Chapter 171: This Is Just A Small Gift From Me, You… Please Don’t Dislike It.
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
All this because Lu Weining had offended someone.
As for who she had offended, they suspected that it was the man whom Lu Weining had set her eyes on that was mentioned in the recording.
They figured that Lu Weining was a blessed girl, she was not an ordinary Miss Perfect (TN: The author used the word 白富美 which means fair-skinned, rich and beautiful to describe Lu Weining. It’s Internet slang for Ms. Perfect.) either. Her family’s wealth probably ranked first or second nationwide. She would have never laid her eyes upon an ordinary man.
The man that was able to make her disregarded her dignity, the one that she had to have by hook or by crook was perhaps a man superior than most in all aspects and probably equal to Lu Weining herself. Hence, the awkward situation that Lu Weining was faced with now was not surprising, it was possible that the man had found out about it and decided to teach her a lesson.
As for the male artist, he was simply suffering the consequences of Lu Weining’s actions. Due to Lu Weining’s matter dying down, and the public wanting to stir things up once more, they had once again pushed Xing Chuang under the spotlight. Of course, there was the possibility that the other party also wanted to Xing Chuang to be caught in the crossfire.
In any case, everything still came back to Lu Weining.
Once the article came out, it received tens of thousands of forwards and interactions in the blink of an eye. They then began to speculate over who the man was again.
Afterward, someone had flipped through the news of Yan Beicheng being in Ning City at the time. A reporter had captured a photo of him eating with a woman, as well as the ones at the company entrance.
It was not hot news at the time so it did not really blow up. After all, Yan Beicheng was not a prominent figure in the entertainment industry.
Now that everyone was going through it once more and were scrutinizing the details for comparison, the woman that was in Ning City at the time was actually Lu Weining.
Then, the netizens connected the news back to the statement that was issued by Yan Hui regarding Yan Beicheng getting married to Lin Chu, and everything seemed to click.
Yan Beicheng was a married man and had no interest in Lu Weining. If he was, he would not have gotten married to someone else and even issued a statement professionally. He had even broadcasted his confession toward his wife to a bunch of reporters. Because of all this, it was apparent that Lu Weining was the one who was drooling over Yan Beicheng.
After the other party paid no attention to her, she thought of the tricks of injuring oneself to gain the other party’s affection.
Although the plan was not successful, Yan Beicheng had still found out about the ploy. God knows what other silly things Lu Weining had done in between to cause Yan Beicheng to publish this matter out of anger. So much so that he had done it without sparing anyone, even pushing things to blow up the topic even further.
…
Yan Beicheng was quite satisfied with the outcome of this incident. Once he ended his call with Nan Jingheng, the office landline on his table started ringing.
Yan Beicheng pressed the hands-free button and heard Zuo Qiu say, “President, Miss Lu’s on the phone.”
“Put her through.” Yan Beicheng replied.
After a short while, Lu Weining’s frightened and anxious voice was heard, “Beicheng, how could you do this to me?”
“Miss Lu, if you’re only here to say this then I’ll hang up the phone.” Yan Beicheng said coldly.
If he had not dragged Xing Chuang into it, then he would not even have had the patience to talk to Lu Weining.
“I hadn’t done anything, why did you upload the recordings online?” Lu Weining asked in sadness, her voice choked with tears. “Beicheng, you’re not one to go back on your word. I trusted you, but why? Do you just hate me so, so much so that you want to ruin me?”
Yan Beicheng inwardly agreed, but coldly replied, “Why don’t you go and ask Lu Zhenghang.”
“What do you mean?” Lu Weining was stunned.
Yan Beicheng ignored her question and continued indifferently, “In addition to this, do help me deliver a few words. This time it’s you, the next time it’s going to be his turn. Miss Lu, you can’t blame me for this matter. If you need someone to blame, then blame your brother for disregarding your life. He behaved unscrupulously and dragged you down with him. If not for him, you wouldn’t have been so badly humiliated. I’m afraid it might even cost you your job at Xing Chuang.”
Once Yan Beicheng finished talking, he hung up the phone.
…
Without delay, Lu Weining stormed off to Lu Zhenghang’s office after hanging up the phone.
She did not even knock on the door, and as she was about to storm inside, Lu Zhenghang’s assistant tried to stop her. “Miss Lu.”
Although he tried to block her, he did not dare to actually put his hands on Lu Weining. If Lu Weining were to storm inside with such resolution, even the assistant could not stop her. On the contrary, he was shoved aside as Lu Weining pushed the door open to enter without hesitation.
Lu Weining was pissed. Although she was furious at Yan Beicheng, she was also furious at Lu Zhenghang that completely disregarded her well-being and went to provoke Yan Beicheng in god-knows what way.
As a result, Lu Zhenghang was fine, yet she was the one to suffer.
This morning, she had even received a phone call from Lu Zhenting and was scolded by him.
He even told her that since Lu Zhenghang had come over, everything regarding Xing Chuang would be handed over to him, and she was henceforth to just assist him in his work.
The last time Yan Beicheng had caused the artists of Xing Chuang to go on a dry run, they did not have any activities to pick up, unable to show themselves on programs and ran out of endorsements. Lu Zhenting had called to reprimand her and had the intention to ask her to step down so that Lu Zhenghang could replace her.
She figured that back then, Lu Zhenting had requested for Lu Zhenghang to finish up the remaining work in Ning City and come to B City.
During the time before he arrived in B City, Lu Zhenghang set out to finish off all the work he at hand in Ning City.
Lu Weining even suspected that Lu Zhenghang had deliberately put a mark on her head so that when he arrived in B City he would be able to seize power.
After all, she had been in B City for a longer period, and had more influence than him.
With all these speculations and anger, Lu Weining ruthlessly pushed open the door, making it slam against the wall. Even though there was a door stopper, it still made a loud bang.
Lu Zhenghang was holding onto his phone and looking at something. His expression was dark and he seemed to be deep in thought.
When he heard the loud noise, he lifted up his head and immediately put his phone away. His mouth morphed into a frown. “What are you doing?”
“What did you do to cause Yan Beicheng to retaliate?” Lu Weining asked as soon as she went in.
Lu Zhenghang’s glare grew cold, and he glanced at his assistant who was standing next to the door.
The assistant then hurriedly closed the door.
“That recording, he’s the only one that has it. I’ve called him and asked, and he said to ask you about it. What did you do?” Lu Weining asked furiously.
“What could I do to him? He’s already fuming and gritting his teeth as soon as I step in front of him.” Lu Zhenghang sneered.
Lu Weining looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Lu Zhenghang snorted disdainfully and replied impatiently, “You don’t need to know. In short, you just need to know that I didn’t do anything.”
“Yan Beicheng is not someone that would take action without a reason!” Lu Weining said as she became more confident that Lu Zhenghang had sneakily done something to set her up.
“You’re always speaking for him. He’s married to someone else now, you have no chance in this lifetime. Why are you still helping him?” Lu Zhenghang scoffed.
Lu Weining’s face began to flush in anger, “It’s none of your business! I’m telling you, he won’t last long with Lin Chu! Who’s Lin Chu anyway, she’s never seen the reality of the world, she can’t even do anything but be a burden. After she’s been used for a while, Yan Beicheng will certainly regret it! They’ve only been together for a short while and they’ve already decided to get married, it’s barely a year. What could they possibly understand about each other! Getting married in their honeymoon phase while they’re still madly in love? Does that even count?!”
“Alright.” Lu Zhenghand sneered and continued, “Then, continue to like him. Don’t regret it next time.”
“What do you mean!” Lu Weining’s expression changed.
“If Yan Beicheng lost the status he has now, would you still like him?” Lu Zhenghang asked her tauntingly.
Lu Weining’s expression turned to shock. “What on earth are you actually talking about?”
“Nothing.” Lu Zhenghang looked at her from top to bottom and said, “I’m telling you, Yan Beicheng will never be friends with anyone from the Lu Family, or get married to anyone from the Lu Family. Don’t assume that just because he doesn’t like you now, you can treat him so well that he’ll finally set his sights on you. As long as your surname is Lu, he’ll never marry you. I’m advising you to give up right now, don’t give Yan Beicheng any means to go after us.”
“Why? Why does he hate the Lu Family so much?” Lu Weining gave it a thought. “Is it because of Aunt Jiang? Is it because he doesn’t like Aunt Jiang, and because Aunt Jiang is close to us, he doesn’t like us either?”
Lu Zhenghang looked at Lu Weining as if she were a loony. “Anyway, just give up – even if you were to go and tell dad about it, he’ll say the same thing. Alright, now hurry and contact the human relations department and ask them how to proceed on the matter. You could say it’s because of me, but if you were not caught with information that could be used against you, then would this matter have escalated? In the end, the root of this problem is you.”
Lu Weining clenched her teeth as she listened to Lu Zhenghang push the blame on her. She was not happy about it, and thought about what Yan Beicheng had said before continuing, “Yan Beicheng wanted me to pass a few words to you. He said: this time it’s my turn, the next time it’s yours.”
Once she finished talking, she turned around and walked away without looking back.
Lu Zhenghang heard this and clenched his teeth. The malicious intent in his eyes could make one’s hair stand on end.
“Heh!” Lu Zhenghang sneered softly, he sat back onto his chair and spun on it. He then turned his head and looked outside at the scenery from his floor-to-ceiling window.
He sat there for a short while but was unable to sit still.
Yan Beicheng threatening him this way made his heart burn in fury and made him want to vent his anger.
He used both of his hands to slam the armrest of his swivel chair. Then, he got up and took his car keys before leaving the office.
He walked with large strides, and as he was leaving the elevator, he was not looking ahead and proceeded to bump head-on into somebody who was in front of him.
Although Lu Zhenghang felt pain from the bump, he could still feel the softness of the person that had bumped into him. Additionally, there was a faint sweet scent that lingered around his nose.
The corner of Lu Zhenghang’s mouth curled up slightly. When the other person fell back, he took the other person’s waist into his arms without any delay.
The palm of his hands stayed on her soft waist for a short while, before he calmly released it and asked in a meek tone, “Are you alright?”
“I’m alright.” Zhu Hexuan was short of breath and felt her face flushing. The area of her waist that had been touched by his palm still felt like it was boiling.
She embarrassedly tidied up her long straight hair that trailed over her shoulder then looked up to at Lu Zhenghang’s appearance before pausing for a short while.
She thought that Lu Zhenghang looked familiar and felt like she had seen him before, but she had no further impression of him.
Lu Zhenghang was a good-looking man, and tall as well. If he wanted to, he could easily pull off the look of an elegant son who hailed from the nobility.
Zhu Hexuan thought of the short moment that she had bumped into his arms, then thought of the heat she felt on her waist as her face began to blush.
“I’m sorry, it was my fault.” Zhu Hexuan said in a soft tone and sneaked a glance into Lu Zhenghang’s eyes.
She had been a reporter for a long time. When is came to judging character, she was not the best at peering into a person’s soul, but she able to identify a person’s status based on their temperament.
She thought that the man in front of her had more or less the same temperament as Yan Beicheng, so he was definitely not a simple person.
The person in front of her had remarkably handsome and bright facial features, whilst his aura was outstanding as well. Zhu Hexuan could not help but blush and craft a favorable impression of him.
“Nonsense.” Lu Zhenghang said gentlemanly. “I was walking too fast and wasn’t looking ahead, I’m sorry. Something happened just now, and I had something on my mind, so I was walking anxiously.”
Zhu Hexuan shook her head hurriedly, she did not want to miss her opportunity with him but she could not show her eagerness. She could only step aside with a flushed face and say, “I’m sorry, I’ve delayed you.”
Lu Zhenghang did not have anything to attend to, and he was not in a hurry anymore. He originally wanted to search for a means to vent his anger, but as he looked at Zhu Hexuan, he felt that she looked familiar as well.
Other than for business meetings, he would seldom step foot into B City. However, he was sure that he had never seen Zhu Hexuan during these meetings.
Subsequently, his brain figured it out and Lu Zhenghang was able to recall the past.
When he was in Ning City, he paid attention to every matter surrounding Yan Beicheng. This included Lin Chu, the Yan Family matters, and what Yan Beicheng had done for Lin Chu to rectify the matters in Jing Wen. In addition to this, there was Zhu Jingjing, Lin Yuwen, and the matter of Zhu Hexuan that had lost her job recently.
He quickly realized that the woman in front of him was Zhu Hexuan, whom had just lost her job.
Since it was related to Yan Beicheng, he followed up on the matter. He found out that Zhu Hexuan found another job in another newspaper company. It was called ‘Jing City Post’ and was not as influential as the previous company she worked at, but it was not half bad.
Lu Zhenghang glanced at her unobtrusively and thought that she had the appearance of a young lady that was yearning for love. He grinned and asked, “It doesn’t seem like you’re an employee of Xing Chuang. I’ve never seen you before.”
Zhu Hexuan seized the opportunity to take her business card out and give it to Lu Zhenghang. “I’m a reporter from ‘Jing City Post’, and I’m here for an interview.”
Lu Zhenghang glanced at the business card, and at this moment Shu Yuxin and her assistant walked by. The two called out to him, “President Lu.”
Shu Yuxin curiously glimpsed at Zhu Hexuan and looked her up and down.
Zhu Hexuan blushed from the awkwardness and sneaked a glance at Lu Zhenghang. She seemed somewhat helpless and quickly lowered her head after this.
Lu Zhenghang dimly greeted Zhu Yuxin and her assistant. The two did not want to pry into his matters, so they soon got into the elevator.
Then, Lu Zhenghang took out his business card and gave it to Zhu Hexuan. “This is my business card.”
Zhu Hexuan took it and looked at it, then raised her head in surprise. “You’re the President of Xing Chuang!”
Lu Zhenghang nodded his head indifferently as Zhu Hexuan embarrassedly continued, “We reporters knew that you’ve come to B City and wanted to interview you. I’ve called your assistant as well and we’ve been in contact several times. I wanted to come interview you.”
Lu Zhenghang laughed without saying a word as Zhu Hexuan carefully put the business card away. Then, she lifted her head and smiled. “President Lu, could you please give me a chance to give you an exclusive interview?”
Lu Zhenghang chuckled twice. “Sure. Since I bumped into you, I’ll compensate you for that. I’m free right now as well.”
Zhu Hexuan’s entire face lit up in astonishment. She quickly nodded and followed Lu Zhenghang into the elevator.
All four sides of the elevator were mirrored, and as they faced the doors of the elevator, it was as if they were looking into the mirror. She was able to see the reflection of her and Lu Zhenghang standing together.
Zhu Hexuan could not help but sneak a glance at Lu Zhenghang through the mirror. No matter how she looked at it, she felt that he was every bit as charming and impressive as Yan Beicheng.
She could not help but think that Lu Zhenghang had a good temperament and was graceful. He had an elegant demeanor and was polite to her as well. She smiled to herself. She wanted to take advantage of her work and properly fight for her well-being as well.
Even if she worked hard and earnestly, it could never compare to if she found a good man to rely on.
Was it not the same for Lin Chu as well?
In truth, Lin Chu was not outstanding in her work, but because she had gotten together with Yan Beicehgn, she was able to resign from a small company like Jing Wen with not much work experience to enter Lin Yi.
Was this all not because she had found a huge patron for herself in Yan Beicheng?
She could even be playing around right now in Lin Yi, as no one would dare to speak up. Wei Zilin was Yan Beicheng’s best friend, he probably did not care whether Lin Chu was good at her work. He probably just gave her a spot in Lin Yi since he would not lose much by giving Lin Chu such wages anyway.
Zhu Hexuan felt that some people’s lives were just better.
Lin Chu was the old principal’s pet since she was young, and later was adopted by the Lin Family to become a young lady of the household. However, the old principal had said that Lin Chu did not have a great time in the Lin Family and was even abused by them.
From her point of view, even if she were not treated well how bad could it be? Even if she was mistreated, she still was able to grow up and go to university, right?
Unlike herself, who constantly worried about her own future. She was constantly worried that she would not be able to go to school and was worried that she would not be able to enter a university as she had no funds to pay for tuition.
Even if she graduated, she still needed to find a job. She gave up everything just to increase her passing rate. This was unlike Lin Chu, who did not graduate for a long time and later met Yan Beicheng. Ever since then her life had been smooth sailing.
She felt that compared to Lin Chu, she was not lacking.
Why was Lin Chu able to win over Yan Beicheng, but she was not able to find an equally remarkable man for herself as well?
She felt that she was way better than Lin Chu. At least everything that she had so far was all obtained due to her hard work, and she was not relying on any men.
She was more capable than Lin Chu and was beautiful too. If Yan Beicheng could fall for Lin Chu, then when it came to Lu Zhenghang, who was no worse than Yan Beicheng, she should be able to win him over too.
Zhu Hexuan thought of all this and clenched her fist tightly.
…
On Tuesday, Lin Chu walked out in the afternoon. Shao Huai was already waiting in front of the car.
Even if the traffic was slightly congested in the afternoon, Yan Beicheng did not want Lin Chu to go by foot and thought it would be more comfortable if she had a car fetch her. Therefore, he insisted Shao Huai pick her up.
Lin Chu was not able to refuse him, hence she was forced to agree.
Just as she was about to move forward, a timid voice called out to her from not far away, “Lin Chu.”
When Lin Chu turned around, she saw that it was Dai Huimin.
She was holding a paper bag in her arms as though it contained a valuable item.
She saw her looking over and wanted to step forward, but her face showed her uneasiness.
Then, Lin Chu thought of Xu Jiaojiao’s matter. Thus, she walked forward after some consideration.
Dai Huimin did not expect Lin Chu to actually respond to her. Even if Lin Chu had not said anything yet, she was still pleasantly surprised by this.
The dry, yellowed-tone, and slightly dark face of hers now turned slightly brighter. It was still not good-looking, but it made her look indescribably younger and better looking when she was under the sun.
Dai Huimin’s smiled to the point that her whole face was full of creases, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes stretched right to her hairline.
Lin Chu felt that even the wrinkles on Old Lady Yan’s face were not as bad as hers.
Age-wise, Dai Huimin would only be in her early forties this year.
Dai Huimin licked her dried and cracked lips and handed over the paper bag to Lin Chu in a perturbed manner. “Lin Chu, I said before that I felt embarrassed to acknowledge you as my own. I don’t expect you to forgive me, and that’s the truth. I’m also not here to take advantage of you either. It’s just that I heard that you’re married now… I’m not really capable of giving you anything, but this is for you.”
Lin Chu took the paper bag and felt astonished. When she looked inside it was a pair of golden dragon and phoenix bracelets. The bracelets were thick, and the patterns looked exquisite. Judging by the packaging, they were from a well-known brand, and from the weight of it, one could tell that the pair of bracelets was not cheap. It must have cost Dai Huimin a fortune.
“Is this for me?” Lin Chu asked in surprised.
Dai Huimin nodded, “Jiaojiao told me that the news about the two of you that was published on the Internet, and about you getting married to Yan Beicheng. I… I know that you don’t lack anything when you’re with him, and that these bracelets are not such a big deal to you. But, I still wanted to give it to you as a wedding gift. In my hometown, when one’s daughter gets married, we’ll give jewelry based on our own financial circumstances. The more money the bride’s household has, the more bracelets she’ll wears and the thicker they’ll be as well. I… I can’t buy you a bigger one, or a better one, and I can’t afford to buy that many too. This is just a small gift from me to you… Please don’t dislike it…”
