39 Wen Xueyan's Persistence
On the eve of the divorce hearing, the floor where the president of Cheng's Group's office was located was quiet.
Around 8 p.m., a soft but persistent knocking broke the silence. Cheng Boyan said in a deep voice, "Come in."
The door was pushed open, and Xu Junxian stood in the doorway. She was wearing an elegant beige-gray coat, and her face was somewhat pale. She hadn't dressed up carefully, which made her look more fragile than her actual age.
“Bo Yan…” Her voice was very soft, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor, “I want to see you one more time before you go to court tomorrow.”
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cheng, I couldn't stop her," Qiao Lanyue said from behind her.
"It's alright." Cheng Boyan didn't blame her, and Qiao Lanyue then went out.
Cheng Boyan looked up from the documents and calmly looked at Xu Junxian: "I don't think it's appropriate for us to meet alone before the trial. Anything can be discussed by our lawyers in court tomorrow."
Xu Junxian took a few steps forward: "Bo Yan, after all, I am still your wife legally."
Perhaps due to emotional distress, or perhaps she was genuinely careless while walking, as she approached him, the heel of her high heel suddenly twisted, causing her to lose her balance. With a soft cry of "Ah!", she uncontrollably fell to the side, a sharp pain shooting through her ankle.
She collapsed to the ground, instantly sweating profusely from the pain, her face turning even paler.
“Bo Yan, my foot…” She looked up at him, tears finally streaming down her face, this time a mixture of real pain and grievance. “It hurts so much, I think I twisted it.”
She didn't even reach out to him for help; she just sat there helplessly.
Cheng Boyan frowned as he looked at her face, contorted in pain. He could tell it wasn't intentional. He remained silent for a few seconds, ultimately unable to completely ignore the real pain before him.
But he did not go forward himself.
He pressed the intercom button: "Secretary Qiao, come in for a moment."
When Xu Junxian heard him call for his secretary, a deep sense of disappointment flashed in her eyes.
He wouldn't even help her up.
She looked at Cheng Boyan and choked out, "Boyan, I know it's too late for anything I say now. I know I made an unforgivable mistake, especially about Mengmeng. I regret it every single day."
“I don’t ask you to forgive me immediately, I just hope that you can give me another chance, for the sake of our past as husband and wife, and for the sake of me still being your wife. Don’t be so resolute in court tomorrow. We can try to start over without getting a divorce, okay? I will definitely spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes. Besides, my father and brother don’t agree to a divorce…”
Less than a minute later, Secretary Qiao entered and looked slightly surprised to see Xu Junxian on the floor. "President Cheng?"
"Ms. Xu has sprained her ankle. Help her to the sofa in the outside meeting room and check on her. If necessary, have the driver prepare a car to take her to the hospital," Cheng Boyan instructed, his tone calm and emotionless.
"Okay." Secretary Qiao did as instructed and carefully helped Xu Junxian up from the ground.
As she helped her up, Secretary Qiao knelt down to examine her and then looked up at Cheng Boyan, saying, "Mr. Cheng, the sprain is quite severe. It would be best to apply ice to it. You might need to go to the hospital for an X-ray to rule out a fracture."
Cheng Boyan nodded: "Go arrange for ice packs and contact the driver."
"Okay, I'll get ready right away."
With the help of Secretary Qiao, Xu Junxian hopped on one foot and was settled on the sofa in the reception area.
A hint of regret and resentment flashed in Xu Junxian's eyes.
*
The next day, the divorce case went to court. On that day, Wen Xueyan only received one message from Cheng Boyan: "The verdict will be announced on another day."
The next afternoon, in the conference room.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was heavy. On either side of the long table, core members of the GP project sat facing representatives of key clients, the tension palpable due to the price dispute. The client's purchasing director, a sharp-looking middle-aged man, spoke in a firm and uncompromising tone: "Mr. Xu, Mr. Wang, it's not that we're being demanding, it's just that market competition is too fierce. Your company's technical solution is excellent, but the price must be reduced by another ten percent, otherwise we'll have a hard time explaining to our company's boss."
The project manager, Engineer Wang, had beads of sweat on his forehead. The other party was clearly well-prepared, citing several examples of low prices from competitors.
Under pressure, some have suggested replacing some imported components with domestic alternatives, while others have recommended simplifying the structural design of non-core areas.
Wen Xueyan sat by the window, listening silently. When the discussion turned to replacing some electrical instruments near the core area with ordinary, non-explosion-proof ones, she spoke up: "I object to this proposed change."
She pushed the technical drawings in front of her forward, pointing to the area marked with a red dotted line. "This is clearly zone 22, an explosion-proof zone. According to national standards and industry specifications, any electrical equipment installed in this area must meet the corresponding explosion-proof requirements. Using ordinary instruments may save some money, but the safety hazards created are enormous. This concerns the lives of the on-site operators."
The client's representative looked rather displeased. A colleague subtly tugged at her sleeve, signaling her not to be too insistent, lest she offend the client.
"Mr. Wen, we can control the risk probability by strengthening management," a senior salesperson tried to smooth things over.
"Safety risks, especially explosion risks, cannot be gambled on with probability." Wen Xueyan was uncompromising. "The bottom line for chemical equipment is safety. Costs can be negotiated, and technology can be optimized, but safety standards, especially explosion-proof standards, have no room for compromise."
Mr. Xu finally made the final decision: "Mr. Wen is right. The equipment specifications in the explosion-proof area must be strictly implemented in accordance with national standards. We can make modifications in other aspects."
Seeing this, the customer was dissatisfied but could no longer insist, and instead requested that the drawings be revised to further reduce costs in other non-critical parts.
For the next three days, due to last-minute changes to the plan, the project team entered a frantic overtime mode. As a key technical member, Wen Xueyan needed to recalculate data, revise drawings, and repeatedly communicate with suppliers to confirm the feasibility of alternative solutions.
For the past three days, Wen Xueyan returned to her apartment in the quiet of the early morning, only to rush to the company before dawn. She had originally planned to tell Ning Zhiyi about Dr. Qi, but she hasn't done so yet.
On the morning of the fourth day, the client arrived early to discuss the details of the drawings, but unfortunately, the core part that Wen Xueyan was responsible for could not be accessed.
Mr. Xu looked displeased and gestured to Engineer Wang to go and find the person.
Engineer Wang repeatedly entered and exited the conference room under the pretext of getting water, his anxious gaze sweeping over the perpetually empty workstation.
He dialed Wen Xueyan's number repeatedly, but all he heard was a long, cold busy tone.
The spot where the desk lamp was usually the first to be lit was now eerily empty.
Since he couldn't get through on the phone, Mr. Xu hadn't received her leave notice, so he called headquarters to inquire whether she had been temporarily seconded for a business trip, but he still didn't get any information.
When Cheng Boyan found out, she panicked for a moment, as she was not the type to skip work casually.
He recalled that the day before the divorce, Xu Junxian still wanted to salvage the relationship. Although he knew that Xu Junxian was not malicious, he was still unsure whether he would hurt Wen Xueyan after she suddenly went missing. So, without thinking it over, he drove from the group headquarters to Wen Xueyan's apartment.
That morning, Wen Xueyan woke up with a sharp abdominal pain. Her lower abdomen felt like it was being repeatedly stabbed by a cold awl, and the familiar feeling of heaviness reminded her that her period had come early.
I've never had such painful periods before.
Continuous high-intensity work, lack of sleep, and mental stress caused her body to send out warning signals.
It's Friday, and I still have to go to work.
She tried to get up, but her vision blurred, her body felt weak and limp, and cold sweat instantly soaked through her pajamas. After struggling a few times, she finally gave up, curled up in the blankets, her consciousness oscillating between excruciating pain and a dazed state.
The phone on the bedside table rang stubbornly several times, but she didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
The world seemed to be shut out, leaving only waves of increasingly intense abdominal cramps.
She tried to take some pills, but then fell into a deep sleep again.
She didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps an hour, perhaps the entire morning—but in her semi-conscious state, she vaguely heard a slight rattling sound from the door lock.
Was it a hallucination? She struggled to open her heavy eyelids, and through her blurry vision, she seemed to see a tall male figure standing against the light at the bedroom door.
"It must be a dream," she thought hazily. "Why is Cheng Boyan here? They haven't seen each other for a while, and he's been very busy."
However, the figure quickly walked to the bedside, carrying a familiar, refreshing scent. Then, a pair of warm and strong arms reached under the covers and carefully pulled her into their embrace.
"Xueyan? What's wrong? I shouldn't have come during this sensitive time, but I heard you weren't at work, and your colleagues said you didn't ask for leave either. I've been calling you but you haven't answered. I'm a little worried..." A deep and familiar voice rang in my ears, filled with undisguised anxiety.
Wen Xueyan suddenly became more awake, looked up in disbelief, and met Cheng Boyan's worried eyes.
It's not a dream! It really is him! How could he...?
"Where do you feel unwell? Does your stomach hurt? Should we go to the hospital? Or should I call a doctor?" he asked quickly.
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So short! Not enough, hahaha!
Thank you for your comments, I'm always so happy to see them.
The characters of President Cheng created by Teacher Yuanshan are all exceptionally good; I like him.
I feel like something bad is going to happen.
Thank you, Teacher Orange, for your comment.
Thank you for your comments and predictions, readers! ^_^
Silently following along, hoping for more updates (v)
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That's awesome! :-)
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