Chapter 16 - Zhang Ziqin's Sorrow, Encounter with the Female Lead

Chapter 16 - Zhang Ziqin's Sorrow, Encounter with the Female LeadChapter 16: Zhang Ziqin’s Sorrow, Encounter with the Female Lead

“Director Lin Tianhai, do you have anything to say?”

“...” Lin Tianhai clenched his teeth. Lu Li’s confident demeanor made him wonder if he had really been caught in some wrongdoing, but there were things he dared not gamble on.

Should his wrongdoings truly be uncovered, facing Lu Guofu’s methods, ending up penniless would be the best outcome.

“I agree with Manager Lu’s thoughts. As his uncle, naturally, I wouldn’t hold Manager Lu back,” he forced a smile.

Lin Tianhai’s tone was rather bitter.

The other shareholders’ gazes towards Lin Tianhai changed.

“En!” Lu Li nodded. “As for the future development direction, I will have control over it. I won’t let the shareholders suffer losses. Of course, if anyone wishes to sell their shares, I personally would be willing to buy them at the current market price.”

He didn’t actually have any dirt on Lin Tianhai; having arrived a bit late in this world, he hadn’t had the time, but that could change in the future.

Unexpectedly, Lin Tianhai was so easily frightened.

All the better.

A meeting that was supposed to be a joint accusation against Lu Li ended with little more than a whimper under Lu Li’s pressure.

They all realized, Lu Li was not a simple character, at least not the wasteful playboy as rumored by the outside world.

***

Zhang Corporation, known as a major enterprise in Hang City, is a dream company for many.

Zhang Ziqin massaged her temples, the intense sadness and helplessness pressing down on her like a heavy hand. Lu Li’s indifference, those decisive words, caused her a heart-wrenching pain.

She felt Lu Li’s pain.

Such agony, Lu Li endured for eight years.

A full eight years.

“What do you think, when a man likes a woman but the woman never responds, will the man give up?” she murmured the question.

The assistant beside her had a complex expression. After Zhang Ziqin returned from Lu Corporation appearing distraught, she wasn’t a fool; she knew what had happened.

Her heart felt as if it was pierced by a cold knife.

“Trouble ahead, Miss Zhang. Lu Corporation has announced the withdrawal of all collaborative projects with us.”

Zhang Ziqin’s vision darkened, a tear-like pain almost making her pass out. Even knowing Lu Li no longer loved her, it deeply wounded Zhang Ziqin’s heart.

“Do you hate me so much that you’re unwilling to continue even business cooperation?” she thought sadly.

***

The hustle and bustle, filled with the aroma of fireworks, everything seemed ordinary yet peaceful.

This was what she had longed for in her previous life, but such simple things were unattainable for a villain like her. In her previous life, she pursued Zhang Ziqin day after day, only to meet such an end. How much did he yearn to simply live in this mundane world?

But even such a modest wish was not something a villain deserved.

“What are you talking about, I clearly didn’t touch her, she fell by herself, I was just helping her up. Why are you saying I knocked her down?”

With an aggrieved voice tinged with anger, Lu Li glanced over and saw a stunning figure enter his view.

It’s her!

In the plot, there are many female leads who intersect with Lu Li, with grudges, but there are also a few Lu Li never interacted with.

This female lead named Chen Xiaoyi before him was one of them. In his previous life, Lu Li had seen her in the protagonist Ye Chen’s company, serving as Ye Chen’s CEO, a strong support behind Ye Chen with her formidable business skills helping Ye Chen’s corporation overcome one challenge after another.

Chen Xiaoyi originally lived in a well-off family, her parents were just ordinary white-collar workers, but in this big city, they were a happy family with a house and a car.

One could say Chen Xiaoyi’s life was very beautiful.

But at the age of eighteen, a sudden illness shattered this beautiful life.

To treat her, the family spent all their money, borrowing from relatives as much as possible, making those relatives now avoid them like the plague upon seeing their family.

After everything, just as Chen Xiaoyi’s condition began to improve day by day, her parents were involved in a car accident on a rainy night on their way to the hospital.

Chen Xiaoyi’s illness got better, but she lost her parents forever.

In the days that followed, she juggled working part-time and attending university, also burdened with a huge debt, until discovered by the protagonist Ye Chen and became the CEO of his company, which finally improved Chen Xiaoyi’s living situation.

What puzzled Lu Li was that, according to the plot, Chen Xiaoyi and Ye Chen should be in that kind of relationship. But in his previous life, it didn’t seem like that was the case.