Jiang Zhou hesitated somewhat.
"It's quite embarrassing to talk about this, because the Third Young Master actually forbade me from telling anyone else."
Xu Yanzhi's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he didn't speak.
"But since you two are so close, it's okay to talk about it. Please don't tell him."
Jiang Zhou whispered, "It must be a romantic entanglement he accidentally caused that night on the cruise ship."
Xu Yanzhi had just been laughing and talking about this at the table, so how could he not remember it?
He gave a cryptic smile.
"I heard that he wasn't engaged to the Shen family that night; he was having quite a fling in front of his fiancée."
Jiang Zhou was embarrassed. "These two things are intertwined. Of course, the Third Young Master should take responsibility for his drunken misconduct. But when the time came, he found out that he had taken responsibility for the wrong person. The Shen family not only took the money without permission but also tried to scheme against him. So naturally, he has to find this girl."
Xu Yanzhi's temples had begun to throb faintly.
However, he remained calm and composed. When Jiang Zhou was adding to the discussion, he took out his cigarette case, tapped a cigarette, and heard the metallic sound of the lighter's thick cap being pushed open, followed by a wisp of smoke slowly rising.
The nicotine entering his lungs eased his agitation, he said calmly.
“Go on.”
"According to reliable sources, the girl we bumped into that night was the one in the surveillance footage. The Third Young Master originally wanted to wait for her to return to China to question her in detail, but she disappeared. Fortunately, the other side in the foreign country was not very cooperative, so we came to ask Chairman Xu for help."
Xu Yanzhi casually repeated his words.
"A reliable person".
Jiang Zhou chuckled, "I really can't say that, otherwise the Third Young Master will really kill me."
The story has been told, with its beginning, development, climax, and conclusion clearly presented.
Xu Yanzhi took only one puff of the slender cigarette before extinguishing it in the ashtray on the marble pillar next to him.
"Okay, I'll make a call later, someone will cooperate with you."
"Then thank you, Chairman Xu."
Jiang Zhou was about to get into the car after he finished speaking when Xu Yanzhi stopped him.
Jiang Zhou turned his head to look.
Xu Yanzhi glanced at him, his eyes as misty as the early morning, and smiled enigmatically.
"Tan San told you not to talk, but you've explained everything clearly, leaving things in suspense. Aren't you afraid he'll really kill you?"
Jiang Zhou felt a chill run down his spine and fled into the car.
As Xu Yanzhi walked back along the corridor, the waiter who had been called upstairs earlier ran into him and said that Miss Meng had made a phone call to a friend while changing clothes upstairs and had now returned to the lobby.
He gave a soft "hmm," his mind elsewhere, and didn't ask any further questions.
When Meng Jiuyi came downstairs, the card game had already ended. She had only met these people a few times, and the absence of familiar faces made her feel awkward.
Xu Yanzhi saw her sitting quietly to the side, being bombarded with questions from those old hands.
He stepped forward, put his arm around her shoulder, and said with a slight squint.
"What did you just ask her?"
Cen Dong and his group immediately restrained themselves.
Her eyes could speak; when she looked at him, they lit up like starlight. The familiarity of being rescued, which relaxed her limbs, swept away most of Xu Yanzhi's irritability.
Xu Yanzhi drove himself up the mountain, and when he came out, the doorman respectfully handed him the car keys.
After Xu Yanzhi took it, he asked, "You really aren't coming with me?"
Meng Jiuyi shook her head, "I made plans with my colleagues tonight. There are direct buses from this resort to the city."
Xu Yanzhi said, "Is this job really that good? I thought someone was recuperating, but it turns out they secretly came up the mountain."
His upbringing includes respecting other people's choices, even if he doesn't like her job.
Meng Jiuyi, of course, wouldn't tell him the real reason.
"The benefits here are actually quite good. Seeing my roommates go out to work made me feel like I was just sitting around doing nothing, so I came here. Plus, I don't run into those annoying people every day."
The phrase "difficult and annoying" naturally refers to Tan Yuchen.
Not only are they difficult to deal with, but they are also shameless, moody, and prone to tantrums.
Thinking about what happened upstairs just now, she closed her eyes tightly, and countless sharp thorns rose up again.
I want to stab someone!
Does she realize that adjectives can carry tone and reveal a level of familiarity that is not readily apparent?
Xu Yanzhi curved his lips slightly, but the curve was rather dull.
Meng Jiuyi was very perceptive and could naturally sense his coldness, as if the person who had just picked her up on the court and made her explain herself was a completely different person.
Her eyelashes fluttered uncomfortably as she whispered.
"Then I'll be going now. Drive carefully on the road."
Before she could turn around, her wrist was grabbed so tightly that she was pulled back and almost fell into his arms.
Xu Yanzhi looked down at her and asked, "When are you going to tell me about Tan Sheng?"
He didn't ask for preparations, lacked necessary compromises, and even his eyes became dark and intimidating, as if he absolutely had to know today.
Meng Jiuyi knew what he was asking: if he didn't like talking about Sheng, what was the reason for the marks on his body that night?
In that instant, an inexplicable impulse seized Meng Jiuyi.
Let him go.
A voice resonated deep within my heart.
You can use anyone, but he's so kind; he's helped you so many times after seeing you suffer.
Meng Jiuyi's eyes immediately stung.
Her lips moved slightly, "Actually, on the night of the Shen family's birthday celebration, I wasn't there to negotiate—"
Why did you give an irrelevant answer?
Xu Yanzhi tapped her forehead with his finger. "When I first met you and Tan Sheng at Ruining Mansion, what did you tell me? You told me to keep it a secret and that you wanted to wait for your relationship to stabilize."
"What he and I are just starting out are like tender seedlings, easily bent and broken, so we must protect them carefully."
When he recited those super Mary Sue lines, Meng Jiuyi immediately wanted to curl up in shame and disappear into the ground. Xu Yanzhi smiled knowingly, "So you're playing me here?"
Meng Jiuyi covered his forehead, and for some reason, they both laughed when they looked at each other.
The atmosphere thawed, but the courage she had just shown vanished like the receding tide. She dared not let him know how messy her relationships were.
She smiled and curved her lips into a smile.
"Thank you for helping me out of that situation on the court just now."
It refers to what her boyfriend said.
Tan Yuchen was really looking for trouble at the time; without him, that bastard would have been up to no good.
"You think I'm trying to get you out of a tight spot."
Xu Yanzhi's smile faded, and he looked at her intently. "Why do I feel like I'm indirectly asking for a formal title?"
Meng Jiuyi's pupils trembled, and she looked up at him.
He lowered his head and said earnestly.
Was that remark too abrupt for you?
Xu Yanzhi has witnessed many of his friends' relationships and marriages over the years.
Many are willing to spend lavishly to win a beauty's smile. Money is usually just a cheap commodity, but when a sense of ceremony is needed, it can create a shower of roses, proclaiming that you are irreplaceable.
Girls all love surprises, don't they?
He seemed to have given her nothing, just blurted out his words so carelessly, leaving a group of people to tease her at will.
Meng Jiuyi met his gaze and clearly saw the solemnity in his eyes.
For some reason, her nose felt a little sore, and she burst into laughter through her tears.
"Absolutely not! Mr. Xu, there's no need to worry."
"Why?" Her smile was infectious.
"I just don't know how."
Meng Jiuyi thought for a moment, "You are the kind of person whose good manners are ingrained in your bones. You are a virtuous and respected gentleman who is willing to listen to what others really mean. Even if you are angry and scold someone, you would apologize in advance. If I am going to criticize you, you would be prepared. How could you possibly be rude to me?"
He was the complete opposite of a hypocritical man like Mencius' father.
A smile had already crept into Xu Yanzhi's eyes, and he pretended to ponder.
"Are you reciting a poem?"
"Of course not!"
As she continued to defend herself, she heard him laugh. Xu Yanzhi looked down at her and gently stroked her face with his fingers.
"Thank you for the compliment, but don't think of me as too perfect. I'm just a mortal, and I can be nostalgic for certain unforgettable scenes, like—"
The places his fingertips touched sent shivers down her spine, and Meng Jiuyi heard him whisper.
"The day you got sick."
**
The bloodied razor blade fell into the porcelain plate with a crisp sound, and the doctor wrapped gauze around his neck.
Even with the injury, Tan Yuchen didn't frown; his face remained casual and lazy, radiating a relaxed and carefree air.
When Jiang Zhou came in, Tan Yuchen asked.
"Has the message been delivered?"
Jiang Zhou hummed in agreement, then hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Tan Yuchen slowly raised his eyelids and glanced at him sideways.
"What's with that shit-eating face of yours?"
"......"
Jiang Zhou couldn't help but say, "Third Young Master, why don't you give me some more difficult tasks in the future?"
Please, please stop him from acting.
"for example?"
"The kind of job that's more worthy of my salary, where every second counts and every crisis is critical."
Tan Yuchen tossed his phone onto the table and looked at him slowly and deliberately.
"Is this because they think I'm low-class?"
--
good evening.
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