“Oh!” Shen Xingyue's eyes widened as she stared at him in a daze!

Li Mu drained his glass of white wine and said bitterly, “In fact, it's not that I'm clinging onto her but the other way round instead. After I was willing to compromise, she neither agreed to remarry nor let me go. Honestly, I can't even figure out why on earth she is torturing me like this.”

“She’s sick in the head! Li Mu, is what you said true?” Shen Xingyue couldn't believe Li Mu's words. If what he said was true, torture was an understatement. He was in the depths of hell!

“To be honest, I don't even want to believe that things like this happen. But it’s happening to me this very instance. It feels like a dream. But the pain I’m going through right now is constantly reminding me it’s not, and that I’m going through an ordeal.”

Li Mu did not hide anything from Shen Xingyue. There was a strong emotional attachment between them as they used to be in a relationship as well as ex-classmates. They knew each other very well. Hence it was easy for them to open their hearts up.

Shen Xingyue poured him a glass of wine, lifted it up, and gently clinked glasses with him.

“Come on. I'll drink with you!”

“Don’t force yourself if you’re not a good drinker. You can drink water instead.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll drink slowly!”

Shen Xingyue took a tiny sip, but this time without an exaggerated expression, as if she had already adapted to the pungency of the white wine.

“Do you know what my real desire is?”

Li Mu was unsure why she mentioned this all of a sudden and asked, “What is it?”

“My grandfather left me a field and a yard. And I've always wanted to go back there with the man I love. Just imagine plowing and planting carefreely! I’ve been longing for that kind of simple life for ages.”

Speaking of this, she stared at Li Mu with her beautiful eyes, “Li Mu, don’t you think my wish sounds really childish?”

Li Mu shook his head, “A wish is a wish. We don’t think of it highly nor lowly, nor do we categorize it as a mature or childish wish. If it’s fulfilled, then we’ll be happy. If it’s not, then it’ll remain a wish forever!”

“That’s a really wise thing to say. Li Mu, are you willing to do this with me?”

“Of course!” Li Mu replied without hesitation, “I'm tired of the life here anyway. I’ll definitely farm together with you and work for you as a long-term farmhand if I ever have a chance to escape this hellhole!”

Shen Xingyue laughed gently and the two of them felt as if they were transported back to their schooling days, to how carefree and innocent they used to be.

After laughing for a while, Shen Xingyue waved her hand and said, “Alright. Stop teasing me. How would I dare to let you work for me? Asking you to be the landlord would be more like it.”

After saying that, she blushed immediately. Li Mu also felt a little awkward. Hurriedly changing the topic, he asked, “Well, now that you know of my situation, do you still want to work with me?”

A hint of disappointment flashed across Shen Xingyue's face. But she restored to her original state immediately and said graciously, “I’d like to work with you, both out of professionalism and personal reasons.”

“Okay. Can you tell me about it?”

“Sure. In terms of professionalism, this is a huge order. Although we can cope with it, we aren’t really into setting up a completely new team for it. It’s very simple actually. It might seem beneficial, but it’s unprofitable in the long run. So why don’t I find a competent local business to work with to achieve a win-win situation?”

Li Mu nodded. What Shen Xingyue said was exactly what he had in mind. The most effective way for Weihua Group to get the most out of it financially was to keep the cost to its bare minimum. All they had to do was to collaborate with a local business and outsource their services as well as some of their development tasks. This plan was basically spot on.

Being the largest local IT service provider, Dongyang Group was obviously their best candidate in mind.

Shen Xingyue went on, “In terms of personal reasons, it’s because of you. I don’t think you need me to elaborate why!”

Li Mu nodded again. He understood what Shen Xingyue meant. They were once lovers. And there were no conflicts or arguments that happened between them. It was human nature to reach out and give a hand when one’s first love was in trouble. He would’ve done the same if he had been in her shoes.

“Did you already know in advance that Lin Wan was going to target us?”

“Yes. I was curious and had secretly poked around about it. I only found out that she was your ex-wife after someone showed me the video.”

“Alright. Enough of that. How do you want to work together?”

“Joint bidding. The users will not reject joint bidding for such a large project. We will do joint bidding together with Weihua Group being the subject. After winning the bid, we will share the money proportionally.”

Li Mu shook his head and laughed bitterly, “This won’t work. She’ll stop that from happening.”

“I don't think so. Her intentions of going against you will be too obvious if she did that. I don’t think she’d dare to act so blatantly.”

“You don’t think so? Alright. Let’s give it a shot then. When is the invitation to tender happening?”

“They’re releasing the solicitation documents tomorrow!”

“What?” Li Mu exclaimed in surprise, “That’s so soon! As far as I know, the specification hasn't even been drafted yet. What will be used as an invitation to tender?”

“Don't get me wrong. They’re inviting tenders from the nominees tomorrow. They will divide this project into sections and pre-recruit candidates first. Only shortlisted candidates will be eligible to bid!”

That made sense now. How clever of them! If they pre-selected their nominees beforehand and finalized their shortlisted candidates, Dongyang Group would be disqualified from the bidding no matter how hard they tried. How ruthless!

“I agree to work together. Although I'm not too optimistic about the outcome, it's not a bad idea to try!” Li Mu said frankly.

“Don't worry. We are entirely involved in the specification writing. Plus, the concept of the Interconnection Gateway was pioneered by Weihua Group. They wouldn't dare to exclude us!”

“They wouldn't dare to exclude you but they’d dare to exclude me. Let’s wait and see. But I don’t think it’ll turn out well!”

The results of the bidding were exactly what Li Mu had expected.

When Shanyang Group realized the loopholes in the solicitation documents, they simply found a reason to declare that it was invalid and re-tendered a few days later. And in the new round of tenders, it was clearly written that joint bidding was prohibited.

Shen Xingyue was sorry for this. But Li Mu reassured her not to take it to heart. This outcome was something he had predicted and expected beforehand. It also further confirmed his thoughts that Lin Wan was going all out on him.

At the same time, He Xiaoyu and her father both returned to Shanyang. Upon knowing the outcome, the two of them had no choice but to accept the truth reluctantly. The company’s senior management had an urgent meeting to come up with the countermeasures, while Li Mu requested a leave of absence from work and did not attend the meeting. He Yang knew he was in a bad mood and allowed him to go home to rest for a few days and relax properly.

Li Mu finally made up his mind. It was time to settle this once and for all. Although his decision would cause him pain and break his heart, he had no other choices.

He had to act before the bidding happened. Only then could he halt the bidding process and fight for a chance for Dongyang Group.

Li Mu went home early on the night he got the solicitation documents. He was ready to have a complete showdown with Lin Wan, sacrificing himself in exchange for Lin Wan's mercy.

Lin Wan was not home yet by the time Mrs. Hong called him for dinner.

Sitting at the dinner table, Li Mu couldn't help but ask, “Is she having a business dinner again tonight?”

“Yeah. There's a leader paying a visit from the headquarters. She needs to attend a business dinner with him and won't be home early!”

“Is he one of her suitors?”

Mrs. Hong put down her chopsticks and scolded him, “Aren't you being a little too sensitive? Even if he is, Lin Wan will not fall for him. Don't be so small-minded, okay?”

“Miss Hong, you are older than me. And I have always respected and trusted you. In my heart, you are like a big sister to me!”

Mrs. Hong smiled sweetly, “Stop flattering me. Go on. What do you want from me? Wait. No kisses though!”

Grinning, Li Mu got up and poured a glass of water for Mrs. Hong. He then sat down and said in a serious tone, “I know that I will never be able to surpass Lin Wan’s place in your heart even if I tried for my whole life. Hence, I have never asked you to treat me better than her. But I really hope to make friends with you. I want to talk to you openly and honestly for once, just like how friends do.”

Mrs. Hong lifted her glass of water and took a sip before saying to Li Mu, “Okay. Let's talk openly and honestly for once. Just like how normal friends do!”

Li Mu nodded and said after much deliberation, “Miss Hong, do you think me and Lin Wan are suitable for each other?”

Mrs. Hong was stunned as she didn't expect Li Mu to ask this question. After a moment's hesitation, she answered honestly, “I’m sure Lin Wan must have her own thoughts on this question. In my opinion, the two of you aren’t suitable nor compatible with each other. It’s not that you're not good enough for her. But the two of you aren’t on the same page. This is what I really think.”

“Thank you for your honesty. Your response is exactly what I expected. In fact, I have the same thoughts as you. I love Lin Wan. But I’m not good enough for her. I can't give her the life she wants, and neither can she give me the life I want. I'm living a miserable life right now. And I honestly feel like dying!”

Mrs. Hong frowned. She did not expect Li Mu to be so stressed. Suddenly, she started to feel bad for him and felt that she should not have pressured him to this extent.

“Are you planning to leave Lin Wan?”

“That’s right. But I do not have the courage to leave her because she’s pregnant, and because she is looking after my parents. I dare not turn my back on my duty, nor do I want to be a bad father. But what I don't understand is why does she want to torture me? Does it make her feel good to watch me suffer?”

Mrs. Hong didn’t have the courage to look at Li Mu in his eyes. As the person who started all this, she knew very well who caused Li Mu's pain. She began to doubt herself whether she made the right suggestions. If training Li Mu meant sacrificing Lin Wan’s happiness, the latter would hate her for the rest of her life.

“Li Mu, you may have misunderstood her. Lin Wan still loves you a lot. Don’t complicate things. It’ll get better soon. I promise.”

Li Mu shook his head and said in a low voice, “I wanted to talk to Lin Wan again tonight. But she’s not coming home. Well then, maybe this is God's will. Maybe He doesn’t want the conversation to happen. Mrs. Hong, it's time for me to correct my mistakes.”

Mrs. Hong’s body trembled out of shock as she couldn't help but ask, “How do you want to correct your mistakes?”

“Please forgive me. I just can't stand this kind of life anymore. I’ve decided to resign and move to somewhere else where nobody knows me. I want to restart my life. I have no choice but to do so even if you call me a coward or a loser!”

“You're such a weakling. I can’t believe I was so wrong about you!” Mrs. Hong shouted in anger.