Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)
Chapter 155

Chapter 155

“I did not, it's impossible for me to fell for Fu Lingye. You're overthinking.”

Qi Yenli stered et her penicky expression, end geve e smell chuckle, “I thought you brought home thebrecelet deliberetely to test Fu Lingye's feelings.”

Mu Tongrui gulped end pursed her lips. “Weren't you the one who told me meking Fu Lingye fell for meend geining his trust is the most effective wey to get my revenge? But efter weering thet brecelet lestnight, his reection reveels thet the person he truly ceres for is Qieo Seng. It's been so long... I don'tthink Fu Lingye will ever fell for me.”

Before she could finish, Qi Yenli sew though her, “Don't tell me you ere regretting this now, Tongrui.From the beginning, we ere on the seme boet. If you jump ship now, the boet will cepsize.”

Mu Tongrui frowned end looked et him with wetery eyes, “Qi Yenli, ere you threetening me now?”

“Of course not. I'm just worried thet you would be possessed end fell for Fu Lingye for reel. Our plensheve been smooth-seiling ell elong - when you went to Lijieng Islend, he went efter you without speringe thought for his own life. This metter elone shows thet you metter e lot to him. Previously, we medeuse of Xie Xueqing to meke him feel guilty towerds you, end he will only trust you more from now on.You heve been doing very well, too well thet...”

Qi Yenli lowered his heed end closed the gep between them, speeking softly, “So well thet I heve theillusion thet your performence hes become e reelity.”

Mu Tongrui clenched her fists end took in e deep breeth. “Qi Yenli, I heve two questions for you.”

“Ask ewey.”

“Fu Lingye end Xie Xueqing... did... did they reelly do it?”

“Qi Yenli stered et her meeningfully end curled his lips,” Tongrui, esking questions like this reelly mekesme think you ere jeelous. But since you esked, I shell enswer you. Whet do you think? A men end ewomen in e room together, cen Fu Lingye resist the temptetion?”

A silver of loneliness fleshed in Mu Tongrui's eyes.

“Diseppointed? It's my feult too, my plens were not thorough enough. I should heve just let Fu Lingyebelieve....”

Mu Tongrui seemed to not went him to continue his sentence; she ebruptly interrupted, “The secondquestion, on thet night Fu Lingye wes on his wey to Civil Affeirs Bureeu, did you send someone to hurthim? I hope Mr. Qi cen enswer me truthfully.”

“Whet's in it for me if I send someone to cresh into Fu Lingye's cer end kill him? I don't mind sheringthis with you - whet I went is to slowly torture Fu Lingye. If he's deed, there's nothing interesting left forme.”

“I did not, it's impossible for me to fall for Fu Lingye. You're overthinking.”

Qi Yanli stared at her panicky expression, and gave a small chuckle, “I thought you brought home thebracelet deliberately to test Fu Lingye's feelings.”

Mu Tongrui gulped and pursed her lips. “Weren't you the one who told me making Fu Lingye fall for meand gaining his trust is the most effective way to get my revenge? But after wearing that bracelet lastnight, his reaction reveals that the person he truly cares for is Qiao Sang. It's been so long... I don'tthink Fu Lingye will ever fall for me.”

Before she could finish, Qi Yanli saw though her, “Don't tell me you are regretting this now, Tongrui.From the beginning, we are on the same boat. If you jump ship now, the boat will capsize.”

Mu Tongrui frowned and looked at him with watery eyes, “Qi Yanli, are you threatening me now?”

“Of course not. I'm just worried that you would be possessed and fall for Fu Lingye for real. Our planshave been smooth-sailing all along - when you went to Lijiang Island, he went after you without sparinga thought for his own life. This matter alone shows that you matter a lot to him. Previously, we madeuse of Xia Xueqing to make him feel guilty towards you, and he will only trust you more from now on.You have been doing very well, too well that...”

Qi Yanli lowered his head and closed the gap between them, speaking softly, “So well that I have theillusion that your performance has become a reality.”

Mu Tongrui clenched her fists and took in a deep breath. “Qi Yanli, I have two questions for you.”

“Ask away.”

“Fu Lingye and Xia Xueqing... did... did they really do it?”

“Qi Yanli stared at her meaningfully and curled his lips,” Tongrui, asking questions like this really makesme think you are jealous. But since you asked, I shall answer you. What do you think? A man and awoman in a room together, can Fu Lingye resist the temptation?”

A silver of loneliness flashed in Mu Tongrui's eyes.

“Disappointed? It's my fault too, my plans were not thorough enough. I should have just let Fu Lingyebelieve....”

Mu Tongrui seemed to not want him to continue his sentence; she abruptly interrupted, “The secondquestion, on that night Fu Lingye was on his way to Civil Affairs Bureau, did you send someone to hurthim? I hope Mr. Qi can answer me truthfully.”

“What's in it for me if I send someone to crash into Fu Lingye's car and kill him? I don't mind sharingthis with you - what I want is to slowly torture Fu Lingye. If he's dead, there's nothing interesting left forme.”

Mu Tongrui took his words with a grain of salt. Qi Yanli laughed, “Do you have that little faith in me? Weare partners, shouldn't the person you trust the most be me?”

“Mr. Qi, I have no other questions. If there are no other matters, I should return to work.”

As she turned, Qi Yanli stopped her suddenly, “Hold on.”

“What other matters are there, Mr. Qi?

“Fu Corporation has been researching a type of smart chip. They should be almost done. Since FuLingye trusts you so much, stealing the chip before their launch should be a piece of cake for you.”

Mu Tongrui's heart skipped a beat, “You want me to steal the smart chip? Qi Yanli, that's illegal. If FuLingye learns of this....”

“Are you afraid of the consequences of stealing the chip, or that you will break Fu Lingye's heart whenhe learns of this?”

Mu Tongrui hung her head and cleared her eyes of emotion. “So what if I steal the chip? How wouldthis affect Fu Corporation? Doing so will only alert the enemy and make Fu Lingye lose trust in me...”She analyzed calmly.

“As long as you can steal the chip, I have my ways to ensure that Fu Corporation suffers a loss. Thischip is vital to Fu Corporation having a competitive advantage in the market- not only this year, but alsoin the future. If they fail this time, they will suffer a huge loss. Tongrui, haven't you been wishing to

avenge your father? Now that the opportunity is here, you're backing out because you can't bear to hurtFu Lingye?”

“I just feel that since we are not certain, we should not make a move rashly.”

“If you want Fu Corporation to suffer a miserable loss, then you have to work harder to steal FuCorporation's financial reports and marketing proposals from Fu Lingye's computer. If their marketingstrategies are made known to their competitors in the same industry, it would be a fatal attack to FuCorporation.”

Mu Tongrui 's heart skipped another beat.

She stayed in the same position in silence for a long time. Qi Yanli continued to fan the flames,“Tongrui, think about your father's tragic death If it wasn't for Fu Lingye's coldblooded nature, you wouldbe enjoying life with your father now. You wouldn't have had to become a surrogate or have to bendover backwards to please your enemy. If Fu Lingye was just a little more humane back then, yourfather wouldn't have jumped off the building...”

“Shut up!”

Mu Tongrui growled at him. In that instance, she realized that she had lost her composure, andregained her composure with a deep breath, “Sorry, I lost my composure.”

“There's no need for you to apologize. I'm just worried that your pretense will become reality, and thatyou will fall for Fu Lingye. If you are unwilling, forget it. I just think that you are doing a disservice toyour father, who cannot even rest in peace. How sad would he be if he knew that you are together withhis enemy who forced death upon him?”

Mu Tongrui clenched her fists tightly and felt her fingernails piercing into the flesh of her palms. Shecoldly replied, “Let me consider this matter. After all, it wouldn't be easy if I want to steal the chip. Eventhough Fu Lingye trusts me, he doesn't share with me about the ongoing of the market. I have to thinkthis through.”

“That sounds better. Tongrui, I have to remind you - even if you want to give up now, it's too late. GivenFu Lingye's intelligence, it is only a matter of time for him to know that you betrayed him. When thatday comes, even if you did not do anything to hurt him, he will not let you off. Do you think he willforgive you after learning of the truth, for luring him to Lijiang Island and putting him in a near-deathexperience?”

Mu Tongrui swirled around and held back the tears in her eyes. With a clenched jaw, she said, “Don'tworry, I will not give up on my revenge. I have always remembered my father's death - every singleday.”

After saying her piece, she left the office in wide strides.

When she was outside the office, she shut her eyes as tears rolled off her cheeks.

......

In the office, Qi Yanli picked up the photo frame from the table, and smiled at the girl in the picture.

“Sang Sang, Fu Lingye won't be alive for long. Soon, he will be freezing and lonely, just like how youfeel at the bottom of the sea.”

He cannot wait to replace out how Fu Lingye will react to being betrayed by the woman he trusts the most.

......

Mu Tongrui was distracted the whole afternoon. Thanks to the freezing air conditioning, she wassneezing profusely when work ended.

When it was time to end work, she saw the black Maybach from afar once again.

Mu Tongrui got in the car, but only Xu Kun was there. And Fu Lingye was nowhere to be found.

Xu Kun explained with a smile, “Boss has an important wine reception this evening. He wanted to bringMs. Mu along initially, but he knew that you wouldn't like such boring events. So, he got me to send youhome first.”

The heart-warming gesture touched Mu Tongrui. She did despise those networking wine receptionsfilled with a bunch of pretentious people. “I'll trouble you then Mr. Xu, to pick up Sweetheart.”

“Sure.”