When Ye Tiancheng was diligently working, Hou Mingzhu instead didn't sleep, but kept staring at Ye Tiancheng, making Ye Tiancheng uncomfortable. He couldn't help but ask Hou Mingzhu.
"What are you looking at? Had enough?"
"Ye Tiancheng, your dark circles are so severe, you didn't sleep well last night, or did you go on a date with that beauty while I was asleep?"
Ye Tiancheng quickly explained that none of Hou Mingzhu's guesses were true. He had been completely occupied with work recently and couldn't possibly be involved with any other woman, especially Ouyang Qianqian.
"Ye Tiancheng, I'm impressed. How can you work endlessly? Will you come home with me? Finish the work you have on hand immediately, and we can discuss the rest later."
Seeing that Hou Mingzhu was a bit annoyed, Ye Tiancheng had to complete the task assigned by Director Chen, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to report it the next day.
"Wait for me a little longer."
"Work is never finished, and money is never enough, Ye Tiancheng, what do you think? Come home with me first, okay?"
It seemed Hou Mingzhu always had a way to solve her own problems. Ye Tiancheng hastily finished the unfinished work in his hands and then went home with Hou Mingzhu.
"Hou Mingzhu, you're the one who made me come home. If something happens, you have to help me solve it."
Hou Mingzhu started playing dumb again, her words implying that she had no intention of helping Ye Tiancheng solve any problems.
As expected, the next morning when Ye Tiancheng arrived at the company, he was severely scolded by Director Chen in front of all his colleagues. It was during the company's regular meeting.
Being humiliated thoroughly early in the morning, Ye Tiancheng felt extremely wronged. He felt he was terribly harmed by that woman, Hou Mingzhu. If it weren't for Hou Mingzhu as his backup, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't have left yesterday without finishing his work; it was simply courting disaster.
After the meeting dispersed, Ye Tiancheng thought his torment was over, but Director Chen then issued a company-wide written criticism and deducted two thousand yuan from Ye Tiancheng's salary.
Ye Tiancheng felt he was extremely unlucky. At noon, he wanted to go to the cafeteria to eat and relax, but Director Chen came over again.
"Did you finish the work I told you about this morning?"
Ye Tiancheng nodded. Seeing Director Chen now naturally instilled a sense of dread in him, and he didn't dare to speak to him.
"You still have the nerve to eat? Look at what you've done with your work. Don't think that just because you're good-looking and have a connection with Miss Hou, you can act arrogantly in this company without working. You need to know that the company doesn't support idlers, including you, a person with connections."
Ye Tiancheng was already at a loss for words. He wanted to eat without being bothered, but Director Chen blocked him in the cafeteria. You must know that colleagues were all coming to eat at noon.
Many people who couldn't attend the regular meeting were present now. Compared to the meeting, the whispers from the people around him were almost drowning Ye Tiancheng. Ye Tiancheng felt terrible.
"Director Chen, I know I was wrong. I will work hard to correct it."
"If I forgave every colleague who made a mistake just by saying it, wouldn't I be too unprincipled? Ye Tiancheng, why don't you punish yourself by not eating today? You don't deserve to eat."
So Director Chen had gone to such lengths just to prevent him from eating. In fact, even if Director Chen had let him eat, Ye Tiancheng would have had no appetite. Being so publicly humiliated, how could he have any mood to eat? He wished he could die.
Ye Tiancheng didn't eat lunch and worked diligently until past three in the afternoon. Hou Mingzhu suddenly arrived, dressed flamboyantly. Ye Tiancheng was only angry when he saw Hou Mingzhu. He was truly being ruined by this woman.
"Miss Hou, please don't harm me anymore. I was working well before. Don't cause me to lose my job. I've already been scolded by Director Chen. I can't continue to perform poorly, or I'll be kicked out of the company."
It was clear that Ye Tiancheng was eager for her to leave, but Hou Mingzhu deliberately went against his wishes.
"Don't worry, why are you in such a hurry to make me leave? I have something important to discuss with you. First, I'll ask you a question, and you must answer honestly."
Hou Mingzhu never had anything good. Her mindset of constantly wandering and enjoying herself was already improper. Once you got involved with Hou Mingzhu, you were bound to be dragged down by her terribly.
"You're not interested? Hou Mingzhu, for rich people, there are too many fun things in this world. I'm just a hardworking laborer. Please don't bother me, okay? I'm not interested in listening."
"Not interested?" Hou Mingzhu realized she was truly unwelcome. It seemed she had to give Ye Tiancheng some benefits to continue playing with him.
"If you're not interested, then forget it. I'm leaving. However, if I leave, perhaps no one will help you get revenge."
As soon as Ye Tiancheng heard that Hou Mingzhu could help him get revenge, the hateful face of Director Chen immediately flashed in his mind, and an evil idea was born.
Ye Tiancheng felt he couldn't let Director Chen off the hook this time. He was simply too much, and Ye Tiancheng's continuous forbearance would only lead to Director Chen becoming even more excessive.
"Alright, if you want to ask me questions, you can. But first, help me get revenge and deal with Director Chen."
Hou Mingzhu gave a knowing look, then smirked. Soon after, in less than ten minutes, Hou Mingzhu returned to find Ye Tiancheng. She was holding a bucket of water and dragged Ye Tiancheng, stealthily following Director Chen.
When Director Chen went into the restroom and closed the door, Hou Mingzhu directly splashed the bucket of water inside, instantly turning Director Chen into a drenched chicken.
"Who is it? Who's looking for death? Why are you doing this to me? Don't let me catch you, or I'll kill you."
Before Director Chen could open the door and come out, Hou Mingzhu grabbed Ye Tiancheng's hand and pulled him away. They ran all the way to Ye Tiancheng's office and closed the door. Hou Mingzhu was still smirking.
"I thought you would use your authority to help me get revenge. Turns out your method of splashing water is very childish. I don't know what to say about you."
Hou Mingzhu explained to Ye Tiancheng that her current action was the best way to get revenge. In fact, Hou Mingzhu was also using her authority, because there were surveillance cameras everywhere in the company, and it should be possible to find out who did it.
If someone else had done it, Director Chen would definitely investigate and hold them responsible. But for what you did, Director Chen, no matter how bold he was, knew he had to stay in this company and couldn't afford to offend Miss Hou. Therefore, he could only suffer this loss in silence.
"Moreover, Ye Tiancheng, if Director Chen finds out that I've been protecting you all along, he won't dare to trouble you anymore. The reason he dares to bully you is that he thinks I've cast you aside. You can't be my Hou family's son-in-law, so he's been so presumptuous."
Ye Tiancheng thought Hou Mingzhu was foolish, but now every word Hou Mingzhu said showed her intelligence. For a moment, Ye Tiancheng was confused, not knowing if Hou Mingzhu was genuinely foolish or pretending to be. However, she definitely had some small cleverness.
Now that Hou Mingzhu had dealt with Director Chen for Ye Tiancheng, she could ask her question. Hou Mingzhu boldly asked Ye Tiancheng if he wanted to marry her. Ye Tiancheng almost choked on his own saliva because he didn't expect Hou Mingzhu to suddenly bring up marriage at this time.
Although they were engaged, it always felt too far off when it came to marriage.
"Did I hear that right? You want to marry me."
"Yes, this engagement relationship is really awkward, neither here nor there. Either we break up, or we get married. Why are we stuck in the middle? Moreover, I suddenly want to get married, and you just happened to appear before me at the right time."
In fact, Ye Tiancheng was ultimately a selfish person. When Hou Mingzhu proposed marriage, his first thought was what benefits he would gain. If the benefits were significant, he might consider it.
"If I marry you, what benefits would I receive?"
When Ye Tiancheng asked this, Hou Mingzhu not only wasn't angry but even praised Ye Tiancheng, saying that the question was insightful and indicated that Ye Tiancheng was genuinely interested in cooperation rather than joking.
"Of course, there are benefits. You'll become the Hou family's son-in-law. This time it won't be just an engagement relationship, but a real one. You'll be part of the Hou family and gain many conveniences."
Ye Tiancheng was indeed tempted, but he didn't want to make a decision impulsively. So, he discussed with Hou Mingzhu that he would need some time to think about it and would inform her of his decision later.
Ye Tiancheng's mind was quite chaotic. He hadn't seen Xiao Pang for a few days and wanted to visit him and chat with his good friend. They could discuss strategies together. Thinking alone would never lead to any solution and would only make things worse.
When Ye Tiancheng arrived at the hospital, he was heading to Xiao Pang's ward to chat with him. However, he found that Xiao Pang was no longer in his original room. He had been moved from a single room to a multiple-bed ward. There were four people in the ward, all patients, and with their families, there were over a dozen, almost twenty people.
As soon as he entered, he could feel a sense of confinement, and it was noisy, not suitable for patients to rest.
Ye Tiancheng saw Xiao Pang curled up against the wall, sleeping. He felt extremely guilty. It was because he lacked the ability that his brother was injured, and now he had dragged Xiao Pang into such a painful situation.
Ye Tiancheng felt uneasy. Forcing back the immense heartache, he went over and woke Xiao Pang up.
From Ye Tiancheng's inquiry, he learned that a person with both power and money had come to be admitted, and that person had occupied the single room.
Otherwise, Ye Tiancheng would have been puzzled. Although he was now down on his luck, he would never mistreat his brother.
Even if Ye Tiancheng had no money, he would find every possible way to get Xiao Pang a better ward. He would never let him stay in such a bothersome ward where he couldn't recover properly.
Ye Tiancheng was very angry. "Are the people in this hospital heartless? Why didn't they inform me about the room change? This is simply outrageous. I'm going to argue with them."
Ye Tiancheng was anxious to leave, but Xiao Pang pulled him back. "Brother Ye, there's no need. My physical condition is recovering very well, and I'll be discharged soon. Don't go through all this trouble. It's quite good here, and it's cheaper, much cheaper than that single room."
Ye Tiancheng held Xiao Pang's hand, and his eyes instantly turned red. The main reason was his heartache that his brother, who followed him, had ended up in such a miserable state.
At that time, many people envied Xiao Pang, thinking that becoming Ye Tiancheng's right-hand man and also rising in status was a remarkable thing. But now, it seemed he was worse off than a beggar.
At least beggars didn't have to be hospitalized and injured; at most, they were hungry.
"You don't have to stay in a ward like this for even a day. Since you're not seriously ill, you should be discharged now."