Returning - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: The Same Old Trick
Zhao Yu naturally couldn't let Ji Sui resign, much less could she let him give up his equity stake. However, she knew very well that this relationship was close to being exposed.
Even though she had temporarily stopped Ji Sui with the excuse that "him resigning for her would put too much pressure on her," she couldn't stall for too long, or else she feared he would become suspicious.
On one side was Ji Sui, who was impatient to go public with their relationship; on another was Zhuang Ye, who had unexpectedly returned to the country. On yet another front, the wedding date for Xu Chengyan and Zhuang Yiqing had been set. All of this signaled that she had to accelerate the process of her revenge.
The wedding date for Xu Chengyan and Zhuang Yiqing was set for National Day, which happened to coincide with the Mid-Autumn Festival this year. It was not unusual for the two families to choose this special day—only, it was just over four months away, and time was truly tight.
The only good news was that, considering Zhuang Yiqing was the eldest daughter, the Zhuang family ultimately decided to set Zhuang Ye and Ling Jianhuan's wedding date after Zhuang Yiqing's. This way, Zhao Yu no longer had to rack her brains figuring out how to sabotage the Zhuang-Ling alliance.
She had only planned to conceal her identity until the day of Zhuang Yiqing and Xu Chengyan's wedding anyway. Once she destroyed that one, the other would unravel along with it.
"What's so interesting about the calendar?" Wang Qi pulled a chair over and sat beside Zhao Yu, studying her with curiosity. "You're not... pregnant, are you?"
Zhao Yu was startled by her question. "What?"
Wang Qi pointed to the desk calendar on Zhao Yu's desk. "You've been staring at it for ages. When a woman stares at this counting days, isn't it all about tracking her period and safe days? With that expression, could it really be true?"
Zhao Yu chuckled quietly and was about to reply "how is that possible" when a deep voice suddenly sounded from behind: "Come to my office."
Neither of them had expected Xue Zhan to come out at that moment, and both were startled. Looking at his expression, which had been rather grim for days now, Zhao Yu nodded and followed him inside.
Xue Zhan signaled for her to close the door. Once she reached the desk, he looked up and fixed his gaze on her. "Did you go to the hospital to check?"
It took Zhao Yu a full few seconds to realize what he was referring to. He had overheard Wang Qi's words and also misunderstood, thinking she might be pregnant.
Seeing his extremely somber expression, Zhao Yu suddenly smiled. "And what if I really am?"
Xue Zhan looked at her steadily, saying nothing.
But she had already seen the answer in his eyes.
Zhao Yu smiled self-deprecatingly. "In that case, why did you touch me in the first place?"
Even though it was a situation she had painstakingly schemed to create, at this moment, she stood from the perspective of a victim, shamelessly pressing him for an answer.
The time left for her was running short, and their relationship had been stuck in a bottleneck. She had been continuously planning how to break this deadlock recently. Now, it seemed Wang Qi's misunderstanding was a rather good opportunity.
His hands, resting under the desk, clenched quietly. Xue Zhan remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "After work, I'll go with you to the hospital. If you really are..."
"Get rid of it, right?" Zhao Yu's smile was incomparably sarcastic. "Don't worry, Director Xue. I'm not pregnant. Even if we didn't use a condom that last time, didn't you personally watch me take the morning-after pill? Besides... I was the one shameless enough to seduce you, I was the one begging you to fuck me. Even if I really were pregnant, I still have this much self-awareness. No need for Director Xue to trouble himself."
Realizing that his attitude had been too hurtful, Xue Zhan hesitated, about to speak, but then he heard her say, "If Director Xue doesn't have anything else, I'll go back to work."
Without waiting for Xue Zhan's reaction, Zhao Yu turned and walked out.
She was gambling. Gambling that he wasn't entirely indifferent to her.
Those days in Wucheng, the ambiguous undercurrent flowing between them. That day in her apartment, his urgent kisses. None of that could be entirely devoid of emotion.
Even if it wasn't romantic feelings between a man and a woman, he should at least feel guilt toward her, pity.
Especially after learning about that hidden episode between Xue Zhan and Liu Ling, Zhao Yu was even more certain that this man was not only not heartless, but was also very likely full of a sense of justice and sympathy for the weak.
He was just genuinely too concerned about Xue Zi'ang. It wasn't merely an uncle's concern for a nephew—it was compounded by years of his own guilt and self-reproach. So, he was unwilling to touch her before, and now, even after things had accidentally happened between them, he still restrained himself and kept his distance.
What she needed to do was force him to break through all of this.
After lunch, Qin Yi approached to borrow something from Zhao Yu. Zhao Yu clearly remembered it was in the middle drawer, but she deliberately pulled open the bottom drawer instead and rummaged through that pile of personal items rarely used, even taking everything out of the drawer and placing it on the desk.
Sure enough, Qin Yi's sharp eyes caught sight of the receipt that had landed right in front of her. Unable to restrain her curiosity, she took a couple more glances and exclaimed in surprise, "Sister Zhao Yu, when did you go to see a psychologist? Why is the fee so high?"
"What?" Xia Nan beside her also immediately crowded over to look. "Damn! What kind of medicine is this prescribed? How can it be so expensive? But... Sister Zhao Yu, why would you need to see a psychologist for no reason?"
Seeing Zhao Yu look flustered as she snatched the receipt back, Wang Qi cleared her throat, flashing meaningful looks at Xia Nan and Qin Yi repeatedly.
One of the young women hadn't even finished university yet, and the other had only graduated not long ago. Both were carefree personalities who didn't think too much before speaking. Only now, upon seeing Wang Qi's signal, did they realize they might have inadvertently exposed the privacy that Zhao Yu most wanted to keep hidden, and they were immediately too frightened to know what to do.
It was Zhao Yu herself who calmly defused the situation, saying, "Can't find it. Maybe I took it home. How about I check tonight and see?"
Once the two guilt-ridden women had made an excuse to leave together, Wang Qi sat in front of Zhao Yu and asked, "Are you okay?"
Their ages and life experiences were closer, and their work had never constituted a competitive relationship. They were often able to confide their innermost thoughts to each other.
Zhao Yu gave a bitter smile, slowly tore the receipt in her hand to pieces and tossed them into the trash can, shaking her head. "It's nothing. Just too many late nights, messed up my sleep schedule. Went to get some medicine to improve my sleep. Imported drugs are expensive, of course. They didn't need to make such a fuss."
Knowing she didn't want to talk about it further, Wang Qi naturally didn't press. She could only look helplessly toward Xue Zhan's office, sighing quietly and shaking her head.
She wanted to help, but unfortunately, she couldn't figure out exactly what was going on between Zhao Yu and this uncle-nephew pair. Besides, her boss's personal affairs weren't something she dared to meddle in.
Once they were both away from their desks as well, Xue Zhan finally emerged from his office. He walked over to Zhao Yu's workstation and paused for a moment, then bent down to pick certain fragments from the trash can.
Name, hospital, department, even what medicine was purchased—everything was written clearly. And a quick check on his phone confirmed that those medicines were certainly not just ordinary sleep aids.
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