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Chapter 38: The Truth Before the Car Accident!

Xie Yanli’s brows twitched slightly. He had a cleanliness obsession; aside from Song Qiao and Xie Zhenting, he instinctively rejected physical contact with others.

He shook off Zhong Youning’s hand with a look of disgust, then pulled a disinfectant wipe from his coat pocket without the slightest courtesy and began to furiously scrub the hand she had touched.

Zhong Youning had already heard from the outside world that Xie Yanli was cold and ruthless. Though she had done her homework and was mentally prepared before this meeting, seeing the blatant disdain on his face was still hard to accept for someone like her—a pampered heiress born into wealth.

She furrowed her brow and said unhappily, “President Xie, do you think I’m some kind of plague? Don’t you think you’re going too far?”

Xie Yanli looked at her and replied seriously, “If you’re touched by something filthy, of course you need to disinfect immediately. What’s wrong with that?”

Filthy? He actually called her that? She had grown up with countless suitors surrounding her. When had she ever been rejected by a man like this?

Zhong Youning’s eyes widened in anger, her refined features tinged with fury. She was about to retaliate, but Xie Yanli was flawless in every way, and she didn’t know where to strike.

Then suddenly, she remembered that rumor in the media about him being impotent. Enraged, she stood up and lashed out, not caring about consequences. “President Xie, is it that I’m dirty, or that you’ve got… issues? Otherwise, why would you be so repulsed by women touching you?”

Xie Yanli didn’t get angry at her words. Instead, he sneered. “When it comes to women I don’t like, I truly have zero interest in that regard.”

Seeing his unbothered expression, Zhong Youning felt like her punch had landed on cotton—it had no effect at all.

She paused, then added, “Xie Yanli, there are so many men chasing me, they could form a line around Jing City! If you don’t like me, you must be blind!”

Still feeling unsatisfied, she raised her voice, face flushed with anger. “Xie Yanli, I hope the woman you love never loves you back. I hope you end up alone for the rest of your life!”

She glared at him furiously, grabbed her coat and bag, and was just about to leave when Xie Yanli’s cold voice stopped her.

“I won’t argue with you about everything, but your vile words just now—I won’t forgive.”

The one thing that bothered Xie Yanli most was the fact that Song Qiao didn’t love him. This woman had touched a nerve that should never be touched.

Seeing the darkness clouding his expression, Zhong Youning immediately sobered up. She had just offended the most powerful heir in Jing City, and she was terrified.

She looked at him nervously and stammered, “X-Xie Yanli, what are you going to do?”

Without even glancing at her, he said coolly, “Someone who can’t tell the difference between jokers and kings isn’t qualified to be the general manager of Zhong Corporation. Since Zhong Qiang doesn’t know how to run his company, Xie Corporation will no longer do business with them.”

The Xie Corporation was Zhong Corporation’s biggest partner. Every year, they received billions in contracts from them. Hearing that they would stop cooperating, Zhong Youning’s knees nearly gave out.

She grabbed the edge of the table for support, lips trembling, and begged, “President Xie, I misspoke just now. Please don’t hold it against me. I really know I was wrong. I promise I’ll never say anything like that again.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she started crying pitifully, looking utterly heartbroken.

But Xie Yanli only felt irritated watching her cry. He’d seen Song Qiao crying her heart out in a booth at a bar, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor. Though she cried messily, it always made his heart ache.

He couldn’t bear to watch this woman’s fake sobbing any longer, so he got up and walked out.

Just as he reached the door, the woman yelled at him, “Xie Yanli! How can your heart be so cold and ruthless? I just said one angry thing, and I apologized! Must you be so unforgiving over one sentence? Where’s your dignity and generosity as a man?”

Xie Yanli turned and stared coldly at the pampered heiress. “Didn’t your father teach you? Be ruthless to business partners, and show dignity only to the one you love. You don’t qualify.”

Then he gave her a once-over and said in a chilly tone, “Next time, wear more clothes. Anyone who doesn’t know better might think you’re working the streets.”

Her face went even paler. Clenching her fists tightly, she glared at him. “Xie Yanli, you… you…”

He didn’t bother responding. With two long strides, he left the room. Once back in his car, he couldn’t wait to open the chat with Song Qiao.

He read her message several times, and finally couldn’t hold back anymore and replied:

“Where shall we meet?”

Song Qiao responded quickly:

[Let’s meet at StarStyle Café in half an hour.]

Seeing her reply, a smile tugged at his lips. Though he was secretly thrilled, his reply was still a bit aloof:

[I hope this is something important. Don’t waste my valuable time.]

When Song Qiao saw his message, she cursed him silently several times. But with her mind focused on getting to the bottom of the issue with Chen Yang, she decided not to argue—otherwise, she definitely would’ve snapped back.

It was already 6 p.m., and Bai Shuyu hadn’t returned yet. Song Qiao was about to call her when her assistant’s call came through first.

Her assistant rarely called unless it was work-related, so she answered quickly.

“Qiao-jie, my computer just blacked out. I can’t access the design for the gold-inlaid nanmu jewelry box the client ordered. Can you send me a copy to my phone?”

Song Qiao stored all her designs on her office computer. She was about to tell her assistant to fetch it from there, when she suddenly remembered the repaired phone also had the design. She agreed, then hung up.

She opened the phone’s photo album to look for the image—only to freeze in shock at one of the photos she saw. Her expression went blank as the phone slipped from her hand and crashed heavily to the ground.

After a moment of stunned silence, she snapped out of it, picked up the phone with trembling fingers, and tapped on the photo that had caught her off guard.

In the picture were Chen Yang and Lin Shiyu, lying naked on the bed she had bought for her and Chen Yang’s future wedding. They were in the middle of an unspeakable act.

She stared at the image, face deathly pale, eyes empty and full of rage, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

Her head throbbed, and fragments of memory began to resurface.

She remembered it had been pouring rain that night. Chen Yang had claimed he was working late, so she didn’t inform him and went to the apartment alone to close the windows.

To her shock, she walked in on Chen Yang and Lin Shiyu in bed.

Furious, she had taken a picture of them. Chen Yang soon realized what she had done. She remembered slapping him several times and breaking up with him on the spot. He’d cried and begged her not to leave.

She’d left him, drove off, and ended up at a bar. She drank heavily, and she vaguely remembered grabbing a man by his tie and kissing his Adam’s apple…

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