Chapter 044　 You two are so lovey-dovey!

  *

  "Have you ever heard of Nagahashi Finance? It's basically a loan sharking operation. The boss, Shinya Suzuki, used to be a leader of the Nagahashi-kai. After 'cleaning up' his act, he started running these gray-market businesses. Ono Mari disappeared after scamming him out of 200 million yen. Suzuki hired private detectives to find her and recently discovered she used to be with you. He thinks she used his money to support a 'kept man,' and he's furious. As for those three thugs, they claim they weren't sent by Suzuki; they just couldn't stand seeing their boss played by a woman and took it upon themselves to teach you a lesson. So, the police currently have no evidence to arrest Suzuki." After finishing, Su Xian let out a long sigh. The law is like that—it only looks at evidence, not logic.

  Zhao Nanfeng also sighed deeply. He was thinking further ahead. Once a business is linked to the mob, even as a victim, it immediately loses public trust. The public won't bother with the cause and effect to feel sorry for him. If his flings with Ono Mari get out, the internet will easily twist it into a narrative where they were co-conspirators. He likely won't be able to land any influential projects for a long time.

  "Any news from Heidi?"

  "Uh, they said... for you to get some rest, and they look forward to collaborating next time." Su Xian tried to sugarcoat the outcome.

  "Su Xian, I'm sorry."

  "It's okay," she said, though her nose couldn't help but sting with tears.

  Zhao Nanfeng reached out his hand toward her.

  Su Xian stepped forward and held his hand, comforting him: "Don't think too much. Aren't there other projects? You know I'm not picky about the work."

  "I can recommend you to another company."

  "Can I curse at the CEO in another company?"

  "What kind of nonsense is that?"

  "Then I'm not going, you jerk." Su Xian pulled her hand back, took a step away, and fell silent.

  Zhao Nanfeng lacked the energy to argue and gestured for them to leave.

  *

  The three walked out of the ICU and found a man and a woman waiting outside—Zhao Nanfeng's ex-wife, Mio Morikawa, and his former partner, Ryo Wakui. Yesterday was their wedding day, and they shouldn't have been disturbed, but the news was on every channel and all over the internet. Although the victim's face wasn't shown, Wakui knew something was wrong as soon as the company building appeared on screen. The next day, the police caught the three thugs and released Ono Mari's photo, calling for more victims to come forward. That confirmed it for them, as Mio had taken photos of Zhao Nanfeng meeting Ono Mari when she was investigating his cheating.

  *

  The trio's mood immediately shifted from sadness to gossip as they pressed against the door, peeking through the glass pane.

  *

  "私を笑うために来たのか？ (Did you come here to laugh at me?) " Zhao Nanfeng truly felt he had no face to see them.

  "そうよ，(Yes,)" Mio said coldly. "あのナイフは私が刺すはずなのに。(I only regret that I wasn't the one who stabbed you.)"

  "よっかたら、こっちにもう一本刺して。(If it makes you feel better, you can stab me again over here.)" He pointed toward his abdomen.

  Wakui sighed. "こんな時強がるな。会社はどうですか？手伝っていいよ、まだ信頼できるなら... (Don't try to be tough at a time like this. How's the company? I can help, if you still trust me...)"

  "信じないよ。(信じないよ。)" he said flatly. "来てくれてありがとう。行っていいよ、疲れた。(来てくれてありがとう。行っていいよ、疲れた。)"

  "慰謝料をあなたのアカウントに返金したよ。この件ですっきりしたから。(I've returned the alimony to your account. This whole incident made me feel good, so we're even now.)"

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The two turned to leave.

  Before the door closed, Zhao Nanfeng called out to their backs, "結婚、おめでとう！ (Congratulations on your marriage!)"

  *

  Su Xian proactively took Honda and Li Chengshi forward to introduce themselves as employees of Towa Design.

  Mio bowed to them, apologizing on behalf of Zhao Nanfeng for their innocent involvement and thanking them for staying by his side. Wakui left his business card, saying they could contact him anytime if the company faced any issues.

  Watching them leave, Su Xian said with emotion, "I'm impressed she’s apologizing for him even after the divorce. His wife was so beautiful and virtuous, yet he... Zhao Nanfeng is purely out of his mind."

  "I'm impressed too," Li Chengshi added drily. "The ex-wife returns the money, and the ex-girlfriend stays loyal. This Zhao Nanfeng..." He sighed.

  Su Xian quickly comforted him: "What 'loyal'? If he couldn't pay my salary, I'd be gone in three days. As long as there's money to be made, who cares if he's an ex-boyfriend or Sun Wukong?"

  "You're comparing him to Sun Wukong?" He sounded even more annoyed.

  Su Xian turned around and looked at him with interest. "Little Bear, your jealousy triggers are quite unique."

  "Where did you get the idea that I'm jealous? Seriously, I'm speechless."

  "Hehehehe." she gave a mischievous laugh.

  Honda said enviously, "ふたりはラブラブですね。(You two are so lovey-dovey!)"

  Li Chengshi was now truly speechless.

  **

  Upon being discharged Thursday morning, Su Xian immediately returned to the office wearing her blood-stained shirt.

  Honda had spent the last two days cleaning up and had coordinated with the manager to haul away the smashed office supplies. Fortunately, the thugs started their destruction at the entrance, which was mainly the reception area. No critical machinery was damaged, and the work computers were untouched.

  Su Xian stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the newly renovated office now covered in "battle scars," and mocked herself bitterly.

  Maybe the Feng Shui here is just bad.

  "鈴木さんたちは？(Where are Suzuki-san and the others?)" All the workstations were empty.

  Honda told her the dispatch agency had called. The new employees—including the two who had escaped the ordeal by being out on errands—were traumatized and resigned effective immediately.

  It was understandable.

  Su Xian sighed again. It seemed they wouldn't even be able to hire temps in the short term. She fished Ryo Wakui's card out of her pocket, opened her computer, and sent him an email.

  *

  Honda handed her the log of client calls from the past two days. Su Xian reviewed them; some were her direct contacts, so she organized her thoughts and called them back one by one. Emails had also piled up, and she replied to each carefully, whether they were asking about the news or just following up on business.

  However, some clients were Zhao Nanfeng's personal contacts; those would have to wait until he was out of the ICU.

  Honda brought over Zhao Nanfeng's laptop.

  "(社長のパスワードわかってる？) Do you know Boss's password?" She was a bit surprised.

  "わかります。(Yes.)" Honda stuck a post-it note on Su Xian's keyboard, explaining that Zhao Nanfeng often asked her to forward things from his computer to his phone when he was out.

  Su Xian glanced at the note. What... Why on earth was that jerk using her birthday as his password? How annoying!

  "引出しのパスワードもわかります。(I also know the password for his drawer.)" Honda wrote another note.

  That was clearly another birthday. Su Xian felt slightly relieved; it seemed this scumbag just liked using people's birthdays as passwords without any special meaning.

  Su Xian checked Zhao Nanfeng's work emails. Some were indeed important, but since he was nearly dead, they could wait.

  **