Chapter Ninety-Six: Prove Yourself!

After learning that Lin Xiaolei had come to thank him, Bai Bing still felt quite pleased. At the very least, his rescue the night before had not been in vain. It showed that Lin Xiaolei was not an ungrateful person, and her image in Bai Bing’s mind had improved somewhat.

However, Bai Bing did not know the full story. The few words he had heard from Wang Zheng were not enough to make him change his opinion of Lin Xiaolei very much. Still, he understood that in some respects, she too was a victim.

As Wang Zheng had expected, Lin Xiaolei’s attitude toward him had changed greatly. Inviting Wang Zheng and Bai Bing to lunch was proof enough. In truth, there had never been any deep hatred between them; they had merely disagreed about the company’s recent direction, and both had been thinking of the company’s best interests. Lin Xiaolei also seemed to have finally understood the depth of Wang Zheng’s intentions, and so she hoped to make amends through her actions.

At the table, Wang Zheng ate with deliberate leisure. Compared with his usual gluttonous, ravenous manner, he seemed much more refined now, almost gentlemanly. The resentment that had shadowed Lin Xiaolei’s face in the previous days was gone as well. Beyond apology, there was now more gratitude.

Bai Bing, sitting off to the side, kept shifting her gaze between Wang Zheng and Lin Xiaolei, her eyes sly and lively. What she wanted to steal, though, was not a wallet, but the thoughts hidden in their hearts. As for Lin Xiaolei, her feelings were easy enough to read; everything was written on her face. Wang Zheng, however, was impossibly hard to see through. He gave off not even the smallest crack, leaving Bai Bing with nowhere to begin.

No one spoke, and the silence made what should have been a pleasant atmosphere feel awkward. Especially Lin Xiaolei, who had gone from gratitude and expectation to disappointment... With her head lowered, she picked at her rice grain by grain. Compared with actually eating, saying that she was counting grains of rice would perhaps have been more accurate.

"I heard Liu Jin was sent to the hospital. Is that true or not?" Bai Bing suddenly asked, breaking the strangely quiet and awkward atmosphere.

"True!"

"True!"

Wang Zheng and Lin Xiaolei answered at the same time. They both paused, then looked at each other. Lin Xiaolei blushed and lowered her head unconsciously. Wang Zheng had a thick skin, so he felt nothing awkward about it. Instead, he said to Bai Bing rather crossly, "As if you didn’t know. You were the one who kicked him. Don’t tell me you don’t know what came of it?"

"Maybe I was just too careless," Bai Bing said, her tone full of self-reproach. But looking at the smile blooming on her face, where was there any trace of remorse? She was plainly pleased with herself. Turning to Lin Xiaolei across from her, she said with feigned embarrassment, "Sorry about that. I made it impossible for you to work with him from now on!"

Bai Bing’s shameless performance made Wang Zheng want to retch. Was she apologizing to Lin Xiaolei, or teasing her? Especially with the emphasis she put on the word "work together." It sounded almost like open mockery. Hearing this, Lin Xiaolei unconsciously lowered her head.

"I say," Wang Zheng said, looking at Bai Bing’s smug face, "stop playing the grieving widow and acting innocent. Careless? Who would believe that? Have you forgotten you even wanted to go back after leaving the hotel to make sure Liu Jin became a eunuch?"

"Why are you taking his side? Are you in league with Liu Jin?" Bai Bing frowned and said suspiciously, turning her spearpoint back toward Wang Zheng.

"Hmph. If I were in league with him, would I let you sit here gloating?"

"You... you're the one gloating! You sly little hypocrite, you filthy pervert who only knows how to watch porn!" Bai Bing cursed viciously. She had no intention of quarrelling with Wang Zheng, but Wang Zheng kept throwing barbs at her, and all she could do was curse back. She knew very well that she could never outmatch him in an argument, but she still had to try.

"How do you know I was watching porn? Were you sneaking a look while I was watching it openly?" Wang Zheng shot back.

"You turned the speakers up so loud that even the deaf could hear it!" Bai Bing said loudly. Watching porn should have meant putting on headphones and keeping quiet, but this hateful man had actually used speakers... It was infuriating.

"So you only heard the sound and never saw the picture?" Wang Zheng asked again.

"Of course I didn’t see the picture. Isn’t that proof enough that you were watching porn?" Bai Bing snapped. How could he be so shameless about watching porn?

But... why shouldn’t he be shameless?

"Couldn’t I have been studying Japanese?" Wang Zheng explained.

"Do Japanese people speak like they’re moaning and groaning? Shouting 'uh, ah' all over the place?"

"Japanese people aren’t all like that, but Japanese women are. I’ve got several Japanese dramas at home too. If you don’t believe me, you can go take a look!"

In the sightseeing restaurant at the very top of Evergreen Tower, a man and a woman were shamelessly debating the speaking style of Japanese women, becoming yet another spectacle in the restaurant’s panorama.

Whenever Wang Zheng and Bai Bing were together, arguments were inevitable. They fought until both were red in the face, heedless of everything. Yet after the quarrel, they would act as if nothing had happened and go on exactly as before.

What should one call that? Buddies? Siblings? Or perhaps: a pair of happy enemies?

Lin Xiaolei was an innocent girl. Let alone watching porn, even a kiss on television could make her heart pound wildly, so naturally she had never imagined that people like Wang Zheng and Bai Bing could discuss Japanese women so casually as if nothing were amiss. Something like this... at least during the first twenty-five years of her life, she had never even thought about it.

The argument went on with growing excitement, and they bickered a little longer. What should have ended long ago dragged on until work time arrived. The first round concluded with Wang Zheng’s narrow victory.

Lin Xiaolei had originally prepared many things she wanted to say, but the sudden turn of events left her unsure how to respond. To be precise, she did not even have a chance to interrupt the dispute between Wang Zheng and Bai Bing. Since she had invited Wang Zheng and Bai Bing, she should have been the host. Yet on the scene, she was neither host nor guest; like everyone else, she had become merely an observer.

For Lin Xiaolei, that feeling was... very unpleasant.

In the period when she and Wang Zheng had been like strangers, Lin Xiaolei’s heart had felt deeply uneasy. Especially when she thought of Wang Zheng, a faint ache would always stir within her.

Human beings are creatures of feeling. After spending enough time together, affection will naturally grow unnoticed. For Lin Xiaolei, Wang Zheng was absolutely a very special person. One could even say that he had given her a second life.

That is how feelings are: when people are together, they may not notice anything at all. But once they are separated, everything rises to the surface and becomes so clear. Like the vines of a marsh, the darker and more enclosed the environment, the more fiercely they grow, winding around one another until they suffocate and ache and torment.

Lin Xiaolei did not dare say whether this feeling was love. Even if it were, she would feel that she was not worthy of Wang Zheng. His imposing figure as he had turned the tide and saved Zhongtian with his brilliant scheme had been deeply etched into her memory.

Now, although the matter with Liu Jin had taught Lin Xiaolei a lesson, she still had not given up on the idea of continuing to develop Zhongtian. Because she wanted to prove herself in front of Wang Zheng, to prove that she was a capable woman, to prove that she was worthy of him.

After so many things had happened, Lin Xiaolei’s goal had already changed. If before she had wanted only to develop and strengthen Zhongtian, to restore its former glory, then now her desire had become much simpler: to prove herself before Wang Zheng.

In the afternoon, the whole company was wrapped in a strange atmosphere. The women Wang Zheng had recruited through interviews were constantly going in and out of Lin Xiaolei’s office, and the work they were handling was all extremely important. This left the women who had always been excluded from the center of power somewhat puzzled, and even Lin Xiaolei’s old confidants grew confused. Several times, during a lull in their work, they tried to sound her out indirectly, but none of them got an answer.

Most importantly, today... there was no overtime.

Lin Xiaolei’s change in attitude made everyone highly sensitive. Though no one knew exactly what was going on, they all understood that something important must be about to happen, or had already happened.

Lin Xiaolei’s behavior clearly meant to convey something to Wang Zheng. Although Wang Zheng still did not know which road Lin Xiaolei intended to take, their relationship was indeed moving in a better direction. That made Wang Zheng very happy. The sea of bitterness was boundless, but to turn back was to reach the shore.

"So, what exactly is wrong with Lin Xiaolei?" Bai Bing asked on the way home from work, glancing at Wang Zheng in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

"Do you even need to ask? She was naturally shaken by what happened last night. You really are dense," Wang Zheng said.

"I know she was shaken, but wasn’t that reaction a little too strong? Isn’t she overreacting?" Although Wang Zheng had scolded her, Bai Bing was oddly not angry. Perhaps once she got behind the wheel, nothing seemed to matter anymore.

"For someone like her, one time is enough," Wang Zheng said. "I think she already has her answer in her heart, so what happens next will be even more interesting."

"You look awfully pleased with yourself. Don’t tell me all of this was within your expectations!"

What Bai Bing hated most was Wang Zheng’s smug look at moments like this.

"It wasn’t within my expectations," Wang Zheng said. "It was already under my control."