Xia Zhi sat upright in the HR office, going through the company’s personnel files together with Wen Shihan.
The HR director stood nervously to the side, repeatedly casting questioning looks at Lu Minjie, trying to figure out what was going on. She had just finished attending the executive meeting upstairs and returned to her office to work when the vice president, the boss, and the boss’s wife suddenly rushed in, asking her to retrieve the personnel records from 2022.
Those records were already twenty years old, and it had taken her quite some effort to locate them. Now, they were spread out on the desk, creating the current scene.
Lu Minjie gave the HR director a reassuring look, signaling that nothing serious had happened and that she need not panic. Only then did the tight knot in her chest loosen slightly.
“This is it,” Xia Zhi said.
Wen Shihan leaned in to look.
It was Manager Zheng’s personnel file.
Clearly written on it was the reason for termination: embezzlement of company funds totaling three million.
Xia Zhi stared at the figure “three million” in disbelief. She had always thought he had only embezzled one million. She never expected his greed to be so much worse than she had known.
He really had been bold.
The company had an internal audit system, so it was likely that the branding department director at the time had helped cover things up. Otherwise, Manager Zheng could not have concealed such a large sum so easily.
As Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan examined the file, Lu Minjie spoke from the side.
“Back then, Madam was actually the first to report Manager Zheng’s embezzlement to the company. After receiving the report, the company took it very seriously and immediately set up an investigation team to look into the matter.”
Xia Zhi’s breath caught slightly.
Twenty years ago, she had reported Manager Zheng to Wen Shihan and then was involved in the elevator accident. She had not known what happened afterward.
“What happened next?” Wen Shihan asked in a low voice.
“Later, after a thorough investigation, the audit team confirmed that Madam’s report was true. In fact, the amount Manager Zheng embezzled was far greater than what Madam had reported.”
“So the company filed legal charges against him?” Xia Zhi asked.
After all, Lu Minjie had just said he was sent to prison.
“Not that quickly,” Lu Minjie replied.
“Was there something missing from the investigation?”
“No.”
“Then why…”
“Back then, the one who was almost sent to prison was Madam.”
Xia Zhi: “?!”
Wen Shihan shifted his gaze from the file and tapped his fingers lightly on the desk. “Explain.”
“There was an insider within the investigation team.”
Xia Zhi could not help but inhale sharply.
Lu Minjie continued, “One of the investigators, Li Xiao, was secretly in a relationship with a branding department employee named Ming Ying. It was a hidden relationship, so no one in the company knew about it. As the investigation progressed, Li Xiao discovered that not only had Manager Zheng embezzled funds, but several of his subordinates had also assisted him by helping conceal the embezzlement. They were accomplices. Of course, Manager Zheng had been generous in rewarding them. Among those involved was Ming Ying.”
No wonder Ming Ying, whose family was not well off, had suddenly shown up at work one day carrying a brand new LV bag. It had been bought with embezzled company money.
And there were others too?
That explained why so many colleagues had suddenly left the department, and why those who remained had constantly targeted her. It also explained why Manager Zheng had repeatedly made things difficult for her, trying to force her to resign. She had refused to go along with them, so they pushed her out.
When everyone else is corrupt, the one who remains honest becomes the problem.
“Li Xiao, in order to protect his girlfriend and ensure she could keep her job at the company, secretly leaked the investigation details to her. Ming Ying immediately passed the information on to Manager Zheng,” Lu Minjie said, pausing slightly before adding, “At that time, Madam was still in the branding department and had not yet left.”
Xia Zhi’s heart tightened instantly.
Even though she was only hearing the story now, it felt as if she had been thrown back into that tense and dangerous situation.
At that time, Manager Zheng must have wanted her dead.
She clenched her fingers and motioned for Lu Minjie to continue.
“After receiving the information, Manager Zheng immediately collaborated with the entire branding department. Through various methods like concealment and transferring evidence, they shifted the blame for the embezzlement onto Madam.”
A chill shot up from her feet and spread through her entire body.
She had seen petty people before, but never this many at once.
Just moments ago, while going through the files, she had noticed that many of her former colleagues had all left the company in 2022. She had wondered what could have caused such a mass departure.
It turned out they had joined forces to try to put her to death.
Lu Minjie continued, “Manager Zheng even turned around and reported the boss’s wife to the group’s internal inspection department, asking them to investigate her. At that time, several members of the investigation team had already been won over by him. They had the numbers, and they controlled the direction of public opinion. False evidence smearing the boss’s wife was everywhere throughout the company, and many employees began to believe that the three million had been embezzled by her.”
Xia Zhi: “…” They did not even consider how someone like her, a nobody with no power or status, could possibly have the ability to embezzle three million.
Lu Minjie said, “Later, Manager Zheng even called the police, trying to send the boss’s wife to prison.”
Xia Zhi said, “How dare he…”
Was he not afraid that his false accusations would be exposed?
Lu Minjie said, “As the saying goes, the more skilled the player, the bolder the move. At the time, Manager Zheng decided that if he was going to act, he might as well go all the way. First, since he was the one reporting you in reverse, he had to show a firm stance. Second, he had investigated and found that you were an utterly ordinary person, with no power, no influence, no background, someone easy to manipulate. Third, after years of navigating society, he had built up extensive connections. He believed that with his ability and network, he could crush you as easily as stepping on an ant.”
Xia Zhi: “…”
She could fully imagine how desperate the situation must have been, calling out to heaven with no answer, calling out to earth with no response. Just thinking about it felt suffocating and hopeless.
“After that…” Lu Minjie paused deliberately, glancing at Wen Shihan before speaking slowly, “it was the boss who stepped in and turned the situation around, protecting the boss’s wife first. Later, he dismantled the group’s internal inspection department and brought in external investigators to reinvestigate the case. Only then did the truth come to light.”
As the situation twisted and turned, Xia Zhi’s emotions rose and fell with it.
She turned to look at Wen Shihan.
Back then, they probably did not even know each other well, right?
Could it be that because of Manager Zheng’s slander, the two of them gradually became familiar with each other, then came to know and understand each other, fell in love, and eventually… got married?
Lu Minjie said, “The external investigation confirmed that it was indeed Manager Zheng who colluded with the entire branding department to embezzle public funds. Based on this, the group dismissed Manager Zheng and all the employees of the branding department and filed charges against them.”
“Three million, could that really result in such a long sentence?” Wen Shihan suddenly asked.
Lu Minjie had just said that Manager Zheng was still in prison.
And it had already been twenty years.
As if he had anticipated the question, Lu Minjie replied calmly, “Three million alone would not result in such a long sentence.”
Xia Zhi: “??”
Lu Minjie said, “But what if you add the charge of attempted murder?”
Xia Zhi: “?!”
Lu Minjie said, “That’s right. When Manager Zheng learned that his wrongdoing had been exposed, he developed the intent to kill the boss’s wife. Fortunately, the boss was vigilant and managed to save her.”
Even after leaving the Wen Yue Group building and getting into the car, Xia Zhi’s emotions still surged like a roller coaster, rising and falling.
She had never expected things to be this complicated.
Nor had she expected…
That Wen Shihan had saved her life twenty years ago.
The car moved forward slowly. Inside, it was very quiet, with only the sound of their breathing.
“Boss,” Xia Zhi suddenly called out while looking at the scenery rushing past outside the window.
Wen Shihan responded, “Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Wen Shihan was quick to understand what she was thanking him for.
“That was something I did twenty years ago, not something I did now. The one you should thank is that version of me.”
Xia Zhi immediately turned toward him. “But aren’t you now the same person you were twenty years ago? So thanking you… is that wrong?”
Wen Shihan was momentarily at a loss for words. He pressed his lips together and said, “It was me from a different time.”
“It does not really make a difference, maybe just a month or two apart. Anyway, the person who saved me was you, from beginning to end.”
Xia Zhi clasped her hands together and said sincerely, with a hint of playful flattery, “Thank you, boss, for saving my life.”
Wen Shihan: “…”
Xia Zhi decided that when she got back, she would transfer him more money.
Only money made gratitude feel more direct.
Wen Shihan could not stand her overly ingratiating manner. He turned his head away.
She really was…
Yet at some moment, the corner of his lips, which he had been pressing together, lifted slightly.
…
The car stopped in front of a prison in S City. The facility housed long-term inmates, so security was extremely strict.
After passing through an unknown number of security checks, Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan arrived at the visitation area.
“Inmate 40231, you have visitors,” a guard called out.
Then the iron door opened, and the heavy scraping sound of chains dragging across the floor echoed.
Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan looked up to see an extremely aged man with a shaved head. His hands were cuffed, his feet shackled, and he moved slowly and weakly toward the visitation window. His body was so thin it seemed like a sheet of paper, as if a gust of wind could knock him over.
Xia Zhi was not a saint.
She felt no sympathy at all for Manager Zheng’s current state.
This was someone who had once tried to kill her. If she still felt sympathy, there would be something wrong with her.
At that moment, only one thought remained in her mind: he deserved it.
When Manager Zheng saw Xia Zhi and Wen Shihan at the visitation window, disbelief flashed across his eyes, followed by fury. He shot to his feet, pressing his cuffed hands against the reinforced glass, scratching at it frantically, baring his teeth as he shouted wildly at them.
But everything he did was futile.
A thick pane of glass separated him from them, one that he could never break no matter how he clawed at it. Like a clown putting on a grotesque performance, he displayed his ugliness before them, yet he could not harm them in the slightest, nor could he do anything to them at all.
This was probably what people online meant by enjoying watching someone who could not stand you yet had no idea how to deal with you.
Wen Shihan said, “It seems that after all these years, he hasn’t changed at all.”
Xia Zhi nodded in agreement.
Wen Shihan added, “That’s quite dangerous. It’s better for him to stay in prison, so he doesn’t come out and harm society.”
Xia Zhi said, “I think so too.”
Manager Zheng: “…”
This adulterous pair!
Perhaps because the thorn lodged in her heart had finally been pulled out, Xia Zhi looked much more relaxed. On the way back, she noticed that Wen Shihan had been staring out the window and asked curiously, “Boss, what are you looking at?”
“The mall.”
Xia Zhi: “??”
The car stopped at a large shopping mall in S City. Even as she got out, Xia Zhi was still a little confused. She hurried to catch up with Wen Shihan, who had long legs and an easy stride. “Boss, what are you doing here? Are you here to buy clothes?”
“No.”
It was not until they reached the toy section on the fifth floor that Xia Zhi finally realized what Wen Shihan wanted to buy.
“Do you have the MIKI game console?” Wen Shihan asked a sales assistant.
Xia Zhi thought, the day before yesterday, Wen Lun had acted spoiled and asked Wen Shihan to buy him a MIKI console. He was really going to buy it?
“Yes.”
The sales assistant led them to the display and pointed to one of the consoles priced at two hundred thousand. “This is the one.”
Seeing the price, Xia Zhi covered her mouth in shock. A single game console costing two hundred thousand, was it really that expensive?
Wen Shihan picked up the console and examined it. His head was slightly lowered, his expression unusually serious, as if he were reviewing a contract worth billions.
Xia Zhi asked, “Are you sure you want to buy this?”
“Mm. I already promised him. I can’t go back on my word.”
Xia Zhi knew one should not break promises to a child, however…
“What if he becomes addicted to games and stops studying?”
Although Wen Lun was clever and full of ideas, he was still just a fifteen year old. At that age, his values and outlook on life were not yet fully formed. If he became addicted to games and went astray, that would be bad.
Wen Shihan froze, then said with disbelief, “How could my child become addicted to games and neglect his studies?”
Xia Zhi: “…” Boss, are you a bit too confident in your own genes?
“Besides…”
Xia Zhi: “Hmm?”
“There are still family rules.”
Xia Zhi: “…”
She suddenly felt a bit worried for Wen Lun’s future. Silently, she made the sign of the cross for him in her heart, hoping he would not get addicted after receiving the console. Otherwise, judging by Wen Shihan’s current stern expression, getting a severe punishment would be inevitable.
“Achoo.”
During the break between classes, Wen Lun, who was playing ball with his classmates, suddenly sneezed. His friend Li Haoyu cursed jokingly, “Damn, since when did you become so weak, Ah Lun?”
Wen Lun had been interested in sports since childhood, especially swimming. It was not something one could master easily, and he had put in far more effort and training than most. As a result, his physique had always been strong, and he rarely caught colds or sneezed.
“Get lost.” Wen Lun tapped Li Haoyu on the head. “You’re the weak one.”
He did not dare to hit Wen Yu’s head because he could not beat him. But when it came to this group of rowdy friends, he had no such restraint.
“Ow, Ah Lun, are you even my friend? That hurt!”
Wen Lun rolled his eyes. “That’s what you get for calling me weak.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll call you a muscle man instead, okay?”
Wen Lun: “…”
“By the way, why did you suddenly sneeze?”
“Maybe my parents were thinking about me.”
As soon as Wen Lun said that, the expressions of the friends around him changed. Everyone knew that his parents had been in a car accident recently, and Wen Lun had even taken leave to visit them in the hospital.
“Your parents…” Li Haoyu probed carefully.
“They’ve been discharged.”
“Fully recovered?”
Wen Lun’s expression stiffened. It was not exactly a full recovery. His parents had lost their memory and forgotten him, no, they had forgotten all four of their children.
What heartless parents.
“Not completely.”
“What happened?”
“My parents lost their memory.”
As soon as he said that, a chorus of shocked exclamations erupted around him.
“They forgot all of you?”
“Yeah.”
“Did they forget each other too?”
“Not that.”
“Well, that’s something at least.”
“Their memories are stuck twenty years ago…”
Wen Lun’s friends: “…”
“That’s before you were even born, right?”
Hearing that, Wen Lun felt both annoyed and agitated. He ruffled his hair. “Yeah.”
“No wonder they forgot you, hahaha.”
Wen Lun: “…”
Laughter broke out among his friends, their teasing making his face shift between pale and flushed. He had wanted to bring this up to see if they had any ideas to help his parents recover their memories, but seeing them laugh like fools, he must have been crazy to expect any useful suggestions from them.
Wen Lun gave each of his rowdy friends a smack on the forehead. Of course, they were not pushovers either, and soon they were all laughing and tussling together.
“Second brother, don’t fight with your classmates.”
Wen Yu’s voice came from a distance.
Everyone immediately froze as if someone had pressed pause. They had all seen how domineering Wen Lun could be in front of them, yet how obedient he was in front of Wen Yu, like a docile cat.
They had once thought Wen Yu was a gentle and refined young man, until the day they witnessed his violent side. Only then did they understand why Wen Lun was so afraid of him. For a time, there had been a school bully who pursued and harassed a girl in Wen Yu’s class, using all kinds of tactics until the girl could no longer bear it.
Wen Yu found out about it, arranged to meet the school bully at a set location, and beat him into submission. From then on, the bully never dared to trouble that girl again, and Wen Yu became famous from that incident.
“Got it, big brother.”
“Got it, big brother,” Wen Lun’s rowdy friends echoed mockingly, imitating him.
Wen Lun shot them a glance and threatened, “Say that again and I’ll drag you all in front of my brother right now.”
His friends instantly fell silent.
They had seen Wen Yu’s fighting ability before, and none of them dared to provoke him.
…
Back at the store, when it was time to pay, Wen Shihan stood aside while Xia Zhi took out her bank card and paid for the console under the sales assistant’s sympathetic gaze.
Before they even stepped out of the shop, the staff behind them began whispering among themselves. “Did you see that? We’ve heard of kept pretty boys, but never a kept old man. His hair is already that white, and she still keeps him, her taste is really something.”
Xia Zhi: “…”
“Didn’t you see his face? Sure, his hair is white, but his face is handsome. With a face like that, I’d keep him too.”
Xia Zhi: “…”
Your way of thinking is rather concerning.
“You young girls who aren’t married don’t get it. That’s clearly a married couple. The man has handed over all his money to the woman, and she controls the household finances.”
Xia Zhi nodded along. Exactly, that’s how it is.
Finally, someone saw through the surface to the truth.
“But I think the man didn’t hand over his money willingly. Didn’t you see his face when his wife was paying? It was completely dark. It looks like the wife seized financial control by force.”
Xia Zhi: “…”
My boss is right beside me, if you want me dead just say it directly.