“No…no…Dad said I don’t have a job, and my mom, sister, and I won’t be able to survive.
Fairy sister, Youyou begs you, please give Dad another chance.” The older girl, pulled along by me, wiped away her tears with one hand, tilting her head slightly, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared at the indifferent Xi Dong.
“Sigh…
Huida Group is so powerful, even a little bit of their wealth is enough to feed them.
Why make things difficult for these poor people?” “Shut up!
You don’t know anything about this place, so you’re spouting nonsense!” “I think this father and daughter came for nothing today.
Shen Bingshan is notoriously cold-hearted.” The murmurs rose uncontrollably in the crowd.
I knew how powerful gossip could be, but I was powerless to stop it.
I couldn’t very well tell all the invited guests to shut up.
The people within the group were alright; they knew some things and dared not speak up.
But those guests I knew from business dealings had far fewer reservations.
“Wang Jianfei, I’ve already made your problem very clear to you at the company.” “Considering you have two children to support, you don’t need to cover the two million yuan deficit.” “Today you brought your children and caused trouble; are you trying to tear apart even the last shred of courtesy?” Xi Dong’s icy words drew agreement from many, and some whispers arose.
“I know this guy.
He’s a junior manager in the group’s finance department.
He embezzled over two million yuan from the group by abusing his position!
It’s already a big favor that they haven’t turned him in to the police; he doesn’t even have to make up for the embezzlement.” “Oh, indeed.
Did they really think Shen Bingshan was that heartless?” “But this guy is really pitiful.
He’s over 40 and still getting fired, and his reputation is ruined.
What company would dare hire him again?” The crowd watched as the middle-aged man, already dragged to the elevator, suddenly found strength and threw aside the two security guards.
He rushed back, grabbed his daughter, and knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly to Xi Dong.
In no time, both father and daughter had bruises on their foreheads.
The pain from their foreheads made the little girl cry even more heart-wrenchingly.
Caught in the act of feigning distress, Xi Dong frowned slightly.
“Wang Jianfei, as a man, you have to take responsibility for your mistakes.
I’ve made it very clear to you at the company: rules are rules, and no one will break them just because you’re pitiful.” “If everyone acted like you, breaking the rules, kneeling and begging for my pity, should I forgive them all?” While the man was kowtowing, four more security guards approached.
Two held his arms, two held his legs, and a sobbing little girl followed behind.
“Wait!” Just when everyone thought the farce was about to end, a deep voice rang out from behind the crowd.
Nick, dressed in a white T-shirt and blue jeans, looking like a college student in the prime of his youth, stepped into view, approached the security guards, and said, “Put him down.
I have a few words to say to him.” The security guards looked at the tall, black young man who had suddenly appeared, then at Xi Dong’s face.
Seeing her nod slightly, they readily put the middle-aged man down.
Nick smiled at the wary middle-aged man.
“Here’s a business card with a phone number.
Call them and tell them you’re looking for a job.
They’ll arrange it for you.” Watching the middle-aged man take the card, Nick smiled again and patted the little girl’s head.
“You should thank my sister for this job.
She can’t break the company’s rules, that’s only right.
As her brother, I’m helping you out because of your years of service to the Shen family.
Do this job well; you have two daughters to consider.” I watched Nick help Xi Dong regain face and substance, inwardly cursing myself for being slower.
The kid was a beat too slow; I should have been the one to do the good deed.
Watching the middle-aged man, with his daughter, gratefully enter the elevator, I felt a slight pang of jealousy but didn’t really suspect Nick’s other intentions.
As the crowd dispersed, Xi Dong noticed a hint of jealous surprise on my face.
Smiling, she took my hand and changed the subject: “Honey, when are Zhao Dahai and Lin Ningwei coming?” “I just called.
They parked downstairs and will be up soon.” “Dongdong, do you have to be so biased towards Nick?” How could I not understand what my wife meant?
She was trying to change the subject and distract me from my jealous feelings.
Xi Dong smiled gently, her other slender white hand lightly caressing the back of my hand: “Honey, it doesn’t matter whether your brother shines or he shines, it’s all the same to our family.” Seeing Xi Dong say this to me, I could only suppress my displeasure and force a smile back onto my face: “Do I look like such a petty person?
It’s just that I feel there are situations where we should be a wife and husband, and it feels a little strange to have this guy interfere.” Xi Dong gave me a slightly coquettish glare, then leaned close to my ear, her breath sweet as orchids: “To calm my husband down, tonight…” Before Xi Dong could finish speaking, the elevator doors opened again.
“Da Hai!” “Wen Zi!” The fragrance wafting from Xi Dong’s body ignited my senses.
Just as I was about to exchange a few more sweet words with Xi Dong, I saw my childhood best friend, Zhao Da Hai, walking out of the elevator.
Today, Dahai sported a slicked-back hairstyle and a slightly overweight figure, dressed in a formal suit.
He looked a bit like a nouveau riche from the countryside, arm in arm with his beautiful wife, waving at me.
I used to trust my childhood friend Zhao Dahai implicitly.
Not only because of his family’s influence, but also because he had risen to the position of deputy director of the police department in Huashan County, a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Handong City, before the age of 30.
Our relationship, built over many years, was more than just brotherhood.
Dahai’s beautiful wife, Lin Ningwei, also benefited from his family’s influence and successfully became the deputy mayor of Huashan County this year, in charge of finance and taxation.
Although it’s just a deputy position in a county-level city, she wields considerable power.
Huashan County is Handong City’s main high-tech development zone in recent years, and the CEOs of companies large and small in the industrial zone all have to curry favor with Dahai and his wife.
Even my father-in-law, a prominent entrepreneur, smiled more broadly when he saw Dahai’s wife during the Spring Festival this year.
At that time, I only thought it was the beauty of power, never imagining that it would later become the nightmare of the couple’s downfall.
It has to be said, Dahai is a lucky guy.
He’s not particularly handsome, and he wasn’t a studious student in school, but his family is well-off.
He was born into wealth and easily climbed the social ladder, reaching a level most people struggle their entire lives to achieve.
Even I, with my own successful career, envy his illustrious family background.
What his classmates and peers find most incomprehensible is that not only is he lucky, but he also married a beautiful woman.
Even I sometimes feel a little jealous of Dahai, this toad who got to eat swan meat.
My gaze fell on Lin Ningwei, who was on Dahai’s right arm.
Her looks and demeanor might be slightly inferior to Xi Dong’s, but she was more than a perfect match for the unassuming Zhao Dahai.
Standing at 160cm, she appeared petite and charming.
Her small face, however, radiated an aggressive arrogance, much like the sea itself.
At such a young age, she had risen to the position of deputy mayor of a county-level city—a meteoric rise that would inevitably breed arrogance in anyone.
Standing beside Zhao Dahai, she wore a lake-blue, mid-length halter-neck dress.
The dress’s cinched waist accentuated her slender figure, and her black-stockinged feet were adorned with red strappy high heels.
From afar, she resembled a budding begonia.
Her exposed skin was as white and delicate as porcelain, with a soft, pinkish hue.