Chapter 515 - Pushing the Blame

When Xiao Luo ended the call with his father, Xiao Zhiyuan, he had wanted to call Su Li to inform her that he would not be in Xiahai for some time. Suddenly, the apartment door swung open, and in came Su Li.

She donned a sweet light blue lapeled-collar dress with a sleek belt, exposing her fair and slender arms, and she wore a brilliant platinum necklace that added an exquisite touch to her already elegant neckline. She looked divine and resembled a goddess when she entered the room.

Xiao Luo had already gotten used to her random intrusions, but he was still rather shocked when he saw her this time and asked, "You're back already?"

Su Li had been away from Xiahai on location for a shoot for her TV series, and it was indeed a surprise for Xiao Luo to see her here.

"I happened to have two days off and I needed to settle some stuff for Liyue Media personally, that's why I am back," Su Li said as she approached him.

Xiao Luo felt a light touch of a breeze on his face and caught a waft of her sweet scent—it was unmistakeably Su Li. Sometimes, that was all he needed to know that Su Li was nearby without having even seen her.

He walked to the water dispenser and poured two cups of water, one for each of them.

"That's great! One thing I've to tell you, I am leaving Xiahai tomorrow for probably more than half a month," Xiao Luo said as he handed her the cup of water.

Su Li showed no signs of surprise by that as she took the cup of water from him. She sat down gracefully on the sofa, with her long and slender legs slanted slightly sideway, and she asked, "To where?"

"Nowhere exactly, I am just going for an impromptu trip," Xiao Luo said, raising his brows as he came up with a random excuse.

"A trip?"

Su Li frowned and responded, "Hah, you sure know how to enjoy life, don't you? No wonder you could resign from Huayao Corporations."

"I have my own plans and ideas for my career path," Xiao Luo said.

Su Li glanced at him. "I know, so I won't interfere with that anymore. I am expecting you to make it big on your own," she said.

As they spoke about careers, Xiao Luo's thoughts naturally wandered back to Luo Workshop.

Xiao Luo's expected return from Libya would coincide with Luo Workshop's launch of its outlets in the Xiahai market. When that happened, he would be competing with Su Li's Sumir head-on, and it would undoubtedly be a tough contest. Thinking about it only gave him a headache.

"By the way, a friend of mine in Luo Workshop told me that they would be entering the Xiahai market in half a month's time, your…"

"I've known that a long time ago."

Su Li interrupted him Xiao Luo before he could finish his words.

Xiao Luo frowned. "You knew about it?" he asked.

Su Li looked up, stared at him, and said, "Procurement, retail marketing, store design, and building of factories… Luo Workshop has been preparing well for its launch in Xiahai. As the owner of Sumir, if I did not even take notice of such things, I might as well hand the market share over to them."

Xiao Luo did not know how to react to her words. Su Li did not show any signs of emotion, but it was clear that she knew every detail about Luo Workshop's development effort in Xiahai. Suddenly, Xiao Luo felt a great deal of pressure.

Curious to find out how much Su Li knew, Xiao Luo tried to probe a little deeper. "I wonder, suppose that Luo Workshop intends to form a strategic business cooperation with you, would you agree?"

Su Li took a sip of the water as she shared her views. "The key to forming strategic business cooperation between any two companies is that there must be gains for both parties. Luo's Workshop has no roots in Xiahai and they have nothing to offer us. An appropriate analogy would be like you're enjoying an entire cake all to yourself, and along comes a complete stranger who proposes to share the cake—would you agree to that?" she said.

Xiao Luo shook his head and replied, "No."

Inwardly, he let out a long sigh, as from to his understanding of Su Li, for their two companies to cooperate, he really needs to convince this woman. She had already clearly implied that Luo Workshop was in no position to even propose a collaboration with her company.

Su Li kept silent for a brief moment as she pondered and wondered why Xiao Luo would suddenly show so much interest in Sumir. She put down the cup and asked, "You seemed to be very concerned about my Sumir recently, is there a reason behind that?"

Xiao Luo was caught off-guard and could only smile. "Well, although we aren't a real married couple, we are still husband and wife on paper. I know it's weird, but I was concerned about you and your company when I heard that Luo Workshop was entering the Xiahai market."

"You don't have to worry about such a trivial thing. Zhiying and I can handle it." Su Li replied.

"That's great."

Xiao Luo answered awkwardly and then changed the topic. "It's pretty late now, why don't you stay here and get some rest with me?" he said.

The moment he spoke, he instantly realized how wrong it sounded. This was not his usual style—for he was a lost puppy when it came to love. As the thought lingered uncomfortably in his mind, he decided to push the blame to Zhang Dashan. Since they were such close friends, the fact that some bad habits had rubbed off on him couldn't be helped, he convinced himself.

Predictably, Su Li blushed and even rolled her eyes at Xiao Luo. "Since when did you become so frisky?"

Xiao Luo laughed nervously and attempted a smart riposte. "There ought to be one person in the conversation who should heat up the atmosphere, right? It's better than a random, awkward silence," he said. It failed miserably.

"Psycho!"

The prudish Su Li responded with a sneer and immediately stood up to return to her apartment.

However, as she got up from the sofa, a spell of giddiness overcame her. She dropped back on the sofa and suddenly felt weak as she broke out in a cold sweat.

Seeing Su Li's condition, Xiao Luo quickly went to her and touched her forehead with the back of his palm for temperature. He then kneeled down beside her and took her pulse.

Xiao Luo quickly diagnosed that Su Li had overexerted herself with work for her symptoms showed a deficiency in qi and blood circulation.

"You even know how to take pulses?" Su Li moaned.

"I know a little about it."

"You've been overexerting yourself too much lately. Although it's hard to tell from the outside, internally, the condition within your body had been deteriorating for quite some time now. It is your body's way of warning you to take a break," Xiao Luo said.

"Liyue Media is finally progressing well now and my schedule is very packed, do you actually think that I could get a break?" Su Li replied.

"Don't be such a martyr. You're a woman, so why are you so tough on yourself? Besides, the money you have earned is more than enough to last you the rest of your life," Xiao Luo chided her.

Su Li remained adamant, but she did not push Xiao Luo away. "I just need a quick nap!"

"Fine, I'll help."

Xiao Luo reached out and placed two fingers between her brows, sending a gentle force of inner power into her mind.

Su Li closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep immediately.

This was a unique technique from the Yi Jingjing that helped put one into a deep sleep. Since high-quality sleep was the best way to solve qi and blood deficiency, it would completely recharge a person.

"Workaholic!"

Xiao Luo shook his head, carried her into the bedroom, put her down on the giant bed carefully, and tucked her into the soft blanket nicely.

He left the room quietly and closed the room door. Later, he called Zhang Dashan and informed him about his mission in Libya.

"Old Xiao, you better be careful, don't make me carry your coffin," Zhang Dashan said.

"Carry your *ss!" Xiao Luo retorted.

He then decided to mention what happened earlier and said, "By the way, stop spewing your usual verbal harassment crap in my face. I accidentally said it to a woman just now, all thanks to you!"

Zhang Dashan was stunned for a brief moment, and then he roared back, "F*ck, so you're pushing the blame to me now?!"