Chapter 155: One Last Effort

It was undeniable that Bai Youyou was a beautiful woman. It was already pitiful enough for a beautiful woman to shed tears. Now, she was hurt and sad, yet she still smiled. It was heartbreaking to watch.

Unfortunately, the person opposite her was Ji Yan, who was as cold.

“I don’t need it,” Ji Yan said expressionlessly, and his voice was as cold as ice. “Miss Bai, you don’t have to waste your time.”

“This is your item, Brother Ji Yan. I’m here to return it to its rightful owner,” Bai Youyou’s face filled with disappointment. She opened the box and revealed the item inside. It was a very familiar-looking wristwatch, low-key and luxurious… Shen Hanxing swept a glance and realized that it was the watch that Ji Yan had donated at the charity gala a while ago.

Bai Youyou carefully looked at Ji Yan. Her eyes filled with anticipation. “I missed the auction on the night of the banquet. Later, I looked for the buyer and spent a large sum of money to get it back. Brother Ji Yan, you will accept it, right?”

Ji Yan frowned. His gaze was cold. “Put down the watch. I’ll transfer the money you spend on this watch back to you.” The watch was his item. It was alright if someone from the auction had bought it. However, now that Bai Youyou had spent money to buy it, it might cause unnecessary misunderstanding and rumors if others knew about it. He did not mind it, but he was afraid it would affect Shen Hanxing.

“I don’t want the money,” Bai Youyou’s eyes welled up with tears. She placed the watch on the table and said softly, “I bought this to give you as a gift, Brother Ji Yan.”

“Do I need you to give me the things I donated?” Ji Qian felt extremely disgusted and could not help but ask, “are you trying to annoy me?”

“I… I didn’t mean anything by giving this to you,” Bai Youyou bit her lip. She said softly, “Brother Ji Yan, you know about it too, right? I, I’m about to get engaged to Cheng Songyang…” Her face filled with reluctance and pain. “My father and Cheng Songyang both want to take over the project in the east area side of the city. They had put the marriage alliance on the agenda. The watch is my last gift to you. I hope you can understand that I’ve always liked you!”

Bai Youyou covered her face and cried as she ran out.

“Is she sick?” Ji Qian was stunned. She couldn’t help but clench her fist and wave it twice. “She is shameless! Even I feel embarrassed to hear that.”

“Throw this watch away. Throw it as far away as possible,” Ji Yan frowned and glanced at the box with disgust.

The housekeeper responded immediately and happily threw the box into the trash can outside. Ji Ning subconsciously lifted her head to look at Shen Hanxing’s expression, only to see that Shen Hanxing looked troubled. Her beautiful brows knitted together as if she was thinking about something.

“Sister-in-law,” Ji Ning was shocked and quickly explained, “there’s nothing between my brother and Miss Bai. Sister-in-law, please don’t misunderstand!”

“That’s right. You can’t take Bai Youyou’s words seriously. She is dumb and stubborn. There’s no way my big brother would like someone like her,” Ji Qian was also shocked. She comforted Shen Hanxing, “sister-in-law, you don’t know how annoying Bai Youyou cried back then. She threatened my brother to agree to marry her. My brother had no choice but to…”

Although it was annoying that their big brother always tried to snatch their sister-in-law away from them, without their big brother, they would have their sister-in-law too! At the crucial moment, Ji Ning and Ji Qian were still able to distinguish the seriousness of the matter. They spared no effort to put in a good word for Ji Yan.

“I’m not worried about her,” Shen Hanxing frowned and shook her head, thinking carefully. “The project in the east area of the city that Miss Bai just mentioned. Is it about the development of the old city district?”

Ji Yan nodded. “You know about it?”

That was a document issued not long ago by the higher-ups to carry out the development in the old city district in the west area of the city. On one side was the east area of the city, which was developing more rapidly, and on the other side was the west area of the city, which had a long history, old buildings, and even numerous shanty towns and slums. Many experts and scholars were guessing and discussing, and some companies were even willing to take the risk.

Shen Hanxing thought about the current situation and asked Ji Yan tentatively, “Which area do you prefer to develop? The Ji Group will also participate in such a large project, right?”

“I’m more optimistic about the development of the west area of the city. The combination of tradition and modernity has more characteristics and improves the environment in the west area of the city,” Ji Yan analyzed, “but… Cheng Songyang seems to prefer the east area of the city.”

The east area of the city leaned more towards modernization and developed transportation. After the development, it would be easier to make a profit.

Shen Hanxing was moved. If that was the case, maybe she could fight for the west area of the city.

At the same time, the Zhuang family also broke out in a fierce dispute over the project.

“I’ve said that the east area of the city has a competitive advantage. We should make more preparations to take down the east area of the city,” Zhuang Li pursed his lips. His expression was arrogant and determined. “The west area of the city is chaotic. The higher-ups are not fools. The development is to obtain benefits, not to help the poor!”