Chapter 6
Ji Mingfei steeled herself and slowly turned around, meeting Chu Yue's bright but cold eyes. The other woman leaned casually against the car door, having shed her gentle lover persona, her scrutinizing gaze seeming to nail her to the judgment rack of the apocalypse.
“What are you talking about? Isn’t that all in the past? I’ve had the idea of being sent to a smaller city for a long time. The housing prices in big cities are so high, it’s not my place in the world. I’ve always liked the tranquility of small cities, the slow pace, the low cost of living, and the holidays to travel. I hope to start a family here and live here until I’m old.”
Chu Yue listened quietly to Ji Mingfei's hastily made-up lies. If she hadn't said she wanted to start a family, Chu Yue would have almost believed her nonsense.
Getting married while pregnant—what an unusual ideal!
"I was just asking, don't be nervous."
When Ji Mingfei gets nervous, she tends to lose her mind, and when her mind goes blank, she starts talking nonsense. She doesn't know what came over her, but she said, "I didn't expect you to be promoted from intern to project director so quickly. Congratulations!"
"..."
Chu Yue leaned forward, bracing herself against the seat. After all, she had drunk so much, it would be a lie to say she wasn't dizzy. She held onto the seat in front of her with one hand and braced herself against Ji Mingfei's back with the other, keeping a distance from touching her and encircling her in front of her.
"You really don't know I'm the project director?"
Ji Mingfei was forced against the car door, the smell of alcohol making her scalp tingle.
What did she mean by that? If I had known she was the project director, I wouldn't have dared to steal CEO Shen's girlfriend even if I had ten lives! What was she suspecting? Did she think I was deliberately getting close to her?
"I really didn't know... If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have dared to flirt with you!" Ji Mingfei had half her body pressed against the cold glass, wishing she could learn to walk through walls. Anyway, she had already borrowed the chromosomes, and there was no way she was going to return them! Chu Yue was so young to become a project director, her IQ was definitely not a problem! She could just deny it to the death.
Chu Yue suddenly realized that her strong smell of alcohol might bother Ji Mingfei, so she immediately let go of his hand and sat back down, saying, "You can leave now."
Ji Mingfei felt as if he had been granted a pardon and got out of the car almost as if he were fleeing.
Seeing Ji Mingfei leave, the assistant opened the car door and got in, glancing at her boss in the rearview mirror before tentatively asking, "You and her... how come I've never heard you mention it before? Is the child she's carrying... yours?"
The assistant tried to make the terrifying guess sound as joking as possible, and then forced a couple of laughs.
Chu Yue leaned back in her chair, exhausted. She didn't intend to hide anything and said, "I can't rule out that possibility."
"Huh? When...when did this happen? Should I go talk to her? Why didn't you take precautions? This is troublesome..."
Chu Yue looked at the spot where Ji Mingfei had been sitting, and after regaining her composure, said, "Go and investigate her."
The assistant immediately understood and abruptly turned around to ask, "Are you worried about her...?"
Chu Yue's face was hidden in the darkness. She clearly had an answer in her heart, but she still hoped to see concrete evidence.
She never acts on emotion.
…
At one o'clock in the morning, Zhou Yaomin, who had just finished his night out, received a call from his special assistant.
"After leaving the club, President Chu sent Ji Mingfei back."
Zhou Yaoming, who had assumed Chu Yue was already in his arms, said in bewilderment, "She sent her back to the dorm? This Chu Yue is really something else! Oh well, I gave her a chance by playing to her interests. If she wants to be a saint, she can't blame me. Tell them to be careful lately, so Chu Yue doesn't find any fault with them!"
"Don't worry."
…
Chu Yue only stayed in Shantou for three days before finding an excuse to return home. Zhou Yaomin wanted nothing more than to send her off with great fanfare, and the farewell banquet was exceptionally extravagant.
Back at headquarters, Chu Yue organized the relevant information about Shanhe and immediately went to report to Shen Qing'an.
Shen Qing'an closed the financial statements Chu Yue had brought, rested her chin on her hand, looked at her, and asked, "Is there a problem?"
“If you think it’s okay, then I’m okay with it too.” Chu Yue insisted on upholding the principle of flexibility and always kept in step with Shen Qing’an.
"It's just that it cost a little more money. I can't possibly bring these things up with my aunt about replacing him." Shen Qing'an's meaning was very clear: if she wanted Zhou Yaomin to leave without saying a word, she needed more direct evidence.
Chu Yue calmly took out her trump card hidden behind her back and asked, "What about adding this?"
Shen Qing'an looked at the name of the legal representative on the first page of the business license and felt inexplicably familiar with it.
"In less than six months after Shanhe registered the company, a high-end clubhouse comparable to Jinsheng Business Club was built in Takito City. Almost all of the business entertainment expenses that Shanhe initially included in the start-up costs were invoiced by this clubhouse."
Chu Yue opened her phone's photo album, turned to face Shen Qing'an, and said, "This time when I went down, I also had the opportunity to visit this club. If I hadn't just been there a few days ago, I would have thought I had gone to the wrong place."
The new clubhouse in Takito City looks almost exactly like the Jinsheng Business Clubhouse in the photo.
“I found out that the legal representative of this club is Zhou Yaomin’s mistress.” Chu Yue flipped to the last document on the table, where a file folder contained private photos of Zhou Yaomin and his mistress.
Zhou Yaomin embezzled company funds to support his private clubs, and all the evidence was perfectly conclusive.
Shen Qing'an chuckled and asked, "Is there anything in this world that you can't find out? Why don't you just open a private detective agency? You'll definitely become famous worldwide."
"I think it's worth considering if you don't need me anymore someday."
Shen Qing'an answered without hesitation, "That day will never come."
How could I bear to let you go?
Getting Zhou Yaomin to leave Shantou and merge is not difficult, but there is another pressing issue now.
"After getting rid of Zhou Yaomin, who do you plan to send over?" Chu Yue asked the crucial question.
This was something that had been giving Shen Qing'an a constant headache. If she hadn't been so incompetent, how could her aunt have taken advantage of the situation and sent a good-for-nothing to be the general manager?
If a suitable candidate cannot be found, even without Zhou Yaomin, there are still Li Yaomin and Zhang Yaomin.
Shen Qing sighed with sorrow.
“I have someone in mind,” Chu Yue suddenly said.
Shen Qing'an looked up. "Who?"
Chu Yue pointed to herself and volunteered, "Of course it's me. Shantou Cooperation is the company's most important project right now. I'll go there first to support you. Once the company is on track, you can send someone you trust down there."
Shen Qing'an looked at her without saying a word for a long time.
Chu Yue thought she disagreed, but Shen Qing'an suddenly laughed and said, "I must have saved the galaxy in my past life to meet you in this life. If you hadn't said it yourself, I wouldn't know how to ask you to go to that remote and impoverished place."
"You should apologize to the three million permanent residents of Takifuji City for saying that." Chu Yue shook her head speechlessly. "It's a third-tier city, how come it's become a poor, remote place in your mouth?"
Born with a silver spoon in her mouth and having never left a first-tier city in her life, Shen Qing'an muttered with a wronged expression, "There isn't even a subway, isn't that remote?"
"That's a good idea! Send the marketing department to talk to Takito as soon as possible, and we'll do this for our next project."
"..." Shen Qing'an was almost driven mad by her. "Can't you think about things other than work? Are you planning to settle down there?"
settle down?
Chu Yue had never imagined it.
She's not Ji Mingfei!
Shen Qing'an looked at Chu Yue with reluctance, "When do you plan to go down?"
"Shareholder changes take time, and the procedures can be carried out slowly. It should be almost done once I finish handing over my work here."
"You won't be back until Chinese New Year this time, right? What will I do if I miss you?"
Did you throw away your graduation photo?
"..." Shen Qing'an finally lost her temper because of her. "What's the point of looking at a face the size of a fingernail? Besides, who wants to spend all day looking at a photo to express their longing? It's not like we're facing life and death."
Chu Yue jokingly said without any restraint, "Then just pretend I'm dead."
Shen Qing'an's expression changed immediately. "Do you really have to do this?"
"I was just kidding. Why are you still upset? I'll treat you to dinner tonight."
Shen Qing'an turned her chair around so her back was to Chu Yue. "We've finished talking about work. You can leave now."
"I'll send you the address in a bit," Chu Yue said, tapping the table with her finger, trying to appease her.
What was supposed to be a romantic candlelight dinner for two, Shen Qing'an dressed up for the occasion, only to discover it was a roadside stall. So that night, the elegant woman in her evening gown sat on a plastic bench by the street, sulking as she ate her skewers.
…
The assistant checked Ji Mingfei's family history for three generations and all his social connections, but found nothing wrong. Then he went to report the results to Chu Yue.
“Ji Mingfei has a simple social network. After starting work, he rarely keeps in touch with his college classmates. In the past two years, he has only had work-related exchanges with people in the same department.”
"The only relationship I can find with Ji Mingfei after she started working is three, all of which ended because the other party cheated on her. The last relationship was two years ago. According to Ji Mingfei's unpublished private social media accounts, she intended to go to A-list for childbirth and took action a month ago, and it seems that she succeeded."
The assistant stammered, then printed out the content from Ji Mingfei's social media account and placed it in front of Chu Yue. The last post prominently featured the words "gratitude" and an emoji of "hands clasped together."
The accompanying image below the text is even more infuriating: a Guanyin statue granting children.
Chu Yue, belatedly realizing what was happening: "..."
The assistant quickly covered the printed paper with a document and said cautiously, "She wouldn't be treating you like a free gene bank..."
Chu Yue gritted her teeth, pinched the edge of the A4 paper, and sneered.
"Ji Mingfei".
…
Achoo!
Thousands of miles away, Ji Mingfei suddenly sneezed. She had finally managed to steal a moment to relax amidst her busy schedule, but suddenly her nose started to feel uncomfortable. She had just gotten rid of her one-night stand a few days ago, and she had been in an exceptionally good mood lately.
Whenever she has free time, she goes to the new house to buy some furniture. Every day, as she watches her new home slowly become more cozy, she can't wait to move in.
When Ji Mingfei scrolled through social media, she remembered the Guanyin Bodhisattva who granted children that she had shared a month ago, and thought it would be better to post another one about a deity who helps with pregnancy.
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