Lin Mei bent down to look. At her feet lay a long, thin object: a voice recorder. She picked it up, unsure where to find its owner. She imagined whatever was stored inside must be important.
Lin Mei put it away and checked the security footage at the front desk. Only then did she realize the voice recorder had fallen from Jiang Chubbi's bag. Lin Mei frowned, abandoning the idea of handing the recorder over to the pub's staff. Her intuition told her this recorder held a secret that could not be leaked.
Lin Mei did not listen to it, nor did she tamper with the voice recorder. She simply kept it safe. If she had another chance to meet Jiang Chubbi, she would return it to her personally.
Jiang Chubbi drove to Zhuhua Villa and met with Xing Zheng. After they sat down, she told him, "Zhao Rong is back. Zhao Jianghe is indeed not a member of the Zhao family. He adopted him from Zhao Jianghe's biological father."
"You were right. After I gave him the bank card, he trusted me much more than before," Jiang Chubbi flipped through her bag. "I recorded it. Listen to the recording..."
Before she could finish, Jiang Chubbi suddenly realized the voice recorder she had placed in the compartment was missing!
A look of panic flashed across Jiang Chubbi's usually calm face. Xing Zheng asked her, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Chubbi emptied everything from her bag, but still couldn't find the voice recorder. "The voice recorder... it's gone."
"How could this happen?" Jiang Chubbi racked her brain. She had been so careful all the way. How could the recording be missing?
Could it have been stolen at the pub? Or did Zhao Jianghe discover her recording and tamper with her bag when she wasn't paying attention?
Xing Zheng's expression also turned serious. "Where were you before you came here?"
"The pub." Xing Zheng had previously told her not to provoke Lin Mei, so Jiang Chubbi had ignored that accidental encounter. But... Lin Mei hadn't been watching where she was going and had bumped into her!
Jiang Chubbi immediately stood up. "I'm going to check the surveillance footage at the pub!"
Xing Zheng followed her, and they arrived at the pub together. By the time they got there, it was late, and the pub was close to closing. However, the front desk still checked the surveillance for them.
Xing Zheng and Jiang Chubbi watched together. Upon seeing the footage of Jiang Chubbi bumping into Lin Mei, his demeanor immediately changed. Jiang Chubbi felt it clearly and instinctively looked to the side, meeting his gloomy gaze. "You saw it too, it was an accidental bump."
Xing Zheng didn't respond. They replayed that segment of the surveillance footage. In the video, after Jiang Chubbi left, Lin Mei bent down and picked something up.
Jiang Chubbi anxiously pressed pause. After enlarging the image, she recognized what Lin Mei was holding. "It's my voice recorder. The voice recorder is in her hand. We need to go get it back."
Xing Zheng and Jiang Chubbi came out together. Jiang Chubbi wanted to go to Lin Mei's apartment immediately to retrieve the voice recorder, but Xing Zheng refused. Jiang Chubbi grew more anxious. "What if she listens to the contents and leaks them?"
"I won't make things difficult for her. I'll just take the item and leave." The contents of this voice recorder absolutely cannot be leaked at this time. If Lin Mei secretly listened to it, or if someone else got hold of it...
"She's asleep. We'll talk about it tomorrow." With that, Xing Zheng stepped on the accelerator.
Jiang Chubbi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, unsure how to react. He was willing to take such a risk rather than disturb Lin Mei's rest?
Indeed, Lin Mei was a stumbling block on their path to executing their plan. Fortunately, she had taken that risky step in the past to sever their connection, otherwise, things would not have progressed so smoothly!
Lin Mei had not listened to the contents of the voice recorder. However, considering she might encounter Jiang Chubbi at any time, Lin Mei put the voice recorder in her bag and carried it with her. When she arrived at the company to work, Lin Mei realized it was time for the settlement at Shuangmu again. When she was studying in Kyoto, this task was handled by Xiaofang. She wondered if Xiaofang had gone today.
"Good morning, Manager Lin." Thinking of Xiaofang, she heard her voice. Lin Mei greeted her. Xiaofang asked, "Am I still going for the Shuangmu settlement today?" Her tone was very cautious, as if afraid of triggering bad memories.
Lin Mei pondered, then glanced at her bag beside her before deciding, "I'll go."
"Okay, then I'll go to the meeting."
Lin Mei had breakfast at the company and then headed to Shuangmu. She hadn't been there in a long time. More security guards had been added downstairs, and the security was tight. After checking her work ID, they let her in.
Lin Mei arrived at the finance department and was busy all morning. During lunch break, while eating in the cafeteria, she overheard someone say that Xing Zheng had arrived with his wife. The term "wife" suddenly reminded Lin Mei of Xing Zheng and Jiang Chubbi's marriage. Perhaps she was too accustomed to hearing "fiancée" and was momentarily unsure how to adapt.
However, if they were here, did she have a chance to return the voice recorder? But now that the news of her "paying" Xing Zheng was widely known, she couldn't openly go upstairs to find Xing Zheng. Although she had his contact information, it was inconvenient for her to contact him privately.
On her way back from the cafeteria, Lin Mei was contemplating this matter. As she walked, she entered the underground parking lot. It was lunchtime, and there was almost no one around. She walked aimlessly, when suddenly she heard Jiang Chubbi's voice, "Yes, I'll be there this afternoon."
"What does he matter? You are the most important. What, you really want me to divorce?"
"Okay, we'll talk when we meet. You rest well, promise me."
Jiang Chubbi's tone was caring and gentle, but she was definitely not speaking to Xing Zheng. Was it... Zhao Jianghe?
If this was an act, her acting skills were truly superb. Zhao Jianghe was in trouble now, and she was still so devoted. Zhao Jianghe must be very touched, to the point of wanting her to divorce, perhaps planning to marry her?
As soon as Jiang Chubbi finished the call, her expression turned cold, as if the previous gentleness was just a fleeting illusion. Lin Mei saw her walk over coldly.
When their eyes met, surprise flashed in her eyes, followed by disdain and contempt. "Manager Lin still likes to eavesdrop?"
"I'm not interested in your affairs," Lin Mei took the voice recorder out of her bag. "You dropped this last night. Here you go."
Jiang Chubbi took it and questioned her, "Did you hear anything?"
"I'm not interested in your affairs," Lin Mei reiterated her stance. "I haven't listened, and it has nothing to do with me."
Jiang Chubbi clutched the voice recorder. "It better be." If she knew, it would only cause trouble and disrupt their plan.
After retrieving the voice recorder, Jiang Chubbi took the private elevator upstairs to the office and found Xing Zheng. When Xing Zheng saw the voice recorder in her hand, his eyes darkened. He questioned her, "You went to see her?"
"I didn't!" Jiang Chubbi told Xing Zheng about what had happened in the parking lot. Only then did Xing Zheng open the voice recorder and listen to its contents.