"She might be looking for a suitable person to marry," Xu Yan said in a low voice.
Wang Anjing sighed and said, "Do you need me to secretly investigate her movements for you?"
"No need, I can handle it myself."
"Xu Yan, I don't think you can handle this calmly."
“I can do it,” Xu Yan said firmly.
Wang Anjing sighed helplessly, "Alright, but if there's anything I can help you with, just let me know. Consider it my way of repaying you for exposing Xu Lang's plan and helping me stabilize the stock price of Yuan Universe."
"Thanks."
Xu Yan quickly left Wang Anjing's office.
However, Wang Anjing did not completely ignore the matter. She had a close relationship with Xu Yan and Zhou Luming and sincerely wanted to help Xu Yan.
So she launched her own investigation.
In this era of massive internet data, with a tech expert like her, everyone's information is virtually transparent. Although regulations concerning personal privacy are constantly being introduced and implemented, it's inevitable that individuals will voluntarily disclose their information.
Even if she doesn't disclose it herself, clues will always appear among the people around her and in public facilities. Wang Anjing's job is to sift through and cleanse the vast amount of public data to extract relevant information, all of which will be handled by the company's super server.
While the supercomputer processed massive amounts of data on its own according to its programming, Wang Anjing continued to attend meetings and deal with minor bugs that appeared in the closed beta test of the upcoming new generation metaverse game, working late into the night without realizing it.
She might be a boss who works even harder than her employees, but the world is always more demanding of women, especially successful women. She can only push herself to keep moving forward and use her abilities to break these rumors.
Rubbing her temples and eyes, Wang Anjing heard a summary message pop up on her computer. It contained several photos from different angles and restaurant receipts proving that Zhou Luming had indeed met with someone outside the family, and that this person was someone both Xu Yan and Wang Anjing knew.
Wang Anjing stared at the man's profile for a long time before finally clicking the mouse to send the photo to Xu Yan, with the message: "Be careful of your people, she has ulterior motives."
Xu Yan was reading a book at home, but she hardly turned a page all night. She just stared blankly at a single word on the page. That word seemed to have nothing to do with her, yet it was deeply engraved in Xu Yan's heart—"Ruo".
She felt this state was terrible, but she couldn't control it.
The phone screen lit up briefly; it was a message from Wang Anjing. Xu Yan didn't pick up the phone, but in that instant, she saw a photo that Wang Anjing had sent.
There are two people in the photo: Zhou Luming, who skipped work, and a man named Wu Fan.
Zhou Luming had her back to the camera, but Xu Yan could still recognize her. She could even see the earrings Zhou was wearing, which were a pair with her own and quite jarring. On her right hand, where she was holding the cutlery, she was also wearing a platinum ring. Xu Yan raised her own hand and looked at the matching ring, finding it rather jarring.
Stroking the surface of the ring, Xu Yan took it off and put it in her pocket.
Wu Fan was dispatched to a subsidiary in another city, but he has now returned to Haishi without anyone noticing. It goes without saying whose orders allowed him to come back.
Zhou Luming secretly dined with Xu Yan without telling him. He seemed very happy looking at Wu Fan, and judging from Zhou Luming's body language, he was also very happy.
Xu Yan was stung by the sight of this handsome man and beautiful woman. Wang Anjing said that she wanted to become the real Zhou Luming, and she wanted to get the remaining shares.
Xu Yan leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes. A dull ache throbbed in her temples, but the pain was likely more intense in her heart; she felt a tightness in her chest, as if she might not be able to breathe at any moment.
She heard a car coming in from the yard, parked, and turned off the engine. Zhou Luming was finally home. As usual, she changed her shoes in the entryway, but found the interior dimly lit, with only a faint glow from a floor lamp in the living room.
It wasn't until he entered the room that Zhou Luming saw Xu Yan reclining on the sofa, her expression inscrutable under the light. Zhou Luming frowned slightly, sensing that something was wrong with Xu Yan.
"Honey, I'm home. What are you doing? Why aren't the lights on?"
Xu Yan forced a smile. "I was reading. What did you do today? Why are you home so late?"
Zhou Luming walked over, put his arm around Xu Yan's neck from behind, leaned against her, glanced at the books Xu Yan had placed on her lap, and said, "We've been in meetings all day. You have no idea how annoying those people are. There are always people raising objections, but no one can come up with a workable plan or a solution to the problem. It's a waste of time."
Xu Yan closed the book, the cover of which read "The Message". He looked up and smiled, saying, "It's really not easy to run a large corporation. You have to take care of all aspects. It's too hard for you to do it alone. You can find someone to help you."
Zhou Luming straightened up, went to the open kitchen, poured himself a glass of water, took a few sips to catch his breath, and said, "No need, trust me, I can handle it."
Xu Yan smiled and said, "Yes, I believe you."
Chapter 94
===================
Zhou Luming's meeting with a business partner was arranged at Shanhai Catering. Back in the familiar place, Zhou Luming looked at the green scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and thought that it would be great if Xu Yan had come along too.
The business partner was a middle-aged man, overweight, with small, beady eyes that leered at Zhou Luming.
"Hi, Ms. Zhou, it's great to meet you. You're even more beautiful than on TV." The business partner extended his hand to shake Zhou Luming's, but didn't let go. "Does Ms. Zhou have a boyfriend?"
Zhou Luming smiled and asked in return, "Does Mr. Liu's wife like to drink tea? I have prepared some freshly picked pre-rain Longjing tea for her as a small token of my appreciation."
Mr. Liu withdrew his hand, his smile stiff: "It seems Miss Zhou has thoroughly investigated my background."
Zhou Luming said, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."
Mr. Liu: "I heard that you have lived abroad for many years, but I didn't expect you to have such a clear understanding of the cultural environment in China."
"My roots are here, and I've been particularly interested in Chinese culture since I was a child."
The two sat down at the window seats. Zhou Luming had booked the Shan Hai Catering restaurant today, specifically to discuss business with Mr. Liu. Once they were quietly seated facing each other, Mr. Liu carefully looked at Zhou Luming's face. The more he looked, the more he found her attractive. Her features were deep and three-dimensional, and even with just light makeup, her beauty was on full display.
She wore a beige suit, highlighting her slender and well-proportioned figure, over a white silk blouse with the cuffs rolled up slightly. A platinum bracelet adorned her wrist, but no other extravagant accessories. For the heiress of the Zhou Group, a multi-millionaire, this attire was remarkably understated.
Mr. Liu took a sip of water, put down the glass, and his gaze fell on the silk scarf around Zhou Luming's neck. At first glance, it didn't seem strange, but the weather wasn't cold today, so why was she wearing a silk scarf? Was it the latest trend?
Mr. Liu was unfamiliar with women's fashion trends; he simply felt intuitively that Zhou Luming's scarf outfit was a bit out of place. However, he hadn't come to Shanhai Restaurant today to admire Zhou Luming's beauty or her outfit, but rather to discuss the coastal development with her.
Before he could speak, Zhou Luming said, "Mr. Liu, let's wait for the food and we can start talking about the development of the Binhai Commercial Center."
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” Mr. Liu nodded. “This is the revised cooperation plan. Please take a look, Mr. Zhou. We can discuss any issues on the spot, and then each of us can take the agreed terms back to our respective board meetings.”
Zhou Luming said with a smile, "I feel that communicating with Mr. Liu is very efficient."
Mr. Liu said, "I'm only polite to beautiful women."
Zhou Luming looked down at the cooperation proposal, ignoring the gaze fixed on her from across the room. She subconsciously tugged at the scarf around her neck, feeling a slight itch and heat, but she couldn't remove it. Last night, Xu Yan, for some unknown reason, had almost overwhelmingly dominated her. She had abandoned her usual gentle and reserved demeanor, suddenly becoming aggressive and domineering, as if a fire had gathered within her, a fire burning towards her.
Faced with such promises, Zhou Luming chose to acquiesce and indulge, so when he woke up today, he not only found himself covered in "scars and bruises," but also had a sore back and aching waist, feeling even more tired than if he had run all night.
Other places are easy to cover up, but the neck—
Zhou Luming resorted to the most old-fashioned and clumsy method—using a silk scarf to cover it up. Fortunately, there wasn't a large meeting today, but rather a meeting with a cooperating developer; otherwise, Zhou Luming's attempt to conceal his true intentions would have been discovered by those around him.
But even if she gets caught, so what? She's the chairwoman of the Zhou Group, and she'll deal with anyone who dares to gossip about her private affairs.
Mr. Liu soon noticed that Zhou Luming was distracted, because she hadn't touched that thick project plan in a long time.
"Ahem—Miss Zhou is in a relationship?"
"Hmm?" Zhou Luming looked at him, snapping back to reality.
"You seem to be spacing out; I think you might be thinking about someone you like."
“You’ve found out,” Zhou Luming put down the plan and sighed, “but I will read your plan as soon as possible and not waste your time.”
Mr. Liu said, “I understand that at your age and with your current wealth and status, you can easily obtain many things, such as handsome young men. However—besides their superficial appearance, they cannot support your career. They will only ask you for money, not make money for you.” Mr. Liu sat up straight and said meaningfully, “Tonight I am staying in suite 1206 of the Four Seasons Hotel. If Ms. Zhou wants to know how to secure the project and cooperate smoothly, she is welcome to come and talk to me anytime.”
A young lady like Zhou Luming, who was parachuted in, will definitely face difficulties within the Zhou Group. Although she is trying to reform, she lacks experience. She needs to win the Binhai project renovation plan in order to gain a foothold in the Zhou Group. If she fails, she will completely lose the trust of the board of directors and will have no place in the Zhou Group in the future.
So when I extended an olive branch to her, even if it was just a one-night stand and we went our separate ways, I still came out ahead.
But Zhou Luming said, "I'm sorry, I never work overtime."
Mr. Liu's face darkened. "Do you know what you're saying? I can choose not to cooperate with you."
Zhou Luming curled the corners of his mouth: "Do you have any other choice but me? Although you have the qualifications, you lack cash flow. You started your business by relying on your wife's family, but you are still constantly having affairs outside... Aren't you afraid that I will tell your wife?"
“Miss Zhou is still very young and naive, but you’ll see later…” Mr. Liu said, “Let’s look at the agreement first, we have plenty of time for each other anyway.”
Zhou Luming thought to himself, "I won't give you a long-term chance. Once the agreement is signed, I'll have the greasy project manager meet with you every day."
From then on, the two of them completely lost focus on the dining table. Zhou Luming concentrated on reading the terms and conditions, while Mr. Liu would occasionally tease and harass her with words, which Zhou Luming endured.
Mr. Liu is right about one thing: she was in a difficult situation surrounded by enemies at Zhou's company, and she was not in a position to break ties with the partners of such an important project.
There are some things she has to endure.
After finally finishing negotiating the key terms, Zhou Luming wanted to leave as soon as possible, but was blocked by Mr. Liu. Fortunately, this was her territory, and she was in charge.
"Excuse me, please move aside. I have an appointment."
"Oh? Who do you want to see? Is it your boyfriend?"
Zhou Luming's gaze passed over Mr. Liu and landed on a person who had just parked the car, got out, and opened the door to approach her.
“It’s none of your business.” Zhou Luming coldly rejected Mr. Liu and walked past him toward the people outside.
Mr. Liu looked at the person who came in and felt that he looked familiar. Then he remembered that the person was Wu Fan, the male assistant who used to work for Xu Lang.
Wasn't he supposed to be transferred to a company in another city? When was he transferred back? And it seems the two of them have a close relationship; it looks like Zhou Luming and he's hooking up.
Wu Fan is young and handsome, and quite capable, but he has lost his backing. Even though he is with Zhou Luming, the two are equally incompetent. In the brutal business battles of Haishi, which have been accumulating for decades, the two young people are still too inexperienced.
Mr. Liu, with his hands in his pockets, watched Zhou Luming get into Wu Fan's car, and gave a cold laugh.
After getting into Wu Fan's car, Zhou Luming lowered the window and leaned against the side to enjoy the breeze.
Wu Fan glanced at her and asked, "Didn't the talks go well?"
"The terms are fine, but this person makes me feel very uncomfortable, and I don't want to see him alone anymore," Zhou Luming frowned.
Wu Fan said, "After the project is officially signed, let me follow up on it for you."
"Thank you for your kind offer, but I would like to have a project manager handle this."
"The project manager level is probably not enough."
“Then promote him to project director,” Zhou Luming said. “I have a say in personnel arrangements, just like I promoted you to be my special assistant. The appointment will be announced soon, and you can report to headquarters tomorrow.”
Wu Fan: "Thank you."
He was a little surprised when Zhou Luming suddenly contacted him. Because of the deep conflict between the two, he realized that Zhou Luming did not have genuine feelings for him. So when he was exiled to another place, he also had the idea of exiling himself and no longer wanted to have anything to do with Zhou Luming.
However, this time Zhou Luming took the initiative to transfer him back, promoted him directly, and placed him by her side.
Wu Fan felt that Zhou Luming's attitude had changed. She often came to see him for meals and to talk about things, and she often told him about recent events, whether personal or business-related. They met more often, and apart from not officially discussing their relationship status, they were practically a couple in the making.
After making inquiries from various sources, Wu Fan finally obtained the crucial information that Zhou Luming was doing this: only by getting married could Zhou Luming obtain the remaining 40% of the shares, which would be an even greater fortune.
Wu Fan figured out his position—Zhou Luming was the key to obtaining shares. He used to have a good background and resources, but his father was in prison, so he could only rely on his own efforts to get everything.
He and Zhou Luming were mutually beneficial in their relationship, even without any romantic feelings. However, Wu Fan knew clearly in his heart that he couldn't help but develop feelings for Zhou Luming. He still liked her, hopelessly and uncontrollably liked her.
"Where are we going now?" Wu Fan asked. He had to quickly look away from Zhou Luming's face; if he lingered too long, it would be dangerous, and he might be tempted to make a wish.
"I haven't decided yet," Zhou Luming said, changing his mind. "If you have time, come shopping with me."