Chapter 84 Drunk: "I don't not love you, Tang Yi."...
When Tang Yi woke up in the morning, she sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the water glass on the bedside table, her hand pressed against her forehead, quietly lost in thought.
I feel like I was delirious from the fever yesterday.
She felt that not long after she got home and went to bed yesterday, a pair of warm, wet lips pressed against her forehead.
It must be a hallucination.
They were in a meeting then, how could it be him?
Tang Yi shook her head, trying to clear the various vague images from her mind.
As soon as Tang Yi stepped into the work area, Tang Jiaxin grabbed her arm as she rushed towards her. She said urgently, "Secretary Tang, quickly check the news! One of the shareholders of the Li Group, which President Zhang has been discussing acquiring, has suddenly come forward and made a self-incriminating statement!"
Tang Yi's heart skipped a beat. Tang Jiaxin pulled her to sit down and turned on the computer.
The screen lit up, and a bold, black news headline immediately caught the eye:
Li Group Shareholders Reveal Internal Tax Issues; Could Junmao's Acquisition Be Accelerating?
Her tense shoulders relaxed the moment she saw the headline.
The fact that the other company has tax problems means that Junmao can more easily control the other party and quickly finalize the acquisition.
She recalled the evidence Zhang Minglang had gathered. The rumors about them were orchestrated by the Li Group.
If Junmao can seize the opportunity and complete the acquisition in one fell swoop, they will be able to thoroughly investigate and expose this despicable business conspiracy to the public.
However, as Tang Yi scrolled down with her mouse, she suddenly caught sight of a name that was all too familiar.
Zhao Li.
The shareholder who came forward to reveal his identity was Zhao Li.
Her heart, which had just been pounding with joy, suddenly sank.
To cash out, or to seize power.
Zhao Li's move is certainly not simple.
Tang Yi silently stared at the text on the computer screen. Her gaze shifted, and she suddenly noticed a piece of paper on the table. Curious, she picked it up and saw that it was a resignation letter.
Tang Yi remembered that a few days ago, a colleague from the HR department had told her that a resignation application would be sent to Tang Yi for approval in a few days.
Holding the resignation letter, she walked heavily towards the president's office. Her mind was filled with the news of Zhao Li's self-disclosure and the complex situation behind it.
She pushed open the door and went in. Zhang Minglang was standing with his back to her, talking on the phone by the window. Hearing the noise, he turned around, his tired face softening.
"Okay, everything is going according to plan. We'll start releasing them gradually tomorrow. Hmm."
Zhang Minglang quickly gave a few instructions and then put down his phone. He took a few steps forward and asked gently, "Do you still have a fever?"
Upon hearing this, Tang Yi suddenly recalled the hallucination she had experienced on her forehead when she woke up that morning.
Could it be... that Zhang Minglang really canceled his meeting yesterday afternoon and came back early to take care of her?
Before Tang Yi could explain, she saw the man's gaze shift downwards and stop on her hand, his pupils suddenly contracting.
For a moment, he even felt tinnitus.
His brow furrowed instantly, and he strode forward, grabbing her wrist.
"What is this?" He stared at the paper in her hand, his anger rising. "You want to resign? You're not even willing to discuss it with me before you just walk away?"
Tang Yi was clearly still in shock; she squinted in confusion and asked, "...What?"
From his reaction, Tang Yi suddenly realized that this person was imagining something again.
She recalled his inexplicable estrangement a few days ago, and a mixture of resentment and vengeful pleasure made her swallow back the words of explanation that were on the tip of her tongue.
Tang Yi raised the corners of her mouth and went along with his words, saying, "Didn't you take the initiative to keep your distance from me? Now that I'm taking the initiative to leave, you won't have to worry about our relationship anymore. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"
"A win-win situation?" Zhang Minglang was stung by her nonchalant tone and repeated incredulously, "You think the reason I've been refraining from contacting you and clinging to you all these days is because of this?"
Zhang Minglang took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, but of course, he failed. He tightened his grip on her wrist.
"Tang Yi, when I saw you crying at the restaurant that day, I wondered if I had made a mistake. If I had acted more maturely, listened to you sooner, and given you enough space, perhaps... you wouldn't have been implicated by me, and you wouldn't have had to endure all that scolding..."
His voice trailed off, trying to control the tremor in his voice: "Every single day since I decided to keep my distance from you at the company, I've regretted it! Now you're handing in your resignation, and I know you'll get tired of this sooner or later, but I just can't seem to calm down..."
As Tang Yi listened to his honest words, all the words she had said in anger stuck in her throat, and she felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
No one had told her how to respond to such direct emotions. Her mind was in a mess, and she instinctively wanted to run away.
Just as he was about to leave, Tang Yi raised her hand again and slammed the resignation letter against his chest.
"You...read it and then approve it."
After saying this, Tang Yi lowered her head and hurriedly left.
He lowered his head, took the paper, slowly unfolded it, and forced himself to look at it carefully.
"Dear Mr./Ms. Zhang, my name is Wang Ling, and I joined the company on [date]..."
Zhang Minglang's gaze, which had been rapidly scanning the paper, paused and slowly returned to its original direction.
My name is Wang Ling.
He blinked hard and opened his eyes again, repeatedly making sure he hadn't misread the words.
It's Wang Ling, not Tang Yi.
It's not Tang Yi!
Zhang Minglang didn't know how to describe his feelings at that moment.
A sense of relief?
A survivor?
He could only feel like a balloon that had been inflated to its limit, and the moment he saw clearly, he suddenly felt relaxed all over, followed by a belated sense of embarrassment.
Tang Yi used a basic attack, and he accidentally used his ultimate skill in a panic.
Zhang Minglang walked stiffly toward the door, only to bump into Fang Zhen as he opened it. She reported somewhat hurriedly, "Mr. Zhang, the public relations department says there's a new development."
Zhang Minglang cleared his throat, concealing his earlier vulnerability, and asked, "Where is Assistant Zhou?"
"We're already in the conference room."
Zhang Minglang nodded, having no choice but to put those thoughts aside once again, and walked towards the conference room.
After finally getting off work, Tang Yi recalled what she had overheard in the president's office during the day, and felt her mind was in turmoil, unsure of how to handle it.
Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday, no work. Tang Yi suddenly turned the steering wheel to the right, naturally heading towards Xu Xiaoxiao's house.
"Yiyi?" Xu Xiaoxiao was startled when she opened the door and saw her, but she didn't ask any questions. She quickly took Yiyi's arm and pulled her into the room. "Come in and we'll talk."
Tang Yi walked to the center of the living room, and Xu Xiaoxiao ran to get her some water, but Tang Yi stopped her with her hand.
"No need to fetch water, I've come to have a drink with you."
Xu Xiaoxiao was taken aback by her words. She stopped halfway to the water dispenser, turned around to examine her carefully, and asked cautiously, "Did you and Zhang Minglang have a fight?"
"Well, not really, right?" Tang Yi blinked and looked away, changing the subject. "Do you have any alcohol here? If not, shall we go to a bar?"
Half an hour later, the two women sat on the carpet in front of the sofa, their glasses swaying in their hands. Xu Xiaoxiao was already slightly tipsy, while Tang Yi's eyes remained clear.
The moon was already hanging in the sky outside the window. Tang Yi squinted and turned her head. Suddenly, Xu Xiaoxiao next to her slumped her head and leaned on her shoulder.
"Tell me, what happened to you?" Xu Xiaoxiao finally found a foothold for her heavy head and had a chance to ask.
Tang Yi turned her head back to stare at the moon, remaining silent for a long time before whispering, "I don't quite know where to begin."
She sighed, tilted her head back and drank the wine in her glass in one gulp, then suddenly frowned and said, "You know, when we were dating, I said we should keep our distance, but now he's suddenly doing it without any warning, and I'm starting to feel uncomfortable again. Do you think there's something wrong with me?"
"If you're not a brother, are you crazy?"
In a private room at Heaven Bar, after listening to Zhang Minglang's full explanation of what had happened, Cheng He finally couldn't help but let out a thunderous roar.
"Keep your voice down." Zhang Minglang looked up at him, then turned back to look at the closed door of the private room.
However, Cheng He has never been one to speak softly.
He threw down the microphone, leaped from the table to the sofa next to Zhang Minglang, and pointed at him with exasperation, saying, "Why didn't you let me, the Casanova, give you some advice before you did this? This isn't the way to be mature and steady! From your description, it sounds like you two are almost estranged."
They appear to be united on the surface, but are actually at odds.
When Tang Yi heard Xu Xiaoxiao say those four words, she suddenly raised her head. The sudden movement even caused Xu Xiaoxiao's head to lose its support, and she cried out and fell down.
Tang Yi apologized absentmindedly, but the phrase "outwardly harmonious but inwardly estranged" was still on her mind.
This word perfectly encapsulates the strange relationship between her and Zhang Minglang during those days.
She pressed on somewhat urgently, "Then why do you think this situation suddenly happened between us? Everything was the same as before during this period. We still woke up together every day, only we didn't go to and from get off work together anymore, it was just a matter of a few tens of minutes, it shouldn't be the main reason, right?"
"Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, completely wrong!" After Zhang Minglang pressed her for an answer, Cheng He looked cryptic and waved an index finger in front of Zhang Minglang, which annoyed him.
Zhang Minglang clicked his tongue, and Cheng He immediately withdrew her hand obediently, saying, "Can't you see the problem? It's you. You're too tense in trying to be professional on the surface, and there's no transition period. It's made it seem like we've broken up."
"We haven't broken up." The two people, in different locations, said almost simultaneously, despite the distance between them.
On the other side, Cheng He exclaimed "Oh dear!" and reached out to pat Zhang Minglang's shoulder, saying earnestly, "Can't you think about what it means to be responsible and what it means to cause trouble? You just said that you used to cling to her all day long, and she found you annoying. Think back, did she actually dislike you being like that?"
On the other side, Xu Xiaoxiao straightened up, put her hand on Tang Yi's shoulder, and asked seriously, "So what about you? Now that he's been honest with you, based on your current experience, do you like him being clingy, or do you find him annoying and a hindrance?"
Tang Yi remained silent for a while, her eyes darting around, and her voice lowered a few decibels: "...Although I often scold him, I think...I still quite like it, right? Otherwise, I wouldn't always feel empty inside."
"What else is there to say? Just tell him clearly that you like it this way, and tell him to stop pretending that you don't know him."
Tang Yi's face flushed instantly, feeling the effects of the alcohol kick in all at once. She fanned her face with her hand, her mind a jumble: "Should I just tell him? That would be too embarrassing..."
"Shameful? What shameful my foot, bro! You're a guy, you have to be shameless when you're in a relationship! If you keep mistaking silence for maturity, you'll probably be 'shameful' soon indeed."
Zhang Minglang gritted his teeth and reached out to punch him: "Can't you wish me well for once?"
Cheng He scoffed, said "Think about it yourself," and turned to leave.
Zhang Minglang called out to him, "Have you taken care of what I told you last time?"
Cheng He patted his shoulder: "Of course, I'm a partner of Heaven after all. That kid Sun Yuyang is capable of doing such a despicable thing. Even if you didn't say anything, I would still make him withdraw his investment and not allow him to come back."
Zhang Minglang nodded. After Cheng He left, the private room returned to silence for a moment. The room was well soundproofed, and only the faint sound of music coming from the dance floor outside could be heard.
He looked down, turned his phone over, and after a moment of silent thought, he finally tapped on Tang Yi's number.
-
Tang Yi is drunk; this time it's not an act.
Xu Xiaoxiao sat blankly next to Tang Yi, poking her with a finger, unable to accept this fact.
She glanced at the alcohol content of the bottle; it wasn't very high. How could she be drunk? Xu Xiaoxiao sighed inwardly for a moment, then looked at Tang Yi's sleeping face and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. She got up and reached for her phone to record a video.
She thought to herself with delight that once Tang Yi woke up, she would definitely show her the video and then carefully observe her expression, letting her best friend truly experience the feeling of utter embarrassment.
People don't get tired of doing bad things, especially when it comes to messing with their best friend.
However, she only managed to record for a few seconds before she noticed Tang Yi's phone, which was casually tossed on the sofa, light up; someone was calling. Xu Xiaoxiao put down her own phone and got up to reach for Tang Yi's.
The screen clearly displays the name "General Manager Zhang".
Xu Xiaoxiao was instantly filled with rage. She glanced at Tang Yi, who was completely drunk beside her, and then remembered the forlorn look on Tang Yi's face when she first entered. The culprit was all Zhang Minglang!
Xu Xiaoxiao had also drunk quite a bit, and her mind was far from clear. She angrily pressed the call button and forcefully shouted "Hello!" to her ear.
Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Zhang Minglang on the other end of the phone frowned: "Yiyi?"
"Who's going to be all sentimental with you? If you can't feel sorry for her and can't see how sad she is, then you shouldn't even bother dating her!"
Zhang Minglang paid no attention to the hurtful words the other party had spoken, and asked in a more serious voice, "Is this Miss Xu? Is Tang Yi with you now? Have you been drinking?"
Xu Xiaoxiao snorted coldly: "It's been several hours since Tang Yi got off work. Isn't it a bit too late to ask now?"
Zhang Minglang was speechless, having no reason to refute.
He stood up from the sofa, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door, still asking anxiously, "Ms. Xu, could you please send me your location? I'm coming to pick her up now."
He hung up the phone and rushed into the room, almost bumping into Cheng He who was about to enter.
"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?"
Zhang Minglang didn't have time to explain in detail. He shook off the hand that was grabbing his arm and said, "My girlfriend is drunk at your girlfriend's house. I'm going to pick her up now."
Cheng He didn't even notice when he said "your girlfriend," but naturally assumed Xu Xiaoxiao was drunk. He instantly became even more anxious than Zhang Minglang, grabbing his arm and running out: "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
In the bustling bar, two men sprinted past the crowd and ran towards the bar's exit.
Less than half an hour later, Xu Xiaoxiao's doorbell rang urgently.
She struggled to sit up, dragged her feet toward the door, and pressed the doorknob with difficulty.
The moment Xu Xiaoxiao saw Cheng He, her eyes widened: "What the hell are you doing here! Didn't we agree to cut ties last time...?"
Before Zhang Minglang could speak, Cheng He shoved him aside, walked up to Xu Xiaoxiao, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her back and forth, shouting, "Xu Xiaoxiao? Are you drunk? Xu Xiaoxiao? Do you want to throw up...?"
Zhang Minglang was too lazy to stand aside and listen to their pointless nonsense. He shrugged and walked past them into the living room. Sure enough, he saw Tang Yi leaning against the sofa, sitting on the carpet with her legs sideways, sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed.
Zhang Minglang strode forward, knelt down on one knee beside her, and reached out to help her up, his eyes filled with worry: "Tang Yi? How much did you drink? Tang Yi, wake up, shall we go home?"
As if she had truly heard his call, Tang Yi opened her eyes groggily, looked at him, and struggled to recognize him for a while. Seeing this, Zhang Minglang leaned his face closer and said gently, "Tang Yi, it's me."
I recognize it! I recognize it!
He's that bastard who deliberately ignored her for so many days.
Tang Yi pointed at him with her finger. He thought she had finally recognized him and reached out to hug her and lift her up. But Tang Yi's finger suddenly turned into a slap and she slapped Zhang Minglang across the face with some force.
Caught off guard, he turned half his face to the side, paused for three seconds, and then slowly turned to look at her, his gaze becoming much clearer.
The two people who were still arguing and cursing on the other side heard the sound of slapping. Xu Xiaoxiao unconsciously let go of Cheng He's hair, opened her chin slightly, and looked at the two people facing each other on the living room carpet.
"Bastard." Tang Yi uttered these two words and then closed her eyes again.
Even though he knew it was drunken talk, and that she might not admit it when she woke up tomorrow, Zhang Minglang's heart still clenched painfully the moment he heard it.
He lowered his head, suppressing the bitterness in his throat, and admitted in a low voice, "I'm an idiot."
Upon hearing his admission, Tang Yi not only did not let him go, but instead opened her eyes and glared at him, reaching out to grab his collar and forcing him to look up into her eyes.
Her brows were furrowed, and her cheeks were flushed from drinking. Tang Yi's tightly pursed lips suddenly turned down, and her eyes also turned red, but she used some force to pull Zhang Minglang closer.
He lost his balance and lunged forward, but his hands moved faster than his brain, quickly reaching out to brace himself against the sofa behind Tang Yi, preventing his upper body weight from pressing down on her.
Tang Yi released her grip and punched him hard in the chest, making a dull thud.
Her voice, tinged with a reproach rarely seen in her lucid moments, blamed incoherently: "Zhang Minglang, you bastard! Why are you ignoring me! I told you to keep your distance, and you, you really did keep your distance, without giving me even a moment to process it... Didn't you want to stay away from me? What are you doing here now! You, you..."
Under the influence of alcohol, Tang Yi's tongue seemed to be bound by ropes, and her words became incoherent and illogical, but enough to transform into soft knives, one after another, piercing Zhang Minglang's aching heart.
He was repeatedly knocked backward by her punches, but he refused to let go of her shoulders.
Before Zhang Minglang could recover from her accusations, he heard Tang Yi's soft but clear voice: "...Have you changed your mind? Don't you want to love me anymore?"
The soft, delicate sound, like a feather floating in the air, overturned an entire snow-capped mountain in Zhang Minglang's heart. He could even hear the sound of an avalanche within him, pressing heavily on his hunched shoulders and back, draining all his strength.
Zhang Minglang took a quick breath, reached out and pulled Tang Yi into his arms, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe.
His voice trembled as he ran his fingers through Tang Yi's hair. He recalled everything he had done these past few days.
His feigned rationality and deliberate aloofness were masked by the bulging veins on his hand as her hair brushed against it, and his arm, which had been suspended in mid-air, hesitated to reach out and embrace her waist.
His self-righteous sense of maturity and responsibility was immaturely misinterpreted as a bureaucratic distance.
All that remains for each other is pain and a vague, elusive feeling of being neither close nor distant.
When he confessed to her that afternoon, Tang Yi hurriedly ran away. Fortunately, with the help of alcohol, he was able to learn her true feelings.
It wasn't until he heard the words "I don't love you" that Zhang Minglang truly realized how foolish the decisions he had made over the past few days had been.
He didn't know what else to say, only able to repeat over and over: "I don't not love you, Tang Yi, I love you, I love you..."
In the dim light of the living room, on a thick, warm blanket, the two embraced tightly, whispering the theme of love.
Zhang Minglang held Tang Yi in his arms, the fragrance of her hair lingering around his nose, and suddenly he didn't want to care about anything anymore.
To hell with his maturity and composure, to hell with keeping his distance.
Zhang Minglang has never been able to be rational in his life, let alone hide his true feelings. He was forced to stay far away from Tang Yi just to avoid the nonsense of the media.
He only wanted to be with Tang Yi forever.
Cheng He, standing to the side, crossed his arms and looked at his good brother, who had just been embarrassed in the private room but was now hugging someone, and clicked his tongue in admiration, "This kid is teachable."
Cheng He glanced at Xu Xiaoxiao, who was recording a video on her phone and was still feeling emotional, out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to reach out and put her arm around Xu Xiaoxiao's shoulder, but Xu Xiaoxiao slapped her away forcefully.
She glared at him, pointed at him, and said fiercely, "Our business isn't over yet!"
Wrapped in a thick black coat, she was lifted up and placed in the back seat, nestled in Zhang Minglang's arms... Tang Yi couldn't remember anything that happened after that.
All she knew was that she was drinking at Xu Xiaoxiao's house last night, but when she opened her eyes this morning, she saw Zhang Minglang's handsome face.
She paused for a few seconds, then lifted the covers and quickly glanced down at herself; her pajamas were fully on.
Thankfully, there was no drunken misconduct.
Tang Yi thought about it and then felt something was off. What do you mean by drunken misbehavior? They were a legitimate couple, and even if they did do something, it would just be normal.
She reached out and ran her hand through her hair, then brought it to her nose and sniffed it, finding it to have a pleasant fragrance.
Did he even wash her hair for her?
Tang Yi closed her eyes and rubbed her head, unable to imagine any related scenes.
Before she could lower her hand, her wrist was firmly gripped, stopping her head-pounding motion. Tang Yi suddenly opened her eyes, meeting Zhang Minglang's sleepy gaze.
His voice was slightly hoarse: "What are you doing? Why are you hitting yourself?"
Tang Yi blinked, pulled her wrist away from his grasp, and retorted rather bluntly, "What's it to you?"
However, Zhang Minglang was not deterred by her attitude. Instead, he leaned forward, pulled her into his arms, and said, "You hit my girlfriend, how can it not be my business?"
He stroked her hair with his large hand, then leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, his movements as gentle as could be.
She heard Zhang Minglang say, "It's my fault."
Zhang Minglang hugged her tighter and gently rested his chin on the top of her head. "I didn't sleep much last night. I thought a lot. I shouldn't have presumptuously distanced myself from you and made you feel insecure. I'm sorry."
He sighed and looked up at the curtains.
"As for our work, the board is eyeing us covetously, always trying to use us against us. I can say they're slandering us, or I can stand up for you and we'll continue on this path. But that will make every achievement you make in the future look like 'thanks to me.' I don't want that for you."
"So, I've decided to leave first."
Tang Yi's eyelashes fluttered, and her heart suddenly raced. As if she had a premonition, she heard him say:
“If I leave, all the open and covert attacks will be directed at me. The rumors will naturally dissipate without a target, but you,” he said firmly, “I still hope you can stay at Junmao. I want you to use your abilities to get everything you deserve.”
Tang Yi knew what he meant; she knew exactly what he had been busy with all these days.
From the dispute with Chairman Zhang about their romantic relationship, to the charity gala he organized without authorization, and now, to the words he uttered on stage praising her.
He had finally made all the preparations, and his new world was the Li Group, which was about to be acquired.
He wanted to crown himself with a crown that belonged entirely to him, not to his family.
She chose to remain in the familiar work environment and work pattern she had worked in for over five years.
She will continue to prove with her true abilities that even if she is not under the same roof as Zhang Minglang, she still has the confidence to demonstrate her value.
Tang Yi nodded, trying to make her voice sound calm and reliable: "Okay. Let me know in advance when you need my help with the handover, so I can inform Fang Zhen and have her prepare."
The strange atmosphere that had persisted between the two for so many days finally eased up this morning after they woke up from their drunken stupor.
She looked up at him, a smile curving her lips: "I just don't know how long it will take me to get used to not seeing you when I look up at the company in the future."
Zhang Minglang smiled too. The two figures overlapped tightly, and he joked in her ear, "Don't be so sad. Leaving Junmao, I have nothing to regret except for you. Maybe I can start my own business and create an even bigger world."
Tang Yi turned her face to the side, her cool cheek pressed against his neck, her voice soft but firm: "There's no doubt, it's a certainty."
Zhang Minglang put his arm around her waist, happy that he no longer had to put in so much effort to maintain a distance from her.
He suddenly remembered something, and his tone became playful: "No, I still have regrets."
Tang Yi asked without any suspicion, "Tell me, if I can help you achieve it, I will definitely do my best."
This response was exactly what he wanted.
Zhang Minglang leaned forward, his breath hot against her ear: "It seems we haven't been in the office yet..."
Tang Yi instantly knew what he wanted to say. Her cheeks flushed red, and she hurriedly reached out to cover his mouth.
Zhang Minglang smiled, gently removed her hand, closed his eyes, and kissed her.
Author's note: When it comes to matters of the heart, it's best to speak up and make things clear. [shy]
The main storyline is almost over; things will gradually come to a close.
The main story is probably going to finish next week. [doge emoji]
But that's not necessarily true.
Because of the sweet and affectionate daily life of the young couple later on.
It may be written in a long way or a short way.
I haven't decided what to write for the extra chapters yet [crying emoji] Feel free to comment and suggest what you guys want to see! Right now, I can only think of maybe writing a school-themed "what if" story, but I'm not even sure! !!!
This useless pomegranate's uncertain life [melted] powerless.
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