Chapter 43 Crisis of Trust
Zhou Yanci said awkwardly, "This happened a long time ago. You arranged for Shen Mian to interview Ji Yu in her video, and that's why I brought them together. There's nothing between Shen Mian and me."
"So it seems this anonymous email address belongs to Ji Yu. Why would she send me this? She's the one who wronged me, why is she trying to ruin our relationship?"
Shang Wu probed subtly.
Zhou Yanci's face darkened, and she was getting restless. She forced a smile and said, "She's always been such a vicious person. She doesn't want others to have an easy time either, and she has no remorse. You wait, I'll teach her a lesson for you."
He left in a hurry after exchanging only a few words with Shang Wu, and had already made a phone call before even stepping out the door.
Even from a distance, Shang Wu could still hear Zhou Yanci's gritted teeth.
"Where is Ji Yuguan?!"
Shang Wu's gaze grew cold.
It seems that Ji Yu is bound to suffer some more.
She smiled and glanced down at the contract on the sofa.
I almost forgot about this.
Shang Wu hurriedly took the contract and headed to Dingfeng.
When she reappeared here, compared to the gossip last time, everyone's faces held a more enigmatic smile.
No one knew who Shang Wu was, but they all knew that she was the reason why Lu Rang, like an iron tree, finally blossomed and ended his eternal single life.
Everyone smiled and watched Shang Wu go upstairs.
Before Shang Wu even entered the elevator, they were staring at her so intently that she felt uncomfortable all over, as if something was wrong with her.
She knocked on the office door and went in.
Lu Rang stood by the window, watering his succulent.
Shang Wu coughed lightly and said, "Attorney Lu, I've come to deliver the contract to you."
Lu Rang lowered his eyes to tend to the succulents, and only turned around after watering them.
His gaze swept over Shang Wu's smooth forehead, her full red lips that made it hard to look away, and her slender waist, his eyes darkening slightly.
"Just leave the contract there. Let me know if there's anything work-related."
"Alright then, goodbye." Shang Wu had nothing more to say and turned to leave.
She hadn't taken two steps when she heard an inhuman voice behind her.
“I need to remind you that our relationship is more than just a partnership. The issues and cases we are involved in are complex, and it requires a lot of mutual trust. I don’t want to see this kind of double-dealing again, as it will make me lose trust in you.”
Shang Wu was stunned. She turned around, completely bewildered: "I don't think I've done anything that would cause us to lose trust, have I? We've worked together, and I haven't treated you unfairly or caused you any trouble."
"Isn't today a crisis of trust?" Lu Rang frowned deeply.
Sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting shadows on his sharply defined face.
In his deep eyes, there was a mixture of light and shadow emotions.
Shang Wu looked at Lu Rang and asked softly, "Trust crisis? What do you mean?"
Lu Rang took a few steps closer to her, his tone full of suppressed displeasure.
"Your relationship with Zhou Yanci seems very good. Shouldn't you give me an explanation? What I did for you was to deal with him, but you turned around and were all lovey-dovey with him. How can I trust you and feel at ease doing things for you?"
As Shang Wu gazed at his increasingly cold and stern face, she felt inexplicably stifled.
Despite being forced to come into contact with Zhou Yanci every time, she felt extremely resistant and repulsed, but she had no choice but to temporarily lie low and endure because of her revenge plan.
She thought that Lu Rang was well aware of her unavoidable concessions.
Shang Wu gripped the strap of her bag tightly and said coldly, "Attorney Lu, where did you get the idea that Zhou Yanci and I were being affectionate? Didn't you see that it was he who unilaterally laid hands on me?"
She looked up: "In your eyes, am I the kind of person who wouldn't care even if my own brother was framed and imprisoned, just because I'm love-struck?"
Lu Rang paused.
A sense of grievance welled up in Shang Wu's heart, but she couldn't explain the source of this inexplicable emotion.
She took a deep breath: "You're right, we need to trust each other, so I only wanted you to be the branch's legal counsel. But it seems that Attorney Lu doesn't completely trust me."
Shang Wu twitched the corner of her lips, walked over, and picked up the contract.
“I think we should reconsider the collaboration. I don’t need a legal advisor who questions me.”
After saying that, she clutched the file folder and left without looking back.
It started raining outside sometime ago.
Winter rain is always particularly cold, and a chill seeps into Shangwu's overcoat.
She left in a hurry, without an umbrella, and dressed lightly.
Shang Wu wrapped her coat tighter, looked at the rain that was falling rapidly, and stepped into the rain, but was suddenly pulled back by someone.
A shadow fell over his head.
Shang Wu looked up and saw a black umbrella with a bright silver handle, and then Lu Rang's slender hand.
The scent of ink was subtly present in the surroundings.
She turned around in surprise.
Lu Rang gripped her wrist, his voice suddenly dropping to a low hue: "Just because I said a few words to you, you're not going to cooperate?"
An umbrella and a rain shower cast shadows over the two of them.
The rain was falling heavily all around, some of it hitting Shang Wu's shoulders.
Lu Rang glanced at her, then wrapped his arm around Shang Wu and pulled her into his embrace, leaning in to warn her: "The papers are already signed, there's no going back. Shang Wu, I can only be your legal counsel."
Shang Wu slowly raised her eyes, meeting his gaze that was so close to hers.
She pressed against Lu Rang's chest, feeling the slightly prickly fabric of his wool coat.
"You, how could you be like this? You made me angry and then came out to threaten me!"
Lu Rang stared intently at her: "Give me the contract."
Shang Wu's eyes flickered slightly: "Didn't you say you had a crisis of trust in me?"
Lu Rang looked at her.
Under his calm gaze, Shang Wu obediently handed over the file bag.
She couldn't figure out Lu Rang's temper.
Sometimes gentle and considerate, sometimes aloof and cold.
When asking for help, they are easy to talk to, but when they get angry, they become inexplicably angry, speaking in a domineering and forceful manner, leaving people at a loss for what to do.
But she needs him.
Lu Rang took the contract and casually handed the umbrella to Shang Wu.
"Let's go back."
He stepped out from under the umbrella, letting the raindrops soak him.
Shang Wu held up her umbrella, staring blankly at his departing figure.
The faint scent of ink seemed to still linger; when I returned, it lingered faintly in my nostrils.
As soon as she got home, she received a text message from the detective.
These are several photos of Zhou Yanci entering and leaving a villa.
There was also Ji Yu, tied up on the second floor, her face bruised and swollen.
Shang Wu was instantly pulled away from the scent of ink, and frowned slightly as she looked at the photo.
She had never seen this villa before; it must be one of Zhou Yanci's properties somewhere in Lincheng.
Shang Wu called the detective.
Where is the villa?
"Wanhu".
"Wanhu?"
Shang Wu thought he had misheard.
The detective said with certainty, "Yes, this is the outermost villa area of Wanhu, which also belongs to the Yu family. However, the Yu family does not live here; it is usually rented out."
Shang Wu narrowed her eyes.
This week's words are indeed quite cautious.
The locations of his properties have been thoroughly investigated by gossipy financial reporters.
He knew this himself, so he didn't dare to keep Ji Yu locked up in these houses and found a villa near Wanhu Lake that could be rented out.
No one would have guessed that Ji Yu, who appeared to be in prison, had actually escaped and was suffering on the Yu family's territory.
Shang Wu pondered for a moment: "Could I go to this villa area?"
“No, unless you rent a villa here, or you have permission from the Yu family, you can’t even get close to the area within ten miles of Wanhu Lake,” the detective said.
Shang Wu frowned, stood up and looked out the window, her fingertips tapping the table absently.
She had no way of obtaining a pass from the Yu family.
My father once said that the Yu family was elusive and not someone that pure businessmen like them could get close to.
Zhou Yanci must have had connections to rent a house from the Yu family, otherwise even if he had the money, he wouldn't be able to rent one.
Shang Wu then thought of Tang Xueli.
If Shirley Tong still had to try her luck with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tea at charity events, then she had even less of a choice.
After waiting for a while without hearing her speak, the detective pondered and said, "Miss Shang, do you want to move Ji Yu out?"
"Well, not now, but since you said she's in Wanhu, I need to make plans soon. Do you have any way to contact the Yu family?"
Shang Wu rubbed her temples, already pondering how to give gifts to please the Yu family.
The detective hesitated: "It seems there's no way, but the Yu family members often appear at certain corporate events. I can keep an eye out for them for you."
"Okay, thank you."
Shang Wu hung up the phone and sat down, deep in thought, pressing her hand on the corner of the table.
Zhou Yanci misunderstands that Ji Yu is still causing trouble and will definitely not let her off easily.
But she only wanted to make Ji Yu suffer endless torment, wishing she were dead; she didn't actually intend to kill her.
After all, this person was one of her most powerful weapons against Zhou Yanci.
It seems we still need to get closer to the Yu family.
Shang Wu was deep in thought when he suddenly received a text message.
Come to the company to find me.
She picked up her phone, looked at the text message Zhou Yanci had sent, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Zhou Yanci always calls her when she needs to be informed, and she habitually uses punctuation marks when sending messages.
This person is definitely not Zhou Yanci herself.
Is it a deep sleep?
Shang Wu's eyes turned cold, and she immediately headed to the company.
I just want to lure her into watching a good show; she can go if she wants.
Upon arriving at the company, Shang Wu went straight to the top-floor office.
Before she even went inside, she heard a soft, coquettish voice from Chenmian.
"Ugh~ Don't touch there."
Shang Wu didn't even knock; he just pushed the door open.
The moment she entered, Chenmian staggered and sat down on the ground, falling hard.
Zhou Yanci immediately bent down to pull her up, her tone distant: "Are you alright, Miss Chen?"
Chenmian's eyes were red from the pain, and she stared at him silently through her teary eyes.
Shang Wu found it amusing.
To avoid being discovered, Zhou Yanci was truly adept at pretending and truly ruthless.
"How could you fall so hard? This floor is cleaned every day, it shouldn't be this slippery, right?"
Shang Wu went over and helped Chen Mian up.
She immediately noticed the dazzling necklace around Chenmian's neck.
It's a limited edition featuring the Earth Queen.
Shang Wu narrowed her eyes, feigning surprise: "The Earth Queen Necklace? Yan Ci, look quickly, the necklace you didn't get was taken by Miss Chen."
Upon hearing this, both of them were stunned.
Zhou Yanci was rather uncomfortable: "Really? What a coincidence."
"But I'm curious, Ms. Shen, do you make that much money doing social media? You buy necklaces worth tens of millions of yuan just like that, you're even more generous than me. It seems you've already achieved financial freedom?"
Shang Wu gave a half-smile.
Chenmian glanced quickly at Zhou Yanci, her eyes filled with a reckless courage.
"No, I wouldn't say I'm financially independent, but my boyfriend is already worth over 10 billion. Buying me a necklace is just a matter of snapping his fingers."
Her gaze was intense, filled with love as she looked at Zhou Yanci.
Zhou Yanci ignored her and stared intently at Shang Wu as she listened to these words, feeling a little guilty, afraid that Shang Wu would notice something was wrong.
Shang Wu raised an eyebrow, as if she knew nothing, and went behind Zhou Yanci to massage his shoulders.
"It's not surprising that someone is worth billions, Miss Shen. Your boyfriend may be very rich, but you can't find another one as handsome and rich as Yan Ci."
She massaged Zhou Yanci's shoulders again, then leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Yanci, I don't want to be outdone. I also want a necklace worth tens of millions!"
Startled, Shenmian suddenly saw Shangwu's coquettish manner and couldn't help but wonder who the former strong woman in the jewelry department was.
However, Zhou Yanci was very pleased and pleased by Shang Wu's flattery, so she gave him a bank card.
He smiled and said, "You can spend my card however you want. Buy whatever you want. I earn money so you can spend it."
Upon hearing this, Chenmian panicked and blurted out, "Aci, don't give it to me!"
Zhou Yanci's expression changed slightly.
"Ah Ci, if you give it to me, I'll never talk to you again!"
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