What is Li Ye anyway? He's just a small fry. When it comes to making real money, you have to look to me, Ji Boyang!
Cheng Jixue looked at her naive and innocent nephew with affection, feeling that he was like a mobile blood bank, ready to give experience to others at any time.
Zhang Chaohe quickly returned to join the meal-eating group and expressed strong praise and affirmation for his new friend's cooking. After finishing a plate of sweet and sour chicken legs, the two were practically as close as half-brothers, and Ji Boyang happily received a new nickname from his second aunt: "Brother He!"
"Boyang!"
The two poured some soda into disposable paper cups and clinked them together in a very ceremonial way: "Eat and drink well!"
Cheng Jixue's chopsticks trembled slightly as he held a piece of crispy white meat that seemed impossible to give away: he had defeated the greasy man with gentleness, but lost to the silly nature of the idiot dog.
He seemed to have caught up with the goose, but he never knew where the goose would run off to in the next second.
Zhang Chaohe had just finished his meal and hadn't even had a chance to see his new brother Ji Boyang downstairs when his assistant Chen came to report that the plague god Li Ye had arrived at Jiasheng and wanted to personally apologize to the troubled CEO Zhang.
Zhang Chaohe didn't care—verbal apologies were meaningless to him. He always felt that apologies should either involve the perpetrator publicly kowtowing to the victim while holding up a large poster, clearing the victim's name in front of the public, or there should be a real price to pay.
Although money cannot measure everything, whether it is physical punishment or financial compensation, at least there must be a real "payment" to make amends, right?
No matter how sincere a perfunctory apology may be, it is nothing more than a matter of words. Compared to the harm suffered by the victim, the perpetrator's cheap remorse is nothing but useless and hypocritical garbage.
So when Li Ye said a lot of nice things and emphasized the blame he felt in his heart, Zhang Chaohe watched it all as if it were a joke.
Seeing that Zhang Chaohe still had a slight smile on his face, Li Ye naturally assumed that he had forgiven him. He leaned forward and rested his hands on the desk, asking, "Mr. Zhang, you're not angry with me anymore, are you?"
Zhang Chaohe nodded solemnly: "Ah, yes, yes."
Zhang Chaohe: I was just saying it casually, don't take it seriously.
After being scolded by Mrs. Li, Li Ye realized that he had been too inconsiderate in his actions and sincerely repented. In addition, he was blindly confident that such a sincere apology would surely win Mr. Zhang's forgiveness. Therefore, he did not think much about it and left the office after receiving Mr. Zhang's affirmative answer.
So he didn't see Zhang Chaohe's expression as he stared at his back—the other party was figuring out how to make him compensate for his terrible luck with the collaboration.
Send him to jail? That doesn't seem like the right thing to do... Zhang Chaohe pondered.
As soon as Li Ye left Xiao Zhang's office, he headed straight for the elevator. To get there early, he arrived during lunch break, when there weren't many people on the floor.
So when he had just stepped out of the house, turned a corner, and was about to enter the elevator, he suddenly saw Cheng Jixue looking around furtively and anxiously making a phone call to someone, and he immediately became alert!
Li Ye slipped behind a pillar, remaining silent and waiting for his opponent to slip up.
Cheng Jixue's call didn't seem to go through; he remained silent.
Nearly a minute later, Li Ye heard the sound of the fire escape door closing.
Without any hesitation, he rushed over and quietly opened the fire safety door!
Meanwhile, Ji Boyang returned, and Zhang Chaohe looked at him in surprise: "Is there something you need?"
Ji Boyang looked anxious: "Oh dear, I've been waiting for Cheng Jixue at the elevator for ages, why hasn't he come yet... Have you seen him?"
Zhang Chaohe had already sent Cheng Jixue away before meeting Li Ye. He made a simple deduction: since Ji Boyang didn't see Cheng Jixue near the elevator, he must have gone down the stairs!
He suspected that Cheng Jixue had eaten too much and wanted to exercise to aid digestion—Zhang Chaohe suppressed a laugh: "Don't worry, I'll take you down the stairs. He probably just ate too much and wanted to take a walk."
Ji Boyang secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great, let's go quickly!"
⚹
The stairwell was quiet and dimly lit. Li Ye dared not alert the others by turning on the motion-activated light, so he left the door a crack and struggled forward with the little light filtering through.
However, he had only descended halfway down the stairs when he suddenly saw a tall figure standing silently on the landing – the figure was as black as an abyss, with its hands in its pockets and its chin slightly raised as it looked at him.
Even though the other person was standing below him and had to look up to make eye contact, Li Ye inexplicably felt as if he were the one being looked down upon and in a subordinate position.
In a panic, Li Ye coughed and turned on the motion-activated light. The light shone down on Cheng Jixue's expressionless head, revealing a cold and hard side, like a silent, towering rock in the sea, devoid of her usual gentle smile.
His beautiful, dark eyes, hidden in the shadows cast by his high, straight brows, revealed a gaze as dangerous and cold-blooded as a viper eyeing its prey.
Cold and eerie, as if looking at an inanimate object.
The tense and dangerous atmosphere sent Li Ye's adrenaline soaring, his pupils dilating slightly. He licked his lips—this was the right way to act.
The moment he saw Cheng Jixue, he felt that the other party was a very dangerous person. However, he was so good at pretending... His acting skills were so good that Li Ye began to doubt whether he had misjudged him.
"You..." Li Ye was about to say something, whether it was to mock him or to show that he had seen through his hypocrisy, but Cheng Jixue didn't give him any time to talk nonsense at all—he pounced like a leopard, his movements were fast, accurate, and ruthless, and he used the impact of his jump to strike Li Ye's abdomen with his knee!
Li Ye was stunned on the spot—after being hit, he was momentarily stunned, and then the excruciating pain suddenly exploded, making him almost reflexively bend over; however, his opponent did not give him a chance to react at all. Cheng Jixue was ruthless, targeting the vulnerable parts of the human body that were not easy to leave marks, and each punch was heavier than the last!
His head was spinning with pain, and for a moment, Li Ye couldn't muster any will to resist! During his rebellious phase, he'd had contact with petty thugs and knew a thing or two about fighting. This Cheng Jixue was definitely a veteran, with extensive experience in using sacks!
While he was still in a daze, Cheng Jixue had already punched him several times in a row. Li Ye was in so much pain that he saw stars and had no idea how to fight back. But for some reason, Cheng Jixue suddenly stopped and even stepped back to give him some space!
Li Ye's eyes turned red. Without thinking, he muttered a punch and punched Cheng Jixue's hateful face hard!
However, at the same time, the door to the stairwell was suddenly pulled open—the door hinges made a sharp sound. Zhang Chaohe seemed to be talking to someone while pushing the door open. As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and saw Li Ye with red eyes, fiercely punching Cheng Jixue in the face!
Without a second thought, Zhang Chaohe roared, "Stop!!"
Li Ye was startled, his fist veered off course, and Cheng Jixue dodged silently, slowing the momentum of his punch and causing it to land only on Cheng Jixue's shoulder.
Cheng Jixue was hit by the punch, gritted her teeth and fell backward, crashing solidly into the wall behind her!
Zhang Chaohe was terrified. He jumped down half a step in two steps, almost crashing into the wall himself, and hurriedly helped Cheng Jixue up, anxiously asking repeatedly, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
Cheng Jixue opened his eyes, with natural tears welling up. His throat was hoarse from the pain, but he still tried to comfort Zhang Chaohe intermittently: "I... I'm fine, don't... worry."
As he closed his eyes, a tear slid down his cheek, as if lamenting his helpless fate.
Enraged by that single tear, Zhang Chaohe yelled at Li Ye, "Are you sick in the head? Why are you taking it out on him for no reason?"
This was the first time Li Ye had ever seen such a shameless person. Putting aside the fact that he knew in his heart how hard Cheng Jixue's punch was, how could he possibly be knocked down by such a blow when Cheng Jixue was so skilled at fighting?!
Besides, wasn't he the one who started it? Why is he acting like a victim?
Li Ye's eyes were truly red this time. He angrily and painfully retorted, "He hit me first! I was retaliating!"
Zhang Chaohe was so angry at Li Ye's distorted facts and shameless sophistry that he almost laughed. He pointed at Li Ye twice, seemingly having nothing more to say, and could only point at Cheng Jixue: "What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Don't you even find it ridiculous?"
"He's skinny and weak-looking, how could he possibly fight?"
"You're as strong as a bear, how could he possibly beat you?"
Li Ye: "..."
So what do I do now? Should I admit it or not?
A note from the author:
The Zhang Family Team: People who always talk about putting sacks on their hands;
The person with truly extensive experience in putting sacks on top: Xiao Cheng;
Xiao Cheng (clasping his hands in a fist): You flatter me;
Please don't take any chances! If someone is hit, there will definitely be a mark! Those claims of "targeting vulnerable areas without leaving a mark" are basically artistic embellishments—
No matter the reason, anyone who causes trouble will be punished. Xiao Cheng's case is like me opening a back door for him. Please don't follow my example (lights a cigarette).
Happy feeding to the little cuties today!
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 45
Although this wasn't the first time Assistant Chen had found the job absurd, it was the first time he felt it was this absurd.
Here's a brief description of the problem: The CEO of another company tricked Mr. Zhang into apologizing, and then, before leaving, casually assaulted one of our company's artists. Mr. Zhang caught them red-handed... Oh, and they even turned around and accused our artist of starting it. So, in a fit of anger, Mr. Zhang called the police.
He's sitting in the police station now, feeling a bit overwhelmed. But according to his senior, Vice President Jiang, a career as Assistant to General Manager Zhang without ever having worked in the police force is incomplete?
I don't believe you for a second!
What CEO goes to the police station every day?
The police officer was also speechless. There were no surveillance cameras in the stairwell, and all he could see was Li Ye hiding behind a pillar to eavesdrop on someone's phone call and then following them into the stairwell. Moreover, when the two got into an argument, eyewitness Mr. Zhang saw him punch Cheng Jixue. Li Ye himself also confessed to this behavior.
However, Li Ye insisted that he acted in self-defense because the other party had punched him several times, and he just happened to retaliate and was seen doing so.
The victim bit her lip innocently and said, "Then let's get a medical examination."
Everyone showed their injuries. Cheng Jixue had a large bruise on her fair skin, which showed that she had been beaten badly. Li Ye, on the other hand, only had a light red mark on his stomach.
Young Master Zhang sneered: "This isn't the serious injury you suffered, is it?"
He casually slapped his arm, and a red welt immediately appeared on Xiao Zhang's arm, just as severe as Li Ye's.
Cheng Jixue's manipulative manner—saying "Hey, what are you doing?" while snatching his arm to examine it closely—almost made Li Ye jump up in anger.
Midway through, Li Ye's secretary arrived in a hurry with a lawyer. Everyone else left, leaving only Li Ye and Cheng Jixue, the two parties involved, and a police officer on duty in the office.
Li Ye looked at Cheng Jixue with a cold smile—he went through all the possible countermeasures in his mind and realized that this kid had planned everything. From sneaking him into the stairwell to hitting him to lure Zhang Chaohe into the mess and then using the self-inflicted injury ruse, he had been completely outmaneuvered!
"Good lad, you've got a sharp mind." Knowing he'd been tricked, Li Ye's anger subsided considerably, and he was able to sit there calmly without glaring at him anymore.
The police officer was busy writing reports when he heard Li Ye start provoking him again. He warned him in a low voice, "Don't talk."
Li Ye snorted, preparing to wait for his lawyer to bail him out, but then he saw Cheng Jixue wink at him with a charming smile, grab a piece of her sleeve with her right hand and hold it in her hand, then shake her hand up and down in a pretentious manner like a little lucky cat.
That's how he used his hoodie sleeve to pad his finger bones when he hit someone—this old fox knew perfectly well that hitting someone like that wouldn't leave a serious mark, and given the time the two were arguing in Jiasheng, by the time the marks were examined at the police station, they would have already faded!
Li Ye's anger, which had just subsided, flared up again instantly. Wasn't this guy surnamed Cheng just provoking him?
In a moment of impulsiveness, he sprang up. Cheng Jixue let out a short, startled scream, and the police officer writing the case file nearby slammed his hand on the table and stood up as well: "What are you doing? What are you doing? The police are right here, and you're already hitting people? This is outrageous!"
Zhang Chaohe had been pretending to listen patiently to Assistant Chen and the other party's secretary's heated exchange, their back-and-forth banter like tickling an itch—both were masters of tai chi. But the next second, a scream from Cheng Jixue and a stern shout from the police officer erupted from inside. Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhang Chaohe slammed the door open!
He stood at the door with a sullen face, his already sharp and handsome face now tinged with a sinister and arrogant look, making him appear extremely unapproachable.
Li Ye was still a little angry after being scolded by his mother, but Cheng Jixue's provocation put him back into a nonchalant state. He, Li Ye, was also a diamond bachelor, with many people crying and begging to pursue him. Why was Zhang Chaohe the only one who didn't fall for it?
He pointed at Cheng Jixue with a dark expression: "President Zhang, are you really sure you want to make a scene with me over a minor celebrity?"
Zhang Chaohe took two steps forward and sneered, "Who do you think you are? You dare to challenge me?"
Screw collaborations! Does your dad need the little money you make from collaborations? I'll tolerate your ancestors!
Li Ye was stunned by his question, probably because of the strange feeling of suddenly seeing his model student deskmate smoking... so much so that it took him a long time to react, and he missed the best opportunity to refute him.
The next second, Assistant Chen appeared out of nowhere. The moment he stood next to Boss Zhang, he looked exactly like the young master and his top henchmen, the kind who were ready to draw their guns and fight at any moment!
The spot where Li Ye had been hit started throbbing again. His secretary rushed over and whispered, "Mr. Li, calm down! Leave this to us. Don't say another word!"
The secretary was also puzzled. This person was usually quite shrewd in business, so why did he suddenly lose his mind when faced with a problem?