Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Ji Chen was on a roll, analyzing the situation. “In the three years that Mi Nuo has been in the company, her reputation has always been good. Because of her young age, she’s been very courteous, and even our older employees acquiesce to her, so she has no motive to frame Madam. Also, when I checked all her donation records, they’ve all been to proper charity organizations.”


  Si Zhengting lowered his head. He had been thinking about the issue of the design drafts for a long time and had come to the conclusion that, apart from Zhuang Nainai, the only people who would have had access to the design drafts were Mi Nuo and her secretary.

  And from the past few times that Li Li had taken aim at Zhuang Nainai, Li Li didn’t seem to be someone with much brain; instead, every incident seemed to have a shadow of Mi Nuo in it.

  Si Zhengting narrowed his eyes. He was never one to trust his instincts, and neither was Mi Nuo worthy of his trust. He paused for a moment, then said, “Find a private investigator to follow her. I want to know all about her.”


  Ji Chen paused as if wondering if all of this was rather unnecessary. In the end, however, he assented. “Yes.”


  Upon him hanging up the phone, the surroundings plunged into silence once more.

  The people of Xibali were mostly poor people who did physical work and never really engaged in much entertainment. As a result, most of them turned in early.

  It was only 10 at night, but the surrounding lights were beginning to go off one by one — until the light coming from Zhuang Nainai’s small house was the only one left.

  Si Zhengting fixed his gaze on the house. Unable to resist, he opened his car door and slowly walked toward it.

  As he walked over, he began to realize how the small house seemed to be even smaller than he had remembered it to be. He gazed at the tub used for washing clothes, at the little cactus on the balcony…… a mix of familiarity and unfamiliarity welled up in him, making him feel as if he was back in his high school days when he first visited this house.

  At that point in time, Zhuang Nainai had proudly brought him over, and, casting a glance at the people surrounding her, had begun to excitedly introduce him to them. “Auntie, this is my boyfriend and future husband!”


  Others had laughed at her. “You’re so young and yet you’re thinking about your future husband already? Nainai, are you sure your mother’s letting you date so early?”


  “I’m already 18, okay? What do you mean by early? My mother eagerly supports me!”


  Even up ’til this point, Si Zhengting had been nervous. She, on the other hand, had been pointing to the cactus on her balcony and had said, “See, that’s a flower that I’m raising!”


  Then she had unabashedly begun talking about her thoughts on raising plants, to which he pretended to listen attentively to but was in fact dying from laughter about on the inside.

  And yet, Zhuang Nainai had still been serious about it, saying, “Do you rich people love flower arrangements so much? My flower arrangement skills are not too bad either; my mother taught me how, and I’m sure I won’t be an embarrassment!”


  The Zhuang Nainai then had been innocent and pure, always fearlessly charging forward in life.

  She had never thought of herself as being lesser than others.

  Just like how she had been today, rushing into the conference room to tell everyone confidently that she was going to create new design drafts.

  At that point, looking at how she had been, he couldn’t bear to reject her — even if it had been a useless request.

  Si Zhengting lifted his head once more. He walked toward the window, watching Zhuang Nainai through the glass as she conscientiously worked on the design drafts.

  Si Zhengting watched her silhouette, his gaze transfixed on her.

  Then he suddenly recalled what she had said to him earlier in the day.

  She had said, very seriously, “Si Zhengting, let’s get a divorce.”