Bai Qing clutched her hair, still cursing, "Bai Yan, let go of me! What kind of man hits a woman! You can kill me, but I won't be with you!"
"If you don't want to be with me, you won't be with anyone else either."
Bai Yan grabbed her hair with one hand and dragged her half-way, carrying her like a pendant as he walked out.
Many people in the coffee shop watched, wanting to intervene but not knowing how.
The manager was even more distressed when he arrived. A coffee shop was supposed to be a quiet and elegant place, but now it had turned into a marketplace. This was too damaging to the establishment's image.
Especially since Wei Yumeng had instigated this incident. She didn't have the nerve to demand compensation from Wei Yumeng. Looking at the smashed coffee cups on the floor, her heart ached. This would definitely be deducted from her salary.
Wei Yumeng felt a lot of relief as she watched Bai Qing being dragged out of the shop.
Seeing the manager's troubled expression, she understood why.
"Manager, please don't worry. I will bear all the losses incurred today. Please calculate the compensation needed, and I will pay."
Her words were like heavenly music, easing the manager's burden. "Okay, Mrs. Zhan. Let me calculate and give you a figure."
After paying the compensation for the shop, Wei Yumeng left. It was already dark. After sending Huo Xiao home, she also rushed back.
Upon returning, she told Mu Linjing about the conversation she overheard between Bai Qing and Zhang Xinyi in the restroom. Regarding her cousin, Mu Linjing truly had no high hopes, knowing that she was unlikely to improve.
"I guess she'll come to me soon. When she does, we'll act subtly and see how much acting talent she has."
Mu Linjing's thoughts aligned with Wei Yumeng's. Moreover, she understood Zhang Xinyi's intentions. She was clearly coveting Zhan Yichen. No matter how many times Mu Linjing helped her, she never let go of the idea of interfering in someone else's relationship.
It was not surprising that she and Bai Qing could cooperate. Their minds were similar. One coveted the eldest son of the Zhan family, the other the second, yet both were married men.
Speaking of Bai Qing's pathetic state in the coffee shop that day, Mu Linjing felt a sense of satisfaction and regretted not witnessing it herself.
"Why was it such a coincidence that Bai Yan showed up at that exact moment?"
Wei Yumeng shook her head. "Bai Yan didn't happen to be there by chance. I was the one who told him Bai Qing was there."
The day Bai Yan was brought back and their relationship was clarified, Bai Qing ran away in anger. However, Bai Yan was unfamiliar with the place. If he searched for Bai Qing all over the city, he might end up sleeping on the streets and starving.
He was clever enough to refuse to leave outside Zhan Mohan's apartment. The security guards there had called Wei Yumeng to come over. His purpose was simple: to take Bai Qing back.
In his own words, "I've raised her for so many years, intending for her to bear me heirs and continue my family line. I won't even calculate how much I spent on her education over the years. I don't cherish such a woman, and I don't care who she wants to be with. But before that, she must give me a son."
Bai Yan's thinking was understandable. It was like an investment, and now that it had failed, he had to find ways to minimize his losses. Even if he couldn't keep his wife, he at least wanted to leave behind an heir so he wouldn't be alone in his old age.
Furthermore, Bai Qing always had improper thoughts about other people's husbands. Having Bai Yan find a way to keep her confined would also be beneficial to him, at least in terms of having a peaceful life.
So, she found Bai Yan a place to stay and promised him that she would find a way to locate Bai Qing and bring her back for him.
"My asking Miller to lure Bai Qing out was a guise, and the recording was also a guise. My real intention was to have Bai Yan take her away. And what if she deleted the recording? The recorder was exposed to her by Miller at my instruction. I wanted the video footage."
As Wei Yumeng spoke, she took out a micro-camera from her bag. It contained all the conversations between Bai Qing and Miller during their meeting.
Mu Linjing understood her plan within a plan and couldn't help but admire her. "Yumeng, your actions are becoming more thorough now. She definitely wouldn't expect this video."
Wei Yumeng smiled. "Not only could she not expect it, but even Miller doesn't know about this video. If I deleted the recording on my phone, I would have no leverage over Miller. She was already not convinced by me, and she must have been resentful when I became the manager. I didn't expose her scheme and kept her in the company, but I couldn't be left without any backup."
She had no intention of using this video to threaten anyone, but rather as a contingency. If these two women made any moves in the future, she would have some leverage. In a game of chess between parties, she didn't believe the other side would willingly make peace.
Mu Linjing couldn't help but sigh. "Yumeng, you're really becoming more and more like Big Brother. Your husband and wife's way of doing things are becoming increasingly similar. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be as thorough as you."
Wei Yumeng just smiled. Having been with Zhan Mohan for so long, she had naturally been influenced.
Since Bai Qing was taken away, she had not reappeared. It was likely that Bai Yan had taken her back to his hometown and locked her up.
Bai Yan would not let her go unless she fulfilled the purpose of continuing the Bai family line.
Although Wei Yumeng was no longer disturbed by her and there were no more rumors, as a newly appointed manager, she was not familiar with many of the operations. The transition to this new identity had not been fully adapted. On the second day of her appointment, she had even habitually walked to her previous workstation.
One day, after dealing with a difficult task, she noticed that it was already an hour past work. She suddenly remembered that she was supposed to pick up Zhan Lin from school today. Since the family driver was on leave, she had been driving Zhan Lin recently.
School had already been out for more than half an hour, and she wondered how Zhan Lin was doing.
Just as she was about to call home, Zhan Mohan's call came through.
"Yumeng, Lin'er has been sent to the hospital. I'm going to see what's going on. If you're off work, just come directly to the hospital, no need to go to school."
Upon hearing that Zhan Lin had been sent to the hospital, Wei Yumeng's heart clenched. Fearing that something had happened to him, she quickly grabbed her car keys and rushed to the hospital.
When she arrived at the hospital, Zhan Mohan was already waiting. Grandpa Zhan was sitting on a resting chair in the hallway, holding Zhan Lin in his arms. His expression was unfriendly. Seeing her rush over, although he didn't scold her, he was clearly angry.