Chapter 15
The scattered clues suddenly took shape, piece by piece forming a clear picture. She suddenly remembered that the campus goddess who was once so popular among Tianhai No. 1 Middle School was named Jiang Lin.
Wen Zhenni had an impression of this woman because she often partnered with Ciheng in various knowledge competitions, and her name was always mentioned together with Ciheng.
Logically speaking, she is a top student on par with Ciheng, and both are key students of the school, so it is understandable that they have a close relationship.
But when Wen Zhenni saw that she actually used the photo of the two of them as the lock screen background, she felt an inexplicable sense of weirdness in her heart.
This discomfort really affected her mood and lasted until she went to the president's office to deliver documents.
Ciheng wasn't around, so she pressed the file under her mouse. But when she thought about how this bastard was attracting women everywhere, and how after all these years, he was still on her mind among her high school classmates, she felt very depressed.
"You're a bastard, you don't follow manly ethics."
Wen Zhenni punched the air, but it was not enough to vent her anger. She took out a notepad from her pocket, drew an ugly pig's head on it, and stuffed it into the file.
"Assistant Wen didn't see anyone, so he took his anger out on the desk?"
A cold voice wrapped in cold air sounded at the door, scaring Wen Zhenni into shivering.
"You walk without making any sound?" She patted her frightened heart and turned her head to meet Ciheng's half-smiling eyes.
I don't know when he was leaning against the door, with his suit jacket still on. He must have just come back from meeting a client.
"What's that expression? Did you do something wrong?" He took off his glasses, and his rebellious features lost their sharpness. He really looked a bit like the young man in his prime in the old photo.
"No, I'm working hard. I won't let you catch me in any trouble."
After Wen Zhenni refuted, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.
She was still angry. Why did her mind go completely crazy when she saw this face?
No spine!
"Boss Ci, the data analysis you requested has been delivered. I'm going back to the office to continue working. Bye!"
She was in a hurry to leave, but Ciheng grabbed her collar and held her in place, "What's the hurry?"
The sunlight outside the window was slanted a bit, and the warm color fell on the man's cold white skin, and the blue-gray shadows made his eyes look a little fierce.
"On your first day at work, is this your attitude towards your boss?"
"Yeah." Wen Zhenni looked like a balloon that had been drained of air, her head drooping. "On my first day at work, I witnessed the dangers of society."
Hearing her long sighs, it was obvious that she was in a bad mood.
The president's office is right next to him, so even if he doesn't pay special attention, some news will leak out and reach his ears.
Ci Heng leaned on the table and approached. As he looked at her, his glasses gleamed coldly, "Who was the one who insisted on coming to work, and now you want to back out after just half a day?"
“It’s not because of work.”
With this face right in front of her, Wen Zhenni felt that the aura was particularly overwhelming and she couldn't help swallowing.
"Did a colleague bully you?"
"No."
She took a half step back, looked at the man's teasing eyes, and raised her chest in dissatisfaction. "Except for a few, most of my colleagues are very kind. But you..."
"What's wrong with me?"
Ci Heng looked at her leisurely, "I just met you, how did I offend you?"
"Then let me ask you..."
Wen Zhenni felt awkward for a moment, but still asked, "What's your relationship with Jiang Lin? Your high school sweetheart?"
"Where did you come to that conclusion?" Ci Heng narrowed his eyes, looking as if he'd been struck by lightning. "Art certainly comes from life, but it can't be too detached from reality. Being in the same class with me is like sharing the white moonlight. So, sharing a bed with me is like sharing the moonlight within the moonlight."
“…” Wen Zhenni choked.
She said one word, and he could respond with ten words in response.
Why is this mouth so chatty?
Ciheng chuckled softly, "So you're not here to complain, but to check on me?"
"Yes, I'm here to catch the adulterer."
The sunlight shone on his face, and Wen Zhenni was distracted by his face again.
She swallowed and leaned back against the desk, her wrists being held by large hands.
"Wen Zhenni."
He pronounced her name softly, like rolling honey on his tongue, "You seem to care about my relationship with other women?"
As if he had discovered her unknown secret, the man rubbed the bun on the top of her head with a smug look on his face.
"Don't be unhappy. She and I only have a cooperative relationship, while you and I have a symbiotic relationship."
It has to be said that this man is neither hot nor cold, and always holds the initiative. Wen Zhenni is really coaxed by him.
She raised the corners of her eyes in a cunning arc and let out an "ow".
"What does ow mean, a puppy barking?"
“That’s what I mean by knowing.”
Wen Zhenni felt the base of her ear getting hot where he touched it, and the heat spread to the tip of her ear along with the boiling blood.
It feels very hot and itchy.
The moment their noses touched, the fresh scent of aftershave mixed with his breath and rushed into her nostrils.
Wen Zhenni leaned back as if she had received an electric shock, pressing her palms against her chest under her suit. She quickly broke free from the embrace and adjusted her glasses that were about to fall. "I'm going back to the office."
The reaction is quite fast!
Ci Heng's fingertips still felt the burning warmth of her ear, but his expression remained calm. "From now on, you must hand over the documents to me in person. Remember?"
Wen Zhenni replied loudly: "I remember it."
"There's also a Black Forest cake in the refrigerator, remember to eat it."
"That's for me?!"
This is embarrassing.
Wen Zhenni hesitated, "I thought it was prepared for guests, so I gave it to your old classmate."
What can I say to her? Ci Heng helplessly held his forehead, "Lin Nuo drove to the east of the city to buy it for you this morning."
He doesn't have a mouth, so who can he blame?
Wen Zhenni was even more speechless, "... Mr. Ci, there is a thing called WeChat. Please tell me via WeChat next time."
She muttered "old-fashioned" and wrinkled her nose at him. "I won't tell you anymore."
Seeing the man panicking and almost bumping into the door, Ciheng shook his head and reminded him behind him, "Walk slowly."
The only response he got was a hurried back and the sound of high heels walking away quickly.
Returning to the desk and opening the data report, a sticky note fell to the ground.
When he saw the pig head graffiti drawn in the style of an elementary school student, he was stunned for two seconds, feeling both angry and amused.
When Jiang Lin knocked on the door and came in, she saw Ciheng holding a piece of note paper, and his sharp jawline was softened to be almost gentle.
But it was only for a moment. When he noticed her coming in, Ciheng put the note back into the drawer and put his glasses back on his nose. The invulnerable helmsman returned to his businesslike appearance.
It was as if the tenderness she glimpsed was just her illusion.
**
On her first day at work, Wen Zhenni was ordered around by Li Wei and almost ran herself to pieces.
By the time she got off work, she felt like she had been put in a sack and beaten, and her spine had been pulled out. Her whole body was so sore that she almost fell apart.
Grandma Ci called Ci Yu back to Zhangyuan. Ci Heng had an appointment in the evening, so she asked the driver to take her back.
Wen Zhenni directly refused and called Xi Miao to ask him out for dinner.
From the moment she entered the restaurant, she looked listless.
Xi Miao couldn't help but tease, "Our big star looks like an eggplant hit by frost. What's wrong? Is your life as a social animal not going well?"
"How can it not go smoothly!"
Wen Zhenni ordered a salad and poked the sardines with her silver fork. "This is much easier than filming with wires."
"But Nibao, you look unhappy."
Xi Miao held her chin in her hand and said, "Tell me, what happened?"
Wen Zhenni had no appetite and flipped through her salad boredly. "Do you remember Jiang Lin, the top student goddess from Tianhai No. 1 Middle School?"
"I know."
Xi Miao had a vague impression of her. "The woman who always partners with your husband in competitions."
Wen Zhenni ate her avocado in small bites and nodded, "I met her. She was negotiating cooperation with Taihua on behalf of Fangsheng Group."
"Today, when I was delivering milk to her, I accidentally saw her phone lock screen. It was a photo of her and Tzu-Heng receiving the award for the competition."
"Oh!" Xi Miao wasn't surprised at all. "Even after she tied up with Ci Heng to win an award in high school, I knew she had ulterior motives. Look at her now, we've been married for three years, and she's still harboring evil intentions."
After complaining, she continued, "What did Ciheng say?"
"I've explained. I'm just cooperating with her."
"...I thought I wouldn't care, but when I think about it, I still feel depressed."
It was fine at first, but now when she thought about it, that weird feeling welled up in her stomach.
"I feel like my things are being coveted."
Xi Miao raised his eyebrows, his expression teasing: "Don't tell me that your excellent genes, which you gave full marks to, can't stand the test and your mind has gone astray."
Wen Zhenni glared at her, "Impossible."
Xi Miao stopped teasing her. "What you want is a man who is worthy of you and can give you money to spend. You provide emotional value to him, and we both get what we need. Why worry about it? Just enjoy it with peace of mind."
That makes a lot of sense.
"Now that I think about it, I seem to be the one who makes more money."
Wen Zhenni's mood instantly improved a lot, and she took a big bite of the salad, "Mmm, delicious!"
Xi Miao lifted his chin and looked meaningfully at the woman who had stuffed herself like a squirrel. "Miss Wen, don't you realize that while you always talk about strong alliances, your heart... has long been with him. You actually care about him very, very much."
Wen Zhenni's hand suddenly stopped, and the neon lights flowing outside the glass were reflected in her eyes, like a pool of shattered light, hiding her chaos, but not her pounding heart.
Fortunately, the phone screen lit up in time. She lowered her eyelashes to cover her eyes and reached out to pick up the phone.
Ciheng was asking her if she had returned home.
Wen Zhenni looked at the "typing in progress" above the dialog box and suddenly realized that in the three years of their marriage, she had never asked Ciheng whether the man she assessed as perfect for a business marriage would be attracted to someone else.
"Admit it."
Xi Miao drummed her nails on the table, almost digging a hole in her phone screen. "You two are childhood sweethearts. Even if it's a business marriage, it's based on love."
"If you're really worried, just keep pestering him and tie his heart down."
Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the cruise ship on the river suddenly blew its whistle, and the long whistle woke Wen Zhenni up.
Unable to finish the rest of the salad, she quickly grabbed her bag and waved her phone, "No more chatting, I have to go back."
"Hey, are you getting better too quickly?"
Before Xi Miao could react, Wen Zhenni was already outside the door.
**
At the Jinhuang Evening Banquet, the socializing in the VIP box was drawing to a close.
After the noise in the room receded like the tide, only a table full of leftovers remained.
"Without a word of words, I would like to thank President Ci for his affirmation and willingness to give Fang Sheng a chance." Fang Sheng's general manager smiled throughout the whole process and repeated his words of gratitude again and again.
No one at the table dared to urge Ciheng to drink, but the men's bad taste was still there.
On the surface, they praised Ciheng, but in their words, they acted like senior people. After drinking a lot of wine, their faces turned red and they started to make fun of Jiang Lin again.
Everyone in Fangsheng knew that Jiang Lin’s relationship was indispensable for the successful acquisition of the Genting Resort project.
Considering Tzu-heng's married status, she didn't want to make any jokes too extreme, so she just mentioned their friendship during their school days and thanked him for the favor.
Ciheng stroked the ring on her ring finger and smiled politely and perfunctorily.
"It's Ms. Jiang's outstanding ability. Her negotiation skills and her experimental data are equally outstanding."
He was not interested in the dinner at all, but out of courtesy, he maintained Jiang Lin's dignity and affirmed her work ability.
Jiang Lin was naturally grateful. She looked at Ci Heng who was checking his watch and said, "That's all in the past. We were good partners before, and now we are good partners."
Although he was talking about a cooperative relationship, his eyes remained on Ciheng without blinking.
Everyone's eyes moved between the two of them, as if they had noticed Jiang Lin's thoughts, and there was a hint of ambiguity in their eyes.
However, when they saw Ciheng's cold eyes, they all restrained their desire to pry into her privacy.
Everyone knows that the head of Taihua married young. Although there are many couples in this industry who are not in harmony, being married does not mean anything.
Ciheng didn't care at all about what others knew or thought. After listening to two hours of flattery, she was already tired of it.
He turned his wedding ring impatiently and suddenly stood up. The strong sense of oppression made everyone present hold their breath.
"Everyone, my wife is still waiting at home, so I'll go ahead."
As soon as he moved, the others naturally stood up.
Someone understood his implication and complimented him with a smile, "Mr. Ci is so anxious to return home. It turns out that he is thinking about his wife at home."
Ciheng lowered her head and nodded, "The wife is young and tends to be clingy."
After saying that, he took the coat handed to him by the waiter and ended the social gathering early with a group of senior executives.
The man who couldn't be pried open at the table, confessed his feelings for his wife at the moment of leaving.
The moment the oak door closed, the cold aura on him seemed to still linger in the private room, leaving the senior executives looking at each other in bewilderment.
The car stopped downstairs, Ciheng sat in the back seat and took out his cell phone from the inside pocket of his suit.
There was an unread message on the screen: [Husband, go back to Xiangshan Road tonight.]
Wen Zhenni’s latest reply was posted more than two hours ago.
He stared at it for a long moment, as if he could imagine her expression as she typed the message.
"Ah Heng, can you give me a ride?"
Jiang Lin chased out and followed him to the car, holding his coat.
She bent down and looked at the man in the car. In the night, the drunken blush was obvious, and the black paste on her eyelashes was a little smudged, as if it was wet with tears.
"Sorry, that's inconvenient."
Ciheng flatly rejected her request and told Lu Fangyang, "Arrange another car to take Mr. Jiang back."
Watching him turning the wedding ring, Jiang Lin's smile froze on her face, and the words she had yet to say got stuck in her throat.
Ci Heng rolled up the car window and told Lin Nuo to drive, "Go back to Xiangshan Road."
The black Bentley started its engine and sped away, leaving Jiang Lin with a dejected look on her face.
After the car drove a distance, Lin Nuo, who was in the driver's seat, turned up the air-conditioning temperature and stole a glance at his boss through the rearview mirror.
"Sir, you are still as cold as ever when it comes to rejecting people."
During these three years, he was responsible for taking care of Ciheng's food, clothing, and daily life, and met all kinds of women, including beautiful ladies and elite beauties. Generally speaking, if Jiang Lin had not had the advantage of being a classmate, she would not have been ranked.
"You think I'm mean?"
Ciheng loosened his tie, his expensive Patek Philippe watch gleaming in the dim light. "Talking to people in ambiguous ways is annoying."
Lin Nuo could hear his boss's displeasure. If it weren't for his upbringing, he would have probably turned against him on the spot.
It seems that his wife has a place in his heart. It's just that after knowing each other for many years, it's become natural and he hasn't realized that this business marriage is actually built on love.
As the thick black night permeated Xiangshan Road, the Bentley Mulsanne slowly parked downstairs.
I unlocked my phone with my fingerprint and entered the living room. There was still a burning sensation in my throat, and the discomfort from drinking all came flooding back.
Ciheng irritably pulled off his tie and threw it onto the sofa along with his coat.
Wen Zhenni was already half awake when the doorknob turned. When a corner of the quilt was lifted, she opened her eyes and met Ciheng's drunken eyes.
The bedside lamp cast a layer of warm light on his outline. The man leaned over with his back to the light, his bony hands resting on her pillow.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Half past eleven."
Wen Zhenni touched his face in a daze and found it was a little hot.
Ci Heng clasped her hands, intertwined her fingertips, and pressed them against her face. "I haven't settled the score with you for drawing a pig for me today."
Wen Zhenni muttered, "How's my drawing skill? Is it very vivid?"
Ci Heng suddenly wanted to kiss her, so he bent down and kissed her eyes, "Yes, it's true, like you."
Wen Zhenni retorted, "Like you."
The smell of alcohol filled her nostrils. She struggled to hide, but Ciheng forcefully wrapped her in his arms. His tired voice fell into her ears, "Be good, go to sleep."
Otherwise, don’t sleep. He threatened her while biting her ear.
Wen Zhenni didn't believe it, thinking she was stupid. Who could do that after drinking...
Unable to move, she was too lazy to waste energy and let him use her as a pillow.
The result was that I woke up the next morning feeling sore all over.
Hearing rustling sounds coming from the cloakroom, Wen Zhenni turned over in her quilt and caught a glimpse of Ciheng coming out with her cuffs buttoned.
"Are you planning on skipping work today, or are you backing out?"
Look, he's teasing her so early in the morning.
But the class was already in session, so what else could I do? I had to bite the bullet and continue.
Wen Zhenni scratched her hair, slowly got up, washed and changed her clothes.
There was no aunt at home to prepare breakfast, so Lin Nuo bought breakfast in advance on the way to pick them up.
But she was about to be late for work, so Wen Zhenni had to finish it quickly in the car.
I have to say that Lin Nuo is really competent as a personal secretary. Not only can he take good care of Ciheng's diet, he also knows her preferences very well, and they are all what she wants to eat.
"This almond pastry is delicious." The pastry is so fragrant that it makes you dizzy, and it crumbles when you take a bite.
"You have a hole in your throat?"
Crumbs fell everywhere. Ci Heng pulled out a tissue with disdain, put it under her chin, and helped her catch the pastry with one hand, "Just eat, don't talk."
"Oh." Wen Zhenni responded nicely but continued to talk about her own things.
"I remembered something, Secretary Lin, please help me find an affordable car."
Before Lin Nuo could ask, the sound of shuffling documents in the back seat suddenly stopped. He glanced curiously in the rearview mirror and saw Ci Heng frowning.
"Are you tired of being a young lady? Are you planning to come down to earth and experience the life of a mortal?"
"Not really."
Wen Zhenni swallowed the last bite of almond pastry, the pastry crust touching her lips. "When you go out for social events, I can drive myself home from get off work, saving Secretary Lin the trouble of running back and forth."
Lin Nuo smiled and said, "Don't worry about that, Madam. I can take you home first and then pick you up."
Wen Zhenni: "..." She just wanted a car.
Seeing that Ciheng still didn't express his opinion, she hugged his hands and begged, "Husband, please say something."
"Have you wiped your hands?" Ciheng lowered his eyes and stared at her hand that had just taken the snack.
Wen Zhenni quickly let go.
Ciheng quickly signed his name on the document and said, "Ciyu has ordered a Panamera and will give it to you to drive."
"That car is worth at least one million." Wen Zhenni is very clear about her current position. "My image is just a small clerk with a monthly salary of a few thousand."
Ciheng put the pen on and stuffed it into the folder. "I'll buy you a two-wheeled vehicle and you'll behave yourself."
Wen Zhenni: "... let's go with Panamera."
Ci Heng noticed her expression and crossed his arms. "Let me be clear. You can drive to work by yourself, but if it's too late, you should ask the driver to pick you up. I don't want to see you in the social news."
If you care about her safety, just say it directly. Why add that last sentence?
Wen Zhenni complained inwardly, then uttered three words: "Got it."
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The author has something to say: My mental state is probably more suitable for going crazy, and all kinds of strange settings pop up in my mind every day.
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