Chapter 12: Pu Huaiyan: Look at Me, Forget Him.
After walking about twenty meters, they turned a corner into a quiet, secluded alley nestled between two Italian-style buildings—a narrow lane where no passersby would cross.
Shan Dai was pressed against the wall by a pair of hands. The wall, warm after being baked by the early summer sun all day, gave her the sensation of slowly regaining her breath after drowning.
The wind sweeping through the alley lifted the hair on the forehead of the man standing before her. The streetlight glinted in his eyes, rendering his gaze burning and bright.
In her memory, Pu Huaiyan looked at everything with a detached indifference, possessing the natural aura of a born superior.
“Ms. Shan, just pretend you didn’t see anything. It doesn’t affect the predetermined outcome anyway—even if today’s scene hadn’t happened, you would still get a divorce.” The man’s magnetic voice landed word by word, gradually settling into Shan Dai’s heart like a night breeze. “Look forward. You deserve better. Take a look at the better people around you. Don’t stay obsessed with a past that no longer holds value, and don’t let any past affect you.”
Shan Dai was surprised by his comforting words, and equally surprised that he addressed her as “Ms. Shan” instead of “Madam.” Yet, the intricate ache in her heart genuinely eased a bit because of this sentence.
Looking at Shen Jiani and him, Shan Dai slowly tried to stand up straight, offering them a faint smile: “I’ve made Secretary Shen and President Pu laugh at my expense.”
“Don’t say that, Ms. Shan. It’s not your fault at all, so how could we laugh?” Shen Jiani said with a furrowed brow. “I’m genuinely furious! Setting you aside, feeling sad and angry is just human nature. He truly let Ms. Shan down way too much—he’s almost making me develop a total anti-marriage complex.”
Shan Dai let out a soft laugh, her eyes softening as she looked at her: “It’s alright. Not every man is like this; it’s just that I had bad luck.”
“Looks to me like they’re all pretty much the same—total trash,” Shen Jiani said with disgust.
Shan Dai looked toward Pu Huaiyan. “President Pu, for one, is an exceptionally outstanding person.”
“Woah, even if he’s outstanding, I can’t touch him—he’s my brother,” Shen Jiani blurted out casually.
“…” Shan Dai’s eyes widened for a moment, forgetting to react.
Shen Jiani giggled, “Sorry, I haven’t disclosed this to anyone before. We’re not that close either—he’s just a cold, indifferent cousin who has zero family affection for me.”
Shan Dai looked at Pu Huaiyan. He met her gaze calmly, showing no sign of denial whatsoever.
So, so that was how it was. No wonder Shen Jiani could snap candid photos of him to post on Moments without getting fired, and no wonder she was always ruthlessly criticizing Pu Huaiyan for slaving away his employees.
Shan Dai let out a helpless, faint smile: “So that’s why. Secretary Shen takes after her mother’s surname.”
“Nope.” She grinned wide, “My surname is Pu. My passport name is Pu Ci.”
“Huh?” Even her surname and given name were fake.
She pouted: “When I entered the company as an intern, he wouldn’t let me use my real name. He said that was how Taiheng Group started before eventually turning into that atrocious mess. Having just dismantled that rotten old bone Taiheng, Yanxin Times wouldn’t allow anyone to rely on the back door to collect unearned salary and enjoy high treatment again. So I had no choice but to change my name; my fake name was drawn completely at random.”
“…” Shan Dai chuckled softly, casting a glance at Pu Huaiyan. Recalling his decisive hand and tactics regarding the reform of Taiheng Group in his interview with Times Discourse, she instantly understood his demand for Shen Jiani. Besides, the fact that this brother and sister liked to draw lots to decide matters both big and small was truly an endearingly inherited trait.
Under the night light, her smile was like a flower blooming in the dead of night—not an ordinary sight of the mortal world. Pu Huaiyan was momentarily dazed; luckily, she wasn’t used to holding eye contact with him and only took a single glance.
Noticing that it was no longer a suitable time for a walk, Shen Jiani said, “Was that chime just now for eight o’clock?”
Shan Dai lacked energy, forcing herself to recall… “Eight-thirty.”
Shen Jiani immediately said, “Then it’s not early anymore. Ms. Shan has just barely recovered from her fever, so I can’t keep messing with her for too long. We’ll send you back.”
Shan Dai knew they probably wouldn’t let her hail a taxi alone either, so she nodded in agreement: “Thank you.”
Once she set off, Pu Huaiyan followed by her side as they walked out of the alley together. This time, Shen Jiani walked alone at the very back. As she walked, she organized the few photos she had just taken on her phone, along with several surveillance screenshots she had retrieved earlier from headquarters, categorizing them all into a new album named: Trash Can.
“Where does Ms. Shan live?” Pu Huaiyan was driving. Guided by Shen Jiani, Shan Dai sat in the passenger seat while Shen Jiani took the back seat alone.
“Silver Apartments.” Shan Dai raised her finger to direct the route, “Head out from here onto the long street on the left. Go straight past a red light, and after about another kilometer, you’ll arrive. Sorry to trouble President Pu.”
“No need to be polite.” With that, he rare for him, initiated the conversation on his own, “Get some proper rest after returning. We’ll likely be heading back to Beijing in the next couple of days, so it won’t be convenient to visit Ms. Shan afterward.”
Shan Dai immediately looked toward the driver’s seat, “Tonight was supposed to be my treat to thank President Pu, yet you ended up settling the bill, and I even let you drive me back while injured. I’m truly very sorry.”
He said lightly, “There’s no rule that a girl should do these things. It’s an insignificant matter; if Ms. Shan takes it to heart, then it’s my fault.”
Her smile remained filled with guilt, “Then please take good care of your injury after returning. Also, um, remember to eat your three meals regularly—your stomach isn’t very good, President Pu.”
He nodded: “Alright, thank you.”
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at Silver Apartments. The overall exterior of the residential compound was silver, making it easy to recognize.
Shen Jiani watched the girl enter the compound’s main gate before withdrawing her gaze, stepping out of the car, and sliding into the front passenger seat. “Are we really returning to Beijing tomorrow, Gege? Should I book the plane tickets now?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she noticed a certain someone’s gaze was still fixed inside the compound gate. Shen Jiani looked out once more; as far as her eyes could see, she could vaguely spot the graceful silhouette of a woman weaving through the trees beneath the compound lights.
Tsk tsk tsk.
But she really was so beautiful. In this early summer weather, wearing a plain pink silk dress paired with five-centimeter matching high heels, she looked sinuous and graceful without exposing any skin—elegant, proper, generous, and charming. Coupled with that long, straight black hair, her shirt fluttered in the night wind as she walked beneath the hazy streetlights, making her look almost ethereal at a glance.
The car didn’t start until the person inside the compound was completely out of sight. Then, Shen Jiani heard an instruction: “Tomorrow at work, contact Lu Zhixing to come to my office. Once he arrives, call Xu Minheng over as well.”
Shen Jiani held her breath, thinking to herself that things were looking bad: “You’re going to fire these two?”
“Mm.”
“What’s the reason?”
“Is there no reason?”
Shen Jiani rested her chin in her hand, lost in thought, “I’m just worried Ms. Shan will be affected.”
“No one will know.” The man pressed firmly on the accelerator, and the car sped through the long line of traffic in Lan City during the evening peak hour.
Shen Jiani: “Judging by her stance, she doesn’t want to make a scene that leaves Lu Zhixing with nothing and his reputation ruined. He was very good to her in the past; even if there’s no love left, there’s still family affection.”
The moment those words landed, the interior of the car turned into the Arctic Circle—cold enough to freeze one’s breath into ice. Realizing that the more she said, the more mistakes she’d make, Shen Jiani immediately covered her mouth, shutting down both body and mind.
…
After returning home, Shan Dai took a shower and waited for Ziming—who had been working overtime and found her missing—to come look for her. By then, it was ten-thirty. Ziming had brought late-night snacks: raw-marinated fruit that Shan Dai loved, and shredded chicken that Ziming preferred for herself.
“How was having dinner with Pu Huaiyan today? That guy is so gentlemanly that he actually treated you to dinner.” Ziming sat on the carpet in front of the coffee table, chatting while eating.
“I was the one inviting him to express my gratitude, though… he settled the bill.” Shan Dai took a bite of the fruit Ziming held up to feed her.
Ziming: “He just had dinner with you alone like that? Feels kinda strange.”
Shan Dai: “No, with his secretary.”
“Oh, oh, what a pity.”
“…” Shan Dai was amused by her dual commentary. After laughing, she slowly brought up the incident of running into Lu Zhixing after dinner.
Ziming bounced up in an instant; had Shan Dai not held her back, she would have gone to find Lu Zhixing on the spot to chop him into pieces and scatter them into the wind.
Too furious to eat, Ziming felt a dull ache in her chest. Kneeling on the sofa at Shan Dai’s feet, she leaned on her knees and said in misery, “Fuck, I seriously can’t stand this. I want to dig up his ancestral grave.”
Yet Shan Dai suddenly said with a smile at the corner of her lips: “At first, I felt extremely terrible and shocked, but after thinking it over just now, I suddenly figured it out.”
Heartbroken, Ziming looked up at her, “Baby.”
Shan Dai’s gaze lacked focus as her thoughts drifted far away: “I feel like I’ve completely let it go right now. President Pu was right—he is already a past that holds no value. I shouldn’t be affected; even without tonight, I would still get a divorce.”
“Granted, at that moment, I genuinely felt a physiological pain, as if something had been gouged out of my heart, because I never expected him to deceive me again and again. He simply couldn’t bear to cut ties cleanly. I thought his previous promises were rock-solid… but in reality, they weren’t. As long as someone else shed a few tears, he still felt heartache and forgot about me in an instant.”
“But I can’t remain slumped without getting back up. Thinking carefully, the past three years don’t look short, but compared to the several decades ahead, they seem utterly insignificant. To put it another way, pulling out early is a good thing too. Like President Pu said, maybe I really do deserve better.” She laughed bitterly.
“Yes, yes, yes, exactly! You deserve better, you’re thinking about it the right way, baby.” Ziming perked up.
Shan Dai sighed: “Secretary Shen said men are all pretty much the same and was almost triggered into an anti-marriage mindset by tonight’s scene. But right before our eyes stands an exceptionally good President Pu. See, the world isn’t short of good men—I really shouldn’t be overly heartbroken over past matters.”
Ziming’s eyes brightened; she liked this topic. “How did we get onto our dear President Pu?” she asked ambiguously, “Have a crush on him?”
“No, just making an analogy.”
“…”
“I just feel that Pu Huaiyan’s goodness even surpasses how Lu Zhixing used to be back in the day. Although there’s no guarantee he will always be as good as he is now—no one can predict the future—at this moment, he truly is an absolute gentleman. To a married woman like me, he didn’t stand aloof as if it had nothing to do with him. He gains zero benefits from helping me, and he even went out for dinner just so I wouldn’t dwell on owing him a favor, when in reality he treated us.”
“He makes me feel that the world simply isn’t short of good men. What does it matter whether he changes in the future? I won’t have anything to do with him anyway. I just need to know that he is better than Lu Zhixing’s past and present, and that is enough for me to completely cast Lu Zhixing aside.”
Ziming let out a sigh—a speech that made her happy yet disappointed at the same time. She egged Shan Dai on: “How about you try pursuing him? He’s genuinely so outstanding! Although the future is indeed uncertain, like you said, just focus on the present.”
“I am still a married woman.” Shan Dai offered her a helpless smile, “Secondly, President Pu simply couldn’t bear to see me being fooled; he didn’t help me because he took a liking to me.”
“But you can make him take a liking to you.”
“I have zero interest in any man for the time being. Besides, as a divorcee, he won’t take a liking to me—one needs to have self-awareness.”
“Look at this face of yours!! Forget a second marriage, even if it were your twentieth marriage, plenty of men would willingly bow at your feet!” Ziming stroked her tender face, which looked as delicate as a lotus emerging from water even without a trace of makeup.
Shan Dai remained noncommittal, smiling without saying a word.
Ziming understood her: “Forget it, let’s not overthink it. Talk after the divorce.”
Shan Dai nodded, “Mm, getting a divorce is what I ought to do right now.”
Ziming sneered: “Rest assured, if he refuses to divorce, I’ll crash my car straight into him to kill him. Widowed works too—no moral flaws whatsoever in starting the next spring.”
“…”
Shan Dai slept through the entire night for a rare change, no longer suffering from the insomnia that had plagued her over the past half-month or so.
Once a person figures things out, they genuinely feel much lighter. The next day, she went straight to work.
…
It took full three days of contacting Lu Zhixing before he finally showed up at the executive office of the Lan City branch. After finishing his business trip and returning to Lan City, he had taken continuous leave, claiming every day that something came up at home and he couldn’t make it, until today when Shen Jiani finally saw his face.
She hadn’t known Lu Zhixing before. That night at Xieshaan, the lights were hazy, making it hard to see his complexion clearly. Taking a look today, the subtle bluish-gray around his lips and the faint gray under his eyes were enough to prove he had withered quite a bit over these past few days.
Shen Jiani grumbled in her heart: Losing one woman only to cling to another—what’s there to look so withered about?
Though this man was indeed not bad-looking, no wonder he managed to lead such a gorgeous Shan Dai into the hall of marriage with him at a young age. An unappreciative scumbag.
The second after he arrived at the office, Xu Minheng was called over by her as well. When the two saw each other in the office, the stunned look in their eyes instantly proved impossible to hide.
Seated before the executive desk was a young man clad in a royal blue shirt. His gaze swept indifferently over the two who were staring at each other, until both of them turned their heads in unison to look at him.
Leaning back into his chair, Pu Huaiyan rested his crossed hands over a pair of folded long legs. After exchanging eye contact with both of them for two seconds, his thin lips uttered a few cold, detached words: “Do you two know why I called you here?”
Xu Minheng didn’t know yet. But Lu Zhixing’s complexion had already changed slightly, able to guess the reason behind calling Xu Minheng over at the same time and firing a counter-question instead of taking the initiative to state matters. Pu Huaiyan had always been direct when discussing official business, possessing an absolute hatred for wasting time with nonsense.
Because of this, Lu Zhixing’s breathing turned heavier.
Pu Huaiyan spoke up: “Manager Lu belongs to the Lan City branch, while Manager Xu belongs to Beijing. A distance of a thousand kilometers separates the two places.” He spread his hands, “I don’t know how you two managed to hook up during Manager Lu’s mere three-month business trip—especially considering Manager Lu already has a family. But I received an internal report within the company, so I called you both in for a talk.”
Xu Minheng’s face turned red and white all at once, her hands twisting together in distress.
Lu Zhixing pressed his lips into a tight line.
Pu Huaiyan: “Although the company cannot dictate the private affairs of its employees, and your relationship has nothing to do with me personally, if outsiders have already caught wind of it—posing a risk to the company’s image that could easily become public knowledge—then I suppose it isn’t unreasonable for me to get an understanding of the situation.”
Lu Zhixing immediately said: “President Pu, there’s no such thing.” He stated calmly, “In Beijing, it was merely acting along for the sake of social drinking events. You might have some sort of misunderstanding.”
While Xu Minheng was hugging and clinging in private, she didn’t dare destroy both of their prospects on the surface at this moment, remaining completely quiet upon hearing this.
Shen Jiani, standing on one side of the desk acting as a mascot, spoke up at this moment: “Manager Lu, can you guarantee that?”
Lu Zhixing and Xu Minheng looked at her together.
Shen Jiani pulled a stack of photos from her backpack, “Because I pulled the surveillance footage from the Yanxin Times headquarters.” She drew one out and waved it for them to see.
Upon seeing the picture of the two kissing in the company elevator, both of their faces turned as pale as paper.
And Shen Jiani still held at least ten more photos in her hand.
Pu Huaiyan: “If you two do not wish to verify the authenticity of the photos, I will assume you have implicitly conceded to the reality of this behavior.” Pausing slightly, the man’s sharp gaze collided with Lu Zhixing’s, making Lu Zhixing feel guilty under his stare.
“Manager Lu, I misjudged you.” A trace of mocking cold laughter rose at the corner of Pu Huaiyan’s lips.
Lu Zhixing lowered his head.
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