In the five-star restaurant, Zhu Ning sat with her legs crossed, playing with a silver dinner knife. Shen and her younger sister stood on either side of her.
Across the elaborately decorated long table, on which were arranged delicate French dishes, Alexander sat facing her. On his left and right, just behind him, there was a very ordinary face without any memorable features, as if he would disappear into the crowd the next second.
Kato Kazuto.
The second-ranked private bodyguard on the Dragon List beside Alexander.
Alexander called out, "Alice."
The blonde, blue-eyed girl got up with a red, humiliated face. Biting her lips and clenching her fists, she shouted at Zhu Ning, "I'm sorry, Miss Zhu. I was wrong before. Please forgive me."
Alice lowered her head and bowed. You could tell she was still unhappy, even with half her body bent. Zhu Ning's gaze fell lightly on her, "Did I ask you to apologize?"
Shen translated beside her. Alice's humiliation deepened.
"No, I didn't."
Zhu Ning said with a laugh, "Then who are you making faces at?"
Alice's fingernails dug into her flesh. Her voice became teary because of her humiliation, "I'm sorry, Miss Zhu..."
Zhu Ning looked at Alexander across the table with a smile, "Sometimes I don't understand where some people's pride comes from. They can't stand straight, nor can they kneel. Alex, tell me, what do you call people like that?"
Alexander said, "Alice, I taught you Chinese etiquette before."
Alice's lips were already bitten white. Resentful tears filled her eyes. Her body trembled as she bowed with her head lowered. China, Chinese etiquette.
Her legs took a difficult step forward. No matter how you looked at it, she was struggling.
The younger sister said beside her, "Are you guys wasting our young miss's time like this?"
"Alice." A warning came, "Didn't we agree before?"
'Plop!'
Alice knelt on both knees. Her forehead touched the floor. A stifled cry of humiliation and hatred came out, "I'm sorry, Miss Zhu. I was wrong for suing you before. Please forgive me!"
The clicking of the shutters came clearly into Alice's ears.
The paparazzi reporters squatting in the corners outside the window pressed the flashlights in unison.
She could even guess how many media outlets were laughing at her.
Ten, no, a hundred, no, a thousand. No, the whole of Philadelphia was laughing at her!
Everyone was laughing at her! Everyone was mocking her!
Alice's forehead pressed hard against the floor. Tears gushed out and her whole body trembled as she kowtowed to admit her mistake!
She, the new head of the Lowell family in Philadelphia, was actually kowtowing and admitting her mistake to Zhu Ning from China!
Humiliation, humiliation, humiliation!
Unparalleled humiliation. There was no way to fill or surpass this humiliation!
The corner of her lips was bitten. Tears and blood oozed into her mouth along her teeth.
She clearly realized at this moment why the Chinese regarded kowtowing and admitting mistakes as a lifetime disgrace.
- She knelt at this moment. Her entire life would follow her kneeling. She could no longer stand up.
For the rest of her life, she would live in Zhu Ning's shadow.
Alice cried bitterly. Her face was full of tears. Her eyes were full of the pain of anger and hatred, "Are you satisfied? Are you happy? Is this what you want? You've destroyed me!"
Zhu Ning wiped the knife over the plate. A soft scraping sound came out, "This is only the beginning."
"What do you mean? You still won't stop?"
"Does Miss Alice think she's someone very noble? You think you can kneel and kowtow and forget all the past grudges?"
"Get it straight. You're kneeling in front of me because you're not qualified to stand in front of me. Your dignity, which you think is noble, is worthless in front of me." She looked at Alexander across the table, "Both sides need to have equal chips to negotiate terms. And you, what do you have?"
Alexander squinted his old eyes slightly. Alice's mind went blank for a moment. Her mind was filled with Zhu Ning's words that your dignity was worthless in front of her. She turned her head in a hurry with tears in her eyes. Sure enough, she saw the reporters and media outside the window taking pictures even more frantically, "Don't take pictures, don't take pictures! Who allowed you to take pictures? Who allowed you to take pictures? Get out of here. Do you believe I'll sue you all to court? Do you believe I'll sue them all to court!"
Alice knelt on the ground and cried as she went crazy scolding the reporters and media outside the window. However, the reporters outside the window were even more excited as they pointed their flashlights at her. Alice shrieked and cried. Zhu Ning put down her knife. Alexander finally said, "What's going on with the people outside? Don't you know they're disturbing Miss Zhu's meal?"
It wasn't because they saw Alice's ugly state, but because they were disturbing Zhu Ning's meal. Beside him, Jam, who was Alice's secretary, saw Alice going crazy and didn't react. Instead, he got up immediately to clear the place after hearing Alexander's words, "I'll chase them away now. I definitely won't disturb Alex and Miss Zhu."
Zhu Ning thought these people were really interesting.
The reporters and media left. Alexander said, "Miss Zhu, although Alice kneeling isn't worth mentioning to you, it's undeniable that we've shown enough sincerity with our humble self-esteem."
The word humble stabbed Alice. She asked with red eyes, "Tell me, what do you want to do to stop the war?"
Zhu Ning laughed, "What's this? Surrender or seek peace?"
"Of course, it's to seek peace!" Alice said, "You do have an advantage in the European theater. The lawyer camp in your hands is indeed terrifying. However, don't forget, we still have a weakness in our hands. The 337 investigation is still ongoing!"
Alexander played the white face, "Miss Zhu came to M from another country. You should know better than anyone how terrifying the 337 investigation is. There's an old saying in China, 'It's better to resolve enemies than to create them.' We should all take a step back. Benefiting each other is always better than fighting, right?"
"We can resolve this."
"Then..."
"Give me the Lowell family's underlying patents."
Alice's expression changed immediately.
She turned to look at Alexander again, "Give me all the shares of the Yangyang company in your hands. Then we'll resolve this."
"How?"
"You're dreaming!"
"You guys were the ones who started dreaming."
Zhu Ning said, "You guys only heard of the saying 'It's better to resolve enemies than to create them', but you haven't heard of other Chinese philosophy, such as 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' and 'to pursue victory'. When you guys said you were suing us, we had to cooperate with the prosecution. We had to stand still and be beaten. We had to cooperate with all your actions. When it's my turn to gain the upper hand, you kneel, kowtow, and shed a few tears, and this matter is over?"
"Do you think I took out tens of billions of dollars to counter-sue for fun?" Zhu Ning mocked, "If you want to play, it's okay. You guys pay me 50 billion, then hand over the Lowell underlying patents, and then offer all the shares of Yangyang. Let's treat this as a game. How about it?"
"Why should I hand over the family's underlying patents to you! Why should you take all the benefits! There's no such good thing! You've harmed us like this and still won't stop. I knelt for you and you still won't let go. How could there be someone as cold-blooded as you in this world!"
"I'm telling you, this matter is impossible. Do you think you've forced us into a dead end?"
"I'm telling you, I still have many tricks to deal with you!"
"You'll just wait and see!"