Chapter 58.1: Try Touching Her Again
Ren Yan's hearing seemed to be
completely shut off to Lei Zhenzi. He ignored his flowery provocations.
He simply savored the shrimp in his
mouth. He didn't think the dish, dubbed "Emerald Shrimp," was
particularly delicious. The taste and texture seemed no different from the
bubble gum he chewed as a child, the only difference being that it could be
swallowed after chewing.
But he couldn't understand why,
every time the company hosted a dinner, one person's eyes would always gleam at
this dish.
Ren Yan ate the shrimp while
letting Lei Zhenzi ramble on. Automatically filtering out the nonsense, he
caught a key point.
"Ren, can you please stop me?
I'm telling you, I'm going abroad for a project soon, and I don't know when
I'll be back." Lei Zhenzi said to Ren Yan with a hint of resentment, his
peach blossom eyes rolling. "So, you're treating me to this meal, as a
gesture of gratitude."
Ren Yan said a cold
"hmm," and instructed, "When you go abroad, avoid incurring
emotional debts and committing sins."
Lei Zhenzi sneered. "How dare
you say that? Tangtang, Miaomiao, it's not your debt, it's your sin."
Ren Yan glanced at him over his
shoulder, his lips curled grimly. "Do you want me to call Sister Sheng
right now and say hello?"
When Ren Yan mentioned his
unrequited first love, Lei Zhenzi's face darkened, and he immediately raised
his hands in surrender. "I owe you this in my past life, shut up."
They chatted for a while longer.
Lei Zhenzi was the main talker, with Ren Yan mostly idling and then, in the
spare moments, lashing out at Lei Zhenzi. Lei Zhenzi persevered, repeatedly
risking his life to irritate Ren Yan.
Later, Lei Zhenzi said seriously,
"Ren, I've decided to finish my overseas project and then return to China
to officially begin pursuing Qian Miao."
Ren Yan glanced at him and replied
seriously, "You try."
Lei Zhenzi slammed the table,
"Is that reasonable? If you don't pursue a girl, then no one else
can."
Ren Yan sneered, "First, you
have to be a human being."
Lei Zhenzi was about to flip the
table. The carved table was too heavy, and it didn't budge.
Just then, Zhang Teng pushed open
the door to the private room and walked in.
His face was pale and red, as if
he'd been drinking, and drinking rapidly.
"These old colleagues are so
annoying, especially that Qiao Zhixin. He complained that I didn't treat
everyone to a farewell dinner before I left, and he insisted on having one. I
just finished three jars of baijiu, and he was really making a scene. Even with
his mouth full, he was still showing off." Zhang Teng sat down and took a
long sip from his teacup. "He was the person I hated the most when I was
at Xinfeng." He poured another cup of tea and sipped it. After finishing,
he continued, "I just criticized He Wei. I said I made you the signing
attorney for Jialeyuan, thinking you'd take good care of Qianmiao. And now, all
of you come here to eat and drink, leaving Qianmiao alone to work overtime at
the law firm. That's pretty impressive." He paused, then said, "He
Wei gave me such a hard time, I couldn't say a word in his defense."
When he heard Qiao Zhixin's name,
Ren Yan paused with his chopsticks.
Zhang Teng's phone suddenly rang.
Zhang Teng put down his teacup and
answered it.
At first, he was fine, but after a
few words, his voice and tone took a turn for the worse.
"Yeah, we're having dinner
out. I'll be heading home soon. Men, what's the point of posting videos? Can
you please be normal and not act like you're asking me not to? I feel guilty.
Okay, okay, hanging up now."
Zhang Teng put down the phone and
took a long breath, finally letting go of the frustration and anger.
As he put on his coat, he
apologized to Ren Yan and Lei Zhenzi, "You two, I'll be heading home now.
My wife's investigating me like a criminal. I'm telling you, never cheat again.
And if you do, don't let your wife catch you. If you do, you'll never be able
to hold your head up high again. You'll be a sinner forever."
He paused, thought for a moment,
and then smiled, "But since you two are both single, that saves us this
trouble."
With that, he picked up his
briefcase and was about to leave. Ren Yan saw a decent-looking man with curly
hair staggering past the open door of the private room.
He recalled Qin Qianyu's
description of Qiao Zhixin: a handsome, dapper man with a permed head and a
flirtatious air.
The description perfectly matched.
He stood up and said to Zhang Teng,
"I'll see you off."
Lei Zhenzi was surprised.
"Wow, it's the middle of the night and the sun's out!" He smiled and
said to Zhang Teng, "Old Zhang, you don't know, this Ren guy has never
been this attentive. He offered to see you off today, which means you hold a
very high position in his heart now."
Zhang Teng quickly said, "No,
no, no," and "No, no, no." But Ren Yan insisted. Lei Zhenzi
smiled at Zhang Teng and said, "Old Zhang, we're so close. If I don't get
into trouble with you, I won't go out to see you off."
Ren Yan walked Zhang Teng to the
restaurant's main entrance alone.
He saw Qiao Zhixin walk out to the
street and hail a taxi, which then drove west.
Zhang Teng called a designated
driver, who was about ten minutes away. Zhang Teng told Ren Yan to come inside,
as it was cold outside. Ren Yan said it was okay and started chatting with
Zhang Teng. He casually asked, "Where does Lawyer Zhang live?"
Zhang Teng said, "North, in
Haidian District."
Ren Yan said, "Houses there
are quite expensive. Xinfeng seems to be doing quite well. You partners can
almost all buy houses in good areas, right?" After a pause, he asked, as
if to calm the mood, "Have He Wei and Qiao Zhixin also bought houses in
the north?"
Zhang Teng said, "No, He Wei
lives in the house his wife's employer gave her, in Xicheng District. Qiao
Zhixin lives in Dadong District."
Ren Yan's face darkened. He felt in
his trouser pockets; his car keys were there. Not even bothering to go back to
the private room for his coat, he apologized to Zhang Teng with a stern face,
saying he had to leave for something, and ran to the parking lot to get his
car.
Zhang Teng's designated driver
hadn't arrived yet, but Ren Yan had already stepped on the accelerator and
driven onto the main road. In the blink of an eye, the car was so far west that
even its tail could no longer be seen.
Zhang Teng thought Ren Yan would
definitely be fined and penalized. He'd just stepped on the gas, clearly
speeding.
The designated driver finally
arrived. As he was handing over the car keys, Lei Zhenzi ran out and asked,
"Hey, you're still here? Where's Ren Yan?"
Zhang Teng said, "We were
chatting when he suddenly said he had something to do and drove off west."
Lei Zhenzi found this strange. He
asked Zhang Teng to replay the conversation they had had before Ren Yan ran
off. Zhang Teng repeated it word for word.
Lei Zhenzi frowned, thinking
rapidly. Suddenly, he slapped his forehead and thought, "Oh no!"
Xinfeng Law Firm is to the west.
Chu Qianmiao should be working
overtime at Xinfeng Law Firm in the west city.
Zhang Teng said Qiao Zhixin was
drinking next door during dinner. Zhang Teng said he scolded He Wei, saying
that the others were eating and drinking here, leaving Qianmiao alone to work
overtime at the firm. Qiao Zhixin must have heard this.
Ren Yan had confirmed with Zhang
Teng that Qiao Zhixin lived east of the city.
But he was speeding west of the
city.
So all the details ultimately
pointed to the possibility that Ren Yan saw Qiao Zhixin, drunk, heading west to
the Xinfeng Law Firm.
Although he and Ren Yan disagreed
on most aspects of life, they shared two points.
They both advocated for
non-marriage.
They both believed that a lecher
like Qiao Zhixin might be able to maintain his composure when rational, but
once he got drunk and his temper got the better of him, his rationality would
vanish and he'd do anything.
Thinking of this, Lei Zhenzi rushed
to the side of the road, nearly breaking his arm by stopping cars.
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