Chapter 79 Going: The Empress's Status, the Brothel's Practices! ...
Yesterday's dinner ended, and the promise of reconciliation between the two companies naturally fell through. Instead, from that day on, it seemed that President Li was determined to oppose Junmao, and the two companies began to pull at each other and confront one another.
To this end, Zhang Minglang used his best tactic in the branch office: he had no bottom line and fought and snatched everything.
They completely disregarded the other party's feelings.
Tang Yi finally had the chance to explain to him what she had forgotten to say last night for some unavoidable reason. She explained the relationship between Zhao Linrui and Zhao Li that she had found out, and suggested that the two were very likely connected in private.
"In short, be careful. Some places are fine for fun, but don't really upset people." Tang Yi was somewhat worried. She felt that the seemingly random things that President Li and Zhao Li said at the dinner were all loaded with hidden meanings.
When Zhao Linrui was involved, Zhang Minglang's expression became more serious, but he still reassured her.
The last charity gala truly restored Zhang Minglang's reputation and influence. People aren't stupid; they can see that under the leadership of a young and energetic figure like Zhang Minglang, Junmao has become increasingly vibrant. And the Li Group, which was supposed to be its rival, should have been a thing of the past long ago.
November passed slowly but busily, and as the frigid December began, the already crumbling Li Group was gradually declining amidst internal and external strife.
Junmao began to engage in acquisition work, and Zhang Minglang took advantage of the situation, calculating the psychological expectations of the other company, lowering the price, and forcing them to argue internally whether to take the opportunity to sell.
He told Li Linna to keep an eye on her father's company, warning her against it changing its name overnight, and he kept his word.
He wanted them to know that a cup of water splashed in their face could eventually bring them a devastating torrent.
At this crucial moment, an urgent contract needed to be signed in the neighboring city. Zhang Minglang was busy with his work here and naturally couldn't get away.
Despite his reluctance, he had no choice but to accept the fact that he was about to part ways with Tang Yi and hand the contract over to Tang Yi to sign.
It was time to leave work, and most of her colleagues had already left. With only a few hours left, Tang Yi had to catch a ride to the airport.
Inside the CEO's office, Zhang Minglang ignored Tang Yi's objections, placed a blanket on the table, and pulled her to sit on it. He spread his arms, braced them against her legs, and held her tightly in his embrace, looking up at her pitifully.
“I specifically left Fang Zhen behind on this business trip. If there’s anything I can’t handle, just ask her.” Tang Yi lowered her head and stroked the red tie hanging down his chest from top to bottom.
Ever since Tang Yi gave him this tie, Zhang Minglang has worn it every day, and his other ties haven't seen the light of day for a long time.
Zhang Minglang leaned his head closer, and Tang Yi naturally placed her hand on his head and gently touched his hair.
He released his arms from hers, hugged her waist tightly, and said in a low voice, "Don't forget me when you go on a business trip. Video chat with me often."
"Okay," Tang Yiyi replied.
The two lingered for a while longer, but Tang Yi said they really couldn't delay any longer, so Zhang Minglang reluctantly let go of her and lifted her off the table.
Stepping out of the president's office, they reverted to their distinct roles as President Zhang and Secretary Tang.
Zhang Minglang pretended to talk to her about work and followed her all the way to the company gate. The driver was already waiting there. Tang Yi pushed a small suitcase that had been prepared in advance and said goodbye to him at the door.
Given their respective positions, Zhang Minglang could no longer see her off. He stopped, turning back every few steps to watch Tang Yi's car drive away.
Tang Yi left, and Zhang Minglang went home alone after get off work.
The door was turned by the key, and Xiaobai inside heard the noise and came running over with elegant steps, gently rubbing against Zhang Minglang's ankle.
Zhang Minglang changed his shoes, reached out and haphazardly pulled off the neatly tied tie around his neck. As he was about to throw it away, he suddenly paused, then carefully took the tie back and neatly folded it in his hand.
That was a gift from Tang Yi; it can't be thrown away carelessly.
Even though he's very annoyed right now because she's away on a business trip.
The air in the room was thin and cool; breathing it in through the nose and lungs gave a feeling of moisture yet sharpness. Zhang Minglang lay down on the sofa, still wearing his suit jacket.
If Tang Yi is home, she'll urge him to hang up his coat to avoid wrinkling it, and then ask him to turn on the air conditioner or heater. Then she'll go to the bathroom to remove her makeup, with water flowing continuously from the faucet, and Zhang Minglang will sit on the sofa watching her scoop up a handful of water and gently splash it on her face.
Tang Yi was away on a business trip. Zhang Minglang looked again at the half-open bathroom door from afar; no one was there.
There was an emptiness in his heart, the place where he used to hold Tang Yi.
Zhang Minglang didn't turn on the air conditioner or hang up his coat. He lay quietly on the sofa, his hands clasped over his clothes over his stomach, lost in thought.
Xiao Bai meowed softly, then leaped lightly onto the sofa and paced back and forth beside Zhang Minglang's head. He realized what was happening, propped himself up on his arms, and went to add more cat food to Xiao Bai's bowl.
Xiao Bai followed closely behind. Zhang Minglang reached out and stroked the fur on its head, which had become messy from rubbing against his trousers and hair. Watching it wolf down its food, he felt a strange sense of exasperation.
"Eating so happily, didn't you even notice your mother was away on a business trip?"
Cats, of course, don't understand human speech; they just keep their heads down and eat.
Zhang Minglang continued stroking its fur, when suddenly an idea flashed into his mind. He took out his phone from his pocket, opened the camera, pointed it at the little white dog who was engrossed in eating, and muttered to himself:
"You ate the cat food I poured for you, so it's only right that you help me with something." Zhang Minglang stroked Xiaobai, finding a suitable excuse for his behavior.
He stared intently at his own hand on the phone screen, but then complained that the lighting was too poor and the hand didn't look long enough. So he straightened up and turned on the living room ceiling light, even using a little force to keep the veins on his hand clearly visible before finally pressing the shutter button with satisfaction.
On the elevated highway, inside the speeding car, Tang Yi held her phone in her palm and turned to look at the colorful night scene outside the car window.
Everything seemed to be blurred by a Gaussian blur; the phone remained quietly off, and no one sent any messages.
Tang Yi lowered her eyelashes, a strange sense of melancholy rising in her heart.
It was just a perfectly normal short business trip, so she didn't understand what was wrong with her.
The phone emitted a faint light, and Tang Yi almost instantly lowered her head and flipped the phone over.
Zhang Minglang sent me a video.
Her lips had unconsciously curved into a smile, but she didn't notice. She cautiously turned the volume down very low. With a light tap, the video started, but there was no sound.
Tang Yi frowned and turned the volume up a notch, but Zhang Minglang's low voice suddenly came out.
"Xiao Bai, sigh, all you ever do is eat. Do you know that your mother has completely abandoned us?"
Tang Yi smiled as she held the phone to her ear.
In the video, Zhang Minglang continued, "...What? You're saying you miss your mom too?"
The sound of clothes rubbing could be heard in the video, and then his voice disappeared for a moment. Tang Yi felt a ticklish sensation, as if she had been scratched by Xiao Bai.
She wanted to press the volume up button, but remembered that the driver in the front seat was a company-appointed driver. Tang Yi could only suppress that strange feeling and hold the phone even closer.
The sound of clothes rubbing together disappeared into the microphone, and everything became quiet. Tang Yi could hear his breathing.
So, with a premonition, she heard the rest of Zhang Minglang's unfinished sentence.
"...Nonsense, who wouldn't miss her?"
Low-pitched, aggrieved, and somewhat awkward.
Tang Yi was stunned for a moment, then a smile spread across her lips.
As the video drew to a close, Tang Yi took the phone away from her ear and slowly typed a few words:
[Recliner: I miss Xiaobai too.]
She put her phone away, just like she had a few minutes earlier, and placed it between her clasped hands.
Tang Yi turned to look out the window again. The car was still speeding along, but the blurry view outside the window gradually became clearer. She wondered if it was a hallucination, so she closed her eyes and opened them again. In a moment, she could actually see two small flowers hidden in the roadside green belt, weakly twirling together in the wind.
In a moment of confusion, Tang Yi's gaze focused on the reflection in the car window, where she saw her own smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.
Unaware of the situation, Xiaobai becomes a link between two lovers who are far apart, a seemingly hidden and reserved link that they both understand.
Zhang Minglang thought it would be a simple contract signing, but the other party turned out to be exceptionally difficult, thus the battle lines were silently drawn out, and he could only wait in frustration.
On the third night of Tang Yi's business trip, all the gossip among the secretarial department colleagues turned to the first post on WeChat Moments by President Zhang since he joined the company, a post he never makes on Moments.
There were no words, only a picture. The picture showed a completely black Devonian cat lying on a sofa, its fur glossy and shiny in the sunlight streaming through the window, clearly well cared for by its owner.
Everyone was confused when they liked or flattered her, but only Tang Yi, who was on a business trip in another province, knew what it meant.
It's simply that Xiaobai misses her.
Or rather, Zhang Minglang was thinking about her again.
Aside from everyone else who was completely bewildered, Tang Jiaxin sensed something was off the moment she saw the cat picture. This feeling of unease persisted until she went to work the next morning.
Tang Jiaxin leaned back in her chair, repeatedly zooming in and out of the cat photo with two fingers, hissing occasionally as if she were pondering something.
After listening to the hissing sound all morning, Li Da finally couldn't take it anymore and asked, "Tang Jiaxin, are you a snake? Why are you hissing like that?"
"You don't know anything, I'm thinking." Tang Jiaxin glanced at him, then continued to stare at the cat pictures on her phone with her chin in her hand.
"That can't be right, Mr. Zhang's cat looks so familiar..."
Li Da stepped back, looking wary, and said, "Have you gone mad from working? Where did you even know Mr. Zhang's cat?"
Tang Jiaxin didn't reply to him, but instead tried earnestly to find some distant memories in the picture that could prove she did recognize the cat.
However, it was all in vain.
On the fourth day of Tang Yi's business trip, the secretariat, led by Fang Zhen, clasped their hands together and pleaded with the other company to quickly sign the contract and return Secretary Tang.
Tang Jiaxin was also standing at her workstation, holding a pen in her hand, propping her arm up on the table as she sighed, "I miss the emotionally stable President Zhang. When exactly is Secretary Tang coming back? Can you give me a definite answer?"
Upon hearing this, a colleague couldn't help but look up: "What kind of secret technique does Tang have that allows him to extinguish President Zhang's anger with just a simple move?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Zhen quietly shook his head.
What other tricks could there be? The tricks of love!
On the fifth day of Tang Yi's business trip, Zhang Minglang felt that things couldn't continue like this.
I quietly posted a few ambiguous messages on my WeChat Moments. Apart from receiving feedback from Tang Yi after Xiaobai's first appearance on camera, nothing else happened.
So he racked his brains and came up with a brilliant idea.
-
"Ms. Tang, don't take it to heart. Our boss, Mr. Qian, has been extremely busy lately and really doesn't have time to deal with the contract. I'll have to trouble you to come again tomorrow afternoon."
Tang Yi clasped her hands together in front of her, inwardly rolling her eyes a thousand times, but on her face she wore a flawless smile: "Okay, I'll come again tomorrow."
Secretary Qian turned and left with an apologetic look on his face. Tang Yi stood there and gently rotated her ankle.
He waited patiently for a long time, only to be dismissed with a single sentence, yet he still had to pretend he didn't care.
Tang Yi was furious but had nowhere to vent her anger, so she turned and walked towards the door. Just as she was about to pick up her phone to check the time, the screen lit up, and Zhang Minglang sent her a picture.
[Chapter: [Image]]
[Chapter: What do you think should we feed Xiaobai today?]
Tang Yi hurriedly looked up to see the license plate, only glancing briefly at her phone; it looked like several bags of different brands of cat food.
Why ask her about such a trivial matter?
She hesitated for a moment, then without even opening the picture, gave a perfunctory reply, put her phone away, and went out to take a car back to the hotel.
On the other end, Zhang Minglang had just finished working out and came out of the bathroom, still damp from the sweat. The first thing he did was reach for his phone.
Tang Yi sent him a message a dozen minutes ago. Before opening it, he imagined Tang Yi's reaction and couldn't help but smile.
However, the next second, the corners of his mouth that were raised instantly flattened.
The other side only sent four words: "The one on the left."
The one on the left?
That's it?
Zhang Minglang stared wide-eyed as he opened the carefully posed and selected photos, finding it hard to believe how severely his charm had declined.
He reached out and pulled the towel off his hair, immediately deciding to continue posing for photos and carry out his going plan.
Over the next few hours, his conversations with Tang Yi unfolded as follows:
[Chapter: Freshly Fried Eggs]
[Chapter: [Image]]
[Recliner: [Strong]]
[Zhang: I just wiped the kitchen faucet. Could you check if there's anything still dirty?]
[Chapter: [Image]]
[Recliner: It's quite clean, thank you for your hard work.]
[Zhang: Which tie do you think I should wear tomorrow?]
[Chapter: [Image]]
The phone next to her lit up again. Tang Yi reached up to adjust her glasses, shifting her gaze from the computer screen to her phone.
What's Zhang Minglang up to? Why is he posting so many trivial things all afternoon?
She was about to click in and say a few perfunctory words when her eyes glanced up and she suddenly noticed something wrong with the picture he posted.
She clicked on the image, and the moment it loaded, she was visually shocked. Tang Yi's hand holding the phone trembled violently, and the phone fell to the ground. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and grabbed the charging cable, preventing it from crashing straight down.
Tang Yi blinked quickly, a suspicious blush rising on her cheeks.
She slowly reached out to unlock her phone, and the culprit that had caused her to drop it was clearly visible on the screen.
In the photo, Zhang Minglang is wearing two ties of different colors around his neck, both hanging straight down in front of his chest. However, his upper body is completely naked, revealing his chest and abdominal muscles. The lines of his lower abdomen extend clearly into the towel wrapped around his waist.
His entire upper body was flushed red from the steam, his face was obscured by his phone, and his slightly drooping, unkempt hair was not dried. Upon closer inspection, small water droplets could be seen clinging to the strands of hair, looking as if they were about to fall off.
It's just choosing a tie; you could have simply laid it out on the bed sheet for her to see. The fact that you had to use this indirect approach is clearly intentional.
The Empress's status, the brothel's practices!
These eight words immediately popped into Tang Yi's mind.
Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration. She reached out and scrolled through his incoherent chat, clicked on the picture, and her eyes widened slightly.
In the first picture, two bags of cat food are neatly placed side by side on the table, but for some reason, behind the cat food is a round mirror that should have been on her dressing table.
In the small mirror, his well-defined abdominal muscles were clearly visible.
Tang Yi's eyelids twitched, and she swiped right on the screen once, then right again.
What about frying eggs, what about wiping faucets?
It was clear that he had painstakingly found various reflective spots in his home, and then unintentionally displayed the results of his training.
Perhaps realizing that she hadn't noticed the hidden trick, the pictures this person sent became increasingly undisguised. From a small mirror placed far behind the cat food, to the reflection of a stainless steel faucet, and finally, they simply stopped pretending and took selfies in front of the mirror, euphemistically calling it "choosing a tie."
Tang Yi silently mocked his scheming in her heart, but couldn't hide her beaming smile on her face.
Food and sex are human nature.
Who can resist abs that are generously offered to them for free?
After Tang Yi went back and zoomed in to examine the image closely, she felt like teasing him. She simply logged out and, without warning, made a video call to Zhang Minglang.
While Zhang Minglang was anxiously waiting for news, he was caught off guard when he saw the video chat message from Tang Yi on his phone. His eyes widened suddenly, and he hurriedly took off the bathrobe he was wearing, cleared his throat, and answered the call.
Tang Yi's face, which hadn't been seen for a long time, appeared on the screen. She was still wearing those frameless glasses, one hand supporting her chin, squinting and smiling at him without saying a word.
Seeing that she remained silent and did not speak, Zhang Minglang also held up his phone and smiled at her.
The two of them hadn't said a word, yet their loving eyes seemed to have conveyed every touching love story in the world.
Zhang Minglang's legs, which were crossed, were a little numb. After adjusting his posture, a patch of skin flashed across the screen. He looked up and saw Tang Yi's eyes sweeping downwards, raising an eyebrow.
He finally spoke, his voice brimming with barely concealed amusement: "What are you doing? You video call but aren't saying anything?"
Tang Yi raised her lips: "What are you doing?"
"Me?" Zhang Minglang glanced down at himself, his tone casual. "I'm busy seducing you."
Tang Yi looked away, moving her hand that was supporting her chin to her lips to cover the corners of her mouth, but Zhang Minglang could easily see her mood from the crescent-shaped eyes she revealed.
Zhang Minglang leaned back, intentionally or unintentionally tilting his phone down to reveal his large abs, and then casually complained, "Sometimes it's really frustrating; all your efforts are just like throwing a flirtatious glance at a blind person."
Tang Yile spoke up. She held her phone upright in front of the computer screen, propped her arms on the small coffee table, and shrugged her shoulders.
Her voice sounded somewhat coaxing: "Which two ties were those? I didn't look closely."
Zhang Minglang was stunned for only a moment before he understood what she meant. He stood up with great joy, turned around and strode into the room, and soon returned carrying two ties.
Tang Yi told him to slow down: "So that the towel doesn't fall off later."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Minglang bent down and smiled at the small phone screen, replying, "So what? Isn't this a perk for you?"
Tang Yi chuckled: "I don't do things that risk getting my account banned."
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Zhang Minglang didn't sit down for a while, and in the video, you could only see half of his strong waist and abdomen, and half of his thigh under the towel casually wrapped around his crotch.
Zhang Minglang was tying his tie. His forearms and the backs of his hands, with their prominent veins, occasionally brushed against the towel, flashing briefly in the shot. Tang Yi actually felt her face burning, perhaps because the heating was on too high; beads of sweat even appeared on the bridge of her nose.
She reached out to take off her glasses, which she could no longer wear, and while doing so, she brought her face close to the computer screen and gently fanned herself with her hand.
As Tang Yi sat back down, she glanced at the other side of the video. Zhang Minglang had just finished tying his tie and then bent his knees forward, kneeling straight down in front of the camera.
Tang Yi's eyes widened instantly, and the temperature on her face, which had just dropped slightly, began to rise rapidly.
Zhang Minglang's face appeared in the video, two ties dangling precariously from his bare chest. He reached out and grabbed one of them, tossing it behind him until it became a bare ring around his neck.
Tang Yi lowered her eyelashes.
Can I say that?
It looks a bit like... a collar around a dog's neck.
Her dog, seemingly oblivious, tugged at its tie, pulling itself forward with clear, innocent eyes, and asked earnestly, "How about this one?"
I can't watch anymore.
Alarm bells rang in Tang Yi's mind. She quickly looked away, her voice muffled: "...The colors are quite nice."
Seeing her reaction, Zhang Minglang's voice softened, and he sighed helplessly, "But you didn't even look at it, Tang Xiaoyi."
Tang Yi blinked even faster, realizing her secret had been exposed. She glanced briefly at her phone screen, then quickly looked away: "I've finished reading it, it's good."
Zhang Minglang nodded slowly, reached out and grabbed the other one, persisting in asking, "What about this one?"
Tang Yi took a few subtle deep breaths, stared straight at the tie in his hand, and said in a flat, robotic voice, "Ugly."
"So you don't like any of them?" Zhang Minglang leaned forward, his face instantly magnified several times in the camera's view. A mischievous chuckle lingered in his voice as he suggested, "Why don't you buy me a new one when you get back from your business trip?"
He didn't hear Tang Yi's response as he hoped. After a pause on the other end, he heard the phone beep.
Tang Yi hung up the video call.
Zhang Minglang stared at his phone for a moment, then braced himself on the ground, looked down, and smiled.
He'd been holding back his bad intentions for too long, and once he started, he couldn't stop.
It seems like things have gone a bit too far.
What could he do? Without sacrificing the physique he had specially trained for her, how could he expect Tang Yi to spare a moment from her busy schedule to pay attention to him?
He sighed softly, pulled off the tie that was tightening around his neck, wrapped it around his palm a few times, reached for his phone on the table, and saw a message from Tang Yi.
[Wife: The phone just came in.]
As if she felt it wasn't convincing enough, she sent another message, seemingly trying to cover up her misunderstanding:
Wife: Don't misunderstand.
Zhang Minglang stared at the three words, then looked up at the new nickname he had just changed to, and chuckled to himself for a long time.
My wife is so cute.
He pressed the voice button with his finger, his voice still carrying a hint of amusement: "Don't forget to send me a tie."
The other person seemed to have gone completely silent. It's unclear whether they even listened to the voice message. The chat between the two people ended abruptly.
In two cities far apart, they were each in their own corner of the world, yet they were both holding their phones and laughing, their hearts burning with the same passion.
Author's note: I enjoyed writing this! [shy]
If you keep being all sticky and mushy, I'll make you two fight tomorrow!
The number of favorites has actually exceeded 1000! When I first started writing, I really didn't expect it to be like this today. I have a personality that likes internal struggles, and I'm always worried that my level is not good enough (which is true [crack]). I can't clearly express my ideas about the growth of President Zhang and Tangtang.
So thank you so much for all the little angels' support!!
Whether you've been here all along or found me later, I really wouldn't have been able to keep going this far without your support. [heartbroken]
I've been incredibly busy lately, but I'll try my best to keep updating daily! I want to give President Zhang and Tangtang a complete and beautiful ending because I truly love them, I've always loved them so much.
Enough with the rambling. There are red envelopes dropping in the comments section of this chapter! Just a little celebration, hehe~
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