Chapter 23
The morning light was too dazzling, and Zhuang Yazhi turned her head to avoid it, only to bump straight into that soft, solid wall of flesh.
The familiar scent of cedarwood almost reflexively made her sit up.
Shen Yiheng squinted lazily, his clothes slipping off the blanket, revealing a large expanse of his muscular chest from his collarbone to his ribcage. His large hand casually moved it around, his strong body outlining a perfect figure under the silk blanket.
Sunlight refracts through the blinds, casting dappled shadows and highlighting the sleek, captivating profile.
"Awake?" He remained calm.
Zhuang Yazhi almost squinted at the sight and quickly looked away.
The room's layout looked so familiar at first glance. She clearly remembered the bright yellow cactus ball on the windowsill; she had lived in this villa for three years in her previous life.
How did I get here?
She only remembered that she went to the beach yesterday, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in Shen Yiheng's bed.
"You've been following me." Zhuang Yazhi immediately realized.
"Yes." Shen Yiheng did not deny it, and gracefully got up to tie his pajamas.
Zhuang Ya glanced at her clothes subconsciously that night. Although they were overly neat, her back was aching terribly.
Even if it was a perfectly normal thing in the previous life, now that time and space have changed, there are still some concerns about having an intimate relationship.
"asshole."
Upon hearing this, Shen Yiheng turned his head, his brows furrowing slightly, but the roguish smile beneath his handsome face was intriguing.
With long, slender legs, she moved slowly, closing in step by step, trapping the person in a small corner. She spoke, her voice slightly hoarse: "Last night you rode me like a horse all night, and when I said no, you hit me."
Shen Yiheng turned his head slightly, his cheeks still flushed, but beneath his aggrieved, downcast eyes lay a smug and boastful demeanor.
The heat mingled in the glance back, numbing the senses, yet simultaneously awakening memories.
Zhuang Yazhi remembered everything.
My head hurts.
After getting drunk, she inexplicably mistook Shen Yiheng for a blanket and desperately pulled and tugged at it, trying to put it on herself.
So it turns out that it was her fault.
But so what?
He turned back with pride, a slight upturn to his lips, responding with an indifferent attitude.
Zhuang Yazhi pushed Shen Yiheng away and turned to leave gracefully.
Despite the good service, the man couldn't resist the praise, so the two slaps were considered a reward.
Shen Yiheng leaned against the wall and smiled, his fingers brushing against his face, as faint memories surged forth like a powerful storm.
When she's being mean, she'll just walk away without you even having to say anything.
In that case, he'll have to find the right opportunity next time to solidify his reputation as a bastard.
At worst, I'll just get slapped a few more times.
When Li Si returned to the Zhuang family, he was waiting in the main hall. Upon seeing the person, he quickly went up to greet him and said, "Someone has disclosed our financial information for the third quarter online, which involves several loss-making projects. Now our cooperating investors have come to our door, demanding to withdraw from the cooperation and return the principal without any reason."
"You old bastard," Zhuang Yazhi cursed.
Smiling to your face, but plotting behind your back.
In the conference room, the group of cooperating investors were arguing so loudly it was almost deafening.
"Liar! When we first started working together, you said this project was guaranteed to make money, but you've lost money. You've lost money on me."
“I’ve invested all my savings for my future wife. I’m 45 years old this year. How can you bear to cheat an old man out of his money?”
"This is outrageous! Your Zhuang family makes its fortune by cheating and swindling, you swindlers!"
“You are her daughter, if he won’t compensate you, you will.”
Each person took turns saying a sentence, which was just right to wake Zhuang Yazhi up.
She had reviewed all the project information. These projects were all signed by Zhuang Haiming in the first quarter. If nothing unexpected happened, he had already invested all that money into technology companies.
Now that she is the chairperson of the Zhuang Group, Zhuang Yazhi is responsible for all these projects, regardless of who signed them in the early stages.
But then again...
"When it comes to investing, both profits and losses are normal."
Although she is rich, she shouldn't be taken advantage of for no reason.
Upon hearing this, the others immediately slammed their fists on the table in anger: "You're blatantly cheating now!"
"Fine, if that's how you want it, then let's go straight to legal proceedings and let everyone know that the Zhuang family is a big liar."
Zhuang Yazhi smiled faintly, her demeanor calm and composed: "Don't be in such a hurry, it's not like I'm not going to compensate you."
The people in the conference room were all confused about Zhuang Yazhi's scheme and found it difficult to make a move.
Zhuang Yazhi casually fiddled with the pen cap, then raised his eyes with a relaxed air and solemnly promised: "Not only will I compensate you, I'll compensate you handsomely."
Twenty minutes later, Li Si parked a bus at the entrance.
"Come on, everyone, look for the little red flag in my hand, let's get on the bus."
The investors all looked bewildered: "Where are you taking us?"
"Are they going to take us to be sold?"
"How could that be?" Zhuang Yazhi scoffed.
"So many people were watching. I'm not stupid. How could I dare to commit a crime so blatantly?"
Zhuang Yazhi reiterated that she had lost patience: "If you want compensation, come with me."
They glanced at the buses quickly, but ultimately decided to get on for the money.
The bus swayed and rocked all the way, and the passengers were almost nauseous from the jolting as it traveled along the rugged mountain roads.
Li Si: "He vomited five hundred chariots."
The person who was about to vomit swallowed it back down.
Zhuang Yazhi drove faster than them and arrived at their destination in just half an hour.
Inside the villa, Zhuang Haiming was quite relaxed; he hadn't gone out for the past few days.
She was feeding the birds, fishing, and tending to the flowers when she saw Zhuang Yazhi appear in the garden. She was a little surprised: "Huh? Isn't this during working hours? Yazhi, why are you back?"
Zhuang Yazhi placed a stack of official documents on the table.
"I came back to take care of some things."
Why did you come back?
I'm back to deal with you.
Zhuang Haiming was still enjoying his leisurely life, but his smile vanished the moment he saw that group of people enter.
"This..." He took a few steps back, still shaken.
Zhuang Yazhi waved to them and pointed, "Hey, bosses, my dad's here."
Of course, you can't find anyone if they don't go back to the company, but business matters still need to be resolved.
Since that's the case, Zhuang Yazhi directly brought the person to his home without any middlemen, and made Zhuang Haiming compensate him directly.
"Oh, Mr. Zhuang, it's so good to see you! I haven't seen you for so many days, and you haven't been answering your phone. Our projects are losing money, and you have to compensate us."
"Why aren't you answering our calls? Do you know how worried we are that you'll run off with the money?"
One of them was too impatient and blurted out his true feelings. Zhuang Haiming's face turned ashen, and the humiliation hit him squarely in the face.
Looking back at Zhuang Yazhi beside him, she had an innocent smile that seemed harmless, but the more innocent she was, the more terrifying she became.
Zhuang Haiming stammered and hurriedly made an excuse: "I haven't been feeling well these past few days and have been resting at home for many days."
"You're not dead, are you?"
"The weather is so nice today, wake up and pay back the money."
Upon hearing the words "repay the money," Zhuang Haiming immediately felt unwell and nearly fainted.
Seeing this, Zhuang Yazhi quickly called the auntie over: "Auntie, please clean the guest rooms. The sun is too strong, and Dad has already suffered from heatstroke. We can't let anything happen to the uncles."
Zhuang Haiming's vision went completely black. Damn it.
He secretly gave himself a sleeping pill and managed to sleep from noon until 10 p.m.
Zhuang Yazhi held a bowl of nourishing soup and waited by the bedside, apologizing softly with a wronged expression: "I'm sorry, Dad, it's my fault that you got sick."
"They said that there were losses in business investments, and according to the contract, they should be compensated."
“At first I thought I would just pay for it for you directly, so as to avoid them causing trouble.”
Zhuang Haiming waited for Zhuang Yazhi to continue, but she suddenly stopped, making the atmosphere a little awkward. Although he was very dissatisfied, he still pretended to be a kind-hearted person who felt sorry for his daughter and said, "Silly girl, how can I let you pay for this?"
“That’s right!” Zhuang Yazhi immediately declared confidently.
"But after thinking about it again, I felt it wasn't quite right."
“These are my father’s business friends. If I were to pay for it, it would be like slapping them in the face with money. Besides, they only recognize you, the big boss. If I paid for it for you, wouldn’t it be seen as me overstepping my bounds?”
"I wouldn't dare... After all, in Yazhi's heart, her father is the head of the Zhuang family."
With just a few words, they absolved themselves of responsibility, determined to pin the debt on Zhuang Haiming.
He set such a treacherous scheme to harm her, so don't blame Zhuang Yazhi for taking the opportunity to empty his wallet.
Before Zhuang Haiming could react, she quickly opened the door and called up the group of people downstairs who had finished eating and drinking and were preparing to wash up and go to bed.
"Come on, come on, pay up!"
The group of people surged forward like grasshoppers, almost smashing Zhuang Haiming's door.
Despite the uproar inside, Zhuang Yazhi watched the scene unfold from outside the door, swirling her wine glass and ignoring Zhuang Haiming's repeated attempts to plead for help.
In Zhuang Yazhi's view, Zhuang Haiming brought all of this upon himself; he wanted to cheat people out of money but didn't want to take responsibility.
If only I had just paid back the money myself, it would have been fine, but instead I had to shift the blame onto her.
Now look what's happened, we've completely lost face.
Being chased by someone to pay back the money is so embarrassing.
However, as their nominal daughter, Zhuang Yazhi would still offer some assistance, such as helping them calculate how much Zhuang Haiming owed in total, including principal and interest.
Even if it's late at night, Zhuangya Night will arrange for cars to take everyone home one by one.
"Dad, just go to sleep peacefully. I'll take care of the rest."
Zhuang Haiming was so stunned by the debt that he was left with nothing but emptiness.
Thinking she could rest for a while, she soon heard Zhuang Yazhi crying again by the bedside.
"Dad...it really breaks my heart to see you like this."
"Won't you blame Yazhi for bringing them home?"
"But I'm really scared, so scared that you'll ruin your reputation."
She was crying so hard, her face streaked with tears, that no one could bear to see her like that.
"oops...."
This left Zhuang Haiming in a complete mess, and no amount of comforting seemed to work.
"It's okay, Ya Ya. It's not your fault. It's Daddy's fault for not handling business matters well, which scared you."
Zhuang Haiming clutched his aching chest; he felt like crying too. His scheme had backfired and he'd even lost money.
Zhuang Yazhi's eyes were filled with tears, but a smug smile curled at the corners of her mouth as she looked down.
The old man pretended, and she pretended too; anyway, she had plenty of time to play along with Zhuang Haiming.
Since that day, Zhuang Haiming has really fallen ill, running a high fever for several days in a row, and feeling completely dizzy and disoriented.
On a bright spring afternoon, Shen Qianli stepped into the villa under the pretense of visiting her business partner.
Zhuang Yazhi, with her bright and cheerful makeup, greeted her guests with the poise and warmth of a hostess.
"Ya's house is so beautiful. Would it be convenient for me to show it to you, Auntie?"
“Of course,” Zhuang Yazhi replied with a fake smile, his indifferent demeanor devoid of any emotion.
She said she wanted to be led on a tour, but she seemed very familiar with the layout of the villa. She said that as she walked, she went up to the second floor and headed straight for the master bedroom.
Zhuang Yazhi raised her hand to stop her: "Aunt Chen, my father is sleeping inside. He's sleeping in a rather unruly position with his chest and back exposed. Do you want to go in?"
Her hand froze in mid-air, only 5 centimeters away from the doorknob.
Her eyebrows arched upwards, her arrogant demeanor prompting her hands to eagerly reach downwards.
Not to mention her undignified sleeping posture with her chest and back exposed, she's seen all sorts of naked poses.
Looking up again, Shen Qianli met Zhuang Yazhi's mischievous and contemptuous smile, with the arrogance of a victor: "Then you'd better take good care of your father. Thank you for your hard work."
She glared at him reluctantly and walked away, refusing to visit any other places, heading straight downstairs. A few minutes later, the red sports car sped away.
To thank Shen Qianli for traveling a long way to visit Zhuang Haiming, Zhuang Yazhi decided to give her a gift.
"Li Si, help me arrange a meeting with John."
It's been a long time since I've seen this top star; I miss his stage performances.
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