The elevator went directly up to the floor of the CEO’s office.
Jiang Yao from the executive office saw her coming and quickly stood up. “Miss Cheng!”
Cheng Wanwan smiled warmly. “Assistant Jiang, is Xiyan in his office?”
“President Lu is discussing business matters in Vice President Liang’s office.”
Jiang Yao didn’t dare to neglect her, nor did he dare to offend his own boss. Adjusting his glasses, he asked, “Would you like to go find President Lu? Or perhaps you could call him?”
“No need.” Cheng Wanwan’s smile remained unchanged. Xiyan didn’t like being interrupted during work, and she didn’t want to do anything that would annoy him.
“I’ll wait in his office. Assistant Jiang, please carry on with your work.”
Cheng Wanwan entered Lu Xiyan’s office with familiar ease. Jiang Yao brought in coffee and then withdrew.
Not long after, the phone on the office desk suddenly rang.
Cheng Wanwan walked straight over and answered it.
As soon as the call connected, the other party got straight to the point. “President Lu, the information you asked me to investigate about that woman named An Ning has been found.”
Cheng Wanwan’s hand gripping the phone tightened abruptly, and the polite smile on her face instantly froze.
An Ning!
Xiyan was having someone investigate An Ning!
Was he still holding a grudge over her departure these past few years, or did he still have lingering feelings for her!
……
“If you ask me, you’re just torturing yourself.”
In the vice president’s office, Liang Xu drank two cups of tea in succession and said irritably, “What does a project exchange like this need the big CEO himself for? You only went because you heard An Ning was coming, didn’t you?”
Lu Xiyan sat on the sofa without making a sound, lighting a cigarette.
As if seeing through his thoughts, Liang Xu continued, “You clearly knew where that pen came from, yet you still had to ask if she stole it. And when she said her ex-husband gave it to her, you got all worked up again.”
Liang Xu sat down on the sofa and looked at him. “If you’re really still hung up on what happened four years ago, now that she’s back, you should talk to her and clear things up.”
Lu Xiyan turned his head and glanced at him. “Clear up what?”
“Why she dumped you, why she got divorced.” Liang Xu asked, “Don’t you want to know?”
Lu Xiyan took a deep drag of his cigarette, his phoenix eyes’ profound gaze unclear beneath the smoke.
The reason?
She had made it perfectly clear the day she left—she had turned him into the laughingstock of all Jing Hai.
What more was there to ask?
Just then, his phone on the table rang.
Lu Xiyan glanced at it, picked up the phone, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and answered.
“President Lu?”
“Yes.”
The other party hurriedly said, “I’ve found part of the information you asked me to investigate.”
Lu Xiyan frowned, his voice turning cold. “What do you mean, part of it?”
The other party first reported the more accurate information. “That woman named An Ning returned to Jing Hai a week ago, with a three-year-old child.”
Lu Xiyan’s expression stiffened, the ash from his cigarette trembling and falling. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on the phone.
She really had a child?
Three years old?
His brow twitched almost imperceptibly, his gaze shifting.
The other party continued, “Before returning to Jing Hai, she stayed in Jining City for a while. Anything before that couldn’t be traced.”
“How long was she there?”
“Three months.”
Lu Xiyan’s chest heaved. Just as he was about to ask about the child, he heard the other person say, “In Jining, she was very close to a man, and they interacted frequently.”
The other person paused for a moment, recalling what Miss Cheng had said earlier—that An Ning had likely married that man and had a child. Not daring to be certain, he cautiously replied, “He might be the child’s father.”
Lu Xiyan felt the blood in his entire body run cold.
“That man came to Jing Hai too?”
“No,” the other person said, “Only the mother and child.”
The cigarette between his fingers burned down to the end, scorching him without his notice.
Lu Xiyan’s eyes blazed with fury as he abruptly ended the call.
So, had she remarried and divorced?
Or perhaps, had she gotten pregnant out of wedlock with another man?
Become a single mother, and only then returned to Jing Hai?
Whichever scenario it was, it was enough to make Lu Xiyan clench his fists even tighter.
……
“An Ning!”
At the entrance of the Ou Teng Group, An Ning was abruptly grabbed by Li Hui, whose eyes were red. “You made me lose face in front of so many people—are you happy now?!”
“An Ning, with your qualifications, you could easily find a better job! Why won’t you give this opportunity to me? I just graduated not long ago—I need this job more than you do!”
Even though she was the one who had swapped the project documents, she now angrily confronted An Ning.
She spoke of her own actions with such self-righteousness.
An Ning’s expression remained cold. “Li Hui, I’ll give you back the words you just said—if you lose your job, you can find another one. But how can your conscience rest after doing something like slandering others?”
Li Hui’s face flushed and paled alternately. After a few seconds, she managed to choke out, “An Ning, I thought you were a good person who wouldn’t fight me for this job.”
“No.” An Ning let out a light laugh, her expression indifferent. “It’s more accurate to say you thought I was a coward who wouldn’t have the courage to expose you in public. Or perhaps you thought I was unlucky—that even if you framed me, I wouldn’t be able to clear my name.”
Unfortunately for her, she was wrong on all counts.
Her words left Li Hui stunned, her expression turning ugly.
After speaking, An Ning turned and walked away.
Li Hui’s voice rang out again from behind, laced with bitter sarcasm. “What are you so proud of? Your ex-husband gave you such an expensive pen, but he still divorced you!”
She thought these words would strike at An Ning’s heart.
But An Ning acted as if she hadn’t heard. Perhaps this was the most hurtful thing Li Hui could think of to say.
But she didn’t care.
She walked to the bus stop to wait for the bus, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sun.
It was already noon, and she still had to go to the hospital to bring Li Chunfang her meal.
Li Chunfang was frugal and refused to order food at the hospital, complaining that the meals were expensive, tasteless, and served in small portions.
Only when An Ning brought food from outside would she eat a little.
She wasn’t picky, instructing An Ning to just buy two steamed buns and a cold dish—that would be enough.
But An Ning always brought her meat dishes and soup as well.
Just as she was about to find a shaded spot to wait for the bus, her phone suddenly received a message.
It was a notification from Haowei Group, informing her that she had been accepted for the position.
An Ning stared at the message for a few seconds before replying to decline the offer.
Within two minutes, Sun Liangying called her, asking in surprise why she had refused.
“No particular reason.” An Ning held her phone, watching the endless stream of traffic ahead, her tone calm. “Manager Sun, the feeling of being falsely accused is truly awful.”
In the past few years, she had experienced it far too many times.
But back then, there was always a man by her side, unconditionally believing in her.
But now, even he had pushed her into the vortex of false accusations.
The call had just ended when her phone vibrated again.
Li Chunfang’s anxious voice came through.
“An Ning! The hospital says they don’t have a bed for me anymore. A new patient took my bed, and the nurses want me to stay in the hallway!”