The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

After submitting his bid, Lu Dian looked at Li Huiran and Chen Dong with a sneer.

Li Huiran and Chen Dong turned away, ignoring him.

As others went up to submit their bids, it seemed Zhao Yiniann would give a pointed look to any construction company with a shady reputation.

This surprised Lu Dian slightly, but he didn't dwell on it.

A total of thirteen companies were participating in the bid. It was safe to say none of them could hold a candle to the Li Group. The only real competition had been Tang Dan's Shengxuan Real Estate, but Tang Dan had suddenly decided to withdraw from the bid to try for a baby.

So, among the twelve remaining companies, the Li Group could confidently say, "There's not a single worthy opponent!"

Soon, all the bids were submitted. Even though she knew the result was prearranged, Li Huiran still felt a pang of anxiety. After all, she had just scribbled down random, ordinary numbers on her proposal.

Bidding for a project this massive required extensive research, calculation, and on-site inspection for every single item. For someone like Li Huiran who just jotted down random values—even if they were within a reasonable market price—winning a normal bid would have been a miracle.

Zhao Yiniann took all the proposals out of the box. He clapped his hands twice, and a team of professionals entered from outside to review the bids on the spot.

This startled Li Huiran. In all her years of bidding, this was the first time she had ever seen proposals being reviewed openly on the spot.

The review was surprisingly quick, taking only about forty minutes. The team quietly conferred with Zhao Yiniann before filing out of the room.

Holding all the bid proposals, Zhao Yiniann stood on the stage.

All eyes in the room were fixed on him.

He coughed, cleared his throat, and solemnly picked up a proposal. "Huihuang Architecture Co., Ltd...."

The moment he announced the name, all eyes turned to Lu Dian and his son, a mixture of envy and jealousy in their gazes.

Li Huiran's face went pale. 'How can this be? Wasn't this supposed to be a sure thing?'

Before anyone could process this, Zhao Yiniann continued, "Their bid is disqualified!"

"What?" Lu Dian bellowed in disbelief, his eyes locked on Zhao Yiniann.

Zhao Yiniann frowned and said coolly, "Do I need to repeat myself? Fine. Quiet down, everyone, and I'll say it again. Huihuang Architecture Co., Ltd.'s bid is disqualified! You may not be accustomed to this method of announcement, but I'm doing it to make you all feel more involved!"

The color drained from the faces of the Lu father and son.

They had borrowed a significant amount of money to bribe Zhao Yiniann, but it turned out he hadn't rigged the bid for them at all.

Lu Dian clutched his chest, struggling to ask Zhao Yiniann, "But you... you already... Why was my bid disqualified?"

Zhao Yiniann chuckled. "No reason in particular. The Zhao Family simply has the right to disqualify you. That's all."

Lu Dian's lips turned purple and his eyes glazed over. With a THUD, he collapsed to the floor.

Lu Chunqing rushed forward to check on him, crying out in panic, "Dad! Dad, what's wrong? What's happening?"

Chen Dong sighed quietly. 'Looks like they didn't take my words to heart.' He couldn't just let Lu Dian die here, though. Not only would it disrupt the bidding, it could also tarnish the Qingtian International project with ugly rumors.

He took out his Silver Needles and walked over to Lu Dian. Shoving Lu Chunqing aside, he plunged two needles straight into the major acupoints over Lu Dian's heart.

Only a doctor with Chen Dong's level of consummate skill would have the confidence to perform such a direct and decisive treatment.

Lu Chunqing watched Chen Dong with a bizarre mix of hope and bewilderment. He then saw Chen Dong strike Lu Dian's chest with his fist. The impact dislodged the two Silver Needles, and Lu Dian coughed twice before waking up.

Lu Dian groggily looked at Lu Chunqing. "Son... where are we?"

"At the bid presentation!" Lu Chunqing quickly replied.

"Did we win the contract?" Lu Dian asked again.

Lu Chunqing burst into tears. "No! Our bid was disqualified! Waaaah... Dad, what are we going to do now?!"

Zhao Yiniann banged his hand on the table on stage. "Mr. Lu, since you seem to be alright, I must ask you not to cause a commotion and disrupt the event. Otherwise, I'll have you removed!"

Lu Chunqing helped his father up. He then clamped a hand tightly over his own mouth, afraid he would start sobbing again. They could have left then, but they stayed for one reason: to see if the Li Group would win the contract.

On stage, Zhao Yiniann continued the announcements. "Jitai Co., Ltd., bid disqualified! Puyang Corporation, bid disqualified!..."

He went on to disqualify eleven bidders in a row, leaving only the Li Group.

Zhao Yiniann began to clap. "Congratulations to the Li Group on winning the contract for the Qingtian International project!"

Li Huiran couldn't fully relax until Zhao Yiniann's official announcement. At that moment, she felt an overwhelming urge to cry. The Li Family had endured so much to finally land this project.

This outcome was acceptable to the other companies. None of them were as powerful as the Li Group to begin with.

Only the Lu father and son were in disbelief. The memory of how they had mocked the Li Family before the bid was as sharp as the pain of humiliation they felt now. Furthermore, without the Qingtian International project, Huihuang Architecture was facing imminent collapse. The Lu father and son were now drowning in debt—an amount so large that even selling their company shares wouldn't come close to covering it.

With their fate sealed, a desperate thought crossed Lu Chunqing's mind: to get on his knees and beg Li Huiran for a scrap of business. But he quickly dismissed it. 'Why humiliate myself further?' Supporting his father, Lu Dian, he walked out of the conference hall.