Ni Jingxi's heart almost stopped beating under her gaze. She subconsciously looked at the photo in the post. From this angle, it seemed to be a candid shot taken when Huo Shenyan went in to pick her up.
She probably wasn't in the photos.
Hua Zheng: "Lord Ni, do you think all the good-looking people are clustered together? Look at the secretaries around our handsome brother Shenyan, they're all good-looking guys, look at their legs and waists..."
Ni Jingxi suddenly laughed.
She blinked slightly, and the tension in her heart seemed to ease instantly. In the next few minutes, she listened to Hua Zheng's praise of Tang Mian.
In the end, she couldn't help but call Tang Mian to introduce him to Hua Zheng.
Finally, Hua Zheng concluded, "Sigh, good-looking people always hang out together."
She nodded, looking at Ni Jingxi with some eagerness, and said with a grin, "For example, you and I are the same."
Ni Jingxi finally couldn't resist reaching out and touching her forehead with the back of her hand.
Hua Zheng asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Ni Jingxi looked at her seriously and said, "I want to see if you have a fever, because you've started talking nonsense."
Hua Zheng: "..."
*
Zhong Lan looked at the things laid out on the table, then looked helplessly at Su Yiheng and said softly, "Why are you always so polite to me? You can just come to my house to play, why did you bring anything?"
Su Yiheng's expression was gentle, and even her makeup today was light and elegant.
At this moment, she was sitting on the sofa, leaning against Zhong Lan, with her back slightly straight, the kind of proper sitting posture that elders greatly admire.
“I’m often away filming and haven’t had time to come see you. These things are things I brought back from abroad; they’re just local specialties.” Su Yiheng said with a slight smile and a slow voice.
Zhong Lan did like her; after all, she was a child she had watched grow up, and she knew her personality inside and out.
Just then, the housekeeper brought in some tea and snacks. Su Yiheng picked up the cup and examined it for a while before exclaiming, "Auntie, this cup is so pretty!"
Zhong Lan loves drinking black tea and also enjoys collecting these teacups and saucers.
On her fiftieth birthday, Huo Shenyan purchased a million-dollar tea set for her, which caused quite a stir at the time. However, Huo Shenyan was a low-key person by nature, and he had the report suppressed before it was even published.
Su Yiheng knew about her hobby, and now that they were talking about these things, Zhong Lan started to chatter away.
However, as she spoke, Zhong Lan looked at Su Yiheng and asked with a faint smile, "Yiheng, do you have a boyfriend now?"
Su Yiheng was taken aback, genuinely not expecting Zhong Lan to ask such a question.
She subconsciously lowered her head, but the bitterness on her face outweighed her shyness. Zhong Lan seemed not to notice and said with a light laugh, "Auntie knows that you young people of this generation feel that marriage is a constraint. If I say too much, I'll annoy you."
"No, Auntie." Su Yiheng's smile was about to fade, but she forced a smile and said.
Zhong Lan nodded again and said softly, "Auntie, I really hope you can be happy."
Zhong Lan understood Su Yiheng's feelings perfectly well. However, precisely because she liked Su Yiheng, she didn't want to delay her progress. Huo Shenyan was already married, and although she, as an elder, had some dissatisfaction with Ni Jingxi, she never considered asking them to divorce.
As long as Huo Shenyan doesn't get a divorce, Su Yiheng will have no chance.
Some things are most dangerous when you get stuck on a single point; once you get into it, you can't get out.
Zhong Lan had no intention of letting Su Yiheng be the one to ruin Huo Shenyan's marriage, so she would rather Su Yiheng look elsewhere and find someone who liked her.
As the two were talking, Su Yiheng's phone rang a few times. She didn't pay attention at first, but then the call came through.
Seeing this, Zhong Lan stopped talking and said softly, "Go ahead and do what you need to do, don't let it interfere with your work."
Su Yiheng was somewhat surprised to see that it was her agent calling, because she had told her agent not to bother her unless necessary before coming to the Huo family. Since the agent was calling at this time, it must be something important.
So Su Yiheng stood up and went to the side to answer the phone.
The call ended a moment later. She stood there, looking down at her phone, her expression growing increasingly serious.
When she sat down on the sofa again, Zhong Lan noticed her expression and couldn't help but ask, "Yiheng, what happened?"
“Auntie…” Su Yiheng hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
Zhong Lan observed her expression and frowned slightly: "What is it? Just tell me."
Su Yiheng then handed the phone to Zhong Lan, who looked down and scrolled through the post. It was clear that it hadn't been deleted yet, and there were all sorts of speculations below it.
"Wow, a police station, how intriguing."
"No way! I just bought Hengya stock. What if something happens to the CEO? Will the stock price plummet tomorrow?"
"I sympathize with the person upstairs."
Zhong Lan frowned more and more as she looked at the post. Su Yiheng, who was next to her, said softly, "Auntie, don't worry. This post only shows Shen Yan going to the police station. I don't think it's a big deal. Right now, it's just netizens making wild guesses."
However, Zhong Lan's expression still darkened.
Half an hour later, Su Yiheng left the Huo family.
Zhong Lan was about to call Huo Shenyan when Huo Zhenzhong returned from abroad. He had gone to England a few days ago. Zhong Lan had a bit of a cold, so she didn't go with him.
When she saw him return, she immediately stood up in surprise to greet him: "What happened? Didn't you say you'd be back tomorrow? You've come early."
But as soon as Huo Zhenzhong stood in the living room, he turned to his secretary behind him and said, "Go, call Huo Shenyan and ask him what's going on. Does he know his current status?"
Huo Zhenzhong resigned as CEO of Hengya Group two years ago, and is now the vice chairman of the board of directors of Hengya.
Although he is the vice chairman, the old man in charge has now retired behind the scenes and hardly manages the group's affairs anymore.
Huo Shenyan was the only son in the family. When Zhong Lan gave birth to him, she was in pain for three days and showed signs of heavy bleeding, so the two of them only had this one son.
He was expected to achieve great things from a young age. His grandfather used to be strict with him, but now that he is older, he has become more gentle.
At this moment, Zhong Lan heard him call Huo Shenyan by his full name and knew that he was somewhat angry.
She quickly advised, "Shenyan must have something important to do to go to the police station. The blame should fall on the person who leaked this information. Doesn't Shenyan have any privacy?"
Zhong Lan was determined to exonerate Huo Shenyan.
Huo Zhenzhong turned to look at her and sneered, "Then you probably still don't know why he went to the police station, right?"
Zhong Lan was stunned.
"His wife got into a fight, and he went to pick her up."
Huo Zhenzhong was so angry he almost laughed when he said those words.
Zhong Lan also thought she had misheard, her usually dignified face showing a rare look of confusion: "Fighting?"
*
When Ni Jingxi got off work, Huo Shenyan's car was parked on the side of the street. She walked over and got in. Today, he didn't call a driver; instead, he drove an Audi A8 himself.
"Are you scared?" Huo Shenyan glanced at Ni Jingxi as soon as she got into the car.
Ni Jingxi was slightly taken aback, but Huo Shenyan reached out and gently pinched her earlobe, chuckling softly, "You really thought it was a trap?"
Huo Zhenzhong was quite angry about this matter. Since Ni Jingxi was involved, he decided to have the two of them come back.
So Huo Shenyan came directly to pick Ni Jingxi up from get off work, and the two went to the mansion together.
When they arrived home, Aunt Zhou came to open the door. As soon as she saw them, she smiled and said, "I just made some bird's nest soup today. I'll serve you each a bowl later."
Aunt Zhou really raised Huo Shenyan from a young age. No matter how angry the husband and wife were inside, she only cared about his health.
Huo Shenyan and Ni Jingxi smiled at her at the same time, changed their shoes, and went inside.
Huo Zhenzhong was already seated on the sofa, with Zhong Lan sitting beside him. It was hard to tell whether she was worried or angry, but her expression was calm.
After entering the house, the two greeted their parents.
Ni Jingxi was standing, but Huo Shenyan pulled her to sit down opposite him and said directly to Huo Zhenzhong, "Dad, you don't need to worry about the post. The public relations department has already taken care of it."
In fact, it wasn't just the photos released in the exposé; the other party also took photos of Huo Shenyan and Ni Jingxi together.
However, this person doesn't expect to reveal any major secrets; what he wants are real, tangible benefits.
So he only posted photos of Huo Shenyan entering the police station online, but not photos of him and Ni Jingxi.
Hengya Group's technology department quickly identified the other party's IP address, and they also made contact with the public relations department. Problems that can be solved with money are not major problems.
However, Huo Shenyan was not one to be easily swayed by such blatant extortion.
In any case, Huo Shenyan left everything to the legal and public relations departments. Whether they sent the person to jail or made him hand over all the negatives, he only cared about the outcome.
The matter wasn't complicated; it was just someone blinded by greed who wanted to make a quick buck. Since Huo Shenyan knew the other party's purpose, he wasn't worried.
But on the parents' side...
Zhong Lan finally couldn't help but speak up, saying, "How can you fight?"
She really didn't expect that Huo Shenyan would go to the police station because of Ni Jingxi's fight. She thought Ni Jingxi just seemed to have a tough temper, but she didn't expect her to be really that tough.
Zhong Lan felt like she didn't know what to say.
Although Ni Jingxi didn't think she had done anything wrong, she knew that this whole thing was because of her, and that Huo Shenyan had gotten himself into trouble at Fengbo Pavilion. So she said in a low voice, "I'm sorry."
Zhong Lan stared at her and took a deep breath.
“This isn’t Jingxi’s fault.” Huo Shenyan glanced at Ni Jingxi, then reached out and took her hand, briefly explaining what had happened.
Huo Shenyan said calmly, "Mom, if Jingxi really did something wrong in this matter, then blame her for being too responsible and righteous."
Zhong Lan opened her mouth, her originally serious expression suddenly turning somewhat amusing, as if Huo Shenyan's words had left her speechless.
She simply turned to look at Huo Zhenzhong.
Huo Zhenzhong frowned at this moment. After all, how could they criticize Ni Jingxi for meddling in such matters?
But after hearing this, Huo Zhenzhong actually felt that Ni Jingxi was doing a good job managing things.
So Zhong Lan remained silent, and Huo Zhenzhong also remained silent.
Huo Shenyan looked up, his expression turning somewhat helpless, and sighed softly, "Besides, she already got scolded enough by her boss at the newspaper office today..."
Zhong Lan raised an eyebrow, her expression disapproving: "Jing Xi did something heroic, why should her boss scold her?"
Zhong Lan's tendency to protect her own is something she developed from a young age and can't seem to change.
Upon hearing that the leader had scolded Ni Jingxi, Liu Mei frowned and spoke up for Ni Jingxi.
Huo Zhenzhong turned to look at her, and sure enough, the fortress was breached from the inside first.
He felt that there was a traitor among them.
Author's Note: Warning: This is a real "it's so good!" moment!!!