Chapter 393 - Mishap

Liao Yuan raised his brow. "Do you all know each other?"

Zhiyuan emanated such a cold aura that Huang Rong could feel the chilliness in the air. It was extremely shocking to suddenly meet her here. Nobody imagined her to have any connection with Liao Yuan.

"We more than just know her."

Even now as he recalled that gathering night and the insults she hurled at Xinyi, he felt his blood boiling in rage. In front of everyone, she had humiliated her love for Siying. He could tolerate anything but not anybody pointing his finger at her.

And Zhiyuan never forgot that night. Huang Rong had opened up a small venture of her own with the help from Qin Fuhua's investments. But it was doomed the moment she targeted Xinyi. A small startup company like hers was easy for him to squash like a bug. 

After that till this date, Zhiyuan didn't give her any chance to open up a new company again, and he cruelly cut all her resources. He didn't give her any liberty to become successful. He didn't tell any of this to Xinyi because he knew she would have asked him to just let it go.

But he couldn't. And he didn't want to.

Xinyi had complicated feelings on this matter. Sure Huang Rong had brought the deepest scar of her life out in front of everyone. But she didn't hold any grudge against her nor did she want to dwell on it anymore.

Zhiyuan said, his voice full of iciness, "Mr. Liao Yuan. You must do a thorough background check before you hire someone in your company."

Liao Yuan glanced at Huang Rong and asked, "Can you explain please?"

Huang Rong straightened up. "Sir. Zhi- I mean Han Zhiyuan, Han Xinyi and I were in the same college."

"I see. So shouldn't it be a happy little reunion?"

She remained silent.

Zhiyuan smiled. "Well she doesn't have any face left to call for any happy reunion. We already had our reunion, and once was enough. At least with her. She had made it quite memorable in the worst possible way."

Liao Yuan sensed deep enmity and hatred from him, which was quite surprising. He never thought that there was someone who Zhiyuan hated so much.

Xinyi held his arm and whispered, "Let it be, Zhiyuan. That matter is over. Don't start anything here. Please?"

He lowered his head and stared at her. "You don't feel angry at all?"

She pursed her lips. "I just want things to be peaceful. And it doesn't look like she is here to cause trouble. Our main focus should be the deal today. Plus, I know you took your revenge from her by crushing her company. Ah Cy told me everything about it."

His brow twitched. 

That Liang just cannot keep his mouth shut.

"We are equal now, right? So let's not think about it anymore."

He let out a soft sigh. But he didn't fail to cast another chilling glare at her. "I hope you know what is good for you."

Huang Rong said, "This is just a coincidence," she looked at Liao Yuan, "We had some differences in the past...but I hope we don't dig them here."

Xinyi quickly said, "Yes. Zhiyuan. Let's go. It's about to start."

She quickly dragged him away. She smiled at Liao Yuan. "We will meet him again."

As they left, Liao Yuan said after a pause, "Explain everything to me later."

She slightly stiffened. "Yes, Sir…"

As the presentations started one by one, Xinyi saw that Zhiyuan was still uncomfortable ever since he met Huang Rong.

"Let it be, Zhiyuan. At the gathering, she was very hostile to me. But I didn't sense anything from her today."

Of course, she wouldn't. I have clipped all her wings so that she won't ever dare to be hostile to you again.

When it was Liao Corps turn, Huang Rong promptly came on the stage. The bid was quite impressive and so was her presentation. She didn't falter and spoke with an air of professional elegance.

Then came Han Corp's turn. Xinyi took a deep breath and stood up. Zhiyuan firmly held her hand and squeezed it. "I know you can do it."

She nodded.

As she stepped on the podium, she felt her heart drumming in her chest as she faced the audience. It was a tough competition against many capable CEOs.

Han Huizhong had drilled all the necessary qualifications into her, but stage fright was something she really couldn't conquer completely.

I can do this. I have done this before. It will be just fine once I start...

She regained her composure and began her presentation. With her fluency and accurate grasp of the subject, she left many rivals stunned. There was nothing she missed, and she spoke without referring to the slides even once, yet everything was in perfect sync.

Zhiyuan's nose grew long in pride. He could read their expressions of how they wished for such a talented person to work for them. Some already looked disappointed as if acceding defeat.

Everything was going smoothly until Zhiyuan caught something odd happening. The stage was lit by two light instruments from above that gave the presenters their spotlight.

One of which was strangely moving side by side. Nobody noticed this, yet Zhiyuan caught it in a moment. And then his blood ran cold.

Because he instantly figured out what was going to happen. It was moving because it got loose. It was dangling, and it was hovering right on top of Xinyi. 

"Xinyi! MOVE!!!"

He said it so sharply that the whole hall fell silent. Xinyi, too, jolted at her place. Liao Yuan widened his eyes and he too finally found what was wrong. He paled.

"What…?" Xinyi asked, bewildered.

Zhiyuan leapt to his feet and dashed towards her. The light finally broke apart from its wire and started to freefall. Liao Yuan hastily left his seat too.

"Zh-Zhiyuan, what is happening-"

Zhiyuan grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him away from the light. It missed her, but not him. The heavy light instrument narrowly struck his forehead and left eye.. It fell on the floor with a bang and got smashed.