77 Chapter Seventy-Six
One is a local, the other is from out of town.
The next day at noon, at Chun Zhen Sugar Cake Shop.
This was precisely when the number of viewers for the live stream reached its peak, and passing tourists stopped to watch. A familiar head peeked in from outside the door and greeted Chunzhen with practiced ease and a loud voice.
Zhao Pingnan was wiping the sweat off Sun Taihe, who was cutting the sugar cake. Sun Taihe whispered a few words to her, and Zhao Pingnan blushed and urged him: Hurry up and cut it!
Zheng Miaojia was lazily drawing on their digital tablet.
Zhong Su, standing to the side, handed Miao Jia both water and a cell phone with messages on it.
Zheng Miaojia, sunglasses perched on her forehead, glanced at him, seemingly sending some unseen message.
Zhong Su lowered his head and reluctantly kissed her on the cheek.
However, a loud "Hello, Grandma Chunzhen!" caused the air to freeze for a few seconds. All four people stopped what they were doing and turned their gazes toward him—but Gao Dian stood at the door like a dumb goose struck by lightning.
...
The four of them stood in a row. Gao Dian walked around them three times before stopping, then calmly asked, "Is it based on place of origin? Right?"
He pointed over here, "One local, one from out of town."
Then, pointing incredulously over there, "One's from out of town, the other's a local. Right?"
After careful consideration, Gao Dian realized that if he had to follow this rule, all that would be left for him was Tan Jiu...
He spat it out, feeling sorry for his two unsuspecting friends: "Look how exhausted Miao and Qiao are! They're single-mindedly focused on building Xiaohuacheng's business and traffic, and what are you doing?!"
While setting up his phone, Sun Taihe said to Zhao Pingnan, "He said we're a good match."
Zhao Pingnan pinched his arm angrily, "What's the use of him saying that? My mom has to say it!"
Gao Dian darted forward and shouted, "I said 'Pui pui pui!'!"
Sun Taihe didn't even look up: "Thanks, brother. Want some sugar cake?"
Gaodian: "………………"
Zheng Miaojia slammed the drawing tablet shut, stuffed it back into her canvas bag along with the pad, waved her black coat, said goodbye to Chunzhen, and pulled Zhong Su away.
Zhong Su remained motionless, glancing at Gao Dian and saying, "Your childhood friend seems to be jealous." Zheng Miaojia had just put her sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose when she pulled them down to the tip, scrutinizing him from above with a puzzled look. "Jealous about what?"
Zhong Su's face stiffened slightly, and he turned away and whispered: Can't you feel it? He likes you.
Zheng Miaojia laughed out loud. "Zhong Su, are you jealous? You don't actually like me, do you?"
Zhong Sujun's face darkened slightly, and he cursed, "Get lost!"
Gao Dian turned to look at the two of them, equally bewildered, and asked, "What are you babbling about?"
Zheng Miaojia pulled Zhong Su across the threshold. She smiled at Zhong Su, then silently held up three fingers, slowly bending them one by one: Three, two...
Sure enough, less than three seconds later, the two heard Gao Dian yelling at Sun Taihe from behind in a condescending tone: "Are you feeding a dog?! Who's going to eat this much?! Cut it into bigger pieces!"
***
The news that Xiaohua City was going to undergo a major overhaul spread quickly through the scenic area's office.
As soon as Gao Dian entered the room with the sugar cakes that Sun Taihe had cut, he heard Wu Juan, Pan Xiaoliang, and Chai Na from the finance department next door whispering about it.
Gao Dian rushed over, risking that the sweet cakes would be devoured, and the information he got was: Qiaoqiao is going to get a promotion!
Zhang Zongxie held a day-long meeting with the heads of various departments and Li Yingqiao. It wasn't until evening that she emerged from the meeting room and returned to her office. Gao Dian was about to deliver the last piece of sweet cake he had snatched from the jaws of death to Li Yingqiao when, before he could even take a step, a figure in a suit and tie entered through the door.
Li Yingqiao sank into the large executive chair, slowly spinning around, letting the hem of her woolen skirt swirl.
Zhang Zongxie stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, his figure tall and slender, his features cold and hard, his brows slightly furrowed. He looked down at her several times, but finally turned his head away to look out the window, until he loosened his tie and swallowed hard.
After a moment of silence, he turned his head, his gaze complicated: "I won't be coming back to Beijing this time. I'll hand over the Little Painting City matter to someone else. The shares held by the shareholders are practically useless after being diluted by Convey Capital, so we can hardly listen to them. But have you really thought this through?"
In today's market environment, not everyone can easily take out money to dilute these shares. Li Yingqiao knows all too well how hard-won this money is, and of course she is mentally prepared. Just as Liang Mei told her on the phone, the beast of fate will keep stirring up the wind and rain, smelling her unhealed wounds and the scent of blood. She never intended to hide: "I will not let what happened in Rainbow Youli happen again."
Zhang Zongxie sneered: "What if it happens? Can you predict these things? Next time, no one will help you keep a recording."
"Then let's all die together," Li Yingqiao joked.
Zhang Zongxie turned to look at her, his gaze lingering for a long time. In the end, he merely curled the corner of his mouth and called her a fool in Fengtan dialect, "Chun Zhang."
The echo of "Chun Zhang" seemed to linger. Li Yingqiao recalled when she first joined the company. They both knew they were from Fengtan, but they rarely spoke the local dialect, speaking only standard Mandarin. It was as if they were deliberately competing to see whose Mandarin was more fluent. People from Fengtan always have a strange competitive spirit.
Li Yingqiao chuckled, finally glancing at him, and got up to pour him a glass of water: "It's quite strange to hear you speak in dialect for the first time."
"Don't you and Yu Jinyang usually talk about this?"
“We’ve rarely talked since we were little,” Li Yingqiao poured him a cup with a paper cup, took one for herself to warm her hands, and stood side by side with him in front of the French windows. The corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up. She had never felt that forty days was so long: “Miao was very aloof when he was little. We actually fought quite a lot in class. Once, the teacher even made us take a picture of us shaking hands and making up. It really was just two hands. Can you imagine? Our classmates laughed at us for a long time.”
Zhang Zongxie could inexplicably imagine the lively atmosphere of their childhood. His own childhood was unremarkable; before high school, he only had one type of photo—all group photos with various benefactors. He even foolishly asked them if he could just clap his hands and not have his face photographed. They replied, "Even the Premier gets his face photographed at meetings; who do you think you are?" Because he didn't like to smile, he became even more serious when taking photos. When the photos were published in the newspaper, his grandmother picked them up, read them, and scolded him for not smiling, saying he wouldn't be able to go to school if he didn't smile.
The only time I met Yu Renjie was in high school. He waved his hand and said, "Why take pictures? I won't. I don't want people to take photos of me when I do charity work."
He paused for a moment, then turned to look at her. "Is it because I'm a bit like him? What would have happened if I hadn't thrown you into the Rainbow Pool?"
"Nothing will happen, you're not like him."
"Of course you're saying that now—"
Zhang Zongxie was interrupted before she could finish speaking. The echo of "Chun Zhang" was becoming clearer and closer, until it suddenly appeared at her office door. The two turned around and saw that someone was indeed causing trouble.
The man barged in, cursing and swearing all the way. Li Yingqiao put down her cup, went out, and looked at the man with an impatient expression: "Qian Dongchang, what do you want?"
Pan Xiaoliang and Gao Dian immediately took their places as his left and right protectors. Wu Juan commented that Li Yingqiao's presence alone was more imposing; with the two of them approaching, even with the sugar cake still stuck to their teeth, their aura immediately diminished by half.
A crowd had gathered outside Li Yingqiao's office. Qian Dongchang, ignoring them, kicked over the coffee table in front of him. The metal leg scraped against the floor with a sharp, grating sound. A court summons was slammed down on him: "Where's Li Boqing? I want to see Li Boqing! Let's see who sues me, who the hell dares to sue me!"
It hit Gao Dian squarely on the forehead, carrying a strong smell of chives and garlic. "This hand must have been used to clean shit! Boss Qian, how come the paper you handle smells so bad!"
Gao Dian took it down and read it aloud word by word: "Case No. XXXX, Fengtan County People's Court, Nanlai City; Summons Person: Qian Dongchang; Reason for Summons: Commercial Bribery..."
Everyone was taken aback.
Li Yingqiao looked at Qian Dongchang and said something with a calm expression, as if to say, "It's going to rain tomorrow, and I'll make the thunder."
These words, like an invisible rubber band, suddenly snapped at Qian Dongchang's forehead, making a resounding sound. The sound was like a long bell, buzzing in his mind, instantly pulling him back to a summer afternoon many years ago.
Huacheng Elementary School has always been very peaceful, so peaceful that even the cicadas are silent. If someone is bullied, no one will stand up for them or lose their temper. They will just struggle under him, screaming even when they are in excruciating pain, for fear of waking the children who are taking a nap.
Later, Qian Dongchang saw a sentence that Liang Mei had written in her diary.
Fortunately, the children's world was quiet, as quiet as if it were wrapped in a thick, damp quilt.
Back then, women seemed to be accustomed to silence and forbearance. Every year, the new teachers were young and beautiful, and still carried the arrogance of students from teacher training colleges.
Logically speaking, Liang Mei shouldn't be here. She benefited from the era's advantages, passing the entrance exam for a teacher's college early on, and should have been assigned to the junior high school teaching staff. But she was stubborn and didn't know how to network, often offending people, which naturally led to her being demoted.
Qian Dongchang never made a move on her. At that time, a new female teacher had arrived. She had a good personality and spoke softly. He still remembers what she looked like. Her eyes and brows were always smiling. She could also sing and was incredibly cheerful.
Liang Mei probably sensed something was wrong, so on several occasions, he used the pretext of the teaching and research meeting to keep her alone in his office. Liang Mei, who always left on time, would always find an excuse to drag her away.
He finally lost his temper and became furious. Then, when her class's midterm exam results dropped sharply, Qian Dongchang finally seized the opportunity to legitimately make Liang Mei stay. He then grabbed her hair and dragged her into the office.
He failed for the first time and was even hit on the head by Liang Mei with a trophy from the cabinet. He was furious and gritted his teeth, thinking that even if he had to strangle her to death today, he would not let her leave this place!
Unexpectedly, when the security guard came to patrol that day, he forgot to tell him that he didn't need to come here. The security guard heard the noise inside the door and came to knock. Liang Mei seized the opportunity to run out and hid in the bathroom.
He saw in Liang Mei's eyes the familiar fear that women have of innocence and of worldly judgment.
He was certain that Liang Mei would also keep Xiaohua City peaceful.
Let the children stay wrapped in this damp yet warm quilt.
So on that sweltering summer afternoon, when the police walked into the honorary teacher's office at Huacheng Elementary School, showed their national emblem badges, and asked him if he was Qian Dongchang, he blurted out, "Who dares to sue me?"
Liang Mei put down her lesson plan, tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, turned to look at him, and said casually, "I told him, so what?"
At this moment, the room was filled with people of all kinds of expressions. Amidst the stares of onlookers, those feigning ignorance, those angry, those fearful, those surprised, and even those trying to smooth things over, Li Yingqiao simply fixed her gaze on him indifferently: "I sued, so what?"
I filed the lawsuit.
What's wrong.
It was bland and uneventful, and we repeated it again.
[Author's Note]
Happy Qixi Festival to everyone!!!
I deliberately waited until after Qixi Festival to post this, because this chapter is quite important; it's the last annoying person I'm dealing with.
I'll add a Valentine's Day bonus chapter after the story is finished.
Hehe. This red envelope!
See you today!!!
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