After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 17 The Arrogant Crown Prince Feng Li
The night view of Country M casts dappled shadows outside the hotel's panoramic window.

In the interplay of light and shadow, the two men gazed at each other silently.

One is as aloof and refined as snow on a mountain peak, with turbulent undercurrents hidden in his eyes; the other is as arrogant and haughty as a blazing fire, his cynicism revealing arrogance and ruthlessness.

The atmosphere remained tense for ten minutes before a large group of footsteps finally came from outside the door, and then a dozen blond, blue-eyed businessmen walked in with tense expressions.

“We are from the Arbitration Department of the Institute of International Finance, and I am Vice President Doni,” the foreign man at the head of the group said in fluent American English. “We are here today to witness and coordinate the meeting between the two of you.”

FY's young master gave him a cold look: "Heh, what, do those old fogies in the arbitration department want to punish me?"

"I wouldn't dare!" Doni found a seat some distance away, opened his notebook, and said, "The two of you have been making too much noise these past few days, seriously disrupting the global financial order. My department has been specially commissioned by hundreds of chambers of commerce around the world to assist you in completing the negotiations today and stabilizing the financial market."

Li Yubai nodded: "Then let's begin, I'm in a hurry."

Doni typed in his notebook as he asked, "Did the two of you reach a settlement voluntarily in this meeting?"

FY's heir: "No."

Li Yubai: "No."

Donnie: "...So what was the catalyst that brought about the truce between the two of you?"

After a moment of silence.

FY's young master clicked his tongue in annoyance, seemingly both disgusted and boastful: "My wife won't let me fight."

Donnie was a little confused. How come he had never heard that this globally recognized scourge had a wife?

But that wasn't the main point. Donnie's questioning gaze then turned to Li Yubai.

Li Yubai's tone softened slightly: "My wife is urging me to go home."

Doni paused for several seconds, then decided not to dwell on whether the richest man in China was married or not, and to get straight back to the main topic:
"So, neither of you has any objections to tonight's peace talks, OK? Let's begin now. First, please have FY Group state your demands."

The legal team representing FY opened a thick stack of documents:
"The Li Group destroyed three major pharmaceutical bases of the FY conglomerate, with estimated losses of US$380 billion; ten branches were attacked, with estimated losses of US$80 billion; the Changsheng cruise ship was bombed, and my young master's life was threatened, with compensation for mental distress and cruise ship expenses totaling US$200 billion. We demand that the Li Group pay the above compensation."

On Li Yubai's side, the legal team was not to be outdone: "Two mines under my boss's name were bombed, and a large amount of gold and jewelry were stolen, with estimated losses of 340 billion US dollars; the Li Group's branch in the United States was bombed, with losses of 130 billion US dollars; the boss was assassinated in a hotel yesterday morning and was greatly traumatized, so he will not ask for more, just like the FY Group, 200 billion US dollars; therefore, we demand compensation from the FY conglomerate."

Donnie: With such shameless price gouging, how can we possibly continue this negotiation today?

FY Legal Team: "If the Li Group cannot come up with this compensation, we can sign an installment agreement with an interest rate of 10%. Furthermore, we demand that Mr. Li Yubai, the head of the Li Group, personally apologize to my young master and promise to avoid him in the future."

The Li Group's legal team was ruthless: "Our boss is generous. If you can't pay the compensation in one lump sum, we won't ask for any interest. Just let us blow up the other two islands in FY."

FY Legal Team: "Looking for death? Believe me or not, we'll blow up the Li Group headquarters tomorrow!"

Li Group's legal team: "Believe it or not, we'll kill your heir right now!"

"Shut up!" Donnie couldn't take it anymore. "You're a legal team! A legal team! Please use proper language and refer to the financial terms..."

Nearby, the other members of the arbitration department exchanged glances, feeling a sense of melancholy:
The Lee Group and FY Group have the best legal teams in the world, known for their politeness and well-reasoned arguments.

However, in such a high-level setting as this, with long-standing grudges between the two sides, there's no room for politeness anymore. If they continue talking, they might actually strangle each other on the spot...

Donnie took a deep breath: "I urge Mr. Li Yubai and Young Master Feng Li of FY to properly restrain your legal team and pay attention to your international image."

China.

The morning light is slightly dew.

In the small house at No. 082 Xinghua Lane, Jiang Shu spent the whole night mending and patching things up, then took out a set of test papers and started doing practice questions.

Ten minutes later. She stared at the more challenging questions at the back, racking her brains without finding a solution, so she snapped a photo and posted it to the pet group chat.

Dear patron: [Image.jpg]

Sponsor: [Who knows the answer to this question?]

Accompanied by an emoji of someone pounding the ground in frustration.

Country M.

Meeting Center.

Li Yubai and the FY Crown Prince remained calm and silent as the two groups of people continued their shrewish tirade.

Suddenly, both of their phones beeped simultaneously with a special notification sound.

Then, Doni, the vice president of the arbitration department, saw the two of them lower their heads at the same time, soften their gazes, open their phones, and start typing as if no one else was around.

Donnie glanced at it furtively—

What the hell! We're doing the same math problem?

Donnie exclaimed in surprise, "You—"

"Shut up!" The two of them spoke at the same time without even looking up.

Five minutes later, Li Yubai and the young master put away their phones and exchanged glances again. However, after that brief respite, the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

Putting everything else aside, the expression on the face of the Chinese tycoon Li Yubai softened considerably, while the young master's fierce and arrogant peach blossom eyes seemed to hold a hint of spring...

Doni seized this rare opportunity and cleared his throat: "Why don't you two sit down and have a proper talk? As for the losses mentioned by both legal teams, our arbitration department, in conjunction with the accounting department, will conduct a formal and reasonable settlement..."

China.

Jiang Shu looked at the dozen or so problem-solving methods that the five men had posted in the group chat and sent a "You guys are awesome" emoji.

Mahjong Goddess: [Sister, you're doing math problems so early in the morning! Whose solution do you like best?]

Bliss: [Studying for exams so early in the morning, how lonely are you? Do you want your brother to come keep you company?]

Mahjong God: [I live nearby; I can fly to my sister's arms in two hours.]

Dear benefactor: [Don't worry. Soon, our family of six will be all together. *smiles*]

Sparrow God: […]

Bliss: [...]

Beiming Youyu: [...]

Country M.

Outside the panoramic window, night was falling and the stars were shining brightly.

Inside the meeting room, the bright lights could not dispel the gloom in the eyes of Li Yubai and the young master of FY.

Especially after the two of them glanced down at their phones again, their gloom turned into disdain and disgust, and when they looked at their mortal enemy, their murderous intent intensified.

Neither side was willing to speak first. Even the lawyers for both sides had already gathered together, subtly calculating how to destroy their arch-rival's biggest empire with minimal cost...

(End of this chapter)