Hearing this, Song Qiao's body stiffened slightly. Xia Xueqing's smile paused, and her expression turned a bit lost.
For a moment, the surroundings seemed to fall silent. Song Qiao sighed and, with a slight stiffness, turned his head to look at Deng Yihan, who stood not far from them.
Deng Yihan was playing with her red hair, her head slightly tilted as she watched the two of them.
Her eyes, adorned with colored contact lenses, revealed no discernible emotion.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Song Qiao cleared his throat twice and quickly praised,
"I never imagined you could dance so beautifully. You truly live up to your name, Deng Yihan."
As he spoke, he noticed Deng Yihan's slightly teasing gaze and felt a prickle of unease. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and forced out a few words,
"You danced wonderfully!"
Xia Xueqing's lips twitched upon hearing these four words, and she rolled her eyes repeatedly, finding his praise incredibly forced.
Deng Yihan was clearly amused and let out a small laugh. However, she quickly coughed twice, adopting a fierce demeanor. Her eyes widened as she glared at Song Qiao and coldly huffed,
"Do you think a couple of compliments will get you off the hook?"
"I'm telling you, if anything about today gets leaked, it'll be because you spilled it!"
She paused to think, then raised a hand to her chin, scrutinizing Song Qiao. Her eyes narrowed, and she smiled,
"In that case, I'll have to silence you!"
Song Qiao tapped his forehead, looking helpless. He shot a glare at Xia Xueqing, who was secretly chuckling, and then, facing Deng Yihan's gaze, Song Qiao grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and teased,
"This place isn't exactly safe, with wolves and tigers lurking. If you silence me, who will protect you? What if something happens?"
Pouting, Deng Yihan tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed.
"What can I do then? The pressure is so immense every day. Finally, I have some time to relax, and I still have to be so cautious?"
"If you're under so much pressure, why not come to my place and relax properly?"
This remark made Deng Yihan pause. Xia Xueqing, meanwhile, widened her eyes and glared at Song Qiao, her face flushed with anger. Without hesitation, she grabbed a handful of soft flesh on his waist and squeezed hard.
She gritted her teeth and said,
"Song Qiao! You speak properly!"
The pain in his waist caused Song Qiao to hunch over, and he quickly apologized.
"Ow, ow, ow, let go! Let go, that hurts! I won't dare again, I was wrong!"
Watching their playful banter, Deng Yihan chuckled softly. She glanced at the still fervent dance floor and sighed.
"Things have changed so rapidly in recent years, and the enemies are only increasing."
"The Deng family is being targeted now, and many of our old friends from Southeast Asia have become enemies."
Thinking about the current surrounding situation, Deng Yihan pursed her lips, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
The world bustles and bustles, all for the sake of profit. Friends, too, are built on relationships of interest.
Therefore, betrayal was somewhat expected, but she hadn't anticipated it would be so widespread.
With this thought, Deng Yihan couldn't help but laugh at herself.
"You don't know, I'm even afraid when a child approaches me, thinking they might be a trained human bomb."
Song Qiao shook his head, patted Xia Xueqing's hand, and looked at Deng Yihan, saying softly,
"It's not that scary. Don't worry, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you. You're still useful to me right now. If anything were to happen to you, I would suffer a great loss."
As expected, Song Qiao's waist was pinched again. Xia Xueqing snorted but said nothing.
"You're so glib," Deng Yihan couldn't help but roll her eyes at Song Qiao.
Laughing heartily, Song Qiao was about to reply when he suddenly noticed a familiar figure in the crowd.
Upon confirming the identity of this figure, Song Qiao exclaimed in surprise,
"Little Stick? What, are you having an epileptic fit too?"
This inexplicable remark immediately drew the attention of the two women. The two women then turned their gazes to where Song Qiao was looking.
At that moment, a man, upon hearing these words, stumbled and nearly fell.
Once he regained his composure, he glared darkly at Song Qiao. He also glanced at Deng Yihan and Xia Xueqing, his face filled with disgust and disdain.
"It's you again. You're like a persistent ghost, I can't escape you no matter where I go!"
This man was none other than Cui Haoze.
Recently, due to Song Qiao, many of Cui Haoze's company's orders had been canceled. Depressed, he could only come to the bar to drown his sorrows.
But he never expected to encounter someone who made him so nauseated even here.
Song Qiao, however, remained unfazed by his attitude, laughing playfully.
"That just means we're fated, Little Stick. Since we're fated, why wear such a long face?"
"Who's fated with you? You're such bad luck!" Cui Haoze seemed enraged, shouting at Song Qiao, "Get away from me! I feel sick just looking at you!"
Song Qiao shrugged his shoulders, smiling.
"Honestly, if that's how you feel, then I'll say less."
"The end of the month is almost here for the inventory count. How's that compensation ready?"
Before the other party could speak, Song Qiao tapped his forehead, a look of sudden realization on his face.
"It should be ready by now, after all, you have the leisure to come here and have fun."
Saying this only made Cui Haoze's lungs feel like they were about to explode. His chest heaved rapidly, his breathing grew heavy, his eyes turned red, and he glared at Song Qiao, trembling all over, gritting his teeth and growling,
"Show off! I'll see how long you can keep this up!"
He truly couldn't accept it!
Why was it that as soon as Song Qiao's gold wound medicine was launched, it had crushed his own medicine?
It had left him with no room to maneuver, and many top-tier hospitals had canceled their cooperation with them.
He had previously thought that Song Qiao, who was trying to compete with him, would eventually go bankrupt. But judging by the current situation, his own company was the one that would go bankrupt first!
Another penalty for breach of contract was no small sum!
It had even made him consider simply throwing in the towel!
Song Qiao chuckled softly and walked up to him, leaning into his ear and whispering,
"Make sure the penalty for breach of contract is handled. After all, if you don't keep your word, it represents the entire South Korea."
Cui Haoze was almost driven mad by him. His voice trembled as he spoke, each word seemingly squeezed through clenched teeth, filled with resentment.
"Get lost! I don't have time to bicker with you. I'm here today to meet with important figures from South Korea's chaebols. If I'm delayed, I won't let you off!"
"How can you call this bickering? We have an agreement."
"I'll pay! I'll definitely pay you, not a penny less!" Cui Haoze's head was spinning. He felt that if he continued to talk with Song Qiao, he would lose several years of his life.
"Can you shut up?"
As he finished speaking, a noblewoman suddenly appeared outside the bar.
Dressed in lavish attire, her appearance immediately drew the attention of many.
Cui Haoze, in particular, bowed his head and stooped subserviently upon seeing her.
"Madam Shin."