Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 059

Chapter 59 ☆, Can You Really Stand Him?

Before taking up her post in the Internal Control and Compliance Department, Xin Xin thought long and hard and decided to contact Wang Zhuo. Even if she voiced her suspicions, Wang Zhuo might not admit it. But regardless, she needed to settle things once and for all.

But no matter whether she called his mobile phone, WeChat, or landline, she couldn’t reach him at all.

“During my absence, did Wang Zhuo contact you?” Xin Xin asked Zhang Qiao.

Zhang Qiao looked a little confused. “He resigned, didn’t you know?”

Xin Xin was confused. “When did this happen?”

Zhang Qiao gave her a deep look. “When you were in Jin City, about two days later.”

“Have the regulators responded to the evidence we submitted?”

Zhang Qiao hesitated for a moment, then honestly replied, “They closed several accounts, issued a reply, and the case was closed.”

This whole affair was all bark and no bite, ending quietly. Regulators didn’t demand further investigation, nor did they pursue the matter of stock price manipulation further.

Xin Xin gasped in shock. Good heavens, there was no way to prove it. She had been asking Wang Zhuo about the progress of things every day when she went to Jin City, but she never expected that he had already resigned.

What if Wang Zhuo was lying to her from the beginning?

Xin Xin suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility: what if Su Chengjie himself exposed this flaw, deliberately letting Wang Zhuo tell her, just to gain her trust and ultimately trick Zheng Zaochuan into falling into his trap?

This possibility was far greater than having a righteous colleague avenge one’s mother; after all, if someone wanted revenge, they would had already devised a plan. To endure years of hardship and then suddenly bring up family matters with a colleague one did not know well seemed too deliberate.

Although Xin Xin was then full of doubt, she naturally believed it when the incident happened.

At that moment, she felt as if she were enveloped in an extremely terrifying atmosphere.

She suspected that she had been caught in a conspiracy from the very beginning. This conspiracy might have started earlier than she thought, and it was very likely that she was being watched when she went to the hotel to rescue Zheng Zaochuan.

Oh my god, she had been set up.

Thinking about it this way, Xin Xin’s conscience was bothering her, and she absentmindedly said to Zhang Qiao, “I’ll leave early today.”

Zhang Qiao stopped her. He had also heard that Xin Xin had been transferred and that the company might be considering mentioning him.

Although this matter had nothing to do with him, he inexplicably felt guilty. Xin Xin had been kind to him, and he didn’t want Xin Xin to think that he was the one who had interfered.

“Ms. Xin, I was unaware that you had been transferred to a different department.”

Xin Xin had never doubted Zhang Qiao, and besides, she was eager to go home and continue investigating the conspiracy with Zheng Zaochuan. So she gave a brief acknowledgment and hurried home without saying much.

Regardless of whose fault it was, Zheng Zaochuan was already unemployed. Unemployed people staying at home were bound to feel down. Xin Xin, suspecting that her gullibility had harmed Zheng Zaochuan, decided to put aside her pride and reconcile with him.

However, to her surprise, as soon as she entered, she saw a man and a woman pulling and tugging at each other.

“Come back with me.”

“Impossible.”

“Please, you’ve never refused me before.”

“Impossible.”

The girl had a soft, sweet voice and a slender figure. Her delicate fingers tugged at Zheng Zaochuan’s sleeve, acting coquettishly.

“Brother Chuan, please. Just do it for me, for…”

Was she okay?

Xin Xin hated the layout of Zheng Zaochuan’s house; the living room was too far from the door to hear her enter. But once inside, the living room was completely visible.

A structure perfectly suited for catching adulterers.

But to catch someone in the act of adultery, one needed a certain status. Xin Xin defined herself as nothing more than a tenant. Moreover, she hadn’t paid rent yet, making her feel like she was living under someone else’s roof, which made her feel rather defiant.

Xin Xin stood at the door, unsure whether to go in or back, but couldn’t resist listening for a few more minutes.

“Beibei, I have no objection if you want to live in Haining. I also have no objection if you let them come. But I will not go back, not now, and not in the future.”

The girl turned to the side, took Zheng Zaochuan’s arm, and shook him. “Please, Brother Chuan. For me, please, can’t you do it for me too?”

Even from the side profile, Xin Xin could tell that the girl had fair skin, almost translucent against her light blonde hair. Her nose was high and straight, and her eyes were deep-set between her brow bone and nasal bone, making her exceptionally beautiful.

She was Xi Bei, a minor celebrity who had been rumored to be dating Zheng Zaochuan multiple times.

Those long, fluttering eyelashes—whether they stirred Zheng Zaochuan or not, they had clearly already touched Xin Xin’s heart, like a fluttering moth, making her restless and unsettled.

“Impossible,” Zheng Zaochuan cruelly refused.

She didn’t know what could have caused the two of them to engage in such an extreme tug-of-war.

Xin Xin thought to herself, “Impressive, impressive. He rejects beauties of this caliber without hesitation. No wonder he’s Zheng Zaochuan. You can’t be a scumbag without some tricks up your sleeve; at best, you can only be a lapdog.”

Xi Bei got angry and turned her back to him, deliberately ignoring him. “If you keep doing this, I won’t talk to you anymore.”

As she turned around, a pair of beautiful eyes spotted Xin Xin.

Xin Xin and she stared at each other, wide-eyed.

The beautiful woman was the first to challenge her: “Who are you? Why are you eavesdropping?”

Zheng Zaochuan, who had been facing away from her, turned around and looked at Xin Xin with a somewhat flustered expression.

Xin Xin ignored Zheng Zaochuan’s embarrassed expression and explained, “I went out to run some errands today and came back early.”

She didn’t speak to Xi Bei; she was explaining to Zheng Zaochuan.

Xi Bei looked at Zheng Zaochuan, then at Xin Xin, pouting and acting coquettishly, and said very bluntly, “Zheng Zaochuan, you’ve really made something of yourself. It was one thing for you to hang out with shady women before, but now you’re bringing all sorts of people home?”

Xin Xin was categorized as “neither fish nor fowl” for the first time, and while she felt quite innocent, she wasn’t particularly angry.

Zheng Zaochuan visibly became agitated. “Beibei, don’t talk like that. This is Xin Xin; she lives here.”

Xi Bei glanced at Xin Xin with disdain, seemingly even more dissatisfied with her because of Zheng Zaochuan’s protection.

“Your taste has deteriorated. Your previous girlfriends were at least pretty and stylish. What is she compared to that? Plain and bland.”

Xin Xin was momentarily unsure whether she was playing the role of the mistress or the one being the mistress. Xi Bei, in both her words and actions, exuded a childlike naiveté, like an exaggerated stage play.

Xin Xin couldn’t get angry; in fact, she found it quite amusing to watch Zheng Zaochuan’s unusually flustered state.

“Beibei, why don’t you go first, okay?”

This statement was almost a plea.

Xi Bei smiled, then suddenly looked at Xin Xin, a hint of malice in her eyes.

“Why should I leave? Who is she? What are you afraid of her knowing? Are you afraid she’ll find out we grew up together, that you even slept in the same bed as me before? Or are you afraid she’ll find out who I am? Or are you afraid she’ll find out who you really are?”

Xin Xin’s heart sank into an icy abyss. She had already planned to return happily and reconcile with Zheng Zaochuan, then act as if nothing had happened, and the two of them would continue solving cases on the whiteboard. Even if they gained nothing, at least they would be happy every day.

If they didn’t define themselves by romantic love, they were also like-minded friends.

But now, Xin Xin found herself unable to do it.

Her mind was a complete mess. “You guys talk first; I’ll go first.”

“It’s not you who should leave.” Zheng Zaochuan’s face visibly turned terrifying. If he had just been trying to smooth things over, his aura had now turned icy.

“Get out, Xibei, get out of my house.”

Xi Bei looked at Zheng Zaochuan in disbelief. “You want me to get out of here for her sake?”

Zheng Zaochuan was like a furious lion, his ferocity radiating from his body. “I don’t owe you anything, nor do I owe your father anything. As for that woman, I don’t owe her anything either. If she wants my life, she can have it. If she thinks she can still threaten me with family and money now, she’s being too naive.”

Xi Bei’s chest heaved rapidly. “Fine, you’ll regret it.”

After saying that, she turned and left. When she reached Xin Xin’s side, she glared at Xin Xin fiercely and revealed an almost cruel smile. “Are you sure you can stand him? He’s a cold-blooded monster.”

Xin Xin was unaware of what was going on. After Xi Bei left, she looked up at Zheng Zaochuan.

Xin Xin had never seen Zheng Zaochuan with such a terrifying expression. He was trembling all over, his eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth was twitching wildly.

For a while, no one spoke in the room except for Zheng Zaochuan’s uneven breathing.

Xin Xin stood there like a silly ostrich, at a loss, almost regretting her decision to go home early today.

For no apparent reason, Xin Xin thought of what others had said: going home early after marriage was a risky business. You might discover your partner was cheating, or even worse, discover they’d come out as gay.

But Xin Xin never expected that she would encounter this risk before even being in a relationship. In the end, she racked her brains, trying to come up with all the right answers in interpersonal relationships.

Xin Xin silently poured a glass of water for Zheng Zaochuan. “Want some hot water?”

Zheng Zaochuan glanced at Xin Xin with those terrifying eyes. His frighteningly red eye sockets now looked wet, adding a touch of pleading to the terror.

Not knowing the cause and effect of the matter, Xin Xin did not understand the reason for this plea. She simply acted on instinct, put one hand on Zheng Zaochuan’s shoulder, and touched his hair from behind.

“Okay, okay, don’t be angry anymore.”

Zheng Zaochuan’s hair felt wonderful to touch; it was very thick. He didn’t say anything but simply hugged Xin Xin, hiding his face behind his arms.

“Will you always be by my side?”

Instinctively, Xin Xin felt that saying “no” at this moment would be a very immoral thing to do.

“I can.”

Zheng Zaochuan remained silent for a while. “You would leave me if you knew what kind of person I am.”

“I know what kind of person you are.”

Xin Xin spoke these words with absolute certainty. Indeed, Zheng Zaochuan was far from a good man, much less a devoted and stable one.

He had a capricious personality, easily becoming unhappy and seemingly devoid of any sense of responsibility. But Xin Xin believed he was a good person. Time would tell, and although she didn’t understand what had happened, Xin Xin didn’t think Zheng Zaochuan could be worse than she imagined.