Chapter 25 Pei Shuwen: "Then you..."

The bathroom was enveloped in steam. The lights were off, and the only light came from the slightly ajar door, but that light only reached about a meter outside the bathtub.

As darkness enveloped her, Lin Chaoyue continued to sink.

She used her naked body to resist the warm water, letting herself sink to the surface and completely emptying her mind.

123, 124, 125, 126...

It is about to break through the limit.

At the last moment before reaching the threshold, Lin Chaoyue sat up from the water.

"call……"

Force your brain to shut down for a few minutes.

Lin Chaoyue thought she would feel better.

But after a brief moment of blankness, her mind became even more chaotic. The events of the entire night played out in her mind like a movie, repeatedly jumbled and rearranged.

Ignoring her still-wet hands, she picked up her phone from the side.

Lin Chaoyue: [My mind is a bit of a mess.]

Li Cong: [If you don't sleep at this hour, your brain will break down in the long run. You didn't just get home, did you? Have you gone stupid from working so much?]

Lin Chaoyue couldn't count on Li Cong's sharp tongue; he couldn't possibly say anything worthwhile.

She hesitated for a long time, but finally sent a message to Weng Yao: "[Yao Yao, how's your performance going? When are you coming back to China?]"

As expected, there was no reply.

Yao Yao is currently on tour in Austria. She should still be performing on stage at this time.

Lin Chaoyue tossed her phone aside in frustration, leaned back, covered her face with her hands, and completely refused to face her dramatic life.

From the bathtub to the bed.

Lin Chaoyue, dragging her weary body, sighed a total of one hundred and eighty times.

I felt much better when I lay down.

When I glanced at the balance on my phone again, the breath that had been suffocating in my chest rose up again.

"Why……"

"What exactly does Pei Shuwen mean? He's just transferring money, why did he add two extra zeros?"

She never imagined that in her lifetime she would have to guess whether a man was drunk or not.

But she couldn't help but think about it.

If Pei Shuwen is drunk, that's easy to handle.

If I wasn't drunk... Everyone has to die eventually, but can't it be a death that doesn't happen in society?!

never mind.

Go to sleep first, we'll talk about tomorrow tomorrow.

Before going to bed, Lin Chaoyue neatly submitted her leave application for tomorrow morning.

It retracted into its shell.

...

The following morning, Zhao Huai'an went straight into Pei Shuwen's office as soon as he arrived.

I wanted to find out about yesterday's battle.

But after searching inside and out, I didn't see a single person.

Zhao Huai'an peered into the secretary's office door: "Secretary Wu, where is Pei Shuwen?"

"They haven't arrived yet."

"That's something new."

“Yes, Lawyer Zhao, we were just wondering too. Lawyer Pei always has perfect attendance when he doesn’t have any work commitments. Today, not only did he not come, but we also couldn’t get through to him on the phone. Since you have nothing to do, why don’t you go to Lawyer Pei’s house and check on him? We’re worried that Lawyer Pei might be having health problems because he’s working too hard.”

Zhao Huai'an thought about it carefully and felt that something was not quite right.

He turned around and went downstairs to the personnel department.

"Qin Wen, show me your attendance tracking interface."

Qin Wen raised an eyebrow in surprise: "When did you start caring about these trivial matters? You've come at the right time. I was just about to ask you, Pei Lu's driver was borrowed by you. Did his work meeting go smoothly last night?"

"It's all good, he had someone with him last night."

"Who's with you?" Qin Wen asked curiously.

"I don't know yet."

Zhao Huai'an gave a perfunctory reply while scrolling through the list of people who had asked for leave today.

"...Lin Chaoyue, the leave request was submitted at 5:00 AM today..."

So that's how it is.

That makes sense.

I went out to discuss business last night and also had to help the Lin family 'babysit,' no wonder I couldn't get up today.

Zhao Huai'an turned around: "Pei Shuwen's assistant has confirmed that he will choose Lin Chaoyue this year? Aren't you going to try to persuade him?"

Qin Wen has been so busy lately that she doesn't have time to offer advice on this matter.

Qin Wen pointed to the stack of documents on the table: "Lin Chaoyue's academic qualifications are acceptable, but her work performance after being with the company for so long is really average. She is even worse than Meng Yuzhi, who has the least seniority. Due to some practical considerations, other teams may not be willing to take her on... You know what I mean."

I understand. What's there to not understand?

People are selected to join the team so they can work.

Nobody wants to hire a useless, useless ancestor.

People don't know that this is a goddess of wealth; they might even think that Pei Shuwen is doing charity work.

"Alright, I'm leaving now. You can continue with your work."

"Don't go! We've arranged an interview with Ningcheng Lawyer Magazine. Aren't you coming up with me to talk to Attorney Pei? This is important."

"That's all for now." Zhao Huai'an said, clinging to the door, "Pei Shuwen hasn't arrived yet, let's talk about it this afternoon."

Pei Shuwen's schedule is copied to the personnel department by the secretariat.

Qin Wen knew he would be going back to the law firm today.

So her eyes widened slightly: "Huh? They're not here yet?"

...

Just as the afternoon workday began, Zhao Huai'an appeared in Pei Shuwen's office again.

As he expected, Pei Shuwen had already arrived.

He was sitting in his office chair, head down, signing documents.

Pei Shuwen looked up when he heard the sound, then indifferently looked away and continued signing another document.

Zhao Huai'an hummed a little tune and sat casually on the sofa. Seeing that Pei Shuwen was busy, he made himself a cup of tea without any hesitation and even brought a cup to Pei Shuwen halfway through.

"Hey buddy, want a drink? I'll make you one too."

"unnecessary."

Zhao Huai'an's tea-brewing technique was too rough, and Pei Shuwen rarely drank his tea.

Pei Shuwen's disdain was obvious, but Zhao Huai'an wasn't angry. He simply pushed the teacup closer to him.

They kept pushing the product.

"Try it. I specially learned how to make it last night. Although it's not as good as yours, it's still drinkable."

"Changed your personality? Instead of learning anything else on dates, you learn to brew tea? Platonic love?"

Zhao Huai'an patted his face in surprise: "Is it that obvious? I've been quite discreet today, and no one else noticed except you. Sigh, that girl I told you about last time, the tea master at Nanping Ancient Tower, she's beautiful, pitiful to behold, and her skills are superb, but Plato is impossible, and your brother here isn't the kind of person to cause trouble."

"But you, why are you only arriving now? This isn't like you."

Pei Shuwen lifted her eyelids: "Does one have to be like a god, not eating or sleeping, to be like me? I can't rest."

"Yes, yes, yes, you're so capable! I wish you could rest more. It's only been half a year, but we've already taken on almost all the cases from last year. I can handle it, but everyone else in the office is almost exhausted."

"Although we are young, strong, and incredibly brave, we can't keep going like this."

Pei Shuwen casually pulled out a document and tossed it to Zhao Huai'an: "The cooperation agreement with the Lu family hasn't been officially signed yet, so go and reject it."

Wow! The deal was finalized so quickly?

"Really?"

Despite asking, Zhao Huai'an knew it was most likely true, as Pei Shuwen was always a man of his word when it came to work.

"I heard that last night, all the prominent partners in Ningcheng's legal profession went there. Ansong even found Xie Zhengyi from Fanyin Technology to act as an intermediary. Xie Zhengyi is Lu Jiangqiao's distant brother-in-law. They still couldn't beat you. They must be furious."

"I should have gone to join in the fun yesterday."

Just thinking about Chu Chengjie's furious reaction made him secretly gloat. Back then, they had conspired from the inside to bring down Juntian Liangmu, but who would have thought that not only did they not collapse, but they also grew bigger and stronger.

Who knows, they might actually be the ones to take the top spot in Ningcheng's top-ranked law firm next year.

Pei Shuwen signed the last document and capped his pen: "Then next time it's your turn to negotiate. You'll be able to catch all the excitement."

"No, I can't do it. If I hadn't been bullied and cried so much back then, I wouldn't have come all this way to ask you to come back and help me. Sigh, I should have known better than to take over my husband's business. Not only did we fail to make it big and strong, but we almost squandered all of our family fortune. We were really sold out and we still have to count the money for them."

As Zhao Huai'an spoke, he became more and more emotional: "If you ask me, it's better to be a rich second-generation who just lazes around and waits to die."

Pei Shuwen: "Aren't you afraid I'll sell you off?"

Zhao Huai'an coughed lightly: "You don't understand, I was willing to be sold out by you."

After saying that, Zhao Huai'an even gave a cheeky wink.

Pei Shuwen crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, looking Zhao Huai'an up and down. Zhao Huai'an felt a little uneasy under his gaze.

"...I was just kidding, I don't like men..."

Pei Shuwen looked at him as if he were an idiot and ignored him as he answered the landline call.

"Hello, okay, I understand. You can handle it yourselves. Bye."

"Aren't you leaving yet?" Pei Shuwen ruthlessly shooed him away after hanging up the phone.

Zhao Huai'an not only didn't leave, but also moved a chair over and sat down: "Hehe, I'm not leaving yet. I still have something to do. You said last night that someone was keeping you company. Who was it? Lin Chaoyue? I saw that she took the day off this morning too."

"Um."

Ignoring the nonsensical interlude, Zhao Huai'an became even more excited.

"I knew you were looking for someone late at night. It's so convenient to be neighbors, always available whenever you need someone."

Pei Shuwen: "You can stay here too. I'll buy you two floors upstairs."

"No, no, I don't want my life to consist only of work. My mom is counting on me to give her a grandson in a couple of years."

Zhao Huai'an: "I'm just curious, why is Lin Chaoyue so obedient to you now? What kind of spell did you cast on her? Never mind, let me ask you another way: you really don't have any other feelings for Lin Chaoyue?"

Pei Shuwen raised her eyes: "Is this the question you want to ask, or are you asking on behalf of someone else?"

"Of course..."

Pei Shuwen: "We recently had a collaboration with Vicare in India, but I'm not comfortable leaving it to someone else. Why don't you take over?"

"No, no, no, I asked for your grandfather. I didn't receive any benefits from him, but I can't just do nothing. I have to check on the progress from time to time."

“None of you in your family are getting married, and your grandfather is getting anxious about it.”

"The old man meant well, you have to understand."

Pei Shuwen nodded: "Yes, I understand. Besides this, didn't my grandfather ask you anything else?"

"What else?"

It was the same document. Pei Shuwen casually flipped to a page, spread it out, and tossed it to Zhao Huai'an.

See for yourself.

Zhao Huai'an always felt that Pei Shuwen was changing the subject, but he dared not speak out against the threat of going on a business trip to a godforsaken place like India.

Silently, I looked in the direction Pei Shuwen pointed.

At first, he just glanced at it casually, but the more he read, the more Zhao Huai'an felt that something was wrong.

"Really? The demands they made aren't even as many as what we summarized at our last in-house seminar?"

He didn't quite believe it.

They flipped through two more pages with a 'whoosh,' and found that the cooperation period was set at two years, but the remuneration had doubled.

That's really strange.

"Although the Lu family is wealthy and powerful, and Lu Jiangqiao has a kind face, I heard that he is a man of his word and difficult to please."

"Did you two make some other deal behind the scenes? There's no need, really no need. I already told you before you went that this deal was difficult, and we don't need this much money... such a large sum."

Pei Shuwen: "Pei Zhenye was also at last night's dinner party."

Zhao Huai'an: "..."

Zhao Huai'an: "!!!"

"Wait a minute, let me see." He quickly opened his phone and searched for the press release about yesterday's grand charity auction dinner.

He actually saw it.

Breaking news in the business world! The president of the Pei Group appeared at a charity auction and spent a fortune to bid on an aquamarine for his future daughter-in-law…

--

Lin Chaoyue slept soundly until noon.

She was woken up by a phone call from Nie Shanshan, so she got up and called a car to go to Anjiang Group.

She was distracted the whole way, staring blankly at the aquamarine bracelet on her wrist every now and then.

The message I sent to Yao Yao early yesterday morning was only replied to this morning. Lin Chaoyue had just fallen asleep then and only saw it now.

Yao Yao: [Yueyue, what's wrong? Are you unhappy? The performances in Central Europe went very smoothly, but Christine is sick, and I've been taking him to the doctor lately [cat sighing.jpg]]

Yao Yao: [If all goes well, I can go back to China next January. I want to choose Yuntai for the last show of the tour. I miss you so much! [sticky.jpg]]

Aside from Weng Yao, probably no one else could be so perceptive as to notice her unhappiness from such a distance.

She typed out several hundred words of her outpouring.

But after thinking about it, I deleted the words in the dialog box one by one.

no.

Her story is too complicated to tell; it's better to keep it from her. If we tell her, Yao Yao will definitely be distracted by it.

Yao Yao has been preparing for this performance for so long, we can't afford to have anything go wrong with her.

Moreover, she herself couldn't explain what happened last night.

Lin Chaoyue: [I'm not upset. You need to take good care of Christine, okay? I'll pick you up when you come back to China. [snip.jpg]]

Lin Chaoyue was forcing a smile.

When she arrived at Anjiang Group, she found that the others weren't much better off; almost everyone in the conference room had a bitter look on their face.

"What happened? Did I get scolded again?"

"No, Pei Lu hasn't come today because of the due diligence interview." Meng Yuzhi cried a lot yesterday, and her eyes are swollen today.

Nie Jingjing snorted coldly: "You still have the nerve to say that? If it weren't for you, we would have already moved on to the next step of our work."

Nie Shanshan slammed her hand on the table: "Nie Jingjing, before Pei Lu left yesterday, he said that we should help each other to complete this task. And this has nothing to do with Meng Yuzhi, right? You all tried it, and that old woman is completely unyielding."

Lin Chaoyue understood: "That landlady Jin Zai is still not cooperating?"

"Yes, she even specifically asked Pei Lu to conduct the due diligence interview. Pei Lu is so busy with important matters, how could he possibly do such a trivial thing?"

"That's not necessarily true. Let Lin Chaoyue call Pei Lu, maybe that will work."

Although the words were still somewhat sarcastic, everyone turned to look at Lin Chaoyue.

When she confidently called Pei Shuwen from the law firm, everyone was there and witnessed it.

"No way." Lin Chaoyue refused decisively.

Are you kidding me?

She's trying to avoid Pei Shuwen now, so why would she rush to offer herself up?

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. It's not that we don't want to help, but ultimately this is a task that falls on Meng Yuzhi's shoulders alone. At worst, she can just keep dragging it out, and we can all just die together."

If a problem can't be solved, make a big fuss about it.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions indeed turned sour, and they looked at Meng Yuzhi with a hint of complaint.

She is also involved in this matter.

Lin Chaoyue sighed, surprisingly not backing down: "Don't make a fuss, I'll give it a try. It's a due diligence interview, right? We'll proceed according to this form?"

Meng Yuzhi hesitated, then Nie Shanshan interjected from the side, "Are you really going? Are you sure you can handle it?"

How will you know if you don't try?

Lin Chaoyue got up to leave, but Meng Yuzhi stopped her this time: "Why don't you take a look at the previous files first? I borrowed the file that I didn't finish reading last time."

"Ah, okay, I'll see after I've looked at it."

From the moment Lin Chaoyue entered, she had a faint sense of death on her face. However, after flipping through the file in her hand from beginning to end, her face showed some other expressions.

Nie Shanshan and she had become quite familiar with each other. She teased, "You have such a pretty face, but your smile is so ugly. If you can't handle it, just give up. You can always call Pei Lu for help."

"It's not that it can't be done."

"What is that?" Nie Shanshan asked curiously.

Lin Chaoyue smiled wryly and said, "I suddenly discovered the charm of work."

She's been overthinking things since last night, and even her dreams last night didn't stop.

I was surprisingly calm for a while while looking at the case files.

This time, Nie Shanshan laughed, but it was a mocking laugh. She patted Lin Chaoyue on the shoulder and said, "It was just an act last night, why did you take it so seriously? Don't get too caught up in the role."

...

"I think your cheapskate father is just addicted to playing the role of a loving father and filial son!"

"What era are we living in? They're still playing the game of 'acting first and asking questions later,' forcing marriages. They've really lost all sense of shame."

"If you ask me, why did you go back if you had nothing to do? You might as well just break off all ties."

"No wonder your maternal grandfather came to ask so early in the morning, it turns out it was because of this."

"Don't just talk, say something too." Zhao Huai'an wasn't satisfied with just talking to himself, and wanted to pull Pei Shuwen along to say something as well.

Pei Shuwen looked at him calmly and said, "You're right, go on."

Zhao Huai'an sometimes really couldn't understand why Pei Shuwen, who was so decisive in other matters, was so calm and composed whenever his family affairs were mentioned.

He was furious: "What else can I say? Isn't it all obvious? That old fox knew in advance that you were going to discuss the project, and while you were there, he pulled this stunt for everyone to see; if that bracelet is actually on some woman's wrist and a reporter takes a picture of it, you'll be speechless."

"Won't."

"Ha! Why not? What if it were given to that...that woman? That would be even more dramatic." Even Zhao Huai'an was reluctant to discuss this with Pei Shuwen.

Who are you talking about?

"Who else could it be but your sister who isn't related to you by blood? I think they've been laying the groundwork and playing this game for so long just to disgust you."

"Won't."

"Of course she is. Although she is currently abroad, she will come back sooner or later. Besides, her household registration is not at your house."

Pei Shuwen: "I gave away the aquamarine bracelet that Pei Zhenye bought last night."

"ha?"

Pei Shuwen lowered his eyes, making it difficult to discern his expression: "He doesn't have a second son. I asked him for one, but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so he gave it to me."

He didn't explain the process of obtaining it.

Overall, it's not very good-looking.

However, he doesn't like to let others take the initiative, so in order to prevent this from happening, he nipps all potential problems in the bud from the very beginning.

"Any other questions? No, I'm leaving now."

"Yes." Afraid that Pei Shuwen would leave, Zhao Huai'an quickly locked the door and leaned against it to block the way.

"Don't go, don't go! Who asked you about this? You've been talking for so long, but you still haven't said who you gave it to."

Pei Shuwen stood up, then sat down again, and slowly brewed tea: "Lin Chaoyue."

"What were you thinking? Giving away something so important so easily."

"I didn't expect it; I got drunk yesterday."

"You're talking nonsense...you're lying. Is there anyone who can hold their liquor better than you? You can get drunk too?"

Pei Shuwen: "People who can't get drunk are against biological and physiological principles. I'm just a normal person with a higher alcohol tolerance."

As he spoke, he blew on the hot tea and took a sip. Compared to boiling fruit in water, this tea tasted a bit astringent.

"Okay, you've convinced me."

Pei Shuwen put down her teacup: "Then can you let me go?"

"No, I have one last question. I'll let you go after I ask it."

Pei Shuwen raised an eyebrow, signaling him to ask.

Zhao Huai'an swallowed hard, meeting Pei Shuwen's abstinent face. The topic was somewhat provocative, but he still asked.

"I heard that girl is having a great time abroad, and... I don't mean anything by it, but... you two live upstairs and downstairs? You two..."

"No, you can shut up now."

"call……"

"That's good, that's good." Zhao Huai'an took a deep breath and muttered softly, "I was just worried that you would really become a live-in son-in-law. Our law firm is counting on you."

Pei Shuwen glanced at him: "You need to learn to work independently."

Zhao Huai'an nodded and said "uh-huh," but pretended not to hear.

Zhao Huai'an: "Did Qin Wen tell you about the interview with Ningcheng Lawyer Magazine?"

"I said the time is set for the beginning of next month. People from the magazine will be visiting next week. You'll need to help Qin Wen with their reception."

Zhao Huai'an liked this job, so he readily agreed, but he was also a little puzzled: "Why are you asking me out so late? Don't you have nothing planned for the end of the month?"

"Yes, everyone has worked hard for the past six months. We've arranged a team-building activity at the end of the month. I've approved a bonus from my personal account as a semi-annual incentive, and Qin Wen has already taken care of it."

"How many were approved?"

Zhao Huai'an can see the online process here.

As he asked the question, he also opened the window and saw: "ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands..."

"Seven figures! That's a huge approval! The boss is generous! The boss is awesome!"

Pei Shuwen: "So, can I leave now?"

"Go, go, I'll see you off."

"But you just signed such a big deal with Lu's Group, aren't you going to celebrate? Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Do you have work to do? How about we go out for a drink tonight after you're done?"

"Go to Anjiang Group. I don't have time tonight."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai'an paused for a moment while pressing the elevator button.

"You have time to go see that old man An, but no time to drink with me? There's only some cleanup work left over there, is there anything else important?" Zhao Huai'an didn't understand.

But Pei Shuwen didn't explain. He went downstairs as soon as the elevator arrived, without giving Zhao Huai'an time to squeeze into the elevator.

That's really strange.

But Zhao Huai'an soon stopped being surprised.

Because he came across a post on his WeChat Moments.

It was posted by Lin Chaoyue.

It's a close-up selfie with the Anjiang collective logo framed inside.

Caption: [I've encountered a new challenge at work. Anyone willing to share their experience? Waiting online, it's urgent.]

Location: Anjiang Group.

That's not surprising.

What's unusual is that there's a striking and rare reply from Pei Shuwen: "Take care of it yourself first, I'll come over later."

What is this? A hero rescuing a damsel in distress? Or workplace drama?

no……

What happened to walking independently?!