Chapter 68: Starting Over

Night had already fallen, but the buildings in the Beijing district were still brightly lit.

Ji Yanzhou looked at the documents in front of him, feeling irritated. He threw the pen in his hand and leaned back in his chair.

Duan Qingyu had long prepared for this. Even if they were kicked out of the project, there would be no need for any compensation. They already knew the results, and for the Ji family, this was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

This was the first project he took over after managing the head office, and he never expected it to fall into the hands of a rival.

His phone rang, and since he was already in a bad mood, the annoying sound of the call only added to his frustration.

However, when he saw the name on the caller ID, his furrowed brows slightly relaxed.

He picked up the phone, his fingertips hovering over the screen, hesitating. But just as he was about to hang up, he pressed the answer button.

Neither of them spoke at first. The silence stretched on.

After a while, a soft voice came through, sounding almost guilty: “Ji Yanzhou…”

“Hmm, what is it?” Ji Yanzhou still had their last unpleasant encounter in mind. Thinking back, they never seemed to meet without arguing.

Ji Xueli held the phone, having calmed down after several days. During this time, she had avoided answering anyone’s calls. After thinking it over, she realized the task should take priority. She still had to reconcile with Ji Yanzhou. They couldn’t remain at odds forever.

She hesitated for a moment and then spoke: “Let’s… let’s pretend that what happened before never happened. Let’s start over, okay?”

“What do you mean? Are you saying it never existed?” Ji Yanzhou’s voice turned cold.

“No, no, no, I mean, let’s turn the page and restart,” Ji Xueli quickly corrected, sensing the change in his tone.

Ji Yanzhou’s expression softened slightly, but he remained distant. “How do you want to turn the page?”

“Can we start as friends?” Ji Xueli’s voice lifted at the end, tentatively.

Friends… Ji Yanzhou fell silent for a moment. Just when Ji Xueli thought he was going to refuse and was preparing to backtrack, he said, “Okay.”

Ji Xueli breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. “Alright, you can get back to work.”

She still had nothing more to say to Ji Yanzhou at the moment.

“Then what about Duan Qingyu?” His voice came again from the other end.

“What?” Ji Xueli was confused as to why he suddenly brought up Duan Qingyu.

“Are you friends with him?”

This was a cruel question. She remembered the last time they had argued, she had mentioned wanting to be with Duan Qingyu…

Her heart skipped a beat, and for the sake of her task, she braced herself and said, “Yes…”

“The things from last time, and before, I did them to provoke you.”

After saying that, the person on the other end abruptly hung up the phone.

He did it to provoke him…

“Mr. Ji?”

Ji Yanzhou stared at the phone, still in a daze. When the knock on the door finally snapped him out of it, he realized the smile that had unknowingly appeared on his lips. He had known this would happen.

After Ji Xueli hung up the phone, she kept her hands pressed together in a prayer-like gesture. For the sake of the task, she was truly willing to go to any lengths…

But even so, she still wouldn’t choose to help him plead with Duan Qingyu. There was no point.

Once work became a little less hectic, she would definitely go to a temple and pray. Just thinking about Duan Qingyu made her feel guilty.

Maybe it would be better to keep both sides in the dark. But if the truth came out one day, everything would collapse at once.

She thought that if she said something pitiable and wronged to Ji Yanzhou, he might let her off.

But Duan Qingyu…

He wouldn’t be so lenient. Based on what she knew, he was more likely to tie her up and drown her…

With that thought, Ji Xueli quickly started praying again, “Bodhisattva, please protect me, Bodhisattva, please protect me.”

But suddenly, another phone rang!