Xi Xiaye felt doubtful when she saw him like this. She just looked at him quietly as a warm light crossed her eyes.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened them and returned to his usual calmness.

"It was a woman," he said quietly as he looked at her genuinely. "Xiaye, I'm not looking into who's at fault here, I won't deny what I've done in the past as well. If telling you these can help you understand the truth better, I'm more than willing to tell you..."

She was stunned for a moment as she blinked several times. After giving it some thought, she seemed to understand something. "A woman? You liked that woman before? Or was she someone who loved you?"

He suddenly laughed as he studied her with his quiet eyes when he patted her head. He shook his head and said, "Nope, we've just met a few times. How could that happen?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Who knows? It might be love at first sight!"

"She likes Qi Feng, and if I'm not mistaken, Qi Lei was making advances at me most probably because of her. Qi Lei's feelings for her were no lesser than Qi Feng. Back then, Qi Feng and Lingtian were good friends..."

As he was reminded about the tough past, his eyes darkened and he suddenly stopped talking.

After a moment of silence, Xi Xiaye said, "It's fine. I won't ask about this anymore. Whether you're right or wrong about this, I'll fully support you..."

"Why?" He asked as he looked at her smiling face.

Xi Xiaye smiled as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down. She left a soft kiss on his lips before whispering beside into ears, "Because what I want is very simple. As long as you're good to me, I'd do anything for you."

Her words were clear and her straightforwardness melted his heart. He hugged her tightly, his vision becoming clear as he looked at her. His voice turned gentle. "Thank you, Missus."

Those words were enough for him. There was a moment that he hoped he could have met her much earlier. Then, he would not have had to feel so lonely all this while.

"Didn't we talk about not saying those two words again?"

She smiled and poked his forehead playfully. "Don't be unhappy, Mr. Mu. You're always the undefeatable god in my heart. You're my faith..."

Her words turned his heart even softer. He felt comforted and touched.

It might be hard to believe, but he was not a person to feel easily touched, yet he had experienced this several times with her. Somehow, he discovered a lot of new emotions that were brought forth by her.

"Undefeatable god? Your faith, huh?" He repeated her words, yet his eyes never moved away from her pretty little face.

She nodded and looked at him seriously. "I hope that our life can be simpler and braver unlike my parents'. I told Lingshi not to let things wait too long and fight for the present, so I believe that being with you isn't wrong."

With just these words, it was more than enough for him to offer everything he had to treat her well. He should tell her that he would love her forever.

"Yes, it's not wrong. I won't let you feel that it's wrong," he mumbled quietly as he embraced her, and they stayed like that for quite some time.

He could not verbalize it, but at this moment, he felt sweetness rise inside. How he wished he could merge together with her!

After a while, she mumbled under him, "Mr. Mu, I'm finding it a little difficult to breathe."

He swiftly came back to his senses and let go of her. He asked gently, "Did I hurt you?" He felt guilty when he saw her rubbing her arms.

She did not reply his question and said instead, "I said that you're my god..."

Mu Yuchen nodded. "I know, Missus."

"And then?" Xi Xiaye raised her eyebrows as she looked at him intently.

Mu Yuchen was startled as he looked at her in doubt. "Then, what?"

"Shouldn't you say that I'm your goddess?" She stood straight up and looked at him with a pout, putting up a tough front.

"Huh? Is that how it works... Ah!"

"Are you saying it or not?"

"Yes! You're my goddess! Goddess..."

"Hmph!"

"Missus, your strength has reached another level. Let's not play this ever again."

"Mu Yuchen?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you one last question?"

"Sure."

"Is that woman prettier than me?" She was still feeling insecure.

"She has a very long way to go compared to you!" He replied almost instantly.

Xi Xiaye was finally at ease with his answer. After giving it some thought, "Mr. Mu, I have one last question. Is that woman your childhood friend?"

"I don't have any young childhood friend. I have a super close friend though."

He looked at her with a wicked smile on his face. "Who?"

Her face was strained as her eyes darkened. "You!"

...

It was 7 a.m. when the man woke up the next day. He woke up half an hour earlier than Xi Xiaye to go down to make breakfast after washing up while she continued sleeping.

She would let him handle all the kitchen work whenever he was at home since her cooking skills were mediocre anyway.

She changed into a plain-colored dress today, tying her long hair up. Unlike her usual days when she wore her business suit, she looked much more elegant.

He was satisfied with his own taste, glad to see that she looked great in the outfit he had bought for her.

When she came downstairs for breakfast, Mu Yuchen's quiet eyes glittered upon seeing her.

"What are you looking at? Do I look good in this?" Xi Xiaye put her briefcase on the chair as she did a turn in front of him. He handed her a napkin with a smile on his face.

"It looks good. The colors are great." He sat down.

Xi Xiaye laid open the napkin and started eating her breakfast.

Li Si appeared on time as the couple was done with their breakfast. There were also two bodyguards in black suits behind him.

"Good morning, Master, Missus!" They greeted respectfully.

Mu Yuchen nodded. He turned around and looked at Xi Xiaye who was checking on the documents again. "We'll head right over there. We're not going to the office."

"Noted, President Mu!" Li Si replied.

"Let's go." He grabbed Xi Xiaye's briefcase and handed it to Li Si before heading outside.

The car went straight to their destination. Even though they had done plenty of analysis and preparation, Xi Xiaye still could not help but feel anxious at this moment.

It was her first time handling such a tremendous project, after all. The huge amount of estimated tender she calculated gave herself a big shock.

Needless to say, a lot of money would be involved since it was a priority project from the government, but inside City Z, only the huge, capable companies would be able to take on this project. She saw the project listings. The total funds involved was eight hundred billion dollars, and the South River project took up nearly half of it.

The South River project she was handling was only a small part known as South River 1. The whole theme was to "build a new city in the south".

Many industries were involved. Even after the proposal phase was over, there would still be a lot of work to do after that. They needed to invite partners and carry out many other miscellaneous processes, which was partly why Xi Xiaye wanted to delay their wedding.

However, since he did not want to, she did not have any objections as well as long as they were happy.

It was a quarter past nine when they arrived at their destination. They reached right on time.

The parking lot was full, and the entrance was heavily secured. They could only enter after a thorough identity check.

The tender was happening in the meeting hall on the 17th floor. There were several other big projects similar to South River 1 happening together, so a huge crowd was gathered.

The meeting hall was fully seated. The screen in front displayed the topic for the day while many important leaders from the government sat in front, including Xi Mushan. When he saw Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye, he gave them a curt nod, and Xi Xiaye smiled back at him.

Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye's seats were at the very front. As they sat down, they noticed the seats beside theirs were for Qikai, and that Qi Lei was right there!

Qi Lei gave Xi Xiaye a wide grin when he saw her.

Mu Yuchen did not see Qi Lei. Instead, he lowered his head and was looking through some documents Li Si had just handed him.

Soon, it was 9.30 a.m. Xi Mushan and the others on the stage stopped talking as the tender officially began.

The host started off with a round of greeting and introduction of the guests, eliciting a loud round of applause from the crowd.

"The one on your left is Wang Ziluo from the Wang Corporation. He just took over the company not long ago. They are pretty good. When the New Era Plaza just launched, Grandfather thought they were quite reliable, but for some reason, we didn't really get to work with each other in the end."

Xi Xiaye glanced over at the person beside Mu Yuchen as she told Mu Yuchen quietly.

"The Wang Corporation? Wang Ziluo? The guy who had a crush on you for many years?" He demanded.

Mu Yuchen only noticed the person beside him when she mentioned him. He saw Wang Ziluo was leering at Xi Xiaye and it made him displeased. He put his arms over her shoulder, exerting his dominance on the spot.

Xi Xiaye glared at him and pushed his hand away. "It's a public venue. Be more serious."

"What now? I'm very serious and calm right now. Smiling at you like that seemed silly. I hope you don't like him..."

"I'm not talking about that! I'm reminding you to keep an eye on them. We need to look for partners in the future. They can be an excellent choice."

"I notice that you're really a man magnet, aren't you? Didn't you tell them that we're married? The ring on your hand is just for show, huh?"

Mr. Mu was really irritated with Wang Ziluo. As he wanted to shoot daggers at him, the host finished with the introductions. Coming up was the South River 1 project.

The host spoke through the mic, "Bidders, please confirm your documents once again. Check if it's undamaged, and sign it before submitting it to us. Otherwise, we'll assume that it's fine by default. All the bidders for the South River 1 project, please come forward!"

Mu Yuchen glanced at Xi Xiaye, who nodded at him and went forward. At the same time, Qi Lei went together with her.

It only took Qi Lei a few steps to catch up with Xiaye. The two of them walked beside each other for a couple of seconds when Qi Lei asked quietly, "Do you think Qi Kai or Glory World will win this time, Xiaye?"

"Won't you know when the results are revealed?" Xi Xiaye replied coldly.

"Xiaye, you have a huge misunderstanding towards me. Because of you, that woman nagged me throughout last night, and I endured all of it. Geez, can't you be friendlier to me?"

Qi Lei grinned. When he looked at her serious face with her pink cheeks, he thought that she was really cute.

Xi Xiaye stared at him. "I can't be friendly to people that I hate, Vice President Qi. I notice that you're quite a narcissistic person!"

Qi Lei's smile grew even wider and Xi Xiaye looked away. She checked the document again before signing it.

Without looking at Qi Lei again, she turned around and went back.

As she passed him coldly, Qi Lei touched his nose. He turned around and looked at her back. Instead, he caught sight of Mu Yuchen's deep, dark eyes.

There was suddenly the smell of gunpowder in the air, especially with Qi Lei's eyes that suddenly turned cold and sharp. Xi Xiaye was startled by this sight too. She looked at Mu Yuchen, and he seemed calm. He only took one look at Qi Lei before he lowered his gaze and continued flipping through the documents in his hand.

Xi Xiaye quickly returned to her seat.

The bidders upfront promptly finished confirming the documents and signing them. Then, the host announced that all of the bidders' documents were valid.

"Next up, I'll invite the staff to open the bidders' documents according to the time that they handed it in, and then deliver it to the notary office for inspection."

The moment the host finished, those tightly sealed documents were opened and delivered to the rostrum upfront for the leaders to browse and examine.

Xi Mushan was very seriously browsing through the documents in his hand. From time to time, he discussed something with the people beside him.

"There are many companies joining the tender this time. Over there is Kang Wei Co. I heard that they had a very close working relationship with Qi Kai previously, but because of a project, they fell out, so now the two companies seem to have a very fragile relationship."

Being observant was a necessity for them in the business world, so Xi Xiaye was very sensitive to such information.

Mu Yuchen looked up from the documents and said plainly, "There's no such thing as enemies forever in the business world. Neither is there anything such as friends forever. Only interest is forever."

Xi Xiaye nodded in agreement. "You're not wrong; such as how Glory World has had many close partners in business all these years, but we've also become a thorn in the side of many companies."

Mu Yuchen understood what Xi Xiaye was implying. She turned to look at him and saw that Qi Lei was saying something to his assistant, yet his gaze kept looking over to them.

"Master Qi, Mu Yuchen returned yesterday night. I've confirmed that he is indeed married to Xi Xiaye. This morning, I called the Civil Affairs Bureau to confirm that. In fact, this South River 1 project has been left in Xi Xiaye's hands throughout and I heard that she had made the proposal very early on. Mu Yuchen appreciated her very much." Assistant Yang Sheng was glancing over at Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye at the moment as he reported.

"Such difference in treatment!" Qi Lei watched them, yet he faintly smiled as he rubbed his nose.

Yang Sheng hesitated and could not help but express his opinion, "Master Qi, they've registered for their marriage at the end of last year. If I calculate the time, it should be after Han Yifeng proposed to Xi Xinyi. I remember it back then... Do you think that there's an inside story to their marriage?"

"Inside story? What inside story could there be?" Qi Lei listened and immediately squinted at Yang Sheng. "I can see that this Mu Yuchen is very sweet to her, but..."

This woman was quite interesting. She was very different from all the women he had met before.

When Qi Lei thought about this, he could not help but stare contemplatively at Xi Xiaye again.

"Master Qi, if we can get the South River project this time, it'll be a slap in Mu Yuchen's face. Glory World and the Li Corporation developing a Movie City has made the President very upset. The Li Corporation doesn't know how to appreciate favors. Previously, the President has tried to meet up with them quite a few times, but they vaguely rejected, and now they are unexpectedly collaborating with Glory World." As Yang Sheng spoke, he started to look sour too.

"The Li Corporation and Glory World do have a pretty solid relationship. It's the old man who's indulging in his wild imaginations, so it'll do him good to be a little angry."

"Master Qi, do you think Glory World...?"

"Don't ask too much. Just watch and you'll know."

Qi Lei saw that Mu Yuchen did not even care about them. He remained casual and calm, yet he could not help but feel angry although he concealed it well. His grip tightened onto the table before him and he lowered his gaze to conceal that flash of coldness. There was even hatred!

Before they could have any further thoughts, the host began the fifth agenda of the meeting.

"Now, we will begin to call for bids. We have our first bidder, Kang Wei Co. Their bid is XXXX million with an estimated completion date of XXX days. The quality of the project qualifies."

"The second bidder is Zhongyu Huaxin Group. Their bid is XXXX million..."

...

When the host read such huge amounts of bids, everyone gasped. After all, with such a huge project, the funds that needed to be allocated would be a surmountable number.

With quite a few companies down, their bids did not vary much, so the difference was not very drastic.

Xi Xiaye watched the data and information on the electronic screens. From time to time, she would discuss with Mu Yuchen beside her. "It looks like the bids are about the same. So are the project completion dates too. Zhongyu Huaxin Group was still a medium-sized firm a few years ago. Unexpectedly, they've been developing rather quickly in recent years."

"They've been going through intense reforms in the past few years. They are specialized in developing, so they're pretty stable."

...

"The seventh bidder, Glory World Corporation with a bid of..."

"The eight bidder, Qi Kai Corporation with a bid of..."

When the host finished reading out the final two companies, the whole place fell silent!

When she heard the announced figures, Xi Xiaye could not help but raise her brows in surprise. She looked at Mu Yuchen. "This is not the proposal I prepared. Did you..."

"I made some slight changes. Let's see the results." Mu Yuchen was calm as usual.

When they confirmed the signatures once again, it was time to review the bids. The crowd fell silent for a while, then everyone began to whisper to one another.

Quite a while passed before the host began to speak again. "This time, we're using the average scores to review the bids. The judging will be based on the bids, skills and capability, and the promise of service. We will run the average score, and the scoring rules are as shown on screen. Ladies and gentlemen, the final results are out. Announcing from the highest to the lowest score, in first place is Glory World Corporation with an overall score of 98.2. Second place goes to Qi Kai, with an overall score of 98. In third place..."

When the host read out the scores and she heard Glory World was first, Xi Xiaye's eyes immediately lit up. She could not help but grin and turn to Mu Yuchen, who smiled calmly at her.

"How wonderful, Mr. Mu!"

She smiled in delight and her eyes looked at him, filled with an admiration that could not be concealed. "How did you know? Did you make some changes? Previously, didn't you hand in that document? This sounds like the data we came up with at first. You..."

"Missus, you've worked hard, but I still trust in my first instincts."