180 Offer peanuts

During the whole episode when they were vying for Jia Li's affection, Tang couldn't stand Wei's presence. He had hated the mere sight of him. Today, he was the first and maybe the only person that he could tolerate around himself.

Tang's relation with his father was deteriorating faster than he could have ever imagined. His father still stood firmly by Mei Zhen's side and that itself was the biggest point of contention between the two of them currently. Though Mei Zhen had moved out of Xie Mansion the previous month after their showdown, Tang still had not gone back there. His mother frequented his new condo, filling his fridge with home-made cooking, managing the staff with a firm hand.

He worked hard through the weekdays. He made sure not to reach home until really late at night, exhausted from work. He also ensured that he drinks hard during the weekend. All this, so that he wasn't attacked by the green eyed witch in his dreams or waking hours. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful all the time and she managed to slip past his inebriated state of mind.

Sometimes she came as her four year old self, inviting him to play ball with her. Other times, it was the innocent yet alluring teenage beckoning him to engulf her in a hug. These were still tolerable, since they made him miss her, just as an ache. But he was scared of the times when she came to him as she had been at her house, when Fu had held them hostage. The image of her naked, pale body marred with her blood was accompanied by her accusing eyes. Those eyes held an ocean of hurt and pain in them. He couldn't bear to look into those eyes. He didn't want to. So he drank himself into oblivion.

Earthly Matters Ltd. Office, London

"You wanted to see me?" Eric asked as Jia Li knocked and entered his cabin.

Clad in a fitted pair of light pink trousers, white shirt and a matching pink blazer, Jia Li made a fetching picture. She tucked a strand of her hair which had dared to escape her customary bun.

"Yes, I did. I am going to be blunt with you, Eric. I have come to the realisation that Mr. Ying thoroughly resents my presence in this company. Does he still think that I am a spy? I mean how am I supposed to be assisting him when he doesn't even let me be around him while working? He is hardly here in the office. When he is working at the lab, no one is allowed to be anywhere within 50 metres of his existence. All I can do is observe him from a distance and learn whatever I can, on my own, which is clearly not enough. I don't think I am making any contribution to the company," she spoke in a rush.

Eric gestured her to take a seat and leaned back into his own.

"I think you are imagining things here. No…no, hear me out please," he said and raised his hand as a sign of peace when Jia Li started to protest mid sentence.

"First of all, there is no chance of him mistaking you for a spy because the premise for that suspicion doesn't exist anymore. In fact, the Chinese company should be arriving day after tomorrow. You are well aware that you are completely in-charge of their hospitality. You have to welcome them on Hui's behalf and be present for all meetings including the all-important press meet. Though I don't know why we have to announce to the world about us working together. What is with the over communication and show-off. It's such a waste of time," he kept talking.

"Anyways, the point is that Hui has always worked alone. Partly because no one can keep up with his brilliance. More so, he doesn't have the patience to explain concepts to people around him. Unfortunately, he doesn't realise that there are some things which he can't do by himself and some things which he absolutely sucks at. For example, if he were to be left to his own devices during this upcoming meet with the corporates, there is a near surety of some sort of screw-up to happen. But he would not acknowledge it ever. Not because he has a big ego. He simply doesn't realise that most people work differently than him. Which is why he has employees like us to ensure that things don't go wrong," he finished.

Jia Li shook her head in mock severity, "I should have discovered your silver tongue sooner. You are in the wrong department. They should have hired you for a PR team or at least human relations team. No employee would ever quit and new people would be swayed to work here even if you offered them peanuts."