Lin Mei stated seriously, clarifying with Xing Zheng, "I'm not implying anything, I'm just telling you this principle. I don't want to rely on others. Please don't ask Director Sun to give me special treatment anymore."
"If I don't look out for you, then what? Let your colleagues gossip behind your back and slander you?" Xing Zheng retorted sharply.
The current situation was a choice between two evils for Lin Mei. Regardless of whether Director Sun stepped in for her, she would still be the subject of her colleagues' gossip. "If Director Sun personally handles it, it would be tantamount to admitting that they were slandering me, wouldn't it? My psychological resilience isn't that poor, and I'm not a pushover who can be easily manipulated. They're just venting, they can't pose any real threat to me. There's really no need for this."
Xing Zheng narrowed his eyes as he listened to Lin Mei. He didn't reply immediately but pondered for a moment before finally nodding at her, convinced.
Lin Mei smiled and thanked him, "Thank you."
When she smiled, her eyes curved slightly like crescent moons, and the arc of her lips was just right, possessing the unique charm of a young woman. Xing Zheng stared at her for a while, feeling a heat in his throat, and then leaned down to kiss her. However, the kiss didn't last long. He was relatively restrained today and stopped in time.
---
During the weekly meeting on Friday, Director Sun did not mention the gag order, likely because Xing Zheng had instructed him to. However, Director Sun did address the disciplinary actions against Zong Zong and Lu Qi during the meeting. Both were severely penalized, which served as a warning to everyone.
This punishment meant little to Lu Qi. He had joined the bank more as a pastime, and after this incident, the Lu family was less inclined for him to remain at the bank. He might return to inherit the family fortune at any time.
However, Zong Zong was not so fortunate. He came from an ordinary family and still had a mortgage to pay. Having his salary docked for three months placed considerable financial pressure on him.
Consequently, Zong Zong harbored even more resentment towards Lin Mei. Those who were close to Zong Zong also continuously bad-mouthed Lin Mei in front of him, but their insults were of no avail.
On Friday evening, Lin Mei clocked out on time and met Lan Lan and Feng Feng at the hospital. After visiting Lin Zhengde, the three of them went to a bar to relax. Lin Mei had been overwhelmed by Lin Zhengde's illness and work matters recently and hadn't had a chance to relax in a long time. She didn't smoke and preferred to drink when she was stressed.
Within twenty minutes of sitting down, Lin Mei had finished two custom cocktails. Although Lin Mei had a good tolerance for alcohol, she rarely drank so intensely. Lan Lan watched her and laughed, "Look at how much you've been holding back."
Feng Feng also chuckled and asked her, "Is everything going smoothly at work?"
Lin Mei replied, "Work is fine. There's just some gossip, let them talk."
Lan Lan cursed, "Every company has these bitches. Next time you hear them, just curse back. You can't be polite to bitches."
Lin Mei strongly agreed with Lan Lan's philosophy now and asked her for advice, "Manager Lan, teach me how to curse."
Lan Lan raised an eyebrow, "Oh my, the sun must be rising from the west. Little Lin wants to learn how to curse?"
Upon hearing the nickname "Little Lin," Lin Mei's thoughts naturally drifted to Xing Zheng and the photos she had found on his computer.
Thinking of these, Lin Mei's expression inevitably became serious. She had intended to discuss this matter with them tonight.
"I discovered something a few days ago... about Xing Zheng." After some thought, Lin Mei began to speak.
Seeing her seriousness, Feng Feng and Lan Lan also became solemn, "What is it?"
Lin Mei looked at Lan Lan, "The night you asked me to help with the PPT, I happened to be at his place. I hadn't brought my laptop, so I used his computer to do it for you. After I finished, I found on his computer..."
"Found what?" Lan Lan and Feng Feng asked almost in unison.
"I found the video of Chen Qi and Jiang Chu Bi that I received earlier, as well as many photos of Chen Qi and me," Lin Mei repeated with a frown. "From the first year we started dating until before we broke up, all of them."
With such a long time span, Lan Lan and Feng Feng immediately became serious. Lan Lan, pinching the glass straw, pondered, "Did he investigate you because his fiancée colluded with Chen Qi to cheat on him?"
After speculating, Lan Lan refuted herself, "That doesn't make sense either. He didn't care about Jiang Chu Bi, so there was no need."
Feng Feng added, "Even if he did investigate, he wouldn't have found such detailed information. Hua Mei said the photos were very clear. I'm more inclined to believe someone took them secretly."
Feng Feng's deduction was largely consistent with Lin Mei's. Lan Lan, however, couldn't figure it out, "You were only in your second year of university when you were with Chen Qi. Unless Xing Zheng knew you back then, how could he... Holy crap, wait! Did he really know you back then?"
"I've been thinking about it these past few days too," Lin Mei's head began to ache when this topic came up. Her memory was so good, yet she couldn't recall Xing Zheng's presence, nor did she even have any impression of his name. "Do you two have any impression of him? I asked Ming Zhou the other day, and he said Xing Zheng was in the School of Economics and Management."
Lin Mei, Lan Lan, and Feng Feng were classmates in university. Since she remembered nothing, she had to place her hopes on them.
However, Lan Lan and Feng Feng's first reaction was to shake their heads. They had only learned about Xing Zheng having studied at Nanjiang University during the alumni event organized by the school last time.
The alumni event briefly touched upon this experience, and no one delved into which major Xing Zheng had studied or which class he was in.
Lan Lan and Feng Feng also fell into thought. They were both people with good memories, but after racking their brains for a long time, like Lin Mei, they couldn't recall the name Xing Zheng.
"Did he really study at our school? Maybe he just registered his name and didn't attend classes. I never saw Xing Zheng when he was dating Xiao Liang from the School of Economics and Management," Lan Lan found it quite absurd.
Feng Feng's expression became even more serious than before. Her intuition told her that there must be some reason behind this that they were unaware of, perhaps even related to Xing Zheng's condition...
Recalling carefully, Xing Zheng's appearance in Lin Mei's life was quite coincidental, as was that video. It had been sent to Lin Mei via an anonymous email. It was because of that video that Lin Mei had sought out Xing Zheng, and thus their complicated relationship began.
The fact that the same video appeared on Xing Zheng's computer was definitely not a coincidence.
Feng Feng rapidly connected these details in her mind and then shared her speculation with the other two, "I suspect he had his eye on you for a long time. The video of Chen Qi and Jiang Chu Bi was probably sent to you by him."
"And why was it that Xing Zheng was able to find those explicit photos of Chen Qi with different women when Lin Mei was presenting evidence against Chen Qi?"
Feng Feng brought up something Lin Mei had never considered, and her eyelids suddenly twitched.