Why didn't they realize this before Chapter 289?

“You’re wrong,” Jiang Ruan retorted. “I don’t care about you. Whether you live or die is none of my business.”

"Then why did you come?" Huo Zhizhou didn't believe it at all. "Don't say that Huo Sinian asked you to come. If you really didn't want to come, even if Huo Sinian put a knife to your throat, you wouldn't take a step forward."

Having been together for five years, he knew Jiang Ruan's personality perfectly well.

Unless she consents, neither coercion nor enticement will work on her.

“Maybe that was true before, but after experiencing more things, I won’t be so stubborn,” Jiang Ruan said. “Huo Sinian is the eldest son of the Huo family, and he has a lot of connections and resources. Offending him will not do me any good right now.”

Huo Zhizhou stared at her with his dark eyes.

Jiang Ruan continued, "I just came to see you for a moment, there's nothing to lose."

"You're not the kind of person who would compromise for resources," Huo Zhizhou said confidently.

"Then you've misjudged the person." Jiang Ruan has grown a lot since her divorce and has experienced a lot more. "Just a few days ago, I was still smiling and toasting and saying nice things to people who looked down on me."

Huo Zhizhou didn't believe a single word of it.

As soft as Jiang Ruan's name suggests, so hard is her pride.

Forget about offering toasts and nice words; she either ignores those who look down on her or does something to humiliate them.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask the people at that dinner party." Jiang Ruan wanted to shatter the image she had in his mind so that they could no longer be involved, and he wouldn't have to keep bothering her and restraining himself, making himself like this.

He liked her unworldly heart, pure, direct, and without scheming or trickery.

But that's no longer the case.

"I have to go now." Jiang Ruan glanced at the time, intending to go back and write the bidding document. "I'll come see you again this evening."

After saying that...

She didn't linger at all, grabbed her bag and phone and left. When she saw Gu Shixi and Assistant Jiang outside, she said calmly, "So far, Huo Zhizhou is perfectly normal. He hasn't experienced any nausea or vomiting, and he's in good spirits."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Assistant Jiang nodded slightly.

"Mo Mo, let's go." Jiang Ruan left with Mo Mo.

After watching them leave, Gu Shixi and Jiang's assistant walked into the ward together.

The atmosphere in the ward was a bit oppressive. The two exchanged a glance, and Gu Shixi took the initiative to step forward and said half-jokingly, "Why the expression? Are you unhappy to see Jiang Ruan?"

"I need her itinerary and experiences over the past month." Huo Zhizhou's mind was filled with what Jiang Ruan had just said, "especially the dinner parties."

Assistant Jiang pursed his lips, hesitating to speak, and said, "I'll go check right away."

Huo Zhizhou's gaze, calm to the point of being somewhat suppressed, fell upon him.

Assistant Jiang was panicking.

That look in his eyes!

What's the meaning?

"Haven't you been keeping an eye on her situation all along?" Huo Zhizhou said, enunciating each word clearly.

"I did before, but ever since you seriously told me not to investigate Miss Jiang's situation, I haven't paid any more attention to it." Assistant Jiang lied with a straight face. "What I talked about with President Gu before was just hearsay."

Huo Zhizhou looked at him.

I don't believe a single word he said.

“I can vouch for that,” Gu Shixi added, stirring things up. “That was definitely hearsay, otherwise we wouldn’t have been talking about it.”

"You should know I don't like deception." Huo Zhizhou gave Jiang Yu one last chance, glancing at Gu Shixi. "If Jiang Ruan's recent events don't happen within ten seconds, you'll go work for Gu's Group."

Assistant Jiang: "!"

Assistant Jiang instinctively looked at Gu Shixi: What should we do? Should we confess?

Gu Shixi: Go ahead and say it.

Assistant Jiang frowned in distress: But the BOSS had previously instructed me not to investigate anything about Miss Jiang. What if he was bluffing me? Wouldn't I lose my job?

Gu Shixi gestured with his eyes: Then come to my place.

Assistant Jiang: "..."

Gu Shixi: "?"

What's with that expression? Is being his assistant something shameful?

"Three seconds left," Huo Zhizhou reminded him.

"Please wait a moment," Assistant Jiang said quickly. "I'll go get the computer right away."

One minute later.

Assistant Jiang opened the computer and placed it on the bedside table, thoughtfully explaining, "This contains details of what happened after Ms. Jiang divorced you, detailing what those people did to Ms. Jiang."

Huo Zhizhou opened the document category to view it.

This document records Jiang Ruan's work and her confrontations with the Qin family, but not her daily life. Jiang Yu handled this aspect with a good sense of proportion.

"This only records a general outline." Assistant Jiang hadn't expected the BOSS to want to see it now. These records were for him to research later so he could prepare reports. "You can ask me if you have any questions."

Huo Zhizhou clicked on the first document.

The document records how many dinner parties Jiang Ruan attended this month, and the unpleasant comments she encountered at those parties.

"Xiao Ruan is quite pretty. If I had money, I'd make you my boss."

"If you ask me, with your looks, why bother with these projects? Just find a man to support you."

"Little Softie, come drink! Tonight, we're not leaving until we're drunk!"

...

The further along you go...

The more explicit the words, the better.

Huo Zhizhou stared at the last few lines of text and asked Jiang Yu, "Are you sure these are the things that Ruan Ruan said at the dinner party?"

"Yes," Assistant Jiang replied, and then explained the contents in parentheses, "The contents in parentheses are what we asked someone to probe after the dinner while those people were still drunk."

Huo Zhizhou's eyes gradually darkened.

The content in parentheses is very simple: those men who hold resources have become lustful towards Ruan Ruan, want to play with her, and are full of lewd talk.

He knew some people in this circle were rotten, but he never expected that even discussing such small projects would involve such dirty people.

“Take care of this sometime.” Huo Zhizhou looked at the explicit and vulgar language in the parentheses, the unrestrained comments on Ruan Ruan’s figure, appearance, and even other things, and a surge of anger burned in his chest. “It’s impossible for someone like this to be completely clean.”

"Didn't you say you wouldn't interfere in Jiang Ruan's affairs?" Gu Shixi spoke up, his words tinged with sarcasm.

Huo Zhizhou told Jiang's assistant, "Go and do it."

Assistant Jiang immediately accepted the order: "Yes."

He quickly left, while Huo Zhizhou continued looking at the other contents of the document.

Gu Shixi pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, crossing her legs comfortably: "Have you figured it out?"

"Protecting her for life and taking good care of her is the promise I made to her." Huo Zhizhou was justifying himself. "This is not interfering, it's just protecting her."

As for what Ruan Ruan said about not interfering in her affairs after the divorce, not monitoring her openly or secretly, and not appearing in her sight.

Jiang Yu was gathering information so that he could resolve any trouble she might encounter. It wasn't surveillance; he was dealing with those people simply because he couldn't stand scum insulting women, not because he was interfering in her affairs.

It doesn't count as breaking a promise.

"Yes, yes, yes." Gu Shixi felt a little relieved. "Whatever our CEO Huo says goes."

Huo Zhizhou glanced at him.

Gu Shixi asked, "Then why didn't you realize this before?"

Huo Zhizhou pursed his thin lips into a straight line.

He had previously thought that with Jiang An, Su Zhu, Ye Yanzhi, Chairman Li, and Old Master Qin around, Jiang Ruan could live a good life even without him. In addition, given how much she disliked him, if he broke his promise to her, he might never see her again in his entire life.

But this time she came.

After he pointed out her problem, she asked him in return, "You can see things clearly about outsiders, but when will you figure out your own problems?"

This means she doesn't want to be too rigid in keeping her promises.