Zong Yanxi could help but chuckle at how fast Tian Qifeng changed his attitude.
Tian Qifeng laughed along as well. Heck, never offend a woman or you’ll die a humiliating death!
Jiang Mohan didn’t wake up until noon the next day in the hospital.
Nan Cheng had been by his side the whole time and was glad to see him regain consciousness.
Yet, the first thing Jiang Mohan did was to scan the room. Unable to spot Zong Yanxi, his heart sank a little. “Did she not come?”
Nan Cheng was taken surprise by the question, but he immediately understood who his employer was talking about.
“No, she didn’t.”
Jiang Mohan sat up on the bed and turned to look outside the window. “Get me discharged.”
Nan Cheng pondered for a second before handing the man his phone. “Before that, I think you should look at the news.”
Jiang Mohan could guess what the news was going to say. Just as he expected, it was about the incident at the hotel.
The article was titled: President of Hengkang Enjoying His Night With Two Ladies. The article came with a photo of two half-naked ladies leaving his hotel room.
The headline and the photo were enough to suggest what had happened in the room before the photo was taken.
Most of the readers who commented on the article spoke of not judging a book by its cover, as everyone always viewed Jiang Mohan as a serious man who was out of reach for most people.
This scandal dragged him down from the pedestal the public had previously bestowed upon him.
Aside from his own reputational damage, the news also affected his company’s stock price, which was in decline.
Jiang Mohan showed no reaction to the news. This must be her goal.
“I got a call from Ms. Lin today. She said we still need to make the last fund transfer for the acquisition,” reported Nan Cheng, “We will suffer a huge loss this time.”
The man on the bed showed no sign of anger nor worry towards his financial loss. “It’s what I owe her…”
Nan Zhang opened his mouth wanting to say something but decided not to. He had no idea how to persuade his boss.
“What about the matter I asked you to investigate?” Jiang Mohan asked as he continued to stare outside the window aimlessly.
Nan Cheng didn’t reply instantly. Even though he had a major breakthrough, he was pondering if he should relay the information. It wasn’t easy to investigate something that had happened years ago, but Guan Jing had been guiding him in the dark by dropping hints here and there.
Guan Jing did this because he wanted Jiang Mohan to learn of the truth behind the event: he didn’t want the young man to hate the wrong person.
Jiang Mohan always thought that the incident was caused by the Zong family and that the money he received was to shut him up. The truth was that the money was mere compensation, and everyone involved in the incident was innocent.
Guan Jing didn’t want the young man to hate the people who survived the incident, nor should he yearn for revenge.
That was Guan Jing’s goal——for Jiang Mohan to see the truth.
That was also the reason why Nan Cheng did not experience many obstacles in his investigation.
Yet, the assistant had no idea how to relay the news, which was why he lied, “I still need more time. The accident happened quite a long time ago.”
Jiang Mohan didn’t even suspect Nan Cheng because his explanation was plausible. “Get me out of the hospital. Bring me a clean set of clothes as well.”
“Of course,” replied Nan Cheng before he left.
After Jiang Mohan was discharged, instead of focusing on the work that he had neglected for the past few days, he went to look for Zong Yanxi.
Now that the secret was out, he wanted to have a talk with her. By the time he arrived at the hotel, however, she was already gone.
Since her phone was also turned off, Jiang Mohan had no choice but to return to his office.
After a few days, Tian Qifeng requested to meet with Jiang Mohan at Hengkang Group.
Since he was Zong Yanxi’s bodyguard, Jiang Mohan immediately agreed to meet.
“I’m here on behalf of Ms. Lin,” explained Tian Qifeng as he sat down.
“Where is she?”
“Ms. Lin has returned to the head office. I’ll be handling the contract on her behalf from now on.”
Jiang Mohan leaned back on his chair as he glared at the man in front of him. “The contract is between me and her. Changing the representative now is very disrespectful towards me.”
“It’s not that serious, is it?” Tian Qifeng smiled.
“This happened without my consent, so I won’t be investing a single dime from now on. Your company will also have to cover all the losses.”
“But the contract has been signed. You have no reason to…” The bodyguard thought that Jiang Mohan was simply angry at Zong Yanxi.
“Switching the representative suddenly without the approval from both sides is a breach of contract. I’m dead serious here.”
“Admit it, all you want is to meet with Ms. Lin, right?” Tian Qifeng had already seen through Jiang Mohan’s intention. Jiang Mohan did not deny that.
He did not like how Zong Yanxi went into hiding as soon as her identity was exposed.
He knew he had made mistakes in the past, and all he wanted was a chance to explain himself. That was why he could not accept the fact that she was hiding from him.
“Do you know how much trouble she’d caused me with that scandal? You must’ve seen it as well, haven’t you?”
Of course Tian Qifeng knew, because he had been reporting everything that had happened after the incident to Zong Yanxi.
The scandal had caused the shares of Hengkang Group to plummet, resulting in a huge financial loss.
“I believe I owe you an explanation for the change. The reason Ms. Lin requested me to take her place was that she was feeling unwell and had to leave…”
“What happened to her?” Jiang Mohan cut the bodyguard’s words short.
What Tian Qifeng said was a lie. Zong Yanxi was perfectly fine. Instead of being sick, she was actually in the process of getting her original face back since there was no need for her to disguise herself now that Jiang Mohan had learned of her identity. Her plan was to go under the knife again and then return to Thailand to see her parents.
Tian Qifeng decided to not tell Jiang Mohan about that. “She’s not fully healed from the fire yet. Ms. Lin isn’t hiding from you; she’s just getting treated now. She’ll be back once it’s all over. She won’t run away because there are still matters to settle with you.”
Jiang Mohan’s heart tightened when he learned that she was hurt in the fire. “Which hospital is she in?”
Tian Qifeng raised an eyebrow at the question. Is he planning on meeting her?
The bodyguard had to prevent that from happening at all costs, given he had promised Zong Yanxi to keep Jiang Mohan away from her.
“President Jiang, you don’t have to worry. She’ll be back in a month.”
“Where is she?” Jiang Mohan demanded.
“President Jiang, please understand that Ms. Lin doesn’t want to be disturbed.” Tian Qifeng quickly thought of an excuse. “It’s best if you wait until she’s recovered so that both of you could talk your problems out. I’m here as her representative, which is why if you really feel sorry to her, please don’t make things any harder and transfer the fund we need.”
“You said it yourself that this is our problem. What does this have to do with you?”
Jiang Mohan had no intention of continuing the conversation with Tian Qifeng. The only thing he had in his mind was to meet with Zong Yanxi to see if she was doing alright.
“You’ll just be a nuisance to her now. You want her to recover soon, too, don’t you?”
Jiang Mohan gripped his fists tightly as he was worried about her. “How long do I have to wait?” Tian Qifeng’s words made him realized that being by her side would only make her recovery even harder.
He was reluctant to do anything that would bring more harm to her.
“One month.”
That was the amount of time Zong Yanxi told Tian Qifeng it would take for her to return.
