Contract Marriage: Billionaire and His Deaf Wife
Chapter 19 The First Confrontation Between the Male and Female Leads

Chapter 19: Chapter 19 The First Confrontation Between the Male and Female Leads

Third Floor

A gold pen encrusted with diamonds twirled with a graceful arc between the pale, beautiful knuckles of the man, its movement reminiscent of a swan dancing elegantly upon Swan Lake. Again and again, it spun countless circles, tireless and without a sign of dropping.

Finally, at a sudden moment, the pen in the man’s hand that twirled like a ballet dancer came to a halt. Held between two fingers, the horizontal pen accompanied a slight lift of the beauty mark beside the man’s left eyebrow.

"Stop," the man uttered a single word.

The person standing beside him immediately picked up the remote and aimed it at the surveillance monitor, pressing the control button, thus the camera, actively recording on the floor below, focused on a young woman sitting on the couch without moving.

Xiao Yebai’s eyes scanned the face of the woman in the monitor a few times, "Do you know who she is?"

"Mrs. Qiu said she’s her niece by marriage, named Gu Nuan," Zang Xiaolian, holding the remote control next to him, reminded him.

But Xiao Yebai clearly wasn’t paying attention to his words.

What niece by marriage? That wasn’t the information he wanted. He only wanted to know the background of the woman in front of him.

The person currently sitting on the first floor of this house, negotiating and preparing to sign a contract with Mrs. Qiu, was named Li Sitong, thirty-six years old, a graduate of the top domestic university BJ Finance Department, with a Ph.D. degree. He had taken American MBA courses and also had CFP and CFA certifications, financial planner and chartered accountant certifications respectively.

In the finance circle, Li Sitong should be considered quite experienced. How should one put it? Not the best but definitely above average. After all, the finance industry, a domain motivated solely by money—the one thing everyone in the world strives for—is inevitably the gathering place of some of the highest IQ individuals on the planet.

Li Sitong’s abilities were only mid-level, slightly above average.

Yet, even such a level was more than enough to handle most opponents. In fact, once they had their eyes on this piece of land, and after learning that the landowner was Mrs. Qiu, a person of her reputation, they estimated that with Li Sitong’s capabilities, if he performed normally, they could secure the land for less than a few hundred thousand yuan, which had a ninety-nine percent probability of success.

Mrs. Qiu was merely a village woman. Even though her husband was said to be a businessman, wasn’t it common knowledge that most of these small business owners in the country lacked education? No need to compare her with finance magnates or giants; even when compared to a minor finance broker like Li Sitong, she was absolutely at a level where she could be completely swindled.

It seemed like a done deal, easy as pie. Now, did a Cheng Yaojin suddenly pop out of nowhere?

Who was this woman?

Why had they never heard of such a person by Mrs. Qiu’s side before? If there had been such an advisor for Mrs. Qiu, she definitely wouldn’t have been foolish enough to be giddy at their initial offer of three hundred thousand, nor would have the house been ignored for years to the point of becoming known as the Haunted House.

In the monitor, the woman looked fresh-faced, suggesting that she didn’t care for makeup or glamor. Precisely because of this, when the woman had accompanied Mrs. Qiu in earlier, she hadn’t attracted much of their attention. It seemed this woman was under thirty, with a rather inexperienced face, and most likely didn’t have much of a background.

When Mrs. Qiu introduced her as someone in finance, with her appearance, she seemed more like a student fresh out of school.

A graduate just out of the academy—what could she possibly understand?

Full of book knowledge, yet easily deceived in the real world once they graduate.

Xiao Yebai tapped the diamond pen in his finger against the palm of his right hand and said, "Tell Lao Li to slow down."

Zang Xiaolian followed the instructions, took out his mobile phone, and dialed a number.

Li Sitong below immediately felt his phone vibrate twice in his pocket. Then, before he could answer it, the caller hung up. It was a signal, often used in business negotiations.

Xiao Yebai was having him—test the waters.

Test the waters with this woman in front of him?

Li Sitong also found it somewhat unexpected. Although this woman had said something that had taken them by surprise, they had never met her before.

In the finance world, talented individuals are not restricted by age or gender. As long as one has genuine skills, word of them will quickly spread within the circle.

Because, finance is a crocodile pond, a pond where it’s eat or be eaten.

A gleam suddenly flashed in Li Sitong’s eyes: could it be that Xiao Yebai thought this woman might be a crocodile that had slipped through the net?

Now, that was truly hard to believe.

In a small county town, in the countryside, could there be a crocodile that had slipped through the net?

Li Sitong was unsure in his heart and found it unbelievable. But following Xiao Yebai’s instructions, he adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose to appear clueless about the words Gu Nuan had said, speaking, "I don’t know what you mean. What are you talking about? Are you saying there’s something about the land near the village?"

Auntie Qiu was equally baffled. What’s happening to the land around here? Is their village land going to be demolished?

That’s impossible. If there was a demolition announced, as a person from her own village, wouldn’t she know about it?

In reality, who would take an interest in a remote and impoverished wilderness like theirs?

If their area were to be developed, houses in the county town wouldn’t be undeveloped and unsold.

Gu Nuan only smiled faintly in response, "Haven’t you heard?"

"No," Li Sitong nodded as if he was very certain, and his expression innocent.

These people really knew how to pretend, still acting up to this point!

Gu Nuan’s gaze quickly swept over the camera.

Xiao Yebai, sitting in front of the monitor, immediately raised an eyebrow: did she know he was watching her?

"Let’s speak frankly. Business should be conducted honestly. Don’t bully customers because you have a bigger shop, and certainly don’t bully people who are less educated and don’t have as much specialized knowledge as you," Gu Nuan said. "This land belongs to this village, but it borders the next village over and not to mention, there’s a lake behind it. This village develops slowly and is under the administration of this city. However, that village over there is under the administration of another province entirely. This side’s development naturally can’t compare to the development across from us. There, in the past few years, there have already been plans for an airport and high-speed rail. Transportation connections are inevitable, and the city people coming down here to buy houses and villas in the suburbs is just a matter of time. The reason there’s been no movement is simply because the local government’s attention wasn’t focused here. However, it’s said that the higher authorities have finally decided to implement the plans here. Once relocation starts, the value of the land here will rise along with the land over there, it’s just a matter of time. Being near a transportation hub, how could it not appreciate in value?"

Auntie Qiu was the first to react with surprise, turning to ask Gu Nuan, "How do you know this?"