Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 267 Li Rongzhen's Apology (Subscribe Now!!)

Both Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie are quite skilled actors.

One is a woman with over a decade of experience studying abroad and playing the field, while the other is a woman who has long since become adept at "speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts" by mingling with humans and ghosts.

It's no exaggeration to say that just by sitting there, Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie could conjure up a vivid drama with just a few glances.

The lighting, positioning, and costumes in this safe house were all specially designed by Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie.

Lu Yao sat at the far end of the living room, furthest from the door, at a 30-degree angle to the door behind him. This way, Li Rongzhen could see Lu Yao at a glance when she came in, but she could only see a small part of Lu Yao's profile, and mostly Lu Yao's back.

Jian Xiaojie sat in the living room closer to the door, but her attire was more formal than Lü Yao's. Although the women's suit was very fitted, outlining Jian Xiaojie's beautiful and explosive curves, her serious face and overly neat hairstyle created a cold and stern feeling.

The hints began the moment Lee Yong-jin entered the room.

In this atmosphere, even though Li Rongzhen was a pampered and domineering princess of Samsung, she couldn't help but feel uneasy, especially since she was the one who was in the wrong first.

With a combination of psychological factors, Li Rongzhen stood at the door for a long time, hesitant to come in, holding her bag in front of her with both hands, looking like a primary school student who had made a mistake and was waiting for punishment.

She seemed to have forgotten her identity as a princess of the three stars.

Feeling oppressed by the atmosphere for several seconds, Li Rongzhen wanted to break the deadlock, so she stepped forward and said, "Lu Yi..."

But before she could finish speaking, Lü Yao, who was sitting by the French windows in the living room, said calmly, "Did I let you in?"

Li Rongzhen's body froze instantly. She had just taken a step, but before her foot could even fully touch the ground, she silently withdrew it.

She made a mistake.

In this atmosphere of confrontation and stalemate, whoever speaks first often loses.

Of course, this is a rule that only applies in normal game situations. Lu Yao dared to use it this way on Li Rongzhen because the labels of "President" and "Samsung heir" on Li Rongzhen far outweigh the label of "woman".

Most women don't have labels that overshadow their "natural attributes," so if you use this tactic in a relationship, you can only use it twice at most. If you use it too often, women will unleash their natural skills with "So what?" or deliver a devastating blow with "Are you mute?"

Lu Yao has now gained the upper hand in this standoff. All he needs to do now is sit there, maintain his current posture, and wait for Li Rongzhen to speak.

She has at least one thing to explain.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Rongzhen finally gritted her teeth, bowed, and apologized: "I'm sorry, President Lü, I'm sorry, Miss Jian. I did receive the news but didn't inform you. I know you two are very angry about this. I'm willing to accept any compensation, no matter the cost."

Lü Yao chuckled: "How much of a price would it cost? Could it be more than Samsung's?"

Li Rongzhen's expression changed instantly. She even slowly squatted down, knelt in the entryway, bent over and touched the floor with her forehead: "Please don't terminate our cooperation, I beg you."

According to the usual custom of the Silla people, she should have knelt on the ground in a panic, rubbing her hands together like flies.

But the upbringing Lee Yong-jin received did not allow her to do so.

Her current posture is the most humble one she can adopt.

The fact that the other party knelt down to admit his mistake also caught Lu Yao's attention... No wonder he was a ruthless person who managed to snatch a glimmer of hope from a desperate situation and single-handedly send Lee Jae-young to prison, thereby taking over part of the Samsung Group.

They are ruthless enough, have extremely low moral standards, and can even shatter one's self-esteem at any time.

The concept of "face" may sound trivial, but many people simply can't let it go.

Let alone someone like Li Rongzhen admitting their mistake.

When playing games, there are countless instances where players blame the jungler or mid-laner for their own poor performance or inability to win their lane. Don't they realize they failed to gain an advantage?
No, they know perfectly well how incompetent they are.

But even for the sake of cyber face, many people can't bear to give it up.

There are countless examples of people making a series of mistakes just to save face.

People at the bottom of society can't even let go of their pride when it comes to saving face, and those with some status and position are even worse off.

Li Rongzhen's actions were just as effective as what Lü Yao had done in front of the camera.

It's just a matter of doing something. If this one action can bring real benefits, Lü Yao won't feel ashamed or embarrassed at all. If he does feel ashamed or embarrassed, that's just how petty he is.

At this moment, Lü Yao seemed to see himself from a few months ago in Li Rongzhen—

Use any means to achieve an end.

It's a pity to sacrifice everything that seems important in the secular world for practical benefits.

Under these circumstances, it would be inappropriate for Lü Yao to continue putting on airs.

It can be said that Li Rongzhen's sincere attitude of admitting her mistake directly broke the psychological pressure that Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie had jointly set up against her.

well.

Lü Yao enjoys this back-and-forth, game-like dynamic.

So Lü Yao stood up, his leather shoes making crisp, clear footsteps on the floor, like drumbeats affecting Li Rongzhen's heartbeat. Soon, a pair of shiny leather shoes appeared in front of Li Rongzhen.

With her forehead pressed to the ground, Li Rongzhen caught a glimpse of the leather shoes out of the corner of her eye. This humble, bowed posture conveyed a sense of her insignificance, like dust. The once high and mighty Samsung princess... perhaps she had also considered being conquered by someone more powerful.

She experienced this feeling of being suppressed at this moment.

Soon, she felt the pressure pressing down on her head slowly subside.

Lu Yao squatted down, raised his hand and pinched Li Rongzhen's cheek, making her look up at him: "President Li, you are a smart and ruthless woman. You knew that Li Zairong was going to attack us, but you let things develop."

"Are you thinking that if we were also killed in this attack, it would be more advantageous for you? That way, the people behind me would hate Lee Jae-yong to the core, and even if it's just to establish their prestige, they would severely damage Samsung?"

Li Rongzhen remained completely calm despite being pinched on the cheek by Lü Yao and being accused by him.

in contrast.

She was very calm.

Faced with Lü Yao's accusations, she firmly replied in her uniquely gentle voice, "Yes."

She quickly added, "But I also believe that President Lu will emerge unscathed from this attack. Only then will you be worthy of my continued cooperation. Silla—"

"After all, it's different from the University of Tokyo."

The game versions and rules on the two sides are very different.

Lü Yao smiled.

He released his grip and said, "So that's why you're willing to express your sincerity in this way?"

Li Rongzhen firmly replied, "Yes."

Lü Yao laughed and said, "But that's not enough."

Li Rongzhen: "I understand."

Lu Yao stood up and strolled towards the French windows, saying leisurely, "In ancient my country, there was a form of punishment specifically for women called 'ruler punishment.' This punishment didn't involve using a ruler to discipline the person being punished. Instead, it involved using a ruler to measure various measurements on the person being punished."

"Sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn't it?"

Standing by the French windows, Lü Yao laughed and said, "When I first learned about this kind of thing, I also found it ridiculous. But I overlooked the background of when this punishment was invented. This punishment was invented in ancient my country. Silla was a vassal state of ancient my country. You should know that the customs in ancient my country were very feudal, especially in terms of women's education."

"Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a great matter"—this perfectly encapsulates the teachings of this kind. Under such circumstances, being subjected to this punishment in public was tantamount to morally killing a woman in ancient my country.

Lu Yao dragged the chair by the French window around to face Li Rongzhen.

The neon lights outside the high-rise buildings, multicolored and dazzling, fell on Lü Yao's hair and shoulders, as if draping him in a twisted yet dreamlike garment of Slaanesh: "Still hard to sympathize with, right? Then imagine me reading your middle school diary aloud in front of your current confidants and partners..."

Li Rongzhen, kneeling in the entryway, clenched her fists instantly.

Just imagining this situation is enough to send chills down one's spine and shatter one's reason.

Let alone reading old diaries in front of such an important person, even if you're all alone and suddenly open your old QQ space and see old posts like "I'll turn my back on the whole world for you" or "I'll tear apart heaven for you"... many people would instantly blush, okay?

Seeing Li Rongzhen's subtle movements, Lü Yao smiled and said, "Of course, I won't do that much. Your prestige is also the foundation of our cooperation. But I've slightly modified the 'ruler punishment.'"

After speaking, Lü Yao looked at Jian Xiaojie.

After a long silence, Jian Xiaojie stood up, picked up a large suitcase from beside the coffee table, and placed it on the coffee table. Inside, there were neatly arranged cameras, various measuring tools, and tools commonly used by Xing Zhu.

Then Jian Xiaojie silently began to take the things out of her suitcase, assemble them, and arrange them.

Throughout this process, Jian Xiaojie remained silent, while Li Rongzhen, unable to see what Jian Xiaojie was doing, felt her heart pounding.

The fear of the unknown is more terrifying than any other fear in the world.

With all the guidance from Lü Yao beforehand, many unpleasant thoughts began to surface in Li Rongzhen's mind.

After a long while, Jian Xiaojie's high heels stomped across the ground as she approached Li Rongzhen, and she said coldly, "Stand up."

Lee Rongzhen, whose knees were already aching, finally stood up. The moment he looked up, he saw the camera placed in the middle of the living room, which had its recording function turned on.

Li Rongzhen felt dizzy for a moment.

She understood where Lü Yao had improved things, and the moment she understood, Li Rongzhen's face turned pale.

Jian Xiaojie came up behind Li Rongzhen and said, "Go over there."

Li Rongzhen struggled for a moment, but she eventually obeyed and went to the living room, to a spot not far from the camera.

Facing the camera, Lee Rongzhen felt dizzy. Her last shred of morality seemed to be questioning, screaming, and demanding why she was there and why she had willingly walked in front of the camera.

But the constraints of reality, the desire for inheritance, and the guilty conscience that led her to her current position have pushed her step by step.

Jian Xiaojie stood to Li Rongzhen's side and said, "Clothes."

Li Rongzhen's thoughts and actions were in a frantic struggle, but she eventually raised her hand and peeled away everything layer by layer, like peeling an onion.

As Jian Xiaojie, armed with calipers and a measuring tape, began meticulously measuring Li Rongzhen's body and offering her detailed assessments, her calm words were like waves surging on the ocean, their momentum building until they finally erupted into a tsunami, overwhelming everything and threatening to destroy it all.

Lee Rongzhen felt dizzy, and even her sense of self was gradually blurring under the lens and ruler.

After all the measurements were completed, Jian Xiaojie took a shorthand tablet and approached Li Rongzhen, asking, "Name?"

Li Rongzhen replied almost numbly, "Li Rongzhen."

Jian Xiaojie: "Gender".

Li Rongzhen: "...Female".

Jian Xiaojie finally showed the recorded content to Li Rongzhen: "Is the data here accurate and detailed?"

Li Rongzhen didn't even dare to touch the plain paper; the moment her eyes glanced at it, she quickly withdrew them as if she had touched a red-hot iron: "Yes."

Finally, Jian Xiaojie brought out inkpads and had Li Rongzhen press her fingerprint on them to verify her identity.

After doing all this, Li Rongzhen's lips were trembling: "Is this enough to show my sincerity in admitting my mistake?"

Lu Yao remained seated in his chair, his back to the floor-to-ceiling window. The shadows veiled his face like a mysterious layer, obscuring his expression.

But he was very satisfied with Li Rongzhen's performance, so he said to Jian Xiaojie, "The business is over, now it's your turn."

Jian Xiaojie appeared behind Li Rongzhen like a phantom, supporting her shoulder and whispering in Li Rongzhen's ear, "President Li, although you seem very unwilling, you actually seem to be looking forward to it."

Li Rongzhen: "..."

She didn't know how to answer.

But Jian Xiaojie didn't need her to answer with words; she would find the answer herself.

... (Do you understand the ellipsis?)

In some ways, Jian Xiaojie is undoubtedly an absurd person.

She was so absurd that even a chaebol heiress like Li Rongzhen couldn't imagine that someone like Jian Xiaojie existed in this world...

Curled up on the living room carpet, Li Rongzhen had intended to define Jian Xiaojie as a devil in her heart, but... the word "devil" didn't seem to fully capture the experience Jian Xiaojie had given her.

Especially after Lü Yao also got involved, Li Rongzhen felt out of control for the first time since she truly became sensible. When everything settled down, she could no longer use complete rationality to view and handle the cooperation between her, Lü Yao, and Jian Xiaojie.

It turns out there really are such capable people in the world.

No wonder Rasputin enjoyed such prestige among the Russian nobility...

After Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, Lü Yao said in a commanding tone, "You should go and clean up too. We need to talk about things now."

Li Rongzhen silently complied.

When she finished showering and came out, Lü Yao had already poured her a glass of whiskey. Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie sat in the living room smoking and waiting for her.

Before this, they were partners who were equals.

After experiencing Lü Yao's ruler punishment, coupled with what Jian Xiaojie and Lü Yao did to her later, Li Rongzhen would inexplicably feel inferior to Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie every time she looked at them.

She sat down at the coffee table in the living room, subconsciously placing half of her buttocks on the chair.

Lu Yao said, "I appreciate President Li's attitude in admitting his mistake, so I can overlook what you did before, and we can still cooperate sincerely. However, actions that damage allies cannot be resolved simply by an 'attitude.'"

Li Rongzhen had long been prepared for the benefits that needed to be cut off.

She said, "I only need to retain 33.3 percent of the decision-making shares, and I can make more and greater concessions in terms of equity dividends."

Lu Yao smiled faintly and said, "Now is not the time for you, President Li, to make a decision."

"Of course, rest assured, your shareholding and dividends in the company we cooperate on will remain unchanged. That's not what I want."

This made Li Rongzhen's heart jump.

In fact, for someone of her level, money is the easiest thing to negotiate. Even for Samsung Group, which she has always longed for, she is willing to give up money. What she wants are Samsung Group's assets, stocks, and technology.

As long as these things are there, money will flow in continuously.

Li Rongzhen asked cautiously, "Then, what do you want?"

Lu Yao opened his phone and showed Li Rongzhen a set of photos from his album. After she finished looking at them, Lu Yao said, "The information in here is the result of Mr. Liang Bosong's lifelong research."

Li Rongzhen's pupils suddenly contracted sharply, and she suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Then she heard Lü Yao say, "What I want is very simple. Mr. Liang Bosong was harmed by Li Zairong's men, but Mr. Liang Bosong's research results have been preserved. I want to carry forward these research results, but research results alone are not enough. I also need technical equipment and researchers."

Li Rongzhen asked in surprise, "Are you really planning to continue running CJ Electronics? Isn't this just a way to deceive the CJ Group?"

She seemed very confused: "But...isn't that unnecessary? If you need chip production capacity, Samsung would definitely be your best and most steadfast ally."

Lu Yao looked at Li Rongzhen and said very seriously, "Before this incident, I also believed in this possibility as firmly as you do now."

Li Rongzhen was speechless for a moment.

She knew she might have gone a bit too far.

Lu Yao continued, "Actually, President Li, you don't need to care so much about this. Even with our help, even if Li Jae-young compromises, do you think you can completely control the Samsung Group? The biggest asset of the Samsung Group is Samsung Electronics, and the shareholding structure of Samsung Electronics is extremely complex."

"Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Insurance, foreign capital, Shilla Pension Plan... With so many interests involved, and so many constraints, do you really want to be controlled like this forever?"

Lü Yao's voice was melodious and captivating, capable of bewitching people to the extreme.

With all the psychological manipulation and sensory suppression that had been used before, Li Rongzhen's thoughts had been completely led by Lü Yao.

Lu Yao continued, "If you help me transfer Samsung Group's technological capabilities to CJ Electronics through various means, and help us build and develop CJ Electronics, then of course you will also have a share in CJ Electronics."

As he spoke, Lü Yao stood up and placed the share agreement he had prepared in advance in front of Li Rongzhen: "Please think about it carefully."

Both sides had translators present.

Throughout his speech, Lü Yao alternated between informal and honorific language. In Silla, where hierarchy was highly valued, every sentence translated from Lü Yao's speech seemed to carry profound meaning.

She said she would think it over carefully, but did she really have a choice?

A bitter feeling suddenly welled up in Li Rongzhen's heart.

She prided herself on her intelligence and her skill, but looking back now, it seems she had walked into a well-woven web from the very beginning... The more trouble she stirred up within it, the faster the intricate web would wrap her up and suffocate her.

Now, she has almost no ability to resist.

Is this what they call "inviting a wolf into the house"?

She used to be confident that she could outmaneuver the enemy and reap the benefits.

But now...

She was the one who had no choice.

After a long silence, Li Rongzhen opened the CJ Electronics share contract, glanced at it, signed her name, and affixed her seal and fingerprint.

in this way.

She was also tied to CJ Electronics, a large ship that was not yet completed and whose voyage to the sea was still a long way off.

However, judging from the current situation, CJ Electronics will sooner or later stir up huge waves in the waters around Silla.

perhaps……

This isn't bad, is it?

Although she felt swept along from beginning to end, with the direction and speed of her progress completely out of her control, it must be said that, given the choices she made that were not of her own choosing, what awaited her seemed to be a pretty good future.

"That's the brilliance of President Lü."

Li Rongzhen couldn't help but sigh.

What truly draws people into a scheme is never threats or intimidation, but rather profit-driven motives with coercion as a secondary tactic.

When there is profit to be made, most people will give in with just a gentle push.

After signing the shareholding agreement, Li Rongzhen said to Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie, "From now on, I'm entrusting Rongzhen to your care."

Lu Yao stood up with a smile, grasped Li Rongzhen's hand and said with a smile, "Don't worry, now we are truly on the same side. Let's work together to create a brilliant future."

With Lee Yong-jin acting as an inside agent within Samsung Group, CJ Group's development will certainly be much smoother.

With the help of CJ Group, Microlight International has learned from EUV lithography machines and the material production of various upstream and downstream links in chip manufacturing. In this way, the future path of Microlight International can be basically paved.

After finishing their business, Lü Yao chatted briefly with Li Rongzhen before seeing her to the door and letting her leave.

After seeing Li Rongzhen off, Lü Yao and Jian Xiaojie packed their things and left the safe house where they had been having a secret rendezvous.

Li Rongzhen is a person you can trust, but you can't completely trust him.

You have to be wary of her no matter what you do.

It wasn't until they got back in the car that Jian Xiaojie leaned back in the seat and savored the memory: "Li Rongzhen really tasted good."

She had a physical condition completely out of character for her age; her 1.7-meter height and slender figure made Jian Xiaojie extremely enamored with her.

As she spoke, she patted the briefcase in her hand: "And with all these things in her hand, she'll probably behave herself from now on."

Lü Yao smiled and said, "I hope so."

(End of this chapter)