Chapter 21 Heart-to-Heart Talk: "You are strong, brave, and powerful."...
After carefully applying the band-aid, Zhang Minglang gestured for his assistant Zhou to leave, leaving only him and Tang Yi inside.
"What are your instructions, Mr. Zhang?" Tang Yi asked preemptively.
Zhang Minglang clasped his hands in front of his chest, his expression serious: "Are you aware of the rumors circulating in the company lately?"
Tang Yi was taken aback; she hadn't expected him to be so well-informed.
She lowered her voice: "I'm so sorry, Mr. Zhang, I was probably busy with the project and didn't maintain a proper distance between us..."
"Just how many of these platitudes have you memorized?" Zhang Minglang interrupted her, rubbing his forehead, upon hearing it was just another one of those polite phrases.
“This is not just empty talk; it’s my honest opinion.”
Zhang Minglang clutched his chest: "You'll drive me crazy sooner or later."
He took a few deep breaths, realizing that this kind of guidance was not working on her at all, so he went straight to the point: "I'll just ask you one question, why didn't you say anything when you knew you were being slandered?"
Tang Yi was suddenly reminded of this, and many memories of the past flashed through her mind.
How could I not have tried it? How could I never have mentioned it?
"I've spoken out and resisted, but does anyone care?" Tang Yi said with a self-deprecating laugh, unconsciously revealing her true feelings.
"I care."
Although her voice was barely audible, Zhang Minglang heard it clearly.
Tang Yi seemed surprised by his response and looked up at him. His gaze was firm as he looked directly into her eyes.
She was deeply moved and remained silent for a long time.
"Alright, you don't need to worry about this anymore. I will investigate this thoroughly in the next few days and show no leniency!" Zhang Minglang suddenly raised his voice and made his decision.
“Wait, Mr. Zhang! I don’t want my personal matters to affect the project. This is a critical time, and we can’t afford to have any distractions.”
Upon hearing this, Tang Yi quickly tried to dissuade him.
To everyone's surprise, he seemed to have succeeded in his plan, and sighed helplessly, "I have to provoke you like this before you'll tell the truth."
Tang Yi then realized that she had fallen into a trap.
She couldn't help but laugh silently, and Zhang Minglang laughed along with her.
“I didn’t lie to you, don’t worry. I’ll still investigate after the project is finished,” he said, taking out his phone to send a message to his assistant Zhou, then handing her the documents on the table and looking at her intently. “Let’s examine this server tracking record first.”
Tang Yi nodded, took the document, and sat down next to him.
The three of them spent the whole morning in the sofa lounge area, checking each item one by one to see if anything was wrong.
After flipping through a stack of documents, Zhang Minglang stretched his stiff neck and glanced at the clock on the wall, which had already turned twelve. He turned to look at the other two people, who were still engrossed in their work, sitting close together and quietly discussing their respective documents.
He squinted, suddenly finding the scene jarring and giving him a subtle sense of unease.
He cleared his throat, but they continued their discussion as if they hadn't heard him at all.
Zhang Minglang clicked his tongue and gave the order: "Tang Yi, it's twelve o'clock, go eat."
Tang Yi didn't have time to think about why he called her by her full name so naturally. She just raised her head and responded with a few "uh-huhs" before lowering her head again.
Zhang Minglang was even more annoyed, so he shifted his focus: "Zhou Le, he's off work this morning."
Assistant Zhou didn't hear him at all and ignored him completely.
"Hey you two..."
"Found it!"
Assistant Zhou's excited voice interrupted Zhang Minglang's grumbling.
Zhang Minglang didn't care about his own little schemes for a moment. He stood up abruptly, strode over to Tang Yi's side, and pushed aside Zhou, the assistant next to her.
Zhou, the assistant, was inexplicably being targeted and, bewildered, moved aside.
"This is Vice President Zhao's email. Only this one was deleted. It was sent to..." Assistant Zhou hesitated, pointing to the email address on the document.
Tang Yi frowned, her tone firm: "It belongs to Liu Zhang."
The two men turned to look at her.
“When you were giving him important responsibilities, Mr. Zhang, I prepared the work arrangements and sent them to his email, so I remember.”
Zhang Minglang was shocked: "Is that so?"
Tang Yi glanced at him lazily: "You didn't give us any time to hand over the information. Besides me, who else has the authority to access this information and forward it to him?"
Assistant Zhou quietly watched from the sidelines.
Zhang Minglang was left speechless after being confronted.
"Why would Vice President Zhao send an email to Liu Zhang..." Assistant Zhou leaned closer, as if trying to see something interesting out of those few pages.
Tang Yi had an idea in mind, but she didn't dare to say it out loud immediately.
"Alright, let's eat first. We can talk about it later." Seeing her frown thoughtfully, Zhang Minglang reached out and took the paper from her hand, then got up and walked out the door without allowing any argument.
"Sigh..." Tang Yi's hands suddenly felt empty, and she looked up at his back.
Assistant Zhou followed eagerly. After they went outside, Zhang Minglang turned around and, seeing that only he had followed, asked in a low, annoyed voice, "What are you doing following me?"
Assistant Zhou scratched his head: "Didn't you say we should eat first?"
I meant to say...
He was about to say something when he saw Tang Yi push open the door and come out out of the corner of his eye. He quickly stopped talking, walked over to Tang Yi, and cleared his throat.
Tang Yi looked at him with a puzzled expression: "I'm going to the cafeteria, Mr. Zhang. Don't you dislike eating in the cafeteria?"
Zhang Minglang, having his thoughts read, wasn't annoyed, but simply retorted, "What's it to you? I want to go now."
Tang Yi looked at him helplessly for a while: "Okay, Assistant Zhou, you and President Zhang go to the cafeteria first, I'm going to the restroom."
Zhang Minglang was secretly delighted and went ahead with his assistant Zhou.
"Mr. Zhang, what are our plans for this afternoon?"
Zhang Minglang chuckled, his eyes filled with determination: "We've found his inside man, everything will be easy now. This afternoon, contact the investigation team and start checking Liu Zhang's email and server browsing history. We need answers before the end of the day."
Assistant Zhou was listening attentively to the instructions and nodding frequently when his phone suddenly rang. He took it out to check.
"Why isn't Secretary Tang here yet?" Zhang Minglang looked up at the cafeteria entrance, then looked down at his wristwatch.
"President Zhang..."
"What's wrong? Why are you stammering?" Zhang Minglang looked away from him.
Assistant Zhou didn't dare to say anything more, but silently handed the phone to him.
In the chat box between Assistant Zhou and Tang Yi, there was a long text message sent by the other party.
[Tang Yi: Assistant Zhou, sorry to bother you. Please tell President Zhang that after much consideration, I think it's best not to go to the cafeteria to avoid unnecessary rumors. You two enjoy your meal, and remember that President Zhang doesn't touch ginger or garlic. Thank you. [clasped hands]]
After reading it quickly, Zhang Minglang was speechless.
Secretary Tang is truly a master of delaying tactics.
He handed the phone back to Assistant Zhou and got up to walk out the door.
"Mr. Zhang, where are you going? Aren't you going to eat?" Assistant Zhou quickly got up after seeing this.
Zhang Minglang opened the sterilizer, took out a plate, turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression: "Just because she lied to me about not coming to eat, I'm going to get angry and go on a hunger strike? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
"No, no, no!" Assistant Zhou ran over with a sheepish grin, denying it outright, but in his mind he was thinking that President Zhang wasn't incapable of doing something like this.
With key targets identified, the work progressed much faster. Around 5 p.m., Assistant Zhou hurriedly strode into the president's office with several folders in his hand.
Zhang Minglang watched the entire thing with a furrowed brow.
Even though he was mentally prepared and already knew about the leak of trade secrets, he still couldn't help but feel chilled when he actually saw the irrefutable evidence.
He put down the documents, took a long breath, and then gave the order: "Have Secretary Tang arrange an emergency meeting of the investigation team immediately. Not a single person can be missing."
Tang Yi knocked on the door and came in, her expression serious: "President Zhang, I've contacted all members of the investigation team and have them on standby at any time. When do you plan to hold a meeting?"
The two of them were on the same page again, their thoughts perfectly aligned. Zhang Minglang looked at him with approval: "Right now."
"There are two days left before Dingsheng's press conference. We will reach further conclusions and organize existing evidence by tonight at the latest. We will question suspicious persons to obtain their statements tomorrow and release them before the press conference the day after tomorrow."
Tang Yi quickly followed behind Zhang Minglang, hurriedly listing the work plan that needed to be completed in the next few days.
“Two days is enough.” Zhang Minglang walked into the conference room, turned to her and curled the corners of his mouth, his expression full of confidence.
The meeting lasted two hours in a high-intensity, secretive manner, and essentially finalized all subsequent procedures. By the time the meeting adjourned, night had completely fallen.
Tang Yi stayed behind to tidy up everything in the conference room, making sure no confidential documents were left behind. After a long day of tension, she finally relaxed a little.
When I returned to the 16th floor, it was already quiet. My colleagues had all left for the day, and everyone's desk was cluttered with all sorts of documents and miscellaneous daily necessities, making the entire work area extremely crowded.
Tang Yi walked around to her workstation and sat down, collapsing into the chair exhausted. She turned her head to look at the bustling traffic outside the large floor-to-ceiling window. The towering office buildings were still brightly lit, and the streets were still completely congested.
She put on her earphones and listened to music silently, too tired to speak or move.
Zhang Minglang was still there. He came out of the restroom and remembered that he had left something in the office, so he had to take the elevator down to get it.
He walked through the deserted work area, and as he passed Tang Yi's workstation, he glanced at it habitually.
"Wow!"
That glance would have been better if he hadn't looked at her at all, because he saw that there was actually someone sitting in her seat! He was so startled that he jumped back and couldn't help but swear, his voice even echoing in the empty building.
The long-haired woman touched her ear when she heard the noise.
Zhang Minglang stretched out his arm to block in front of him, nervously swallowing.
"Mr. Zhang? You haven't left yet?"
As the familiar voice rang out, Zhang Minglang's ears twitched, and he squinted to identify it carefully.
The woman turned her head, still holding a Bluetooth device in her hand, and looked at him with a bewildered expression.
"Tang Yi? What are you doing sitting here?"
Only when Zhang Minglang saw her face clearly did his heart settle back down. He patted his chest, trying his best to hide his wildly beating heartbeat from Tang Yi.
However, it was too quiet around her; how could she not hear it?
Seeing his defensive posture, clearly frightened, Tang Yi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You think I'm a female ghost?"
"What...what are you saying? Even a female ghost can't scare me." Zhang Minglang casually pulled up a chair from behind and sat down, stubbornly insisting on his words.
Tang Yi pretended not to have heard his loud profanity that echoed throughout the entire floor, and turned her face away. The bright lights outside the window shone on her face, reflecting through her frameless glasses.
Zhang Minglang leaned back, raised his hands to hold the back of his head, and sat comfortably behind her, watching the city view outside the window with her.
Tang Yi didn't hear him speak, so she turned her head to look at him and asked, "Mr. Zhang, what are you looking at here?"
“Me? I don’t know what I’m looking at,” Zhang Minglang said lazily, without moving an inch. “I’m just curious about what you’re looking at.”
"I didn't look at anything, I'm just... a little tired and want to space out." Tang Yi's voice was very soft and quiet.
"Fine, then I'll just sit here and do nothing. You have no reason to kick me out, right?" Zhang Minglang casually raised his chin.
Tang Yi scoffed, "I don't have that much power to interfere with your personal freedom."
"You're not controlling enough for me? You're always nagging me. One minute you're forbidding me from getting angry with the old man, the next you're telling me not to argue with Zhao Linrui."
After saying this, both of them keenly sensed that the atmosphere had suddenly become somewhat sticky and romantic, exceeding their control.
Tang Yi felt a sudden tightness in her chest, and she subconsciously reached out to brush aside a stray strand of hair.
Zhang Minglang did the same. He glanced to the side, pulled his hands out from behind his head, touched his clothes, and then touched his ears.
For a moment, no one said a word.
After what seemed like an eternity, Tang Yi finally spoke, but it was about something else entirely.
“When I first joined the company, I was very timid and naturally had a weak personality. It was General Manager Lin who supported me and gave me the opportunity to work and train. He also promoted me to Chairman Zhang from time to time, which made me go from being an unknown person to being seen now.”
Tang Yi's voice was soft, as if she were lost in memories. Zhang Minglang suppressed the urge to retort and chose to listen quietly as she continued.
"So when General Manager Lin was transferred and Chairman Zhang approached me, I was flattered. I am very grateful to them for recognizing my abilities and giving me this valuable opportunity. I still remember Chairman Zhang's well-intentioned words to me."
“My grandson is very straightforward, just like me back then, decisive and speaks his mind. He has offended countless people at the branch office with his mouth. Old Lin and I are old brothers, and I have long heard that you are thorough and meticulous in handling matters, which is why I thought of having you work with him so that you can help him to be more patient and deal with these things for him.”
She recounted to Zhang Minglang everything that Chairman Zhang had said to her that day, word for word.
Tang Yi turned her chair around to face him, her expression serious, and spoke slowly and deliberately to Zhang Minglang, who was deep in thought after listening to her words:
“I saw his good intentions, and I didn’t want his efforts to be in vain. Besides, I wanted to repay Chairman Zhang for his support. So I made up my mind to help you achieve the leap forward in Junmao’s business. I must remain emotionally stable and complement you, and be able to quickly put on the brakes when you get carried away.”
Tang Yi paused for a moment, her gaze gentle but firm: "So I hope you can also understand Chairman Zhang's good intentions. Everything he has done is to pave the way for you."
Zhang Minglang silently looked up into her eyes. In the darkness, she saw the glistening tears in his eyes.
Zhang Minglang lowered his head, trying to save face, not wanting her to see his vulnerability. Tang Yi also considerately turned her head to the side, not looking at him, giving him space to compose himself.
When he spoke again, his voice was much softer: "I've heard everything you said, but there's one thing I don't agree with."
Tang Yi gestured for him to continue.
He slowly raised his head, his tone firm and resolute: "You say you are inherently timid, I disagree."
Tang Yi didn't expect him to point out such a small detail. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then silently closed it again.
“A cowardly person would not become the chief secretary in just five years, always handling every detail and arranging everything in an orderly manner; a cowardly person would not work desperately and try to get along with their superior just because they want to repay a debt of gratitude.”
He looked at her and continued earnestly:
"Your character is by no means weak. In my heart, you are strong, brave, and powerful. You may be tired or vulnerable at times, but you are still a very strong secretary, and that is beyond doubt."
Tang Yi was completely stunned.
She felt a stinging sensation in her nose and a burning sensation in her heart, and silently looked at Zhang Minglang.
The bright neon lights outside the window pierced through the glass, reflecting on the folder cover on Tang Yi's desk and also in his eyes.
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