Chapter 137 Next time, I'll make her call me husband.

Another day has passed on the calendar. Three days have passed since Tan Zhaojing was summoned to the old house. In the past few days, Lin Zaoyi thought that the old man would call her in for a private talk, or send someone to deliver a message, or at the very least, warn her by phone.

None of these exist.

But instead, she felt uneasy.

There's always a storm brewing beneath the calm surface. As Mom said, Grandpa Tan won't give in easily.

For now, all she can do is wait. She can't help, but at least she can't hold Tan Zhaojing back.

There's a dinner party on Friday.

Lin Zaoyi and Tan Zhaojing were both on the list of invitees.

One represents the media, and the other represents the investors.

Lin Zaoyi arrived first and had just finished signing in when she heard a chorus of "President Tan" all around her.

She turned her head and caught sight of Tan Zhaojing in a dark suit. He was surrounded by people, exchanging pleasantries with a faint expression, occasionally nodding.

The banquet organizer jokingly said, "I thought you were just trying to fool me."

"How could I not come? My girlfriend is here, I wouldn't dare not come."

Organizer: "?"

So it wasn't out of consideration for him?

He raised an eyebrow. "Which family's daughter?"

Tan Zhaojing slowly raised his lips, "My family's."

The organizers were speechless.

Tan Zhaojing's gaze swept around the hall, and soon settled on that beautiful face. He beckoned to her.

Lin Zaoyi was well aware of the purpose of this move: in addition to making their relationship public, Tan Zhaojing was paving the way for her and giving her more resources.

Lifting her skirt, she walked slowly forward, took Tan Zhaojing's hand under everyone's gaze, and introduced herself with a composed demeanor, "Hello, I am Lin Zaoyi, a reporter from Beijing North Station."

The business owners nodded, and in a short while, their hands were stuffed with business cards.

Lin Zaoyi once again marveled at the convenience that capital had brought her. After chatting for a while, she gave up her space and found a place to rest.

She hadn't been sitting down for a minute when someone approached—or rather, a beast of burden. She ignored them, but the other person, oblivious to her presence, came closer. "What a coincidence."

Lin Zaoyi simply and bluntly gave it one word: "Get lost."

Sun Yao curled into a frivolous smile, his tone sleazy, "Is it necessary to be so hostile? Feeling guilty?"

Lin Zaoyi glanced at it expressionlessly, "If you're trying to provoke me by using Tan Zhaojing's mother, I suggest you save your energy."

Sun Yao was taken aback, then let out a sneer, "You don't actually think you can marry into the Tan family, do you? You're quite good at hiding it, you're actually the Tan family's stepdaughter."

Lin Zaoyi wasn't puzzled as to how the animal knew; it didn't matter, it wouldn't affect her mood. She briefly exchanged a mocking glance with it, "Please take a look at yourself in the mirror, and stop disgusting people, okay?"

Sun Yao's brows furrowed with malice. "Lin Zaoyi, what the hell makes you so high and mighty? Putting everything else aside, you slept with other men and you still expect to marry into the Tan family???"

Lin Zaoyi didn't say anything else, only one sentence: "Sun Yao, you will get your retribution!"

Sun Yao scoffed, "Fine, I'll be waiting."

"Hey, Yao's here." A friend came over and put his arm around his shoulder. "I got what you wanted."

Lin Zaoyi had already stood up and walked half a meter away when she heard this, and her steps faltered. Soon, Sun Yao's voice came through the air, "Okay, let's go together after the banquet. There's a girl I've got my eye on there too."

My friend laughed, "Haha, you're willing to do that?"

The foul language ripped open the memory of that night. Lin Zaoyi suppressed her nausea, found Tan Zhaojing, and tried not to care, but her slightly trembling hands betrayed her emotions.

Tan Zhaojing didn't ask, but with just a glance he noticed something was wrong with his girlfriend. He nodded to the people nearby and said, "Excuse me."

He led her to a resting area, asking, "Did you see someone?"

Lin Zaoyi gave a muffled "Mmm," and said, "Sun Yao."

A crease appeared between Tan Zhaojing's brows. He stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to teach him a lesson?"

Hesitating for even half a second would be wrong of her. Lin Zaoyi immediately nodded, "I'd rather do it myself. I just heard that he got some more shady drugs. Brother Zhaojing, not every girl is so lucky."

Tan Zhaojing was amused by the second half of her sentence and acted like a tyrant, saying, "I'll arrange it for you right now."

Lin Zaoyi then saw him make a phone call. It didn't last long, about a minute. After hanging up, he told her, "The power will go out in the lobby for 30 seconds in 15 minutes. I'll arrange two people next to Sun Yao to cover for you. You can make the call however you want."

Lin Zaoyi listened with trepidation, blinking her eyelashes repeatedly, "Will I end up in jail...?"

The man chuckled, "I can do it myself."

"No need!" Although she was afraid, her determination to take revenge was firm.

Everything was arranged quietly.

Following the time given by Tan Zhaojing, Lin Zaoyi walked towards Sun Yao's location one minute before the power went out. As she moved, two burly men in black suits moved with her, completely obscuring her approaching figure.

The timing is also under control.

Suddenly, the entire venue was plunged into darkness, followed by gasps of surprise.

In the chaos, Lin Zaoyi suddenly had a wooden stick in her hand. She took it and started hitting the livestock. Sun Yao barked in pain and tried to run away, but his body was held down and he couldn't move.

Lin Zaoyi couldn't see and could only rely on her senses to find her genitals. As if knowing she would lose her composure, in the midst of the commotion, someone grabbed her wrist and snatched the wooden stick from her hand.

The lights came on.

Lin Zaoyi was taken away several meters away, her hands trembling uncontrollably, but she had to admit, it felt great.

He glared coldly at Sun Yao, who was writhing in pain while clutching his genitals. Serves him right!

Upon seeing this, Uncle Sun flew into a rage, shouting, "Who did this?!"

The organizer's CEO was also bewildered, "What's going on?"

Someone succinctly observed, "Mr. Sun, your nephew must have offended someone, hasn't he?"

Sun Yao lay sprawled on the ground, his face contorted in pain.

He knows who it is!

You bitch!

Just as he was about to point, Tan Zhaojing's cold gaze swept straight at him, and his face, which had turned red from the pain, turned white in an instant.

Mr. Sun was caught off guard and was now furious. His nephew had been beaten up like this at the banquet, and he was utterly humiliated!

They demanded that the area be sealed off.

In an effort to quell the unrest, the organizers agreed to the demands.

Lin Zaoyi was only afraid for a few seconds, because he was there, wasn't he?

She felt a warmth on her shoulder, and at the same time, she was lifted into the air. Reflexively, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hmm?"

The man answered irrelevantly, "Are you tired?"

There must be a reason for asking that question. She nodded in agreement and pretended to be weak, burying her head in his shoulder.

Leaving at this time would make it hard to avoid being noticed.

Mr. Sun was quite polite in stopping him. Although he couldn't compete in terms of assets, in terms of relationships, Tan Zhaojing had to call him "father."

"Zhaojing, we'll need you to stay and cooperate. Everyone is a suspect."

Tan Zhaojing glanced at the other party expressionlessly, "Come stop me when you have law enforcement power."

General Manager Sun was clearly displeased, adopting an elder's tone, "Zhaojing, no matter what I say—"

“Mr. Sun,” Tan Zhaojing interrupted coldly, “please move aside. My girlfriend is not feeling well and doesn’t have time to listen to your nonsense.”

These words were even more disrespectful than the previous one. President Sun was so embarrassed that his face turned red. No matter how angry he was, he was powerless to do anything about it and could only watch Tan Zhaojing leave.

Once outside the hall, Lin Zaoyi poked her head out, asking, "Did I give myself away somewhere?"

"The hem of the skirt is torn."

She was startled. "Are you alright?"

The person gave a reassuring smile, "With me here, what's there to be afraid of?"

Lin Zaoyi's fear vanished instantly, and she gently kissed his chin, saying, "Thank you, boyfriend."

Tan Zhaojing's steady steps faltered. "What did you say?"

She blinked. "Never mind if you didn't hear it."

As soon as she finished speaking, he slapped her on the buttocks. "Speak."

She was ashamed, "How could you hit a girl there!"

Tan Zhaojing quickly admitted his mistake, saying, "I was wrong. Say that sentence again."

I'm not telling you.

Tan Zhaojing: "..."

It seems we have no choice but to resort to other methods.

Lin Zaoyi was completely unaware of the danger until she realized the car wasn't heading back to Xiyuan, at which point she became alert and asked, "Where are you taking me?"

Someone said, "Go home."

That's Jingwan.

She refused, straddled his lap, and tried to coax him into moving, but it was no use. This man was determined to take her to Jingwan.

Finally, she reluctantly bit his chin, becoming as domineering as she had been before.

"Mom is still waiting for me!"

Tan Zhaojing was used to being bitten, so this little bit of pain didn't bother him. He watched her throw a tantrum with a smile in his eyes, "I've already told Aunt Ming."

Lin Zaoyi: "...That's too much!"

He calmly hummed in agreement, "There'll be something even worse later."

Lin Zaoyi: "..."

When they arrived at Jingwan, he rather gently tossed her onto the sofa. The living room lights were off, but the neon lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows were clearly visible.

Tan Zhaojing unbuttoned his shirt and slowly removed his tie. Before he even got close, her heart trembled uncontrollably. Instinctively, she braced herself against the cushions and tried to back away, but her body bumped into the edge of the sofa. She tried to run away by turning to the side.

But he was too fast. He pulled her back like a chick, and she fell back onto the sofa. The next second, the man rushed towards her like a gust of wind.

She knew when to back down and softened her tone, saying coquettishly, "You can't take advantage of my age to bully me."

He chuckled, his chest trembling slightly. "Could I take that as not satisfying you?"

Lin Zaoyi's face flushed. "What?!"

Despite her agitated reaction, he nodded ambiguously, "I understand."

"...Know what?"

"I didn't satisfy you."

"...No, that's not true!"

"No?" Tan Zhaojing raised an eyebrow slightly. "Then why won't you give me a permanent position?"

The girl beneath him muttered, "It's because you don't have ears."

He leaned down, almost touching her lips, and said, "Say it again."

Lin Zaoyi blinked her eyelashes and smiled, but little did she know that this smile would provoke him to unreasonably tug at her skirt. Then, his behavior became even worse, as he pulled open the soft strap of her underwear, which was about half a palm's width wide.

She kicked and struggled, unconsciously biting his shoulder. After several struggles, she couldn't hold on and sobbed on the verge of collapse.

Tan Zhaojing took in her pathetic reaction. He moved his lips, his voice slightly hoarse, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Lin Zaoyi didn't dare to dawdle, her toes pointed straight, "Yes...yes..."

Tan Zhaojing didn't move his hand away. "What is it?"

She hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him down, her sweet scent and warm breath whispering in his ear, "Boyfriend."

Tan Zhaojing's Adam's apple bobbed deftly; next time, she'd have to call him "husband."