Jimin drove Rosé back to Huafu Hills.
“It seems like you really hate that man. Why?” Jimin asked. He could tell that the man admired Rosé, and he wasn’t happy about that, even though Rosé disliked him.
“Yeah, the man is called Xie Dongyan, and he was born in the Xie family in City B. He was the boyfriend of one of my friends, but he said that he only became my friend’s boyfriend to get close to me. My friend was really hurt and moved abroad. Although she didn’t blame me for it, she never contacted me again. I hate Xie Dongyan because of that. If he keeps a distance from me, it’s fine, but I’ll punch him if he annoys me. However, once on shore one prays no more, and he’s repeatedly harassed me,” Rosé said and her voice was full of hatred towards Xie Dongyan and guilt for her friend.
Although it wasn’t Rosé’s fault, it had something to do with her after all, so she still felt guilty.
Rosé never liked Xie Dongyan, but Jimin thought that Xie Dongyan must love her very much, otherwise he wouldn’t have repeatedly approached her even though he knew that she would punch him. Therefore, Jimin felt a little bitter.
When they arrived at the gate of the house, Rosé was ready to get out.
“Wait a second.” Jimin stopped her all of a sudden.
“What?” Rosé turned to ask him, but he suddenly kissed her.
Junhoe rounded her eyes in shock, seeing his handsome face right in front of her eyes. Her mind went blank at this moment. Jimin was also astonished by his passionate move, but he didn’t let her go, because he enjoyed the taste of her soft lips.
It was obvious that Rosé enjoyed it as well, so she didn’t resist at all.
Jimin pushed his tongue past her teeth and into her mouth. She didn’t push him away until she was out of breath. Jimin wasn’t prepared, so he was easily pushed away, and realized what he had just done. Seeing Rosé in a panic, Jimin got nervous and felt guilty. “Rosé, I…”
He lost control of himself. He liked her and he wanted to be with her.
Before Jimin could say another word, Rosé opened the car door and was about to leave, but was stopped by Jimin again. “Rosé!”
“W-what?” Rosé’s body and voice trembled a little, and she didn’t have the courage to look back at Jimin.
“I can be very busy or free with my job. When I’m very busy, you probably won’t hear from me for more than half a month, but I can have a break of nearly a week when I’m free. I like you. If you don’t mind my job, could you please give me a chance?” Jimin confessed his affection for Rosé.
Hearing that, Rosé’s heart began to race. She was very excited, but also wanted to escape.
“You, let me go. I need to go home now.”
Rosé didn’t answer Jimin’s question, although she wanted to. She wasn’t sure whether she really liked Jimin, and she had never had a boyfriend before, so she felt timid.
“You haven’t answered my question yet!” Jimin wouldn’t let her go.
“I-I-I…” Rosé stammered.
“What?” Jimin moved closer to her and his warm breath was right by Rosé’s ear. She ached to escape right now, but had nowhere to do so.
“Le-leave me alone.” Rosé turned around to push him, but she felt aroused all of a sudden when her hands touched his strong chest, and she drew them back at once in fear.
“You don’t like me at all?” Jimin asked and felt really hurt.
“Of course not!” Rosé denied it subconsciously, but felt more embarrassed once she blurted it out. “I-I…” However, she didn’t know how to explain it now.
Jimin was cheered up hearing her answer, but he wanted a clearer one. “Since you denied it, why don’t you tell me directly whether you like me or not?”
“I…” Right when Rosé stammered again, Jimin’s phone rang, and Rosé felt quite relieved. It seemed that she dodged the bullet. However, Jimin had no intention to answer the call, which surprised Rosé. “Um, d-don’t you hear your phone ringing?”
“Yeah,” Jimin said, but didn’t bother to answer it. He had set a special ringtone for all the important numbers, but this ringtone wasn’t it, so it wasn’t an important call.
“Why don’t you pick it up?” Rosé was confused.
“Your answer is more important,” Jimin said.
It was something sweeter than sweet nothings, and Rosé felt touched.
“I-I’ll give you the answer tomorrow. How about that?” Rosé knew that she couldn’t escape this time, and decided to face it.
“I’ll be going back to the capital tomorrow,” Jimin said.
Hearing that, Rosé was disappointed, although she already knew about it.
Rosé insisted on giving Jimin the answer tomorrow, so Jimin agreed. He couldn’t wait to hear the answer, but he knew that it would take time for Rosé to accept him.
After that, Rosé got out of the car, and escaped back to her house.
Seeing Rosé walking into her house, Jimin took out his phone and checked the caller. The caller was Xin Chen.
“Hey, why did you call me so late?” Jimin asked.
“Why didn’t you tell us that you’re in City B now? Your sister-in-law just saw you in the video of the opening ceremony of Jade Beauty Jewelry!” Xin Chen complained.
“Well, I’ve been with my friends these past few days, and I’m going back to my team tomorrow. I’ll visit you next time,” Jimin said.
“How is everything going between you and Rosé?” Xin Chen asked with concern, because he had noticed Rosé standing right by Jimin’s side at the opening ceremony of Jade Beauty Jewelry in the video.
“Nothing new. I’ll tell you if I have any good news,” Jimin said.
“Alright!” Xin Chen said, then hung up.
Jimin gave the house a glance before he drove away.
In the house, Rosé was actually standing by the window, watching Jimin’s car driving away. She couldn’t help thinking of the kiss, and her heart was beating fast.
That night, Rosé didn’t sleep at all, neither did Jimin. Both of them were thinking of each other.
The next day, Jimin woke up at 7 am, and sent a message to Rosé.
Jimin: May I know your answer?
He didn’t receive Rosé’s reply after a long while, and thought that she was probably still sleeping, so he stopped texting her in case it woke her up.
Rosé indeed didn’t see his message because she was still sleeping. She didn’t fall asleep last night until it was almost daybreak.
Around 7:40 am, Hyuna arrived at Huafu Hills.
Lisa and Jungkook sent Jiah along with Hyuna to the airport at 8 am.
At the same time, Bambam, Jimin and Kai were about to leave for the airport too. They didn’t have as much free time as Jungkook, who was their team leader, and they had to stay in the military base even if there was no task.
Jimin still didn’t receive Rosé’s reply after waiting for a while longer. Just when he was ready to call her, he got a message from her.
Rosé: I’ll answer you when we meet next time.
In fact, Rosé indirectly admitted that she liked Jimin.
Reading the message, Jimin didn’t want to leave all of a sudden, but he had to.
Jimin: Sure, I can wait.
At the airport, Lisa and Jungkook walked Jiah to the lounge before they left for the hospital.
Tang Yunrong and Tang Yunhang were going to attend the meeting at the company, so there was only Jiang Lihua in the ward together with some security guards.
At the same time, Feng Xueqin who just got up received a call, and heard the news that Jiah was leaving City B for City F while Lisa was absent. Hearing that, Feng Xueqin was thrilled, because it was a great chance.
“Very well. Follow her to City F right away. If Gu Lisa is absent, it’ll be easier to catch Gu Jiah!” Feng Xueqin said in a malicious tone.
“Yes, ma’am.”
…
In a meeting room, eight directors sat across from each other at a table. Quan Mingkai, as the secretary of the chairman, was sitting in the head seat.
Eunseok was still unconscious, so he wasn’t able to attend this meeting, so he would be attending on behalf of Eunseok before they elected a new chairman. However, he could only attend this meeting of the board of directors and put forward suggestions, he couldn’t make a decision.
“There is something wrong with our proposal with a company from Country Y, and the representatives of our partner will come here to deal with it at 2 pm. Before that, I think that we better have the best solution to this problem,” Quan Mingkai said.
“I agree with Secretary Quan, but our business group lacks a leader right now and I’m afraid that it’s not easy to solve the problem without a leader,” Tang Deming said. It was obvious that he wanted to elect a new chairman before talking about the deal.
“Exactly. Chairman Tang and Master Tang are both unconscious now. How can we persuade them to cooperate with us?” Fu Kaiyu said.
“It was an accident, which caused Chairman Tang’s unconsciousness,” Tang Zhilin argued.
“They won’t care about that. Businessmen only value benefits. Even though Yunhang is the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, our business partner is a foreigner, and it won’t work,” Tang Deming said.
“Do you mean that we have to elect a new chairman to solve this problem?” Tang Yunhang said with a strong air of power, and the others all felt quite stressed all of a sudden. However, they didn’t retreat from their plan.
“I didn’t say that. Well, if you’re confident to settle the deal this afternoon, it’s fine not to elect a new chairman right now,” Tang Deming said.
It seemed that Tang Deming was more confident than Tang Yunhang.
“And your opinions?” Tang Yunhang asked Cheng Zhongsheng and Wu Boyan who had remained silent the entire time.
“I support the plan which is good for the group’s development,” Cheng Zhongsheng said.
“Yes, we’re all businessman, and we need to look after our own interests as well,” Wu Boyan said.
Even though they were neutral, Tang Deming’s plan was more beneficial according to the situation now.
“Oh, then who do you think is capable to take the position?” Tang Yunhang asked again.
Tang Yunhang, as the Secretary of Municipal Party Committee of City B, could be a shareholder of a corporation, but he couldn’t be its chairman at the same time. The same thing went for Tang Yunrong as well, because she had a title in the military. Although they could resign their jobs, it took several days to do that. Therefore, neither of them could be the new chairman of their family’s business right now.
Tang Deming knew that very well, which was part of the reason why he dared to force them to agree with him. In fact, Tang Deming was also worried that they would transfer their shares to a member of the Tang family.
“No matter who has the ability, he can take the position,” Wu Boyan said.
Speaking of business ability, only Tang Zhilin and Tang Deming were better than the others.
“Since it’s about ability, shouldn’t we work together to solve this problem first so that we can see who is most capable of taking the job?” Tang Yunhang said.
Hearing that, Tang Deming squinted. Tang Yunhang was indeed cunning. Since Tang Yunhang said that, he had to give up for now in case it did him harm if he insisted.
Tang Deming obviously knew that the Tang family was aware of his ambition, but he didn’t care about it, because the Tang family couldn’t fire him just because of his ambition. He hadn’t done anything to hurt the Tang family’s business yet after all. If the Tang family fired him without a reasonable reason, it would damage the reputation of the corporation.
Actually, in addition to Eunseok and Tang Haifeng, Seungho was also a potential businessman in the Tang family. Although he was still young and lacked experience, he could improve that by putting his knowledge into practice. If he took over Tanghuang Group right now, it would be hard for him to run the business well, but Quan Mingkai and Yan Weilun would assist him.
Either Quan Mingkai or Yan Weilun was capable of being the new chairman of Tanghuang Group, because they had helped Eunseok build it throughout the past years. Besides, they had overcome many crises together! Therefore, even though nobody in the Tang family had the ability to take the position. The Tang family would give the job to Quan Mingkai or Yan Weilun instead of someone else.
If they hadn’t had the plan to find out who the mastermind behind the scheme was, they wouldn’t have allowed Tang Deming’s group to discuss it with them at this meeting.
After that, they began to talk about the proposal.
The technology company under the name of Tanghuang Group and Technology Company G of Country Y had agreed to develop an anti-virus security system together. However, right when they were about to launch it, another research and development team did it before them.
That being the case, Technology Company G was suspicious that someone in Tanghuang Group had leaked the proposal, and vice versa.
Although they weren’t the only teams who knew how to develop an anti-virus security system, and it wasn’t surprising that other R&D teams did that, the problem was that the security system the other R&D team had launched was almost exactly the same as theirs. What was worse, the system was even upgraded based on theirs to some extent.
Either way, they couldn’t launch theirs since another team had already launched it. However, if they stopped researching and developing right now because of that, both companies would suffer a great loss.
Since someone leaked the confidential proposal, that person had to take responsibility for it, otherwise the company had to pay for it.
Tanghuang Group could bear the result, but Technology Company G couldn’t. However, even though Tanghuang Group could afford it, nobody was willing to waste hundreds of millions of yuan!
If this problem was caused by Tanghuang Group, Tang Yunhang and the others believed that it must have been Tang Deming’s fault. However, they lacked evidence to prove it.
Since Tang Deming dared to do that, he must be confident that nobody would find out.
Although the Tang family was very powerful, Tang Deming believed that he would be safe as long as he was careful enough. Moreover, he hadn’t leaked the proposal in person, so it was useless to suspect him.
“Technology Company G believes that it isn’t their fault, so we must reflect on ourselves,” Quan Mingkai said, and glanced around the directors by the table with his sharp eyes. “It’s still a doubt, and we must investigate each other, and the investigation in our company has already begun.”
Tang Deming knew very well that he was under suspicion now, but he didn’t panic at all. Instead, he put on an expression like he was worried about the company. “The company’s loss is our loss!” That meant that it was impossible that he had leaked the proposal.
Others all knew that Tang Deming was very economical, so they didn’t doubt his words. They obviously didn’t know the real reason behind the accidents which had happened to Eunseok and Tang Haifeng.
It was already clear that Tang Deming had caused the car accident which had caught Eunseok.
“No matter what the result will be, we’ve damaged our relationship with Technology Company G, and I’m afraid that our previous cooperation will be ended too,” Fu Kaiyu said.
“Right, and we’ll suffer another loss if so,” Wu Boyan said.
“I don’t think Technology Company G will make that impulsive decision, because they’ll suffer a loss too,” Tang Zhilin said.
“If they have leaked the proposal, they won’t do it out of guilt, but I think that they’ll do it if someone in our company has leaked the proposal, because they can have compensation in that case.” Cheng Zhongsheng analyzed.
“I agree. As long as Technology Company E of Country Y refuses to admit that it’s plagiarism, they can win support from the market given that their system is better.”
Technology Company E was precisely the company which had launched the security system before them.
“Exactly! I think that we’ll suffer a great loss no matter what the result is.”
It wasn’t a successful meeting, and they couldn’t do anything before the investigation result was out. All they could do now was to wait for their meeting with Technology Company G.
Around 12 am, the meeting was over, and Tang Yunhang along with Tang Yunrong went to the hospital together.
Lisa and Jungkook were still there, and they just finished having lunch with Tang Haifeng. They stayed in order to ask Tang Yunrong and Tang Yunhang about the result of the meeting
They were very sure that it must have something to do with Tang Deming, but they didn’t know which technology company was working with him.
What was worse, both Technology Company G and Technology Company E could be used by Tang Deming.
Lisa told K to hack the two technology companies to search for some clues, but she wasn’t very hopeful, because K could be tracked soon after he hack into their databases given both of the companies were technology companies.
She was right. Within several minutes, K called her back and told her that he was tracked by them within a minute.
Lisa didn’t know what else to do either, and they could only make the next step according to the new situation. No matter which technology company was working with Tang Deming, they had to be well-prepared.
If Technology Company G was working with Tang Deming, they must have arranged someone to leak the proposal on purpose.
Around 12:20 pm, Jiah and Hyuna were back in City F. They called Lisa and told her that they were safe once they got off the plane. However, they were stalked the moment they walked out of the airport. Hyuna noticed it first, but didn’t tell Jiah, in case she got nervous and anxious.
They took a taxi and headed to the beauty salon.
When they entered the city center and waited for the traffic light to turn green, Jiah saw a dirty-faced, not well-dressed woman pushed to the ground by a man in front of a breakfast shop on the roadside. He was punching and kicking her.
Jiah felt very sorry for her, but didn’t do anything, because it was not her duty to help every poor person.
However, when the taxi was about to move ahead, Jiah suddenly saw the woman’s face. To her astonishment, the woman was Lin Lijuan! Jiah could never imagine that Lin Lijuan would be like this.
Although she had the worst relationship with Lin Lijuan, they were relatives after all, and she didn’t have the heart to watch her being beaten by a man on the street. Therefore, Jiah told the driver to stop.
The driver stopped the car by the road, but it wasn’t a place where he could stop a car for long, so Hyuna paid him before he left.
Hyuna didn’t ask why Jiah did that, because she just needed to protect Jiah well.
“Stop it!” Jiah ran to them without delay.
The man heard her voice and stopped.
“What’s going on here?” Jiah asked.
“She stole my steamed buns, and dirtied many!” The man was angry.
“How much are they? I can pay you,” Jiah said.
However, before the man could say a word, Hyuna opened her mouth. “He’s beaten this woman, and I think that is enough to pay the bill.”
It wasn’t about money, but Hyuna was unwilling to pay the man after he had beaten the woman.
The man wanted the money in the beginning, but felt embarrassed to take it after hearing what Hyuna said. “Alright, forget it.” After that, he turned and walked back to his shop.
Lin Lijuan was kneeling on the ground on her knees and elbows, but protected the steamed buns in her hands very well although she had been beaten.
Jiah felt very sad seeing Lin Lijuan like this. Although she hated her very much, she still had deep sympathy for her.
“Lijuan, what happened to you?” Jiah squatted down beside her. Right when Jiah’s hand touched Lin Lijuan, Lin Lijuan yelled in fear, “Don’t-don’t grab my steamed buns away…”
Saying that, Lin Lijuan swallowed the steamed buns down in chunks. It seemed that she was afraid that someone would grab them away if she couldn’t eat them right away.
“Well…” Jiah was shocked by Lin Lijuan’s reaction, and realized that there was something wrong with Lin Lijuan’s mental condition.
“Ma’am, I think she has a mental problem,” Hyuna said.
“A mental problem?” Jiah was surprised.
“I won’t grab your steamed buns away. Do you want to eat delicious food? I can take you to have some,” Jiah said.
“Really?” Lin Lijuan raise her head to look at Jiah. Her eyes were very bright and seemed innocent. She didn’t recognize Jiah at all. She wasn’t in a normal mental condition now, and had the same level of intelligence as a kid.
What had she been through? What was Gu Qinxiang doing now? Jiah was worried.
“Yes, of course,” Jiah said.
“Hooray!” Lin Lijuan got back to her feet at once.
Even if someone sold her for money, Lin Lijuan wouldn’t know what happened to her.
Jiah saw a nearby barbershop, and said to Hyuna “Hyuna, I’ll take her to wash her hair, can you help me buy a set of clothing for her?”
Jiah wasn’t carrying a suitcase, so she didn’t have any clothes to share with Lin Lijuan.
“Ma’am, since Miss Lisa told me to protect you, you must be in a dangerous situation, so I can’t leave you alone. We can take her to wash her hair first, then buy some clothing for her!” Hyuna thought of the person who was stalking them along the way.
“Fine!” Jiah agreed.
After that, Hyuna and Jiah took Lin Lijuan to the nearby barbershop.
When the hairdresser saw Lin Lijuan, who was filthy, he felt disgusted, but there was no reason for him to reject the chance to make money.
In the beginning, Lin Lijuan was resistant, because she didn’t know what she was doing. Jiah had to persuade her to wash her hair first before they went to eat delicious food, and she also stayed by Lin Lijuan’s side the entire time. Lin Lijuan finally accepted it in the end.
When the hairdresser was washing Lin Lijuan’s hair, Jiah called Gu Qinxiang.
Gu Qinxiang was very surprised that Jiah would call him again.
“What?” Gu Qinxiang asked and sounded normal.
“Did you divorce Lin Lijuan?” Jiah asked.
If they were already divorced, she couldn’t send Lin Lijuan back to Gu Qinxiang’s place.
“Not yet,” Gu Qinxiang said. “She’s already back to the Lin family’s place now though.”
Hearing that, Jiah frowned. “Since you and Lin Lijuan haven’t divorced yet, I think I better tell you the truth right now. I ran into her on a street, but she’s filthy and has a mental problem.”
“What?” Gu Qinxiang was shocked. “Why?”
Gu Qinxiang didn’t love Lin Lijuan anymore, but he still had a family relationship with her, which was the reason why he never had the idea to divorce her even though he had mistresses. Not to mention the fact that they hadn’t divorced yet, even if they had, Gu Qinxiang would still do something after hearing about Lin Lijuan’s condition now.
“Where are you right now? I’ll be right there,” Gu Qinxiang asked.
“We’re in a barbershop on XX Road, and the hairdresser is washing Lin Lijuan’s hair now. We’ll take her to buy new clothes before we go to eat something,” Jiah said. “We will probably be done after half an hour. Why don’t you come to pick us up?”
“Sure, sure, I’ll be right there!” Gu Qinxiang said, and left his company at once.
Half an hour later, Lin Lijuan had her hair and face washed, and Gu Qinxiang arrived at the same time.
After being through a hard time, Gu Qinxiang became much more friendly. When he met Jiah again, he wasn’t so arrogant as usual at all, and even seemed a little submissive.
Gu Qinxiang had aged a lot during this hard time, and he was busy dealing with the crisis of his company. However, it seemed that his company was doomed to bankruptcy.
He felt too embarrassed to ask Jiah for money now, because he didn’t know whether Jiah was willing to help him. Besides, even if he got the money, it would soon be consumed if he failed to strike a business deal.
Jiah, at the same time, didn’t bother to ask how everything was going in Gu Qinxiang’s life.
When Gu Qinxiang saw Lin Lijuan, he frowned, but didn’t show any disdain.
“Lijuan,” Gu Qinxiang called her, but Lin Lijuan didn’t have any reactions, because she had already forgotten her name.
“She doesn’t know anyone, nor who she is right now. Let’s go buy some new clothing for her before we take her to eat some food!” Jiah said.
“Sure,” Gu Qinxiang said, and went to support Lin Lijuan with his hands, but Lin Lijuan was scared and hid behind Jiah’s back at once.
Gu Qinxiang didn’t know what to do, so he turned around and walked out, followed by them. They got in the car, and left for a shopping mall.
On the way, Jiah didn’t talk with Gu Qinxiang. What had happened to Lin Lijuan was something Gu Qinxiang should figure out himself.
They soon arrived at the shopping mall, and took Lin Lijuan to buy some new clothes for her.
Gu Qinxiang lacked money now, so they went to a normal clothing shop.
If Gu Qinxiang wasn’t here, Jiah would pay for Lin Lijuan, but since he was here now, he would pay the bill himself.
However, Jiah didn’t mind paying the bill when they went to share a meal together later.
“Oh, isn’t this Mrs. Gu? Didn’t you hate such a normal clothing shop before? Why did you suddenly come here to buy clothes?”
The moment Lin Lijuan walked out from a changing room, a woman said in an unkind tone.
Lin Lijuan, however, had no reaction at all, because she didn’t know that the woman was laughing at her.
Jiah and Hyuna turned to look at the woman. She was around 40 years old and was dressed in normal clothing and had the same mean expression as Lin Lijuan did in the old days. There was another woman of the same age as her by her side.
When she didn’t hear a response from Lin Lijuan’, the woman was displeased and added, “Lin Lijuan, I feel so sorry for you now. Your daughter is in jail, and your husband has cheated on you. Even his company is about to go bankrupt! I don’t think you’re qualified to make fun of me from now on!”
The woman sounded quite satisfied. She had known Lin Lijuan for many years, and Lin Lijuan had shown off in front of her many times, so she never forgot her hatred towards Lin Lijuan.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that she needed Lin Lijuan’s help, she would have argued with Lin Lijuan a long time ago.
In fact, this woman was also very ungrateful. Although Lin Lijuan had despised her, Lin Lijuan had helped her a lot after all. However, Lin Lijuan was in a bad condition now, so she came to humiliate Lin Lijuan in a public place.
Jealousy could easily distort a person’s mindset, and made a person ungrateful at the same time.
Hearing the woman’s loud voice, many people in the shop looked at Lin Lijuan with sympathy or disdain.
Gu Qinxiang, who was sitting on a sofa, felt ashamed and annoyed, but didn’t know what to say, because he had cheated on Lin Lijuan.
Gu Qinxiang was reading a magazine, so the two women didn’t notice him. They didn’t know Jiah or Hyuna either, otherwise they wouldn’t have been so arrogant.
However, Lin Lijuan still stood there with an expressionless face. Jiah, on the other hand, couldn’t stand it anymore. “This lady, please mind your personal image and don’t forget your manners!”
The woman felt a little embarrassed, but retorted at once, “It’s none of your business! I’m not talking about you.”
“You don’t have the right to judge another person either!” Jiah said.
“You…” The woman was mad, but didn’t know what to say. The other woman didn’t want to cause a scene, so she pulled her and walked away.
After the two women were gone, Jiah’s group also left.
Jiah took them to a restaurant and booked a private room before they started to order dishes.
Gu Qinxiang called Lin Dechang after ordering, trying to figure out what had happened to Lin Lijuan.
“What?” Lin Dechang sounded very aggressive. They had a bad relationship ever since Lin Dechang found out that Gu Qinxiang had cheated on Lin Lijuan.
“Didn’t Lijuan stay at your place? Why didn’t you tell me that she left your house? Do you know that she’s in a really terrible condition right now?” Gu Qinxiang questioned in annoyance.
“What?” Lin Dechang was surprised, then remembered that he hadn’t seen Lin Lijuan for a couple of days. “What has happened to Lijuan?”
“She has wandered on the street like a beggar, and was being beaten by a man after stealing several steamed buns. She also has a mental problem now. If Gu Jiah hadn’t found her by accident, I probably wouldn’t find out until she died!” Gu Qinxiang was angry.
“What?” Lin Dechang was shocked now and explained it at once. “She left my house a few days ago without bringing her phone. I thought that she went to find her friends!”
Since Lin Dechang said so, Gu Qinxiang couldn’t blame him for everything. Lin Lijuan was an adult after all, and it was nobody’s duty to take care of her like she was a baby.
“Was she in a normal mental condition when she left your house?” Gu Qinxiang asked.
“Of course, or we wouldn’t allow her to leave!” Lin Dechang argued. It sounded like Gu Qinxiang was blaming him because he didn’t care about Lin Lijuan’s life.
He did haven’t taken good care of Lin Lijuan, but he wouldn’t let Lin Lijuan leave the house if he knew that she had a mental problem. In addition, he had told Lin Yuehao to find her that night when Lin Lijuan hadn’t come back.
Although Lin Dechang was also displeased, he still wouldn’t stand aside and do nothing since Lin Lijuan was in trouble now. “I think she must have been through something before she got the mental problem. Why don’t we call the police and check the surveillance cameras to see what happened to her?”
“Sure,” Gu Qinxiang said, then hung up.
Lin Lijuan hadn’t eaten a good meal for a few days, so she started to stuff her mouth with food and quickly swallowed once the dishes were on the table.
After the meal, they went to the hospital together to check Lin Lijuan’s health. However, the result shocked everyone.
There were obvious bruises on Lin Lijuan’s body, and some tears in her vagina. It was obvious that she had been sexually assaulted. Her head had also been heavily hit several times, which damaged her nerves and caused the decline of her intelligence. She was now inclined to suffer from dementia. It was hard to tell whether she could be cured, but it wasn’t very likely.
Jiah felt sorry for the fact that Lin Lijuan had been sexually assaulted, but Gu Qinxiang was too shocked to accept it. He thought of a divorce, but Lin Lijuan would die if he abandoned her again, because the Lin family obviously wouldn’t be willing to support her given her condition now. She was his children’s mother after all!
After thinking for a long while, Gu Qinxiang gave up the idea. He decided to hire a nurse to take care of Lin Lijuan. At least she wouldn’t be homeless.
Gu Qinxiang was still really shocked, and wasn’t able to drive his car, so Hyuna drove them directly to the police station.
Although it would expose Lin Lijuan’s horrible experience, they couldn’t allow the rapist to get away with it.
Zhuang Tianman was a beautiful new policewoman working in this police station. When Jiah’s group arrived, her eyes lit up at once, and ran to them in excitement.
“Hey, are you Goddess Lisa, oh, Gu Lisa’s mother?” Zhuang Tianman asked, although she already had the answer. She addressed Lisa as Goddess Lisa first, but changed it in case Jiah didn’t know who she was talking about.
Zhuang Tianman became a policewoman, because she had a strong sense of justice and wanted to protect the weak from violence. She also liked martial arts very much, so she held deep admiration for Lisa after watching videos of her saving people. Therefore, she was one of Lisa’s loyal fans now.
She never missed a piece of news about Lisa, and had also watched the video of the opening ceremony of Jade Beauty Jewelry. She had noticed Jiah standing by Lisa’s side the entire time, so she believed that Jiah must be Lisa’s mother given their similar faces.
Jiah felt a little uneasy when Zhuang Tianman stared straight at her with a pair of bright eyes. “Yeah.”
“It’s so nice to meet you! My name’s Zhuang Tianman, and I’m a big fan of Gu Lisa!” Zhuang Tianman was more excited now. Nevertheless, she didn’t forget her job and asked with concern in an instant, “May I help?”
Zhuang Tianman changed her tone so fast, it surprised Jiah, so Hyuna opened her mouth at this time. “We came here to report a case.”
Hearing that, Zhuang Tianman put on a serious face. “Please follow me.”
After that, they followed Zhuang Tianman inside.
Hearing what had happened to Lin Lijuan, Zhuang Tianman was in a rage. She couldn’t wait a second longer to catch the rapist and throw him in jail for the rest of his life.
Since they were Lisa’s relatives, Zhuang Tianman recorded their account and filed it. She also reported it to Liang Youbo who was the director of Public Security Bureau after walking Jiah’s group out.
Liang Youbo, of course, took it very seriously and sent out a group of policemen to investigate it.
Hyuna sent Gu Qinxiang and Lin Lijuan home, then took a taxi to the beauty salon along with Jiah.
In City B.
The president of Technology Company G of Country Y arrived at 1:50 pm along with his subordinates.
Although Technology Company G was the leading company in the technology industry, it was barely comparable to Tanghuang Group in regards to its assets and social status. Therefore, they came to visit Tanghuang Group in person, including their president.
The president of Technology Company G was a man who was around 30 years old. He had curly hair with delicate features and a pair of ocean-blue eyes. He was a born princess.
If Lisa was here, she would recognize the man, because the president of Technology Company G was actually Allan.
“Mr. Allan, nice to meet you!” Quan Mingkai welcomed him in person.
“Nice to meet you too, Secretary Quan,” Allan said politely.
Although there was a problem with their cooperation, they wouldn’t end the deal before they found solid proof even though they already distrusted each other.
Quan Mingkai guided Allan’s group to the meeting room afterwards.
It was almost 2 pm when they walked inside, and every director of Tanghuang Group was present.
When the meeting was about to start, Allan was slightly displeased that Eunseok was still absent. “May I ask why the chairman of Tanghuang is absent right now? Can you make the decision without him?”
“Mr. Allan, I’m very sorry that our chairman can’t attend today’s meeting, but it won’t affect the result,” Quan Mingkai said.
“Great, then let’s begin,” Allan said.
After that, they began to talk about the problem.
Allan’s group said that none of them had leaked the proposal. Quan Mingkai’s group also said that they found that nobody in their team had leaked it after investigation. However, it was obvious that someone among them must have leaked the proposal, so none of them believe each other’s statement. If they couldn’t have a result, both sides would suffer a great loss.
“Well, I received a video a few days ago, and I wonder whether you’re interested to see it,” Allan said all of a sudden, and his secretary took out a USB flash disk at once.
Hearing that, others were all surprised and had a bad premonition. Was the video the evidence?
Quan Mingkai, Tang Yunhang and Tang Yunrong weren’t very surprised, because they had guessed all the possibilities, and one of which was that Technology Company G would come with “evidence”. In that case, they were prepared to pay them compensation.
Although it was a trap set by Tang Deming, they still had to take responsibility, and take disciplinary action against the person who had leaked the proposal afterwards.
Quan Mingkai took the USB flash disk with a calm face, then opened it.
However, the video wasn’t the “evidence” they thought it would be, but the introduction of a piece of land.
Everyone was struck dumb for a few seconds, then turned to look at Allan with confusion.
What did he mean?
Tang Deming, on the other hand, couldn’t believe his eyes.
What’s going on here? Shouldn’t it be a video of an employee of Tanghuang Group making a deal with a person working in Technology Company E? Why has it been replaced?
Quan Mingkai was also surprised to see the land in the video, but he was familiar with it.
Allan noticed their confusion, and said, “This is a great piece of land, and many real estate companies of Country Y are competing for it. Luckily, I succeeded in acquiring it in the end. I plan to build an exclusive private clubhouse and a resort on it, but my company can’t afford the expenses. I admire Tanghuang’s ability, so I hope that we can work together to develop the land, and share the profits fifty-fifty. What do you think?”
“What?” Everyone was shocked again.
They hadn’t dealt with the problem of the leak of the proposal yet, and Allan wanted to cooperate with Tanghuang again right now?
“Mr. Allan, shouldn’t we deal with the leak problem first?” Tang Deming asked in annoyance. They had made a deal beforehand. Why did Allan suddenly change his mind? He wasn’t afraid of the investigation because he wasn’t involved in it in person, but he was mad at the opposite result.
“It’s not me who isn’t willing to deal with the leak problem, but neither of us can find evidence. What can we do now? No matter who leaked the proposal, the company should pay compensation. Tanghuang can afford it, but I can’t, so I need to make money first,” Allan said.
After a second, he added, “Although the leak problem has affected our relationship, I don’t think that we can’t cooperate again. I appreciate Tanghuang’s influence and ability, so there is no reason for me to stop cooperating with Tanghuang. In addition, there is nothing that should be kept a secret in this deal, and it’s a win-win, so why don’t we have a try?”
Tang Deming was struck dumb with anger. It was obvious that Allan changed his mind, and it was useless for him to say anything further. Therefore, Tang Deming had to close his mouth, although he was reluctant to accept it.
“I agree! Although it wasn’t a pleasant cooperation in regards to the security system, we can still work with each other to make money!” Quan Mingkai said happily.
Given Allan’s previous attitude, Quan Mingkai believed that Allan must have made a secret deal with Tang Deming’s group. Even though Quan Mingkai was also confused by his sudden change, there was no reason for Quan Mingkai to decline this project which Allan sent them in person.
“Alright, we can keep on investigating the leak problem, and I hope that we can communicate with each other more. As long as we trust each other as usual, we can continue to work together. Well, I think it’s time for dinner, and I prefer to discuss business by a dining table. Would you mind inviting us to share a meal together?” Allan asked, and didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with it.
Tanghuang Group agreed to cooperate with them, but they still needed to discuss many details before signing the contract.
“Of course not!” Quan Mingkai said. Even if Allan didn’t say it himself, Quan Mingkai would invite him to dine together as well. “Would you mind sharing dinner with us at 5:30 pm at the hotel where you stay?”
Allan stayed in the Huangdeng Hotel which was owned by Tanghuang Group, and Quan Mingkai had booked rooms for them.
“Sure, why not,” Allan said.
After that, the meeting was over, and Quan Mingkai walked Allan’s group out.
They used to think that it would be a major difficulty, but to their astonishment it was easily solved!
When Tang Deming was back in his office, he called Tang Weiyong without delay. “The plan failed.”
“What? Failed?” Tang Weiyong was shocked. “What happened?”
Tang Deming then told Tang Weiyong everything, which annoyed Tang Weiyong. “How could he change his mind and even propose to work with Tanghuang on such a big project?”
“What should we do next?” Tang Deming asked.
“I’ll call you when I have an idea,” Tang Weiyong said.
“Sure,” Tang Deming said.
Quan Mingkai didn’t walk back to the company until Allan’s group got in their cars.
Allan also made a call once he was seated in the car.
“Miss Lisa, it’s already done, and I’ll meet you at the dinner,” Allan said in his gentle voice the second someone answered his call.
“Thanks!” Lisa said.
The person who answered Allan’s call was exactly Lisa.
At noon, K failed to find anything useful after hacking into Technology Company E’s and Technology Company G’s databases, so Lisa told him to find out who the boss of Technology Company G was.
Lisa planned to find a clue from its boss, but she was surprised to discover that the boss of Technology Company G was Allan.
Therefore, Lisa called Giselle for Allan’s number, then called Allan at once.
Lisa and Allan weren’t very familiar actually, but they had met each other a few times, so she thought that Allan might be willing to help her.
“Allan, hi. This is Gu Lisa,” Lisa said when Allan answered her call.
“Miss Lisa, I’m surprised to receive your call.” Allan was telling the truth, because they didn’t stay in touch although they had met before.
“Allan, please accept my apology first, because I’ve done an investigation of your company without your permission. I asked Giselle for your number after I found out that you’re the boss of Technology Company G,” Lisa said.
“The thing is, I have a close relationship with Tanghuang Group and I have already heard the terrible news about the leak problem. Although I don’t know which company has leaked the information, but I think that it’s very likely to be a scheme against Tanghuang Group.”
Allan was surprised to hear that Lisa had a close relationship with Tanghuang Group, and that the leak problem was a part of a scheme against it. Since Lisa was closely related to Tanghuang Group, it wasn’t a big deal that she was aware of the leak problem. Allan wasn’t annoyed at her for doing a secret investigation of Technology Company G either. In addition, Allan also believed that it could be a scheme against Tanghuang Group.
Although he wasn’t familiar with Lisa, and had only met her a few times, he appreciated Lisa very much and preferred to work with Lisa instead of the person who laid this trap for Tanghuang Group.
“Miss Lisa, since you side with Tanghuang Group, I’m willing to help. A technical staff member of Tanghuang Group met the supervisor of Technology Company E in private. Someone turned to my older brother for cooperation with the video of their meeting, so I’m sure that someone working for Tanghuang Group has leaked the proposal. Like what you’ve told me, it is a scheme, but I think that Tanghuang Group should still pay us the compensation for our loss,” Allan said.
“Of course we should,” Lisa said.
“The person said that the chairman of Tanghuang Group was caught in a car accident and is still unconscious, so they wanted to seize this chance to elect a new chairman,” Allan added.
“It’s true, but it doesn’t mean that the Tang family can’t run the business well even though the chairman of Tanghuang Group is unconscious right now.” Lisa didn’t tell Allan that Eunseok was actually fine.
Allan had watched videos about Lisa on the Internet, and he knew that this girl wasn’t simple, so he had no intention to act against her. In that case, he came to an agreement with Lisa and dropped the leak problem at the meeting
Moreover, he also had a project which lacked investment right now, and Tanghuang Group was the best choice he could find in every aspect. Even if Lisa didn’t call him, he wouldn’t ruin the relationship with Tanghuang Group.
That was also the reason why he went to visit Tanghuang Group in person.
He was in Germany when the leak problem arose, and it was his older brother who was managing Technology Company G in Country Y. If someone hadn’t told him about his older brother’s inappropriate behavior, he wouldn’t have known either.
Afterwards, he flew to Country Y and stopped his older brother from taking the next step.
If his older brother, instead of him, had visited Tanghuang Group, it would have caused a bad result at the meeting.
When Lisa called Allan, she had already left the hospital, so neither Tang Haifeng nor Tang Yunhang’s group was aware of it.
Lisa decided to tell them at dinner.
Lisa went to look for shops for Colaine and Kouzi this afternoon with Jungkook.
Before that, Jungkook had already told someone to help them find suitable shops.
Although Ning Changkai was completely in charge of the medical company now, it didn’t mean that Lisa would do nothing.
Ning Changkai was in the capital, so Lisa would deal with the branches in City B.
On the way, Lisa called Ning Changkai and asked him how everything was going in the capital. Ning Changkai told her that everything was fine, and that both Colaine and Kouzi were quite popular. The majority of their customers were very satisfied with the effects of their medicines and skincare products.
In addition, Ning Changkai had signed deals with several businessmen, and there were other businessmen who had the intention to cooperate with them.
Colaine and Kouzi became very successful within such a short time, and Ning Changkai was in the best mood ever these days.
Lisa told Ning Changkai to keep on producing medicines and skincare products, and to supervise the production to make sure that they were of high quality. However, before Lisa hung up the call with Ning Changkai, a woman came to the store and claimed that Kouzi facial masks had caused a rash on her face.
Hearing the woman’s voice through the phone, Lisa told Ning Changkai not to hang up for now, because she wanted to learn more about
In Kouzi store in the capital.
It was a middle-aged woman who had a rash on her face. She dressed like a rich person, so it couldn’t be blackmail, but was a trap.
“How could you sell harmful skincare products to me? Look at my face now! My face was fine before I used your facial mask, but now it’s covered in a rash!” the woman shouted in anger in case others couldn’t hear her.
Hearing her voice, many people in the store surrounded her, but few of them believed her words, because Kouzi had a good reputation among customers.
It was possible that Kouzi skincare products weren’t suitable for her skin. Even the famous international brands weren’t suitable for everyone after all. Moreover, most people were fine after using Kouzi.
“Ma’am, are you sure that it’s Kouzi’s facial mask which caused the rash on your face?” Ning Changkai asked with a serious face.
“If not, I wouldn’t come here!” The woman seemed very mad.
“Are you sure you didn’t use any other skincare products from other brands?” Ning Changkai asked agai.n.
“Of course not,” the woman said with certainty.
“Well, I think it’s very easy to find out whether it’s Kouzi facial mask, which caused the rash on your face. Please try a piece of Kouzi facial mask right here right now to see its effect. If your face doesn’t get better, it proves that the problem is our facial mask, but your accusation won’t stand if your face gets better,” Ning Changkai stared straight at her with a serious face.
Hearing that, a touch of panic flashed by the woman’s eyes, but she still argued. “What if my face gets worse or is even disfigured by your facial mask?”
“Then we’ll do whatever you want,” Ning Changkai said with confidence, because he believed that there was nothing wrong with Kouzi’s skincare products.
“You…” The woman didn’t expect that Ning Changkai would be so confident, and she felt slightly regretful now. However, upon thinking of what the person behind her back had said to her, she couldn’t retreat. “What if you deny your promise?”
“We can turn to the police or a lawyer for help,” Ning Changkai replied.
“Well…” The woman panicked a little right now.
“Ma’am, we’re running our business according to the law. If there are any problems with our skincare products, we’ll solve them and pay the compensation, but…” Ning Changkai said the above words in a polite tone, but suddenly became very aggressive. “If you’re just lying or slandering us, it may damage the reputation of Kouzi, and we can sue you.”
Hearing that, the woman was scared, because she thought that it wasn’t a big deal, but it turned out that she could be taken to court.
“Well, I…” She was in a great panic.
People around her all noticed her unusual reaction.
“Ma’am, are you still sure that it’s Kouzi’s facial mask, which caused the rash on your face? It’s about the reputation of Kouzi, and we won’t take it lightly,” Ning Changkai said. He gave the woman a chance to retreat.
“Well, um, I-I think that maybe I’m wrong. I remember that I’ve eaten a mango. Maybe I’m allergic to it,” the woman said at once.
“Oh, she’s allergic to mangoes! I thought that she really got a rash after using Kouzi’s facial mask.”
“I think that she did it on purpose, and she changed her words because she’s afraid that Manager Ning might sue her.”
“I agree.”
They weren’t idiots, and the woman used a dirty trick.
The woman felt utterly embarrassed right now. To her astonishment, her real purpose was easily exposed right in front of everyone’s eyes. After that, the woman walked out in silence.
Ning Changkai let her go because she failed to damage the reputation of Kouzi.
Kouzi built its good reputation on skincare products of high quality, so he wasn’t afraid that the woman could succeed.
“I think peers must be jealous of Kouzi because it’s very popular and profitable.”
“It’s such a dirty trick!”
“Well, business is really a battlefield without smoke!”
“Boss, I let her go,” Ning Changkai said to Lisa on the phone.
“Great, you’ve done a great job,” Lisa said. “Although you’re in complete control of the company now, feel free to let me know if you encounter any problems that you can’t solve.”
“Sure, boss.” Ning Changkai understood Lisa’s outstanding ability very well, so he wouldn’t hesitate to turn to her for help if he ran into any tricky problems.
“I’m going to open a branch in City B, and I’ll let you take it over after I acquire a suitable shop,” Lisa said.
“No problem,” Ning Changkai said.
They planned to open one or two branches in every big city first before they expanded the business around the country.
It wasn’t uncommon that a brand owned dozens or even hundreds of branches in a city.
A city was normally very large after all, and most people stayed in the same place throughout their lifetime. No matter how famous the brand was, it’s impossible that everyone around the country would have heard of it. In addition, nobody was willing to buy a product which was far from where he or she lived.
However, Lisa wouldn’t open branches everywhere, and around 20 branches in City B were enough.
Twenty branches in City B weren’t many, but they decided to work with different big pharmacies and beauty shops so that they could put Colaine medicines along with Kouzi skincare products on their shelves, which was also an important way to sell their products.
Lisa and Jungkook checked several shops, and Lisa bought one of them which she was the most satisfied with.
Although the shops were all of high standard, Lisa couldn’t buy all of them at a time. It wasn’t a good thing to expand her business at a rapid pace. Instead, Lisa was determined to do it at a steady pace.
Afterwards, they left for the Huangdeng Hotel when it was almost 5 pm.
Around 5:10 pm, Quan Mingkai and Tang Zhilin booked a private room at the Huangdeng Hotel before they called Allan’s secretary.
Allan and his secretary along with another four people who were in charge of the security system arrived at the private room 10 minutes later.
Quan Mingkai stood up to welcome them at once. “Mr. Allan, please have a seat.”
When they were all seated, Quan Mingkai gave Allan the menu. “Mr. Allan, please order whatever you like.”
Allan was a foreigner, so his taste in food was different from them.
“Well, we don’t need to rush. I have a friend who is coming here later, so we can wait for her,” Allan said.
“Sure,” Quan Mingkai said, but didn’t ask him who his friend was.
Afterwards, they chatted casually for a while.
When it was almost 5:40 pm, Lisa and Jungkook arrived. They were a little late because of a traffic jam on the road.
Quan Mingkai was more than astonished to see Lisa and Jungkook. “What…” He abruptly stood up from his seat. Quan Mingkai wanted to ask something, but didn’t know how. It was obvious that Allan’s friend was Lisa.
“Miss Lisa, nice to see you! Been a while.” Allan also stood up to welcome them.
“Nice to see you too, Allan!” Lisa shook hands with him.
Although they just shook hands with each other out of politeness, Jungkook was still displeased to see it.
Let alone Lisa, even Allan felt Jungkook’s dissatisfaction towards him. Allan was confused, because he thought that there was nothing unpleasant which had happened between them. However, when his hands let go of Lisa’s, Jungkook’s unkind look was gone as well. Allan realized that this young handsome man was just being jealous of him.
Allan was amused, but didn’t mind it.
Lisa, however, felt a little embarrassed by her jealous boyfriend.
After that, Lisa and Jungkook sat by Quan Mingkai’s side. “Hi, Uncle Quan,” Lisa called him.
“What’s going on here?” Quan Mingkai seemed to understand something, but he wasn’t sure.
“Please have a seat, everyone,” Lisa said, and the others all sat down again.
Lisa then told Quan Mingkai everything.
“Oh, I understand!” Quan Mingkai said after hearing Lisa’s explanation. “I was very confused about why Mr. Allan suddenly changed his mind!”
And now he had the answer. However, they still needed to pay the compensation.
“Mr. Allan, I’m so sorry for your loss, and we’ll pay the compensation,” Quan Mingkai said to Allan.
“Nobody wanted it to happen, and I do have sympathy for what your company has been through, but we’ll take the compensation without a doubt,” Allan said. His company couldn’t afford the loss.
Allan then gave the video to Quan Mingkai. After watching the video, Quan Mingkai recognized the person who had a secret meeting with Technology Company E. He was a technical staff member working for Time Technology which was owned by Tanghuang Group.
Quan Mingkai was sharing dinner with Allan, so Yan Weilun would deal with it.
In the following hour, they enjoyed the meal together and discussed the new project.
After dinner, they signed the contract before leaving.
Lisa and Jungkook went to the hospital later.
Just when Lisa and Jungkook were leaving for the hospital, Jiah, Eugene and Hyuna also walked out of a restaurant at the same time. They had dined on Youyi Road, which wasn’t far from their home, so they went back home on foot.
“Well, although I hate Lin Lijuan, I still feel sorry for her now,” Eugene said.
“Yeah,” Jiah sighed. “I hope that she’ll never remember the terrible experience for the rest of her life. I don’t think that she can accept it.”
“You’re right,” Eugene said.
The part of the road wasn’t located downtown, so there weren’t many people. When they walked to a road section with the fewest people, three men rushed at them all of a sudden and surrounded them.
Hyuna protected Jiah and Eugene behind her back at once. She coldly looked at them, and didn’t seem scared at all.
Although Jiah and Eugene were frightened, they knew that Hyuna wasn’t an ordinary girl, so they were soon relaxed.
“It’s fine,” Hyuna said to comfort Eugene and Jiah.
Hearing that, they were relieved.
“Gu Jiah stays and we can let the other two leave,” a man said.
“Impossible,” Hyuna sneered. She didn’t bother to talk with them and attacked them without delay. The three men were all beaten down by Hyuna within seconds.
The three men knew some fighting skills, and could easily get control of three ordinary women. However, they ran into Hyuna who was an experienced killer today. In Hyuna’s eyes, they were merely kids.
Even though Eugene and Jiah knew that Hyuna was very good at martial arts, they were still shocked to see the scene.
Hyuna was so amazing!
The three men, on the other hand, were struck dumb by the result.
Hyuna questioned them about who sent them, and under Hyuna’s threats they revealed that the person who sent them was Feng Xueqin. Therefore, Hyuna called Lisa and told her about what just happened.
Lisa wasn’t surprised, because she sent Hyuna to protect Jiah precisely because she knew that Feng Xueqin would take action to hurt Jiah sooner or later, but she was still mad.
Feng Xueqin, very well.
Lisa decided to pay her back this time. However, she still needed to go to the hospital first.
When Lisa and Jungkook arrived, Tang Yunhang and Tang Yunrong were in the ward. Both of them were still confused about why Allan had suddenly changed his mind.