Chapter 218

Words : 1275 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Li Zhiqiang was furious when he learned that his son had been beaten up at school. However, he didn’t dwell too much on the matter. After all, when it comes to priorities, his company was far more important than his son. “Brother Li, it’s getting harder to meet you these days.” Li Zhiqiang smiled outwardly but felt disdain deep down. Back in the day, when I called you to meet, you made excuses here and there. Look at you now, practically begging me to meet up. “Not at all.” The two exchanged polite pleasantries, but Li Zhiqiang became increasingly impatient as he listened. So much chit-chat, and all of it is just an attempt to figure out how I managed to make a connection with the Ji Group. Of all the suppliers they could’ve chosen, why did the Ji Group pick mine? After sending the man away, Li Zhiqiang glanced at the time, wondering why the lawyer hadn’t called him yet. He also had no idea how badly his son had been hurt. Who dared lay a hand on his son? Crossing his legs, he was about to call the lawyer to check on the progress when his secretary suddenly burst through the door, sweating profusely. “What kind of behavior is this? Acting all flustered.” He started with a reprimand. The secretary felt wronged but had no choice but to explain. “Bad news, boss. The Ji Group says the latest batch of goods we sent failed their quality inspection. They’re considering terminating the partnership.” Li ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍Zhiqiang nearly fell out of his chair. “What did you say?!” “How could this happen?!” Was someone trying to sabotage him, or did something go wrong on the Ji family’s end? His mind whirled with possibilities. “Get the car ready!” He quickly rose, nearly forgetting to grab his jacket, and rushed out the door. ... The lawyer stared at his phone, unable to reach Li Zhiqiang, wondering what he was up to and why he wasn’t answering. Looking at Zuo Yi sitting calmly across from him, cold sweat began to trickle down his back. “What’s the matter, sir? Would you like to discuss further about Ji Nian kneeling in apology and withdrawing from school?” The lawyer felt a sharp pain in his stomach. “No... no, Li Yuan was talking nonsense.” Meanwhile, he was bitterly cursing Li Yuan in his heart. If he hadn’t constantly gotten into trouble, would he have offended the very people you can’t afford to offend? “I’ll try one more call... one more.” Zuo Yi didn’t bother with him further. “No need, Counselor.” “Go back and have a proper conversation with President Li about this.” He stood up, buttoned his suit jacket, gave the lawyer a polite smile, then turned and walked out. The lawyer’s eyes glazed over. It’s over... ... Ji Tingzhou ended the call, lifting his gaze toward Wei Yang. Unfazed, Wei Yang froze mid-reach for the apple on Ji Tingzhou’s desk before casually detouring to rub his nose as if nothing happened. “Ji Nian is fine.” “You didn’t see it, but when our girl landed that punch and knocked that brat to the ground, she was so impressive.” “She beat that kid to the point he was bawling and had no strength to fight back.” Ji Tingzhou raised a hand to stop Wei Yang from going off on a tangent, full of flattering words. “How’s her mood?” Wei Yang paused to think. “Pretty good. On my way back, I even saw her buying ice cream at the snack shop.” Satisfied that Ji Nian wasn’t upset, Ji Tingzhou felt somewhat relieved. Though he still harbored a tinge of subtle displeasure. Not that he’d admit—he wasn’t the least bit happy that when Ji Nian got into trouble at school for once and had to call a parent, she didn’t call him first but went straight to Zuo Yi. This feeling of not being able to show up at school to support your child... it was suffocating. But since it was suffocating, something had to bear Ji Tingzhou’s fury. And so, Dingli found itself in deep trouble. It wasn’t just the sudden termination of the partnership with the Ji family—contracts that were almost finalized with other companies were suddenly stuck in lim. It felt like the whole world had suddenly turned against them. It wasn’t until the lawyer finally got through to Li Zhiqiang and explained the reason behind it all that Li Zhiqiang almost fainted. His vision blackened for a moment. After regaining his composure, Li Zhiqiang screamed into the phone like a raging beast, “Bring that little brat back to me!!!” ... When the school bell rang to signal the end of the day, the club-goers headed to their activities while the at-home crowd started their journey back. Ji Nian was, of course, in the latter group. “See you tomorrow.” He Xiang, who boarded at school, saw Ji Nian preparing to leave and called out. Ji Nian turned and waved back at him. Shen Qingtang was in the tennis club. With the school sports event coming up soon and her team scheduled to compete, she had practice to attend today and didn’t leave with Ji Nian. “Well, I’m off,” Ji Nian said. Without Li Yuan’s ridiculous antics in the class anymore, the atmosphere had improved considerably. Shen Qingtang gave her a wave. “Alright.” Seeing that Ji Nian hadn’t started moving yet, Shen Qingtang chuckled and said, “I remember your words, don’t worry—I won’t let anyone bully me.” Only then did Ji Nian leave, feeling reassured. As she approached the school gate, something felt off. It was normal for there to be a lot of people at dismissal time, but wasn’t this a bit too much? And the crowd wasn’t aimlessly scattered—they were forming groups and purposefully heading toward the school gate, their excited chatter filling the air. “Is there a celebrity here?” she wondered. The thought stirred her interest. Would they be good-looking? Were they male or female? While she wasn’t one to chase after commotions, Ji Nian couldn’t resist the prospect of seeing someone beautiful, and she found her steps unconsciously moving in that direction. Later on, whenever Ji Nian thought back on this incident, she would feel thankful for the decision she made in that moment. Following the crowd outside, she headed straight toward the densest part of the gathering. “Excuse me, pardon me.” Honing her skills from years of helping Shen Qingtang navigate throngs at offline flash sales, Ji Nian moved through the crowd like a fish in water. Eventually, she reached the center of the commotion. By the school gate, near the security booth, there stood a tree—a Hong Kong orchid tree. It was originally planted within the school premises, but over time, as it was left untended, its branches grew outward toward the sun and spilled over the wall, creating a canopy of snow-white blossoms that, from afar, looked like soft clouds perched on its limbs. Every year when the tree bloomed, Ji Nian would pass by this spot and inevitably find her gaze drawn to it, lingering for a moment. But this time, she didn’t spare the exuberantly beautiful tree a single glance. Her attention was fixed instead on the youth standing quietly in its shadow. It seemed as though the boy could feel Ji Nian’s gaze. Though his expression hadn’t shifted amidst the crowd’s fervent attention, he suddenly turned to face her. Those silver-gray eyes pierced through the throng unerringly, locking onto Ji Nian’s own.

Chapter 218

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