52 Bastard

Ji Heng had been stuck in traffic for a long time, feeling extremely irritated. Just as he was about to reach for a cigarette, Miao Yue, who was sitting in the passenger seat, reached out and slapped the back of his hand hard, causing the skin there to instantly turn red. "From now on, when I'm in the car, either you get out to smoke or you get out." After saying that, she smoothed the hair behind her ear, revealing a red mark on her smooth neck.

"Miss Miao, you have a bad temper." Ji Heng didn't continue, gave up the idea of ​​smoking, and glanced at her, "Why, did you go to see your old lover last night and get kicked out again?"

After saying this, he once again felt that his nominal wife was really difficult to discipline.

He sent people to follow her, but they were always discovered and hit in the face with a leather bag. They returned to him with a bruised face and demanded huge compensation. Because she knew that he dared not and could not do anything to her, after all, the Miao family was still behind her. So she simply gave up hiding and beat up his people whenever she saw them.

Ji Heng sometimes felt that a good family background and education often led to an obsessive pursuit of prestige, and he felt the same way. He resented her repeatedly running to the hospital to see the young doctor, disregarding his dignity. At the same time, having been taught from a young age that "you can't hit a woman," he felt compelled to teach her a lesson. For Miao Yue, their skills in bed were more like a hobby.

So he had no choice but to transfer his anger to the young doctor she loved but could not have. After all, the impoverished doctor and the wealthy lady faced numerous difficulties and obstacles. Isn't this a favorite plot in the story? It made him, the husband, look like an outsider. If he really followed the story, tying up the young doctor, putting him in a sack and beating him to death would be a shame for someone like Ji Heng.

It seemed like he had gone crazy and cared about Miao Yue so much that he didn't even care about his own face.

He wanted to vent his anger, but he had to do it in a bloodless way. If he messed up and angered Miao Yue, the hospital would lose some talent, which would be more trouble than it would gain. The best strategy was to quietly eliminate the dying vegetative patient lying on the hospital bed and cut off the direct contact between the pretty boy doctor and Miao Yue.

However, Ji Heng hadn't expected Zhou Qi to have such deep feelings for Zhou Dashe. Would a non-blood-related adoptive father be worth the risk of going against him and repeatedly ruining his plans? He had tolerated it before, after all, the Ji and Miao families were usually clean, and the things Zhou Qi had in his hands couldn't really cause any trouble. But this time, they had all come to him.

Last night, he had just closed his eyes in the back seat of the car, about to take a nap, when the driver told him he was being watched. He didn't even bother looking back. Who else but Zhou Qi would dare to follow him at this critical moment and never learn his lesson? Was that Volvo repaired last time? It could still appear before his eyes again.

Thinking of this, and seeing the slowly moving traffic in front of him, Ji Heng wanted to tease Miao Yue, and said in a tone like teasing a child: "Here, check my phone yourself to see what good things your little doctor did last night." After that, he reached out and handed the phone to Miao Yue.

Miao Yue folded her arms across her chest, showing no intention of accepting the call. Ji Heng laughed and threw his phone onto the back seat with a thud. "Don't act so arrogant. He's still alive. I'm not such a jerk as to mess with my wife's toy, am I? I've already sacrificed a lot of my men to make you happy. This time, he followed me to the cotton mill."

Miao Yue couldn't stand his hypocritical words, so she opened the window to let in some cold air. After a while, she spoke again, "Are you trying to make me happy or do you want my shares? You know better than me."

"This is boring, Miao Yue." Ji Heng's smile disappeared. The wife chosen by his family was smart and capable, with a good family background and appearance, but she lacked a bit of romance. It seemed that all the sweet words turned into an exchange of interests with her. It was boring. He still liked those sweet-mouthed and coaxing people. "Once we get the land, the cotton mill will have to run non-stop. Last time, we learned a lesson and broke our bones, but he just didn't learn his lesson. If you protect him again this time, you'll be playing with fire and getting burned."

"Do I need you to remind me?" Miao Yue glanced at him.

"You'd better." Ji Heng stepped on the accelerator and, regardless of the distance between cars, stuck closely to the car in front and replied suddenly.

What an idiot. Ji Heng was, and so was Zhou Qi. Miao Yue's heart was no less irritated than Ji Heng's, almost filling her chest. But amidst this irritation was a kind of excitement and thrill before the end, like a bird trapped in a cage for a long time, only to see the cage slowly opening. She admitted that she was looking forward to Zhou Qi's reckless actions to completely overturn the extravagant and false world she lived in, especially since she had discovered that she had less and less freedom after getting married.

The wedding was grand and lavish, the groom handsome and of comparable family background. No one lost out in this deal, except her. Her father gained even more power and wealth, continuing his devious climb to the top, demanding respect from everyone. Her husband coveted her less than 2% stake, desperately trying to acquire it so he could expand his territory.

She had become Madam Ji, moving between the drinking and gambling dens. Using her husband's name, she organized one extravagant wife's party after another, solidifying their support. Money and power were no longer embellishments in her life, but chains. Whether she had a lot of money or a little power, they relied on her influence, but it had nothing to do with her.

She had once viewed Zhou Qi's childish dealings as little more than a game of cat and mouse, a game she'd enjoyed watching, willing to give him a few quid. Occasionally, warning him not to cross the line was a good excuse to meet up. But now, she wanted this toy, a chance to win her freedom. After all, she had warned him long ago. If she lost this time, she'd find another Zhou Qi to play with; if she won, she'd be free.

In short, Miao Yue will not be a loser.

After Xing Yang left, Yang Xiao bought a folding bed and slept in the office every day. Wang Ruopeng would sometimes pass by Zhimiao after work and bring her some clothes. He would often nag her, his hands behind his back, like a little old lady, "Your quality of life is worse than working for someone else."

There was no other way. Liu Xingyang had left the technical department, leaving Xiao Fei alone to shoulder the responsibilities. However, several recent random tests had failed, all due to overfitting. So, regardless of the data, the model acted like a fool. It was fine if it didn't know anything, but now it was giving random answers. It even lost face when negotiating with a community hospital, and just as it was about to present its model, it was immediately kicked out, humiliated and dejected.

Zhi Miao only had these two soldiers left, and they couldn't be generals at the moment. They were fine with executing orders, but if they were really handed over to them, they wouldn't be able to completely resolve the situation. There would always be some loose ends left for Yang Xiao to deal with on her own. She truly didn't understand the technical aspects of the job. For now, she had no choice but to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, but she couldn't find a source. She posted a job posting, but she couldn't offer the high wages that Yang Zhi had offered, so naturally, no one was willing to condescend to Zhi Miao.

Yang Xiao was so anxious she spent her days and nights in the office, contacting the hospital, negotiating with the staff, contacting the hospital, negotiating with the staff. The pressure was so intense that she had a somatic reaction, lying in her office, unable to move. She'd take some medicine to calm herself down, then get up again when she felt better, and open her cash flow calculator over and over again.

Wang Ruopeng noticed she was so thin she looked unrecognizable, so he dragged her back to see a psychiatrist. While she was there, Wang Ruopeng sat on the sofa and called Zhou Qi. Zhou Qi was walking back to his office from the cafeteria. Seeing it was an unfamiliar number, he politely introduced himself as he answered the phone, "Hello, I'm Zhou Qi from the Department of Cardiology at the Third Municipal Hospital."

Zhou Qi was still finishing his next words when Wang Ruopeng started to curse him. "I'm looking for you, Zhou Qi. I've never looked for you before. When Xiaoxiao's somatization was at its worst, I didn't think of looking for you. It was best for you to stay away from her. But now you've found her again." Wang Ruopeng's voice was cold and hard. "Okay, I don't deny that you can indeed comfort her, but she was thrown against the cabinet door by that bastard Yang Zhi, and her back is still bruised. She gritted her teeth and worked day and night, and her body was in trouble everywhere. Where were you?"

"Yes, Yang Xiao is very independent, so independent that she always feels that she can handle illness and pain on her own, but can't you at least fulfill the responsibilities that lovers should have? I know you are very busy, but you can't even show the most basic concern. Why did you turn back? Why did you provoke her?"

Zhou Qi fell into a long silence. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He found himself powerless to refute anything Wang Ruopeng said. Because she was right. He was busy with his work at the hospital, while keeping an eye on the Ji family. At such a time when he was too busy to do anything, he was still confused and dazed, holding cheap buns, soy milk, and red roses, eager to give Yang Xiao comfort and love.

"I'm sorry... Anyway, thank you for telling me." Zhou Qi held up the phone, his voice trying to remain steady, but his fingers couldn't help but tremble, and a cold numbness spread across his arms. A chill ran up his spine and into his head, and even a buzzing sound began to form in his ears. Yang Xiao had been downplaying every conversation lately by saying she was busy with work, and he actually believed it, not even questioning it. He couldn't imagine how she, on the other end of the line, forced a smile through the physical suffocation and pain, and how the smile instantly disappeared after she said into the microphone, "I'm fine, just overwhelmed with work."

Like a fool, he desperately pursued the fruitless truth, unable to even hear the truth whispered to his own ears. Zhou Qi felt as if his heart was on a chopping block, being sliced ​​off piece by piece by a sharp blade like filleting a fish. The chef must have had exceptional knife skills. He didn't know how many blows he'd received, but his heart still beat bloodily.

Without hesitation, he asked for leave again, reason: to go to Beijing.

The director looked glum, and he couldn't care less. While talking on the phone with him, Yang Xiao occasionally gasped quietly because her back ached. When she chuckled, the tiredness and hoarseness in her voice were because she hadn't rested properly in a long time. When she casually mentioned last time that she wanted to eat the sugar-roasted chestnuts outside the hospital, was she really craving them, or was she just imagining it to catch her breath?

Zhou Qi felt like he was a complete bastard.