Shen Lin drove to Jiang Ziyu's residence, yawning constantly as he looked at the desolate night scenery along the way.
As his car entered the community gate, the security guard on duty asked him to show his community pass. Shen Lin couldn't produce it, and his attempts to reason with the guard were futile. Finally, he took out his phone to contact Di Mingjue.
After a brief conversation, Shen Lin handed the phone to the guard. Through their discussion, the guard granted him entry but disallowed his car.
Walking from the main gate to the apartment building took ten minutes, and then another fifteen minutes to reach the floor by elevator.
A single ring of the doorbell, and Di Mingjue opened the door. He stepped aside, gesturing to Shen Lin and saying, "The files are on the table."
On the living room coffee table, the files were stacked like a small hill. As Shen Lin entered and reached for the files, his gaze landed on the bar next to them.
"Did they argue?" Shen Lin wondered.
With the files in hand, Shen Lin turned to see Di Mingjue already walking out of the room. He pressed the elevator button. The elevator was on their floor, opening immediately after he pressed the button.
They entered the elevator and departed.
Although Jiang Ziyu couldn't hear the conversation outside the room, she realized someone had entered.
Once the rustling sounds faded, Jiang Ziyu emerged from her chair inside the room.
Di Mingjue, who should have been in the living room, had vanished, leaving the room completely dark.
Jiang Ziyu groped her way to the balcony. Through a gap in the curtains, she looked down at the small path below the apartment building.
Two dark figures merged, and Jiang Ziyu watched as Shen Lin led Di Mingjue further and further away.
"It's good they're gone; I can finally have a peaceful night's sleep." Though she thought this, her heart felt a pang of emptiness, as if something was missing.
...
The next day.
Jiang Feifei's statement online accelerated the situation considerably.
Looking at the caller ID on her screen, Jiang Feifei tossed her phone aside. She lay leisurely in bed, a masseuse attending to her veins.
The phone continued to ring, and the masseuse couldn't help but look up. "Miss Jiang, your phone is ringing."
"I'm not deaf," Jiang Feifei retorted with an unpleasant tone.
The masseuse lowered her head awkwardly, diligently continuing her work, daring not to say another word.
After the call rang for a long time, it was followed by a barrage of text messages. Jiang Feifei saw Di Dongsheng relentlessly attacking her like a mad dog.
She clicked on a voice message, the content of which was highly vulgar.
"Hiss!" Jiang Feifei gasped and pulled her legs back.
The masseuse, like a child who had made a mistake, lowered her head, repeatedly apologizing.
Annoyed by the messages, Jiang Feifei waved her hand. "Get out!"
Without daring to utter another word, the masseuse quickly packed her tools and turned to leave.
Tossing aside the towel from her head, Jiang Feifei got out of bed. She picked up her phone and called Di Dongsheng back.
He answered immediately, his voice a fierce reprimand.
"Where are you now? Delete the statement online immediately!" Di Dongsheng roared.
He had already contacted various magazines the previous night, threatening them with Di Jue Group to remove related news. The online articles had been taken down the night before, and her statement had pushed the matter to a boiling point.
Jiang Feifei held the phone away. After Di Dongsheng's rant subsided, and after a long silence, she finally spoke, "I was afraid your wife would be angry, so I thought I should explain first."
"Explain?" Di Dongsheng was even more furious. "Look at what you wrote above; does that seem like an explanation?"
The words were filled with unspoken ambiguity, making it seem like a futile attempt to cover up the truth.
"I issued the statement for you too. Your wife is too formidable. She chased and attacked me yesterday just for us being together. If this scandal breaks out, she'll kill me. Moreover, I'm explaining proactively; we'll be working with the Wu family often, so your wife will understand."