing at the time on his phone. He suddenly saw three missed calls, all from Susu.
Tianyi said curiously, "Why did she call me several times?"
An Jing, who was about to leave the conference room, stopped and asked, "Who?"
"Susu," Tianyi said and immediately called back, but no one answered.
An Jing said beside him, "Is there something important?"
Tianyi called again and looked at An Jing, saying, "No one is answering."
"Call her studio," An Jing reminded him. "Maybe she's busy and didn't see her phone, or contact her colleagues at the studio."
Tianyi dialed the front desk of Susu's studio.
Zhang Ting, who answered the phone, said, "Mr. Qin, Sister Gu didn't come to the studio today. I remember she said yesterday she was going to see a lawyer and would be late, but she hasn't arrived yet."
"Okay, thank you." Tianyi hung up and continued to call Susu's mobile, but after several attempts, no one answered.
He felt an inexplicable panic, stood up, and said to An Jing, "The afternoon meeting is canceled. I'm going to find Susu."
"Where are you going to look for her?"
Right, Tianyi just thought of this problem. He didn't know where Susu was meeting the lawyer, and he forgot to ask her when she left in the morning.
Just then, Tianyi's phone rang. Seeing it was Susu calling, he and An Jing breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Susu had finally seen the missed calls.
"Susu, do you need something? Where are you?" Tianyi quickly asked.
However, the voice that came from the other end was not Susu's, but a somewhat familiar and hysterical voice, "Qin Tianyi!"
"How is it you? How do you have Susu's phone?"
Huang Xiuli burst into loud laughter, "You're so smart, do I need to say? Of course, she's in my hands."
A layer of frost instantly covered Tianyi's face. He asked with a terrifying expression, "What do you want?"
Huang Xiuli laughed even louder, her voice hoarse as if broken, "I saw it on the news, Gu Susu killed Yaxuan! You were involved too, right? Now I'm going to make her pay with her life!"
Tianyi's facial expression shifted. An Jing knew Susu must have been in trouble. He gestured to Tianyi, telling him to keep the person on the phone calm.
"The internet is full of rumors. Yaxuan committed suicide, and it has nothing to do with Susu..."
"I won't believe you! You are too cunning, pretending to be foolish for so many years, even Jin Meiyao fell into your hands! I won't fall for your tricks again!" Huang Xiuli let out another wild laugh. "If you don't want Gu Susu to die, then come alone. I have prepared a surprise for you!" kanδん
"Okay, where are you..." But before Tianyi could finish speaking, Huang Xiuli hung up.