Seeing the dining table laden with dishes, Ning Ran felt her stomach growl with hunger.
She had planned to eat noodles yesterday night, but she only ended up eating them this morning.
However, as she peered into the bowl of noodles Nan Chen had prepared, she felt rather stunned.
The noodles had been overcooked, which wouldn’t have been a problem in itself. However, Nan Chen hadn’t washed them with cold water, which resulted in the noodles clumping together into unsightly lumps.
She took a bite and almost spat it out. The taste was abhorrent.
Ning Ran looked at the fried eggs. They were very clearly burnt. As she placed a small mouthful into her mouth, she could feel a bitter taste on her tongue.
Ning Ran then drank some of the soup. “Not bad.”
Nan Chen put down his chopsticks, looking very despondent.
He had done his best. He had spent nearly forty minutes in the kitchen trying to whip up something edible, but the results were disappointing.
“It’s not too bad! I see some improvements,” Ning Ran said, smiling.
“Then you can finish it,” Nan Chen said, sulking.
Ning Ran felt startled. Is he being serious? The food’s so badly cooked that even dogs might turn their noses up at it.
“Sure! If you finish your portion, I’ll finish mine too,” Ning Ran said, fighting to keep a straight face.
“No thanks. I’ll just have some water.”
“Now that won’t do! You spent so long making this. You should enjoy the fruits of your hard work.”
“I can’t stomach this at all, but if you think it’s not bad, you can finish the entire table of dishes.”
Ning Ran burst into laughter. “I was merely praising you out of politeness, did you think I was serious? Are these noodles or noodle balls? Can’t you tell when you’ve overcooked the noodles?”
“I’ll try again. I’m sure I’ll be able to do this properly.” Nan Chen stood up from his seat, looking very displeased.
“That’s enough. If you end up cooking another bowl of noodle lumps, I might starve to death. I’ll do it,” Ning Ran said quickly.
Nan Chen demurred. “Fine, let’s not have breakfast then. We might as well have lunch now. I’ll call Qiao Zhan and have him bring some dishes over.”
Ning Ran glanced at the clock. It was indeed nearly time for lunch. She agreed immediately.
Nan Chen took the remote control and jumped back in front of the television. He turned the channel back to the investment news channel.
Some of Vietnam’s high-ranking government officials had observed some of Nanshi Corporation’s projects in their country and given them a thumbs up.
Officials from the European Union had done the same and appraised the Nanshi Corporation’s ventures within their territory, before giving them the same high praise.
All sorts of good news regarding Nanshi Corporation was being made known to the public at the same time. Instantaneously, the companies under the corporation started experiencing a huge jump in their stock prices. One of them even managed to reach a fifteen percent rise in stock price.
Nan Chen finished watching the news. As a smile appeared on his face, he turned to look at Ning Ran. “Do you understand that?”
“Of course,” Ning Ran said confidently.
“Well, what do you understand?” Nan Chen asked in disbelief.
“Those with bad intentions betted on a decrease in the stock prices of companies under Nanshi Corporation. Now that the stock price has increased instead, they’ve lost their money. The more they betted, the more money they would’ve lost, right?”
Nan Chen nodded with satisfaction.
Ning Ran looked up at him, feeling pleased with herself. “See, didn’t I tell you I understood?”
Nan Chen glanced at her. “Why didn’t you agree to sell me out when those people were pressuring you to do so?”
“Because I knew they wouldn’t succeed. I’m not an idiot.”
“If they told you to betray me in exchange for your own freedom, would you have done it, then?”
“What sort of scenario is that? I’ve never even thought about it.”
“Well, think carefully now.”
Ning Ran thought for a long time before she shook her head.
“Why not?” Nan Chen asked.
“Firstly, if I really betrayed you, the Nan family would’ve been after my blood as soon as I was released.”
“Secondly, you’re the kids’ father, and you’re more capable of protecting them than I am. If one of us had to be sacrificed, I’d rather it be me than you.”
“Hence, I’ll be holding a grudge against them until I can settle it. I won’t hurt you, or go along with other’s plans to hurt you,” Ning Ran said determinedly.
Nan Chen didn’t say anything.
He suddenly felt a little touched. How can just a few words from her evoked these feelings from me? This isn’t scientific at all.
“Why didn’t you let me sleep with you?” Nan Chen asked.
“I don’t know.” Ning Ran shook her head.
“After lunch, let’s go and pay the psychiatrist a visit.”
“No.” Ning Ran rejected his suggestion immediately.
“Why not? You should resolve your psychological problems as quickly as you can. Look how embarrassing it is for the both of us!”
“Let’s talk about it in the future. There are so many things going on right now. Who has the time to think about something so trivial as going to a psychiatrist?”
Nan Chen agreed with her. After all, they had their whole lives ahead of them. This wasn’t urgent.
Suddenly, a strange sound sounded out of nowhere. It sounded like the growl of a famished stomach.
Nan Chen looked at Ning Ran. She smiled in embarrassment. “Can you call Qiao Zhan and get him to hurry up? I’m starving!”
…
At Flower City’s train station, Zhang Xiaoman hurried toward the platform with her luggage in tow, a mask obscuring half her face from view.
She was the netizen who had complained online about how the products from Beauty Cosmetics’ are defective earlier. She had even accused Ning Ran of participating in false advertising.
Although she was wearing a mask, she still felt extremely unsafe. She looked down at the ground as she walked.
There were many people entering the train station and the queue was extremely long. Zhang Xiaoman wanted to jump the queue, but the people ahead refused to let her do so. She had no choice but to head to the back.
“Miss Zhang, where do you think you’re heading?”
A man the size of a small tower walked toward her and wrenched the luggage from her hands.
“What are you doing? Give me my luggage back!” Zhang Xiaoman hollered in panic.
“Miss Zhang, don’t you worry. I’m just here to chat with you about a few matters. I’ll leave when we’re done,” Qiao Zhan said in a low voice.
“I have a train to catch. I have no time to talk to you right now,” Zhang Xiaoman objected vehemently.
“Oh, we can’t do that! Why don’t you call the police? We can go down to the police station and have our little chat there. You spread all sorts of rumors and damaged the reputation of Beauty Cosmetics, not to mention the financial losses incurred. You will take responsibility for this. Miss Zhang, do you think we’ll let you off so easily?”
Zhang Xiaoman felt even more panicked. “Who are you? What are you trying to do?”
“I’m the head of the security detail at Nanshi Corporation. You can call me Qiao Zhan.”
Qiao Zhan had recently begged Nan Zhengde for this title. He couldn’t stomach the fact that, despite being no worse than Jiang Zhe, Jiang Zhe’s rank was higher than his own.
Without the position, Qiao Zhan lacked the authority to do many things. Hence, he had no choice but to turn to Nan Zhengde for help.
As such, Nan Zhengde granted him the title of Head of Security. He was henceforth in charge of overseeing all the security teams at all the companies under Nanshi Corporation.
This was no small deal. Nanshi Corporation had several companies under them. The fact that he could oversee all the security teams meant that Qiao Zhan had truly risen up in the world.
Although he had already been in a pretty high position before, Qiao Zhan had never been important enough to command attention and respect. He was only the Nan family’s security team leader, and this didn’t sound impressive enough.
However, everything had worked out in the end. He was now the Head of Security, and he could finally do as he pleased.
As this was the first time he had showed off his rank to someone outside the team, he felt exhilaration running through his veins. As he spoke to Zhang Xiaoman, his back was perfectly straight.
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t care who he was. However, as soon as he mentioned Nanshi Corporation, a look of fear crept onto her face.
“I have no idea who you are. Please leave me alone.”
Abandoning her train and her luggage, Zhang Xiaoman turned and ran for her life.
Before she could get away, however, a man wearing a suit stepped in front of her.
She turned to look at Qiao Zhan fearfully. He smiled at her and said, “You can’t escape. If you don’t want me to report you to the police and make you pay for the financial losses, you’d better come quietly with me. You’re not someone important, so I won’t make things difficult for you. Besides, I’m the Head of Security, why would I bother with a small fry like you?”
His subordinates felt the urge to laugh. Captain Qiao must’ve wanted this promotion for a long time. He managed to insert a reference to his position in every single sentence he spoke.
