Chapter 184: Please, Hit Me!

“Dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang, dang—”

With the energetic sound of the dismissal bell, Meng Huange neatly stacked the textbooks on her desk and put them into her backpack.

…Next up was the evening banquet being hosted by the Bai Family.

In order to attend this banquet, Su Wanli truly put in a lot of effort. After learning about her results, she even got so excited that she would hug herself, saying things she would never normally say out loud.

For her, this must be an extremely important occasion.

For me, isn’t it the same?

Meng Huange let out a soft sigh, then turned her body to look at Su Wanli’s delicate profile.

Su Wanli was currently giving her a sly smile, holding a pen and poking at the plush toy on her desk, as if she were rehearsing how she would restore her reputation as a lady at tonight’s banquet.

Heh, she’s just like a child determined to fulfill her wish.

Uncle Su was right. A girl like her shouldn’t have to appear at such a treacherous, scheming occasion as the Bai Family’s banquet.

But, I really have no other choice. The only thing I can do for Su Xiaoli is to help her weather the storm as best as I can.

Meng Huange put the two gift boxes from her desk back into her backpack, then stood up naturally and reached out her hand toward Su Wanli.

“Let’s go, it’s time. We should get going soon.”

“Hey, I’m not in that much of a hurry. Why are you so anxious… Ah, right, help me check my makeup before we leave.”

Hearing the urging, Su Wanli didn’t get up immediately. Instead, she turned her head, facing Meng Huange’s seat.

“It’s already been a whole day. Isn’t this makeup all faded by now? I’m pretty worried… Yeah, that eyeliner’s actually not bad. Help me touch it up. I want it to look exactly like it did when we left home this morning!”

Heh, at a time like this, she’s actually worrying about stuff like that. Naive Su Xiaoli really should spend more time learning to grow up.

Meng Huange smiled and nodded, scooting her chair over to Su Wanli’s side.

“Alright, leave it to me.”

Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of his family estate, Bai Hewei was holding a porcelain cup, meticulously stirring its contents with delight.

—This time, I’ll see whether you have what it takes to take over the entire Bai Family. Let’s see how you handle this.

Tch, that old man does nothing but talk tough all day. If he doesn’t hand the Bai Family over to me, who else is he going to give it to—those distant branches of the family that are barely related to him?

Still, since he’s already made his stance clear, I need to plan carefully. I can’t let him see any weakness in me.

“Little Bai, does it really take this long to make a decision about this step? Or are you just thinking about how to go easy on me?”

Even though that nickname made Bai Hewei instinctively frown, he still forced a smile and nodded at the old man in front of him.

“Ha, Elder Jiang, you’re joking. In front of you, I wouldn’t even dare to go easy on you if I tried…”

The man in front of him was the current head of the South City Drug Administration, Jiang Cheng.

In recent years, the rivalry between the Bai Family and the Sujia had grown ever more intense. Whether in technology or finances, the Sujia always seemed to develop just a bit faster. Now, his family could only rely on some unique patents in the medical equipment industry to maintain their market share, but that was about it.

Judging by the Sujia’s current rate of R&D, it wouldn’t be long before they’d develop replacements for those patents. When that happened, the Bai Family would be seriously weakened, maybe even devoured by their competitors…

If he wanted to survive, the fastest way was to rely on the bigwig in front of him.

—As long as he issued a single order, no matter how hard the Sujia worked on R&D, if their products failed the inspection, it’d all be for nothing. All that research funding would go down the drain.

However, this old fox wasn’t easy to buy. He didn’t want money or gifts, and he had no shady history—he hadn’t left any leverage for the Bai Family. All they could do was keep trying to figure out what he was really thinking.

After spending a lot of time and effort, when Bai Qingzhi was playing chess with him, Jiang Cheng finally let something slip.

He didn’t want either the Sujia or the Bai Family to dominate the field. Ever since Su Qing came to power, his own side had clearly been on the decline, and he was willing to offer some help.

But the conditions he proposed were absolutely unacceptable to the Bai Family.

—The government would take the lead, Sujia would provide extra production capacity, and the Bai Family would hand over their patent technology, expanding production so hospitals could benefit.

Put simply, it meant the Bai Family had to give up its only advantageous sector in exchange for a larger market share.

It might solve an immediate problem, but it would be a total loss in the long run. The Bai Family would have nothing left, and in the future, they’d have to obey every government order, basically becoming half a state-owned enterprise.

Of course, Jiang Cheng knew that a few words alone wouldn’t make them give in. Before Bai Qingzhi could even refuse, he offered another idea.

“If you’re not interested in the chess game, then let’s forget about it.”

Jiang Cheng pushed the chessboard aside, then smiled as he patted Bai Hewei on the shoulder.

“As for that marriage proposal you brought up earlier, how’s that going?”

“Well, well, I’m working on it. I should have some news soon…”

“That’s good. That Su Wanli… she’s actually a good girl. If the two of you can come together, it’ll be a great thing for the Bai Family.”

He smiled as he got up, gave Bai Hewei a handshake, and walked toward the Bai Family’s reception room.

Tch, that old man wants to hold the two biggest pharmaceutical suppliers in South City in his hands, all for just a tiny price.

If the two companies were nationalized, the Sujia—with their complete industry chain—would have a huge advantage. If his family lost that pillar, their influence in South City would instantly drop by at least thirty percent.

How to handle this situation was the biggest problem Bai Qingzhi had to solve for himself.

Teaming up with the Sujia was out of the question, but the side refusing to cooperate mustn’t be the Bai Family—it had to be the Sujia themselves.

In fact, the stronger the Bai Family’s resistance, the better. Ideally, it would spark a huge public debate, making everyone think that the Sujia was a monopoly, dominating the entire pharmaceutical industry.

In that climate, even if Jiang Cheng had some private plans, he’d have no choice but to support the Bai Family. Otherwise, if the Bai Family really collapsed, he’d be the first one to suffer.

Su Heng was an old fox, alright. He managed to operate in various industries without breaking a single law or regulation, never actually committing any real monopolistic practices, and he had a good reputation among the people. It was almost impossible to find any leverage for public opinion battles against him.

Fortunately, the Sujia did have one little weak spot.

—That was Su Heng’s only daughter, the infamous “Big Trouble,” Su Wanli.

Bai Hewei quietly straightened his clothes, stood up from beside the flower tray, and squinted in the direction of the banquet hall.

A month ago, he started pretending to be in contact with Su Wanli, trying to create the kind of alliance Jiang Cheng wanted. In reality, all he needed was for Su Wanli to make a scene at today’s banquet.

So, the angrier she got at him, the better; the bigger the scene, the better—ideally, it would become a huge, public mess.

—For the Sujia’s only daughter to lose her composure on the Bai Family’s turf, even getting into a fight at a banquet attended by high-ranking government officials—she’d basically be acting like the law didn’t exist.

And the power behind her would naturally be the shadow looming over the whole industry—South City’s own local giant, the Su Group.

It would be perfect—if only one thing happened first.

That was for Su Wanli to really do as Bai Qingzhi predicted and show up at tonight’s banquet with Su Heng.

Bai Hewei swallowed nervously, silently praying in his heart.

Even if Su Wanli didn’t show up, he still had a backup plan—but the effect would be much weaker…

So please, Su Wanli!

—Please, hit me!