Be Careful, Scum Dad! Mommy Is Back!
Chapter 454: Attending the Feast Alone with a Single Sword

Chapter 454: Chapter 454: Attending the Feast Alone with a Single Sword

Xi Juan’s gaze lightly swept over Xining.

She was not afraid of the increasingly strong sense of oppression coming from him, nor the superior’s aura that he conveyed invisibly.

What a joke, trying to use power to suppress her?

Was anyone around her a minor player? Wasn’t each of them someone formidable?

Xining changed the topic, looking at him firmly, "However, as I’ve always said, the ’Artificial Uterus’ biological project is never to be sold off."

Whenever her experiments and research were brought up, the light in her eyes was more dazzling than ever.

The ’Artificial Uterus’ biological project was not a research success achieved overnight.

She and her team have experienced many trials of failure, yet chose to find the possibility of success amid repeated failures.

Even for someone as inherently talented as she was, it was inevitable to feel lost and anxious during the research process, and now with just a word, he wants to buy it out?

If it were really sold, how would she explain it to the people in the team?

Xi Juan’s expression cooled, his gaze at her became much colder, but he still maintained a surface calmness.

He spoke, "I know your experiments and research require a lot of funding and might get stuck in procedures in certain aspects. As long as you agree to my proposition, I guarantee all your subsequent application processes will be unimpeded."

This sentence was equivalent to a domestic golden shield.

But how could Xi Juan understand, that before Xining invited people like Sang Yimin to join the team and improve their welfare, they had already been walking a meager path on the road of experiments and scientific research for many years.

Even during those days when it was hard to make ends meet, they never gave up on this path.

Having not given up in the past and being able to steadfastly walk on this silent and thorn-filled road, how would they bend for five bushels of rice in the future?

They wouldn’t, and Xining even more so wouldn’t.

Her gaze towards him did not waver in the slightest, nor did her tone show a hint of hesitation.

"Sorry, Old Xi, I cannot agree."

His sharp gaze locked onto Xining, speaking threateningly, "Xiao Lu, refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, the final result is something you can’t afford."

"Having drunk the toast, I could afford it even less."

"Do you have to oppose me?"

"If I could avoid it, I wouldn’t want to oppose you, but driven by circumstances, I have no choice."

"Clearly, there’s a better choice, isn’t there?"

"That’s from your perspective. From mine, the so-called best choice isn’t."

Xining methodically countered each trap in Xi Juan’s words, her gaze swept over the obviously increased patrol guards at the door, preparing for the worst.

Ever since she came in, the guards at the tea room door had not once removed their hands from their waists.

Clearly, there was a heightened alert for potential threats in their surroundings.

But when she came, she didn’t bring anyone along.

Even when Cheng Cang wanted to follow, Xining didn’t agree to let him.

She chose to go alone to the banquet against all odds.

"Being glib is not good for you,"

Xi Juan could no longer hold onto his gentle mask, and the sense of oppression around him grew stronger, while more and more people gathered outside the private room, creating an atmosphere of pressing tension.

Her smile remained composed, not getting drawn into his tense atmosphere, and her words were equally calm.

"Using one’s status and position to threaten a junior on your own turf is not an honorable thing either."

"Even if you don’t care about your interests, does it mean you don’t care about his life?"

Before she left the house, an anonymous video of Haozi being abused was sent to her, leaving no doubt about who he was referring to.

Xining’s expression was no better than Xi Juan’s.

Cheng Cang had already taken the Chu Family’s people to rescue him, but so far, the agreed-upon signal had yet to be sent, indicating no progress had been made.

It seemed they were even caught in some kind of predicament themselves.

Xining faced Xi Juan’s dark and deep gaze, calmly inquiring, "So... Old Xi, are you conceding that Yan Qianyi was taken by your people, right?"

The man simply smiled at her, not responding to her question.

"I naively thought that once people reached a certain height, they would take up the responsibility and mission of that height, but from you, I’ve seen another kind of person once reaching a height."

She was unreserved in judging Xi Juan’s character.

"Hypocritical, greedy, snobbish... abusing power for personal gain, to benefit oneself—is this what you call a ’good thing’?"

The sarcasm in Xining’s words was all too evident.

If he were younger, upon hearing her words, he might have gotten angry, refuted, even slapped her on the spot.

But the current Xi Juan had already obtained too much of what he desired, seeing through her deliberate provocation, choosing to silently watch her mock him.

While he silently observed her, Xining was also constantly monitoring the changes in his gaze.

That kind of arrogance seemed not to care about anything, even if you knew I wasn’t a good person, what could you do about it was palpable.

Indeed, it was arrogance.

This man, polite and elegant in the eyes of others, admired and respected by newcomers as a superior, always privately exuded a sense of arrogantly wielding power.

In his heart, he did not believe Xining had any ability to overthrow him.

The faint smile at the corner of his mouth was more like a superior’s contempt and ridicule towards an inferior, waiting for her to make a fool of herself.

Xining clenched her hand under the table tightly.

She said sternly, "Do you truly think that none of the things on your Royal Cruise are flawed?"

"And the Evil Swamp in Country C, the back hill of the Xi Family..."

Unexpectedly bringing these matters up, instead of not speaking, relieving a bit of Xi Juan’s anxiety, exposing one’s own past actions.

Xi Juan feigned misunderstanding her words, refusing to acknowledge any connection with those matters.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about, Xiao Lu. Everything I’ve done is for the benefit of the nation and the people. Every action is for the welfare of the populace. You should seize this opportunity to collaborate with me, instead of standing in opposition."

She sneered, "Whether it’s for the benefit of the nation and people or for self-gain, you should be clearer on the difference than anyone."

"The ’Artificial Uterus’ biological project isn’t a project for individual collaboration."

The initial collaboration was behind the institution he represented, and she also represented the ZN experimental base, clearly not a general collaboration between two people, as explicitly stated in the contract.

Hearing this, Xi Juan chuckled, "The contract? Is this what you’re talking about?"

He suddenly took out a document, the disdain in his eyes evident, pushing it in front of her, smirking, "Take another look."