"I'm not making excuses, Yuan Xi. I really like you," Cui Jiandong said, his head bowed. His tone was flat and emotionless.
"Pfft," Xu Zixi scoffed. "Do you think I'm a fool to be easily deceived? The last person who dared to use me as an excuse to reject my friend has grass two meters high on their grave. I advise you to think carefully. Do you really want to give it a try?"
Cui Jiandong remained silent.
"Since you don't want to talk, fine," Xu Zixi said. "You're my subordinate now. Only I have the right to decide your future. I won't fire you, but I hope you'll resign voluntarily tomorrow. The Pei Group won't compensate you a single cent. Please get out of the Pei Group and stay away from Huang Zhenzhen."
After saying that, she grabbed Huang Zhenzhen's wrist and was about to turn around and leave. Just then, there was a loud "thud" behind them. Cui Jiandong knelt down.
"Please let me stay at the Pei Group. I really, really need this job," he said, kowtowing three times to Xu Zixi. His voice was filled with panic. "Please, please let me stay."
He couldn't leave the Pei Group. Once that person found out, he and his mother would be dead! He still had to call that person and ask for another 200,000 yuan! He would surely do things for that person and destroy this so - called "City of Hope"!
Although Huang Zhenzhen was hurt by his attitude, she couldn't bear to see him act so humbly. She shook off Xu Zixi's hand and turned back to pull Cui Jiandong up from the ground.
"Adong, don't do this. A man should stand on his own feet. What are you doing?"
She looked up at Xu Zixi anxiously and said, "Yuan Xi, I don't blame him for rejecting me. Feelings can't be forced. Please, just let him stay and work hard, okay?"
Xu Zixi wasn't Huang Zhenzhen. She wasn't blinded by love. Cui Jiandong's attitude was really strange. An ordinary person wouldn't act so humbly even if they suddenly lost their job. His reaction was completely abnormal.
Squinting her eyes, she remembered the unclaimed work "Sea Forest" in the design competition.
She took out her phone from her pocket, dialed Wen Li's number, and turned on the speaker.
"Hello, Yuan Xi? It's so late. What do you want?" Wen Li's voice rang out on the terrace. The voice was very strange to them all. Everyone looked at Xu Zixi in confusion.
"Wen Li, I'd like to ask what the name of your lost work in the design competition was," Xu Zixi asked, looking directly at Cui Jiandong, her words slow and clear.
After she asked the question, Cui Jiandong's pupils dilated instantly, and his face turned extremely pale.
On the phone, Wen Li simply said the name of her work: "The Sea of Fireflies."
"Okay, thank you."
Wen Li said excitedly, "Yuan Xi, have you found any clues?!"
"I've got some leads, but I'm still verifying them. I'll let you know when it's confirmed."
Xu Zixi hung up the phone and slowly smiled at Cui Jiandong. "So, the person I've been looking for is you, Cui Jiandong."
Zhou Yaru looked confused. "Xiaoxi, what does this mean? Why did you suddenly call Wen Li just now? Is she related to today's matter?" Oh my god, was this actually a love triangle? Didn't the name of the work Wen Li mentioned belong to Manager Cui? She remembered Manager Cui saying it in the hospital ward!
Huang Zhenzhen was the first to react. She looked at Cui Jiandong in disbelief, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.
Xu Zixi pressed the alarm number on her phone and showed it to Cui Jiandong. "So, Cui Jiandong, do you want to tell the truth now, or wait until I call the police and we go to the police station together?"
Cui Jiandong looked ashen, kneeling on the ground like a soulless puppet.
"Does it make a difference?" he said hoarsely. "Even if I tell you here, will you not send me to the police station after listening?"
Xu Zixi said indifferently, "It depends on whether the information you give me is valuable. If it is, I can consider giving you a way out. Otherwise, I'll use all my power to send you to prison and let you spend the rest of your life there. I think Zhenzhen's ex - boyfriend must be looking forward to seeing you in prison."
Remembering the crazy look in Huang Zhenzhen's ex - boyfriend's eyes when he stabbed him, a chill ran from Cui Jiandong's knees to the depths of his soul, making him shiver.
Huang Zhenzhen stepped back to Xu Zixi's side. There was no longer any love in her eyes when she looked at Cui Jiandong, only full of disappointment. It was not only disappointment for misjudging people but also disappointment for losing trust in Cui Jiandong.
These eyes seemed to overlap with his mother's when she found out he had gone to Zhao Quanjing. It deeply hurt Cui Jiandong, and he felt more pain than when he rejected her.
His mother had been diagnosed with that illness and had long been ready to die. It was he who didn't want to watch his mother die. It was his own stubbornness to seek justice for her that had led him to this situation step by step. It was good to be discovered. He didn't have to hide anymore. Let everything end today.
"I'm willing to tell you everything," Cui Jiandong said hoarsely. "Whether to send me to the police station after listening is up to you."
Xu Zixi raised her eyebrows, opened the recording app, and said, "Go ahead."
So, on the terrace, everyone listened as Cui Jiandong revealed the hidden motives and the truth behind it.
"My real name is not Cui Jiandong. It's Fang Ruiyang. I'm the illegitimate son of Zhao Quanjing, the chairman of the Zhao Group, and my mother was a hostess.
But she didn't start out in this profession. She was an ordinary girl from a small fishing village. When she was young and innocent, she was deceived by someone in the village, who said there were good jobs in the big city and she could earn a lot of money. So she was tempted and followed that person to Haicheng. But unexpectedly, she was taken to a bar and raped by the drunk Zhao Quanjing.
After that man touched her, he gave her a sum of money and disappeared. Later, my mother found out she was pregnant. She didn't know what to do. In a hurry, she tried every means to find Zhao Quanjing, but somehow the news reached Zhao Quanjing's wife. My mother was almost thrown into the sea and drowned by that woman, but she was a good swimmer and managed to escape, and she also saved me.
My mother had to hide outside. She didn't dare to go home. With great difficulty, she gave birth to me and raised me. But from then on, she completely degenerated and became a real hostess.
Half a year ago, my mother was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called Rifolin Syndrome. People with this disease are paralyzed and weak all over, but when the disease attacks, it will cause epilepsy, foaming at the mouth. They look like they're crazy. It's very scary. If not treated in time, the patient may die at any time due to the attack.
After the diagnosis, my mother wanted to jump into the sea and end her life, but luckily I found her and sent her to the hospital for rescue..."