19: Chapter 19: A chance encounter with his ex-girlfriend leads to public humiliation.

Zhao Yang put on a slick, glib act, trying to bluff his way through:

"Hello Jiang Nan, I am Fengjing..."

Hung up?!

Such a fiery temper? She doesn't even know how to ask for a favor properly!

Zhao Yang stared at his phone, stunned for a few seconds, before suddenly realizing what was going on.

Jiang Nan was so righteous that she would never get involved in the exposure of the fertilizer scandal; if she called suddenly, it must be something urgent.

He quickly called back, but it was hung up as soon as it connected.

Tian Ye, sitting in the passenger seat with a camera in his arms, looked at Zhao Yang with a teasing expression.

"Master, is it that... your blade has gone dull?"

You took the computer to online date for a few days, and there's been zero progress. This ability to pick up girls is worrying.

Zhao Yang pulled the car over to the side of the road. "What do you mean 'the blade has gone dull'? I haven't even unsheathed it yet!"

Tian Ye couldn't understand. "What have you and Sister Yawen been busy with all these years, that you haven't even had time to sharpen your blade?"

Zhao Yang slapped the back of his head, feeling a bit annoyed and embarrassed:

"Is your head filled with nothing but dirty trash? Can't you think of anything else?"

"No... you haven't been allowed to touch her for so many years, is she intentionally stringing you along?"

Zhao Yang glared at Tian Ye, not wanting to continue arguing about this.

It was all in the past, and talking about it more was meaningless.

Jiang Nan had called him, so there must be something going on.

It was probably a new development in the Sun Hongwei case.

Zhao Yang picked up his phone and dialed again, only to be hung up on once more.

On the other end of the line, Jiang Nan bared her teeth: This bastard, he actually dared to take this long to call back.

Zhao Yang knew that if he didn't get through on this call today, she probably wouldn't take the initiative to contact him again.

He persistently dialed the number. After being hung up on twice in a row, although he wasn't discouraged, he muttered to himself in his heart:

Little lady, let me tell you, three strikes and you're out...

The fifth call finally connected.

"Hello Jiang Nan, this is Zhao Yang." He became honest this time.

The corners of Jiang Nan's mouth curled up; that was more like it.

But her voice remained cold: "When are you free? I think there are some things you should know."

"Is it about the Sun Hongwei case? How is the progress?"

"He is out, but it might not be easy to explain in a few words." Jiang Nan's voice remained cool and aloof.

Zhao Yang checked his watch; there was still over an hour until off-work time.

So he said: "The Sichuan restaurant at the entrance of Xiushan Park, I'll wait for you there after work."

"Okay!" Jiang Nan had a straightforward and decisive personality; she agreed, immediately hung up, and didn't waste any time.

Zhao Yang booked a private room at the restaurant and restarted the car.

Tian Ye looked at him with some admiration: "Master is indeed Master, I underestimated you."

"So, don't be a third wheel at noon."

Zhao Yang replied casually, while pondering where Sun Hongwei would be at this moment.

Was he in the office in Donghu District? Back at his residence? Or was he undergoing a talk with the organization?

Based on his understanding of Sun Hongwei, at this time, Sun Hongwei should be doing everything possible to return to his own home.

Zhao Yang immediately turned the car around and drove toward the Huayuan Xincun residential area on Changhua Street.

Arriving at Sun Hongwei's door, just as he raised his hand to knock, he heard bursts of suppressed sobbing from inside.

Zhao Yang silently lowered his raised hand and turned back to the car:

"Yezi, let's go back for now."

Returning home for the first time after his wife was murdered, Sun Hongwei must have a lot of emotions to process and a lot of things to face.

Now is not the time to disturb him.

The facts were just as Zhao Yang had predicted; Sun Hongwei was currently looking at everything in the room, his eyes filled with tears.

On the wall, the wedding photo showed Chen Xue smiling brightly.

On the nightstand, Chen Xue in the photo frame had a neat short haircut, looking youthful and sunny.

As his gaze swept over the kitchen where they had both been busy, the sofa they had sat on together...

The old items were still there, but the person was gone.

Sun Hongwei knelt powerlessly on the cold floor and slowly lowered his head.

Waves of pain surged through his heart. After a long time, Sun Hongwei finally burst into a roar:

"Damn it, who did this! Don't let me catch you! Otherwise, I will tear you to pieces!"

After the roar, he stroked the incredibly familiar face in the photo frame, choking with sobs:

"Xiaoxue, I'm sorry... I couldn't take good care of you..."

"You gave up your job in Ningzhou to come to Tongan with me just because you didn't want to be apart from me, and I..."

As he spoke, Sun Hongwei bowed his head and slumped to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

After a long time, Sun Hongwei finally calmed down, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

"Dad, I'm out, and I'm at home now."

On the other end of the line, Sun Zhendong appeared unusually calm: "It's good that you're out. This afternoon, I will send someone over to bring back Xiaoxue's ashes. We will talk about the rest when we meet."

Sun Hongwei suddenly realized that he was currently under the surveillance of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and his phone might even be bugged.

So he decisively hung up the phone.

At noon, off-work time, Zhao Yang arrived at Private Room No. 3, which he had booked at the Sichuan restaurant, and sent a text message to Jiang Nan:

"Private Room No. 3, I have arrived."

The reply was very concise: "Order a couple of dishes casually; we'll leave after talking about the business."

The word 'casually' was quite significant.

Zhao Yang pondered what kind of food a beauty like Jiang Nan would actually like to eat.

Just as he arrived at the ordering area on the first floor, he saw an incredibly familiar, beautiful figure.

Su Yawen?

How could it be such a coincidence?

Zhao Yang was just about to back out, but the man standing next to Su Yawen spoke up:

"Zhao Yang? Why are you here?"

The man was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, about 1.7 meters tall, with long hair dyed yellow and tied behind his head.

He wore a floral T-shirt and casual pants, with a decadent but somewhat artistic air.

This person was his colleague, Director Xiong Bo, the deputy director of the Arts Department.

Zhao Yang sighed inwardly, that was fast; they were already out eating together.

Having already waved goodbye to the past, Zhao Yang didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy.

He smiled and greeted Director Xiong Bo: "What a coincidence, Director Xiong. I'm also here to treat someone to lunch today."

At this moment, Su Yawen turned her head and looked at Zhao Yang in surprise, her eyes revealing grievance and anger.

What kind of attitude is this?

Shouldn't he be crying and begging me to get back together?

How could he be so indifferent?

It must be an act!

He must have been secretly following me, but accidentally got caught by Director Xiong Bo, and this is him trying to cover it up.

Yesterday, when they broke up, Zhao Yang agreed too readily, which still made her heart ache a little.

This score must be settled!

Su Yawen's mouth twitched, and her eyes gradually became scornful:

"Zhao Yang, what is the meaning of this? Secretly following me?"

Zhao Yang shook his head and smiled: "You gave such a sufficient reason for the breakup; is there any need for me to follow you?"

"When a woman loves a man to the extreme, she opens her body. When a man loves a woman to the extreme, he opens his soul.

"I opened everything up to you, but what about you?"

At this point, Zhao Yang noticed that Director Xiong Bo's eyes clearly brightened, revealing a hint of surprise.

And Su Yawen's face was filled with anger:

"Zhao Yang, I didn't expect your thoughts to be so dirty and filthy!"

Zhao Yang said: "I am being pure. In our previous romantic relationship, our status was not equal. You chose to end it, so there is no need for me to persist."

After speaking, Zhao Yang looked past Su Yawen's shoulder at Director Xiong Bo:

"Director Xiong, Yawen is a good girl; I hope you will treat her well in the future."

These words made Su Yawen feel extremely humiliated, as if she were an object that Zhao Yang had handed over to someone else without a second thought.

She tried her best to suppress her anger and hissed at Zhao Yang:

"Zhao Yang, stop acting so magnanimous here! You're actually hating it to death in your heart, right? You got caught following me and don't even dare to admit it—are you even a man?!"