After listening to Xu Miyu’s question, Supervisor Yang Ling’s expression changed.
She smiled, “Hmm… how could it be you? I’m actually a bit surprised. But this comes from above. Since they want you to take on the role, just go ahead and do it. Others can’t even beg for such an opportunity.” She paused and added, “It’s almost the end of the day today, so I’ll inform you in advance. Be prepared, and I’ll officially announce it to everyone in tomorrow’s morning meeting. Congratulations in advance, Xu Miyu!”
Xu Miyu quickly expressed her gratitude.
Leaving the office, she wanted to understand what was going on. She wanted to confirm if all of this was related to Ji Feng helping her. If it was, why would he help her? He had clearly canceled the plan to help her bring down the team leader.
But now, he not only helped her bring down the original team leader but also directly promoted her to the new team leader.
Although the unexpected result of becoming a team leader surprised her, she found in her heart that she didn’t actually reject it. There was even a hint of eagerness.
She knew she had less experience compared to others, but she also realized that becoming a team leader now seemed like a turning point in her life. If she didn’t want to continue living like a walking corpse and wanted to have a better future, she should seize this opportunity. She really wanted to thank Ji Feng for helping her like this and giving her this chance.
But why did he not only help her but also go to such lengths?
Was it because of what happened last night?
But in his view, hadn’t he already given her 200,000 as compensation? Even though she would definitely not accept that money, she planned to return the card to him later.
After work, Xu Miyu went to the housekeeping department to find the housekeeper of the top-floor suite. Using the excuse that she might have lost something there last night, she wanted to go up and check. The suite housekeeper told her that there was nothing found during the room cleaning in the morning and suggested her to look elsewhere.
The housekeeper also said, “Moreover, Mr. Ji’s room is off-limits, even when someone is there. How did you manage to go in and drop something there?” While saying this, the expression and tone were full of suspicion and contempt, indicating that they saw through her hidden agenda.
However, Xu Miyu was not bothered by the questioning and disdain. What she heard was that Ji Feng was not in the top-floor suite now.
So, she went outside the hotel, hoping for some good luck. Maybe she could catch Ji Feng passing by when he returned. She remembered Ji Feng seemed to always walk outside to take a car. Perhaps his delicate nose couldn’t stand the polluted air in the underground garage.
Standing outside the hotel, she watched the sky transition from bright to dusk, and from dusk to complete darkness.
As she wondered if Ji Feng’s car had already gone directly to the underground garage, and if he had taken the elevator from below straight to the top floor, she finally saw a shiny black Rolls-Royce driving to the hotel entrance, slowing down.
Someone got out of the front passenger seat immediately, turned to the back, opened the rear door, and placed a hand horizontally on the car edge as a protective measure.
A pair of long legs extended and touched the ground.
Immediately after, a slender figure bent down and emerged from the car, standing outside.
Seeing this, Xu Miyu focused her gaze, relieved that she had waited. The slender figure was indeed Ji Feng.
Confirming that the person getting out was Ji Feng, Xu Miyu seized the opportunity and hurried over.
As Ji Feng was about to enter the hotel’s main entrance with his steps, Xu Miyu timely intercepted him at his side.
She called, “Mr. Ji,” with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
Ji Feng stopped in his tracks, turned to look at her.
Xu Miyu clearly saw a drastic change in his expression the moment he recognized her.
His face, originally with a slightly unpleasant undertone, now also carried a trace of self-disgust.
Now, seeing her, he seemed even more disgusted and impatient, along with some caution.
What was he cautious about? Was he afraid she would demand something more from him for what happened last night?
Xu Miyu thought Ji Feng really overestimated her. She didn’t have the confidence to exploit their one-night stand for many things, unlike him.
She made an effort to compose herself and spoke to Ji Feng with determination, “Mr. Ji, I would like to have a few words with you.”
Ji Feng half-lowered his eyelids, looking at her with a chilly tone, “What do you want to talk about.”
His words were as concise as possible.
Ji Feng wondered if, after a day, she realized that 200,000 couldn’t satisfy her appetite and deliberately waited here to ask for a more substantial compensation. Or perhaps her husband found out about what happened, instructing her to seek more money?
Thinking this way, he frowned with annoyance.
He didn’t want to let this person set foot on his territory again. He didn’t want to take her to the top floor to talk.
So he asked her in a cold tone, “Where do you want to talk?”
Xu Miyu quickly thought. The hotel’s second floor had various banquet halls inside and a large terrace outside. The terrace had a leisure area with shops like tea rooms and restaurants. Finding an empty spot there at this hour should be inconspicuous.
She expressed her idea to Ji Feng.
Turning to instruct Xue Rui to go up first, Ji Feng turned back to Xu Miyu and said, “Lead the way.”
Xu Miyu immediately guided him.
Fortunately, she had changed into regular attire, and with the lobby bustling with people, she and Ji Feng maintained a certain distance, not attracting too much attention.
Xu Miyu tried to walk faster ahead, hoping to complete the journey to the second floor as quickly as possible.
Ji Feng followed her from a distance, observing her figure. Her waist was supple, legs long and straight, and her legs were evenly slender. The fabric of the clothes concealed her fair and smooth skin.
His consciousness slipped to this point, and Ji Feng was suddenly startled.
Understanding where his unconscious thoughts had drifted, Ji Feng felt thoroughly annoyed.
Clearly detesting everything that happened last night, there were moments
when fragmented images invaded his mind without awareness or defense.
To avoid these fragments, combined with the disturbance from the unpleasant atmosphere at home during lunch, Ji Feng’s mood was now exceptionally unpleasant.
In the morning, after briefing the private lawyer, Ji Feng couldn’t resist starting the repeated bathing routine.
Xue Rui returned from handling affairs, witnessing the boss continuously bathing, almost feeling scared.
He even considered reporting to the police or dialing 120 at one point.
Fortunately, before noon, Ji Feng finally spared his own body.
Xue Rui wanted to get a word in, ask what happened after he fell into a deep sleep last night, and what exactly occurred.
But Ji Feng’s icy, poisonous gaze prevented him from uttering a single word lightly.
To please Ji Feng, Xue Rui deliberately sought out the hotel’s head chef, asking him to prepare a few signature dishes. Thanks to these dishes, Ji Feng’s irritable mood seemed to ease a bit.
However, when faced with a particular dish from Jiangnan, Ji Feng asked, “What is this?” Xue Rui replied, “This is Honey Glazed Ham. The chef uses top-quality ham, steamed to a delicate and tender texture. It’s meant to stimulate your appetite, aid digestion, detoxify, and dispel internal heat…”
Before he finished speaking, Ji Feng had already pushed the bowl away, put down his chopsticks, and refused to eat another bite.
Xue Rui was left bewildered, trying to figure out what keywords had triggered Ji Feng’s emotional switch again.
After finishing the Honey Glazed Ham, he thought he had the answer.
The keyword triggering Ji Feng’s emotional switch was “honey,” reminding him of Xu Miyu, whom he despised.
This was the first time Xue Rui had seen Ji Feng hate someone so seriously, wasting energy and emotions to genuinely detest a person.
In the afternoon, Xue Rui answered a call for Ji Feng from Ji’s home.
It was Ji Feng’s mother, Feng Xuelan, who called.
Xue Rui handed the phone to Ji Feng to listen.
Feng Xuelan asked Ji Feng to think about how long it had been since he last had dinner with his parents.
Ji Feng told her that he had been busy with the hotel acquisition. However, this reason couldn’t dissuade Feng Xuelan.
She even pleaded with him, “Son, no matter what, come home tonight. Have dinner with me and your dad. Your dad says there’s something he wants to talk to you about and purposely rushed back home today.”
Ji Feng sneered at the unexpected request from his father, Ji Shengming, to have dinner at home.
Feng Xuelan continued to plead, “Regardless, tonight, come home and have dinner with me and your dad. Your dad seems to have something important to discuss with you.”
In Ji Feng’s mind, he couldn’t understand why, with such a decent and beautiful wife at home, his father still sought outside for more dubious relationships.
He changed his shoes and entered the house.
His father, Ji Shengming, was sitting on the sofa in the living room. From his current appearance, one could see how handsome and compelling he used to be when he was young, and he still maintained an extraordinary demeanor. Plus, being wealthy, even now, many morally lacking girls and women were drawn to him for various ulterior motives.
The translation of the Mandarin text is as follows:
What made Ji Feng feel even more contemptible was his father. Despite his age, he never resisted these filthy things and rotten peach blossoms, indulging in them to the fullest. Surprisingly, his mother was willing to stand by such a husband, even though she knew he had set up another family outside and still clung to the marriage, eagerly awaiting his return every time he visited.
Ji Feng had no desire to return to such a family; he preferred staying in a hotel. When he saw Ji Shengming, he thought about his father’s affairs and the other family he had set up. The desire to greet his father vanished.
On the other side, Ji Shengming sat on the sofa, glaring at Ji Feng with silent authority, waiting for him to call him “dad.”
The two confronted each other in silence.
Feng Xuelan quickly intervened, “Son, don’t just stand there. Call your dad, and let’s go out for a family meal!”
Ji Feng didn’t call Ji Shengming; he turned and walked towards the dining room.
Feng Xuelan hurried to the sofa, softened her posture to help Ji Shengming up. Ji Feng found her flattering behavior irritating.
It seemed that his mother, in front of his incompetent father, would never learn to stand up for herself.
After settling Ji Feng and Ji Shengming, Feng Xuelan sat between the father and son, delighted as if it were a festival. She continuously served dishes to both of them.
She urged Ji Feng, “Son, try these dishes. I specially asked the new chef, who just won an international award, to prepare them according to your taste!”
Ji Feng reluctantly took a few bites but couldn’t continue.
Feng Xuelan sighed, “Can’t even satisfy your appetite with such a chef? Son, if you only love the dishes made by Chef Chen from the Swire Hotel, I might as well bring him here for you.”
Ji Feng replied calmly, “I could have recruited him myself if I wanted. No need, let him stay at the Swire Hotel. Sooner or later, he’ll be mine, no need to bother now.”
Feng Xuelan explained with a smile, “I just thought, if we bring Chef Chen back, you can come home for dinner and stay at home every day.”
Ji Feng paused at her words, then looked at his father and said, “I don’t want to come home, not just because of that.”
His gaze and words contained a deeper meaning, provoking Ji Shengming.
Ji Shengming put down his chopsticks and said to Ji Feng, “I haven’t questioned you yet, and you’re already talking back. Do you even know who your father is?”
Ji Feng sneered.
Feng Xuelan, fearing a confrontation between father and son on this rare family day, quickly tried to appease them.
Ji Shengming drank the tea Feng Xuelan served, cleared his throat, and then questioned Ji Feng, “I heard you had a fight with that boy from the Duan family this morning. Is it true, and is it over some unruly woman?”
Ji Feng raised an eyebrow in response, “Did Duan Aoxiang’s dad tell you?”
His mind worked quickly. He speculated that Duan Aoxiang might fear retaliation from him afterward, even if he could afford to lose this person, Duan’s family might not. So Duan Aoxiang sought help from his old father, and the old father used their friendship to negotiate with Ji Shengming.
“Ji Feng, let me tell you,” Ji Shengming saw Ji Feng’s disdainful expression, raised his voice to warn him, “Whatever happened between you and that Duan boy over this woman, stop it now, forget it, and don’t keep dwelling on it! Making a scene over such an unruly woman, isn’t it embarrassing? As for that woman, if something has happened, give her some money, appease her, and don’t let her cause trouble. Ji Feng, remember, with such a woman, play around if you want, but don’t get into a fight over her, and if it comes to that, don’t even think about it. Settle it with money and let her go!”
Ji Feng laughed, mockery evident in his smile. His father seemed to believe that he and Duan Aoxiang fought over sleeping with the same woman.
“Do you think the things I’ve done are things you haven’t done yourself? Even if I did, what right do you have to lecture me, Mr. Ji?” Ji Feng coldly mocked Ji Shengming, “The beam is crooked, yet you want to straighten the pillar below, truly greedy.”
His mother, Feng Xuelan, who had been quietly listening, suddenly transformed. She seemed to switch to a different personality, displaying a trace of unwillingness and ferocity on her still beautiful face.
Looking at Ji Shengming, she sarcastically said, “Teaching your son, you really understand it well, right? So you go around giving money to women, never getting tired of it, right? That’s why you’re getting further and further from home, spending time with women outside, never feeling ashamed, right?”
Ji Shengming’s face changed, scolding Feng Xuelan, “Look at yourself now! Can’t stand it? Just divorce me if you can’t stand it. Isn’t that what you want? Then shut up!”
Feng Xuelan became hysterical, stood up, and overturned the table. The dishes prepared by the award-winning chef scattered on the floor, turning into a disaster.
But the two in the room seemed accustomed to such scenes and didn’t find it frightening, only sorrowful.
“Divorce me? I started from scratch with you, and now that you’re successful, you want to kick me out? Ji Shengming, you’re dreaming. I won’t give you and the vixen a place, it’s impossible!”
As Feng Xuelan spoke, she turned into a roaring storm. She threw everything she could get her hands on at Ji Shengming, bowls, plates, chopsticks, cushions—anything that could be picked up was thrown at him.
“Go to your vixen! Don’t come back tonight! Never come back! Don’t even look at me when I’m dead!”
Her hysterics didn’t stop Ji Shengming from pausing or turning back. It even accelerated his pace to leave.
Ji Feng sat still, watching the chaos, watching his mother go crazy.
After Feng Xuelan vented her anger and Ji Shengming left without looking back, she gradually subsided, feeling lost.
She sat on the chair, tidying her hair and dress, apologetically saying to Ji Feng, “Son, I’m sorry, Mom couldn’t control herself again.”
Ji Feng sighed, called the housekeeper, and asked her to clean up the mess.
He helped Feng Xuelan to sit on the living room sofa.
After sitting down, Feng Xuelan finally couldn’t hold back her tears.
In her painful cries, she asked Ji Feng, “Son, tell me, where did I go wrong? Why does Ji Shengming treat me like this? Doesn’t he have a heart,
even a bit of guilt?”
Ji Feng looked at her, and his heart felt a hint of pity for his mother.
Feng Xuelan, once a brilliant woman, now became like this because of the man in front of her.
She asked Ji Feng to sit next to her, and she hugged him, crying and complaining, “Son, you have to help your mother. You’re the only one who can help your mother now. Don’t let Ji Shengming divorce me. I can’t stand the humiliation.”
Listening to his mother’s lament, Ji Feng recalled his parents’ way of getting along, feeling nothing but annoyance in his heart and eyes.
Initially, he sympathized with his mother, feeling sorry for her misfortune in marriage. He also hated his father, loathing his numerous affairs and lack of responsibility towards the family.
So, he made himself worthy. Since his school days, he didn’t spend a penny of Ji Shengming’s money. Now, the businesses and properties under his name were all earned through his own efforts, having no connection whatsoever with Ji Shengming. This was his response to his irresponsible father—since Ji Shengming wasn’t a responsible father, he completely deprived him of the chance to be responsible for him. When Ji Shengming realized that he had been stripped of his fatherhood rights by his son, it would be the most powerful punishment.
He hoped his mother could be more like him, more resilient. Since the marriage was already so rotten, why not just end it? Walk out of the mud, live your own life, isn’t that better?
But Feng Xuelan insisted on staying in this rotten marriage, refusing to divorce. While being hysterical, she still held fantasies about this lousy marriage, as if hoping that one day, Ji Shengming, tired of his extramarital affairs, would come home properly.
She clung to the decaying marriage, waiting for this day, transforming herself from an elegant and noble woman into a hysterical, emotionally uncontrolled resentful woman.
From initially sympathizing with his mother to facing Feng Xuelan, who refused to free herself from the rotten marriage, Ji Feng’s heart was now filled only with pity for her misfortune and mockery for her lack of resistance.
Facing his mother’s tearful complaints, Ji Feng bluntly told her, “It’s your choice not to divorce, insisting on living with such a man. You’ll have to let him bully you as you please.”
Feng Xuelan, expecting comfort from her son, heard instead a mocking tone.
Before she could transform into hysterics again, Ji Feng left.
Exiting the house, he unbuttoned his collar in annoyance.
In the car, his cold aura sealed Xue Rui’s mouth. Xue Rui didn’t dare to say a word.
Ji Feng sat in the back seat, took out his tablet, opened the farm app, attempting to calm his emotions through harvesting crops and planting.
By the time the car stopped at the hotel entrance, he had mostly regained his composure. He had returned to his usual self.
But as soon as he got out of the car, he was intercepted by a woman named Xu Mi Yu.
At the sight of her, the factors of self-disgust and aversion in his body were activated like a stress response.
Seeing her made him think of the person he was no longer, thanks to last night, stirring up feelings of self-disgust and annoyance.
And hating her seemed to have become an instinct submerged deep into his consciousness. Hatred had become so intense that he almost forgot why he initially detested her.
Now he remembered.
Because of her, so similar to his mother.
Knowing her husband was unfaithful, she insisted on staying in a rotten marriage, even if she lived miserably, refusing to divorce.
They lived too spinelessly, too unresistingly.
Looking at the back of Xu Mi Yu leading the way, the more he looked, the more he felt disgusted. Coupled with the silent frustration and helplessness towards his mother, all of it was now concentrated on the woman in front of him.
On the terrace, reaching a secluded corner with no one around, Xu Mi Yu stopped and turned around.
The terrace floor was embedded with lights, casting a warm golden glow over the night, but it couldn’t warm Ji Feng’s icy aura.
Finding a wicker chair, Ji Feng sat down, crossed his legs, and looked up at Xu Mi Yu, making her feel as if he was still looking down on her.
“Speak.” He was concise, his voice cold.
Xu Mi Yu, aware that she was detestable, quickly tried to keep it short.
She told Ji Feng that she came to find him because this afternoon, she suddenly received a notification from the supervisor, stating that she would replace the dismissed Zhang Cai Lu and take on the role of the team leader.
She asked Ji Feng; didn’t he say he wouldn’t help her anymore? She thought for a moment and then asked Ji Feng if he did help her.
She didn’t know how to phrase it and, in the end, asked hesitantly: Was it because of what happened last night that he decided not only to help her bring down the original team leader but even help her become the new team leader?
After asking everything she wanted to know, she realized that although she thought she was calm, her words were incoherent.
Listening to her illogical string of questions, Ji Feng, expressionless, said, “Are you asking me if I helped you because we had a relationship last night? To compensate you and assist you further?”
Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow, his gaze sharp.
“How are you so sure that I’m helping you?”
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