Ding Haoye called Li Qingli on his phone, his voice hoarse as he suffered from a persistent high fever.
Li Qingli sank a golf ball into the hole and said, "So you're unable to handle things?"
Ding Haoye quickly replied in a hoarse and anxious voice, "I can. I can handle it."
He struggled to speak, yet still kept assuring that he could continue to serve.
"I'm just calling to report the recent situation to Director Li. There's no other intention..."
Li Qingli asked, "Have I ever rushed you?"
Ding Haoye answered, "No, never. Director Li has never rushed me. Such a small matter isn't worth reporting to you. It's my overstep."
Li Qingli twirled his golf club. "Don't feel pressured."
"No pressure, no pressure. I'm willing to lay down my life for Director Li."
Li Qingli hit the ball. "Go get back to work."
"Sure!"
After hanging up the phone, Li Qingli tossed his phone to Qi Yuwu. "Don't hand me his calls in the future."
Qi Yuwu replied, "Okay."
On Ding Haoye's side,
The phone call drained all his strength.
He collapsed onto the bed, breathing with difficulty and hoarsely shouting, "The special-effect medicine..."
"What?"
He cleared his throat with great effort and shouted, "Inject me with the special-effect medicine right away. I need to get out of bed."
"You're crazy!"
His wife scolded him. "In your current state, taking a dose of the special-effect medicine will completely overdraw your life!"
"I have no choice..." Ding Haoye was drenched in sweat. "Li Qingli doesn't have the patience to wait for me to recover. If I don't go, someone else will immediately take over my job. Then what's the point of all I've done?"
His wife said, "You're in this state and still want to follow Li Qingli. He doesn't even take you seriously!"
Ding Haoye retorted, "Even if he doesn't take me seriously, I still have to continue. Go and call the doctor to inject me with the special-effect medicine right now."
His wife was so angry that she was about to explode. "Do you want to die? Can't you just quit that stupid consortium? I think you really want to die!"
"If I don't go, I'll die right away!"
His eyes were bloodshot as he roared with all his might, "Do you think I really want to keep being his lackey?"
"I was in Jiuzhang, and Pei Jin wanted to kill me. After I left Jiuzhang by jumping out of the car, others wanted to kill me too."
"In the arena of life, one often has no choice."
There were painful tears in Ding Haoye's eyes. "By now, I have no other way but to go all the way to the end!"
His wife was so angry that she cried. "You tell me you have no choice now. Why didn't you listen to me when I advised you to be kind to others?"
"Now you have enemies everywhere, and you've even offended Miss Zhu of Jude Wang. You're being Li Qingli's lackey, but he really treats you like a dog. He orders you around when he needs you and wants to drink your blood and eat your flesh when he doesn't!"
"You tell me you have no choice? It's you who's determined to walk on the path of death!"
"Enough!!"
Ding Haoye roared. "I have my own plans. Stop being so soft-hearted. Go and find the medicine for me right now. Go!"
His wife got up in disappointment and anger. She grabbed her handbag furiously. "You just keep courting death!"
After saying that, she slammed the door and left angrily.
Ding Haoye was also extremely angry, but he didn't think he was wrong.
In the arena of life, one often has no choice.
Even if he had made enemies with others before, it was based on his own situation.
What was wrong with that?!
He angrily grabbed the call bell and shouted hoarsely, "Doctor! Doctor! Hurry up and inject me with the special-effect medicine!"
He needed to get out of bed.
He needed to fight for his own interests!
At Runyuan,
Sure enough, Pei Jin's breakfast was delivered. It was the fried dough sticks soaked in soybean milk that she had mentioned yesterday.
It was still warm.
Zhu Ning stared at the breakfast in front of her, in a daze.
"Eat it."
She nodded blankly and took a sip with a spoon.
It was the same taste as yesterday.
She became even more dazed.
"You... didn't you go back to the capital?"
"Yes." Pei Jin replied calmly. "I went back."
Zhu Ning looked at the breakfast again. "Was this sent from the capital?"
Pei Jin gave a faint "hmm".
Zhu Ning asked again, "Was it the same yesterday?"
"Yeah."
Zhu Ning's fingertips trembled. Suddenly, she felt that the breakfast in front of her was extremely precious.
She suddenly remembered what her younger sister had said about Pei Jin having two big dark circles under his eyes.
She looked up and indeed saw the faint bluish-black under his eyes.
Pei Jin subconsciously turned his head, avoiding her gaze. "Eat."
Zhu Ning didn't dare to move.
She said with difficulty, "You said you were going home. Every day you went back to your home in the capital and then flew back to Shanghai every morning..."
"Is that right?"
Pei Jin paused slightly and didn't look up. "There are important things to be handled at both places. I have to take care of them myself."
"No wonder." Zhu Ning focused on the dark circles under his eyes. "You've been working too hard."
"It's okay."
Zhu Ning gave him a thumbs up.
Pei Jin wasn't lying. He really had a lot of work to deal with. His phone kept ringing during breakfast.
When he really had to leave, he said goodbye to Zhu Ning. "See you tomorrow."
He came in a hurry and left in a hurry, as if he had only come here to have breakfast with her.
Zhu Ning nodded. "Okay. Drive safely."
After opening the door, Zhu Ning saw him off out of the community. Pei Jin drove away. Glancing at Zhu Ning's figure in the rearview mirror, he dialed a number.
"Connect me to Chisongzhuang."
At the Chi family's old residence,
Chi Songzhuang hung up the phone and asked, "What has the young master been up to lately? Is he still in Haicheng?"
Uncle Yuan replied, "He's already back in Shanghai. He seems to be in the hospital now."
Chi Songzhuang said directly, "Tell him to be discharged from the hospital."
"Pei Jin specifically asked him to be in charge of the project."
Uncle Yuan hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. "Okay."
Chi Wunian soon received a call. Uncle Yuan's voice on the other end was polite, but his tone was uncompromising.
"Master Wunian, have you recovered from your illness? The master has some work for you."
Chi Wunian replied, "I've already been removed from my position. What work can there be for me? Besides, isn't that general manager doing a great job?"
Uncle Yuan said, "Don't worry about your position, young master. The master has set up a new department for you, specifically to deal with such emergencies and to make it convenient for you to take care of your other work."
He said apologetically, "This time, Shen Hai specifically asked for you. We really can't decline. But don't worry. If you have any problems, you can directly contact Master Wunjue."
Chi Wunian sneered upon hearing this. "Then I should thank my father."
Uncle Yuan seemed not to notice the sarcasm in his words. "We'll arrange someone to pick you up later."
Chi Wunian hung up the phone directly.
Xiao Su looked very unhappy beside him.
It sounded nice that a new department was set up to facilitate him in handling urgent matters.
In fact, it was just to deprive him of his power and weaken his influence in the company.
And he was asked to contact Chi Wunjue.
The underlying meaning of paving the way and using him was already undisguised. It was obvious that they would just kick him away after using him.
But as a subordinate, he couldn't say these things, so he just said, "You're still sick."
"I'm almost recovered."
Chi Wunian's attention was completely off this matter.
He sat quietly on the bed, his eyes fixed on the outside of the ward.
"She said she would come to see me yesterday."
Would she come?
Chi Wunian unconsciously tightened his fingers.
Would she break her promise again?