"I know. Thank you for your kindness."
"It's getting late, and I have things to attend to. Please tell my brother that I owe him another debt."
With that, she turned to leave.
Jiang Nan Fang called her back.
"Wait."
"I won't force you to do anything or make any decisions. Because I know you're a smart person, and you have your own reasons for whatever you do."
"But I want you to know that Ah Jue has always been grateful to you and never intended to abandon you."
"Here's my business card. Take it. If you can't stand working at Huatai anymore, or if you encounter any difficulties, or if you're just feeling down, you can call me."
"Ah Jue and I will always be your family, and we'll always be the first to help you."
Ke Teng ambled out of the shop.
Shen Min Er turned back, and he was looking in their direction.
She was like a doll controlled by a remote, manipulated by him.
Without emotion, without self-respect, she woodenly walked back to his side.
The two of them, one behind the other, disappeared from their sight.
Zhou Jin Bei couldn't help but vent.
"Is she crazy? He treats her like that, doesn't even want to buy her anything, yet she's still devotedly following him. Just how much does this woman love self-abuse?"
"Since she likes to demean herself, you shouldn't bother with her anymore. One day, she'll regret it. I can't stand women who are so obsessed with love."
Jiang Nan Fang understood.
Although Shen Min Er had two legs, they might not have been under her own control.
It was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
But she couldn't understand.
She had just returned from Switzerland and had no prior connection with Ke Teng. What leverage could he possibly have over her?
It seemed she would have to find time to have a good talk with her.
No matter how nice Zhan Bei Jue sounded.
She knew that if Shen Min Er was fine, it was one thing.
But if something happened to her, he wouldn't be able to stand by and do nothing.
The next day, the entire technical department submitted their resignations.
Everyone was extremely excited and clamored to have dinner with Jiang Nan Fang.
Jiang Nan Fang invited Vice President Gao and booked a private room at a specialty restaurant.
Due to the financing issue, Ke Teng had gathered the heads of eight major banks there.
Taking advantage of Zhan Bei Jue's recent inactivity, he had to finalize the loan and interest rate matters as soon as possible.
In the private room sat eight men, with an average age of over 40.
With Ke Teng, there were a total of nine men, yet only Shen Min Er was a woman.
Dressed in high-end clothes and with makeup on, Min Er was indescribably beautiful.
The old men, as if they hadn't seen a woman in ages, vied to sit with her.
"Come, Miss Shen, sit here with me. I have plenty of space."
"No, she should sit here. You guys smoke a lot, and it might bother the young lady."
"As if you smell so good. Look at all that fat on you. Miss Shen, come over here. I'm in good shape, and I definitely won't crowd you."
Shen Min Er was flustered by their teasing.
She stood there looking at Ke Teng, who was smoking a cigarette, but he didn't intervene.
Only after everyone had had their say did he pull out the chair next to him.
"Why are you standing there? Go pour drinks for all the brothers."
"Everyone said, they're not doing this for me, but for you. You have to accompany them for a drink."
Min Er wanted to grab the wine bottles on the table and smash them on Ke Teng's head.
Knowing she couldn't drink, making her toast so many people alone... wasn't that humiliating her?
If he disliked her so much, he might as well kill her!
But she didn't dare.
It was still the same reason: she didn't care what happened to herself.
Her mother's condition had just started to improve a little, and she was afraid Ke Teng would bother her mother.
Putting on a fake smile, Min Er picked up the wine bottles and poured everyone a glass.
Then, she returned to her seat and raised her glass.
"Thank you all, bank presidents, for taking time out of your busy schedules to grace us with your presence. It is my great fortune to meet all of you. I propose a toast to everyone."
With that, she raised her glass and drank it in one go.
The fiery foreign liquor choked her, almost bringing tears to her eyes.
But the crowd was not appeasing.
"You say it's your great fortune to meet us, but you only take such a small sip? Are you fooling us?"
"Miss Shen, one must at least have sincerity."
"If you want to cooperate, shouldn't you toast each of us individually? Otherwise, with so many people, who knows who you're toasting for?"
"Exactly. We are all in the same industry, competitors. The fact that we've come together because of you shows great sincerity. You can't disappoint us."
Min Er had no choice but to go around and toast each of them.
These old men were cunning and had prepared to make a fool of her.
They pulled her to sit on their laps and found various excuses to make her drink glass after glass.
After toasting just three people, Min Er had already drunk more than half a bottle of wine by herself.
She felt dizzy, her feet unsteady.
If this continued, she would surely collapse.
Who knew what would happen if she collapsed.
She began to panic.
Although she had lost interest in life, she didn't want to die an unexplained death.
While she still had her senses, Min Er playfully acted cute with the fourth person, President Zou.
"President Zou~ I'm young, and I've never really drunk alcohol before. My tolerance is low, I'm so sorry~"
"I'm afraid I might throw up on you. Can I go to the restroom first to recover for a bit before I come back to accompany you?"
President Zou chuckled, his greasy large hand rubbing her back.
"You can't even handle this much? Can you find the restroom? Do you need me to accompany you?"
The intention was too obvious, and Min Er certainly couldn't agree.
"No, thank you. Please sit and talk with the others first. I promise I'll be back soon."
With that, she sought Ke Teng's opinion.
Ke Teng leaned back like a lord and nodded lazily.
Min Er grabbed her bag and, leaning against the wall, stumbled her way to the restroom.
She was truly scared.
When Zhan Bei Jue had warned her before, she hadn't taken him seriously out of spite.
But today, she had completely seen how inhumane Ke Teng was.
In his eyes, she, Min Er, wasn't even a woman!
She was a pawn he held leverage over, to be manipulated as he pleased.
He could so calmly push her out to all these old men.
Who knew what else he would make her do in the future.
Min Er could accept being ridiculed for being poor, ugly, or uncultured.
But she couldn't accept selling herself.
So, she immediately thought of Zhan Bei Jue.
However, as she shakily took out her phone, she discovered that.
Because of her temper, she had deleted both Zhan Bei Jue's WeChat and phone number.
Now, she had no way to contact him.
Fortunately, the day before, when she met Jiang Nan Fang at the mall, she had given her a business card.
Min Er knew she didn't deserve to call Jiang Nan Fang.
She had always regarded her as a rival and had never given her a kind look.
But now, she couldn't afford to worry about that anymore.
Jiang Nan Fang was sitting with her old colleagues, listening to them complain loudly about how miserable they were at Huatai and how bad Ke Teng treated them.
Her phone rang.