Tianyi received an invitation from Zhao Jianhua to play golf, which surprised him slightly.
Zhao Jianhua had always viewed him as a rival. The last time he and An Jing had caught Zhao Jianhua in a compromising situation, it had forced him to cooperate with them to deceive Xie Zhendong.
Their two groups were no longer in a tense standoff, but they were far from being friendly enough to casually play golf together.
Moreover, they were still competitors in the current Huangfu Group tender.
Unsure of Zhao Jianhua's intentions, he decided to meet him, accepting the invitation for golf that weekend.
Tianyi mentioned it to Susu, thinking it was a leisure activity, and asked her to join him.
Upon hearing it was golf with Zhao Jianhua, Susu was reluctant. "When did you become so close with him? He's lecherous and cunning. Stay away from him."
Tianyi smiled helplessly. "It's not that I want to associate with him; he invited us. You know he had designs on Lan Yu before. An Jing won't go, so it's up to us to meet him and see what his purpose is in extending this unsolicited favor."
"Then this isn't leisure; it's a business negotiation!" Susu still sounded unwilling.
"Something like that. But I suspect Zhao Jianhua will bring a few female companions to create a relaxed atmosphere," Tianyi winked at her. "If you don't go, he'll naturally arrange female companions for me."
Susu immediately pictured a scene of many beautiful women surrounding Tianyi on the lush green golf course. "Who says I'm not going? I quite like playing golf, even if I'm not very good yet. Teach me!"
Tianyi gave her an okay sign, pulled her into his arms, and chuckled, "You have to learn seriously this time, don't waste his good intentions."
...
On the weekend, Susu and Tianyi arrived at the golf course.
She had been with Tianyi before, treating each visit as an outing, but her golf skills had never improved.
After changing, they walked hand-in-hand onto the green, spotting Zhao Jianhua already there.
As Tianyi had predicted, Zhao Jianhua was surrounded by three or four beautiful women.
As soon as they saw Tianyi and Susu approaching, the women's eyes lit up with anticipation towards Tianyi.
Tianyi extended his hand and greeted Zhao Jianhua. "Mr. Zhao, am I late? My wife was a bit slow getting ready, so I waited for her."
"No, no, I arrived early," Zhao Jianhua quickly shook his hand and then said to Susu, "Mrs. Qin, hello. You have the leisure to accompany Mr. Qin for a game."
Susu simply hummed and gave him a faint smile.
The women beside him, upon hearing the handsome man was with his wife, lost their enthusiasm and continued to surround Zhao Jianhua.
Zhao Jianhua pushed them aside and said to Tianyi, "Mr. Qin, shall we play a round first?"
"Certainly," Tianyi swung the club in his hand.
They began to play, with Susu following behind Tianyi, claiming she wanted to learn.
Zhao Jianhua quickly instructed the women, "Accompany Mrs. Qin to the practice range and have the coach there teach you."
Susu didn't want to go to the practice range and was pulled away by the women before she could speak, to another part of the lawn.
She found practicing golf boring and, looking at Tianyi and Zhao Jianhua chatting while playing from a distance, realized Zhao Jianhua had intentionally sent her away.
The coach beside her kept explaining the essentials of the swing, so she had no choice but to focus on learning.
After hitting a shot, Zhao Jianhua smiled at Tianyi and said, "Just as the rumors say, you and your wife are truly affectionate."
Tianyi smiled. "We usually spend our weekends with the children. When she heard I had an activity, she insisted on coming along."
"Inseparable," Zhao Jianhua said, feigning envy.
Tianyi replied, "Mr. Zhao, you're the one truly blessed with good fortune, always surrounded by different women."
"Is that a compliment?" Zhao Jianhua said self-deprecatingly. "Let's just say Mr. Qin is complimenting me."
Tianyi smiled and took a shot, the ball landing precisely in a nearby hole.
Zhao Jianhua quickly cheered, "Good shot, good shot!"
"Mr. Zhao, sending my wife away wasn't just because you wanted to play with me, was it?" Tianyi asked, walking towards the hole.
Zhao Jianhua chuckled. "Mr. Qin is so straightforward. Fine, I won't beat around the bush. It's about the Huangfu Group's network platform tender."
Tianyi said, "Oh? What's the issue with this tender? We'll each prepare our bids, and shouldn't the Huangfu Group decide who wins?"
"To be frank, I'm determined to win this tender. Xiangyang will only be a runner-up. You might as well not waste your resources on it," Zhao Jianhua said, sinking his own ball into the hole.
Tianyi expressed surprise. "Mr. Zhao, your golf skills are also quite good. Do you usually play dumb?"
Zhao Jianhua's expression darkened slightly but quickly returned to normal. "I know you look down on me, calling me a nouveau riche. But I've achieved this through my own abilities. You simply have good family backgrounds and inherited your family's group. What right do you have to look down on me?"
"Mr. Zhao, that's a well-put statement. If you're so strong, why are you afraid of our group participating in the bid with you?" Tianyi retorted.
Zhao Jianhua was momentarily speechless, then paused. "I'm not afraid to tell you, there's an inside story to this Huangfu Group tender. You shouldn't get involved. You've always won against me in past competitions. You should let me have a taste of success for once. Otherwise, even a cornered dog will bite."
Tianyi said with amusement, "Did you deliberately let us win in past competitions? We all competed fairly. It was you who always played dirty, which is why we always found opportunities..."
"This project is very important to me. Think about it, if it weren't for me last time, you wouldn't have secured that batch of goods so smoothly, and Xie Zhendong wouldn't have suspected anything," Zhao Jianhua said, trying to build rapport.
"Last time, if you hadn't interfered, we wouldn't have delayed our construction schedule by several days," Tianyi countered. "And last time, if we hadn't had leverage over your customs violations, would you have cooperated so readily?"
"You can't say it like that..."
"Mr. Zhao, if you're asking Xiangyang to withdraw from the tender today, I can't agree," Tianyi said decisively. "This tender is handled by the group's network department. I've handed it over to them, and it's not something I can make the group's employees accept with just my word."
"Qin Tianyi, why do you always have to oppose me?" Zhao Jianhua leaned on his club. "You have no idea how deep the water is. Getting involved won't benefit your Xiangyang!"
"Oh? What water? How deep is it? Tell me, give me a reason to withdraw from the tender," Tianyi said, sensing he might know something and eager for him to reveal the inside story.
"The Huangfu Group isn't that easy to deal with. They want to..." Zhao Jianhua suddenly stopped, not continuing his sentence.