Li Zong had booked a very high-end place, a star-rated hotel.

Because it was still early, the parking spaces at the entrance were quite empty. I spotted Li Zong's car at a glance; he had obviously arrived already.

He had reserved a private room for me. I gently pushed open the door and found him alone inside. He stood up immediately when he saw me, and I quickly gestured, "Stay seated… stay seated."

"You came pretty quickly," Li Zong said with a smile.

"I came as soon as I got your call."

"Xiao Wu, you've had a makeover."

Xiao Wu touched the back of his head, looking uncharacteristically shy as he said, "Brother Lin forced me to get it cut."

"It looks much more refreshing this way."

"Thank you for the compliment, Li Zong."

After sitting down, I was surprised to see that Xiao Wu wasn't just being sweet-tongued, but also very humble.

I looked at the spacious private room and table and said, "It's just the three of us having a casual meal. There was no need to make such a grand affair of it."

"There's an important person coming later."

"Who else is coming?" I asked curiously.

Li Zong didn't answer. He lit a cigarette, took a puff, and then asked me, "What happened to your face?"

I had been covering my face with my hand since I came in. When I let go, he saw it and asked. "It's nothing. I accidentally got hurt a few days ago."

"Do you have some sort of history with Shi Yu?" he finally asked, getting to the point.

"What did she tell you?"

"I went to Shi Yu's company yesterday, and she told me she doesn't agree to let you handle the project."

Because it was what I had expected, I said frankly, "Li Zong, it's okay. Since she doesn't agree, I won't do it. It won't affect your cooperation with her."

"She has a lot of animosity toward you. Later, I told her some things about you."

"What did you say?"

Li Zong flicked the ash into the ashtray and looked at me, saying, "I told her that you've had a hard time, wandering around on your own before you even turned eighteen, with your parents not caring about you. Maybe you have a confrontational personality, but you're very trustworthy. It doesn't matter who does the landscaping. I said you've helped me before, helped me recover a large sum of money, and I got through a difficult period because of it; otherwise, I would have collapsed long ago."

Hearing this, I felt awkward. I clearly have parents, but neither of them wants to care about me. I don't even know where my mother is.

"Shi Yu will be here later. I only invited her originally, but I thought I'd invite you too, to try and change her impression of you and give her a good impression."

At this moment, Xiao Wu, who had been silent, spoke up for me, "Li Zong, don't worry, we will definitely behave ourselves later and not lose face for you."

"Well, it seems Xiao Wu has become sensible."

"My Brother Lin here is just too stubborn and doesn't like to back down."

I raised my foot and kicked him, who was sitting to my right. Sucking up is understandable, but don't make it so obvious, and don't drag me into it.

Xiao Wu was very calm. The kick wasn't light, but he didn't betray any hint of it.

Suddenly, the door of the private room was pushed open. It was Pei Shi Yu! Her eyes swept over my and Xiao Wu's faces before finally settling on Li Zong.

"Come in quickly," Li Zong said immediately, standing up.

I had already prepared myself mentally. If she was going to leave, then I would leave immediately. But unexpectedly, she walked slowly to the seat farthest away from me, placed the bag she was carrying on the empty chair, and took off her coat, revealing a white sweater with a lace collar, which made her impressive figure even more captivating.

The feeling of touching her suddenly flashed through my mind, and my body immediately felt a surge of heat. I lit a cigarette a little慌乱to cover up my失态.

Xiao Wu then stood up, picked up the red wine bottle from the table, and poured two glasses, one full and one shallow. After pouring, he walked to Pei Shi Yu and handed her the shallow glass, but she hesitated to take it.

I was sweating in my heart, wondering how he would save himself if she didn't take it...

"President Pei, I'd like to offer you a toast and apologize for what happened before. I hope we can cooperate well in the future. Please feel free to supervise any shortcomings."

Li Zong and I watched this scene. The expression on Pei Shi Yu's face was slightly haughty as she calmly looked at the glass of wine in Xiao Wu's hand, but she didn't seem to want to drink it at all.

"Shi Yu, give Xiao Wu some face and accept the toast. I've already told them that this project is huge, and there will inevitably be opportunities to meet in the future. Drink this glass of wine and let go of the unpleasantness of the past."

After Li Zong finished speaking, he personally took the glass of wine and handed it to her. Xiao Wu touched her glass with a persevering attitude, tilted his head back, and drank the red wine in one gulp, then walked back to his seat and sat down very steadily.

And I kept staring at the glass of wine in Pei Shi Yu's hand, wondering if she would drink it.

"Lin Che, you should also come over and offer a toast."

To be honest, I also felt a little disgusted. This kind of humble behavior is not what I'm good at. Xiao Wu had already apologized, but she didn't give him any face, let alone me.

Seeing that I hadn't moved, Li Zong winked at me and said, "Have a drink with Shi Yu, and then we'll start talking about business."

I put out my cigarette, unconsciously touched the scar on my face, picked up the red wine bottle, poured until it was almost overflowing, and stopped. Walking up to her, I simply said, "I'm sorry for what happened before!"

I think this "I'm sorry" contained too much: the slap in the face at our first meeting and the offense I caused her. I wanted to be done with it in one sentence.

I took the initiative to lean down and lightly touched her glass with mine. Whether she drank it or not, I followed Xiao Wu's example and downed it in one gulp.

Bowing down for a few grains of rice is a helpless move at the moment, but it's also worth Li Zong's painstaking efforts.

After sitting down, I didn't dare to look directly at her, covering my entire face with my hands, enduring the embarrassment in front of me with an escapist mentality.

Suddenly, there was applause from Xiao Wu...

"Good, thank you, President Pei, for giving us face."

Only then did I open my eyes and see that Pei Shi Yu had finished the wine in her glass and wiped her hands very gracefully. I found that her fingers were not only slender but also as white as transparent, and even the blood vessels and veins were vaguely visible.

Li Zong took the opportunity to toast her as well. I respected him from the bottom of my heart. In order to help me, he smiled and drank, and kept his posture very low, always helping me out of difficult situations.

With a grateful heart, I picked up the wine glass again and drank with him, saying nothing, not wanting to express my gratitude to him in front of Pei Shi Yu.

Li Zong put down his glass. At this time, he also seemed very happy, smiling and saying to her, "Shi Yu, the main problem has been satisfactorily resolved by inviting you to dinner tonight. Next, let's talk about business."

At this moment, her cell phone rang. She quickly picked up her phone and walked out, saying to Li Zong, "Sorry, I'll take this call outside."