Chapter 71
Unlike some corporate workers who were half-dead every day, working in the company as if sacrificing their lives.
It was said that the Xie Corporation's benefits were excellent. Although it was indeed busy, the pay was substantial, and the overtime compensation was very generous.
Xie Shiqing encouraged ambitious people to strive forward but strictly opposed malicious competition. Once discovered, such behavior would lead to immediate dismissal. As a result, everyone engaged in healthy internal competition, and the company prospered.
However, when Zhong Ning came over this time, she clearly noticed a bit of disorder in the company. Everyone seemed extremely busy, hurrying around with a sense of anxiety.
Perhaps she herself was feeling too anxious, so she felt something was wrong with everyone. After all, every time she came before, these employees were also so busy that their feet barely touched the ground, yet she only sensed vitality and vigor then.
She took the exclusive elevator upstairs and arrived on the 34th floor.
Right outside the elevator was the secretaries' office, responsible for registration. A small orange tree was placed on the desk.
Everyone here was already familiar. The secretary directly said, "President Xie is in the office."
Zhong Ning thanked her and walked down the corridor.
Compared to the lively atmosphere downstairs, it was very quiet here. A layer of carpet covered the floor, absorbing the sound of her heels. Zhong Ning reached the office door and raised her hand to knock a few times.
"Come in." A voice responded from inside.
Zhong Ning held onto the strap of her backpack and pushed open the heavy glass door.
The temperature inside the office was even lower than outside, as if a cold northern wind carrying snowflakes had blown through. She shivered in surprise and subconsciously asked, "Is the air conditioning set this low?"
As soon as she said that, she realized she had digressed and quickly continued, "I saw the news online, so I came over to give you this."
Her fingers brushed against the leather strap as she took it off, unfastened the hidden clasp, and pulled out two bank cards from the inner pocket.
Knowing that Xie Shiqing couldn’t see, she deliberately walked over and placed them into her hand.
"Two cards. One has one billion, it's the money you recently gave me. The other is my own savings, not much, just five million."
Zhong Ning said, "I saw people online talking about broken capital chains and such. I don't really understand these things. Is this money enough for an emergency?"
The two thin cards pressed against Xie Shiqing’s palm as she closed her fingers. As if she had been momentarily distracted and hadn't heard clearly, she paused and repeated, "These are two bank cards."
Zhong Ning said, "Yes."
Xie Shiqing: "...You're giving me all your money?"
"No." Zhong Ning shook her head. "I still have more than twenty thousand in my phone."
In other words, except for that twenty thousand, the rest of the money was all here.
The two cards suddenly felt like burning hot iron plates, scorching her palm to the point that Xie Shiqing felt she could hardly hold them.
That person was still speaking. "The password is 678543, for both cards. Does this help you?"
Unable to bear the weight in her hand any longer, Xie Shiqing placed them on the desk.
Strange.
Her throat moved uneasily, as if a caterpillar had been thrown inside her collar. She felt restless, wanting to jump up, to scream, to leap out through the skylight.
Xie Shiqing was silent for a moment, then asked hoarsely, "Why?"
"What do you mean why?" Zhong Ning’s voice sounded full of confusion, as if she didn’t understand why such a question would even be asked, like an educated person who didn’t know what one plus one equals.
Wasn’t the answer obvious?
"Aren’t we family? I’m your wife. If you’re in trouble, of course I’ll help."
"My earning speed is still too slow. I couldn’t save up much more." Zhong Ning said. "But I still have two sports cars, I can sell them. They should fetch around a million? I don’t really know the exact price."
"Are you very busy right now..." she asked. "I don’t want to bother you."
— I’m not busy. Everything that needed to be done is already done. Now I’m just waiting for the situation to ferment and the heat to spread.
"This matter will definitely be resolved."
— Of course it will be resolved. It was just a trap to begin with.
"Shall I go home first?"
Zhong Ning walked over, bent down and hugged Xie Shiqing, patting her back a few times.
Her eyes filled with worry, she lowered her head and kissed her hair lightly, whispering, "Money can always be earned again. You have to believe in yourself. This is just a small hurdle, you’ll cross it easily."
"I’ll wait for you at home."
"Don’t go." Xie Shiqing suddenly tightened her arms around her and murmured, "Don’t leave yet."
"I... I want you to stay with me for a while, alright, Ning Ning?"
Her ears were still ringing, as if someone had taken two large cymbals and struck them right over her head, leaving her dizzy and dazed. Even her usually sharp thinking stalled, shattered by the blow, and she could only gather her remaining thoughts to piece together a stiff explanation.
How could this be?
How could it turn out like this?
She didn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend.
How could anyone be willing to hand over all their savings to fill a bottomless pit, without even knowing the truth of the matter? Not the truth behind Xie Shiqing’s fishing trap, not even the layer of fabricated lies.
She had only heard that there was a loss, and hurriedly brought all her savings.
The driver assigned to Zhong Ning was hired by the Xie family. She didn’t know that every trip she took was reported back to her. Xie Shiqing had a good memory; after seeing Zhong Ning’s class schedule once, she remembered it clearly and thus knew all of her movements.
The driver said that when she got into the car, she was sweating all over, having run all the way there.
To love like this?
The bent-over position was taxing on the waist, but she didn’t loosen her grip, and Zhong Ning didn’t suggest changing positions either. She simply held her like that, gently patting her back while releasing a bit of pheromone.
Light and faint, not enough to stir desire, but enough to calm her mind and relax her soul, as if she were floating in a sea of clouds.
"It’s alright, it’s alright," Zhong Ning said. "I will stay with you."