Zhan Bei Jue hadn't expected to run into her again, only a couple of hours after they had parted.
Was she some kind of persistent ghost? And how could she have pinned down a grown man like Zhou Jin Xiu?
"Let me go!" she yanked her hand back forcefully.
Seeing it was her who had struck him, Zhan Bei Jue didn't want to get further entangled. He released Zhou Jin Xiu and asked, "Do you know each other?"
Zhou Jin Xiu hadn't wanted to see Zhan Bei Jue, but now he had helped him.
"I don't know her, Second Brother. This woman is utterly lawless. She showed up early this morning, insisting she had leverage over Zhou Jin Bei and demanded a million yuan from me. After I paid, she was still insatiably greedy and wanted me to... You must help me teach her a lesson!"
"Oh?"
A strange glint appeared in Zhan Bei Jue's eyes. He looked at Zhou Jin Xiu, then at his ex-wife, who was dressed particularly dashingly today.
"You truly seek revenge for every grievance."
"Of course," Jiang Nan Fang rubbed her wrist, which was still sore from his grip. "Justice prevails everywhere."
"What leverage did you find against Zhou Jin Bei?"
"Ask him. He's most familiar with that sort of thing. Otherwise, would he have obediently given me a million yuan?"
Zhan Bei Jue didn't ask Zhou Jin Xiu. He glanced at Jiang Nan Fang again and said meaningfully, "Your appetite is quite large. Is this how you've been making money all these years?"
Jiang Nan Fang, of course, understood his implication. She retorted, "How I make money is none of your business. If you have the time, you should pay more attention to these foolish relatives around you."
Zhan Bei Jue's eyes darkened.
Jiang Nan Fang placed a finger on her lips. "Shh, don't get agitated. I didn't plan to run into you, nor did I want to argue with you."
"Zhan Bei Jue, I'm about to head to the Northwest. I'll help your electrical company conquer the land. I'll be back on schedule in a month. Remember your promise."
With that, she turned her head to glare at Zhou Jin Xiu, who was still utterly bewildered, and brushed past Zhan Bei Jue.
Lu Ming Zhe, watching this scene clearly from his car, dared not get out due to Jiang Nan Fang's imposing aura. Only after she had left did he excitedly hop out of the car, full of gossip.
He watched her retreating back with lingering interest. "Damn, I remember she wasn't like this before. That face... did she have plastic surgery?"
"It's really good surgery, so natural. Her figure is great too. No wonder you were healed by her. She's a gem of humanity."
"?"
Zhan Bei Jue shot him a cold glance, and Lu Ming Zhe quickly changed his tune.
"I didn't mean it like that. I meant, speaking of which, she really looks a lot like Ge'er."
Zhou Jin Xiu was still confused. "What's going on, Second Brother? Who is this woman? Do you know her? How do you know a scammer like this?"
"What did she scam you out of?" Zhan Bei Jue questioned him.
"...I already told you, Jin Bei... a million yuan..."
"Since she knew she was scamming you, why did you give her the money? Why didn't you report it?"
"..."
"Zhou Jin Xiu, don't think you're the only one with brains in this world and everyone else is an idiot."
"..."
"I'm very clear about what happened last night. Zhou Jin Bei is audacious and lawless. If you don't educate him properly, don't blame me for being harsh."
After speaking, he suddenly lost the mood to visit the Zhou family. He turned back to his car. "Let's go back to the company."
Lu Ming Zhe followed him into the car, still reminiscing about the dashing Jiang Nan Fang.
"Most women's figures go out of shape and they age after having a child, but your ex-wife is amazing. She's getting more beautiful and younger as she lives, tsk tsk."
"For no apparent reason, why did you two get divorced back then?"
Zhan Bei Jue looked out the window, inexplicably wanting to find a trace of her.
Jiang Nan Fang hadn't driven and had only left a short while ago, so he could still see her graceful figure.
"Shut up."
"You have no interest in women outside, so did she dump you back then? I say..."
"Say one more word of nonsense and I'll throw you out of the car, believe it or not?"
The place Jiang Nan Fang was heading for her business trip was called Wangquan County, a very fitting name.
Upon entering the county town, the dusty cement roads and streets with so few cars that they were almost invisible indicated how underdeveloped the economy was due to severe water scarcity.
After getting off the plane, transferring to a train, and then renting a van near the train station, the journey was winding and arduous.
Jiang Nan Fang, along with several technicians, spent over twenty hours to reach their destination.
Twenty kilometers ahead of Shazi Gou was the famous vast desert bordering Gansu Province and Xinjiang.
Due to this environment, the temperature difference between day and night was significant.
It was already past eight in the evening when Jiang Nan Fang arrived at her destination. As soon as she stepped out of the car, a strong wind howled and sand filled the air. If everyone hadn't been prepared with masks, they would have ended up with a mouthful of sand.
Walking a few minutes further, someone was holding a flashlight to greet them in front of a low-lying cave dwelling.
It was late, and with no electricity, their faces were unclear. After introducing themselves, they followed him inside.
The village chief, with a thick local accent, welcomed them to sit down, saying they had a hard journey and asking his wife to serve dinner.
"Our conditions here are not good, and the food is not like what you have in the city. Please bear with us. Come, come, eat while it's hot."
The village chief's wife brought out a large white porcelain basin. Inside was a dark, messy stew. Although steaming, it had no aroma, and everyone was startled.
Would they have to eat this every day for the next month?
Jiang Nan Fang had always thought she had a difficult life.
Her family had been in the building materials business since she was young. In the beginning, her father's business was not good, and her mother and she scrimped and saved every day.
Later, when she was five, the business finally picked up, and they bought a house and a car. However, her father started staying out all the time, and when he came home, he would argue with her mother.
Then, he brought his mistress home to conspire, which drove her mother into depression. On her seventh birthday, her mother committed suicide by jumping off a building.
Before her mother's remains were even cold, her stepmother, along with her stepbrother, moved into the house. From then on, she became a servant in the family, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, serving tea, and enduring her stepmother's unprovoked beatings.
Before she fell in love with Zhan Bei Jue, she had truly believed she was the most miserable person in the world. But today, she realized how melodramatic she had been.
There were so many people in the world who couldn't eat enough, couldn't wear warm clothes, and worried about making a living every day.
Looking at the mottled walls of the village chief's house, the broken windows, the children dressed in rags, their faces dirty, shyly looking at them from the corner of the wall, she felt immense emotion.
No wonder Vice President Gao was willing to invest so much effort to support this place. If she could change their living environment with her own hands, let the children see things they had never seen before, and walk out of the desert, she would be willing, and proud of it.
The chopsticks were already black, but Jiang Nan Fang didn't mind. She took the lead and started eating with her bowl.
Perhaps seeing a young girl behaving this way, her male colleagues felt awkward about being picky and started eating as well.
After the meal, the wife led them outside.
"The west room of our house is empty, it has a kang, so you can squeeze in. The rest can go borrow lodging at Old Li's house up front."