Chapter Seventy-Three: Alluring Charm
That evening, Chu Zhen called me to his study.
"The existing data and my follow-up plan are all in this folder. If you have any questions or need to add anything, please list them down. I have to go out for a while."
"Okay, be careful." I used to have no worries about Chu Zhen going out at night, but ever since I was stabbed, I've felt uneasy. I don't dare turn off my phone, but I don't want it to ring at night either.
"Drink your milk and go to bed early." Chu Zhen kissed my forehead and then left.
It's been more than two months since my accident. For the first month or so, Chu Zhen was almost always in the hospital. After that, he was busy with the program crew. I really don't know when he compiled the food safety documents, from the stalls where the food was sold to the manufacturers at the source. How did he manage to do that during this time?
Based on the information compiled by Chu Zhen, I searched for some related content. Food safety, like gutter oil, requires undercover investigation. This time, I must not act impulsively like I did back then.
"Ding~" My phone rang, and I was startled. I picked it up and saw that it was Huang Yanyan.
"Lin Dang, where are you?"
"I'm home. What's wrong?"
"I saw Chu Zhen, and the woman next to her should be Amy. She's got a great figure and is very attractive." I could sense the indignation in Huang Yanyan's voice.
"Charming and alluring? That must be Amy." Huang Yanyan had never met Amy, but I had described her to her. If I hadn't been hospitalized, she would have wanted to meet this woman sitting in the passenger seat of Chu Zhen a long time ago.
"Lin Dang, why are you still so calm? Did you know that Chu Zhen met with Amy?"
“Amy is his sister, it’s normal for them to meet.” I was still unsettled, but I tried my best to keep my tone calm.
"What kind of sister are you? I think you haven't recovered your brain yet. What are you talking about as relatives if there's no blood relation? Lin Dang, I don't think Amy is a good person. You should think it over yourself."
"Okay, I know you care about me, but I trust Chu Zhen. I'll hang up now, I'm packing my things." I hung up Yan Yan's phone. I was afraid I would have my own doubts, afraid I would keep asking where they were and what they were doing.
I lost interest in researching anymore. I checked the time; it was already 1 a.m. Chu Zhen usually returned after dawn. I picked up the milk from the table, but it was already cold when I took a sip. A house that's too big can make you feel lonely. I poured myself a cup of hot water and sat on the rocking chair on the balcony. The streets were brightly lit, and occasionally a car would speed by, bringing life to the night.
“Lin Dang, I’m Chu Zhen’s sister, and also his first love. Do you think someone as sentimental as him would forget me? The photos in the study are proof.” Amy said to me with a sneer. “Everyone knows that no one else can sit in Chu Zhen’s passenger seat, so why was I still able to sit there after you two started dating? Have you thought about that?” Amy’s laughter grew louder, like a sharp sword piercing my heart, pulled out, bleeding, and then plunged back in, over and over again. Looking at the blood all over the floor, I was numb.
"Lin Dang, Lin Dang, wake up~" I heard someone calling me. It was like I had just grabbed a vine when I fell off the cliff. I held on to the vine with all my might and refused to let go.
"Lin Dang, wake up, were you having a nightmare?" The voice was so real that I slowly opened my eyes, and Chu Zhen's anxious face appeared in front of me.
It was all a dream, a dream that felt so real.
"Why did you fall asleep on the balcony?" Chu Zhen picked me up and carried me into the room.
I wrapped my arms around Chu Zhen's neck and gazed at his increasingly angular face. When did I become so insecure, even afraid in my dreams?
"What kind of dream did you have? You're covered in sweat."
"Nightmare, what time is it? Why are you back?" I glanced outside and saw that it was still dark.
"It's past three o'clock, go back to sleep!" Chu Zhen covered me with the blanket, turned around and took a bathrobe into the bathroom. He always had the habit of taking a shower before going to bed, but today I felt that he might be trying to destroy evidence, or maybe he would have a different perfume scent on him.
Listening to the sound of water, I couldn't sleep. Ever since Amy appeared, she seemed to have become a rift between me and Chu Zhen. Chu Zhen's attitude towards her was extremely cold in front of me, but what was the situation like when I wasn't around? She could sit in the passenger seat, the two of them could eat Western food alone, and even tonight they met. Chu Zhen didn't tell me any of this.
"What's wrong with you today? Why aren't you asleep?" Chu Zhen came out of the bathroom, drying her hair.
"I can't sleep."
"Was it because you had a nightmare?" Chu Zhen put down the towel, lay down next to me, and pulled me into his arms. "Are you feeling better now? Go to sleep! You have to go to work tomorrow."
"Chu Zhen, have you ever been in a relationship?"
"We've dated." Chu Zhen playfully pinched my nose. "Aren't we dating now? Why are you suddenly asking this?"
"Do I mean, I was your first love?"
"Lin Dang~" Chu Zhen let go of me and looked me straight in the eye. "You are my first love, you are my fiancée, you will be my wife in the near future, and you will be the only one who will be with me until the end."
What's wrong with me? Do I distrust Chu Zhen? Or am I insecure about myself? I actually asked such a childish question, but I'm quite satisfied with the answer. I crawled into bed, still holding Chu Zhen's hand, as if holding his hand would make me feel secure.
I didn't mention the meeting between Chu Zhen and Amy, and I also avoided running into Amy at the newspaper office. Fortunately, I've been busy with follow-up reports lately and haven't been at the newspaper office much.
Chu Zhen's information included the name and address of the processing plant, but when we went to that site together, all the production equipment was up to standard and met national system certification requirements. There were no loopholes. So where did these fake eggs and water-injected meat come from?
Have we alerted them?
"The only person who knows about your undercover investigation is the director, right? I'm the only one following up on this, so by all accounts, no one else should know. Are there other media outlets tracking it?"
"It can't be that bad. Apart from our print media and your television media, most online media and self-media wouldn't be interested in this kind of reporting. They're only interested in entertainment news."
We analyzed the reasons, but there seemed to be no clues at all, and our undercover investigation reached a stalemate.
“I’ll stop following up for now. You can continue going to work as before and do your previous news. I’ll stop here too.” Chu Zhen made the decision, and I support his decisions. After all, he’s an excellent journalist in the United States.
We stopped our undercover market investigations, but we didn't stop researching the data.
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