Chapter 69: The Exposure Has Been Discovered
Tang Yi woke up earlier than him because she had to go to work the next day. She stood in the bathroom brushing her teeth in front of the mirror, then remembered something and picked up her phone to order takeout.
While brushing her teeth, Tang Yi scrolled through WeChat. Many people had sent messages asking if there was any special meaning behind her actions at yesterday's charity gala. Tang Yi looked up, thought for a moment, and politely brushed them off with the same official statement.
She turned off her phone, knowing that today would inevitably be a bloodbath at the company. However, the man at the eye of the storm was still fast asleep in her guest room.
What time is it?
After rinsing her mouth, Tang Yi put the toothbrush back in its place and reached out to check her watch. Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back. Tang Yi was startled and instinctively stretched out her elbow and thrust it backward.
Suddenly, the pressure on my waist eased, and a muffled groan of pain came from behind me.
Tang Yi then realized it was Zhang Minglang. She quickly turned around and said apologetically, "Are you alright? I thought there was someone else..."
Zhang Minglang, clutching his stomach and with his head down, asked, "Are you trying to murder your husband, Tang Xiaoyi?"
Tang Yi paused in her movements. She withdrew her hand that was about to help him up, and said in a calm voice, "If he can still joke around, then it's not a big deal."
However, Zhang Minglang had anticipated her move. He quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, then stood up properly on his own.
The doorbell rang, and Tang Yi let go of his hand and went out to get it. She put breakfast on the table and handed another bag to Zhang Minglang, who was brushing his teeth in the bathroom.
His mouth was full of foam, making it hard to speak clearly. He mumbled his question, "Huh?"
Tang Yi shoved the plastic bag into his hand, said nothing, and turned to leave. Zhang Minglang then picked up a disposable cup, took a sip of water, rinsed his mouth, and hurriedly untied the plastic bag.
Inside, towels, toothbrushes, and mouthwash cups lay quietly; they'd even thoughtfully bought bathrobes and razors. He reached out and took out the unopened toothbrush, comparing it to Tang Yi's—they were the same! He glanced at the cups again; one black, one white—again, the same style!
Zhang Minglang swaggered out carrying the bag, while Tang Yi was having breakfast at the table.
"Saying one thing and meaning another, yet they actually bought matching couple items."
Tang Yi choked, swallowing the last bite of egg: "When did we buy matching couple items?"
Zhang Minglang confidently barged back, took her cup and toothbrush, then took his own out of the plastic bag and slapped it in front of her, saying matter-of-factly, "See for yourself."
Tang Yi looked closely and realized it was indeed the same style.
She glanced left and right and said, "I'm just used to buying the same brand, it's not intentional."
Zhang Minglang scoffed, assuming she was just being stubborn.
Tang Yi got annoyed when she saw him showing off, and urged him to wash his face and shave quickly, asking if he could have some sense of urgency about going to work.
Zhang Minglang scoffed: "I'm the boss. Who dares to say anything if I'm late?"
Tang Yi said expressionlessly, "I dare to curse you."
Zhang Minglang believed she would really scold him, so he obediently went back to continue washing up.
He didn't bring his car, but luckily Tang Yi hadn't drunk much yesterday, so he could only rely on her to give him a ride. As Tang Yi opened the door and walked out, she repeatedly warned him that once they arrived at the company, he should get out of the car a few dozen meters outside the parking lot and walk in by himself; he absolutely, positively must not walk into the company at the same time as her.
Zhang Minglang was carrying the red tie she had given him, and he was wearing a clean suit and shirt that she had arranged for a regular brand to deliver the day before. He casually replied, "Why can't you take me into the parking lot? It's so dark around here, no one can see me clearly."
Tang Yi only hesitated for a moment before refusing. She chattered on and on about the pros and cons, while he followed slowly behind her, feeling an indescribable happiness.
Did you hear me?
Tang Yi finally finished explaining all the precautions. She turned to ask him a question, only to see him with a gentle smile on his face, quietly staring at her.
He spoke, but it was about something completely unrelated: "Tang Yi, do you think every day will be like this if we get married?"
Tang Yi was stunned.
She blinked, thought about it seriously, and then shook her head: "No."
She looked up at the flashing numbers on the elevator screen and said, "People change after marriage. The daily grind, the pots and pans—who knows if someone might give up because of some mundane moment?"
Zhang Minglang was silent for a moment, then asked, "Are you against marriage?"
Upon hearing this, Tang Yi turned her head and smiled: "If I were you, would you break up with me?"
Zhang Minglang said as if he had heard something incredible: "How could we break up? I love you, not that marriage certificate."
Tang Yi looked at him intently for a long time before finally curving her lips into a smile: "I'm not opposed to marriage. I'll marry you if you treat me well, and I won't if you don't."
Zhang Minglang stepped forward and took her hand, which was hanging by her side: "I will be good to you."
Tang Yi's car stopped a few dozen meters from the parking lot. She turned around and said, "Get out, Mr. Zhang."
Just as Zhang Minglang was about to use his masterful tricks of lying, Tang Yi covered his mouth first: "Don't make excuses, I told you before I left."
Zhang Minglang had no choice but to slink off the car. However, he had barely stepped into the elevator when he was summoned by a phone call from Chairman Zhang.
The old man was clearly furious, even going so far as to come to the company specifically to confront him. He slammed the document showing the company's fluctuating stock price against his hand, angrily demanding, "Zhang Minglang, what exactly do you want?!"
However, Zhang Minglang walked past his desk, casually took the documents, sat down on the sofa, flipped through them, looked up and said, "What's going on? If I'm not mistaken, the stock price is rising, isn't it? Aren't I doing a great service to the company?"
Chairman Zhang was furious: "You're simply outrageous! You dare to secretly proceed with a project that the board hasn't approved, and you even dare to report it to the media. Do you even respect the board?"
Zhang Minglang shrugged, tossed the documents in his hand onto the coffee table, and said lightly, "Of course I respect the board of directors, so I hosted the charity dinner in my personal capacity the whole time. Everything went very smoothly, proving to those old devils on the board that their sycophantic decisions were not entirely correct."
As he spoke, his voice grew louder and louder, and the nonchalant expression on his face gradually disappeared.
“I’m doing the right thing,” Zhang Minglang leaned forward and answered his question calmly. “So now, can we have another board meeting to discuss whether this charitable project can bring Junmao the necessary social reputation?”
Looking at his grandson, Chairman Zhang suddenly felt as if he were seeing his younger self.
So decisive and ruthless, so headstrong and spirited, so convinced of every choice he made.
The only difference between him and Zhang Minglang was that Zhang Minglang was much luckier. Because he met Tang Yi, a perfect complement to him, when he was still young, he avoided many detours on this path compared to Chairman Zhang himself.
But he was still terrified.
After the dinner party was reported yesterday, social media was speculating whether Zhang Minglang had decided to start his own business, leave the family business, and rebuild his own business empire.
Chairman Zhang felt both apprehensive and gratified, but also worried and reluctant to let go.
However, when he looked up at Zhang Minglang, his ambitious eyes and confident demeanor were unmistakable.
He knew that this move was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather the result of long-term planning. He seized this opportune moment to take the first step in showcasing his future to the public.
Then Chairman Zhang lowered his head, his voice old and weary: "You may leave. I will contact your secretary tomorrow."
Despite his plan succeeding, Zhang Minglang didn't seem as happy as he had imagined. He slowly got up and left, but as he pushed open the door, he suddenly turned around and said, "Grandpa, I've grown up a long time ago."
He paused, looking a little embarrassed and awkward: "Even if I do something in the future, you will always be my only grandfather."
After saying that, he felt uneasy all over and, without paying any more attention to Chairman Zhang's expression, pushed open the door and quickly slipped away.
Mr. Zhang watched his grandson's figure disappear through the crack in the door. He stared at the door for a long time without looking away.
-
The board meeting was reconvened unexpectedly, and Tang Yi's project was approved unanimously. In the following week or two, Tang Yi became even busier. As the initial planner of the project, she naturally had to take on the main responsibility.
Tang Yi intended to involve Fang Zhen in the entire project, not only because she was born in Ju County and no one knew Ju County and its students better than her, but also because of Tang Yi's plans for the future.
The moment she decided to date Zhang Minglang, she spared no effort in teaching Fang Zhen everything she knew and possessed.
She hopes that through teaching, which may not last much longer, she can cultivate Fang Zhen into another version of Junmao.
In this way, even if she might have to change jobs or resign in the future, at least Zhang Minglang will still have Fang Zhen, whom she personally trained, to assist him.
If things go wrong, this teaching program might officially end the day Tang Yi and Zhang Minglang's relationship becomes public. But Tang Yi tries not to think that far ahead.
Fortunately, Fang Zhen is a very good person by nature. She is intelligent and quick-witted. Apart from being a little introverted at times, everything else about her is great.
Besides the project being approved and everything running smoothly, there was another major change affecting Tang Yi's daily life: Zhang Minglang stood at her door one weekend and moved in with several suitcases.
Tang Yi stared blankly as he carried a box inside, and was about to carry a second one, when she quickly stepped forward to stop him: "What are you doing...?"
Zhang Minglang stopped what he was doing, straightened up, and said righteously, "I've thought about this seriously for several days. In order to prevent the two of us from being defeated by the daily grind of living together, the best solution is for me to move in and live with you beforehand."
Tang Yi was so shocked by his inexplicable logic that her mind went blank for a moment, and this short interval gave him another chance to bring in the second box.
Tang Yi stopped him with a series of "Hey!" sounds. Just as she was about to say something, he interrupted her again: "You said last time that you worked for a long time before you bought this house, so I figured you definitely wouldn't want to move into my house, so I came."
Since there was no real resistance, Tang Yi reluctantly accepted his intrusion with his clothes and blankets.
Zhang Minglang then accepted Tang Yi's commuting service without any qualms.
After the budget meeting for the charity project in the afternoon, Tang Yi asked Fang Zhen to organize the meeting minutes and hand them to her. Then she followed the angry Zhang Minglang into the president's office.
As Fang Zhen watched Tang Yi's departing figure, recalling how President Zhang had just been furious in the conference room because of the finance department's perfunctory handling of the matter, she admired Tang Yi even more.
He's practically a god of emotional stability; he can handle President Zhang, who's just lost his temper, with ease.
Fang Zhen felt a chill run down her spine at the thought that she might have to face a boss like that in the future.
She dragged her feet to the printer and suddenly heard a group of colleagues gathered around the workstations, all secretly chatting. She heard the words "Secretary Tang" and "General Manager Zhang," and her gossipy nature was piqued. With the mindset of someone involved, she went over to eavesdrop.
"Haven't you noticed that Secretary Tang and President Zhang have been arguing much less lately?"
"This time it's really different! And recently, President Zhang's temper has improved a lot, so we've been working overtime less often, hahaha."
Tang Jiaxin, unlike her previous warning to Fang Zhen not to gossip about their relationship, leaned on the table and said seriously, "Moreover, I've noticed that the time intervals between their arrivals at the company have been very short lately. Basically, Secretary Tang has just arrived, and then President Zhang arrives right after."
"Yes, yes, I found that too!"
"Hold on, isn't the most obvious thing that their relationship has improved a lot now!" A colleague steered the conversation back to this point, then suddenly looked up and saw Fang Zhen shaking his head and sighing in the crowd. As if he had caught a witness, he stepped forward and said, "Xiao Fang, you've been attending meetings with Secretary Tang and General Manager Zhang every day lately, so tell me, is that really the case?"
All eyes immediately turned to Fang Zhen. She walked closer with an air of nonchalance and sighed, "They're arguing, of course they're arguing! Just now, President Zhang was yelling at the finance department in the meeting room, calling them good-for-nothings. And now, look, Secretary Tang is back in her office. I bet the two of them are arguing again right now."
Fang Zhen's words shattered the unanimous observation and speculation among the crowd. Several colleagues shook their heads and sighed, "What else is real?" A few more, with even greater foresight, walked back to their workstations with their coffee cups, reminding everyone, "Let's take advantage of this opportunity to have some fun. In a few days, when they start arguing, we probably won't have a chance to slack off anymore!"
Even more audacious, he seized the opportunity and bluntly asked if anyone wanted to make a bet: how many days would it take for President Zhang and Secretary Tang to reconcile? Before the words were even out of his mouth, he raised his hand: "I bet a week!"
After several days of observation and speculation, Tang Jiaxin still did not believe that everything she saw was unfounded. She shook her head, convinced that there was definitely something between the two of them.
Her declaration was: If it's true, so what if I ship it? If it's false, so what if I ship it!
The discussion was lively both outside and inside.
The man who had just been reprimanding executives in a meeting was now holding Secretary Tang, the rumored "argument target," around the waist, burying his head in her neck, not caring about messing up or wrinkling her shirt, like a clingy big dog.
"Just one kiss... I'll let you go after one kiss."
She came to reason with him and calm him down, but somehow he ended up clinging to her waist while making his accusations.
Tang Yi remembered that Fang Zhen had just finished organizing the meeting minutes and brought them in, so she was paying extra attention to the closed door. Now that he was holding her back and wouldn't let her leave, she was getting anxious, and her smile became even more pronounced.
"I've said it before, you're not allowed to mix public and private matters."
Tang Yi's voice was icy cold. Zhang Minglang lifted his head from her shoulder and tried to take the opportunity to kiss her, but she had already anticipated his actions.
Without a word, she pulled her hand away and swiftly swung it towards Zhang Minglang's face, but he grabbed her wrist even faster.
He lowered his head, his nose lightly touching her palm, took a deep breath, and when he looked up again, a lazy smile played on his lips.
“Found it,” he said in a hoarse voice, his fingertips tracing the smooth skin of her wrist. “So this is what was on the tie you gave me.”
fragrance. "
Tang Yi felt a sudden burning sensation in her ears, and naturally recalled that feverish, scalding night when he held her hand, his fingertips deftly circling around hers, untying her tie knot.
A burning hot person, burning hot hands, burning hot chest, burning hot lips.
Tang Yi's eyelashes trembled slightly, her mind was a complete blank, and she had only one clear thought: get out of his arms as soon as possible.
She tried to free her wrists but to no avail. In a moment of desperation, she simply raised her leg and thrust it towards his groin.
Zhang Minglang used a little force and easily trapped Tang Yi's legs tightly between his thighs. The slightly cool fabric of the suit pants rubbed against her legs, making Tang Yi unsteady. One of her hands was still held, so she could only use her other hand to brace herself against the edge of the table behind her to maintain her balance.
This undoubtedly provided Zhang Minglang with great convenience. He also reached out, his large hand loosely enveloping her hand on the table. The crisp sleeves of her shirt were rolled up above her forearms, the veins showing through her skin, faintly visible.
Zhang Minglang pressed closer, his lips just inches away from hers.
He smiled, glanced down, then looked up again, his voice teasing and pointed, "You can't touch this place carelessly. This place concerns your happiness for the rest of your life, don't you think?"
Tang Yi hadn't expected this person to actually have the nerve to say something so blatant. Her eyes darted around, instinctively trying to find a point of focus for her gaze. Then she saw that the door, which had been tightly closed just moments before, had been opened a crack.
Tang Yi was startled and kicked him. Zhang Minglang was still hit hard. He groaned, clutched a certain spot, and bent over backward, his back hitting the bookshelf against the wall.
The folder Fang Zhen was holding slipped from her arms and fell to the ground. She stared in disbelief at Secretary Tang and President Zhang, who should have been having a heated argument in the office.
Her mouth was still slightly agape in shock. She pointed to her hand, unaware that the documents were already lying on the floor, and said, "I...I came to deliver the meeting minutes..."
After saying that, as if remembering something, she reached out and pointed to the door in front of her, feeling like she might be fired the next second for stepping into the company door with her left foot first. Her voice trembled as she said, "I really did knock, but no one answered, so I..."
Not only Fang Zhen, but Tang Yi was also stunned on the spot, her mind about to explode.
Three out of the three people were devastated.
The two looked at each other in bewilderment, one clutching his groin and still struggling in pain.
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