The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

Facing a threat to his life and pressure from the Zhao Family, Zheng Yiyang told Zhang Boping everything.

Fear washed over Zhang Boping as he listened, and his heart began to pound.

Chen Dong’s identity was clearly more than it seemed. He couldn’t possibly be just a minor employee at the Li Group—Zhao Wenxuan’s attitude toward him was proof enough.

’So what’s he doing at the Li Group? What does the company have that would be worth his time? There could only be one thing: Li Huiran, a woman whose beauty was said to be unmatched in all of Jiangzhou.’

In an instant, it all clicked for Zhang Boping. A classic scenario played out in his mind: a young master from a wealthy family pretends to be a poor boy to work at a beautiful CEO’s company, all so he can woo her.

The fear gave way to excitement. He clenched his fists, feeling as if he had uncovered the truth.

’Zheng Yiyang actually dared to drug Li Huiran! That bastard deserves to die! No wonder Young Master Chen looked so displeased when I offered to fire Zheng Yiyang.’

’A piece of scum like that should be put down without a second thought!’

’Then again... no, I should keep this bastard Zheng Yiyang around. If I handle this right, I can definitely get Young Master Chen to see me in a new light. And if I can get on Young Master Chen’s good side, won’t my own meteoric rise be just around the corner?’

And so, he began to rack his brains, desperately trying to formulate a plan.

At ten in the morning, Li Huiran slowly awoke in the Li Manor.

As consciousness returned, she shot up in bed, her eyes wide with terror.

’I’m in my own room? And I’m still in yesterday’s clothes. What happened? How did I get back?’

She went downstairs and found Chen Dong playing chess with her grandfather.

When Li Qinghe saw Li Huiran was awake, he asked with concern, ”Huiran, how are you feeling? If you’re not well, just ask Xiaodong to take a look at you.”

Li Huiran shook her head slightly. ”I’m fine! By the way, how did I get home yesterday?”

”Your bodyguards brought you back. It’s a good thing you brought them, otherwise...” The old man didn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he turned and said, ”Xiaodong, I have to take you to task for this! Why didn’t you go with Huiran yesterday?”

Chen Dong lowered his head, the very picture of guilt. ”I’m sorry, Grandpa. It was my fault. I failed to protect Huiran!”

Li Huiran’s mouth fell slightly agape. She had expected Chen Dong to take the opportunity to tell on her, since she was the one who had forbidden him from coming yesterday.

But Chen Dong had simply admitted fault. It made her see him in a slightly different light.

Li Qinghe then said to Li Huiran, ”Huiran, from now on, make sure you take more bodyguards with you in situations like this. And take Xiaodong. Do you understand?”

”I understand.”

In truth, she would have brought more bodyguards even if Li Qinghe hadn’t said anything. Zheng Yiyang had truly terrified her. The memory alone was enough to fill her with dread.

She also resolved to properly thank those four bodyguards.

When she saw her bodyguards engaged in the fight, she had thought all was lost. She never would have guessed those four were so skilled!

She glanced at the time and called out to Chen Dong, ”Get ready. We’re going to the office.”

She remembered all too clearly that Zheng Yiyang’s deadline was today. She had escaped yesterday, but what would become of the company now?

Her heart filled with worry. She took a quick shower, changed her clothes, forced down a couple of bites to eat, and then pulled Chen Dong out the door to head for the office.

They drove in silence. It wasn’t until they reached the company parking garage that Li Huiran finally spoke to Chen Dong. ”Thank you!”

Chen Dong gave Li Huiran a strange look.

Her face flushing red, Li Huiran quickly explained, ”I’m just thanking you for not telling on me to Grandpa!”

With that, she quickly got out of the car and hurried away.

The moment she arrived at the company, Li Huiran called for an emergency meeting.

It was the same meeting room as yesterday—Conference Room 2—and the same group of people, with the sole exception of Wu Haichao, who had been added to the attendees.

That’s right, Wu Haichao had dragged his exhausted body to work today, his eyes sunken.

The meeting had barely begun when Lu Chunqing shot to his feet. ”President Li,” he said loudly, ”I believe you owe everyone an explanation! All of the company’s projects have been shut down. Word is there are problems with our construction quality. President Li, why don’t you tell us what’s going on?”

This was, of course, Zheng Yiyang’s doing. After Chen Dong had left the previous day, the more he stewed on it, the angrier he became, until he finally pulled some strings to have all of the Li Group’s projects shut down.

Li Huiran’s face was grim. She had expected things to get serious, but never this serious.

Finance Manager Lu Chunhong also stood up, her tone aggrieved. ”President Li, we can’t even collect final payments on several completed projects, to say nothing of the ones currently under construction. This work stoppage is costing us a fortune!”

”All that investment capital is as good as gone. When the time comes, don’t blame the finance department when we can’t make payroll.”

Wu Haichao was completely bewildered. He felt as though he’d been gone for two months, not just two days.

A flash of contempt crossed Lu Chunqing’s narrow eyes. ”President Li,” he snarled, ”money is the least of our worries right now! The company’s reputation is in tatters. If we lose our eligibility to bid on the Qingtian Project, you’ll be the one to blame!”

”Yesterday, you said you’d resolve the Taihe Garden issue. Not only is it not resolved, but now we have even more problems! Did you just go and completely piss them off?”

The question was incredibly awkward for Li Huiran. She was too ashamed to recount the previous day’s events at the company.

At this point, even Xiaoye, Li Huiran’s trusted subordinate, couldn’t find an opening to defend her.

Li Huiran’s blunder was simply too great, too obvious for anyone to ignore.

Chen Dong rose to his feet. ”Vice President Lu,” he said in a clear voice, ”what’s the hurry? President Li already has a solution. It’s just a matter of time being tight!”

Li Huiran’s eyes widened in surprise. She never expected Chen Dong to speak up in her defense!

A harsh glint appeared in Lu Chunqing’s eyes. He was about to teach this piece of trash from the general affairs department a lesson on how to act.

BANG! The conference room door was thrown open!

”President Li, we have a huge problem! The entire construction quality inspection team is here!”

Li Huiran swayed on her feet, grabbing the table for support.

A look of glee spread across Lu Chunqing’s face. If it were just the board of directors, Li Huiran might have been able to hold onto her position as General Manager. But with the quality inspection team here to apply pressure directly, he was sure even the board would have to stay silent.

He was ecstatic. He was the first one to rush out of the conference room to welcome the visitors. The era of Lu Chunqing was about to begin!

Before long, only Li Huiran remained in the conference room, standing alone with a forlorn expression.

Everyone else filed out of the conference room, and Chen Dong followed behind them.

Just then, they saw Zhang Boping approaching at a brisk pace, his expression serious, a group of people in tow.

Lu Chunqing rushed forward to greet him with a broad smile. ”Commander Zhang, hello!”

’Zhang Boping had only one goal this time: to help Young Master Chen look good in front of everyone. When you’re chasing a woman, there’s nothing more effective than a good old-fashioned power play.’

’The method was simple: give face to Young Master Chen, and no one else. He wouldn’t give a damn who they were.’

’Zheng Yiyang’s move to shut down all of the Li Group’s projects yesterday was the perfect pretext.’

’Zhang Boping didn’t recognize the man before him. And if he didn’t recognize him, he didn’t have to give him any face.’

Zhang Boping asked, his presence overwhelming, ”And you are?”

Lu Chunqing forced an awkward laugh. ”Lu Chunqing, Vice President of the Li Group.”

Zhang Boping turned his head, refusing to even look at him. ”Is this how the Li Group treats its guests? You send a mere Vice President to fob me off? Where is your General Manager?”

Lu Chunqing’s narrow eyes were filled with a dazed bitterness. The slap to his face had come out of nowhere.

Quickly recovering his composure, Lu Chunqing put on a sycophantic smile. ”Commander Zhang, our General Manager isn’t feeling well. I have the authority to handle any issues.”

Zhang Boping snorted. ”You have the authority? Let’s see if your authority covers this!” He reached into the crowd behind him and dragged out Zheng Yiyang, who, hooked up to an IV and wrapped in bandages, looked utterly wretched.

This scene made the Li Group executives’ brows furrow deeply. It looked like General Manager Li had offended Team Leader Zheng something fierce, and now the Commander himself had come demanding an explanation.

’No wonder the group’s projects were all shut down!’

Xiaoye mustered his courage and stepped forward. ”Commander Zhang, our President Li is still young and can be a bit impulsive. Perhaps there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”

Zhang Boping shot him a cold glare. ”A misunderstanding? My man is in this condition, and you want to talk to me about a misunderstanding? Your President Li still hasn’t dared to show her face or say a single word!”

”If I don’t see your President Li today, then don’t blame our quality inspection team for getting nasty. We’ll just have to see how many of these ’quality crises’ your Li Clan can withstand!”

Everyone’s faces paled in shock at his words. Commander Zhang’s meaning was clear: he wouldn’t stop until he had brought the Li Clan to its knees!

The Li Group was at a critical juncture. If they were truly to be stonewalled by the quality inspection department, it was entirely possible the whole company would collapse!