50 Settlement
Yang Zhi sat at his desk for a long time, staring blankly at the money tree that separated him from Yang Xiao's workstation. When he saw the sign that said "Money Tree" hanging on the plant, he was already unable to walk.
After buying it, he walked all the way with it. All the way, Yang Xiao smiled at him and said that she would make him a fortune every day. She looked so bright and lively. She was completely different from the pale and weak her just now.
He was the culprit behind all this, and he couldn't explain his motives. When he was very young, his father treated his mother in the same way, yelling at her, beating her, and humiliating her.
Finally, when he saw that she was dying, he went forward and held her in his arms to comfort her, kissed her trembling lips and said over and over again, I'm sorry, I love you too much.
Yang Zhi was initially afraid, worried that his father would beat him after beating his mother. But he never did. He was polite and courteous in front of Yang Zhi, and his words were always full of praise for his mother. He said she was capable, an independent woman, that he was unworthy of her, and that he was afraid his mother would one day abandon him.
This formed Yang Zhi's initial understanding of love: people in love are contradictory, loving and hurting each other at the same time. Therefore, he longed for someone to appear and make him become a paradox itself.
The first one he met was a woman selling drinks at a karaoke bar. He felt she was heartless, saying one thing to one person and another to another. He looked down on her, yet he longed to meet her. She was more open than any other woman he had met, which made him feel very attractive.
He met his second girlfriend, a graduate student at a university. He liked her playful flirtation with him, always saying things in a sarcastic way, but deep down, she must have been incredibly happy. During that time, he went to the university every few days, and he felt like he was young again.
Until one day, she got double eyelid surgery, and Yang Zhi felt a change in her. She began to pursue perfection, vanity, and something unnatural and impure. He disliked it, but he had to admit that she had become more beautiful, which often made him feel precarious, as if the reins had slipped from his grasp.
Then there was Yang Xiao. He also didn't understand why she, with her plain yet sweet appearance and seemingly gentle but actually thorny personality, could attract him so much, even arouse his violent nature and make him do such a thing.
Look at that. Even at this point, Yang Zhi, who couldn't seem to get away from it, was still finding fault with the other party. From the first and second time, to when he hurt Yang Xiao, he always felt that it was their fault, that they weren't perfect enough.
The next morning, Yang Xiao saw a reply from her senior, saying that he would recommend a lawyer in Beijing to her, but he was busy at the moment.
Yang Xiao quickly agreed and sent a few more messages of thanks, feeling relieved. She'd coordinate with the lawyers to get Yang Zhi fired. Once the POC passed, she'd find a new data source and hire a few more people in the technical department. The company should be more stable.
However, lying at home after the injury, she couldn't calm down. Her old illness had started in the same way. She couldn't calm down, was filled with fear, had no control over anything, and felt like she couldn't make any good decisions.
So, while still at the institute, she took advantage of the off-season in the first half of the year to learn how to drive. This was like the first step towards regaining control of her life. She still remembered what Zhou Qi said about driving, the feeling of control, the feeling of having the road right under your feet.
She never considered herself talented at anything, but she did feel pretty good at learning to drive. Within a few months, she passed both the second and third driving tests with perfect scores, earning a C1.
When she drives for her boss, she'll be praised for her steady driving. But before that, she usually has to add, "My driving skills are pretty good," to win his favor, and then hand him the car keys.
She didn't think parking her boss's car was a rare task; it was just that she didn't have a car of her own, so she couldn't constantly practice this skill. And because it was her boss's car, she was afraid she might crash it if she stepped on the accelerator, so she always drove with extreme caution.
But even so, there would be situations where she would slow down to give way, but the male driver did not choose the right opportunity to overtake and ended up lowering the window and scolding her.
To put it bluntly, women are not suitable for driving.
It’s very clear, woman.
She didn't understand why she wasn't suitable. She could pass the second and third test with perfect scores, she could drive for years without any accidents, and she could drive long distances safely on the highway alone.
Driving itself is a test of learning skills, which eventually become muscle memory and require no additional technical skills. Why female drivers have become synonymous with timidity, poor driving skills, and slow driving is truly bizarre and incomprehensible.
She shook her head, trying to put the annoyance behind her.
It was another day shift, and Zhou Qi left the building. It was already dark outside. As soon as he pulled out of the basement, he received a call from Fang Qiu, saying that a fight had broken out.
"You kid, have you been waiting for them to make a big move?" Fang Qiu said excitedly, as if he had discovered something incredible. "Such a fertile piece of land, and the Miao family actually gave it to us without hesitation."
"Last time, Miao Hospital said they were going to build a new campus to divert the patients from the third hospital."
"You believe his nonsense. It's probably the same old operation. They first arrange some people to go through the normal bidding process, and then when problems arise, they give some benefits and replace the people with their own people." Fang Qiu felt that there was a golden light of wisdom above his head. While lamenting the darkness of the world, he also felt like a detective.
"Yes. All their plans are based on this land. If they lose that land, things will be in trouble."
Fang Qiu boldly speculated, "So, this time, the white gloves must be someone close to us?"
"Yes, they might even send their own family members."
"You mean Ji Heng?"
"He is the most likely candidate, after all, he is tied to the Ji and Miao families."
"Then what should we do next? Ji Heng must be more cunning. It will be even more difficult to get direct evidence, little Zhou Qi." Fang Qiu sighed. Junior brother has been searching for so many things over the years, but there are only some supporting evidence, either this white glove or that white glove.
Piece by piece, as long as we get clear evidence this time, the chain of evidence will be complete enough.
He had also heard about Zhou Dashe's case. It felt reasonable, yet somehow strange. Even though every procedure had been in compliance with standards and documented, how could the patient, lying in bed peacefully, receive so many VIP treatments, and have so many experts come through, still not be saved?
"We've come this far." Zhou Qi put a little more pressure on the steering wheel. "After that, we'll go to Beijing."
Fang Qiu couldn't help but tease, "Oh, you don't have any intention of remembering me at all? You ungrateful bastard. I, your senior brother, have helped you so much. Okay, remember to invite me to your wedding, and I'll pack you a big gift."
"Senior brother." Zhou Qi called him helplessly, "Thank you."
"You thought your senior brother, with my sharp eyes, couldn't see it. I still remember it several years ago, yeah, when Yang Xiao took the college entrance examination, you saw a little boy giving Yang Xiao flowers, and your face was so ugly. I was afraid you would rush over and beat him up."
"And, when little Yang Xiao just came back, you two acted like you were in an idol drama, playing out that love-hate relationship in my shop. Your eyes looked at little Yang Xiao like a mouse stuck to a mousetrap. Senior brother is not that old-fashioned. Who would like someone? No crime, no blood relationship, and they're just fake siblings who got together halfway. What's the difference between you and those kids who grew up in an orphanage in those TV shows?"
Fang Qiu started nagging, even getting more excited. "Well, actually, I did have some opinions about you at first. I thought you were a bit of a pervert. After all, this is still my sister. But I know you better than anyone else. Now that we're done, let's spend some quality time together. I'll treat you to a drink, okay?"
Zhou Qi felt a warm feeling in his heart. He owed Fang Qiu so much.
When he was a child, the children in the town would laugh at him, saying that he was a stone monkey with no father or mother, and that he had jumped out of the little statue on Camellia Mountain. So he learned to read people's expressions.
When he saw the children huddled together, talking and chatting, he couldn't walk past them; he had to hunch his back and walk away, otherwise the conversation would immediately revolve around him. When he heard the teacher ask him to leave for the parent-teacher conference, he would sit upright, nod to the teacher in advance, and tell her that he would come to the conference, in case the teacher asked in front of the whole class, "Zhou Qi, is anyone from your family coming?"
As soon as the question is asked, the whole class will discuss the matter in whispers. The teacher will of course stop it, but the premise is that Zhou Qi is already in the vortex of the topic.
He didn't like the attention.
It was the same reason he didn't like taking orders at the front desk when he first started working for Fang Qiu. He didn't like people gossiping about him behind the desk just because he had a pretty face.
After all, his appearance and family background are beyond his control.
But Fang Qiu interrupted his pretentiousness and said, "Just tell me, what do you think of your appearance?"
"A normal person." Zhou Qi really felt that he was just an ordinary person.
"He's a handsome guy. At times like this, just accept the other person's scrutiny and then ask him/her, what can I order? We have coffee, wine, and cake."
"Since you're here to help me, of course you can use your advantages to make money. It's nothing. The handsome guy ordering is just part of the promotion. If it's something awful, even if I ask Daniel Wu to order it here, I'll still get scolded. There's no need to be so burdened."
“It’s called learning to make peace with your strengths.”
Fang Qiu has always had a wealth of profound insights, often leaving others speechless. But upon closer examination, he feels perfectly right. Being hesitant can sometimes only complicate matters. He welcomes praise and criticism openly, always saying, "Thank you for your appreciation and your corrections."
It felt like I hadn't lost anything, and instead, I felt much better. Like when I looked in the mirror, I no longer wondered why that pimple was there, but instead thought, "I have a pimple, so I should eat a lighter diet."
With this change in mindset, Zhou Qi felt that he no longer cared so much about what others thought, including his feelings for Yang Xiao. He simply faced his feelings honestly and worked hard to solve problems and achieve his ideal goals.
She was indeed his sister in name, and indeed his relative in name, but his heart was indeed only happy for her, and this was a fact that he could not hide no matter how hard he tried.
It's as established a fact as the fact that he is a stone monkey.
Since this is the case, then face it, accept it, and achieve it.
At least he had the courage to be honest, didn't he?
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