Chapter 70 Rumor: "It's only a matter of time before it goes public."...

Half an hour later, the two who had been on the verge of collapse sat facing each other on the sofa in the reception area. They had both calmed down a bit. The one who had been clutching his crotch was now leaning against the desk, pretending to look through the meeting minutes.

Tang Yi finally sorted out everything she wanted to say. She released her hands from her forehead, smoothed her hair back, looked at Fang Zhen in front of her, and said bluntly, "It's just as you see it, Fang Zhen. Zhang Minglang and I are indeed dating."

Fang Zhen suddenly raised her head, blinked, and then turned to look at Zhang Minglang. He was still staring at her with murderous eyes because she had interrupted her and Tang Yi's intimate moment. She shuddered and stiffly turned her neck back.

Tang Yi noticed, turned her head, and said coldly, "Zhang Minglang."

I haven't settled accounts with you yet.

Zhang Minglang instantly transformed from a cheetah into a cat, his bristling fur immediately smoothing down. He glanced at her with a hint of resentment, but didn't dare to retort.

Fang Zhen pursed her lips, trying to hide her joy at shipping the couple.

She thought with a sense of resignation, "Since I can't stay here any longer after discovering such a shocking secret, I might as well take advantage of this last chance and have some fun."

Having resolved the only unstable factor present, Tang Yi turned to look at Fang Zhen, her voice much calmer: "Whether you believe it or not, our relationship is a normal romantic one, absolutely not what you're thinking..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhen hurriedly waved her hands frantically: "I've never thought of it that way! Secretary Tang, I believe you, you're definitely not that kind of person! Or rather, with your abilities, there's no need for you to be in a relationship for any reason."

Tang Yi's tense brows suddenly relaxed. She looked up at her, her eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.

She didn't say anything else, just smiled and said, "I want to ask you to keep our relationship quiet for now. We want to wait until our relationship is more stable before considering going public."

Zhang Minglang seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire: "Isn't our relationship stable?"

With a single glare, Tang Yi easily subdued the eager young man.

As she turned her head, a strange, ambiguous smile appeared on Fang Zhen's lips. Fang Zhen held up three fingers and said, "Secretary Tang, don't worry, I'll absolutely keep my mouth shut. And you really don't need to worry, everyone in the secretariat thinks highly of you two. They were just outside betting whether you two were dating, and it turns out you really are! Hehehehehe..."

As Fang Zhen spoke, he became more and more excited, and inadvertently let slip that he had betrayed all his colleagues.

Zhang Minglang got excited and quickly walked over to the sofa next to Tang Yi, leaning forward with great interest: "Are you telling the truth? They all support me and Tang Yi?"

Fang Zhen shrank back, glanced cautiously at Tang Yi, and nodded.

Tang Yi glanced at her wristwatch, nudged Zhang Minglang to his feet, and urged, "Stop fooling around, we have a meeting to attend later."

Remembering something, she turned to Fang Zhen and said, "Fang Zhen, could you spare a day or two? We're going to Ju County for field research, and we'll be taking you with us."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhen pointed to herself with her index finger, her tone surprised: "Me? I can still stay at the company? Shouldn't I be collecting my salary from the finance department and leaving now?"

Pushed forward, Zhang Minglang sneered: "Junmao isn't that kind of heartless company. They wouldn't fire an employee over such a trivial matter."

“Besides,” he turned his head and gestured with his chin toward Tang Yiyang, his tone arrogant, “it’s only a matter of time before it goes public.”

Fang Zhen's eyes widened, she pursed her lips tightly, and held her hands straight at her sides, trying to suppress the excitement of hearing such juicy gossip. She glanced at the speechless Tang Yi, then shifted her gaze to Zhang Minglang, who was walking confidently toward the door, already imagining the grand scene in the secretariat when the gossip was revealed.

She made up her mind: once she got out, she would start a new bet on whether Tang Mi and President Zhang were really a couple!

The door opened, and Zhang Minglang walked out with his hands in his pockets. Several colleagues who were still gossiping around him couldn't get away in time and sheepishly moved back to their workstations.

Zhang Minglang's voice was deep and somber, a stark contrast to his previous cuddly demeanor in front of Tang Yi: "Are you all so free? You just chat and get paid?"

Knowing they were in the wrong, the colleagues kept their heads down and dared not utter a sound.

With Zhang Minglang gone, the workspace became a little more lively again. Everyone started discussing it.

Li Da shook his head: "As expected, the negotiations failed. Judging from President Zhang's expression, tsk tsk, a major battle must have just quietly taken place."

Tang Jiaxin wavered a little. Just as she was about to speak, Tang Yi also came out, followed by Fang Zhen, whose expression was strange and whose smile was not genuine.

Tang Yi could tell they were chatting idly at a glance. Her voice was flat, carrying a natural, unyielding quality: "Stop chatting and focus on your work. Li Da, how long has it been since you gave me the documents I gave you yesterday?"

Everyone behaved themselves considerably, and Tang Yi was busy going to the meeting. She glanced at the pile of documents on the table, then turned around and said to Fang Zhen, "You don't need to go to this meeting. Just help me process these documents here."

After saying that, she patted her shoulder meaningfully: "Thank you, Fang Zhen."

Fang Zhen understood her meaning in a second, and she nodded vigorously, giving an OK sign.

Tang Yi left too. Fang Zhen had just sat down when Li Da, unwilling to give up, came over to inquire, "How did it go? Were they arguing when you delivered the documents?"

Fang Zhen recalled the two people arguing at the door, and then remembered her promise to Tang Yi to keep it a secret. So she said exaggeratedly, "Is that even a question? They were arguing like crazy!"

Zhang Minglang grabbed Tang Yi's wrist. Fang Zhen described, "President Zhang was so angry that he was about to hit her, but luckily Secretary Tang was calm enough to dodge!"

Tang Yi raised her leg to bump his groin, and Fang Zhen clicked his tongue in disapproval: "But Secretary Tang also retaliated, and this time President Zhang was unable to avoid it."

Tang Yi warned Zhang Minglang, and Fang Zhen sighed, "The two of them have gotten to the point of calling each other by their first names! I can't stop them no matter what I do."

When the two brought up the topic of public relations, Fang Zhen sighed, "They're already talking about when they're going to break up..."

Before Fang Zhen could even utter the word "break up," she suddenly snapped out of her daze, the words swirling around in her throat: "Break up...break up...break up, let's go our separate ways, let's not work together anymore."

After saying that, she shrank her neck and dared not say anything more, for fear that she might accidentally let something slip.

Li Da unconditionally trusted everything Fang Zhen said. He ran back to his workstation with a stack of documents, causing a stir. Colleagues who had just been saying the two had definitely talked all changed their tune, repeating, "What did I tell you?"

Fang Zhen, having successfully completed his mission, opened the folder in front of him, secretly pleased with himself.

Tang, Mr. Zhang, you can rest assured and continue your relationship. I will definitely help you keep it a secret!

The two were completely unaware that their relationship had been rumored to be that of bitter enemies.

Until Chairman Zhang approached Zhang Minglang again.

Chairman Zhang sat upright in his seat, lifted the tea leaves floating on the lid of his teacup, and said to Zhang Minglang in a calm voice, "The Li family's daughter returned to the country this morning. Go and see her this afternoon."

Zhang Minglang frowned: "What do you mean, Grandpa? How can you do this? Didn't I already tell you that Tang Yi and I are dating? Why are you making me go on blind dates?"

Chairman Zhang looked up at him, then lowered his head and slowly fiddled with the tea leaves: "Don't try to fool me. Just go when I tell you to."

Zhang Minglang spread his hands: "Isn't that cheating? I'm not going."

Chairman Zhang scoffed, "Cheating? Hmph! Don't think you can hide your breakup from me!"

Zhang Minglang: "?"

He paused, and began to think about when he had been dumped without his knowledge.

He stroked his chin, and even began to wonder if this was a trick his brilliant girlfriend had come up with to prevent rumors.

That move was really not ingenious.

Thinking this, Zhang Minglang stood up and was about to go find Tang Yi when Chairman Zhang shouted at him, "Where are you going! This afternoon, you better behave yourself and go see her, do you hear me!"

Zhang Minglang waved his hand irritably, leaned forward against the desk, and stared into his grandfather's eyes, saying each word clearly: "I, Zhang Minglang, and Tang Yi, will never break up in this lifetime. As for marriage... I don't know about marriage, that depends on whether she wants to or not. In short, we will absolutely not break up, and I will absolutely not go on blind dates!"

After saying these words earnestly, he rushed out the door, his steps hurried.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, he rushed to the work area. Several colleagues waiting for the elevator outside avoided him, covering their mouths and whispering among themselves.

Everyone on the 16th floor watched as a tall figure swiftly moved between workstations, finally stopping next to Secretary Tang's workstation.

Tang Yi put down the internal call from the board office, slowly looked up at him, her tone calm, yet with a hint of impending storm: "What?"

Zhang Minglang was filled with questions. Looking at her indifferent expression, his anger intensified.

How could Tang Yi do this? To keep their relationship from being exposed, she actually came up with such a despicable scheme. What's most infuriating is that she didn't consult him at all about such an important matter, and now that he's come to her door, she's asking him "what" in such a nonchalant tone!

Zhang Minglang remembered that this was his workstation, so he frowned, said "Come to the office for a moment," and walked in without looking back.

Tang Yi still showed no emotional fluctuation. She stacked a pile of A4 papers on the table, and even had the leisure to walk over to the stunned Fang Zhen and reach out to ask her for the documents.

Fang Zhen hurriedly handed her the documents, asking in a worried whisper, "Secretary Tang, are you alright?"

Tang Yi smiled and shook her head, patting her shoulder: "It's okay, don't worry. Focus on organizing the documents."

Fang Zhen could only nod, but her eyes remained filled with worry.

Tang Yi, bearing the silent gazes of many, pushed open the door and entered the president's office.

As soon as the door opened, Zhang Minglang's low voice came out: "Tang Yi..."

The closed door cut off his next words, making them indistinct and blocking the probing gazes from outside.

The rumors that the two were sworn enemies, had always been at odds, and were about to break up and never speak to each other again have been basically confirmed by their reactions.