A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 17

Standing in the elevator, Zhou Sifu kept looking down at his wristwatch.

Noticing that Shi Tian was watching his mechanical and unnatural movements through the reflection in the elevator door, he spoke up coldly: “I am very busy.”

“I know,” Shi Tian said calmly. “That’s why I’ll leave as soon as I get the money. I won’t waste your time.”

Zhou Sifu frowned, looking as if he had swallowed something disgusting.

After a moment, he said politely but sharply: “Money is the only thing you talk about. Don’t you think you are being too greedy, Mr. Shi?”

Hearing this description, Shi Tian smiled: “To be honest, money is exactly what I want most right now. If saying the word ‘money’ earned me an extra dollar each time, I would keep saying it until the moment you clock out.”

Zhou Sifu: “…”

The elevator stopped at the fifth floor. A few Danofe employees with ID cards were planning to go to the cafeteria together. They didn’t expect to see the boss’s cold face the moment the doors opened.

Terrified, they immediately took a step back and let the big boss go first.

As the doors closed slowly, Zhou Sifu added at his own pace: “I thought you were running around busy with Fengyu’s affairs. I didn’t expect you to come here in person for a mere few million.”

“This few million is my life-saving money,” Shi Tian said, raising an eyebrow. “Unlike you, Mr. Zhou, who throws around a 5-million-dollar card like it’s nothing. Aren’t you afraid I’ll spend it all in one night?”

“Go ahead,” Zhou Sifu replied indifferently. “You have so many creditors anyway; one more from me won’t make a difference.”

Shi Tian: “…”

Fine, Zhou. You really know how to talk.

For the rest of the ride, no one spoke until the elevator reached the top floor, where Zhou Sifu’s office was located.

Stepping out, Zhou Sifu adjusted his shirt collar: “I have meetings this afternoon. Would you like to wait in my office to talk, or should I find someone to show you around so you can see Danofe’s corporate culture?”

Shi Tian nodded, showing great understanding: “A vehicle recall? That sounds bad. You go ahead and stay busy, Mr. Zhou.”

As he spoke, Zhou Sifu’s steady pace faltered almost invisibly.

“…” Zhou Sifu said coldly, “I didn’t know you had a habit of eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.”

Just as Shi Tian was about to talk back, Alan, who had been following them, coughed to interrupt: “Ahem, CEO Zhou, the afternoon meeting starts in three minutes.”

He didn’t expect these two grown adults to bicker with each other the entire way.

Three minutes later, in the large conference room on the 15th floor.

The heads of the quality control department and the recall team were lined up around the table. The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and the air was thick with tension.

Everyone had heard the news about the defective fan blades in some of the newly mass-produced M9 series air conditioners. They were all afraid of taking the blame, but they had to face the coming storm.

Soon, the door opened, and Zhou Sifu walked in with his assistant and secretary.

Everyone shut their mouths, not daring to look at the boss’s face. Once he sat down in the office chair at the end of the table, he raised his hand toward the assistant: “Straw.”

The assistant quickly handed him a plastic straw. Under the anxious gaze of the crowd, the boss took a light pink iced drink out of a paper bag on the table and poked the straw in.

After taking a sip, the expression on Zhou Sifu’s face was hard to describe.

Seeing that he almost choked, the assistant whispered behind him: “CEO Zhou, the fruit pulp is all at the bottom… you need to shake it.”

“…”

With a dark expression, Zhou Sifu put down the milk tea, picked up the quality inspection report, and looked around the room: “Who wants to start?”

Meanwhile, in the Danofe CEO’s office.

This was the first time Alan had seen the legendary Mr. Shi up close.

Based on recent rumors and the boss’s occasional mentions, he had always felt that this big boss of Fengyu should be a gloomy and miserable person.

After all, so many accidents had happened to him in just one month. Right after getting married, he was betrayed by his husband, who teamed up with a lover to take all the family property. The hard work of so many years had gone down the drain, and he was buried in debt.

Even Alan felt sad thinking about it, let alone the person involved.

But the man currently on the phone with a lawyer was completely different from what he had imagined.

Some people are born with a natural charisma that makes them the center of attention anywhere. Zhou Sifu was like that, and Shi Tian was no exception.

He had good manners and a handsome, scholarly look. His suit was ironed without a single wrinkle. He leaned back on the sofa with his legs stretched out, calmly answering the lawyer’s questions—a perfect example of a business elite.

Except for the slight dark circles under his eyes, suggesting he hadn’t rested well lately, you couldn’t tell he had gone through so much.

“Yes, I understand,” Shi Tian thanked the lawyer. “I will notify you as soon as I receive the court summons.”

Putting down his phone, he saw Zhou Sifu’s secretary approaching him politely: “Mr. Shi, it will take some time for the CEO to finish his meeting. Would you like something to drink?”

Shi Tian was feeling a bit sleepy, so he nodded: “A hot Americano with two sugars, please.”

He was always very strict about sweetness. His assistant, Chen, kept a large box of sugar substitutes in the office just to meet his needs at any time.

Hearing the request, the secretary froze: “…I didn’t expect you to have the same taste as CEO Zhou.”

Shi Tian tilted his head, not quite understanding: “What taste?”

“Oh… it’s nothing.”

After hesitating, the secretary didn’t explain further and hurried to the coffee machine.

While the secretary was making coffee, Shi Tian looked around the office.

He remembered that when Zhou Sifu was in school, he loved industrial-style decor and hated anything flashy. His office followed that same style.

The entire top floor, covering at least two hundred square meters, was opened up in the middle without any partitions. Even the coffee station used a trendy color-clashing style. The walls, furniture, carpets, and paintings were only in black, white, and gray, looking very simple.

Except for the cactus on the desk.

Not only did the messy roots of the cactus look out of place in such a tidy room, but the ugly thorns also ruined the view. In terms of decorative plants, Zhou Sifu’s taste was truly bad.

Soon, he noticed something else that felt out of place.

Next to the computer on the desk was a small, locked safe. It looked old and had a layer of rust on the surface, yet it sat by the window exposed to the sun and rain.

He looked closer and saw a sticker on the back of the safe with the production batch. The handwriting was faded, but he could still see that the safe was made seven or eight years ago.

This old style should have been replaced long ago. Using it for valuables—wasn’t he afraid of it being stolen?

Noticing that Mr. Shi was staring at the safe, the secretary added: “Mr. Shi, your money has already been deposited in the bank. It’s not in there.”

Shi Tian coughed awkwardly: “I wasn’t going to ask about that—”

“There seems to be only one thing inside,” the secretary said. “I’m not sure what it is.”

Just as the secretary finished speaking, a faint “ding” came from the hallway. It was the sound of the elevator. Very few people in the company had the authority to take the elevator directly to the top floor.

The secretary hurried to the door as Zhou Sifu walked in.

The secretary took the suit jacket: “CEO Zhou.”

“Mm.”

Zhou Sifu responded, took off his tie, and handed it to Alan as well.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Shi Tian asked slowly: “Solved it?”

Zhou Sifu acted as if he had just noticed Shi Tian. His back stiffened slightly, and he said calmly with his back turned: “There is nothing I can’t solve.”

“Great,” Shi Tian slapped his knee and sat up straight. “Then let’s solve our business now.”

“You give me my money, I give you back your card, and we stop wasting each other’s time. How about it?” He said with a smile to Zhou Sifu’s back. “I have to meet my lawyer later; I don’t have much time.”

Zhou Sifu: “You received the court summons?”

Shi Tian narrowed his eyes: “Not yet… why do you ask?”

“Then I’d be happy to give you some advice.”

Sitting back in his office chair, Zhou Sifu crossed his hands over his knees. “Ji Yuanlin is in the light, and you are in the dark. If I were you, I wouldn’t accept the defense so quickly.”

“I guess you want to file a counterclaim while preparing your defense?” He didn’t look at Shi Tian, and his tone was neutral. “I can give you a piece of information for free. Your husband will be going abroad for a while next month. You can provide evidence to the court during that time.”

Shi Tian gave a fake smile: “First, Ji Yuanlin is not my husband anymore. Second, I already knew that. He’s flying to Paris to go public with his lover in front of the media. Why? I thought you loved being in the spotlight, Mr. Zhou. How come you didn’t get this chance?”

Zhou Sifu replied calmly: “Because I’m not thinking with my lower half.”

Seeing the angry expression on Shi Tian’s face, Zhou Sifu sat up straight and looked at him: “If I said that I haven’t had any sexual experiences since you, would you believe me?”

Shi Tian: “…”

I don’t want to know, thank you.

Zhou Sifu didn’t continue that topic but changed the subject: “If you have time, you should ask Zheng Ying. She probably told you she’s been in a divorce battle for half a year. I’m sure her information will help you.”

For a moment, Shi Tian didn’t know whether to thank this man or punch him.

After sitting in the office for an hour, Shi Tian left with the same card he brought, plus a corporate brochure for Danofe.

Standing by the road waiting for Assistant Chen to pick him up, he looked at the sky, feeling like he had come all this way for nothing.

Seeing his white Audi appear at the intersection, Shi Tian was about to walk forward when his phone rang.

He looked down and saw a very familiar phone number on the screen. Although he hadn’t tried to memorize it, the moment he saw it, his nerves tightened.

Seeing that he didn’t pick up, the other person hung up and immediately sent two text messages.

21976531: 【Tian-Tian, it’s me】

21976531: 【I have something to say to you】

Staring at the messages, Shi Tian’s expression didn’t change, but the hand holding the phone began to shake slightly.

—It was Ji Yuanlin.

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