Four Years Ago, Her Husband Cheated on Her Body - Chapter 15

Jia Qiao’s fingertip hovered above the screen, magnifying the photo. His pupils contracted for a moment as he stared at the image.

He hadn’t expected Zoa, who was slow to type and shamelessly thick-skinned during their online communication, to be so… utterly aggressive in person.

Though his face wasn’t visible, he radiated an adult male’s sex appeal and charm, like a beast temporarily sheathing its claws to lie in wait.

More than Zoa himself, what captured Jia Qiao’s attention was—

His gaze penetrated the screen, carefully observing the black shirt Zoa was wearing.

It was an old, four-year-old model from a certain luxury brand. Zhu Nanyu owned an identical one.

Logically speaking, it wasn’t custom-made, so running into someone wearing the same shirt was normal.

However, the shirt’s price tag was expensive, far exceeding the means of the average working class.

And those wealthy enough to treat a shirt starting in the five digits as everyday wear would almost never wear clothes that were so far out of season.

Jia Qiao recalled wearing it once; the cut had a slightly wider shoulder line, and it was hard to pull off if one’s proportions were slightly off.

Yet, on the Zoa in the photo, it fit perfectly, as if tailored to his exact measurements. It was so…

So much like Zhu Nanyu.

“Oh, looking for so long?” Lanner’s voice carried a hint of amusement, and a sly expression flashed across his sapphire blue eyes. “Does little Jia Qiao care about him that much?”

If things kept developing this way, his poor little cousin might just end up moving from the ‘legitimate spouse’ position to ‘the other man.’

Ai-ya-ya, how exciting!

Jia Qiao abruptly averted his gaze, suppressing that minuscule flicker of emotion. His voice returned to its usual detachment.

“I have him to thank for his help with Ruike’s issue. I originally wanted to thank him in person, but it seems he is… indisposed.” He paused for two seconds, his peripheral vision scanning the background of the private hospital room in the photo. “Is his condition serious?”

“Serious, well…” Lanner deliberately drew out the word, keenly sensing the subtle tightening of Jia Qiao’s fingers around the teacup before slowly adding the latter half of the sentence, “It’s not that serious, but it will require time for slow recovery. If little Jia Qiao wants to send a small gift full of heartfelt wishes to console the poor, lonely patient, big brother would be very willing to serve as the messenger of love~”

The overseas cooperation project was finally settled.

Jia Qiao had initially planned to stay in the background as a mere puppet and vase, as he had done before.

However, having witnessed Jia Qiao’s capabilities, the management of Qianhe Group started to stir.

They insisted that Director Jia’s contribution was essential in securing the cooperation and urged him to ‘personally’ come to the company to preside over the overall situation.

Jia Qiao: …

Fine, the good days of working from home are over.

On a weekday morning, the driver took Jia Qiao to the Qianhe Group headquarters.

Just as the car door was pulled open, before Jia Qiao could step out, he heard a person in front of the main lobby pleading anxiously and obsequiously with the duty guard.

“Brother Zhang, we’ve known each other for seven or eight years, we’re old acquaintances, just let me through, please?”

Huang Zheng took a thick red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into the security guard’s arms.

“I followed Director Zhu since the startup phase and personally watched Qianhe grow step by step. This is half my home! I only left two days ago, just let me go back and take a look, please?”

The security guard was burly, crossing his arms to flex his biceps. He stood like a door god guarding the turnstile, his eyes filled with contempt as he looked down at Huang Zheng. “Chief Engineer Huang… oh, no, I should call you Mr. Huang now. If you genuinely value our past relationship, then don’t make things difficult for a small guard like me. You passed through this gate countless times before, when did you ever look at me properly?”

Huang Zheng’s face flushed crimson. His lips trembled, and he stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

The security guard looked straight ahead, radiating a stern sense of integrity. “After that incident with Ruike a few days ago, Director Jia reminded us to strengthen security and absolutely not allow ‘outsiders’ to sneak into the company.”

The word ‘outsiders’ was bitten off heavily, clearly resentful of Huang Zheng’s treacherous act of stabbing the former employer in the back and defecting to the enemy during a crisis.

“Director Jia? He personally gave the instructions?” Huang Zheng’s voice suddenly rose with urgency. He grabbed Brother Zhang’s arm, pleading almost servilely, “Brother Zhang, I beg you, let me in to see Director Jia! Five minutes, just five minutes! I won’t go to Ruike anymore. I returned all the money Fu Qingyan gave me. As long as Director Jia gives me a chance to return to Qianhe, I will willingly accept a pay cut and work like an ox or a horse for Director Jia! I’ll even… even act like a dog!”

The security guard pushed Huang Zheng away in disgust. Before he could speak, his eyes landed behind Huang Zheng, and he called out respectfully, “Director Jia, good morning.”

Hearing the words ‘Director Jia,’ Huang Zheng snapped his head around and saw Jia Qiao standing just a few steps away.

The morning breeze gently ruffled the ends of Jia Qiao’s hair. His clear eyes were devoid of any fluctuation.

“Good morning. Thank you for your hard work,” Jia Qiao politely greeted the security guard with a nod. He then looked at Huang Zheng, his voice noticeably cooler. “Mr. Huang, I have already signed your resignation application. May I ask what business you have returning to Qianhe?”

“Director Jia, Director Jia, please give me another chance! I’ll do anything!” Huang Zheng scrambled towards Jia Qiao but didn’t dare to touch him. Hunching his back pathetically, he was utterly stripped of his former confidence.

“Director Jia, please don’t believe his nonsense!” The security guard frowned and said angrily. “He only wants to come back to Qianhe because Ruike collapsed, and everyone in the industry knows he betrayed his old employer, so no one dares to offer him a job. A man like this who can betray once can betray a second time!”

“No! I will absolutely not betray Director Jia! I swear! I swear a solemn oath!” Huang Zheng raised three fingers to the heavens, as if ready to be struck by lightning at any moment.

Jia Qiao didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, his tone as casual as ever. “No need for an oath. I can give you a chance.”

“R-really?” Huang Zheng raised his head excitedly, his eyes bursting with a light of ecstasy, as if seeing a pair of holy angel wings unfurl on Jia Qiao’s back.

“Of course.” Jia Qiao’s gaze calmly swept over his face. “The condition is that you first follow the original resignation agreement and repay Qianhe three times the penalty for breach of contract.”

Huang Zheng’s face instantly lost all color, thinking of the three-times breach penalty Fu Qingyan had boasted about when he resigned. His body slumped to the ground in despair.

Jia Qiao ignored the ashen-faced Huang Zheng and walked straight into the company building.

Today was Qianhe’s monthly routine recruitment day.

With the president of Ruike Group arrested, the management team fractured, and the company in chaos, the small employees who realized the situation overnight faced the crisis of unemployment and were scrambling like headless flies to find jobs everywhere.

Conveniently, Qianhe had just signed a contract with an overseas partner and was in need of personnel.

In the waiting area in the corner of the lobby sat several former Ruike employees. Some were checking their ties in the reflection of the glass, while others were hastily reviewing interview questions.

Hearing the receptionist’s sweet voice greet, “Director Jia, good morning,” several interviewees looked over, and the murmurs of discussion and admiration spread like ripples.

“That’s the Chairman of Qianhe? He’s so young…”

“Oh my god, he looks even better in person than in the videos. If I get into Qianhe, won’t I get to see that face every day?”

“I wonder if Director Jia will attend the interviews later. If I’m facing that face, I might even forget my own name.”

In the crowd, an applicant for a design position seemed stunned, staring intently at Jia Qiao.

Jia Qiao sensed the gaze, turned to look, and carefully assessed the employee from head to toe.

“Wu Youwei,” Jia Qiao accurately called out his name and encouraged him, “Good luck with the interview.”

“Th-thank you, Director Jia.” Wu Youwei clenched his fists, his palms sweating profusely.

After watching Jia Qiao step into the exclusive elevator, a group of people immediately crowded around Wu Youwei, excitedly asking, “Old Wu, you know Director Jia?”

“He actually remembers your name! I heard even Wang Lue, the boss of Wangyang Tech, wasn’t remembered by Director Jia. You’re something else; how did you do it?”

Wu Youwei scratched his head awkwardly, sheepishly saying, “Maybe… Director Jia looked at my file.”

—For instance, on the employee badge at Ruike.

In the top-floor conference room, the core management team of Qianhe sat on both sides of the long conference table, the atmosphere tense.

Jia Qiao sat in the chairman’s seat, quietly listening to the department heads report on their work.

“…As of today, Qianhe has formally terminated its six-year cooperation with Zhao Ming and his affiliated company. All production chains have been replaced with new suppliers, whose qualifications, capacity, and prices are all superior to the original supplier.”

Zhao Ming, coveting the benefits offered by Fu Qingyan, believed that Ruike had the ‘Dawn Project’ secured, so he planned to sell the raw materials Qianhe needed to Ruike at a high price without prior notice.

However, the incident came to light before Ruike had even made the payment, leaving Zhao Ming with a large stock of materials he had hoarded for the ‘big deal’ suddenly without a buyer.

His initial rise was largely thanks to Zhu Nanyu helping him build connections. Those ‘connections’ didn’t say it openly, but secretly scorned Zhao Ming for his ingratitude. They seized the opportunity to aggressively demand payment for goods and cut off all of Zhao Ming’s lending channels.

Unable to raise cash, Zhao Ming couldn’t pay the final balance. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact Qianhe, he was driven to a dead end and had no choice but to sell the raw materials at a low price to other companies—companies which just happened to be Qianhe’s new suppliers.

“Although the raw material issue is solved, Huang Zheng’s position is vacant. Who will ensure that the technical direction aligns with the ‘Dawn Project’? Our overseas partner is waiting for the planning draft for the ‘Dawn Project.'”

“Indeed, we can’t possibly invite that backstabbing Huang Zheng back, can we?”

“Absolutely not!” Cai Xi flatly refused. “I can’t work with disgusting people.”

The R&D manager had a flash of inspiration, stood up, and proposed, “I have an idea. Since Ruike has fallen, we should poach their CTO. Fight fire with fire!”

“Ruike’s CTO does have some skill, having led the company to surpass Qianhe in just four years. What do you think, Director Jia?”

Jia Qiao, who had been an interested spectator, was suddenly called upon. He slowly raised a point of skepticism. “In your opinion, who set Ruike’s later development direction?”

“This…”

Recalling Ruike’s string of malicious competition and operations skirting legal boundaries, the group fell silent collectively.

Jia Qiao looked around and said plainly, “Actually, I have someone in mind.”