Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 081

Chapter 81 ☆, Do You Like Him or Me?

The afternoon interview was unremarkable; Xin Xin felt that her job in the meeting room was just to sit there and daydream.

The interviewer was from a mainstream financial media outlet and was very orthodox and professional. The questions they asked were the kind of macroeconomic questions that did not have any right answers but could be considered completely correct but ultimately meaningless.

Even with such questions, Zhao Xi’s answers were very insightful, offering both mainstream viewpoints and his own unique perspectives. The reporter was a rather pretty young woman, meticulously taking notes, but as the interview progressed, Xin Xin sensed that the girl’s earnest expression gradually revealed admiration and respect.

At the end of the interview, the young woman tidied up her draft and thanked him somewhat shyly: “Thank you, Mr. Zhao. I’m all set now. I will contact you to review the draft when it’s finished. Could you please give me your contact information?”

Zhao Xi smiled gently and said, “Write down this sister’s contact information and send it to her later.”

Xin Xin skillfully opened her contacts; the young woman added her as a friend. A while later, Zhao Xi and Xin Xin finished packing, but the young woman had not left yet. Finally, after a moment of hesitation, as if summoning immense courage, she stammered, “Mr. Zhao, may I have your contact information?”

Zhao Xi did not hear clearly. “Huh?”

The little girl’s face was flushed red, and she repeated what she had just said. Perhaps because she was a little nervous, her voice was so loud that it startled the three people present.

Zhao Xi pretended not to notice the girl’s unease or understand her intentions and politely declined, saying, “I’m sorry, we have dedicated staff for our work. I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate in the future.”

The young child appeared to have lost all of her strength, and she turned and ran away in fear.

Xin Xin teased Zhao Xi, “You will definitely get your comeuppance, you heartbreaker.”

Zhao Xi glanced at her, seemingly unintentionally, and gave a wry smile. “Then my retribution has already come.”

Xin Xin did not understand and did not take it seriously. Although it was not time to get off work yet, the two decided to skip work early and went straight home.

This did not quite match Xin Xin’s perception of Zhao Xi.

When Zhao Xi was in Haining, his workload was extremely heavy; Xin Xin felt he was almost addicted to his work. It seemed Fu Meng influenced him; even after they separated, Fu Meng remained Fu Meng, while Zhao Xi became complacent.

To express her gratitude to Zhao Xi for picking her up and dropping her off, Xin Xin bought him coffee out of her own pocket.

“Please consider this as payment for your transportation.”

Zhao Xi glanced at it; it was his favorite latte. Xin Xin, as always, only drank Americano. It was not exactly following a trend; before urban women developed such strict requirements for their figures, Xin Xin already preferred Americano.

This was a habit she developed during her college entrance exams, which she continued to use during final exam weeks in college and into her working years.

Zhao Xi, however, was a rare man who loved sweet drinks. He insisted on adding sugar to his coffee and, given the choice, only drank Italian coffee, almost never Americano.

Perhaps it was precisely for this reason that Xin Xin’s excellent coffee-making skills had made her stand out from the crowd.

Zhao Xi took a sip of coffee and started driving. “I’ve had a hard day; are you not going to treat me to a meal? I don’t ask for much; just a bowl of noodles will do.”

Xin Xin cruelly refused, “I won’t invite you. If a man and a woman are alone together and Zheng Zaochuan runs into them again, I will have to be looked down on by him morally.”

Zhao Xi felt a bit despicable, but when he heard those words, he could not help but express his negative opinion about Zheng Zaochuan’s private life.

“Given his situation, it would be a bit difficult for you to stand on the moral low ground.”

Touching on Xin Xin’s sore spot, she sighed, “Sigh, I’ve fallen in love with a wild horse, so I have to build myself a grassland.”

This time, Zhao Xi was the one who felt hurt. In the end, he did not say a word, and the two chatted about some trivial topics such as new business.

Xin Xin returned home expecting Zheng Zaochuan to be there, but when she checked, he was not back yet, and he had not answered her calls.

Yesterday, she even spent some time trying to figure out how to be a calm, emotionally stable woman, not to be manipulated by Zheng Zaochuan and easily turn into a paranoid madwoman.

Xin Xin was furious and decided to start venting her anger on the spot. She called Zheng Zaochuan aggressively, intending to keep calling him until he answered if he did not.

However, the imagined storm did not materialize, and the other end of the line answered the phone quickly.

A painful groan from a hangover came through the phone. “Hello? Is this Xin Xin?”

Xin Xin first breathed a sigh of relief, then anger rose from the bottom of her heart, and she said in a sinister tone, “Where are you?”

Zheng Zaochuan was suddenly jolted awake. “I’m in Haining. I’ll be going back tomorrow. I drank too much yesterday and cannot drive today.”

Xin Xin sneered, “Who were you drinking with?”

Zheng Zaochuan honestly said, “I drank with the owner of a textile factory, the owner of a cultural industry company, and the owner of a tourism company. The owner of the cultural industry company was reciting poetry like Li Bai. They suddenly started looking to the future, and I got drunk too.”

Xin Xin said sarcastically, “There’s another beautiful girl there, isn’t there?”

Zheng Zaochuan swore, “No, absolutely not.”

Xin Xin had originally planned to hold back some cards, but upon hearing that he was still hiding something, she became furious and immediately went straight to the point, asking, “Where’s Su Meiling?”

Zheng Zaochuan suddenly realized, “She’s the owner of that textile factory.”

“Well, you’ve got some nerve. I even confronted Su Chengjie face-to-face today because of you, and I never expected you to be having an affair with his niece,” Xin Xin interrogated him.

Zheng Zaochuan was a little nervous. “You saw Su Chengjie? He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

“What can he do to me in broad daylight? I heard him say that he really admires you and wants you to be with his niece so that you can inherit his mantle.”

Zheng Zaochuan paused for a moment, then said, “That’s true.”

Next, Zheng Zaochuan described in detail the conflict between him and Su Chengjie. Su Chengjie had a son and two daughters, all of whom had three different mothers.

According to Zheng Zaochuan’s tip, Su Chengjie had a penchant for women who did not look like good people at first glance. The upbringing of his three children was problematic; their mothers were basically either nightclub hostesses or brothel escorts.

Xin Xin interrupted, “Then he shouldn’t be playing around like that outside; he should marry someone who can manage the household?”

Zheng Zaochuan said, “How can you be so narrow-minded? It’s not ancient times anymore, where you cannot marry prostitutes. He married every single one of them, and without exception, they all divorced.”

This gossip was indeed very interesting. Su Chengjie’s deep-seated “rescuing prostitutes” mentality made his family’s values ​​very problematic, and without exception, these prostitutes all become restless after a period of being well-behaved. But perhaps it was the failure of his “rescuing prostitutes” that made him repeatedly obsessed with it, creating a vicious cycle of an unstable family environment.

In short, the best-case scenario for the three children after they reached adulthood was that at least one daughter would not touch illegal substances. The other two children were currently living a life of debauchery abroad.

As he grew older and no one came to inherit his business empire, Su Chengjie became anxious. Among his family members, Su Meiling was the most promising.

Of course, the reason he invested in Hanhai in the first place was because he genuinely admired Zheng Zaochuan. Perhaps, to some extent, Zheng Zaochuan was also his ideal successor, or rather, his imagined son.

However, Zheng Zaochuan was disobedient, and his relationship with Su Meiling did not work out, which was undoubtedly one of Su Chengjie’s two biggest regrets.

Xin Xin immediately understood what Su Chengjie had said when he met her during the day. After explaining Su Chengjie’s situation, she turned to ask about Su Meiling’s phone call yesterday.

“Su Meiling called me yesterday, acting like an empress. She told me, ‘As long as I live, you will all remain concubines.'”

Zheng Zaochuan knew Xin Xin was angry, but he was still amused. “Those exact words?”

Xin Xin scolded him impatiently, “Speak properly; stop grinning like that. That’s the gist of it.”

Zheng Zaochuan was skeptical. “How could I not believe that?”

What did he mean? Was that really what she meant?

Xin Xin recalled for a moment, not quite remembering the specifics, but she remembered that Su Meiling was indeed asserting her sovereignty, so she said with certainty, “Yes, I just translated it according to her meaning; that’s the gist of it.”

Zheng Zaochuan didn’t say anything and suddenly hung up the phone.

Xin Xin looked at the phone after it was hung up, feeling wronged, and tears were about to well up in her eyes. Zheng Zaochuan then called her via video.

On the other end of the video call, Zheng Zaochuan, wearing pajamas and lying on the bed, coaxed her with a smile: “Sweetie, don’t be angry. Why are you almost crying? Yesterday, one of my subordinates brought me home. Don’t worry, he’s my college classmate. I will introduce you to him next time. You can have him keep an eye on me from now on.”

Xin Xin did not believe it. “How did Su Meiling get your phone?”

Zheng Zaochuan said nonchalantly, “I guess when he went to pay the bill, it gave Su Meiling an opportunity. Besides, Su Meiling and her husband are doing very well, all lovey-dovey. She probably just has a problem with me and wants to make things difficult for me.”

Xin Xin pursed her lips, already believing it, but still could not help making a sarcastic remark, “Who knows? What if she’s only after your looks? Girls are different these days. Today we went to a financial forum, and a young woman interviewed Zhao Xi, being incredibly proactive. Zhao Xi refused twice, but she insisted…”

Unbeknownst to Xin Xin, Zheng Zaochuan’s smile vanished completely upon hearing Zhao Xi’s name. But a moment later, a bright smile returned.

“What did you and Zhao Xi do today?”

Xin Xin had no suspicions. “I was his secretary at a forum.”

Zheng Zaochuan paused for a moment, then asked nonchalantly, “Why were you there?”

Xin Xin then realized that she had not had a chance to tell Zheng Zaochuan that she still chose to cling to Zhao Xi’s coattails and that he would take her with him after Zhao Xi rose to prominence.

Taking this opportunity, Xin Xin recounted how Zhao Xi had enslaved her and made empty promises, ultimately leaving her heartbroken and destitute. Later, because of her falling out with Zhao Xi, Zhao Xi felt guilty and tried to make amends.

Even so, she still harbored resentment. Until now, she had seen Zhao Xi’s true colors and decided to become his subordinate in the workplace, a relationship of mutual exploitation.

After listening to Xin Xin recount her poignant and dramatic story with Zhao Xi, Zheng Zaochuan finally asked her with great uncertainty but seriousness, “Xin Xin, have you ever thought about what kind of feelings you really have for Zhao Xi? Or rather, do you like me or him?”