These words, of course, reached Liang Yufeng’s ears without missing a single syllable. The hand he had placed on Zhou Bing’s waist tightened. Except for Zhou Bing, who was the person involved, no one else could feel it. Zhou Bing felt as if her waist was about to break and secretly wondered why Liang Yufeng hadn’t made a move yet. Was he really going to watch Lan Lan and Xu Zhouyue leave with his own eyes? She was even anxious for him, given his pride.
However, anxiety was useless. Liang Yufeng actually watched the two enter the elevator. Even though Zhou Bing knew she shouldn’t meddle, she couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Liang, aren’t you going to follow them?”
What responded to her was Liang Yufeng’s indifferent gaze. If he hadn’t almost broken her waist just moments ago, she might have believed he truly didn’t care.
When men become stubborn, they are far more terrifying than eighteen-year-old girls.
Meanwhile, Lan Lan and Xu Zhouyue had already arrived at the suite upstairs. After entering, they sat down and began drinking red wine.
Xu Zhouyue was quite the gentleman and didn’t make any inappropriate advances towards her. Lan Lan had called him up solely to use him and provoke Liang Yufeng, not intending to actually get involved with him.
Xu Zhouyue was rather perceptive and saw through her intentions at a glance. While drinking his red wine, he asked, “You asked me to come up, it was to show him, wasn’t it?”
“Mr. Zhou is so smart,” Lan Lan had no intention of hiding it. Since she had been discovered, she readily admitted it. “Thank you very much, Mr. Zhou, for giving me this face and not exposing me downstairs.”
“Why?” Xu Zhouyue seemed very curious about her and Liang Yufeng’s relationship. “As far as I know, he seems to like you a lot.”
Lan Lan smiled and didn’t give a definitive answer to this question. At their age, what was there to talk about liking or not liking? “In all aspects, I am not worthy of Mr. Liang. Mr. Liang’s current fiancée is a much better match for him.”
“You’ve been together for several years, haven’t you?” Xu Zhouyue said with a smile. “He’s argued with my father many times for you. I thought your relationship was very good.”
Lan Lan didn’t know that Liang Yufeng had argued with Xu Zhengxi for her. Upon learning this, her psychological pressure increased even more, making her feel that separating from Liang Yufeng was an extremely correct decision.
Lan Lan drank her wine and didn’t continue the topic. Xu Zhouyue chuckled, and his gaze towards her suddenly became much more intimate. “Are you really not going to give me a try? I really admire your personality.”
“Mr. Zhou, you came to find me because of him, didn’t you?” Lan Lan saw through everything, directly revealing Xu Zhouyue’s purpose, but Xu Zhouyue didn’t seem embarrassed.
Although Xu Zhouyue and Liang Yufeng were rivals, he remained a gentleman towards Lan Lan and didn’t make any excessive moves. They drank wine together for several hours, and in the latter half of the night, they left the hotel together.
Liang Yufeng saw them coming down from upstairs in the hotel parking lot. His eyes turned crimson. Only after they got into their car and left did he step on the accelerator and follow them.
Xu Zhouyue drove Lan Lan home. After Liang Yufeng saw the light in her apartment turn on and then off, he turned off his car and stood under the building, smoking. With hardly anyone around in the late night, his figure appeared somewhat lonely in the early autumn night.
With Liang Yufeng’s keen senses, how could he not see that Lan Lan had deliberately gotten together with Xu Zhouyue to disgust and provoke him? And Xu Zhouyue had been curious about Lan Lan for some time; he had always been enthusiastic about snatching things from him.
Liang Yufeng didn’t know what had happened between them that day, but he had a feeling that Lan Lan was likely doing it for his benefit. He was currently on the verge of anger, and meeting her would most likely result in an argument.
However, even if he was angry, one thing would never change: he had no intention of ending things with her. Liang Yufeng smoked half a pack of cigarettes. Seeing the light in the apartment go out, he put away his lighter and drove away.
After the charity auction, Lan Lan didn’t receive any messages from Liang Yufeng for over a week. Lan Lan already understood what such a long period of no contact meant.
She figured Liang Yufeng must have been so disgusted by her that he didn’t even want to say the word “end.”
This gamble, she had won.
If it were any other man, Liang Yufeng likely wouldn’t have reacted this way. But this man was Xu Zhouyue, who had repeatedly bullied and humiliated his mother…
She had taken a risk by choosing this path. Judging by Liang Yufeng’s reaction, it seemed he intended to cut off all contact with her, and they wouldn’t even be friends anymore.
Although she felt some regret, it was more liberating than continuing to be entangled.
Just as Lan Lan was “celebrating” her single life, she suddenly received dire news. Her promotion approval process had encountered a problem. The documents she had submitted were held up by the chairman. An order was given to Mr. Liu stating that her promotion was to be canceled and that she had to redistribute several of her clients.
Although Lan Lan had not experienced anything like this before, having worked in the corporate world for several years, she knew how companies sidelined employees. However, usually, it was the older employees whom the company subtly encouraged to retire or resign. For an employee like her, who was in her prime and working hard, who would be so foolish as to sideline her?
Moreover, from the time she joined the company until now, none of the clients she had handled were dissatisfied. All her promotions were achieved through her own hard work.
This promotion was exceptionally important to her. Being blocked like this for no reason naturally displeased Lan Lan. Unable to see the chairman, she went to see Mr. Liu.
Since joining the company, Lan Lan had always been under Mr. Liu’s supervision; he had essentially brought her up. With such an incident occurring, Mr. Liu was very forthcoming with her. “The chairman’s intentions, I’ve tried to subtly inquire about the higher-ups’ thoughts.”
“What are their thoughts?” Lan Lan was extremely curious. Why would the leadership suddenly decide to target her, a diligent workaholic?
Mr. Liu cleared his throat strategically and asked her, “Have you been in contact with Mr. Liang recently?”
“What do you mean?” Although she asked this, Lan Lan’s gaze had already darkened. She was smart enough not to think of certain things. Mr. Liu wouldn’t bring up Liang Yufeng for no reason. “Is my situation related to him?”
“You’ve been with Mr. Liang for several years, haven’t you? Don’t argue with him. For you women, it’s better not to be too strong-willed. Go back and coax him well, and this matter will pass.” Mr. Liu, in his forties, when faced with such a situation, could only offer advice from the perspective of a superior.
But Lan Lan became even more angry. This was her career; why should Liang Yufeng have the final say?
If all her achievements were given to her by Liang Yufeng, and he wanted to take them back now, she would have no objections!
However, everything she had was accumulated through her own efforts. On what basis could Liang Yufeng negate her with a single word?
Lan Lan felt an urge to hit someone, but she didn’t lose her temper with Mr. Liu. “Okay, I understand. Mr. Liu, thank you for telling me this.”
Despite saying this, Mr. Liu could see she was angry and quickly advised her, “Don’t act on impulse. You’ve worked hard to get where you are today. If you offend Mr. Liang, you’ll regret it later.”