Yang Ming comforted Xia Yan for a while before leaving. Since the Canton Fair was drawing to a close, he didn't hesitate and went straight to inquire about Zhu Youliang. As the head of the translation team in the External Relations Department, it was easy for him to find out about someone. After reviewing Zhu Youliang's information and inquiring about his experiences since arriving in Guangzhou, he had a feeling something was amiss. He couldn't bring himself to question Xia Yan again, so he went straight to Zhu Youliang the next morning to hear what he had to say. While he didn't think Xia Yan was lying, he couldn't just base his judgment on his cousin's words.
Last night, Guo Daqiang had told Zhu Youliang that someone was spying on him and had told him to be careful. Unexpectedly, the person had shown up today. He looked about his age, wearing thin-framed glasses and had a quiet demeanor.
"Hello, I'm Zhu Youliang. What can I do for you?" Zhu Youliang said straight to the point.
"I'm Yang Ming from the External Relations Department. I have something personal to discuss with you. Let's go talk." Yang Ming nodded calmly at Zhu Youliang before turning and heading out of the exhibition hall. Once they were alone, Yang Ming whispered, "I'm Xia Yan's cousin. She was a little emotional after meeting you yesterday, so I came over to ask about her."
Zhu Youliang didn't answer but asked, "What did Comrade Xia tell you?"
"She didn't say anything, just that she felt uncomfortable." Yang Ming shook his head.
Although Zhu Youliang wasn't afraid of retaliation, he still didn't want to waste his time on these matters, so he spoke frankly: "She came to me yesterday and said she didn't mind me getting married and hoped I would give her a chance. You've asked about me, and you should know that I love my wife very much. My character wouldn't allow me to do anything that would let my family down, so I rejected her outright. Comrade Xia was very upset after being rejected and wanted to continue pestering her. I threatened her that if she continued to pester me, I would go to her workplace. You should know that I've only met her twice, and it wasn't me who took the initiative to approach her each time."
Yang Ming's face turned grim after hearing this. He certainly didn't want to believe that his cousin would do such a thing, so he couldn't help but ask, "Comrade Zhu, do you have any misunderstandings about Yanyan? You know, Yanyan is a very outstanding and proud person. I don't think she would fall in love with a married man. Do you..."
Zhu Youliang immediately interrupted him, saying, "I didn't do anything. I barely spoke to her. If I hadn't been discussing business with Smith, I wouldn't even know who she was. Whether she's good or not is none of my business."
"You can see how beautiful she is, right?"
"Comrade Yang, do you think I'm ugly? If you meet my daughter Comrade Liang, you will find that she is more beautiful than Comrade Xia, and we have two lovely children. She is an engineer like me, and we share the same ideals. If you continue to distort the facts, I will request the organization to investigate this matter. This is a slander against me." Zhu Youliang said with a serious face.
When Yang Ming first met Zhu Youliang, he was a bit surprised. This man was said to be a genuine third-generation poor farmer, but his appearance didn't reveal it at all. Although he was a man, he did look handsome, so he subconsciously concealed what Xia Yan had said.
"Do you have any evidence?" Yang Ming was silent for a while and still didn't think his cousin would do such a thing.
"Yes, go ask Yang Dayou in the next pavilion. I only found him smoking behind a door when I left. He must have heard everything," Zhu Youliang said after a moment's thought. In fact, he had even contacted the other party to stop him from telling anyone about the incident; after all, people were very conservative in those days.
Yang Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he said with a pale face, "No need, Comrade Zhu, I trust you. I'm very sorry for the trouble this has caused you."
Zhu Youliang didn't push his luck and waved his hand, saying, "It's okay. If you hadn't come to me, this would have been over. It's understandable that young people make mistakes in a moment of confusion." Yang Ming nodded and turned to walk towards the guesthouse. Fortunately, he made this trip, otherwise he would have made a mistake.
Xia Yan didn't know that Yang Ming had gone to see Zhu Youliang. Since she had nothing to do today, she took half a day off and packed up her things in the house.
Hearing the urgent knock on the door, she hurried over and opened it, "Cousin, what's wrong with you?"
Yang Ming looked at his cousin, who was full of concern for him, and for a moment he didn't know how to start. After calming himself down, he said, "Let's go inside and talk."
"Oh." Xia Yan moved aside to let him in.
As soon as Yang Ming sat down, he said, "I just went to see Zhu Youliang."
Xia Yan subconsciously asked, "Does he deny it?"
"I didn't mention what you said about him flirting with you. I just asked what happened yesterday." Yang Ming said this and looked at Xia Yan.
Xia Yan subconsciously lowered her head. "I knew he wouldn't admit it. After all, it was just the two of us at the time, and no one would believe it if I told anyone. Forget it, let's just leave it at that."
"When you were talking yesterday, someone was smoking behind the door. He must have heard everything. I didn't go looking for that person. I thought I'd come back and confirm with you later." Yang Ming said calmly.
"Cousin, don't you believe me?" Xia Yan raised her head suddenly, tears in her big eyes, as if they were about to fall at the next moment.
"Do you think I'm lying to you? Cousin, I'm afraid you haven't figured out the seriousness of this matter yet." Yang Ming said expressionlessly.
"You just don't believe me. I don't want your help. I'm going back to find my dad." Xia Yan refused to admit it.
"I believe my uncle is not someone who cannot distinguish right from wrong. With witnesses, this matter is actually very easy to investigate. I trusted you too much before. If you think about it carefully, you will find something wrong. For example, you said Zhu Youliang's English is good, but he is still not as good as us professional translators. Why did you go to him alone instead of looking for us? And you thought no one saw it, maybe that's just your thought. There may be many people who saw and heard it. Once this matter becomes a big deal, it will be a complete slander." Yang Ming analyzed in a cold voice.
Xia Yan's face paled instantly. "I, I just wanted to get a little revenge on him. I was counting on you to secretly trip him up and make him suffer. I didn't know you would be so serious and go after him. Cousin, I'm sorry. I don't know how I could do such a foolish thing. I was just afraid that you would look down on me if you knew. I... I just said that in the heat of the moment. Look, you already know everything, and you're still forcing me to admit it. It's so embarrassing."
"Nonsense!" Yang Ming slammed the table in anger. He had really thought as Xia Yan had. If he hadn't been more cautious, he would have wronged a good comrade.
Xia Yan was so frightened by the sound that she fell to the ground. "I know I was wrong. I can go and apologize to him, but I won't dare to do it again. But cousin, can you go and talk to that witness and ask him not to tell anyone about this? Otherwise, how can I live my life in the future?"
"You...you feel ashamed now. Why didn't you think about the consequences when you confessed your love to a married man?" Yang Ming pointed at her.
"I just acted impulsively. I've already said I was wrong." Xia Yan cried.
"Alas..." Yang Ming sighed deeply.
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