Chapter 71 Old Deng

Back in her bedroom, Ye Baoling sat on the balcony, lost in thought.

Sister Ping brought in papaya and snow frog. It's been getting colder these past few days, so she said, "Miss, it's chilly outside, come inside and have some."

Ye Baoling didn't want to go in, so Pingjie had no choice but to bring the soup out for her.

Ye Baoling asked, "Sister Ping, do you remember the year my parents divorced, when my mother was falsely accused of stealing jade?"

Ping was taken aback for a moment, then said, "How could I not remember? I even had a fight with that fat bastard who was with your father back then."

Why are you arguing?

Pingjie seized the opportunity to coax her: "Come inside, I'll tell you."

"..."

Ye Baoling had no choice but to carry the soup bowl into the house. When Sister Ping tried to take it, she stopped her with her hand, saying, "I can carry it myself."

Once inside, Pingjie closed the balcony door, turned on the living room light, and then said, "During that time, that vixen Zheng Junni secretly called your mother, begging her to give her a proper status. Your mother was so angry she couldn't sleep. How could she possibly think of stealing that worthless jade? Everyone said that jade wasn't valuable; it was passed down from our ancestors before they became wealthy. Back then, our family was poor; how could we possibly have good jade? What would your mother do with it?"

After rambling on without getting to the point, Ye Baoling pressed, "Who do you think framed my mother?"

"Who else could it be?" Sister Ping tilted her chin towards Shengyue Tower. "Besides your father, who would dare to do such a thing? We servants wouldn't dare, nor could we do it. We couldn't possibly get into the fourth floor of Xihe Hall to steal the jade. It's pointless, don't you think?"

But Ye Baoling had already basically ruled out her father. "On the day the jade was lost, who went into my mother's room?"

“Oh dear, that was so long ago, I almost don’t remember. Your mother and I were thinking about it before, and it was just a few of us servants and your father’s two attendants. Your mother stayed in the house for those two days, only going for a walk in the garden before and after meals.”

Although she thought it was impossible for Zheng Junni, Ye Baoling still asked, "Where is Zheng Junni?"

"She hadn't even entered the Ye family yet. That vixen was secretly living in the apartment your father rented for her to prepare for childbirth. She had no chance. Forget about coming to the Ye family; your grandfather almost forced your father to make her abort. But then your father hired some old Chinese medicine doctor to examine her pulse, who said it was a boy. That's why she didn't have to abort. And because of that boy, after your parents divorced, she entered the family and became a social climber!" Speaking of Zheng Junni, Sister Ping couldn't help but scold her again: "That vixen, she deserved to have her abortion!"

Ye Baoling: "Is she familiar with the entourage around my father?"

"Familiar! Those men around your father have all been bribed by that vixen, especially that fatso. If it wasn't your father, the most likely explanation is that Zheng Junni bribed your father's men to secretly pull this trick."

"Didn't they say the fourth floor was locked, making it difficult to steal the jade?"

"If they had intended to steal it, they would have done so long ago..."

Ye Baoling drank the papaya and snow frog soup, lost in thought, and didn't ask any more questions.

*

Ye Baoling has officially taken office as the deputy general manager of Ye Qingtang Herbal Tea Branch.

Her office was moved from the 7th floor to the 10th floor.

He Jiayi was transferred to be her assistant, and at the same time, the HR department assigned her a new secretary.

The new secretary was none other than Lin Zhizhi, the beautiful woman with red lips and wavy hair who had been interviewed on the same day as her.

Lin Zhizhi was very perceptive; she probably thought Ye Baoling had forgotten about her, so she didn't bring up the interview together.

I prepared fragrant coffee and fruit, along with the latest information from each department, early in the morning.

As soon as Ye Baoling arrived, she stood up to greet her: "Good morning, President Ye."

"Good morning." Ye Baoling smiled and nodded.

Ye Baoling also pretended not to remember the other person.

At 10 a.m., a senior management meeting was held. Cai Yongming, as the acting general manager, sat at the head of the table. He jokingly offered to give up his seat to Ye Baoling, but Ye Baoling smiled and didn't respond. Instead, she sat down opposite Qu Zhengming.

There was one acting general manager and three deputy general managers. In addition to Ye Baoling and Qu Zhengming, there was also a deputy general manager named Sun William, who was mainly responsible for finance and administration.

Cai Yongming chaired the meeting and said, "The three vice presidents need to redistribute their responsibilities. Ye Baoling will be in charge of market business, branding and publicity, Qu Zhengming will be in charge of products and the factory, and Sun Weilian will be in charge of finance, administration and human resources."

No one objected.

They then began discussing work-related issues. Cai Yongming asked, "What's the progress on Mr. Ye's newly developed US market?"

Ye Baoling didn't open the folder in front of her. She was very familiar with the work at hand: "The product packaging design is complete. Next is a two-week production period, after which the goods will be loaded onto a ship and shipped. It is expected to arrive at the US port before Christmas and be delivered. The more urgent task now is to establish the US branch as soon as possible. We need to work with L&D to prepare a North American promotion plan."

Cai Yongming nodded: "The establishment of the US branch needs to be discussed with the chairman and General Manager Lin. We need to send someone with strong execution capabilities to handle it."

Ye Baoling: "I already have someone in mind."

Who is it?

“Yang Baozhu from our marketing department. She studied in the United States and is quite familiar with the situation there. She is also one of the key contributors to our expansion into the US market. Moreover, she had already established a preliminary understanding with the L&D team during the early stages of market development, making her the most suitable candidate.”

He Jiayi handed Yang Baozhu's information to Cai Yongming for review.

Cai Yongming frowned slightly: "A woman, and so young, isn't that a bit too risky?"

Ye Baoling is no longer the person she used to be, always watching other people's expressions and moods. "When we were developing the market in the early stages, why didn't you say that women weren't reliable? The US market was won by the third group of the company's marketing department, and it was all four of us girls who worked together. Now that we're opening a branch in the US, the most suitable candidate is definitely the veteran who developed the market."

They were women, and young, but they were pioneers, they were elders.

Being publicly rebuked by the young lady made Cai Yongming feel somewhat uncomfortable. "Then I'll go and discuss it with the chairman and President Lin."

In fact, Ye Baoling had already discussed it with her grandfather. She didn't want to embarrass Cai Yongming anymore, so she smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Cai."

"Of course."

Next, Qu Zhengming gave a work report.

Qu Zhengming: "We need to prepare for the development of new products for next year. Currently, we only supply one jasmine iced tea to the United States, which is too few products. We may need to develop more tea drinks suitable for young people."

Cai Yongming, who has been suppressing Qu Zhengming for some time now, said, "Jasmine iced tea sells well in the local market and Southeast Asia, but whether it really has a market in the United States has not yet been verified. Now, could we first develop a traditional herbal tea and launch it during the Lunar New Year?"

Qu Zhengming did not argue with him: "We can proceed simultaneously."

Tsai Yung-ming: "I suggest that we focus our efforts on traditional herbal tea for now. We can start focusing on new-style tea drinks after the market in the United States has been validated."

Ye Baoling disagreed with Cai Yongming's direction: "The market for traditional herbal tea is actually only so big. Whether or not new products are released, the number of consumers will remain the same, and they are very loyal to their tastes. New products won't significantly increase sales. On the other hand, new-style iced tea, regardless of its market in the US, definitely has a market in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Developing different types of iced tea, as long as the product is excellent, will definitely attract more consumers. I think we should do the opposite and focus on new-style iced tea with different flavors. Traditional herbal tea already has a new monk fruit product this year. Even if new products are developed, we can consider launching them in the next year or two."

Qu Zhengming immediately nodded: "That's what I meant too."

Cai Yongming suspected that Qu Zhengming had discussed this with Ye Baoling beforehand, so he could only smile and say, "What President Ye said makes sense..."

Ye Baoling: "Actually, for new-style iced tea, we can consider black tea, which foreigners prefer, and see if we can develop a delicious iced black tea. We can also develop iced green tea later."

Qu Zhengming agreed: "Iced black tea should be developed first. The flavor should still be light and slightly sweet, suitable for young people."

Ye Baoling nodded with a smile: "Yes, actually, we can develop a series based on different teas."

In terms of products, Qu Zhengming and Ye Baoling had more in common, while Cai Yongming, who came from an administrative background, couldn't quite join in the conversation and could only watch them chat with a smile.

The newly appointed product director, promoted by Cai Yongming, couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Qu Zhengming couldn't help but glance back at him, reminding him, "Write this down, and don't forget the key points when you get back to the meeting."

The new director then quickly opened his notebook and jotted down the key points they had just mentioned.

The meeting ended around midnight.

Gu Man'er and Wang Simin came up to find Ye Baoling.

After touring Ye Baoling's large office, Wang Simin sighed, "Darling, when can you arrange such a big office for me?"

Ye Baoling smiled at her and said, "Keep it up, I believe in you."

Wang Simin joked, "Let me be your secretary."

Gu Man'er teased, "Do you have a voluptuous, beautiful secretary outside to keep things going?"

Wang Simin cupped half of her face in her hands: "I don't look bad when I dress up, okay?"

Speaking of the secretary outside, Wang Simin whispered to Ye Baoling, "By the way, didn't you ask A-Xia to have the cleaning lady keep an eye on Manager Li in the HR department?"

Now, Ye Baoling can no longer easily visit the cleaning section of the logistics department; she relies on Wang Simin to relay messages.

What progress has been made?

Wang Simin: "Once, the cleaning lady overheard Manager Li talking to your secretary outside, whose name is Lin Zhizhi. Manager Li told Lin Zhizhi to coax Lao Cai."

"Old Cai?" Ye Baoling understood; it must be Cai Yongming.

Is Manager Li backed by Cai Yongming?

No wonder he wasn't implicated in such a big incident last time.

But what did Manager Li mean by asking Lin Zhizhi to appease Cai Yongming? Was he acting as a pimp?

It's terrifying to think about.

Wang Simin added, "This Mr. Cai is a smiling tiger; be careful of him."

Ye Baoling shushed her, telling her not to make a fuss.

*

The recent events at home have had a huge impact on Ye Baoxin.

She found staying at the Ye family's house increasingly boring.

But at Suman Jewelry, she was a team leader with a good salary and benefits. She had no better choice than to work even harder.

After work that day, she didn't go home, but went to Fang's house to find Fang Shanxing.

As I came out of the garage, I ran into Sister Ju, the housekeeper of the Fang family.

"Sister Ju!" Ye Baoxin greeted her.

Sister Ju smiled and said, "Miss Ye, the young master is playing chess with Sir Fang in the small room upstairs."

Ye Baoxin was good at winning over the Fang family's servants. She smiled and handed them the cakes she had bought, saying, "I bought some cakes. Keep one for everyone in the family, and you can share the rest."

Sister Ju smiled and thanked her, "Thank you, Miss Ye, you really have our hearts at heart."

Ye Baoxin knew the way well and went straight to the second floor. The second-floor corridor of the Fang family's house was carpeted, so her footsteps were silent.

As they approached the small studio, she heard Sir Fang say, "Have you heard about what happened to the eldest branch of the Ye family?"

Fang Shanxing: "I've heard about it. You mean the fake grandson thing?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Baoxin quickly stopped in her tracks.

Sir Fang: "What are you thinking?"

Fang Shanxing said casually, "What I think is none of my business."

After a long pause, Sir Fang said, "I heard that Ye Baoxin's mother was kicked out of the Ye family and is living alone. After all, Baoxin is not the Ye family's biological granddaughter, so her position in the Ye family must be very awkward after such a thing happened."

“Grandpa, I like Baoxin as a person, it has nothing to do with the Ye family.”

"How can it not be related? If Bao Xin hadn't been using the Ye family's granddaughter's name, could she have climbed up to our Fang family? Anyone can become my Sir Fang's granddaughter-in-law? Think it through yourself. I don't object to dating. But if you want to get married, marrying a wife who won't be of any help to you in the future is not a rational choice for an adult."

Fang Shanxing changed the subject, laughing, "I ate your car, Grandpa."

Ye Baoxin felt very sad. She could understand that it was only natural for Sir Fang to have such thoughts.

Fortunately, Fang Shanxing's actions haven't changed yet, but who can guarantee what will happen in the future?

She was just about to compose herself and go inside when she heard a voice in her ear.

"Miss Ye..."

Startled, she turned around and saw that it was Sister Ju bringing up the cake.

The carpet makes no noise when you walk, which is such a hassle.

It was obvious that Sister Ju had seen her standing there eavesdropping on the conversation between the Fang family grandfather and grandson.

So embarrassing.

Ye Baoxin could only brazenly say, "Sister Ju, give me the cake. I'll take it inside."

Sister Ju didn't expose her, she just smiled and handed over the tray: "Be careful."

Ye Baoxin forced a smile and carried the cake into the small studio.

"Grandpa Fang, Shanxing, are you playing chess?"

When Sir Fang saw Ye Baoxin come in, he was quite cheerful. “Baoxin, you’re here. You’ve come at the right time. This guy doesn’t play chess properly. He captured my rook when I wasn’t looking. I don’t want to play with him anymore. You can play a game with me.”

Old ginger is spicier.

There was absolutely no indication that the old man disliked Ye Baoxin.

Ye Baoxin smiled and pretended to be naive: "Okay, I'll play a game with Grandpa."

Fang Shanxing saw the cake and smiled, "You bought tiramisu? I was just about to eat it."

I bought this especially for you.

Sir Fang, ever the tactful one, said, "Alright, alright, I'm not going to be a third wheel. You guys have fun."

With that, he got up and left.

*

The two families chose an auspicious day, and Old Madam Guan and Yang Pinxian personally delivered various betrothal gifts and jewelry to the door.

In addition to the full set of diamond jewelry that Ye Huaizhang had previously bought for Ye Baoling, there was also jade and gold.

It was placed in the living room on the first floor, and everyone gathered around to see it, making quite a grand display.

The Ye sisters, Ye Leqiong and Ye Leyan, were filled with envy and kept making "wow" noises.

Ye Leyan rested her chin on Ye Baoling's shoulder: "Sister Baoling, you're making us so envious. Look at this diamond, how many carats is it? It's so big and so sparkly."

Ye Leqiong joked, "It's almost blinding me."

In fact, Ye Baoling's aesthetic sense is very simple and honest.

She prefers gold that is honest and has a standard price, regardless of age or gender.

However, this doesn't stop her from liking the beautiful full set of diamond jewelry right now.

Ye Leqiong added, "I don't praise others easily unless they are very willing to spend money on me. However, today I have to praise your Huaizhang brother for being so generous with your money."

Ye Baoling felt a chill run down her spine when she heard her address "Brother Huaizhang." She smiled and asked, "Is it good-looking?"

The two sisters exclaimed in unison, "It looks beautiful!"

After the third branch of the family delivered their gifts, they arranged for the two families to go out for dinner together on the weekend.

After the third branch of the family left, Liang Meiyun clicked her tongue several times, saying, "Baoling, you are truly enviable. That huge diamond is dazzling."

Ye Qizu was quite satisfied with the generous spending of the third wife's family.

Ye Qizong, standing to the side, said somewhat sarcastically, "The diamonds they produce themselves aren't that expensive."

Ye Qizu rolled his eyes at him: "Things produced in our own mines are more expensive, and we guarantee their authenticity!"

That old man!

He was so smug.

After the onlookers dispersed, Liang Meiyun asked, "Where should we put all these jewels and ornaments?"

My second aunt is really savvy!

Ye Baoling didn't even need to ask the question herself.

Ye Baoling hesitated for a moment: "I don't have a safe in my room."

Liang Meiyun smiled and said, "If you trust your second aunt, you can put it in our safe."

Ye Baoling joked, "What if my second uncle steals my jewelry and tries to sell it for money?"

Ye Kais retorted, "Do you think my eyelids are that shallow?"

“I trust Grandpa more.” Ye Baoling looked at Ye Qizu. “Grandpa, you must have more than one safe, right? Could you spare one for me to put these jewelry?”

Most people wouldn't refuse to put someone else's jewelry in their own vault.

Moreover, this contains the trust of the granddaughter.

Ye Qizu thought for a moment and said, "I'll go and set up a safe first."

Within ten minutes, Ye Qizu called the first floor and asked them to send the jewelry up.

After delivering the jewelry to the study and waiting for everyone else to leave, Ye Qizu walked to the standing bookcase against the wall. He used a key to open the middle drawer of the bookcase, and then pressed some switch inside. The entire bookcase moved to the side, revealing a door less than a meter wide.

It turns out there was a small secret room between the study and the old man's bedroom.

Grandpa's bedroom should also have a door leading to the secret room.

"Come in."

Ye Baoling then obediently carried the jewelry inside.

Inside the secret room, there was a small desk, a bookshelf, and a ladder.

At the very back are six safes arranged in three rows and two columns.

If nothing unexpected happens, the ugly king's jade pendant should be in one of the safes.

Yeh Chi-tsu: "The one at the very bottom on the left is for you to use temporarily."

This safe is a combination lock; it has a physical lock and a mechanical combination.

Ye Baoling placed boxes of gold, jade, and diamond jewelry inside.

After arranging everything, she locked the safe and took out the key.

There is a bunch of six keys, and obviously, each of the six safe keys is different.

Ye Baoling smiled and said, "I'll take the key."

Without waiting for the old man's approval, she took the key to her safe.

Ye Qizu couldn't help but say to her, "You've left everything with me, don't you trust me?"

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but rather that I’m saying the things in this safe are mine.” When taking out the keys, Ye Baoling deliberately slowed down. She glanced at the teeth of the keys and realized they were from the same series.

If she can figure out one safe thoroughly, she'll definitely be able to open the others.

There is also the problem of mechanical cryptography.

"What's the password?" she asked her grandfather.

Ye Qizu is getting old, and changing passwords is a hassle for him, so he doesn't want to tell her his password.

"You just need to hold the key. From now on, if you need to open the safe, I'll have to open the door and use the combination."

Ye Baoling knew that her grandfather would not easily reveal the password.

She didn't want to insist, lest she arouse suspicion.

Stepping out of the secret room, she joked, "Grandpa, you won't suddenly forget the password one day, will you?"

"I can't forget it."

Ye Baoling then tried to scare him: "Have you ever heard of Alzheimer's disease?"

"What illness?" Ye Qizu closed the door to the secret room.

"It's commonly known as Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's forget a lot of things. What if you suddenly forget your password one day, Grandpa? You'll have to write it down in a notebook."

Yeh Chi-tsu couldn't help but say to her, "Are you cursing me to get sick? Do you think I need you to teach me how to do things!"

Therefore, she immediately came to the conclusion that her grandfather had written the password in the notebook beforehand.

Ye Baoling laughed it off, saying, "I'm just concerned about you."

"Keep the key safe and don't lose it," Ye Qizu instructed her.

"I know. It won't get lost."

After leaving her grandfather's study, Ye Baoling returned to her bedroom and began to study the serrations on the safe key. She figured she could open this type of lock with a size 4 crochet hook.

I can try using a similar safe another day.

Ye Huaizhang arrived as promised that evening. He no longer used the blue brick tunnel; he would go back to the third son's house first, finish his work, and then come to "serve him in bed" on time.

He has the credentials and doesn't care what others think; to put it simply, he's "thick-skinned." Whenever he has time, he comes every day.

Ye Baoling briefly described to him what she had seen in her grandfather's study.

"I'll focus on learning how to pick locks for now. My grandfather probably wrote down the mechanical combination in a notebook, but it will take some time to find it."

Anyway, as she said before, she'll find a way to get the Ugly King's Jade by using three methods.

Ye Huaizhang said to her, "Your grandfather probably never expected his granddaughter to be so cunning. He was tricked by you like that."

"He's too shrewd. He just won't tell me the password. If I were Ye Baoshun, maybe he would have told me." Ye Baoling snorted coldly. "You know we women are born without being valued or trusted. In your own family, you're an outsider, and in your husband's family, you're still an outsider."

Maiden's family... Husband's family...

She shuddered; how could she have said such a thing?

Pooh!

She wants her own home.

Ye Huaizhang gently touched the tip of her nose. "It's enough that your man values ​​you."

Ye Baoling was amused by him, "I can't today. I'm on my period. Just bear with it."

It's okay, we can kiss.

They've recently taken to kissing, their breaths mingling, sharing a deep and tender bond—it's wonderful.

At that moment, in the room two doors down from Ye Kaisi's, Liang Meiyun muttered to herself, "He comes every day. If you didn't know better, you'd think he was a live-in son-in-law."

Ye Kaisi was trimming his nose hairs in the bathroom. "Who is he? He's Ye Huaizhang! Would he be willing to become our family's live-in son-in-law?! Dream on. It's just that they're newlyweds and can't live without each other. Everyone goes through that phase."

Liang Meiyun glared at her husband: "You can do it every day now that you're young, but when he's in his forties, he'll probably be just as good as you. He won't be able to squeeze out a single drop a month."

Ye Kais remained silent.

*

When Ye Baoling woke up, Ye Huaizhang had already left.

Sister Ping knocked on the door and came in. While tidying up her things, she said, "After you asked me questions a few days ago, I've been thinking about what happened that day."

Ye Baoling has been talking a lot with Sister Ping these past two days. She asked, "What is it?"

Ping lowered her voice: "About your mother being wrongly accused. I remember that day your mother was taking a walk downstairs, and I was helping you put up your homework in the house. Then Aunt Xing came in and said that the old man was about to be discharged from the hospital, and that your parents should get ready to go and pick him up. Your father wasn't home, so I went downstairs to find your mother."

Ye Baoling stopped rubbing her face: "Did Aunt Xing go downstairs with you?"

Ping helped Ye Baoling put her slippers in front of her and arranged them neatly. "I don't remember, I have absolutely no recollection. If she had come downstairs with me, I should have remembered her a little. Don't you think so?"

So, did Aunt Xing put the ugly king's jade in her mother's drawer?

Ye Baoling then asked, "Has Uncle Xing always had the key to the fourth floor of Xihetang?"

"Sister Yin is in charge. But Uncle Xing definitely has one."

Ye Baoling got up, put on her shoes, and went into the bathroom.

Standing in front of the mirror, she suddenly understood.

Uncle Xing had the key to the fourth floor of Xihetang. After stealing the ugly king's jade pendant, he had Aunt Xing plant it in her mother's drawer.

Uncle Xing and Aunt Xing had no grudge against her mother, so they had no reason to frame her.

So it's highly likely they were instructed to do so.

In this family, the only person who can command Uncle Xing and Aunt Xing is Ye Qizu.

Therefore, the one who framed her mother was none other than her grandfather.

Ye Qizu was always hypocritical, concerned with his image, and sanctimonious. He couldn't directly support his son and daughter-in-law's divorce, especially since the Gu family was down on their luck at the time. He couldn't openly support Ye Kaimin abandoning Gu Min...

Therefore, they used this roundabout method to frame Gu Min for stealing, making her the one at fault.

Gu Min is a person who cares about her reputation, and in her disheartened state, she naturally chose to back down.

Ye Qizu sacrificed Gu Min and the original owner's mother and daughter in order to give his unborn grandson a proper status.

That old man deserves to die.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Ye Qizu: I have always been fair and I do not discriminate against women...

Ye Baoling: Ha, Lao Deng.