Since the bid failed yesterday, Ai Yifeng found that Xi Xianya hadn't come to work for two consecutive days. He secretly inquired at the human resources department and was told that Xi Xianya had resigned.
So she really had no feelings for him. Once she achieved her goal, she left immediately, not even bothering to pretend.
In the afternoon, Ai Yifeng, enduring the heartache, called her from his office.
He almost felt she wouldn't answer his call, but to his surprise, she did, and said hello.
"I haven't seen you at work for two days. Did something happen at home?" Ai Yifeng asked, pretending not to know anything.
Xi Xianya felt as if something was stuck in her throat. With great effort, she managed to say, "My mother is having surgery and needs me to be at the hospital to take care of her full-time, so I have already submitted my resignation to the human resources department."
"Oh, I see. Can we still have dinner together tonight?"
There was a few seconds of silence from Xi Xianya's end, then she said, "Okay, I have time tonight."
Ai Yifeng gave her the name and address of the restaurant and then said he had to go and hung up.
Xi Xianya put down her phone, feeling relieved.
She didn't know the outcome of yesterday's bid, but it seemed that regardless of whether Aoxiang succeeded or failed, Ai Yifeng hadn't discovered her involvement yet.
In fact, she had already contacted a famous neurology hospital in another city and planned to transfer her mother there for surgery.
As long as Zhao Jianhua did what he promised her, she would leave Lancheng with her mother and might never see Ai Yifeng again.
She decided to make tonight's dinner their last meeting.
Ai Yifeng was also packing things in his office. He had already booked a flight to another city for tomorrow. He wanted to see her one last time tonight, more out of a sense of closure and to remind her not to be manipulated by Zhao Jianhua anymore.
He was used to living a life on the road, and perhaps he would continue to drift through life like this.
...
Less than two hours later, just as Zhan Jiayi had predicted, Zhao Jianhua came directly to Xie's Group.
He was making a fuss outside, but she remained calm and did not proactively go out of her office to meet him.
After the commotion outside the office subsided, her secretary walked in and said, "General Manager Zhan, that person really came looking for you. We've had him taken to a conference room. What should we do next?"
"You did very well. I will contact General Manager Zhou and ask him to go to the conference room to handle him first," Zhan Jiayi instructed. "Have someone keep an eye on him and don't let him leave the conference room."
"Okay."
Zhan Jiayi contacted Old Zhou and told him about how Xie Zhendong had dispatched people from the network department to help Zhao Jianhua set up a network company back then.
Old Zhou knew about this and quickly replied, "Yes, there was such a matter when Mr. Xie was here. However, Mr. Xie said that our group also held a fifty percent stake in this network company. But this company had only been established for a short time when Mr. Xie had an accident, and no one paid any further attention to it."
"It's good that you know the reason behind it. Do you know that this network company secured a major project a few days ago?" Zhan Jiayi asked.
"I haven't paid attention to that."
"Then, do you think a newly established network company like this could secure a project from the Huangfu Group?"
Old Zhou exclaimed in surprise, "That's highly unlikely. Why would the Huangfu Group even consider such a small network company?"
"But Zhao Jianhua managed to do it with his small network company, and without even informing our Xie's. I have withdrawn all the people we sent there, and he's here at the group now to cause trouble for me..."
"I'll call security right away and have him thrown out!"
"No need. He's in the conference room now. You go and placate him first, and make sure he knows that if he wants to use our people, he has to cooperate with us on this project, and we'll split the benefits fifty-fifty."
"I understand. I'll go over now."
"This person is difficult to deal with, so I won't see him. Remember to clearly convey our group's stance to him," Zhan Jiayi instructed before hanging up.
She leaned back in her chair. Knowing Zhao Jianhua's character, she felt that him securing the Huangfu Group's project was definitely due to him pulling strings.
She didn't know what methods he used, whether it was bribery, seduction, or betraying friends; these were all his usual tricks.
She didn't know the specifics of Zhao Jianhua's operations, but she had to ensure that Aoxiang Group maintained control of the project and that Zhao Jianhua would obediently continue to work for them.
...
As night fell, Xi Xianya and Ai Yifeng arrived at the restaurant almost simultaneously. It was the same restaurant where they had their first meal together.
There weren't many people in the restaurant, and they sat at the same table where they had their first meal, both hiding a sense of sadness for the impending separation.
Ai Yifeng ordered all her favorite dishes, but he noticed she barely touched her chopsticks. He asked, "Are the dishes not to your taste? You seemed to like them so much last time."
"The taste is very good, but I can't eat this much by myself. You eat too," she said, urging Ai Yifeng to eat more.
Ai Yifeng still hadn't touched his chopsticks. He asked, "Is your mother's surgery a major one? When is the surgery scheduled?"
"It's a brain tumor removal surgery, the day after tomorrow," Xi Xianya casually made up a time.
Ai Yifeng said "oh" and asked, "Is the surgery fee enough?"
"Yes, it's enough. If there wasn't enough for the surgery fee, would I dare to be hospitalized for surgery?" Xi Xianya smiled and served him a dish.
He finally picked up his chopsticks.
Xi Xianya remembered something and said, "These are all my favorite dishes. Why don't you order some of your favorites?"
"Silly girl, what you like is what I like. Our tastes are quite similar," Ai Yifeng said, also serving her a piece of braised pork. "Your mother is having surgery, and you need to take care of yourself too. If that scoundrel comes to find you again, be sure to call the police and don't let him manipulate you anymore."
"Mm-hmm, I know," Xi Xianya smiled and said, "Don't I still have you? I'm not alone like before, he wouldn't dare bully me anymore."
"Of course, I will protect you when I'm here, but I'm afraid I can't always be by your side," he said, lowering his head to eat.
Xi Xianya felt a lump in her throat, feeling extremely uncomfortable, and could only hide it by eating.
After a while, she casually asked again, "Did the bid for that very important project you mentioned succeed?"
Ai Yifeng looked at her with deep eyes and said, "The project was lost."
"Why did you lose it? You worked overtime for so long and were so well-prepared," she said, her heart racing, trying her best to remain calm on the surface.
Ai Yifeng said helplessly, "We underestimated the opponent's strength. It's okay, the success or failure of one project is not a big deal."
"But I saw you were very anxious about this project before," Xi Xianya almost wanted to confess everything to him, but the words died on her lips, lacking the courage.
Ai Yifeng continued to eat, saying, "I was a bit disappointed at the time, but it's fine now. If this project is gone, we can do other projects."
"That's good." Hearing him say that, she finally felt a little better.
After dinner, Xi Xianya said she had to return to the hospital.