Chapter 45 [VIP]
Chapter summary: "We're divorced."
Ni Zhenzhen took leave and traveled across most of the city to Zhang Wang's company.
She texted Zhang Wang to say she had arrived, but he didn't reply. She then called him, but no one answered. Ni Zhenzhen had no choice but to go to the front desk and tell them she needed to speak with Zhang Wang.
"Mr. Zhang?" The receptionist looked at her suspiciously and said in a businesslike tone, "Let me ask." After hanging up the phone, the receptionist politely replied, "Mr. Zhang is in a meeting."
Ni Zhenzhen waited for more than an hour, asking the front desk several times, and was always told that they were in a meeting.
Ni Zhenzhen had no choice but to continue waiting.
It wasn't that she was particularly patient, but rather that she hoped to alleviate some of her guilt in this way. From the moment she decided to borrow money, Ni Zhenzhen was tormented; she didn't want to trouble others, but she had no choice but to do so.
Her motive for borrowing money was not honorable; she wanted to pay less interest, and she wasn't sure when she would be able to repay it.
Therefore, she was very grateful to every generous friend who lent her money at lower interest rates, even though they had better investment opportunities. Zhang Wang, in particular, was the first to offer to lend her money, and regardless of the final outcome, she should remember his kindness.
Ni Zhenzhen waited another half hour before Zhang Wang called.
The other party apologized to her repeatedly: "I'm sorry, I just saw your phone. You really are something, why didn't you make a few more calls?"
Ni Zhenzhen explained, "The receptionist said you were in a meeting."
A sneer came from the other end of the phone, "What meeting? They probably think you're one of those shady characters. You're still here?"
"No."
"That's great." Zhang Wang laughed heartily, seemingly very satisfied with her patient waiting.
Ni Zhenzhen thought Zhang Wang finally had time to see her, so she stood up from the sofa and was about to go inside when Zhang Wang, who had stopped laughing, continued, "I forgot to tell you, I just called you to come over. A client suddenly came in, and I took the client to the store to take a look. Why don't you come to the store?"
Ni Zhenzhen then realized that Zhang Wang was not at the company.
She didn't complain at all. "Okay, I'll be right there."
After hanging up the phone, Ni Zhenzhen rushed to the store, but she couldn't find Zhang Wang anywhere. The people in the store said that Zhang Wang had already left.
Ni Zhenzhen immediately called Zhang Wang, and this time the call was answered quickly.
Before she could speak, Zhang Wang scolded her, "Why are you so late? The client said he needs to go back to the company to see the boss. Come over here, it's at Huijing Center."
“Okay…” Ni Zhenzhen answered very briefly, so much so that Zhang Wang didn’t notice anything amiss.
Why there?
Upon suddenly hearing the words "Huijing Center," Ni Zhenzhen's heart skipped a beat.
The busyness of the past few days has temporarily blocked her out of that person, but it has also made her longing at this moment particularly strong. Distant memories fall like raindrops from the sky, sweet and bitter, with no two drops repeating.
If someone asked her her favorite place, she would definitely say "Huijing Centre" without hesitation, not because it's so grand, but because it's there. Even when just passing by, she would take a peek from afar, to the point that she vowed to buy a house with a view of Huijing Centre.
But now...
This time, Ni Zhenzhen wasn't as eager as before.
She took the subway, traveling at a leisurely pace. She didn't rush to board when the train doors were about to close, and if she missed it, she would wait for the next one. But even the slowest train eventually arrives at its destination.
She followed the crowd out of the subway station and into the building, but instead of immediately sending a message to Zhang Wang, she deliberately lingered for a while.
In the past, she would always tell that person before coming here.
His chat window was still pinned to the top, with the words "When are you coming home?" in light gray. Ni Zhenzhen was busy with work at the time and didn't reply in time; now, she will never have the chance to reply.
Ni Zhenzhen paced back and forth, phone in hand, looking restless, not even noticing when she bumped into someone she knew.
Su Wenjin's assistant saw her and called out "Flora".
Ni Zhenzhen snapped out of her daze and forced a smile. "Hello."
"You've come here to..."
Ni Zhenzhen quickly said, "I've come to see a friend."
The assistant nodded and then warmly invited, "Go upstairs and wait."
"No need, it's the same here."
"Let's go," the assistant insisted. "I happen to have some business to discuss."
With the assistant saying that, Ni Zhenzhen had no way to refuse. She followed the assistant upstairs and sat down in a meeting room on the 57th floor.
The assistant asked her what she wanted to drink, then took out a lot of snacks in a small bamboo basket and recommended a few that he thought were particularly delicious. He pointed to one of them and said, "President Su also likes this, but she can't remember the name."
"Mr. Su, you eat snacks too?"
The assistant paused, probably realizing he'd said a bit too much. He smiled silently, and even though no one else was around, he pleaded in a low voice, "Don't tell anyone."
A few seconds later, the assistant added, "Don't tell anyone that I told you."
“…” Ni Zhenzhen, who had been preoccupied, finally smiled.
Seemingly worried that she might be bored, the assistant rummaged around in the meeting room for a while. "I remember we can play games here. Do you want to try them out, or should we call Xiao Qin over?" Xiao Qin was the staff member who had previously liaised with Ni Zhenzhen, so they were acquaintances.
In Ni Zhenzhen's memory, her assistant seemed to be quite busy, and she didn't know how he had time to spend with someone as insignificant as her today.
Ni Zhenzhen said she was just there to sit for a while and told her assistant not to be busy anymore.
The assistant finally stopped making arrangements, but didn't leave either. Instead, he chatted with her casually, without mentioning anything about business.
This time, it didn't take long before Ni Zhenzhen received a message from Zhang Wang. She stood up and thanked her assistant, saying, "My friend asked me to come over."
The assistant said, "I'll take you."
The two entered the elevator, which stopped briefly on the 53rd floor. The elevator doors opened, and Zhang Wang was standing outside.
Upon seeing Ni Zhenzhen, the other person exclaimed in surprise, "How did you get up here?"
Just as he was about to enter the elevator, the staff member accompanying Zhang Wang received a phone call and quickly stopped him, saying, "Our manager said he still has something to say, please wait a moment."
Zhang Wang agreed and waved to Ni Zhenzhen, "Perfect timing, you come too."
Ni Zhenzhen stepped out of the elevator, said goodbye to her assistant, and followed him. They walked and talked as they returned to the office area from the elevator lobby.
"You want to borrow money?" Zhang Wang said loudly, attracting the attention of those around him.
It was a look of surprise mixed with disdain, as if looking at a mouse, something to be avoided at all costs, yet also something to be thankful for not being related to oneself.
These days, nothing's easier than borrowing money. Even food delivery apps are offering to lend you money, and if you don't want to, people keep calling you. Passersby are curious to see what kind of person would choose to ask a friend for money when there are so many other options available. Honestly, people who borrow money from friends either don't consider them friends or have terrible credit and can't get loans from other sources. I wonder which category this person falls into?
From the moment she decided to borrow money, Ni Zhenzhen no longer cared about saving face. In front of everyone, she openly admitted, "Yes."
Zhang Wang shook his head and sighed, as if he felt sorry for her, "Xu Tianzhou is really something, why did he hide at the crucial moment, leaving you to show your face."
Ni Zhenzhen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "We... are divorced."
Her voice wasn't loud, but it was overheard by the assistant waiting for the elevator.
divorce?
This sentence shocked him just as much as when Ni Zhenzhen announced her marriage at the dinner party. He quickly took out his phone and sent a message to Su Wenjin: "There's something I don't know if I should tell you."
Su Wenjin saw the extremely provocative remark immediately, but deliberately ignored it.
It wouldn't be accurate to say he was wrong; he did curse in his mind, and if no one had been there, he probably would have said it aloud.
Perhaps the assistant realized that the previous sentence was somewhat inappropriate, because just as Su Wenjin was about to put down her phone, another message came in. This time, the first thing that caught her eye was an English name.
"It's about Flora."
Just a second later, the phone rang. Su Wenjin asked, "What's wrong?"
The assistant secretly rejoiced, realizing he hadn't been wrong.
The assistant said, "I just ran into her, and it seems she's... divorced."
“Impossible,” Su Wenjin said firmly.
He was so certain not because he was convinced their love was unbreakable, but because of a trivial matter.
Whenever Xu Tianzhou comes to a meeting, he always brings his own food, which Ni Zhenzhen prepares for him. Sometimes it's corn, sometimes it's purple sweet potato, and recently it's been upgraded to include sandwiches and sushi. Right now, there's a box of thick omelets in front of him. His assistant actually said that they're divorced. Who brings food to their ex-husband after a divorce?
unless……
Su Wenjin's eyes widened in horror as a possibility suddenly occurred to him. He put down his phone and turned to look at the person next to him, wanting to say something but unsure how to begin.
Zhang Wang didn't feel any reluctance to speak; this was the moment he had been waiting for.
In the meeting room, Zhang Wang sat down on the sofa with an air of nonchalance, acting as if he were in his own company. His voice boomed as he spoke, his eyebrows dancing with rage, "It's just a loan, right? Given our relationship, I could give it to you for free, but I know that even if I did, you wouldn't agree. Don't blame me for being blunt, but the reason you suddenly want to borrow money is because..."
Ni Zhenzhen only sat on a third of the sofa, placing her hands on her knees, neither humble nor arrogant, saying, "There's been a little trouble at home, and we need some money to tide us over."
"Impossible!" Zhang Wang laughed. "Isn't your family quite wealthy? One year, your family even sponsored the plane tickets for my study abroad trip."
Ni Zhenzhen smiled wryly: "That was a long time ago."
"Really? When did things start to go wrong? How did it get like this? Have you thought about any solutions? Who else have you borrowed money from? Did they all lend it to you? Aren't you embarrassed? What if you can't pay it back?"
Zhang Wang is like a journalist known for his sharp questions, wielding the big stick of justice like a pendulum, constantly hurling it at Ni Zhenzhen.
In his eyes, Ni Zhenzhen was like a vicious and ruthless crime boss. He relentlessly interrogated her, determined to make her recount the whole story. If some parts weren't vivid enough, he made her elaborate; if he wasn't satisfied with hearing her retell the story, he made her repeat it.
Ni Zhenzhen appeared calm and composed, treating this as a necessary step in the process of borrowing money, and she told Zhang Wang everything she knew.
Zhang Wang had actually heard about most of these things before, but he still listened with great interest.
When he had nothing more to say, he smacked his lips contentedly twice, then sighed deeply with profound emotion, “Alas, life is unpredictable.”
“But this is also your fault.” Zhang Wang’s eyes were full of sympathy. “Among those classmates back then, there were quite a few who liked you. If you had just flirted with any one of them, it wouldn’t have come to this… but it had to be him, ha…”
Without a doubt, Xu Tianzhou dumped her the moment he heard she owed so much money. How pitiful.
Zhang Wang had only half-full after exploiting Ni Zhenzhen to the point of exhaustion. He stood up and said to Ni Zhenzhen, "Sit down for a moment, I'm going to the restroom."
Instead of heading to the restroom, Zhang Wang found a secluded spot and made a phone call.
The call connected, and a chilling voice answered, "Hello?"
Zhang Wang asked with a grin, "Have you been busy lately?"
Xu Tianzhou didn't have time to waste words with him. "Do you have something to say? If not, I'm hanging up."
"No way." Zhang Wang couldn't help but feel smug. Last time he invited Ni Zhenzhen over to drink with him, Xu Tianzhou ruined the whole thing and he lost face. Now he finally had a chance to get revenge, so how could he let this opportunity pass? "You know your wife asked me for money? Oh, no, I mean your ex-wife."
Xu Tianzhou's expression changed drastically. The veins on his hand holding the phone bulged, and his tone turned even colder, "Lend her the money."
Zhang Wang thought he had misheard, and in an instant he flew into a rage, "What gives you the right to order me around?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Zhang Wang regretted it. How could he have been so impulsive, completely led by the nose by Xu Tianzhou? He was clearly the one in control. Those two were nothing more than insignificant ants, to be slowly toyed with and destroyed by Xu Tianzhou.
Zhang Wang sneered for a moment, then slowly uttered two words, "Beg me."
Xu Tianzhou paused, then said in a deep voice, "I beg you."
"What kind of attitude is this? You don't ask for help over the phone."
Xu Tianzhou suddenly stood up. "Where are you?"
“I am…” Zhang Wang remembered that Xu Tianzhou also worked in Huijing Center, but in a rice noodle shop on the basement floor.
It's truly pitiful. Xu Tianzhou has been here for so long, yet he has never had the chance to see the scenery above. He's lived his whole life like a sewer rat, never able to see the light of day.
“I’m upstairs from you, on the 53rd floor of Huijing Center. Come over here.”
Xu Tianzhou asked the person next to him, "What is the 53rd floor?"
The secretary replied, "Administration Department."
"You lead the way."
Xu Tianzhou followed his secretary, heading towards the stairs without hesitation. His steps were steady, his gaze sharp, seemingly forgetting the implications of his action. He simply asked Zhang Wang on the phone, "Is she here too?"
"Yes, they were just about to go out to eat with us. As long as they take good care of us, we can discuss the money. Oh, you're divorced now, so you shouldn't have any say in this, right?"
Xu Tianzhou tried his best to control himself, so that his tone sounded relatively calm, "You wait."
He hung up the phone after he finished speaking, leaving Zhang Wang's cold laugh to only echo in his own ears.
What do you mean, "I'll wait"? Does he really think the upstairs is a rice noodle shop where just anyone can walk in?
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