Pretending To Have Amnesia - Chapter 13

“President He—”

The person on the other end still wanted to say something, but He Mu hung up directly.

Mu Qingran had been in Nancheng longer than she had. How could she possibly not have even a little ability to protect herself? She did not need He Mu meddling in other people’s business at all.

A black Maybach drove over and stopped by the roadside. It had a license plate from the capital, and the driver was also someone familiar from the capital.

He Mu had originally planned to hire a driver herself in Nancheng, but she had not expected her father to send a car from home. This was fine too. At the very least, it could reduce some of the unease she felt in an unfamiliar city.

He Mu got into the car with the woman she had never met before and told the driver to go to the nearest five-star hotel.

The woman’s eyes lit up, probably delighted that she had accidentally picked a rich catch.

But her joy lasted less than two seconds before the car stopped by the roadside. The door opened and closed, and then the car drove away, spraying dark gray exhaust behind it.

The woman stood in place, stunned.

What was wrong with rich people? You couldn’t toy with someone like this!

At the next intersection, the car turned around and drove in the opposite direction.

“KM successfully obtained capital injection from He Group. I haven’t congratulated President Mu yet.”

Sun Xiang sat in the seat just below the head of the table, both elbows propped on the tabletop, a smile on his face.

“President Sun is too polite.” Mu Qingran sat in the seat closest to the door. Even with the eyes of everyone at the table gathered on her, her expression did not change.

Sun Xiang continued, “If President Mu had followed me earlier, why would you have fallen to the point of having to please a woman?”

He Mu had snatched her away right in front of him, and within a few days, KM had officially joined He Group. The conclusion was obvious: Mu Qingran had exchanged her own body for it.

Such a fine woman. What a pity.

Mu Qingran curved her lips. “I thought that, on an occasion like this, everyone came to discuss proper business. President Sun calling me over to talk about private matters seems rather inappropriate.”

Sun Xiang laughed a few times. “With Brother Nan sitting here today, of course everyone is here to talk business. That’s exactly why we called President Mu over. When there’s something good, you’re the first person I think of!”

The Brother Nan he mentioned was Li Nan, the nephew of the tax bureau chief. On normal days, the most serious things he did were drink tea and play cards with young masters, calling himself a “company development consultant.” The young masters were also happy to flatter him. As for the reason, everyone understood it tacitly.

Mu Qingran remained calm and composed. Her gaze fell on Li Nan, who sat at the head of the table. Seeing the dirty expression on his face that belonged exclusively to animals ruled by their lower halves, Mu Qingran felt nothing. She had seen that kind of expression countless times before.

The reason she was here was because a representative from an out-of-town client had come on a business trip. As the host, she had brought Su Li and a few responsible colleagues here to treat the other party to dinner.

Halfway through the meal, Sun Xiang somehow found out she was here and personally went to the private room to “invite” her.

In the business world, one must absolutely never let others sense even the slightest bit of fear. Otherwise, the other party would violate your bottom line again and again, growing worse each time.

So just like last time, even though she clearly knew what awaited her was a trap, she still had no choice but to attend.

“President Mu must have seen the latest tax incentive policy. If one can obtain a development license for Nanshui New District, one can receive a very large tax reduction,” Sun Xiang said, curling his lips. “But there are only so many licenses. Only the first one or two companies will get to eat the crab roe. The rest of us might not even get to eat a crab leg.”

Mu Qingran said nothing, patiently waiting for the other party to explain his true intention.

“But Brother Nan is loyal. It’s nothing more than a matter of designation, and it can save us a huge sum of money every year.” Sun Xiang rubbed the stubble on his chin and smiled. “What does President Mu think? Since Brother Nan is so loyal, we should also make him happy, shouldn’t we?”

Sun Group still held a large portion of KM’s shares. Sun Xiang had categorized her as one of “their own,” and she truly had no way to refute that.

If not for the fact that a core product had reached a critical stage of development two years ago and lacked funding, she would never have accepted Sun Group’s capital injection. But one could not have both fish and bear’s paw. Even if she had known back then that today’s bitter fruit would come, she still would have had no other choice. If she had refused, she could only have watched helplessly as the capital chain broke, and watched the results so many people had spent their lives working for turn into nothing.

The choices one made had to be borne, no matter what result came of them.

Mu Qingran had understood this principle long ago.

“President Sun should know that our country is a society governed by law,” Mu Qingran said.

Sun Xiang seemed to have heard a joke. He held his stomach and shook his head. “President Mu is no longer young. How can the words you say still be as innocent and adorable as a little girl’s?”

Mu Qingran stood and smiled. “Apologies, but I’m not interested in this business deal. I still have clients waiting for me at my table. If I’m absent for too long, it would be rude. I wish everyone prosperous business.”

“Brother Nan hasn’t even spoken yet. How can you leave first?” Sun Xiang knocked on the table. “Besides, we have rules at this table. Anyone who leaves early has to accept punishment. Although I admire President Mu very much, I can’t exactly make an exception. President Mu had better not be ignorant, or Brother Nan might become unhappy.”

Mu Qingran was confident that KM had no tax problems whatsoever. But if someone truly created trouble under some fabricated pretext, then even if the final result turned out to be perfectly fine, the process alone would slow down the technical development currently at its critical stage. For KM, which relied on speed to win, this would be an unbearable blow.

“What is the punishment?” Mu Qingran asked.

Sun Xiang raised his brows. “Does President Mu mean you would rather accept the punishment than properly have a meal with Brother Nan?”

Mu Qingran’s eyes deepened. “We’re all businesspeople. Isn’t doing business supposed to follow rules? Since President Sun says that leaving early requires punishment, then I’ll follow President Sun’s rules. But President Sun dragging Brother Nan into this for no reason—what exactly do you mean by that?”

Without waiting for Sun Xiang to speak, she asked another question.

“President Sun clearly knows that Brother Nan is a loyal and righteous person, yet you mock him by implying he doesn’t follow the rules at this dinner table. What do you mean by that?”

“Or is President Sun suggesting that you’re Brother Nan’s spokesperson, half a nephew of Bureau Chief Li yourself?”

Once those words were spoken, the entire dinner table fell silent.

Sun Xiang’s face at that moment looked like a pickled cucumber, dark and wrinkled.

Li Nan was famously petty and could least tolerate losing face in front of others. Mu Qingran was clearly trying to drag him into the water too.

The person sitting at the head of the table also suddenly realized something and frowned. “Little Sun, I’m a company consultant, not some crime boss. Besides, everyone is doing legitimate business with me. Acting like this will make people think I’m using my uncle’s reputation to throw my weight around!”

“Brother Nan, that’s not what I meant!” Sun Xiang hurriedly smiled apologetically. “I just drank too much and spoke nonsense. Nonsense.”

Li Nan turned his gaze back to Mu Qingran and said with a smile, “If President Mu has matters to attend to and wants to leave first, I can’t very well stop you. I know you’re a heroine among women. If I were to show tender pity toward a beauty, it would be looking down on you instead.”

“A drinking table is called a drinking table because wine is the main character.” He narrowed his eyes, and his smile deepened. “The rule at this table is that if you want to leave, you first punish yourself with ten cups.”

Sun Xiang immediately grew smug again, his face full of petty triumph. He waved to the server. “Little lady, bring ten cups over and fill them all.”

They were drinking Maotai at the table. Ten cups in a row would knock an ordinary person unconscious on the spot.

Not everyone present was a petty villain like Sun Xiang. Some were only accompanying them because of face. But no one dared open their mouth to speak up for Mu Qingran.

There was a saying: even a powerful dragon could not suppress a local snake. Even knowing full well that Li Nan was borrowing his family’s power to intimidate others, they still had no choice but to submit under rules like these.

No one wanted to get themselves covered in filth just to stand up for someone else.

Mu Qingran had never thought she would be able to leave easily. Ten cups of wine was not the worst outcome she had expected.

From the white cups arranged in a curved line, she picked up the one on the far left and took it into her mouth. The burning liquid slid from the tip of her tongue into her throat, and she could not help furrowing her brows.

But the movement of her hand did not slow in the slightest. Five cups went down one after another, and her stomach was filled with a scorching burn.

When Li Nan saw the woman’s jade-white neck and her crimson lips wet with liquor, he could not help licking his mouth. His hand moved from the tabletop to beneath it, as though he were eager to suppress a certain stirring.

After all ten cups were finished, there was no change at all in Mu Qingran’s complexion.

“I have accepted the punishment. Please enjoy yourselves, everyone. I’ll take my leave.” She nodded slightly and turned to walk out.

“Has President Mu misunderstood something?” Li Nan spoke. “I said you first punish yourself with ten cups. After finishing those ten, you still have to clink one cup with everyone at the table to show your sincerity!”

Mu Qingran’s hand hanging by her side clenched into a fist, fine blue veins rising on the back of it.