Chapter 45

"Xu Wanyi, right? I'm Zhuang Ke. You haven't forgotten again, have you?" Upon hearing this, Xu Wanyi quickly pressed the speakerphone button, and the other person's voice instantly became softer, with only a muffled sound coming through.

Xu Wanyi didn't want her subordinates to know that she and Li Ye had known each other for a long time, and she had no idea what Zhuang Ke would say.

Upon seeing this, the three immediately understood that they were caught in a dilemma: whether to leave or stay, they were essentially sitting on a charcoal grill.

"Why don't you guys go out first? I'll talk to Attorney Li about this." Xu Wanyi composed herself, covered the phone receiver with one hand, and spoke to them casually. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief and quickly opened the door to leave.

"Hey, Zhuang Ke. Are you still there?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Zhuang Ke's voice came through: "Of course it's still on. How could I dare hang up on Chairman Xu's call?"

sarcastic and unsettling.

"Could you give the phone to Li Ye for a moment? I have something I want to tell her."

"What's there to say? I know what she did for you, so what's there to say? Rich people like you are all like this, using any means to achieve your goals."

Xu Wanyi stared at the ballpoint pen on her desk, remaining silent for a long while. Zhuang Ke's words left her speechless.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You've been hit where it hurts, haven't you? So, don't bother Li Ye anymore. As the old saying goes, what goes around comes around. We don't even know who owes whom right now."

"Zhuang Ke, what do you mean?" Xu Wanyi's anger flared up.

“I paid Li Ye to be the lawyer for Le Guang Group. I asked her to do an investigation for me. It’s not like I was going to commit murder or arson. We don’t know who owes whom.”

"Xu Wanyi, I'm telling you, you're such a spoiled brat, you have no sense of right from wrong. Do you even know what happened back then... Hey, hey, why are you covering me? Let me have a word with her..."

Xu Wanyi was startled. What happened back then? Zhuang Ke's voice gradually became incoherent, and after a rustling sound, the phone was hung up.

After a while, Xu Wanyi remained on the phone, only to hear a busy signal.

A moment later, the phone rang again.

"Hello." Xu Wanyi answered the call.

“It’s me again, Zhuang Ke. You want Li Ye to do things for you, right? We’re at ‘Qing’, come over here now.”

"Qing" is a bar that has become popular in Haixi in recent years. It takes a down-to-earth approach, with drinks that are not expensive, making it affordable for young people who have just started working and college students, which is why it is very popular among young people in Haixi.

However, Xu Wanyi is no longer a young person, and she wouldn't go to such a mainstream place, so although she had heard the young people in the company mention this bar more than once, she had never been there.

"Okay, you guys wait for me."

She hung up the phone, put on her coat, trench coat, and scarf, opened the door, and returned the phone to Feng Jing.

"Tell Lin Hong and Wang Du that you should both go home first today. I'll come find you tomorrow." After saying that, he hurriedly went downstairs.

Feng Jing had no idea what had happened. This was the first time the chairman had called a meeting with them, and it had only lasted five minutes before it was adjourned.

Inside the "Light" room, Li Ye, Zhuang Ke, and her judge sister Xiang Nuo sat at a table in the corner. Li Ye was clearly a little drunk, and Zhuang Ke had also drunk quite a bit, her face flushed, occasionally showing a shy expression. Xiang Nuo, however, sat upright, looking completely sober.

These days, judges may not need to drink much, but they're usually among the top drinkers at the dinner table. However, Xiang Nuo didn't touch a drop tonight; she knew her job was to clean up the mess.

Today, Xiang Nuo happened to come to Haixi to see Zhuang Ke. Zhuang Ke knew that Li Ye had been extremely bored lately, so she insisted on calling Li Ye out, saying that it was to celebrate her and Xiang Nuo's 100-day anniversary.

"You're celebrating every single day after 100 days? Do you think you can go a whole year without celebrating?" Li Ye looked at Zhuang Ke with utter disdain, wondering how someone as respectable as Xiang Nuo could possibly be interested in Zhuang Ke. Was it because she was a university professor? Or because she had a doctorate? Li Ye had heard that Lalaka was extremely strict about academic qualifications.

However, unable to withstand Zhuang Ke's barrage of words, Li Ye quickly agreed before his head was about to explode, which led to the scene of the three of them sitting in a corner of "Qing" drinking.

Zhuang Ke heard about everything that had happened between Li Ye and Xu Wanyi during this time, and gave her a final verdict: "You two didn't say goodbye forever last time, but I think this time it's definitely goodbye forever. Just accept your loss and stop dawdling. Really, hurry up and find a decent girlfriend to settle down with."

Before the words had even cooled down, Feng Jing called.

Zhuang Keyi was furious that Xu Wanyi was still so brazenly using Li Ye. The lawyer Li usually wouldn't get up early without a profit, but now he was blinded by beauty and actually intended to continue following orders. She was so angry that she grabbed the phone and wanted to "teach her a lesson".

Xiang Nuo looked at Zhuang Ke with a doting expression, neither helping nor stopping him.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" After the phone was snatched away, Li Ye rolled his eyes at Xiang Nuo.

“You can’t control him. The only thing about a PhD is his stubbornness. He’s like a latrine; you can only reason with him. If you do the opposite, he’ll explode.” Xiang Nuo gave Li Ye a sly smile.

So that's what judges like! Like stones in a latrine. It's truly a case of one willing to hit and the other willing to be hit.

Li Ye was lost in thought when he suddenly heard Zhuang Ke say, "Do you know what happened back then?" He was startled, and even sobered up a bit. He jumped up and rushed to the other side, grabbing Zhuang Ke's neck with one hand to stop her from speaking, and reaching for her phone with the other. Zhuang Ke had already done her best to keep her hand far away, and even gestured to Xiang Nuo with her eyes to help.

"Xiang Nuo, Judge Xiang, Sister Xiang, please save me!!" Seeing that Xiang Nuo didn't move, Zhuang Ke started wailing and howling.

Xiang Nuo glanced at her, calmly took a sip of the water, then squinted his eyes, seemingly appreciating the music, without even moving his little finger.

While chaos erupted on one side, the other remained unmoved. Seizing the opportunity, Li Ye grabbed Zhuang Ke's hand and snatched the phone. However, in the ensuing struggle, the call was accidentally disconnected.

After Li Ye returned to his seat with the phone, Zhuang Ke looked like she had been bullied outside, clinging to Xiang Nuo's arm and acting like a crying little rabbit. Xiang Nuo cooperated perfectly, stroking the back of Zhuang Ke's head like petting a dog.

"You're just watching someone murder their own wife and you don't even flinch? Ugh, this is so hard for me."

Li Ye got goosebumps all over. Zhuang Ke had remained a virtuous single woman her whole life until she met Xiang Nuo. She had always thought that Zhuang Ke would be the kind of person who conquered all sides when she went out to date, but she never expected that she would actually be like this.

The judge even cooperated; the two are a perfect match! The dog food is practically overflowing from the bar door; it's disgusting! Even though Li Ye was already a little dizzy from drinking, he still couldn't bear to look at them for more than a few seconds.

So she looked away, picked up the phone, and dialed back without thinking.

Seeing this, Zhuang Ke immediately stopped being so docile and snatched the phone back. By the time Xu Wanyi answered and Li Ye reacted, Zhuang Ke had already said, "We're at 'Qing,' come over now..."

Enraged, Li Ye raised his hand to give her a flick on the forehead, but instead extended his hand toward the judge, blocking Zhuang Ke completely.

"Fine, fine, what can I do? She's married. I guess I'll just have to accept it!" Li Ye sat down silently. He was conflicted. If Xu Wanyi really came, what would she do? What would she say?

"Look how scared you are. I remember when you two were together, you were so proud and confident. Now that you're not together anymore, why are you so timid?"

Seeing Li Ye's distressed expression, Zhuang Ke teased her on purpose.

Xiang Nuo, always eager to stir up trouble, added, "Now that Lawyer Li is so powerful, he's naturally afraid of his wife."

"Well, well, Chairman Xu doesn't want to see me at all right now." Li Ye picked up his wine glass and took a big gulp. "Don't worry, she..."

"What do you mean I don't want to see you? Who doesn't want to see you?" A cold, stern voice suddenly rang out from the side, and the three of them froze. Li Ye swallowed back the words he had just uttered.

They were sitting in a secluded spot, out of sight of others, and consequently, they couldn't see others much either. The bar was also very noisy, and the sound of high heels blended in like fish in the sea, becoming one with the environment. It wasn't until Xu Wanyi approached that the group noticed the young lady's figure.

"Oh, Chairman Xu, you've come at the perfect time. We were just talking about you." Zhuang Ke's eyes were hazy, but his voice was loud and clear.

"It's all because of your meddling that Li Ye is now afraid of his wife."

Xu Wanyi glanced at Li Ye, her face flushed, a strand of hair falling from her forehead and landing diagonally on her right eyebrow. Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with affection as she stared unblinkingly at her. This idiot was clearly drunk.

Xu Wanyi couldn't stand her gaze, so she turned her head and said to Zhuang Ke, "Professor Zhuang, you can eat more, but you can't say things carelessly. My relationship with Attorney Li is now only that of lawyer and client, and there is nothing else between us."

Upon hearing this, Li Ye's eyes flickered, and he frowned slightly, but quickly regained his composure. This subtle change in expression went unnoticed by anyone present, except for Xiang Nuo, who remained calm and composed throughout.

"Hello, Xiang Nuo, Zhuang Ke's girlfriend." Seeing the atmosphere had become awkward, Xiang Nuo sighed, knowing she couldn't rely on these two drunkards, and simply introduced herself.

"Hello, Xu Wanyi, Li Ye's client." Xu Wanyi was a little surprised. In her memory, Zhuang Ke had always been a very easygoing person, as if feelings had never taken root in her heart. In the end, he was also a womanizer.

Xiang Nuo smiled and said, "I know that you and Attorney Li have no other connection besides business. So what brings Chairman Xu here today?"