Volume One, Chapter 54: The Treasure in His Palm

“From ten to twelve, there’s the municipal bidding conference.”
“At twelve-thirty, lunch with Director Qin at Rongyue Restaurant, near the Municipal Office.”
“At two in the afternoon…”

The car sped toward the government building.

In the back seat, Lin Chaochao was holding a tablet, reporting today’s schedule to Lu Jinnian.

Her mood was as bitter as stagnant water.

How triumphant she had felt yesterday morning; how regretful she felt today.

She thought that with Yang Yan finally gone, she had effortlessly become the foremost person at Lu Jinnian’s side. From now on, they’d be together in work and life, soaring side by side as husband and wife.

But Lin Chaochao hadn’t anticipated how steep the price would be for this flight together.

It had barely begun, and she already felt she couldn’t keep up.

She used to think Yang Yan managed everything with ease, giving a few orders and having the entire secretariat spinning at his command. All he needed to do was verbally brief Lu Jinnian.

But now that it was her turn, everyone seemed like a walnut, waiting for her to crack them open. She needed to keep abreast of every department’s project status, allocate tasks efficiently to each member of the secretariat, follow up promptly, and then report everything to Lu Jinnian.

Just yesterday afternoon, Lin Chaochao had been as busy as a top, already feeling the strain. Even worse, she had to rush to the kindergarten at five to pick up Lu Xiaomu. After a day in high heels, her feet ached, her back was sore, and her legs throbbed.

She barely managed to coax Lu Xiaomu to sleep, took a quick shower, and the moment her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep almost instantly.

In the next moment, Lu Jinnian pressed close behind her.

If the night before had been wild, then last night could only be called perfunctory.

Halfway through, Lin Chaochao was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, yet she could clearly feel Lu Jinnian’s lack of interest. He finished hastily, let her go, and headed to the bathroom.

The sound of running water was like a fine white noise, lulling Lin Chaochao into a deep sleep.

It felt as if she had just closed her eyes when the alarm began to ring.

In all the years gone by, yesterday had been the most exhausting, most overwhelming day of Lin Chaochao’s life.

And this… was just the beginning.

She was nodding off as she reported the schedule, only to meet Lu Jinnian’s gaze.

Feeling aggrieved, Lin Chaochao’s eyes reddened at once.

She heard Lu Jinnian say, “Yang Yan ranked everyone in the secretariat according to competence and experience. If you can’t handle it, then—”

“I can do it!” Lin Chaochao cut him off hastily.

Yang Yan’s handover checklist was a thick stack—painstakingly detailed. Each project’s point of contact, who was responsible, what stage it was in, which person in which department to liaise with next—everything was laid out.

The list even included his assessment of each person’s abilities.

Whether by oversight or intent, Lin Chaochao herself was missing from that table.

At the top of the competence ranking was Tang Jiayi: a graduate of a prestigious foreign university, fluent in four languages, two years in the secretariat, young, beautiful, and highly capable.

Unfortunately, Tang Jiayi was Lin Chaochao’s arch-rival in the secretariat.

She’d rather drop dead from exhaustion than let that seductive vixen Tang Jiayi benefit.

“Jinnian—no, President Lu…” She hastily corrected herself, nodding emphatically. “President Lu, I can handle it.”

Lu Jinnian frowned and lowered his head again, his attention settling on the stock trends displayed on the tablet.

At nine, the market opened, and Lu Corporation’s shares showed a slight dip.

Completely illogical!

Today’s bidding conference was all but guaranteed for Lu Corporation to win the coveted plot. The pre-event publicity had been thorough, and the stock price had surged for days.

How could there be such significant sell-offs so early in the morning?

It made no sense!

Puzzled, he kept these thoughts to himself as the car came to a gentle stop—the destination had been reached.

Lu Jinnian got out. His gaze faltered.

Instantly, his expression darkened.

Among the group from the Lou Corporation, not only did he spot Sang Wan, but also Yang Yan.

These two had betrayed him in turn—and both ended up at Lou Corporation?

Or had they coordinated all along?

“Sang Wan—!”

He shouted, fury in his voice.

Sang Wan paused.

Lin Chaochao rushed to hook her arm through Lu Jinnian’s.

Glancing back, she looked as though she was seeing strangers.

Sang Wan withdrew her gaze indifferently and turned to leave.

…

Plot 3 in the east of the city had attracted numerous renowned real estate firms, including Lou Corporation, to compete in the bidding.

The competition was so fierce it seemed as if the units were in tens of millions, not billions.

The starting price was 1.5 billion.

After more than an hour and nearly a hundred rounds of bidding, when the price just surpassed three billion, Lu Jinnian put down his paddle.

In the end, Lou Corporation secured the plot for 3.6 billion.

By the close of the conference, it was nearly noon, and the venue buzzed with excitement.

Lu Jinnian turned and immediately spotted Sang Wan and Lou Ye by her side.

A city official came over, and Lou Ye nodded in greeting, shaking hands.

When peers approached, Lou Ye introduced them to Sang Wan.

To an outsider, it might have looked as if Sang Wan was someone special to Lou Ye.

Lu Jinnian, holding his wine glass, walked over.

“Congratulations, President Lou,” he said, raising his glass, his gaze skimming over Sang Wan and Yang Yan.

Then, looking at Lou Ye, a hint of a cold smile appeared in his eyes. “I just didn’t expect that even someone of your stature, President Lou, would care to pick up other people’s trash.”

The smile had already vanished from Sang Wan’s face when she saw Lu Jinnian approach.

Yang Yan, off to the side, kept his eyes on his nose, his nose to his heart, exuding an air of detachment, as if nothing that was happening concerned him.

Clink!

Lou Ye tapped his glass against Lu Jinnian’s, a playful smile on his lips. “Are you sure what I picked up is trash?”

Lu Jinnian was taken aback.

Lou Ye spoke leisurely, “Perhaps what is trash in someone else’s hands, in mine, may one day become a treasure.”

“Not everyone can turn decay into wonder, just as not everyone has your… unique vision, President Lu.”

He paused, searching for the right word, then drawled, “Blindness, perhaps? Wouldn’t you say so, President Lu?”

The words landed like a slap across Lu Jinnian’s face.

But this was Lou Ye.

In the powerful circles of the capital, there were few untouchables. Lou Ye was one of them.

Lu Jinnian’s face looked grim.

Lou Ye didn’t spare him another glance.

He drained his champagne, nodded at Lu Jinnian, and turned away.

“Let’s go…”

With those two light words, Sang Wan, Yang Yan, Lin Qiyue, Cheng Jingran, and Rong Jing followed after him.

A large space cleared out in front of Lu Jinnian.

Someone called out “President Lou” and hurried after.

Others crowded in around Lu Jinnian, eager to know what had passed between him and Lou Ye, and why it seemed he had offended him.

Exiting the government building, microphones were thrust at him from all sides, voices chattering.

Some asked how he felt about losing the bid.

Others pressed him about rumors of trouble in his marriage.

His eyes swept the crowd, cold and predatory, before he turned and walked away.

“President Lu, President Lu…”

He walked all the way to the parking lot and got into the car.

Behind him, Lin Chaochao hurried after, her heels clicking all the way.

The car sped out of the government compound.

Lin Chaochao, her face pale, handed over the tablet. “President Lu, something’s terribly wrong…”