Chen Yinuo could no longer control herself. With eyes burning with tears, she raised her hand and slapped him right across the face!
A crisp, resounding crack!
Everyone in the lobby dropped their jaws in shock.
What on earth was going on here?
"You bitch, you—how dare you hit me?"
Clutching his burning, stinging right cheek in sheer disbelief, Yang Di could never have imagined that Chen Yinuo would actually dare to lash out at him.
"I'll fucking destroy you!"
Before Chen Yinuo, whose eyes were welling up with tears, could even speak, Yang Di—having been dealt such a resounding slap in full view of everyone—completely lost his mind. He raised his hand, preparing to strike her right back across the face with all his might.
Just as Chen Yinuo resigned herself to the blow, just as Yang Di's hand was about to come crashing down upon her face, a figure suddenly darted forward and lunged at Yang Di with a flying kick.
Thud!
Yang Di let out a muffled grunt, stumbling backward several steps before nearly crashing to the floor.
"Manager Yang!"
"Manager Yang!"
Seeing this, those security guards completely forgot about the uninvited guest who had suddenly burst in, and rushed anxiously forward to steady Yang Di.
Meanwhile, Chen Yinuo's brain went completely blank for a split second.
However, when she turned her head to look at the unexpected savior who had just bailed her out, her expression instantly froze.
Her shock was no less than seeing the sun rise in the west.
Yet that frozen look immediately hardened into a cold, irritated glare.
"Why is it you? Are you stalking me?"
***
Yes, indeed.
The uninvited guest was none other than Ye Chen—the very same Ye Chen she couldn't even bear to look at for another second!
At that moment, Chen Yinuo did not believe for a single second that Ye Chen's appearance was a coincidence. She instinctively jumped to the conclusion that he was following her!
Over the past few years, entirely driven by his paranoia and groundless suspicions that she was seeing someone behind his back, Ye Chen had subjected her to regular bouts of domestic violence, beating and kicking her at will.
Yet for all his paranoid brutality, this utter scumbag was an absolute coward at heart. His fits of rage and physical abuse were directed strictly at her, and at her alone.
And yet now, he actually had the guts to start throwing punches and beating people here?
"If I told you it was a coincidence, would you believe me?" Ye Chen asked with a bitter smile.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" Chen Yinuo said coldly.
"Who the hell are you?"
At that moment, having somewhat recovered, Yang Di shoved away the security guards supporting him and glared furiously at Ye Chen.
Despite taking a flying kick to the stomach, he still didn't dare act rashly until he had figured out the other man's background.
"I'm her husband. Does that answer satisfy you?" Ye Chen said.
"You're that worthless gambling addict of a husband of this bitch?"
Seeing that Chen Yinuo offered no denial, Yang Di was utterly dumbfounded.
No matter how he looked at it, he considered himself a person of some standing and influence. Yet here he was, beaten by Chen Yinuo's cowardly, good-for-nothing, gambling-addict husband?
"Someone grab him for me! Call the police!" Yang Di roared furiously.
"Yes, Manager Yang!"
Immediately, the cluster of security guards swarmed forward to surround Ye Chen.
Before they could lay a hand on him or get him under control, Ye Chen spoke up.
"Manager Yang, is it? Go ahead and call the police, have me arrested if you want—but you better make sure I don't walk back out the moment I get locked up. Otherwise, the second I'm out, I'll come after you to the bitter end and ruin your life, believe me or not! I've got nothing to lose anyway—a barefoot man isn't afraid of someone wearing shoes!"
That blatant, unvarnished threat instantly made the security guards hesitate. They couldn't quite make up their minds, turning their gazes in unison toward Yang Di.
And under the weight of Ye Chen's warning, Yang Di suddenly lost his nerve.
Setting aside the fact that he was the one who had insulted and threatened Chen Yinuo first, even if Ye Chen were thrown behind bars, he'd be locked up for fifteen days at most—and he'd be out again in two weeks!
What if this reckless vagrant really did come after him—a man in a tailored suit and leather shoes—to the bitter end? Could he possibly afford to trade blows with a lunatic like that?
Yet in front of this large crowd, he couldn't back down, nor could he just let it go; where would he put his face if he did?
"Are you threatening me?"
Just as Ye Chen was about to reply with a casual "So what if I am?", his cell phone suddenly rang.
He pulled it out and answered.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Ye? Have you arrived yet?" Zhang Jingshan's polite voice came through from the other end.
"I'm here! Right in your company lobby, but your people are trying to call the police and have me arrested!" Ye Chen said.
"What the hell? Someone's calling the police to arrest you? Hang on, I'm coming down right now!"
Beep—
Hanging up the phone, Zhang Jingshan hurried anxiously out of his office.
Although his relationship with Ye Chen was nothing more than a chance encounter based on a business transaction, he had given his word over the matter of the Buddhist prayer bead bracelet that he owed the man a personal favor.
Now that trouble had found Ye Chen right inside his company, he couldn't just stand by and ignore it, regardless of reason or decency.
"President Zhang!"
"President Zhang!"
"President Zhang!"
Seeing Zhang Jingshan rush out of the elevator, employees all across the lobby called out in greeting.
The complexions of Yang Di and the security guards shifted drastically.
Chen Yinuo, too, was struck dumb with utter astonishment.
Could it be that the person talking on the phone with that brute was actually President Zhang—Zhang Jingshan himself?
How was that even possible?!
How could a worthless piece of trash like him possibly be acquainted with President Zhang?
"Mr. Ye, what—what is going on here? Who is trying to have you arrested?"
Zhang Jingshan walked right up to Ye Chen and asked briskly.
"President Zhang, as soon as I walked in here, I saw your Manager Yang trying to hit my wife. Right before he could lay a hand on her, I gave him a kick, and then he had these security guards round me up and call the police!" Ye Chen explained.
"What?"
Zhang Jingshan frowned deeply. He turned his gaze toward Yang Di. "Is that what happened?"
"President Zhang, President Zhang, don't listen to this gambling addict's nonsense, I—" Yang Di's mouth was bone-dry, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to frame his words.
"Just tell me whether it's true or not!" Zhang Jingshan snapped sharply.
"Yes!" Yang Di gritted his teeth to the breaking point.
Little did he know that the moment he gave that confirmation, Zhang Jingshan lashed out with a vicious kick straight to his stomach.
Roaring with fury, Zhang Jingshan cursed, "You actually raise your hand to hit a woman? Are you even a fucking man, huh? Is this how you treat the reputation of Yunshan Network Network as if it's worthless? You might not have any shame, but don't you dare drag the good name of Yunshan Network down the drain with you!"
Taking the kick square in the gut, Yang Di didn't even dare to offer an excuse. "President Zhang, I was wrong!"
"Just you wait, this isn't over between us!" Zhang Jingshan pointed a finger at him from across the space.
Only then did he turn back to address Ye Chen, his tone shifting instantly. "Mr. Ye, I am terribly sorry. This is a failure on my part in terms of management—please don't take it to heart!"
With that, he glanced over at Chen Yinuo and said, "You must be Mr. Ye's better half. I am so sorry about all this!"
He had instinctively assumed that Ye Chen and Chen Yinuo were a young couple who had come together to collect the three hundred thousand.
"President Zhang, I am not his wife, and we'll be getting a divorce very soon!"
Normally, Chen Yinuo was never one to air her domestic affairs in public.
After all, setting aside the old saying about not washing dirty linen in public, what good did talking about it ever do anyway? Besides making oneself the butt of other people's jokes, what could it possibly solve?
Don't let appearances fool you; while people might put on a sympathetic and comforting face on the surface, there was no telling how many of them were secretly gloating inside.
Yet at that moment, hearing Zhang Jingshan refer to her as Ye Chen's wife was something she simply could not accept!
"This..."
Now it was Zhang Jingshan's turn to feel awkward. With each of them telling a different story, what kind of relationship did these two actually have?
And weren't they here together as a couple?
"President Zhang, I am Chen Yinuo, an employee at Huaxing Trading. I'm here today to discuss renewing our promotional cooperation agreement with Yuntian Network! President Zhang, in light of the long-standing and mutually beneficial partnership our two companies have shared, could you please consider continuing to promote Huaxing Trading's products?"
Without letting Zhang Jingshan stew in his awkwardness any longer, Chen Yinuo swiftly changed the subject and laid out the purpose of her visit.
Beside them, the color had completely drained from Yang Di's face, leaving him deathly pale.
"Hmm? Huaxing Trading? Hasn't Yuntian Network always been in partnership with Huaxing Trading? Haven't we been promoting your products all along?" Zhang Jingshan asked, looking puzzled.
Few people knew that the owner of Huaxing Trading happened to be his high school classmate.
Because of that personal connection, the cooperation between the two companies had always been exceptionally tight. Zhang Jingshan had even given explicit instructions that as long as Huaxing Trading's promotional fees weren't lower than ten percent below the market rate, priority must always be given to them.
"President Zhang, ten days ago, when our contract between Huaxing Trading and Yuntian Network expired, your company chose not to renew it with us. Instead, you switched to promoting our direct competitor!" Chen Yinuo said.
"There's such a thing?" Zhang Jingshan's anger began to simmer.
He hadn't known a single thing about this.
And over at Huaxing Trading, that old classmate of his preferred to be a totally hands-off boss—he probably hadn't been paying attention either, which was why the matter had never been brought up between them.
"President Zhang, I know our competitor offered a price ten percent higher than what Huaxing Trading proposed, but the quality of our goods at Huaxing Trading is absolute and guaranteed. Having worked with us for so long, you must know that we have never caused Yuntian Network a single headache or brought any trouble upon you due to quality issues during our promotions! Moreover, the promotional fees we offered were entirely in line with the market baseline; it's simply that our competitor maliciously drove up the price!" Chen Yinuo explained.
Zhang Jingshan's expression grew even more ominous.
His own company had not only terminated its cooperation with Huaxing Trading, but had also chosen Huaxing Trading's direct competitor?
All because the rival firm offered a price higher by a mere ten percent?
What the fuck!
Did he, Zhang Jingshan, look like he was short of that ten percent?
Furthermore, something smelled fishy about this whole business!
The cooperation between Huaxing Trading and Yuntian Network could be described as exceptionally close. Yet after seeking out a new partner, why had Yang Di—the person in charge of commercial partnerships—never once mentioned it to him?
"Yang Di, are you going to give me an explanation for this?"
Zhang Jingshan turned his dark, gloomy gaze toward Yang Di.
The overwhelming fury was already plain for all to see.
***
"President Zhang, I—I admit I lost my mind and was only looking at the profits! But the contract we signed with the other party was only a temporary agreement; Yuntian Network has the right to unilaterally terminate it at any time!"
Yang Di stammered.
However, the cold sweat beginning to bead on his skin and his strained, distorted voice were more than enough to prove that things were nowhere near that simple.
"A temporary contract? Isn't that a clear sign of leaving yourself an escape route? To realize you need an escape route—is that really just losing your mind?"
Standing nearby, Ye Chen chimed in casually.
Zhang Jingshan clearly realized the implications as well. He turned to Chen Yinuo and asked, "Ms. Chen, when you approached Yang Di to discuss renewing the contract, what did he say to you?"
Hearing Zhang Jingshan's question, Yang Di felt his legs turn to jelly. If the security guards hadn't caught him with quick reflexes, he would have collapsed flat onto the floor right then and there.
"Hoo!!!"
Instead of speaking immediately, Chen Yinuo took a deep breath.
It was as if she were summoning every ounce of courage she possessed.
"Manager Yang told me that as long as I agreed to accompany him, he would renew our promotional contract," she said. "Otherwise, there was no point in talking!"
To "accompany him"—though those two words sounded light enough, the true meaning behind them was unmistakable to everyone in the room!
As soon as those words left her mouth, Yang Di's face turned as pale as a sheet of paper!
"Yang Di, I'll tear you to pieces!"
Like a raging beast, Zhang Jingshan—a man of passionate and straightforward impulses—could no longer contain the eruption of his fury!
He lashed out with a fierce kick directly into Yang Di's abdomen!
In a flash of lightning, the two security guards supporting Yang Di instinctively let go.
Accompanied by a miserable shriek, Yang Di's slightly corpulent body slammed directly into the reception desk and collapsed heavily onto the floor in a slumped heap.
"You two—call the accounting department right now and settle Yang Di's final salary immediately!"
Zhang Jingshan pointed a finger at the two terrified receptionists behind the front desk.
As if that still wasn't enough to vent his spleen, Zhang Jingshan glared at the stunned security guards. "What are you all standing around gawking for? Get him out of my sight immediately! From this second on, there is no such person as Yang Di at Yunshan Network!"
"Y-Yes, President Zhang!"
Trembling all over, the guards scrambled forward to grab Yang Di.
Setting aside the fact that kicking a man while he was down brought zero psychological burden, those guards had harbored a deep, burning resentment toward Yang Di for his usual arrogant, overbearing treatment of the company's rank-and-file employees.
It was only out of fear for his position in the company that they had been forced to smile and suck up to him.
"President Zhang, I was wrong, President Zhang, I was wrong!"
"I'm begging you to give me another chance, I promise I'll never do it again!"
"President Zhang! President Zhang!"
Yang Di's howling cries echoed through the lobby.
Yet not only did Zhang Jingshan feel not an ounce of pity, but he also bellowed fiercely at the guards, "Hurry up and get him out of my sight!"
Once Yang Di had been hauled and tossed out of the building, Zhang Jingshan finally managed to calm his emotions somewhat.
With utmost sincerity, he turned to Chen Yinuo.
"Ms. Chen, I am so sorry. It was a failure of my own oversight! I will personally make sure to give your company's chief executive at Huaxing Trading a proper explanation for this!"
"It's fine, President Zhang. In that case, can we—can we restart the renewal process for the promotional contract right now?"
Beaten down by life a thousand times over, Chen Yinuo had no mental energy left to care about anything else.
She only wanted to secure her livelihood. And to keep her job, she had to get that renewal contract signed.
"Of course, we can sign it right now—I'll sign it myself! Did you bring a drafted copy of the contract with you?" Zhang Jingshan asked.
"Wonderful, wonderful—yes, I did!" Chen Yinuo eagerly pulled the contract out from her bag, her hands shaking slightly.
Without even glancing at it, Zhang Jingshan took the document, walked over to the front desk to grab a pen, and swiftly scrawled his signature across the page.
He then handed the contract back into Chen Yinuo's hands. "Ms. Chen, take this up to the business department on the fourth floor and have them stamp it with the official seal!"
"Thank you!"
With tears welling in her eyes, Chen Yinuo bowed at a full ninety-degree angle.
From beginning to end, she didn't cast another glance in Ye Chen's direction.
She completely forgot that if not for Ye Chen's intervention, she would never have had the chance to meet Zhang Jingshan, let alone secure the promotional contract with such ease.
Without him, she would have suffered Yang Di's abusive slap and been thrown out of Yunshan Network Network in disgrace!
Then again, that was hardly surprising; her hatred and resentment toward Ye Chen had been deeply rooted over the past few years.
How could she possibly spare a thought for anything else?
Just as she brushed past Zhang Jingshan on her way out, she suddenly paused in her tracks.
"President Zhang, he is not a good person. Please don't let him fool you!"
With those words, Chen Yinuo hurried away toward the elevators.
Ye Chen stood there with a bitter smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Zhang Jingshan froze in place, a look of profound bewilderment crossing his features.
That "he" she had mentioned—was she talking about Ye Chen?
What on earth did he, Zhang Jingshan, have to be fooled about?
His entire intersection with Ye Chen was over that single Buddhist prayer bead bracelet!
If the bracelet turned out to be fake, it wasn't Ye Chen who had scammed him—it was Lu Cheng!
"Mr. Ye, are you... are you really husband and wife?" Zhang Jingshan asked, his expression strange and complicated.
Ye Chen didn't bother to explain, choosing instead to glide lightly over the question. "Forgive me for letting President Zhang witness such a spectacle!"
"No worries at all. Come on, let's head up—I was in such a rush coming down earlier that I forgot to grab the money. Come up with me!" Zhang Jingshan said.
"Alright."
***
Inside the office.
Zhang Jingshan smiled as he handed a substantial-looking brown paper bag over to Ye Chen.
"Here," he said. "There's three hundred thousand in here, go ahead and count it."
"No need to count, I trust President Zhang!"
Accepting the brown paper bag, Ye Chen tucked it under his arm.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he paused in his tracks and said, "President Zhang, thanks."
"Hmm? What are you thanking me for? Shouldn't I be the one thanking you?" Zhang Jingshan said, amused.
"Thank you for bailing Yinuo out and signing that contract. At least she'll be able to go back and report to work smoothly now," Ye Chen said.
Zhang Jingshan smiled noncommittally. "If we're talking about thanks, I should be thanking the two of you instead. If not for you folks, I wouldn't even have known that such a harmful pest was lurking within my company! Also, Mr. Ye, I know that string of prayer beads is worth well over three hundred thousand, and I'm sure you know it too. But given how straightforward and decisive you've been about this, I won't put on airs or offer any awkward extra compensation. Like I said before, I owe you a personal favor. Whenever you need help in the future, just use the favor of that prayer bead bracelet to find me—it'll hold weight!"
Hearing those words, Ye Chen—who had already been prepared to walk out—halted once more.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he spoke.
"President Zhang, doesn't your company manage quite a number of attractive live-streamers?"
Swish—
At that question, Zhang Jingshan's expression shifted ever so slightly. "Yes, why do you ask?"
"No particular reason, just wanted to give President Zhang a friendly word of advice. The seductive side of things is usually a trap. The ancients always said that ruin follows close behind desire. Of course, when it comes to men, very few can truly resist the temptation of beauty. So when President Zhang walks right into temptation, it's best to keep your guard up, watch out for traps, and make sure you don't take a heavy fall."
Though he hadn't originally intended to interfere with Zhang Jingshan's fate, Ye Chen ultimately decided to offer a hint.
It was simply because Zhang Jingshan's words and actions down in the lobby earlier had genuinely made him feel like expressing a bit of gratitude.
And his way of showing thanks was to offer a warning that could potentially alter the man's destiny!
However, his hint would only go as far as a passing word. Whether Zhang Jingshan could comprehend it or choose to believe it would depend entirely on the man's own fortune!
"Mr. Ye, what do you mean by that?" Zhang Jingshan furrowed his brow.
Yunshan Network Company had quite a few female live-streamers.
And there were even more who wanted to climb into his bed.
Yet the only one with whom he shared an illicit, hidden relationship was their top-tier live-streamer, Yiyi.
Could it be that Yiyi, the star live-streamer, was planning to set a trap for him?
How was that possible!
"Nothing specific, just that I noticed something a bit off with President Zhang's aura today. I have a gut feeling that you might be walking into a romantic disaster. But whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you," Ye Chen said with a faint smile.
"So you're saying you know how to tell fortunes?" Zhang Jingshan said skeptically.
"I'll say it again—whether you believe it or not is up to you. I'll take my leave now."
Holding the brown paper bag bulging with three hundred thousand, Ye Chen strode out of the office.
Behind him, Zhang Jingshan didn't call out to stop him.
Yet the skepticism on his face gradually grew heavy and contemplative.
Could the other man's words actually be true?
Zhang Jingshan had no idea.
However, Ye Chen's uncanny intuition, combined with Chen Yinuo's earlier well-intentioned warning, left the young executive caught in a web of silent contradiction.
***
When Ye Chen stepped out of the elevator on the ground floor lobby, Chen Yinuo happened to be walking out of the opposite elevator bank.
"Yi—"
Ye Chen instinctively opened his mouth to speak.
Yet Chen Yinuo simply picked up her pace like a complete stranger.
She didn't even spare him a single glance.
Facing this, Ye Chen could only offer a bitter, helpless smile.
However, as soon as she stepped outside the doors of Yunshan Network Company, Chen Yinuo's pace suddenly slowed down.
Waiting until Ye Chen was about to catch up to her, she turned her head and spoke in a cold, indifferent tone.