Business was like a battlefield and maintaining or destroying the cooperation between two parties were both things that required a degree of calculation. Luo Xinghe wasn’t a terribly smart person, but he at least had some people by his side who could give him ideas.
Of course, Luo Xinghe didn’t actually expect for Yongwang to somehow steal away the cooperation with Su Tang, but his actions would demonstrate that Luo Xingchen wasn’t about the control the people closest to him. Obviously, that was a terrible trait for a potential business partner to have, so Luo Xinghe expected it would create a rift in Su Tang and Luo Xingchen’s relationship that he would then be able to take advantage of.
If Su Tang lost her trust in Luo Xingchen because of the incident, then she might be willing to cooperate with Luo Xinghe instead. However, what Luo Xinghe failed to account for was the fact that Su Tang and Luo Xingchen’s relationship was not simply to the degree of business partners.
After all, Luo Xingchen’s life could be said to be in Su Tang’s hands to some extent. Right now, across the whole world, the only person who knew Luo Xingchen was actually a girl besides her mother was Su Tang.
Considering the era they were in and what they knew about each other, they both inevitably had some mutual sympathy and mutual understanding for each other, which also led to a certain degree of trust. And, for various reasons, Su Tang had a hard time envisioning a scenario in which she would agree to cooperate with someone else.
That was because she felt that Luo Xingchen wouldn’t ever betray her while they were working together. In part because of their shared emotional experience as women who were trying to business in this male-dominated world and in part because, from another, more coldly rational perspective, Luo Xingchen would probably never dare to betray her.
Of course, they both tacitly understood that reality but neither of them had ever bothered to say it out loud, which was why Luo Xingchen found this whole situation a bit ironic. She had originally thought that Su Tang knowing her secret meant that the other girl had an insurmountable piece of leverage over her, but now that leverage had become the most powerful tool in maintaining their cooperation. How could she not find it funny?
Having heard Luo Xingchen’s explanation, Su Tang said, “It seems to be about the same as I guessed. Perhaps your brother can still be called an opponent, he doesn’t seem quite stupid enough to ascend to heaven directly on his own.”
Luo Xingchen laughed bitterly when she heard that. “He’s very stupid, it’s just he has people around him to give him advice.”
When she saw Su Tang was just calmly drinking her tea despite everything, Luo Xingchen looked at her anxiously and asked, “Do you think I’m too ruthless?”
Su Tang returned her gaze evenly, “I’ve already said that I’ve decided to trust you.”
Actually, truth be told, as a modern person, when Su Tang saw how Luo Xingchen dealt with Yongwang she couldn’t say she had no feelings of discomfort at all. However, Su Tang knew very well that was just how this world worked.
Even if this were the modern times what Yongwang did would be considered a crime, and a society would always have a punishment for criminals.
When Luo Xingchen heard Su Tang’s affirmation, her eyes turned red and teary, “Tang…”
This feeling of having someone who completely trusted her was something very strange for Luo Xingchen and she felt uncontrollably moved. Even though her biological mother had raised her as a man from an early age, she had never really believed in her or understood her.
However, she had now met Su Tang, this girl she had only seen a few times but who could still easily say that she trusted her completely.
Maybe two girls facing similar situations like them could really understand each other’s difficulties in a way no one else could.
Seeing the older girl like this, Su Tang frowned for a moment, but then a sly smile crept onto her lips. When Luo Xingchen saw that smile her eyes widened and she felt an ominous shiver run up her spine.
“After all, they say that it doesn’t matter who you are, if you even slightly offend that Second Young Master Luo you are definitely bound to die.” Sure enough, after smiling like that, Su Tang came out with a sentence that directly jabbed Luo Xingchen’s heart.
Su Tang had actually never heard of the Luo family from Beikou before so, after Luo Xingchen had left, she had asked the orange cat to ask around and find out what he could. In that manner, she had come to learn that Second Young Master Luo was quite the infamous character and really explained why Yang Fude had been so scared of her on that day when they had first met.
When she heard Su Tang mention her black history, Luo Xingchen’s eyes widened, as if in disbelief, and she dramatically clutched at her chest over her heart. “Tang, my Tang, how could you just believe what those people outside say? You’ve seen for yourself, am I such a person? Can you bear to bully me like this?!”
tl note: ‘Tang’ is Su Tang’s first name obviously, and Luo Xingchen switches to calling her that here – no more honorifics or cutesy nicknames – which I believe indicates a high degree of closeness in Chinese culture.