Chapter 15: A needle pricking my brain, noodles half-cooked, an egg with its shell on...
The noodles were undercooked, and the egg was still in its shell. Shen Li puffed out her cheeks and silently spat out the second eggshell, looking silently at Jiang Huaichuan across from her, whose ears were already burning red.
Before Shen Li could finish eating, Jiang Huaichuan took the egg noodles away. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Song An returned, carrying a takeout box with the logo of a famous private restaurant a kilometer away.
Shen Li rested her chin on her hand, watching Jiang Huaichuan take the takeout box from Song An and place it on the table. She blinked curiously and asked, "Why did you think of making it yourself?"
“…I’d like to give it a try.” Jiang Huaichuan’s eyes flickered for a moment before he handed the chopsticks to Shen Li.
Shen Li could accurately capture all of Jiang Huaichuan's micro-expressions. Seeing Jiang Huaichuan's evasive expression and his attempt to avoid the topic, Shen Li paused for a moment and did not continue to ask.
After dinner, Jiang Huaichuan went to the company. During the days he was taken away for investigation, it was the National Day holiday, and most employees were on vacation. Although everything was running smoothly inside the company, the moment the news broke, messages kept pouring into the company's private group chat.
Zhang Man is shrewd and cunning; he will never let go of any loophole he can exploit. These past few days, his undercover agents, planted deep within the company, have become bolder in their actions while Jiang Huaichuan is away.
Some people send unclear messages in the group to incite emotions, while others pretend to break down at work to attract the attention of their colleagues, then pour out their grievances and say some ambiguous things.
The company's information security department had already been monitoring some employees online based on the suspected list, and had saved posts that were obviously spreading rumors and sent them to the legal department for processing.
After the holiday, the group's human resources department took drastic measures, laying off no fewer than ten people, almost completely eradicating the cancer that Zhang Man had been hiding in the shadows.
Zhang Man is a man who loves money and power. When Jiang's father was alive, he warned Zhang Man several times. Later, after Jiang's father died unexpectedly, Zhang Man took over the power in the board of directors.
Over the past five years, Jiang Huaichuan has relentlessly pressed Zhang Man, cutting off many of his escape routes, but he still hasn't extinguished Zhang Man's desire to take his place.
This time, Zhang Man's behind-the-scenes control of Yuanman Construction's participation in the Harbor New Bay project is not only for the huge profits he can gain, but also because Harbor New Bay will become an important bargaining chip for him to contend with Jiang Huaichuan in the future.
However, since the construction of the Perfect Construction project was now destined to be useless, Zhang Man set his sights on Tianyuan Construction.
——
"grass!"
In a villa on the outskirts of City A, Li Fu smashed the teacup in his hand to pieces.
The shards struck the tiles with a crisp sound, startling the girl sitting on the sofa. The puppy in her arms barked loudly. The girl quickly recovered and asked the maid to take the puppy to the yard to play.
"What's wrong? Calm down." The girl stood up, swaying her slender waist as she walked to Li Fu's side, her soft, boneless fingers touching his rapidly heaving chest.
The girl, Qiu Wanbai, is the sister of the driver who took the opportunity to put the divorce agreement under Shen Li's nose last time. She is also Li Fu's mistress.
Qiu Wanbai is thirty-two years old this year. She has a plump figure and is as well-maintained as a twenty-year-old girl.
Despite being called a mistress, Li Fu spoiled her rotten, even openly taking her along to important occasions. In contrast, Mrs. Li seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth in recent years.
Li Fu squeezed his fist hard, and his anger subsided a bit.
Li Fu spat: "Damn it! That old scoundrel Zhang Man actually wants to drag Tianyuan into this mess."
Li Fu used his savings to purchase shares in Tianyuan Construction and entered the board of directors through legitimate means. It can be said that if Tianyuan Construction performs well, he will receive more money; conversely, if Tianyuan Construction runs into problems, all the money he has invested over the years will be wasted.
At this critical juncture, Li Fu was certainly not willing to let Tianyuan Construction get involved in this mess.
"The Perfect Construction project is really ruined?" Qiu Wanbai stared wide-eyed.
Li Fu sighed: "It's ruined. It's still a question whether the guy in the bureau will even be able to get out."
"This..." Qiu Wanbai realized after a moment's thought that they were planning to kill each other to cover their tracks. She quickly tugged at Li Fu's sleeve, "Be smart. It's okay to do small things, but we can't do something as illegal as murder. After Yang Qing dies, I still want to go abroad with you to get married and settle down."
Yang Qing, Li Fu's first wife.
"I know." Li Fu patted Qiu Wanbai's hand reassuringly, his eyes dark and deep.
Qiu Wanbai: "So what do you plan to do now?"
Since Zhang Man has spoken, they definitely have to do it; they can't go against Zhang Man right now.
Li Fu pondered for a moment, then uttered two words: "Drag it out."
"Drag it out?"
“Jiang Huaichuan and Zhang Man are locked in a fierce battle right now. Judging from Jiang Huaichuan’s attitude, he won’t give up until he gets a piece of the pie from that old fox Zhang Man. Let’s just wait and see. As for Zhang Man, I’ll agree to let him know that it will take time to work things out. No matter what, this matter won’t be resolved in less than ten days or half a month. Even if the cooperation agreement with Yuanman Construction is terminated, the Jiang Group won’t sign another cooperation agreement at this sensitive time.”
Qiu Wanbai felt uneasy, but had no other choice: "Okay."
As time went by, the online discussion gradually faded away.
Two weeks later.
Jiang Huaichuan was making breakfast for Shen Lijian when he received the news. Although his debut was a failure, who was Jiang Huaichuan? Was he someone who gave up so easily?
"You're up?" Noticing the movement behind him, Jiang Huaichuan turned slightly to the side, holding a frying pan.
"Hmm... what's for breakfast this morning?" Shen Li's nostrils twitched, her steps faltered slightly, and she asked hesitantly, silently praying that it wouldn't be fried eggs.
Shen Li felt like she was about to throw up.
Jiang Huaichuan's concealed expression that day almost made Shen Li's heart, which had just warmed up, plummet back to the bottom. Shen Li even wondered if it was all just a dream.
In his dream, Jiang Huaichuan said he liked him. In reality, he and Jiang Huaichuan had already divorced. Jiang Huaichuan signed the divorce agreement decisively, and there was no further news between them.
Before Shen Li could even process what was going on, the next morning, she received a lovingly prepared egg breakfast from Jiang Huaichuan.
Early in the morning, Jiang Huaichuan didn't even bother to sleep. He jumped out of bed, calmed the half-asleep Shen Li, and headed straight for the kitchen.
Although the final result was not satisfactory, Shen Li still ate it in order not to discourage her.
From then on, things spiraled out of control.
"Fried egg." Jiang Huaichuan was very excited. "This one is perfect today. Go wash your hands."
Shen Li slowly turned her pupils, letting out a deep sigh: Heavens...
Jiang Huaichuan turned off the stove, put the fried eggs on a plate, and poured two glasses of milk.
"Ah..." Shen Li moved her feet to the table and craned her neck to look.
"How is it?" Jiang Huaichuan looked at Shen Li expectantly.
Shen Li nodded: "Great!"
At least you can make out the shape now; that's progress, and you deserve praise.
Today is Saturday, and Jiang Huaichuan doesn't plan to go to the company. He originally planned to wait until after dinner, then coax Shen Li into taking a nice nap. But before he could do anything, Song An called.
Song An: "Boss, something's happened."
Because Li Fu had not taken any further action, Zhang Man took advantage of Li Fu's inattention and kidnapped Li Fu's mistress and her brother, using this to threaten Li Fu into taking action as soon as possible.
Upon hearing this news, Jiang Huaichuan was bewildered. He wondered, "Did Zhang Man get his brain injection this year?"
Fighting outside while ambushing reinforcements from within?
Song An's face twisted slightly, unable to refute.
Li Fu is over fifty years old this year. He has had at least eighty or a hundred mistresses in his life, but Qiu Wanbai is the one who suits his taste the most. Rather than calling her a mistress, it would be more accurate to say that Qiu Wanbai is his second spring.
Li Fu couldn't bear to leave Qiu Wanbai, and Qiu Wanbai felt sorry for her younger brother. Seeing her brother beaten and covered in blood, she cried her eyes out in the video.
Seeing this, Li Fu couldn't bring himself to be ruthless and had no choice but to speed up the process.
The biggest surprise came here. Before Li Fu could get any results, the police were interrogating Xu Wangfei, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He almost confessed about Zhang Man several times.
Zhang Man originally thought that Xu Wangfei was just a young punk who posed no threat to him, but he didn't expect that Xu Wangfei was no pushover either, and had secretly left some evidence.
Zhang Man sensed something was wrong and feared that things might get complicated if things dragged on. Just then, Qiu Wanbai's younger brother was under his control, so Zhang Man used Qiu Wanbai as leverage, demanding that Wang Shun drive a car to run over and kill Xu Wangfei's parents.
Wang Shun's driving skills were undoubtedly excellent, but Zhang Man was treacherous and cunning, and tampered with the car. Wang Shun sped along the road at over 150 km/h, directly hitting Xu Wangfei's parents who were walking on the sidewalk, sending them flying dozens of meters. Then the car went out of control and crashed into a stone pillar under the overpass, catching fire and burning them alive.
Qiu Wanbai couldn't bear this shock. She lost her parents at a young age. Because she had good grades since childhood, Wang Shun, who was a year younger than her, dropped out of junior high school and went out to work. He supported Qiu Wanbai to attend the best university in the province by eating steamed buns and instant noodles.
Qiu Wanbai often said, "When we go abroad together, you can be my driver and I'll take you to see the world."
When Qiu Wanbai learned that her younger brother had been burned alive, she was stunned for a long time, her eyes fixed on the video playing on a loop on her phone.
"Ahhhhhh!" Finally, Qiu Wanbai broke down in tears. Her eyes widened, bloodshot, and she stretched her whole body forward with all her might, leaving bloody marks on her wrists handcuffed to the headboard.
Qiu Wanbai screamed wildly until her voice was hoarse, then she grabbed whatever was at hand and smashed it on the floor.
Zhang Man found it annoying and asked the doctor to give her a sedative. Unexpectedly, when the bodyguard came to deliver food the next day, he found that Qiu Wanbai had bitten through her tendons and died in her room.
Zhang Man originally kept this from Li Fu, but after Li Fu failed to video chat with Qiu Wanbai for three consecutive days, he realized something was wrong. He asked someone to investigate privately and learned that Wang Shun had died. Li Fu's heart sank.
It wasn't until he discovered that four days earlier, at 2 a.m., a woman's body had been carried out of Zhang Man's villa that Li Fu felt dizzy, his eyes turned bloodshot, and endless hatred surged forth.
That evening, Li Fu sat by the window for a long time, staring blankly at the roses outside. In a daze, he seemed to see Qiu Wanbai again, wearing a white dress and with a bright smile, dancing among the flowers.
On the morning of the following day, Li Fu shredded all the documents for the long-prepared Haigang Xinwan project, and without having anyone drive him, he went to the bureau to meet Xu Wangfei in person.
Separated by the hard tempered glass of the police station, watching the twenty-something-year-old boy display the same expression as Li Fu yesterday, Li Fu calmly got up and left.
After listening to Song An's report, Jiang Huaichuan and Shen Li both fell silent.
After a long pause, Jiang Huaichuan's lips moved, and he managed to utter, "Which pharmaceutical company has Zhang Man been taking health supplements from these past few years? Blacklist him."
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