Chapter 118 - A renewal contract and a marriage offer

Back in the dining room, Shen could feel the air getting stuffier. The old master's intentions were clear. His constant promoting of Lila was making Shen very uncomfortable. 

There were only so many polite responses he had in his artillery. His words were becoming insincere and mundane. 

"I'm back!" it was Loren Lim's playful, low voice. 

He had left the dining room to bring a file from his study. 

He reentered, waving it in his hand. 

"Ah, I see you've been introduced to my sister, Shen" 

"Yes, I have been, thanks to old master Lim" Shen responded, as the first course of the meal was placed before them. 

The entrée was a beautiful ceramic bowl with a fragrant and beautifully prepared quail dish. 

"Have you read the renewal contract I sent you, then?" Loren asked, a small smile playing on his lips as he swallowed a piece of the quail.

Shen grimaced. He had, indeed. It wasn't in Moshi Corporation's best interest in its current state. 

The contract would renew their collaboration. Magnolia Holdings needed the vast Moshi shipping fleet to trade with their international partners. 

This time, however, they were expanding their export and needed almost half of Moshi Corp's shipping resources to meet their targets. 

"Yes I have. But I won't sign it in it's current state." Shen wasn't who he was by allowing people to walk over his own interests just because they could throw extra money at him. 

He he had plenty of his own money. 

Loren laughed out. 

"My, you don't mince your words do you? I knew I'd like you, Shen Moshi!" Loren said, grinning widely. 

This would be an entertaining evening. 

Shen smirked. He knew brats like Loren. His brothers were similar. They thought of everything and everyone as beneath them. 

That way they could make an excuse for their lack of respect. 

But Shen played along. 

"We're both businessmen, Ren. If we don't speak straightforwardly, then we don't make our money. If I beat around the bush, I would be no better than a politician." 

"Well said! Well said! I expected no less from you!" the older Lim clapped. He truly was impressed at Shen's wit and honestly. 

'My father has grown slow' thought Loren, looking at his father with disdain. 

"You flatter me, old master" Shen responded, humbly. 

Lila didn't say much, she just smiled and blushed now and again - like a good, well-groomed mistress. She stayed out of such affairs, and delicately ate her food. 

But her eyes remained locked on Shen. Instinctively, she kept trying to gain his attention. 

"You men talk too much business! Look, the next course is already here!" she said gently, trying to draw the conversation away from the 'boring' topics. 

She wanted Shen to notice her. Perhaps they could talk about the hobbies of the rich, like horse-riding or luxury yachts.

Shen just smiled at her politely, refraining from letting his gaze linger any longer, lest she get the wrong idea of his interest. 

"The first course was already quite delicious, I'm excited to try the next." 

The second course was a bit larger than the previous one. It was a luscious piece of expensive lobster tail, luxuriously basted in butter and topped with roe. 

"Let me pour you a drink, Shen." Loren said, sneakily, as he poured himself a white wine. 

Shen saw that the old master wasn't drinking. 

"What about the old master?" Shen asked

"Ah, father doesn't drink." Loren said shortly. 

Shen was thoughtful. The old man looked uncomfortable for a second but then the atmosphere turned jovial again. 

"My father doesn't like the taste of alcohol!" Lila joked. But Shen could see that their family wasn't so simple. 

For a few minutes, only the sounds of forks and knives on the plate could be heard. 

But the wheels in Loren's head were turning furiously. 

This man was more tight-lipped than he had presumed. Shen wasn't letting anything slip. He was clear with what he wanted. He was lucky that their contact within Moshi was still able to operate covertly under this man of steel. 

'Come now, he can't be that smart if he has a mole running operations under his own nose. His own uncle Sojin almost had him killed on our command' Loren thought as he smirked. 

Suddenly Loren burst out laughing. 

Shen looked surprised and uncomfortable. 

"Did I miss a joke you made, young master Lim?" he resumed his formal address of Loren. 

"Not at all. I was just wondering how far you must have come to have fought those two vicious brothers of yours to get where you are. I mean...one hears stories." 

The way Loren spoke to Shen was with an air of arrogance, as if he knew what it was like, but could stand back and laugh. 

Shen put his fork and knife down and turned to face Loren. 

"What stories have you heard, I'm fascinated." 

Shen smiled at Loren but Lila and her father could feel the discomfort in the room. They wished Loren would play it safe sometimes, but they knew what a wild card he was. 

"I've heard the oldest Moshi is a beast of vulgar proportions who enjoys inflicting special forms of torture and that the second Moshi enjoys playing with poisons and substances. You must have had a real fight on your hands." Loren commented. 

He was trying to provoke Shen and get him to spill something that would help him get an advantage on him. 

He needed better leverage to get what he wanted and playing with Lina was his trump. He couldn't show that hand just yet.

But Shen knew what Loren was doing. He knew better. He kept calm and resumed eating. 

Flashing Loren a casual smile, he responded. 

"Some rumours are just that - rumours! I thought we were to discuss business! Ahh, this second course was also so satisfying." 

Loren's smile faded. This Shen Moshi was really something. But he had something else up his sleeve. He would offer his sister up now. She was the next lamb up to be sacrificed. 

"Of course. I have another offer on the table, Shen. Not only will we pay you a higher fee to use your shipping...but we want add another clause to the contract." 

In saying this Loren looked at his father and nodded. 

Old master Lim spoke after his son. 

"Shen, we have only praise for your work, reputation and family. We believe there is none other suited better to marry my daughter. Our business relationsh.i.p.s will only be further stregnthened by familial bonds. I humbly offer you her hand." 

Lila almost choked on her drink. She had no idea her father would offer her up so quickly and directly. 

There was a sense of disappointment in her heart that they were signing her over in a contract. That diminished her to a pawn rather than the future lady of the Moshi househould. 

Shen continued eating, without any immediate reaction. He was expecting this.