Chapter 41: A Twist of Fate

Chang Rui cried and begged Zheng Qian for mercy.

As the saying goes, "Spare the rod and spoil the child." Don't let Chang Dashan's amiable demeanor in his later years fool you; he was a ruthless man in his youth.

Chang Rui was raised under Chang Dashan's "rod education."

If there was one person in the world who made Chang Rui tremble with fear, it was definitely his father.

In recent years, as Dafu Timber gradually expanded overseas, Chang Dashan played an indispensable role. He worked even harder than the Hongwu Emperor, focusing on the development of his business, and thus neglected Chang Rui's upbringing.

But today, Chang Rui crossed Chang Dashan's red line. Chang Dashan felt that it was time to discipline Chang Rui.

"President Chen, President Zheng, my son is useless. Are you satisfied with this handling of the situation?"

Zheng Qian nodded; it was barely satisfactory, but it would have to do.

The three of them left Dafu Timber.

Chang Dashan originally wanted to keep the three for a meal to apologize, but Zheng Qian refused.

He didn't want to spend another moment with Chang Rui.

In the car, Chen Weiqiang kept apologizing to Zheng Qian, feeling that he had handled the matter poorly. He was quite embarrassed and felt he had been counterproductive.

It was just fortunate that Dafu Timber was currently at a low point today; otherwise, given how protective Chang Dashan was of his own, there was no telling how it would have ended.

"It's a small matter, President Chen. You don't need to apologize to me; I understand your intentions."

Boss Han and Chen Weiqiang had an unusual relationship. He must have known about what happened at the reception. Bringing him to Dafu Timber to collect the debt today was also to help him save face and vent his anger.

It was originally well-intentioned, and the outcome wasn't bad either. At the very least, Chang Rui had been beaten up, Zheng Qian had vented his frustration, and Chen Weiqiang hadn't done anything wrong.

Seeing that Zheng Qian didn't mind, Chen Weiqiang breathed a sigh of relief.

After first stopping at a nearby hospital to treat his wounds, and then dropping Chen Weiqiang off at his company, Xia Xixi turned the car around and headed toward Jiangshan International.

"Today... thank you. I'm very touched, but don't do this next time." After driving to Jiangshan International, Xia Xixi didn't get out of the car immediately but instead thanked Zheng Qian.

"Oh ho, it's rare to hear a compliment from you. What are you thanking me for?" Zheng Qian was both surprised and curious.

"Didn't you get into a fight with Chang Rui because of me?" Xia Xixi retorted.

When Chang Rui and Zheng Qian were arguing, she had stood in front of Zheng Qian to speak up for him, but Chang Rui had shoved her, causing her forehead to hit the corner of the table, resulting in a scrape.

She thought that Zheng Qian had gotten into a fight with Chang Rui for her sake, beating Chang Rui into that pig-headed state.

Zheng Qian checked Xia Xixi's Favorability toward him; it had risen directly from 35 to 50 points.

Xia Xixi mistakenly believed that Zheng Qian had acted against Chang Rui for her sake.

Xia Xixi's Favorability was hard to raise, but today, by a twist of fate, it had increased by 15 points.

No, this is getting a bit tricky!

"No, don't misunderstand. I'd wanted to beat him up for a long time; I just never had the chance."

"Alright..."

[Favorability + 5]

It went up another five points, and Xia Xixi's Favorability toward him reached 55 points.

? What's going on?

If I had known, I wouldn't have said that.

"Alright, you should go back now. Get some rest and don't let the wound get infected."

"Okay."

Zheng Qian called a car for her and sent her off.

Only then did he walk into Jiangshan International.

There was no one on the first floor.

Zheng Qian went up to the study on the second floor and saw Jin Lu with the desk lamp on, biting the tip of her pen, deep in thought over graduate school entrance exam questions. She was so focused that she didn't notice Zheng Qian walking up behind her.

It wasn't until Zheng Qian rested his head on Jin Lu's shoulder that she noticed his presence.

"Ah? You're back?" Jin Lu said happily.

"What are you doing?"

"Doing problems; it's so hard."

Jin Lu turned on the main light in the study and discovered a scratch the size of a fingernail on Zheng Qian's face, and his clothes were tattered, as if he had just been in a fight.

"What did you do? Get into a brawl? How did you end up like this?" Jin Lu hurriedly stood up, placed her hands on Zheng Qian's shoulders, and looked him over several times.

"You didn't go back to find that Chang Rui, did you?"

"Not exactly."

Zheng Qian gave a rough account of what happened that afternoon.

"Dafu Timber owes your company money? And you started fighting as soon as you went to collect the debt this afternoon?"

"Goodness, is this how you communicate? It doesn't really seem like the high society I know; it's more like the underworld."

This was the first time Jin Lu had heard Zheng Qian talk about work. Previously, Zheng Qian had never told her what kind of business he was in, and Jin Lu had been sensible enough not to ask.

"It's just a pity about the Armani my wife just bought me." Zheng Qian felt a bit regretful. It was the first time he had received clothes from a girl, and they were ruined after less than a day.

"If the clothes are ruined, we can just get more made. As long as you're okay, that's what matters." Jin Lu helped Zheng Qian take off his clothes.

"What are you doing? Where are your hands touching? You're injured and still not behaving?"

"It's just a small scratch on my face; the rest of me is perfectly fine."

"Go take a shower first; let me finish this page..."

"Heehee, let's shower together later!"

"You... stop..."

An hour later.

"You're too bad; I didn't realize you were such a bad person!" Jin Lu splashed water on Zheng Qian's face in a coquettish manner. "I told you to let me finish that page of problems, but you wouldn't."

"Hehe, then I'm definitely not a bad person." Zheng Qian said with a mischievous grin.

Outside the bathroom, a phone rang.

"Calling you this late, is it something urgent? Do you want to go check it?"

"This is our time together now; there are no urgent matters here."

"? Are you a dog? Can you never get enough?"

"With you, I can never get enough."

...

After Zheng Qian came out of the bathroom wrapped in a bathrobe, he picked up his phone to check it.

It was a missed call from Deng Shuxin.

Seeing that Zheng Qian hadn't answered, she had left a message: President Zheng, are you busy right now? I have something to ask you. Could you please call me back when you see this?

What could she need?

Zheng Qian thought for a moment, then decided to call her back. He walked to an empty spot on the first floor, and the call went through.

"I was busy just now. What's the matter?" Zheng Qian asked.

"President Zheng, it's like this: my father suddenly fell ill and is now in the hospital undergoing emergency treatment. I'd like to ask for a few days off. Do you think that's okay?"

"I just asked Secretary Xia, and she said she couldn't make the decision about leave and that I'd have to ask you. That's why I called you."

Deng Shuxin was sobbing on the phone, sounding very sad.

"Slow down, don't worry. However long you need, I'll approve it." Zheng Qian replied immediately.

"I... I don't know, wuwuwu... My father has been in the operating room for over two hours. I don't know what his condition will be like when he comes out, wuwuwu..."

"How about this: which hospital are you at? I'll come over."

"Yebai Seventh People's Hospital."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

Zheng Qian hung up the phone and started changing his clothes.

Jin Lu, wrapped in a bathrobe, came downstairs and saw Zheng Qian changing clothes. She asked, "Are you going out?"

"Yeah, something came up," Zheng Qian replied.

"Is it about the Chang family?"

Jin Lu had heard Zheng Qian's phone ringing incessantly earlier; there must have been something going on.

"The Chang family can't stir up any trouble. A company subordinate is having some issues, so I'm going to check on it."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Jin Lu asked considerately.

"No, I can go by myself."

"Then drive carefully. Are you coming back tonight?" Jin Lu glanced at the clock; it was already past one in the morning.

"Not necessarily, it depends. You go to sleep first; don't wait for me."

Zheng Qian didn't take the Rolls-Royce; instead, he grabbed the BMW keys and drove frantically to the hospital.

Upon arriving at the floor Deng Shuxin had told him, he found two girls waiting anxiously outside the operating room.