aircannonsinc Chapter 46 The truth will eventually come out.
Chapter 46 The truth will eventually come out.
Fire cannot be contained in paper, and misfortune cannot be hidden in appearances.
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Zeng Jia had no time to ponder whether love was cheap or not. Ever since that one meeting, Shi Jun's WeChat messages had been nonstop, like a bomber. The messages were quite simple: reporting her whereabouts, asking what she had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and asking to meet up.
Zeng Jia was so busy she had no time to pay attention to him. She would reply perfunctorily when she remembered, and then forget about it when she was too busy. But Shi Jun was like a leech; even if she didn't reply, he would keep sending messages, and once he was stuck with her, she couldn't get rid of him.
After finishing her work at the company on Monday, Zeng Jia rushed to the high-speed rail station, heading straight for Zhang Zhishan's hometown, Anchang, Zhejiang.
Zhang Zhishan returned two days early.
Old Zhang has over a hundred relatives, and he's of a high generation, so just dealing with giving out red envelopes to his relatives took up the whole day.
This time, celebrating the old lady's birthday was partly to show filial piety, and partly because Zhang Zhishan also had plans to draw some funds from the family. Tianyi's large-scale financing needed to be obtained from outside, but the loose cash at home shouldn't be underestimated; it could at least add fuel to the fire for the Hong Kong line.
Sure enough, in just two days, Zhang Zhishan had already won over several companies. Zeng Jia had just gotten off the high-speed train and hadn't even caught her breath when she received an urgent call from Zhang Zhishan asking her to prepare the contracts.
Zeng Jia sighed inwardly; judging by this situation, she wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Sure enough, once she arrived at the destination, she ate a few bites of food, and the negotiations alone lasted all night.
When Zeng Jia woke up early the next morning, she felt like her feet were floating and her mind was a complete blank. Even though she had never seen such a grand birthday banquet before, she had no interest in watching the excitement.
The old lady's birthday banquet was to be held for three consecutive days: the first day was for warming her birthday, the second day was the actual birthday, and the third day was for returning the guests. The three-story house she built herself, with a large courtyard of two acres, was incredibly luxurious. The tables were packed with people. People from all around came, even dogs would come to bask in the good fortune.
The main hall was decorated like a small temple, with a grand master's chair facing south, where the old lady sat regally like a living Bodhisattva. The entire building was completely covered by a red "longevity" character with gold lettering, and dragon and phoenix candles filled every nook and cranny of the courtyard. On the central octagonal table, longevity noodles, longevity wine, longevity peaches, longevity cakes, and longevity bamboo shoots—the "Five Blessings"—were laid out in an impressive display.
The town still retains its local customs, and birthday celebrations are a grand affair. The first group to kowtow is the old lady's children, followed by her daughters-in-law and sons-in-law, then her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and finally, the relatives and friends who come to offer their birthday wishes.
After paying respects to the birthday celebrant, the old lady still has to give red envelopes to the younger generation. The process sounds simple, but in reality, it takes a whole morning to get everything done.
Zeng Jia cleared her mind and slowly moved forward with the long queue. After standing there for two hours, her calves were cramping and sore that she was shaking. She subconsciously rubbed her aching legs, thinking that she wouldn't be able to get a turn anytime soon, so she might as well find a place to eat something to fill her stomach, otherwise she would definitely faint from hunger.
But as soon as he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. "President Shi? I didn't expect you to be in Anchang too. What a coincidence!"
Shi Jun stood casually next to her, his hands in his suit trouser pockets, his posture relaxed yet slightly arrogant. "You bet I've been trying to meet Secretary Zeng for days, but she hardly answers the phone or replies to messages. I can't even see her in person. I had no choice but to deliver myself to her door."
Zeng Jia put on a polite smile, her tone tinged with apology, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Shi. I've been incredibly busy these past few days, working non-stop during the day and entertaining Mr. Zhang at night. I haven't even had a chance to catch my breath. It's really not that I'm deliberately avoiding you."
Shi Jun chuckled, his gaze slowly sweeping over her. "Women, you know, work themselves to the bone to earn money, all for a comfortable life, right? And you, instead of taking advantage of this ready-made goldmine, insist on gritting your teeth and digging for food in the dirt. Tell me, isn't that like treating a sesame seed like a treasure, while kicking around this big watermelon like a ball? What's the point?"
Zeng Jia knew he was subtly probing again, so she quickly laughed it off. "Mr. Shi, you really know how to make jokes. That's not a watermelon, my little body can't carry it. Besides, I'm used to earning my own money and spending it myself. It makes me feel at ease and clear-headed. I don't like relying on others." Wang Haowen was the best example. She couldn't keep making the same mistake and not learn her lesson.
Seeing that she remained unmoved, Shi Jun's smile faded slightly. "You really are quite special, unlike any other woman I've ever met. When those women see me, they practically cling to me, crying and begging to be with me. But you, I'm chasing after you, and you avoid me like the plague. Am I really that unappealing to you?"
Zeng Jia's heart tightened, and she quickly dropped her joking expression. "Look at what you're saying, I really had no choice. I was busy all night and didn't sleep a wink. If you don't believe me, you can ask President Zhang. He can vouch for me."
As they were talking, they heard someone in front calling for the guests to prepare for the birthday celebration. Zeng Jia felt as if she had been granted a pardon and quickly moved forward with the group. Shi Jun's eyes flashed with a hint of helplessness, but he didn't linger and slowly followed behind.
After kowtowing to the old lady and accepting the return gift, Zeng Jia turned around and caught the sound of two words, "Yu Li." She subtly moved into the crowd, her ears perked up like a rabbit's.
"Hey, why isn't Yu Li here? She's the eldest daughter-in-law of the main branch!"
"I heard their companies are almost falling apart, are they really going to get divorced?"
"That can't be, right? Everyone says they keep public and private matters separate, and that they have a good relationship, doesn't they?"
"They're so close, yet the old lady didn't even show up for her 80th birthday? And haven't you noticed that no one in the Zhang family mentions her? It's obvious something's up. In my opinion, those two are in trouble!"
……
Zeng Jia felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that Yu Li's absence would arouse suspicion, and sure enough, people were gossiping about it.
Thinking of this, she remembered Wang Haowen and refused to persuade Yu Li to change the date. After all, making a cameo appearance was no big deal.
If this gossip gets out, it could cause a huge mess. She needs to go find Zhang Zhishan quickly and discuss how to keep this matter a secret so that no one can use it as an excuse to cause trouble.
On the other side, Wang Haowen was also in a state of great distress. For three consecutive days, he had slept for less than five hours in total, and his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were weighed down with lead.
He finally managed to get this ridiculous signing ceremony going. To create momentum, Yu Li specially invited a large number of media outlets. As they were making polite remarks, someone brought up a sore spot.
"I heard today is Mr. Zhang's mother's 80th birthday? Mr. Yu, are you not going? Is there some marital discord between you and your wife?"
Yu Li's smile froze, but she quickly regained her composure and said, "It's all for fate. Company matters are more important than family matters. President Zhang will understand."
"Mr. Zhang understands, but will his mother understand? Mr. Yu, you've achieved so much success, how did you manage your relationship with your mother-in-law?"
"My mother treats me no differently than her own daughter, so don't believe everything you hear and try to stir up trouble."
"Mr. Yu, you and Mr. Zhang have a bet on your two business lines. If he loses, will you divorce him?"
Yu Li quickly changed the subject with a smile, "The banquet is about to begin, shall we move over now?"
"Mr. Yu, please don't go! If you lose, will you leave Tianyi?"
……
Wang Haowen quickly ordered security to block the two reporters who were deliberately causing trouble, letting Yu Li leave first. What kind of temple gate wasn't properly closed, allowing these two to escape?
Logically speaking, the media invited today should have already received generous red envelopes, so there shouldn't be any deliberately causing trouble!
"Where are those reporters from? How did your PR department arrange that?!" Wang Haowen asked Song Yaxuan directly. After she came to Tianyi, she directly became the PR director of the luxury goods line.
Song Yaxuan yawned, looking like an exhausted young lady. "Ask me? How would I know?"
Wang Haowen hissed and said it was pointless to ask this old lady any more questions; talking to her was more exhausting than keeping a hawk company.
He felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have acted impulsively yesterday. He should have communicated with Zeng Jia first, so that both sides could have a consistent story and a clear explanation to the outside world.
He pulled out his phone to send Zeng Jia a WeChat message, but as his thumb hovered above the screen, he remembered he'd already been blocked by her. He scrolled through his contacts for a while. Damn, he didn't have Zeng Jia's number?
He then remembered that when he found out he had been blocked, he was furious and had completely deleted all of Zeng Jia's information from his phone.
What's her phone number again? We chat on WeChat all the time and she rarely dials my number. When I actually need it, I can't remember it at all.
Wang Haowen chuckled self-deprecatingly, saying that he had been boasting about his passionate love, but he hadn't even memorized her phone number. It was like he was just playing around. If he wanted to contact her, he could only use DingTalk. It was really business as usual.