Chapter 24 Asura: "We're colleagues, but I'm pursuing her."...
Tang Yi's heart suddenly started racing; she had a vague premonition.
She turned her head, and sure enough, it was Zhang Minglang.
At that moment, his large hand was gently resting on her shoulder. From her angle, she could only see his clearly defined jawline. Because the distance was close enough, she could even make out the tiny bit of stubble on his chin.
The slight warmth from his palm, like an electric current, permeated Tang Yi's entire body.
"Hi, Aunt Chen, Uncle Tang. Long time no see."
Zhang Minglang stretched out a hand and waved, a hint of seriousness appearing in his previously lazy expression.
Chen Lian was stunned by Zhang Minglang's sudden appearance and didn't know how things were going.
"You really have a bad memory, don't you recognize me so quickly?" Zhang Minglang smiled, pulled out the empty seat next to Tang Yi and sat down, but his other arm was still on the back of Tang Yi's seat. If you didn't look closely, you would mistake him for him affectionately putting his arm around her.
Not to mention everyone else present, Tang Yi herself was completely bewildered.
She turned to look at him, her eyes clearly asking, "What are you doing?"
Zhang Minglang pretended not to understand, gestured with his chin at her, and then continued to watch Chen Lian socialize.
"Hey, Aunt Chen, who are these people...?" He looked around at Bai Zeyu's family, then looked curiously at Chen Lian, waiting for an answer.
"Ah...this is Xiaoyi's Uncle Bai and Aunt Bai, and this is Xiaoyi's..."
Bai Zeyu straightened his back, straightened his coat collar, and put on a standard smile as he waited to be introduced.
However, Zhang Minglang did not give him that chance.
He feigned surprise and said, "Is this Yiyi's cousin? Hello, hello, I'm Zhang Minglang."
Tang Yi almost couldn't suppress her smile.
Ignoring Chen Lian's shocked expression, he politely extended his hand to Bai Zeyu and said, "Nice to meet you."
"You, this..." Bai Zeyu pointed at him with his finger, then looked at Chen Lian, hesitant to speak.
"Cousin, we're all grown men, what are you being shy about!" Zhang Minglang seized the opportunity to grab his outstretched finger and forcefully completed the handshake ceremony.
Mr. and Mrs. Bai were clearly also taken aback, and they looked at each other blankly.
"Is this a family gathering? Why weren't you invited?" Zhang Minglang asked in an overly familiar manner.
Even Tang Yi couldn't stand it anymore. She frowned and turned to stare at him.
"Um, Xiao Zhang, you and Xiao Yi..." Chen Lian was really confused by this complicated relationship, so she tentatively asked.
"Huh? Didn't Tang Yi tell you? We..."
"We just happened to be colleagues, that's all."
Seeing that he was going too far, Tang Yi quickly brought him back on track.
Bai Zeyu was so angry that his hands were clenched so tightly that the fabric of his clothes was wrinkled from being gripped, but he still maintained a smile, though it looked more like a grimace.
Zhang Minglang turned his head and gave Tang Yi a reproachful look for interrupting his spell. After receiving her warning look, he shrugged and admitted, "Yes."
"I heard from Xiaoyi last time that you two had lost contact, and I actually believed it! Oh well!" Chen Lian waved her hand and smiled again. "It's great that you're still in touch! Zeyu is also Xiaoyi's college classmate. You two can get to know each other!"
However, Zhang Minglang lowered his head and pondered for a long time, then looked up and glanced around, lingering especially on Bai Zeyu for a few more seconds.
He raised his head slightly, his expression conveying a sense of smugness that said, "I knew her before you did," which made Zhang Minglang feel a little annoyed.
A sudden surge of emotion welled up in his chest.
When he looked up again, Zhang Minglang's gaze had become much more serious: "We are colleagues, but I'm pursuing her."
With a "clang," Tang Yi's chopsticks fell into the porcelain plate, making a crisp sound.
She looked up at him in disbelief.
Zhang Minglang's long-held, unresolved thoughts and words, which he had been holding back for a long time, were finally spoken in this setting.
He felt flustered, but not guilty.
So he turned his head without flinching and met Tang Yi's seemingly angry gaze: "I'm serious."
Tang Yi didn't have time to ponder his true feelings.
Her mind raced, trying every possible emergency public relations solution she could think of, but in the end, she could only offer a dry explanation: "I think there are some things that we haven't agreed on, which led to this misunderstanding."
Zhang Minglang clearly wanted to argue. But Tang Yi simply said, "Let's talk," before getting up and walking towards the door.
Seeing this, Zhang Minglang picked up Tang Yi's coat from the back of the chair and followed her out.
Cheng He stood there stunned, watching his good friend chase after a woman and leave.
There were quite a few people outside the corridor. Tang Yi walked quickly outside, while Zhang Minglang jogged, weaving through the dense crowd to keep up with her.
She grew angrier the more she walked, until she finally reached a window where there were few people. She leaned against the windowsill, her chest heaving, trying to let the cold wind outside hit her face so she could calm down and think things through.
Tang Yi felt a little angry, but she didn't know why.
Zhang Minglang finally caught up and stopped a meter away from her. He glanced at her hair, which was fluttering in the cold wind, and silently stepped forward to put his coat on her.
However, Tang Yi reached out to block his movement, grabbed her coat, and felt a strong pull from Zhang Minglang.
She forcefully threw the fabric off her hand, looked up at him, and still couldn't help feeling her heart burning.
"What did you mean just now? Is that kind of joke funny?"
Her tone was extremely cold, even bordering on aggressive.
Zhang Minglang, who was originally calm, felt his anger rise after hearing her words.
He looked at her incredulously: "You think I'm joking?"
"Are you kidding me? I just told you a few days ago that Chairman Zhang chose me so that I could work with you. Now you're spouting nonsense about pursuing me, especially in front of my parents. Do you think you're right?"
Tang Yi, who had never swore since she started working, never imagined that one day she would swear, and it would be while arguing with her boss.
It's still about their personal matters.
Tang Yi found this fantastical turn of events so absurd that she almost laughed.
“I admit that I did a bad job. I was just trying to get back at you by talking, and I didn’t consider that you would be disgusted by it.”
Zhang Minglang had never seen her so angry. He pondered silently for a while before apologizing in a low voice.
His words did calm Tang Yi down a little. She put her hands on her hips, glanced out the window, then suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "How did you know I was on a blind date?"
"Are you kidding me? A couple of eligible men and women, two sets of parents, is this a blind date or a family gathering? I'm not stupid."
Upon hearing this question, his smug, arrogant expression reappeared, like a big dog wagging its tail to curry favor with its owner, making it impossible to truly be angry with him.
"Besides, wasn't our blind date the same?" He glanced up at Tang Yi's expression and saw her eyes widen in surprise at his words. This gave him confidence. "It's the truth, isn't it? Weren't we on a blind date the first day we met?"
Tang Yi realized that there was no way to argue with this person about such a nonsensical issue, because he was particularly good at twisting and cheating.
After being teased and joked with by him for a while, Tang Yi even forgot what she originally wanted to say and her original purpose.
"However, while I agree with some of what you said, there are still parts I disagree with."
Tang Yi had completely calmed down. She nodded patiently, signaling him to continue.
“You say I’m joking? I, Zhang Minglang, have never been that kind of person,” Zhang Minglang’s tone became serious. “I’m serious about everything I say, and I will never let anything else sway me. For example, when I said I would catch the person who spread the rumors, I did it. I’m not just saying it.”
This time, it was Tang Yi's turn to remain silent.
She felt her mind was in turmoil. She had initially firmly believed that he had said such a bombshell to anger Bai Zeyu with the intention of causing trouble.
However, his bright eyes and sincere expression made her somewhat unable to understand him.
So she kept her doubts about the veracity of his words for the time being.
"Xiao Yi!" Bai Zeyu waved to her from afar and jogged over. Zhang Minglang clicked his tongue in annoyance and was about to move in front of Tang Yi to block her view and interrupt their conversation, but Tang Yi's glare silenced him.
"Xiao Yi," Bai Zeyu stopped in front of them, panting. He first glanced at Zhang Minglang, who looked impatient, then turned his gaze to Tang Yi, who was looking out the window. He said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Xiao Yi, my parents said they have to go back first, and I have to go with them. Don't worry, I don't believe anyone but you."
Zhang Minglang felt uncomfortable with his sarcastic tone. He sneered and was about to retort when Tang Yi spoke up first: "I don't need your belief, so please don't flatter yourself."
Zhang Minglang felt a little strange upon hearing this.
Looking at him, dressed like a well-bred overseas returnee finance guy, and wearing gold mining glasses that clearly had no prescription, he thought he was Tang Yibai's moonlight.
Hearing this, it's clear that Tang Yi doesn't seem to like this person that much.
Once Zhang Minglang understood this, his last remaining sense of crisis vanished. He relaxed, crossed his arms, leaned against the wall behind him, and watched the show, occasionally adding insult to injury.
Bai Zeyu: "Xiao Yi, you know I haven't been back in China long, and I'm not sure if I'll be going back. I need to spend more time with them."
Zhang Minglang scoffed: "Mama's boy."
Bai Zeyu: "I know that I left without saying goodbye back then, focused on pursuing my career abroad, without considering your feelings. That was my fault. But I believe that with my current abilities and knowledge, I can give you a good life again."
Zhang Minglang yawned: "Ordinary male."
Bai Zeyu: "Although I don't know what your relationship with this man is, I don't care. I want to hear your answer. I'll only believe what you say."
Zhang Minglang stepped off the wall, straightened up, and walked up to him. His height, which was half a head taller than Bai Zeyu, gave him a natural air of authority.
He lowered his head slightly, as if looking down on an insignificant ant: "Let me, the person involved, tell you. I am the president of Junmao Group, she is my secretary, I am her boss, and also her suitor whom she doesn't acknowledge yet but will one day. Our relationship is that simple. Do you have any more questions?"
Bai Zeyu stiffened his neck and listened to his words with his head tilted back. When he heard the sentence "She is my secretary," he looked at Tang Yi behind the other person, and his expression suddenly turned sarcastic and mocking.
"Another CEO and secretary? Tang Yi, you haven't changed at all over the years, you still like them so much..."
Tang Yi's eyelids twitched violently, but before she could make a move, Zhang Minglang had already stepped forward first.
He abruptly changed his previous nonchalant attitude and grabbed Bai Zeyu by the collar.
Bai Zeyu couldn't dodge his extremely fast movements and was picked up like a chick and pushed against the wall, unable to move.
Zhang Minglang stared into his eyes, his anger blazing, and said each word with a warning in his tone, "I told you, I'm the one who pursued her. Can't you understand human language?"
"Zhang Minglang!" Tang Yi reacted, first looking around, thankfully no one noticed this corner.
She quickly stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and shook her head at him with a furrowed brow: "Calm down."
He turned to look at Tang Yi's tense expression, then at Bai Zeyu, whose face had turned a deep purplish-red, and released his grip.
The latter leaned against the wall, bent over, and coughed repeatedly while covering his throat, which was being strangled.
Zhang Minglang looked down at him condescendingly, not even deigning to glance at him: "I advise you to watch your mouth in the future."
Author's Note: To my wife:
Zhang Minglang (staring) (holding a flower in his mouth) (winking): I'm pursuing you.
To a love rival:
Zhang Minglang (leaning against the wall) (arms crossed) (sneer): Mama's boy.
[Panda head]
I'm back from a three-day trip to Nanchang! I've been writing this the whole time while traveling. [doge emoji]
I can finally write in peace!
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