He Yan secretly locked the CD in the office drawer, hoping that it would one day become evidence to accuse Fu Shenxing. She had been persistently working as usual, treating her job even more seriously and enthusiastically than before, interacting with more people, and dealing with more things, making herself look busy and fulfilled, in an attempt to interfere with Fu Shenxing's surveillance of her.
An old classmate left her some information about the Fu's company on the internet, including its establishment time, development experience, the main fields of operation, and personal information about Fu Shenxing that was rarely known to outsiders. To He Yan's surprise, Fu Shenxing did exist. He was born in the city and had a very complete life trajectory, which made it difficult to doubt Chen, who had been so sure he wasn't Shen Jie.
The only suspicious thing was that this person had been abroad three years ago and had just returned at the beginning of this year. He Yan looked at the message on her phone, frowned and pondered. It seemed like a place to start, but three years ago, Shen Jie was still in prison and had not yet been executed. How could he have gone abroad?
She was puzzled.
As for Fu Suiyi, he was Fu Shenxing's cousin, and it was rumored that the two had always had a very good relationship, like brothers. This was in stark contrast to what He Yan had witnessed at the club.
This was one of the doubts, and possibly the best starting point for the whole thing.
She silently drew on the paper and then quietly fed it into the shredder.
The professor from the management school had already replied to her, and she immediately contacted Xu Chengbo, asking him to go for an interview. By the time it was close to noon, Xu Chengbo called her back, saying that the professor was very satisfied with him and had decided to hire him as a translation assistant with a good salary. He Yan was also happy for him and joked, "Remember to treat me to a meal once you receive your salary."
Xu Chengbo seemed hesitant and said, "Why not have it now, do you have time for lunch?"
He Yan did have time, but she couldn't let her student treat her to a meal. She smiled and directly refused, "Just save your money. You've worked so hard to earn it. How can I, as your teacher, let you pay?"
"Is it okay to eat at the school canteen?" Xu Chengbo asked her, and then said, "Let’s go to the cafeteria near your place. I'm about to arrive downstairs."
This child's persistence surprised He Yan. She furrowed her brows and was thinking about how to refuse when she heard Xu Chengbo hesitantly say, "Teacher He, I want to talk to you about something, it's about…about—"
"Xu Chengbo!" she reacted quickly, immediately cut him off, her voice turning cold, "I am your teacher, I’m helping you solely because you are my student. If you have something silly to say, then please keep quiet."
"Teacher He..." Xu Chengbo seemed to be taken aback by her response, nervously trying to speak, "I...”
He Yan did not give him another chance to speak and immediately hung up the phone. She threw the phone onto the table and dashed out. When she got downstairs, Xu Chengbo was indeed standing at the roadside with his bicycle, holding his phone as if making a call.
She almost appeared out of thin air, and he was momentarily stunned, gazing at her in astonishment, "He, He Laoshi..."
She reached over and snatched his phone, pressed the cancel button, and then, without much thought, composed a message on her own phone: Teacher He, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Please forgive me. But I still want to say, I like you, and I don't think it's wrong.
Avoiding Xu Chengbo, she sent the message and quickly deleted the record, then returned the phone to him. "What did you want to talk to me about? Is it about Jia?"
Xu Chengbo was still a bit slow to react, looking at her with a hesitant nod, and timidly asking, "Teacher He, what happened just now? Are you upset? I didn't mean anything else, just...just wanted to invite you for a meal. You introduced me to a very good job, and I am very grateful."
"Oh, I misunderstood. I'm sorry," He Yan quickly deflected, glanced at the time, and added, "Wait here for me, I'll go back and get my phone. We'll go to the restaurant together for a meal later, my treat as a teacher's apology to you."
Xu Chengbo was completely confused by her fluctuating mood and responded foolishly, "Okay."
He Yan went upstairs to get her phone, opened and deleted the unread message, and then nonchalantly came downstairs with the phone in hand, heading to the school cafeteria with Xu Chengbo. It was still early, and the cafeteria was not crowded. She used her staff card to order two meals, found a table by the edge, and asked Xu Chengbo while eating, "What did you want to say? What's wrong with Jia?"
Xu Chengbo hesitated for a moment and replied, "Teacher He, Jia didn't go abroad for recuperation; I saw her in Nanzhao again."
He Yan paused, the spoon suspended in the air for a few seconds before resuming to eat slowly, then asked, "Oh? Where did you see her?"
Xu Chengbo looked up at He Yan, struggling to articulate himself better, "I used to work as a waiter at a nightclub and I met Jia there. A couple of days ago, I went to ask about her, and they said they had seen her recently, but she's not working there anymore. She moved to a more high-end place called Drunken Love Now."
It was the night Fu Shenxing took her to that club, it must be his territory. From the looks of it, everything was falling into place. He Yan's expression remained calm and she nodded slowly, "Hmm, I believe you."
"So, Mr. Fu is lying," Xu Chengbo said anxiously.
"...And then?" He Yan asked.
He was speechless, not knowing what more to say.
He Yan felt conflicted. She could see that this young man meant well, but the more he cared, the less she could involve him in this matter. It was too dangerous; once Fu Shenxing got wind of it, this boy might be in mortal danger. She couldn't be selfish, especially towards people who were entirely devoted to her.
She had to use coldness to rebuff Xu Chengbo's kindness, furrowing her brow as she said, "Xu Chengbo, I'll say it again, don't meddle in Jia's affairs, and don't bring it up with me, either on the phone or in person. And whether Mr. Fu is lying, it's none of your concern."
The glint in Xu Chengbo's eyes gradually dimmed, and he finally lowered his gaze, softly responding, "I'm sorry, Teacher He, I should not have interfered."
Seeing the visibly dejected young man in front of her, He Yan wanted to tell him that he wasn't interfering, and that his words were helpful, she was thankful...But in the end, she said nothing and simply bowed her head to silently eat.
On the weekend, He Yan went alone to the brand store at the shopping center and bought a coat similar to the style of the one from Hua Jie, then called Hua Jie to ask for her address, and added, "I should have sent it to you earlier, but I just couldn't find the time in these past few days."
Hua Jie was surprised and delighted to receive the call. She quickly replied, "You're too polite, you don't need to send anything, I can come to pick it up from your place. I've been idling around these few days."
He Yan thought for a moment and suggested a compromise, "How about this, I'm outside now. If you have time, I'll treat you to lunch. I'm really grateful for what happened last time."
Hua Jie quickly agreed, "Sure, no problem for lunch."
They arranged to meet at a specific location. Hua Jie hung up the phone and hurriedly got out of bed, yelling at the next room, "Xiao Baiyang, Xiao Baiyang, get up quickly. Don't make me feel like I'm talking to a corpse."
After three to five minutes, the door opened, and a drowsy and pretty girl stood at the doorway, yawning incessantly, lazily complaining, "Hua Jie, it's just a few hours, and you're waking me up. We both work night shifts, and I do physical labor. Are you trying to kill me? You're picking on us young ladies because there's no labor union, aren't you?"
"I am your union!" Hua stretched out her hand to lightly pat Deli's face, then grabbed her shoulder and shook it, asking, "You are the most educated under me. Quickly tell me, what do cultured people like, and what nonsense do they like to talk about?"
Xiao Bai Yang asked, "Hua, are you trying to turn over a new leaf?"
"Turn what fucking leaf! If you were competent, would I need to go and grovel to someone else?" Hua cursed, looking at the shocked expression on Xiao Bai Yang's face, then scolded, "Don't use that foolish look to deal with me. Do you think I'm one of your benefactors?"
Xiao Bai Yang had to regain her composure and said helplessly, "Hua, if you don't explain everything clearly, how can I give you advice? The category of cultured people is huge, there are those who act high and mighty, those who are hypocritical, and those who are refined scum. I know who you want to grovel to. Complaining that someone is incompetent, have I not already placated them for you?"
"Mr. Fu? Mr. Fu, have you placated him?" Hua hit the nail on the head.
Xiao Bai Yang choked and couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Hua, can we not mention that person? I feel like just being able to survive after dealing with him is all due to burning incense in my past life."
"Hmph, just admit if you're incompetent." Hua smirked and couldn't help but tell Xiao Bai Yang about what happened in the club that day. "To be able to provoke Mr. Fu into getting angry in public is already a miracle, but the most important thing is that even though he left in a rage, after one phone call, without an apology or softening, not even a single kind word, Mr. Fu still stubbornly had the person called home, only letting them go after settling things."
Xiao Bai Yang knew about the first half of the incident but was unaware of the second half; she was a bit stunned and exclaimed, "This woman is truly extraordinary!"
"Absolutely extraordinary! I heard she's also a teacher, I think Jiang Ge called her Teacher He," Hua said, seeing that time was running out, she didn't have time to talk and quickly asked a few more questions about the preferences of cultured people before rushing out the door.
They met at a distinctive restaurant, and when Hua rushed over, He Yan had already been waiting for her. She handed the garment bag to Hua first, explaining, "The original one couldn't be found, and because I'm not familiar with your preferences, I bought a similar one based on the previous one. Can you see if it's suitable? The receipts are all in the bag, and if you don't like it, you can exchange it."
Just by looking at the garment bag, it was clear that the new one was quite expensive, much better than the old one. Hua didn't need the money, but she liked it when others were thoughtful and polite, especially when they were people around Fu Shenxing. She didn't even look at the clothes and just smiled, saying, "I trust Miss He's judgment, it's definitely better than my previous one!"
He Yan smiled modestly, "Hua, you're easygoing and approachable."
One was trying to curry favor, the other had ulterior motives, yet the two seemed to be having a pleasant conversation. He Yan was intentionally trying to hook Fu Shenxing through Hua, but she was afraid of being too hasty, so she patiently talked about unrelated topics with her. It was Hua who couldn't help but try to test her, asking, "You and Mr. Fu... everything okay?"
He Yan paused for a moment before answering softly, "Because of what happened to Mr. Fu, he was really angry, but it's nothing, it'll blow over eventually."
Hua agreed, "Mr. Fu tends to make a scene, Miss He, you shouldn't take it too much to heart. After Mr. Fu reprimanded him like that, he'll know his place when he sees you in the future."
He Yan self-deprecatingly smiled and said, "Hua, no matter what, they are brothers, and even if you break a bone, you're still connected by tendons. I'm just an outsider."
"That's not true!" Hua waved her hand dismissively, "Don't listen to what men say about 'brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes', that's a lie. They don't dare to say the rest. The complete saying should be: brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes, you wear my clothes, I break your limbs, you break my limbs, I wear your clothes!"
She said it humorously, and He Yan couldn't help but laugh, saying, "We should tell this to Mr. Fu and see how he reacts."