The car was still parked outside the door.
Cheng Yaowen didn't lie to his mother. His company had been exceptionally busy recently. Those few projects that were almost certainly going to be marked had somehow slipped away, resulting in more than half of the company's projects for the next quarter being lost.
Cheng's father was furious. Although they were still investigating who was behind the schemes against the Chengs, the urgent task at hand was to fill these holes.
Cheng Yaowen was run off his feet and had no time to think about Zhong Ruanxing. But when his mother mentioned her today, his gaze grew gloomy as he picked up the jewelry box in the car. Opening it, beads and jewels glittered. Such a beautiful necklace was most suitable to be worn around that snowy white neck.
He had been wondering before how to find an excuse to give her this necklace, knowing that no matter what reason he came up with, Zhong Ruanxing would not accept it.
But he still wanted to give it to her.
His mother's outburst today happened to give him a legitimate reason—as an apology.
However, Zhong Ruanxing was probably still angry. He'd better not provoke her for now. Knowing her sharp tongue, his mother had probably not had a pleasant time with her today.
Thinking of his mother being humiliated, Cheng Yaowen felt strangely exhilarated.
However, what his mother had said was that Zhong Ruanxing had threatened her using the might of some backer behind her, wanting to target the Tian family...
Could Zhong Ruanxing really have a powerful backer? If she did, how could she have been oppressed by Song Lecheng all these years? Cheng Yaowen contemplated this for a moment before suddenly recalling the two Song endorsements she had obtained recently.
Apart from the talent agency run incompetently by that fool Song Lecheng, the Song Group was rarely involved in the entertainment industry. Their endorsed products also did not look for celebrities with high popularity. He had assumed that Zhong Ruanxing's image simply suited the product positioning. But what if that wasn't the case?
The Song family...that huge and influential noble family in Jing City, tangled and complex. Who could it be among them?
Thinking that Zhong Ruanxing might have really cozied up to a sponsor, the turbulent emotions in Cheng Yaowen's heart raged again.
...
Fu Ling had received orders from the boss twice in a row to investigate other companies. The first time was Shirong Real Estate of the Cheng family. In less than a few days, the projects that Shirong had been eyeing were forfeited. Cheng Yaowen, the boss of Shirong, was said to have exploded in anger and was aggressively investigating the real culprit behind the scenes.
Fu Ling anxiously glanced at the door of the president's office, feeling that this job was getting a little intense.
This time, the boss had ordered her to investigate the Tian family. After some research, Fu Ling discovered that the Tians were actually related by marriage to the Chengs. Although the Tians had declined after marrying off their daughter, they now only owned an electronics company and three electronics factories that produced products. Compared to the resourceful Cheng family, they were nothing worth mentioning.
After reporting the situation to the boss, Fu Ling received orders to cut off the supply chains to the Tian electronics factories.
While disrupting the Chengs previously could be said to just cause them some trouble, it would not cripple them. But the measures targeting the Tians this time could easily lead to the factories shutting down. With supply issues and financial gaps, the electronics company would also face bankruptcy.
She didn’t know how the Chengs or Tians had offended the boss, but they surely deserved it!
The boss was such a tolerant person. If he hadn't been terribly offended, how could he order such ruthless actions? As the boss's most loyal assistant, letting her cripple the Tians first would please the boss. She would then slowly erode the Chengs bit by bit!
Fu Ling clenched her fist, highly motivated!
Meanwhile, the dignified and mighty boss she pictured was lying in the president's office playing a new adventure mobile game.
Having died unexpectedly in some random spot for the unknownth time, Zhong Ruanxing pounded the sofa in frustration: "Ruthless game company! Is the purpose of this game to treat players' low blood pressure?"
The company had little to do these past two days. Taking advantage of this rare free time, she had given herself a holiday, halting her daily grind of reading the economic books that lined the bookshelves in her office. She now just popped in to make an appearance, boost company morale, then sprawled on the sofa playing games, reading novels, and binging shows.
Ah, this was the life a mega boss should really be living! What harsh days had she endured before!
Zhong Ruanxing regrouped and, controlling the little bunny in the game, restarted from the beginning, hopping and skipping on an adventure. When she reached the spot she had previously died at, focused and ready to leap over it, the phone suddenly rang.
The little bunny bumped into a spark and died. Zhong Ruanxing collapsed limply before resignedly answering the call: "Hello?"
"Is this Song Shuling's brother?"
Zhong Ruanxing immediately sat up from the sofa: "Speaking."
"Mr. Song, this is Noah's Ark Theme Park. Song Shuling had a bit of conflict with someone on her way to work today and sustained minor injuries. She wants you to come over."
Zhong Ruanxing's voice deepened: "I'll be right there."
She didn't call a driver but drove straight to the theme park herself.
Ever since formally starting work, Song Shuling had been playing her favorite cat mascot at the theme park. Although it was already autumn and not as hot, the sun still blazed during the day. Autumn tiger was no joke. Wearing such a heavy mascot costume and standing all day was taxing.
But she had said she didn't mind the hard work and indeed never complained to Zhong Ruanxing.
She was still able to go to work happily every day. Zhong Ruanxing had visited her a few times and noticed she now seemed more cheerful and confident, with increasing radiance in her eyes.
However, jobs like mascot portrayal were also service industry jobs. Wherever there was service industry, there would be eccentric customers. Song Shuling had previously griped on WeChat a couple times about people asking her to do prohibited actions or conflicts arising from queue jumping and quarreling.
Like today's injury, it was the first time.
Not during peak hours, the road wasn't too congested. Zhong Ruanxing soon arrived at Noah's Ark. After entering the park, she called the previous number back. An employee quickly came to receive her.
Seeing the tall, long-legged handsome man striding over, Song Shuling's colleague briefly lost her composure before hurrying forward: "Are you Song Shuling's brother? They're in the office now."
Following her to the office, Zhong Ruanxing asked solemnly: "Is my sister badly injured?"
The colleague didn't know how to reply: "She...we were going to send her to the hospital to get checked out, but she insisted on waiting here for you."
The heavy mascot costume was filled with metal frames. Any hitting or shoving could easily cause the person inside to suffer concussion.
Zhong Ruanxing stopped asking questions and quickened her pace into the office. At a glance, she saw several people inside. Song Shuling sat pale-faced in a chair, weakly leaning against a girl beside her.
Seeing Zhong Ruanxing enter, delight surfaced in Song Shuling's eyes, followed swiftly by grievance as she softly called, "Sis..."
Zhong Ruanxing swiftly went to her and crouched down, gently patting her head: "Where did you get hurt?"
Song Shuling's eyes were red. "I hit my head. I felt dizzy earlier but I'm much better now."
Zhong Ruanxing said, "Let's go to the hospital. We can't delay if it's a concussion."
At her words, the man behind them suddenly erupted angrily: "Don't try to scam us! I just lightly bumped her. How could that cause concussion? I'm going to expose you guys at this theme park for condoning your staff pulling scams!"
Zhong Ruanxing abruptly stood and turned to the middle-aged man who had spoken. Seemingly intimidated by her icy gaze, the man's expression gradually turned apprehensive.
The girl beside Song Shuling suddenly piped up: "Go ahead and expose it then. I have video here of you harassing and insistently shoving her. Your whole family of three is on camera. It'll be perfect for showing your faces and making you famous online, don't you think?"
When Zhong Ruanxing entered, she had rushed straight to Song Shuling and truly hadn't noticed the person beside her.
Hearing this familiar voice now, she turned her head. It was actually Bai Yinyue.
