"I really like this one you gave me," Xiaoxiao said, looking at him and smiling. "Brother Xingxing, can you bend down and come closer? I have something to whisper to you."
Little Xingxing obediently leaned in, and Xiaoxiao kissed him with all her might on the cheek.
Little Xingxing was completely stunned. He only heard Xiaoxiao say, "I'm going to marry you when I grow up."
By the time Little Xingxing came to his senses, Xiaoxiao had already left the swing and run to the other side of the garden, waving and shouting, "Brother Xingxing, come chase me! Let's play hide-and-seek."
Little Xingxing, still a bit dazed, touched his cheek. He was too young to understand what marriage meant, but he childishly chased after her, saying, "Then I'll only marry you in the future, and we can play together happily forever."
...
That night, Zhan Jiayi returned to the high-end apartment provided by Xie Zhendong.
After a day of work at Xie Group, Xie Zhendong left, but the assistants in his president's office were still working overtime.
Feeling tired, she went to take a shower, thinking that Xie Zhendong wouldn't be coming to her place tonight.
But as soon as she wet her hair, she heard someone knocking on the bathroom door. Startled, she quickly wrapped a towel around herself and went to the door.
She heard Xie Zhendong's extremely cold voice, "What are you doing in there? Open the door."
"Wait for me outside for a moment. I'm taking a shower," Zhan Jiayi said, caught off guard and unsure why Xie Zhendong had suddenly arrived.
Xie Zhendong repeated, "Open the door."
Zhan Jiayi had no choice but to open the bathroom door and, looking at him flusteredly, said, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming beforehand? I could have prepared."
"Prepare what?" Xie Zhendong looked at her damp, disheveled hair and her delicate face, and then roughly pulled the towel off her.
Zhan Jiayi hastily covered herself with both hands and asked, "Zhendong, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"
Xie Zhendong stepped forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Do you not know about the good deeds Zhao Jianhua has been doing behind my back? You're colluding with him to cheat me!"
Zhan Jiayi blinked in panic, pretending to know nothing, but she knew better than anyone that the shoddy work on the cultural wall project had likely been discovered.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand. I broke off all ties with Zhao Jianhua long ago and would never get involved with him again!"
Xie Zhendong stared at her intently and said, "You wouldn't know about using inferior paint and sand on the cultural wall, so why has your account received a large sum of money recently, transferred to you from his private account?"
Zhan Jiayi, feigning distress, began to cry and said, "I really don't know anything about paint and sand. As for that money, I was threatened by him, so I was forced to tell him some inside information about the stock market. After he made money, he said he wanted to thank me. I actually didn't want to accept it, but my younger brother is still in his company..."
Xie Zhendong released her and asked, half-believingly, "The fluctuations in Xie Group's stock price?"
Zhan Jiayi nodded and said, "He's too unscrupulous. If I didn't give him some benefits, I was afraid he would harm my brother."
As she spoke, she guiltily stepped forward and hugged him, burying her head in his chest and crying, "After I followed you, I finally understood what it means to be worlds apart. I would never get involved with him, no matter what. But he had impure motives when he introduced me to you back then. I was scared..."
Xie Zhendong finally believed her. Softening, he bent down to meet her, saying, "I'll find a way to resolve your brother's situation. But this time, Zhao Jianhua almost ruined my major plans. From now on, you must completely cut ties with him."
"Okay," Zhan Jiayi proactively leaned in to kiss him.
As she pressed against him, he felt a surge of heat throughout his body. Unable to control himself any longer, he grabbed the hair at the back of her head and pushed her against the bathroom wall.
...
Xie Zhendong did not stay the night. After satisfying himself, he left.
She, however, lay on the bed, feeling sore in her lower limbs even when she turned over. Gritting her teeth, she thought resentfully that she knew Zhao Jianhua's actions would eventually lead to trouble.
As expected, Xie Zhendong found out, and it almost implicated her.
But she couldn't ignore it. She had to remind Zhao Jianhua to redo everything immediately, and most importantly, to never mention her name.
As soon as Zhao Jianhua saw the text message from Zhan Jiayi, he was terrified. He couldn't understand how Xie Zhendong had discovered something done so carefully and discreetly.
If the cultural wall had to be torn down and rebuilt now, it would only increase his investment costs. Wouldn't that be trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it?
It was late at night. Zhang Yuyun passed by the study and saw that Zhao Jianhua was home. He was pacing back and forth in the study with his phone, indicating that something had happened again.
When she asked, Zhao Jianhua showed her the message on his phone.
After understanding the whole story, she realized how serious it was and scolded him several times.
Zhao Jianhua said aggrievedly, "I was just trying to save expenses for the group. Our funds are so tight, every bit counts. Besides, who can't see that Xie Zhendong's cultural wall project is just for show..."
"Foolish! If you've drunk the whole bowl, why would you care about a single mouthful of water!" Zhang Yuyun said decisively, "Immediately notify the workers to work overtime and demolish the previous shoddy wall and rebuild it. We're going to the site right now!"
"Now?"
"Do you want to wait for Xie Zhendong to question you first thing tomorrow morning?" Zhang Yuyun didn't want to say any more to him and immediately went to change her clothes.
Zhao Jianhua could only contact the person in charge and the foreman there while rushing to the construction site with her.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Zhang Yuyun directed the workers to work overtime and demolish the recently built shoddy wall, promising triple overtime pay for the night.
While the workers were enthusiastically dismantling the wall, she called the person in charge into the site's office. Zhao Jianhua followed, still not understanding what she intended to do.
The person in charge also didn't understand what was happening and asked, "General Manager Zhao, General Manager Zhang, this wall was built perfectly fine. Why does it need to be demolished entirely?"
Zhang Yuyun said calmly, "General Manager Zhao and I just discovered tonight that someone had cut corners on this project, using inferior paint and sand."
The person in charge said in surprise, "No way, how could something like this happen?" As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Jianhua.
Zhang Yuyun slammed her palm on the office desk, glanced at him and Zhao Jianhua, and said with a smile, "Old He, you wouldn't be unaware of this, would you? Without you, how could my Zhao have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes?"
Only then did the person in charge feel a sense of dread and panic. He was about to argue.
Before he could speak, Zhang Yuyun said directly and decisively, "Someone has to take responsibility for this. When Xie Zhendong comes tomorrow, you will take all the blame, and you must not say it has anything to do with my Zhao. Do you understand?"
Person in charge, Old He, looked pleadingly at Zhao Jianhua, hoping he would step forward to help him.
But Zhao Jianhua could only admire Zhang Yuyun at this moment, knowing that only this could quell Xie Zhendong's fury. He didn't dare to meet Old He's gaze and said, "Old He, I'm sorry to you for this. Consider it helping us. Don't worry, if anything happens, we will take care of your family..."
"General Manager Zhao, if I take all the responsibility alone, I might go to jail. You and General Manager Zhang can't be so heartless!"