The three of them answered their phone calls at the same moment.
All three of them instantly had a dramatic change in their expressions. Qin Jinhuan was in shock while Qin Xiaozhi was livid, and Qin Wentao was ecstatic instead.
“Look at what you did! Qin Jinhuan!” Qin Xiaozhi slammed his phone in front of Qin Jinhuan.
Dong Wanqing quickly came forward, and held on to Qin Xiaozhi when she saw his face turning pale. She comforted him, “Don’t get too worked up, Grandpa. You need to take care of your body.”
“No, this isn’t true! This can’t be happening!” Qin Jinhuan’s expression was worse than that of Qin Xiaozhi’s. He lowered his head and mumbled, while he tried to make some calls.
Dong Yueyun paced toward Qin Wentao at the same time, and gently nudged him. With one hand covering her mouth, she asked, “What’s the matter, Dear?”
Qin Wentao did not answer, but silently snickered and hinted at her. She immediately caught on, and did not ask further, but instead averted her gaze toward Qin Xiaozhi and Qin Jinhuan.
“Didn’t you say that we will be signing the contract in the afternoon? But instead, you went back on your words?” Qin Jinhuan’s roar could be heard throughout the living room, and this made everyone’s gaze turn back to him.
Remembering what Qin Wentao had said before, Mu Yu had vaguely guessed that there were some problems regarding Qin Jinhuan’s Phoenix Gully project. She also assumed how important this project was according to the expressions displayed on the faces of the Qin fathers and sons. Mu Yu’s initial relief transformed into anxiety once again, and her stare toward Qin Jinhuan became more shaky.
“Bastard!”
Bam!
Qin Jinhuan even took out his anger on his phone.
“You even have the audacity to call them bastards? Why don’t you call yourself bastard instead?” Qin Xiaozhi knocked the ground with his cane angrily as he scolded him, “You were the one who missed the appointment, not someone else! Qing Tian Group’s good name and reputation that we have been building up for years just went down the drain because of you! How do you expect the company to negotiate for contracts with our partners next time?”
“Dad, failing to sign the Phoenix Gully project is not only a disaster for the company, but is also damaging to the company’s name. Our top priority right now is not to think about future projects, but rather how we are going to provide an explanation to the board of directors. Huan was so arrogant and full of confidence when he was at the board meeting, that everyone was putting all their hopes on him. How can we let this go when he has failed his task?” Qin Wentao glanced over Qin Jinhuan when he said this, bearing a look as if he was saying ‘You’d better be responsible for this problem until the very end.’
Qin Xiaozhi looked at Qin Jinhuan resentfully after hearing what Qin Wentao said. He let out a long sigh. “I have already told you that the relationship between this girl and Yi Yunzhe was shady, but you did not listen to me. Look at how big of a loss you suffer now. People will only realize they have done something wrong after they suffer a big loss.”
Seeing that Qin Xiaozhi did not seem eager to hold Qin Jinhuan accountable, Qin Wentao became nervous. He unconsciously raised his voice, “Dad, there’s nothing much to say since this project has already failed. Rewards and punishments must be given accordingly, or we won’t be able to hold accountability toward our company.”
“That’s enough. You don’t have to teach me how to do my job.” Qin Xiaozhi glared at Qin Wentao, then turned back his gaze toward Qin Jinhuan, and softened his voice as he spoke, “How will you explain to the board of directors now that things have turned out like this, Huan?”
Qin Jinhuan was in disdain, but he could only swallow his discontentment and replied, “I’m all yours for the punishment.”
Delighted, Qin Wentao immediately interrupted, “You were the one who promised on the director’s board that you will step down from your position as the CEO should you fail to obtain the Phoenix Gully project. So now you…”
Qin Jinhuan impatiently cut him off, “You expect to be the CEO of Qing Tian Group with just your skill sets?”
Qin Wentao choked on his words, and was embarrassed at his own incompetence. He went silent, and was thinking of ways to win back some dignity, when Qin Xiaozhi finally spoke, “Your dad’s abilities might be flawed, but at least he works in a stable manner, and knows how to carry his weight in the company.”
“That’s right. At least I won’t rush and be overconfident when making decisions, to the point of causing great trouble and loss to the company.” Qin Wentao got more confident seeing that his father was standing on his side.
Dong Yueyun who was supporting Qin Xiaozhi also interrupted, “Dad, a CEO is a leader of the whole company, and their decision can change the outcome of the entire company. So they must not be so arrogant and full of themselves. Huan needs to discipline himself more because he is still young.”
Before Qin Xiaozhi could answer, Qin Wentao got more worked up, and he rapidly added to what his wife had to say, “But even though Huan is still young, he is not a child anymore. He still needs to be responsible for his wrongdoings. I have already advised him not to take light of the investments for the Phoenix Gully project, but he never listened, and was arrogant enough to boast about it, even though nobody asked for it. I know you dote on him and have high expectations of him, Dad, but if you keep letting him off the hook instead of punishing him accordingly, then he would become even more problematic. In the end, he might even ruin Qing Tian Group. You need to reconsider this, Dad…”
“Wasn’t it just the CEO’s position? Since I have made my promise, I will be a man of my words.” Qin Jinhuan impatiently interrupted Qin Wentao’s speech.
He could not stand Qin Wentao’s eager and dreadful demeanor.
Qin Xiaozhi was livid seeing how nonchalant Qin Jinhuan was. He tapped his wooden cane on the floor and reminded him, “The only way you thought of being held accountable was to give up on the CEO position? Nothing else?”
Qin Wentao immediately howled, “There’s more! He also needs to give up on his right for the inheritance of Sijun’s possessions.”
Qin Jinhuan immediately became irate. “You think you have the rights to have a share of my mother’s possessions? Get lost! Get lost, all of you!”
Not only was Qin Wentao not intimidated at all, he even chuckled and said, “This property is also under your mother’s possession, and since you no longer have the rights for the inheritance, then you have absolutely no reason to be in this house anymore. So if someone really needs to get lost, then it would be you, and not us. What’s the matter? Are you thinking of going back on what you said? Let me remind you that everytime we have a board meeting, the minutes are recorded, and even archived in the form of video clips. If you really want to make a fuss, then we can just take this to court.”
Qin Jinhuan’s face turned steaming pale at once from being too livid.
He was never concerned about the CEO’s position, since he was never a person who valued lively possessions that much. But what he could not stand was the despicable pair of couple, Qin Wentao and Dong Yueyun trying to lay their hands on his mother’s belongings!
That would mean much disrespect to his mother.
“Huan,” Qin Xiaozhi, who had been silent for awhile, finally voiced out, and continued with a gentle demeanour, “I know you don’t want to give up on your inheritance for your mother’s belongings, and you don’t really want to give up on the position for the company’s CEO. I can give you another chance…”
“Dad!” Qin Wentao and Dong Yueyun anxiously interrupted and reminded him. “You musn’t…”
“Silence!” Qin Xiaozhi bellowed before he continued, “Huan, if you can agree to marry Wanqing to be your wife, and forgo all your resentment toward your father, and live lovingly with your wife while getting along with your father, then I shall forget all of your wrongdoings…”
“That will never happen!” Qin Jinhuan rejected without any further thought.
He would not consider even one of the given conditions, let alone two of them.
The Qin Wentao couple was secretly in glee, but Dong Wanqing was nervous. “Huan, don’t reply with such urgency. Think carefully before you make your decision!”
“Yes, that’s right. This issue is too important, so you mustn’t be rash on making a decision. You must think thrice before you act.” Mu Yu, who hadn’t been able to intervene, finally joined in and persuaded him.
She knew he lost the deed because he came back all the way to save her, and she felt even more concerned now that he was put under pressure. She couldn’t help but be upset with her foolish self and how cunning Yi Yunzhe was.
Seeing how unbothered Qin Jinhuan was, Qin Xiaozhi became a little anxious, and reminded him again, “You know what will happen if you were to disobey me? I will only give you this one chance.”
Qin Jinhuan nonchalantly sneered, “I don’t need this kind of opportunity.”
Qin Wentao was seemingly mad. “Do you think it was easy for grandpa to give you this chance, Qin Jinhuan? You always take your grandfather for granted!”
“Hmph.”
“Huan!” Qin Xiaozhi seemed like he was losing his patience, and his voice was raised. “I am asking you one last time, are you taking this chance or not?”
“I don’t want it.”
His thoughtless answer made Qin Xiaozhi sullen. “Since you are so indifferent, then you’d better not blame me for disregarding our relationship! Wentao, get the printed resignation letter and inheritance transference document now!”
“Yes dad.” Qin Wentao immediately took out two documents from the briefcase, and passed it forward.
Smack!
Qin Xiaozhi slammed the forms on the coffee table. “If you refuse, then just sign this form!”
“You can’t sign it, Huan!” Dong Wanqing immediately ran forward to stop him as she saw him walking to the coffee table, but she was stopped by Dong Yueyun as she glared at her.
At the same time, Mu Yu came forward as well, and tried to stop Qin Jinhuan. She reminded him, “You can’t sign it! You can’t! If you sign it, then you will have nothing left!”
Even though she disliked Qin Jinhuan, and also disagreed with him marrying Dong Wanqing, she knew that he was used to living a lavish life. He won’t be able to fit living in poverty. So after weighing the pros and cons, she finally decided to persuade him to go with the other option.
Qin Xiaozhi thought that she only tried to stop him from signing the contract. He then sneered, “You think he won’t lose everything just because he doesn’t sign the papers?”
Qin Wentao suddenly tried to persuade him again, “You should just obey and sign the form, so we can avoid going to court and the family won’t lose face. Wouldn’t that be great? We are a family at the end of the day.”
Yet the excitement that he failed to conceal in his eyes made Mu Yu feel disgusted, as she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Stop being a hypocrite! It’s really unfortunate of Huan for having a father like you!”
Qin Wentao snickered, “I’m a hypocrite? You’re the hypocrite! You had an affair with Yi Yunzhe even though Huan was nice to you, and you made him lose the contract today. This all happened because of you!”
Mu Yu was enraged. “That is a pack of lies!”
“So you have the audacity to say that you didn’t consent when you slept with him?” Dong Yueyun interrupted with much despise. “This video was sent to Grandpa exactly when Huan was on his way to sign the project. This was so that you could trigger Grandpa’s illness, or cause Huan to misunderstand that you were in trouble, so he had no choice but to come home and save you. Whatever it was, Huan had no choice but to return, so he was bound to miss the time to sign the contract. This was your plan all along, am I right?”
Mu Yu was so enraged that her face turned pale. She sneered and retorted after some thought, “In my opinion, all of you were leeching off him! You always had your eyes on the position of CEO, and you were wishing that Huan would fail in getting the contract, so then you will end up benefiting as the third party! You worked so hard to blindside everyone in the video situation, because you wanted to stop Huan from signing the contract!”
“Nonsense! I am Huan’s birth father, so why would I even do such…”
“Enough! All of you, silence!” Qin Xiaozhi struck his cane hard on the ground, and turned his piercing gaze toward Qin Jinhuan. “I’m asking you again, will you be taking my offer?”
“I don’t need it.”
Seeing how stubborn Qin Jinhuan was, Qin Xiaozhi’s body quivered in anger. He bellowed, “Then quickly sign it, take your woman and leave! From this moment onward, you will no longer be affiliated with the Qin household and I, Qin Xiaozhi, only have Qin Chengxi as my one and only grandson.”
“Grandpa, can you not do this to Jinhuan?” Qin Chengxi appealed in a feeble voice.
In the next second, Dong Yueyun dashed toward him, and pinched him as a warning not to make any more sounds.
Mu Yu did not have the energy to sympathize with Qin Chengxi, who was cowering at the corner, and ignored the anger of the Qin Wentao couple. But she looked earnestly at Qin Jinhuan, who was signing the contract. Her mouth opened, but she could not come up with any persuasion. Things were already set in stones, and she understood that he had to sign the papers one way or the other.
Qin Jinhuan threw down the pen after signing all the papers. He tugged Mu Yu and left the house without looking back, and they went straight inside Huang Bo’s car.
“What are you planning to do now?” Mu Yu and Qin Jinhuan sat inside the car, and she was looking at him full of concern.
Qin Jinhuan ignored her, as he waited for the car to move out of the residences, and ordered Huang Bo to stop the car. He got out of the vehicle after telling Huang Bo to send Mu Yu back to her parent’s place.
“Hey, where are you going?” Mu Yu hurriedly rolled down the car’s window.
Qin Jinhuan quickly walked away and disappeared at a corner, as though he did not hear what she just said.