Ling Ruoke vaguely knew that it was probably related to Mei Yanting, otherwise she wouldn't have specifically arranged to meet outside. The two chose a private room in a restaurant and talked while eating.
"Sister Ruo, I want to fire Mei Yanting." After eating a few bites of food, Xia Mo got straight to the point.
Ling Ruoke was a little surprised, but not unexpected. Yesterday's events had a very negative impact on the company. And if Mei Yanting maintained that attitude, there would likely be more similar incidents in the future. "What are your thoughts?"
Xia Mo put down her chopsticks and sighed. "It's not about what I think, it's about what everyone thinks. Everyone already knew about her affair, and many people already disliked her. After what happened yesterday, no one wants to say a word to her, or even see her."
Ling Ruoke couldn't help but sigh. If it were her, she might not be able to accept such a person as her colleague either.
"Besides, you saw Mei Yanting's attitude. With her like this, I'm worried that yesterday was the first time, but not the last. Once these things get out, it won't be good for the company. So many of us are working hard to make the company successful; there's no reason for her to ruin it all by herself, is there?"
Ling Ruoke nodded. From the perspective of a company manager, Xia Mo's consideration was correct. "You make the decision. Now you are the company's manager, after all, you will be facing these people every day from now on."
"Thank you, Sister Ruo."
Ling Ruoke smiled slightly, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. She was in a bad mood, and even food tasted bland. Just as she was lost in thought, she heard Xia Mo speak again.
"Sister Ruo, there's no need to be sad for someone like that, it's really not worth it. I've said before that this person has a demon in her heart and her thinking is extreme. It's hard for such a person to have a smooth life, and once things don't go her way, she'll harbor resentment and always feel that everyone has wronged her. To put it bluntly, such a person is an ungrateful wretch!"
Ling Ruoke sighed and nodded. "I understand what you mean. Let's not talk about her anymore. Everyone has their own life, and she can worry about it herself. We don't need to worry about her."
“That’s right. This burden shouldn’t be yours, nor mine. Let’s just put it aside.”
That afternoon, Mei Yanting was fired. She didn't make a scene, nor did she even ask why.
Xia Mo gave her the penalty for terminating her employment contract, which was the result of his discussion with Ling Ruoke, and it could be considered their last act of mercy towards her.
Mei Yanting left the company before her workday ended and wandered the streets. Every evening, she went to a bar. The numbing effect of alcohol—how wonderful it was to temporarily escape all her troubles!
However, it was said that the police would be conducting a raid that night, so the atmosphere in the bar was much cleaner than usual. At most, two people would sit together chatting, and everyone was keeping their hands and feet clean, since nobody wanted to spend a night in the police station.
Mei Yanting sat for over an hour, then got bored and left. She had drunk quite a bit and was a little tipsy, but not too drunk. She hailed a taxi, climbed in, and almost fell asleep as soon as she sat down and closed her eyes. The feeling of the car speeding away only intensified her drowsiness.
Mei Yanting fell asleep in the taxi, so she had no idea that it was heading in a different direction. After circling aimlessly around the city a few times, it drove towards some place in the suburbs.
It wasn't until the car suddenly stopped that Mei Yanting slowly woke up. She opened her blurry eyes, pushed open the door, and was shocked to find that this wasn't her neighborhood at all! The effects of the alcohol and sleepiness faded quickly, but her vision remained hazy—the lingering effects of the alcohol.
"Let's go." A dark figure walked over, grabbed her arm by the clothes, and pulled her into the house in front of them.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Mei Yanting became frightened and struggled to stay inside. The house was dark, without any lights, and looked like a scene from a horror movie from the doorway. It also looked like a monster with its mouth open, ready to swallow someone whole.
Unfortunately, her strength was negligible to others, and she was easily dragged inside.
Upon reaching their destination, the man released her, and Mei Yanting slumped to her knees. A few rhythmic footsteps sounded, and she saw another dark figure appear before her in the shadows. Trembling, she slowly raised her head and heard the man speak in a terrifying voice and tone:
"Do you want revenge?"
Mei Yanting was stunned, and then she saw the dark figure lean down slightly, causing her to fall to the ground, her clothes soaked through.
...
Tomorrow I'm going home! Ling Ruoke only remembered this, forgetting everything else. She hadn't seen her child or the colonel for a week, and she missed them terribly. With tomorrow approaching, she couldn't sleep well.
I was half asleep when I was suddenly awakened. I glanced out the window and felt as if a pair of terrifying eyes were peering into the room—it was quite frightening!
Ling Ruoke slowly sat up, staring blankly out the window. Suddenly, she threw off the covers, got out of bed, put on her clothes, opened the door, and left Pei Shi's house. The lights in the hallway were off; they were hard to turn on unless you made a lot of noise. She tiptoed carefully downstairs in the darkness, her whole body tense, even her breathing was shallow!
Finally, she came downstairs, stood by the flowerbed, and looked around. Then she looked up at Pei Shi's window. It was the same as everyone else's window, nothing different, and nothing out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, something lunged at her from behind, and she whirled around—
Ling Ruoke dodged, and a small black shadow flew past her.
A "meow" sounded, and it turned out to be a cat.
Ling Ruoke secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but still looked around warily, her eyes shining brightly in the darkness, like stars in the night.
After a few minutes, Ling Ruoke was certain that nothing was amiss. The wind howled intermittently, and there were sounds of animals, but no one who shouldn't be there.
She stood there for almost fifteen minutes before moving up the stairs and returning to the room. Once inside, she didn't immediately go to bed, but instead went to the window and stood quietly looking down.
The night was dark and she couldn't see anything. Yet she had a feeling that something was happening secretly, something she didn't know, but it was definitely related to her.
This feeling is quite terrible, like someone who knows that a major disaster is about to happen in their life, but doesn't know when, where, or how it will happen, so they are constantly on edge.
Ling Ruoke sighed silently, a faint smile playing on her lips in the darkness. This meant she was living a happy life. The happier she was, the less she wanted anything to happen to her. She didn't want anything to happen to her loved ones, nor did she want to leave them because of anything. Her heart was filled with so many attachments, which was why she was so worried and uneasy.
My mind is in turmoil, as if my intestines are tangled up in a mess inside my body. It's like someone maliciously stuffed a ferocious animal into my body, a hungry beast that rampages around and makes me feel terrible.
Lost in thought, I stood by the window almost all night, until dawn before finally going back to bed for a short rest. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I was startled awake by the sound of my mother getting up to make breakfast. After lying down for a while, I decided to get up.
Without waiting for Tan Peishi to wake up or eat anything, he hurriedly had his guards take her back to her unit. He was eager to return home the whole way, wishing he had wings.
But it seemed like fate was conspiring against her. Halfway down the road, several black cars suddenly came speeding towards them. But as they approached, they suddenly slowed down.
Although the car didn't crash directly into them, they had to stop because the other car was blocking their way.
Ling Ruoke's heart leaped into her throat. Like an animal sensing danger, her entire body tensed, poised to pounce. Her eyes, no longer bright and gentle as usual, became wary and sharp.
Several cars passed by them and stopped behind them; two cars stopped on either side of them, and the rest blocked their way.
Their car was completely surrounded.
One minute passed, two minutes passed, and the cars remained parked quietly, with no one getting out. You couldn't see anyone inside; the cars just sat there silently, as if no one was inside, and someone had simply parked them in the middle of the road.
Just as Ling Ruoke was speculating about their purpose and where they might attack, all the cars suddenly started up again and disappeared in a short while. It seemed as if what she had just witnessed was merely a hallucination.
Ling Ruoke didn't tell the guards to drive away immediately. Instead, she turned her head and continued to warily survey her surroundings. After a while, she finally instructed the guards to drive away.
Only when she entered the special forces' territory did her tense body finally relax. It wasn't until she reached her front door and looked at that familiar window, thinking of the countless times the colonel had climbed in through there to go home, that Ling Ruoke's heart finally settled down.
She ran into an acquaintance downstairs, exchanged a brief greeting, and then rushed upstairs to her home. The door was never locked, so she could simply push it open and enter. However, the house was quiet; the colonel was busy at this hour, and Xiao Ping'an was probably at Li Jun's house.
Ling Ruoke casually put down what she was holding and headed straight for Li Jun's house. Before she even reached the door, she could already hear the children's laughter and playfulness—one was He Beibei, and the other was her little Ping An. She hadn't seen them for a week, and her heart was constantly filled with longing for them; now, she didn't want to waste a single second.
Li Jun was sitting on the sofa near the door. She saw Ling Ruoke as soon as she entered the room. Without greeting her, she turned to little Ping An and said, "Ping An, look who's back!"
Hearing her say that, Ling Ruoke also looked forward to her son's reaction, so she stood at the door, smiling and waiting for him to look up. This was the first time he had been away from his mother for so long, and she thought he would rush to her. However, the reality was far beyond her expectations.
Hearing Li Jun's words, Ping An, who was fiddling with his toys, looked up at the door. He paused for a moment upon seeing his mother, then lowered his head again to continue playing with his toys, as if he didn't recognize her.
"Oh, he's been making a fuss about finding his mother every day these past few days, probably driving her crazy at night. Now that he's actually back, he seems indifferent," Li Jun said with a smile.
Ling Ruoke knew her son best; he was throwing a tantrum, blaming her for suddenly disappearing and refusing to let him drink milk. She wanted to rush over and hug her precious son, but reason stopped her. She simply turned around and walked away. "Since he doesn't want his mother, then I'm leaving."
Ling Ruoke then actually started walking.
Little Ping An panicked, threw down his toy, and charged forward like a cannonball. Ling Ruoke deliberately walked slowly, so he immediately pounced on her, hugged her leg, and cried pitifully, "Mommy, don't go!"
Ling Ruoke's heart softened immediately when she saw him cry like that. She smiled helplessly, bent down, and picked him up.
Ping An hugged her mother's neck, her little face wet with tears, looking pitiful. Her big, dark eyes were watery, accusing her mother of being wrong, and she felt extremely aggrieved.
Li Jun laughed heartily. "You really know how to handle things. You know what, usually when you're home, he seems quite well-behaved, never crying or making a fuss. But after you were gone for a few days, I realized that your son is a real hot potato, he's so troublesome! Oh dear, if you hadn't come back soon, we would have been driven crazy by him. He's so naughty. If you don't keep an eye on him, he'll do who-knows-what. Look, he's searched through all the cabinets and drawers in our house, and my Beibei came along too. The time I went out to cook was like a ransacking of the house."
"Thank you for your hard work." Ling Ruoke knew she wasn't complaining; it was just a casual remark. However, she still felt a little guilty for troubling her these past few days. After all, Li Jun also had a daughter, and taking care of two children alone was undoubtedly very difficult.
Li Jun waved his hand casually and rolled his eyes. "Alright, why are you being so polite with me? If you really feel guilty, I'll leave for a few days and leave her with you when my baby is weaned."
"Of course, no problem. I guarantee your precious daughter won't be neglected." Ling Ruoke smiled happily; she loved this kind of situation. There was no need to be so clear about the differences, nor to measure who would help whom more. As long as you needed me, I would be there; as long as I needed you, you would definitely come. That was enough!
Li Jun laughed heartily. "I'm not afraid of this at all. If someone like you can do something like abusing someone else's child, then probably everyone in this world is a snake in the heart, and I'm no exception."
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