0034 39 Fortune and misfortune are intertwined
Zhou Xiye came out of the military hospital and sighed deeply as she sat in the jeep. The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror and then said, "Director Zhou, this pass you've only used once, so it can't be used again next time..."
Before the driver could finish speaking, Zhou Xiye interrupted him, "There won't be a next time. I won't come here again."
"Oh, okay...okay..." The driver was speechless and felt a little embarrassed.
Finding Ling Xingzhi for Wei Luochen was something Zhou Xiye hadn't expected. Wei Luochen didn't tell her family because she was afraid they'd think the two of them were having a falling out. Ling's stepmother always made things difficult for her, and her own family always tried to take advantage of their relationship. When something happened, they would only ask Wei Luochen what she had done wrong.
Zhou Xiye could tell that Wei Luochen genuinely cared about Ling Xingzhi. From their conversation, Zhou Xiye felt sorry for Wei Luochen. Her family used her, outsiders looked down on her, and she even had to rely on Zhou Xiye, her so-called rival in love, to help her find a husband.
Anyway, Zhou Xiye has no hostility towards Wei Luochen. As long as she is well and doesn't cause trouble for Zhou Xiye, she is still willing to get along peacefully and lend a helping hand.
Having successfully done the favor, she returned to the office and walked down the corridor, where passersby greeted her with nods. When she encountered her assistant, Li Xiaocen, she stopped at the office door, peered inside, and gestured with her chin. Zhou Xiye frowned as she walked over to her own office. Sure enough, she saw a group of people inside.
It was the chef Yi Chenling brought. He sat in the middle, playing games on his phone, with a group of people standing behind him.
Hearing footsteps, he turned around and saw that it was Zhou Xiye. He stood up abruptly and said, "You're back. We're having Japanese food today."
Zhou Xiye sighed deeply; it had been a week already.
Since he told her he liked her last time, Yi Chenling has been pursuing her.
After sending roses for two days, Zhou Xiye said that as a cadre, this was detrimental to the conduct of cadres and that his lifestyle was not good, which would lead to criticism from higher-ups.
Yi Chenling changed his approach. He felt that Zhou Xiye was a pragmatist, and after learning about her dietary restrictions, he tried to have different kinds of lunch with her every day.
Sometimes it's Thai food, sometimes Greek food, it's different every day, and there's never a repeat in a week.
After lunch, while she was busy in the afternoon, Yi Chenling would sit in the living room doing his own thing, reading books, playing games, and then sticking with her to have dinner after Zhou Xiye got off work.
Zhou Xiye explicitly rejected him, saying, "Young Master Yi, I have no interest in you, and besides, I have a boyfriend."
Yi Chenling's thought process is a bit different from normal people. "It's your business if you have a boyfriend, I don't care. You're not interested in me because I haven't been good enough to you, and I'll try harder next time."
Despite reasoning with him and refusing him with an iron will, Yi Chenling remained unmoved.
Everyone has their own world and their own principles, Zhou Xiye understood that, but this was the first time he had met someone so stubborn. Even Ling Xingzhi, a seasoned veteran, had self-respect and cared about how others perceived him.
Zhou Xiye glanced at the group of people carrying food boxes, standing in a row, their eyes all fixed on her, as if to say that only she could end this farce.
"Alright, you can just put the food on the table. Young Master Yi and I will take care of it ourselves."
The group nodded happily and placed the food box on the mahogany table in unison. Zhou Xiye stepped forward, opened the box, and found that the food inside was very fresh and appetizing.
Yi Chenling sat down next to her, helped her prepare a few food boxes, and then looked at Zhou Xiye with chopsticks in hand. Her profile was very beautiful.
After a few seconds, he hesitated before asking, "Where did you go? Why did it take you so long to come back? I asked your assistant, and she said you didn't have any official business..."
"Go find Secretary Ling."
Yi Chenling nodded, "Secretary Ling has a wife, and she's very beautiful. My dad even took me to his wedding ceremony back then..."
Zhou Xiye turned her head to look at Yi Chenling. She did some mental calculations and realized that Yi Chenling was now twenty-two years old. Ling Xingzhi got married six or seven years ago. Even if they got married six years ago, Yi Chenling was only a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy at the time. Suddenly, she felt that Ling Xingzhi was really old, as if he were from the previous generation.
How beautiful is his wife?
Yi Chenling didn't have any particular thoughts; he answered whatever Zhou Xiye asked him.
"Anyway, she's prettier than many celebrities."
Zhou Xiye nodded, picked up his chopsticks, took a slice of salmon, dipped it in the sauce, and ate it. It tasted good.
"So what do you like about me? You just suddenly started liking me?"
Yi Chenling smiled and said, "You're very smart, and not only that, you're also very good-looking."
Zhou Xiye scoffed at Yi Chenling's assessment, "Superficial."
"Yeah, anyway, I like you, I know that myself."
After the two finished lunch, Zhou Xiye got up to work on some documents, while Yi Chenling rested in the inner room of Zhou Xiye's office. The meeting room would be needed in the afternoon, so Yi Chenling couldn't be left lying down.
The person he was meeting was Song Yunshen, the CEO of a property management company in Beijing. The Song family's property management companies were located all over the country, but perhaps due to a strained relationship with the previous director of the Xiangtan Municipal Government's Beijing office, their business hadn't expanded there. Song Yunshen… Zhou Xiye looked at the woman's business card, lost in thought.
The highest-ranking official in the Song family is the former Minister of Health. In this term, only Song Yunshen's father is the president of China Tobacco Company. Although it is not a very powerful position compared to Ye Lifeng, it is very lucrative. Tobacco has always been a major taxpayer, so it is a wealthy but powerless position.
I heard that their young master Song wants to marry Ling Xingzhi's sister. Money is not as good as power. If the two families unite, Ye Lifeng will lose this round.
It seems difficult for Zhou Xiye to disrupt their relationship at the moment. However... if Miss Ling likes Ye Rouxin... things would be much easier. But he has a reputation for womanizing, and as an asexual, Miss Ling certainly wouldn't want to suffer that pain.
Ye Jinghuai... well, he's more trouble than he's worth. Last month, after she insulted someone, he was arrested when he tried to run away. Ye Lifeng never cared about his son, only his grandson. At least his grandson was smarter than his father, although he harbored the desire to overthrow the empire his grandfather had built. But in Ye Lifeng's eyes, this was a lack of "guidance," like wild tigers and eagles that needed to be tamed.
Zhou Xiye didn't think so. Ye Rouxin seemed to have been brainwashed by her, and her biggest wish in this life was to bring down the old man.
That being said, it's strange that Ye Jinghuai borrowed money from the bank, which is quite an odd thing.
Ye Jinghuai met the president of Baoshang Bank at a gathering of the children of high-ranking officials; Zhou Xiye was said to be the son of the Minister of Education. The two hit it off immediately, and the president even introduced him to a group of young models—five or six V-shaped beauties—who accompanied them on their outings. At the time, the president was struggling with a 50 million yuan bad debt; the person who borrowed the money was rumored to be a local gangster who owned a chain of foot massage parlors.
He lost money gambling in Macau and borrowed money from the bank manager. Later, he was arrested during a crackdown on organized crime and couldn't be found, so the 50 million yuan became a bad debt. When Ye Jinghuai heard about this, he immediately took out 50 million yuan from his own slush fund to help the bank manager cover the loss.
That's how it happened. Zhou Xiye learned about it from a casual conversation with a college classmate who worked at CICC. It was a coincidence; his classmate was just complaining on the phone that a second-generation red (son of a high-ranking official) was a bit naive. Because of the millions in agency fees, he didn't place orders with CICC and instead let a stupid futures manager who claimed to have been working on Wall Street for a long time trade futures, resulting in significant losses.
The two of them laughed it off at the time, but Zhou Xiye never let this opportunity pass. She turned around and went to check, and found out that it was Ye Jinghuai.
She told Ye Lifeng about it. This matter could be big or small. The problem was that Finance Minister Ji Qingzhou was in cahoots with Ling Qingyun. If he were to interfere, it would be detrimental to the Ye family.
Ye Jinghuai had already fled to Canada, but unexpectedly, the unlucky guy returned ahead of time. Zhou Xiye took advantage of the situation and, although the man was arrested, Ye Lifeng was not in a hurry to ransom him, and Ji Qingzhou would not make things difficult for Ye Jinghuai for long. Let him be.
The best approach when faced with a useless piece is to ignore it.
Although Old Mrs. Ye had been crying and wailing for almost a month, Ye Lifeng wouldn't come home, and Ye Rouxin wasn't in the country either. They were completely helpless, and the ninety-year-old woman was driven to the hospital by her anger. Of course, Zhou Xiye's two passes to the military hospital were specially approved by Ye Lifeng, for visiting the old lady.
I didn't see him even once; instead, I went to see Ling Xingzhi.
Thinking about all these twists and turns gave Zhou Xiye a headache. Just as he put the business card into the drawer, Li Xiaocen knocked on the door, "Director, President Song is here."
Incense smoke curled around the main gate of the ancient temple, the sound of bells echoed far and wide, and the chanting of sutras never ceased. The ancient temple was under renovation today because a distinguished guest was about to arrive.
The front door was tightly closed, with only the bamboo grove swaying in the wind.
Ye Lifeng knelt down, stood up, inserted three incense sticks, and bowed again to the huge golden Buddha statue.
An elderly man stepped out from behind him. "Minister Ye, you've arrived."
"Mr. Yao, how have you been?"
The two looked at each other and smiled.
"Play a game of chess?"
A skilled strategist has no brilliant moves throughout the game.
The chess piece landed, took root, and smoke drifted out. The Buddha, with a compassionate expression, half-closed his eyes, looking down upon all living beings.
"They sent troops to Tibet; Jiang Yunpeng and Zhou Pei went together."
Ye Lifeng suddenly said.
The person opposite remained unmoved until the game ended. Then, Mr. Yao looked up and smiled, saying, "Minister Ye should read more of the 'Ten Maxims of Go,' as your mind is not at peace."
Ye Lifeng sighed and threw the black chess piece he was holding between his fingers into the chess basket. "Why is it quiet? I didn't make this move, so why did you suddenly start from Tibet?"
Mr. Yao shook his head, "You just need to guard Beijing. No matter what they do, they can't cause trouble in Tibet. The key is still Beijing."
The two stared at each other for a long time, then Ye Lifeng suddenly burst into laughter.
"The people below say that the Ling family father and son are the reincarnations of Yan Song and Yan Shifan, and they have no opinion about me. But I think I am similar to Zhu Yuanzhang. I am all alone, and with Mr. Yao's help, that is enough."
The old man opposite smiled and shook his head. "You may be Zhu Yuanzhang, but whether the Ling family father and son are the reincarnations of Yan Song and Yan Shifan is unknown."
"It's okay, I feel at ease with you here."
Where is Zhou Xiye?
Ye Lifeng nodded, "Not bad... I remember you once did a fortune telling for me, and her birth chart was quite auspicious for me?"
"Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; she took away your child but brought you a brighter future."
After the old man finished speaking, he stood up. Ye Lifeng looked at the century-old tree outside the hall, the sky was very blue, sighed, remained silent for a long time, and then waved his hand, "Alright, you go ahead with your work, I'll be going now."
The meeting with Song Yun Shen was more comfortable than I had imagined. President Song was not old, but he was dressed appropriately and had a great presence. It was rare to see a spoiled brat like him doing serious business.
Song Yun Shen spoke gently about the weather, but her words were decisive and ruthless when discussing projects, which Zhou Xi Ye greatly admired. After the meeting, Zhou Xi Ye understood her meaning: she wanted to meet with the mayor of Xiangtan City. Property management companies, after all, serve the grassroots people, so prices were negotiable; the key was to open up the market first.
After seeing the guests off, Zhou Xiye returned to her office, where Yi Chenling was already waiting for her.
"What would you like to eat tonight? If you don't want to eat, let's go see a movie. There's a good movie showing."
Zhou Xiye washed his hands. "I'm busy, I have a class reunion tonight."
"Are you taking me with you? Why didn't you say so before?"
Zhou Xiye shook his head, a little tired, and took a sip of water. "We were already committed before I even met you, so you better behave yourself..." Before he could finish speaking, Ye Lifeng's call came in.
The two hung up the phone after less than thirty seconds of conversation.
Yi Chenling stood beside her. "Aren't you going to a party? Don't you need to change your clothes?" As he spoke, he put his hand on her waist, his fingers caressing her waist. "I know a designer, she's very nice."
Zhou Xiye's hand touched Yi Chenling's hand on his waist, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
He is young, handsome, sincere, and clean.
Why not give it a try?
Is it okay to take a nap?
"Okay, pick me up after the party."
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Hehe
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