My Weekend Lover Turned Out To Be My Boss - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Record · “Flammable and Explosive”

In the first round, the butler and Guan Shuyun had already won their hands early. That left me and my rival, Qiao Xin, locked in a stalemate. She was sitting to my right, and her movements as she checked her tiles were quite professional. Without even looking, she rubbed the face of a tile with her thumb and tossed it into the center with overflowing confidence: “Eight of Characters.”

I took a breath and blew on my tea. Seeing that Eight of Characters, I suddenly barked: “Kong!” (Four of a kind)

Qiao Xin jumped in surprise and shot me a glare. I retrieved the Eight she had thrown and said gleefully, “I say, you’ve got some nerve. Every tile I’ve claimed or konged has been a Character—anybody can see I’m going for a ‘Flush.’ Yet you still dare to throw a Character tile? You’re bold, aren’t you? Ah, a single-tile ‘Golden Hook Hang’… feels good~”

Mocked by me, Qiao Xin slammed the table fiercely: “Enough nonsense, draw your tile!”

I drew a tile and examined it over and over, screaming One of Characters in my head. Feeling the texture of the tile in my hand, I suddenly flipped it over in front of Qiao Xin with malicious joy: “Self-drawn One of Characters! A ‘Full Flush,’ ‘All Triplets,’ ‘Golden Hook Hang,’ plus ‘Winning on a Kong’—this single hand is sending you back to the poverty line!”

Guan Shuyun stared at my tiles in disbelief, confirming them repeatedly, before looking at Qiao Xin with an expression that said you’re beyond saving. Seeing how arrogant I was, Qiao Xin’s teeth itched with rage. She pushed her tiles over and shouted indignantly, “You just wait! Again!”

With the smirk of a local thug, I lit a cigarette and held out my hand: “Wait for what? This is a max-point hand. Pay up!”

Qiao Xin pulled out a small stack of bills and threw them at me, muttering, “The first person to win is only winning paper. This is just the beginning!”

Counting the money, I swayed my head and retorted, “I call this ‘trapping the white wolf with empty hands’—you’d better watch yourself.”

And so, the situation for the next few rounds went like this…

Me: “One of Bamboos.” Qiao Xin snatched it: “Win!” I curled my lip teasingly: “Taking a ‘Tiny Win’ already? Where’s your grand ambition? Tsk, tsk…” I opened my drawer, took out some cash, and tossed it to her: “A tip for you.” “You bastard!”

…

Me: “Oh! I’ve got a hidden Kong.” Qiao Xin: “Robbing the Kong!” “Oh, you even know how to Rob a Kong?” “Give me the money!” “Here, here, have some more pocket money.”

…

Guan Shuyun: “Self-drawn, ‘Seven Pairs’.” Qiao Xin looked at Guan Shuyun in wonder: “I was wondering why you were so quiet this round, just discarding and never claiming. Turns out you were ‘building big.’ Seven of Dots.” I snatched the tile: “Seven of Dots! ‘All Triplets,’ I win!” The Butler: “Apologies, Miss Qiao, I’ve won as well.” I laughed until tears nearly came out: “Hahaha, one shot, two hits! Hahahaha, your luck is truly pitch black!” Qiao Xin’s face was indeed black: “…”

…

Guan Shuyun: “One of Bamboos.” Qiao Xin: “Pong! Nine of Dots.” Me: “Win!” Qiao Xin screamed: “You Feifan, you’re doing this on purpose! Why didn’t you win on Guan Shuyun’s Nine of Dots in the last rotation!?” I replied righteously: “Can’t I let one slide? Since all four players have taken a turn, I’ve decided I only want to win yours now. Just to spite you!” “YOU JUST WAIT!!!”

…

By the end, I had beaten Qiao Xin so badly she looked wilted. Her expression grew increasingly ugly while I grew more arrogant. Finally, Guan Shuyun couldn’t take it anymore and stomped hard on my foot under the table. I gasped in pain. She smiled, stood up, and arranged things: “It’s late. Let’s stop here for today. Since it’s so late, Qiao Xin can stay here. We’ll eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls) together when we wake up. A full house is more festive.”

I opened my drawer, which was stuffed with cash. I pulled out the red envelope Guan Shuyun had given me earlier and gave the red paper a loud, happy kiss: “I told you it would bring great luck!”

Guan Shuyun laughed and flicked my forehead: “Beat it and go to sleep.” “You got it~”

Qiao Xin grabbed my ear and roared like a demon, “Wait for it! Just you wait! Next time, I’m going to make you lose your pants!” I patted her hand away and shot back, “Who was the one bragging about making me go bankrupt? Go back and practice for another few hundred years, you ‘Queen of the Losing Shot’!”

I scurried back to my room. After a day of madness, I was exhausted. I flopped onto the bed and checked WeChat. I opened Phoebe’s chat window, debating whether to send a New Year’s greeting. After hesitating for a long time, I still lacked the courage. I tapped her profile picture and whispered to myself, “Wife, Happy New Year.”

Suddenly, the screen changed to an incoming call. The letters of Phoebe’s name flashed before my eyes. I was so startled I dropped my phone on the bed. I picked it up again and, gathering all my courage, answered.

Before I could speak, music drifted from the receiver. I turned on the speakerphone, and the room was instantly enveloped in a soft, beautiful piano melody. I didn’t know what piece it was, but it felt exceptionally moving.

I walked to the window, looking out at the dark night, quietly appreciating the garden scenery and the melodious tune. When the song ended, the world fell back into an eerie silence. She remained quiet on the other end, finally saying softly, “Happy New Year.”

I lowered my eyes and smiled. This was the best New Year’s gift I could receive. I responded with extra tenderness: “What is your New Year’s wish?”

I could hear her sorrowful sigh, followed by a voice that could melt one’s heart: “That my beloved returns.”

Those four words drifted into my heart as easily as wind or water. Frowning slightly, I lit a cigarette and offered a blessing: “May your dream come true.”

Clutching the phone, I whispered my fragility to the dial tone after she hung up: “I’d walk through fire and water for you, I’d endure humiliation and heavy burdens for you… you’ve never known that the way I love you is ‘the medicine changes but the formula remains the same.'”

…

On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, while everyone else was starting their new year’s hustle with the lingering joy of the festival, my new nightmare began. Early that morning, Guan Shuyun took me to the Guan Corporation. I was confused; shouldn’t I be going to work at Hannuo? She sat in the car, looking quite spirited. “Today, we should prepare a grand New Year’s gift for Lan Feiyi.”

It clicked. I finally understood what she was planning. I feigned composure, shrinking my body and leaning lazily against the car window: “I will do my best to cooperate.”

“In a bit, just relax. It’s just an interview.” “What kind of scene haven’t I seen? You’re worried I’ll be nervous?” “I’m just afraid you’ll go soft and won’t say things harsh enough.” “You can rest easy on that. I won’t hold anything back.” “Good.”

…

I followed Guan Shuyun into her office. A short while later, Qiao Xin arrived with someone in tow. She introduced her enthusiastically: “This is Ms. Hu, a reporter from the XXX Business Daily. She’s here specifically for the interview today.”

I stared at the woman in front of me. She wore black-rimmed glasses and looked travel-worn; I didn’t have much of an impression of her. Ms. Hu politely shook my hand, and we went to the reception room to talk. Qiao Xin and Guan Shuyun didn’t follow. Before leaving, Qiao Xin patted my shoulder and said with smug anticipation, “Put on a good performance~”

Once the secretary brought the tea, I pointedly closed the reception room door. Ms. Hu took out a voice recorder and her phone to begin the so-called interview. At first, we chatted casually about everything and nothing. She was skilled at slowly steering the conversation. Finally, she took a sip of tea and made a subtle transition: “I didn’t expect Ms. You’s experiences to be so rich. I remember there was similar news before—the relationship between Ms. You and President Lan is quite… nuanced.”

“Are you talking about Lan Feiyi?” “Yes, the head of the Lan Group, Ms. Lan Feiyi.” “To be honest, we’ve already broken up.” “You mean, you were actually together? And you just broke up? What a pity. A sought-after figure like President Lan—how could you bear to part?” “We were together for many years. I suppose our values didn’t align, so we couldn’t make it to the end.”

“I recall President Lan has a daughter born to her and her ex-husband. There was quite a stir a few years ago regarding her ex-husband’s kidnapping and suicide case… There are also rumors that the child was actually via IVF. Can Ms. You give a definitive answer? Just to satisfy everyone’s curiosity… having lived with President Lan for so many years, what was your relationship with the child like?”

“Yes, the child was conceived via IVF with her ex-husband. Even though the child has nothing to do with me biologically, I still viewed her as my own daughter. I like her very much. We lived together for many years, just like a family.”

The atmosphere began to shift. Ms. Hu’s questions came one after another: “Since your relationship was so good, what was the real reason for the split? Choosing IVF for a child has a significant impact on the kid—can we talk about why the ex-husband chose to end his life in such an explosive way? Could it be because he misunderstood Ms. You as a ‘third party’? Since President Lan didn’t love her ex-husband, why did she choose marriage? Did it have to do with the Lan family’s inheritance battle at the time?”

The entire morning of interviewing finally ended. I stood before the bathroom sink, looking at my pale and weary reflection in the mirror. I had answered every single one of the reporter’s questions truthfully. Just as I had promised Guan Shuyun: I held nothing back. I took out my phone and sent a message to Feijun: ‘Take Qingfan away from here as soon as possible.’

Feijun didn’t call or reply. I gathered my emotions and returned to Guan Shuyun’s office. Qiao Xin had already left with the reporter. Guan Shuyun sat in her executive chair, studying me. Finally, she said with a half-smile, “You don’t look happy.”

I answered honestly, “Of course I’m not. Who wants to talk about their unhappy past for no reason?”

She found this logical and nodded. “Tomorrow’s news will certainly be interesting.”

…

Sure enough, when the new day arrived and I was sitting in the dining room drinking porridge, Guan Shuyun specifically had someone bring me the latest copy of the XXX Business Daily. I thought Qiao Xin was only using the interview for a newspaper story. To my surprise, media outlets of all sizes on Weibo began forwarding the audio recording of my interview.

Various headlines were eye-stabbing: ‘The Lesbian Path of a Female Entrepreneur: Defying Convention and Abandoning Her Husband, Only to Part Ways in the End,’ ‘Exposure of the Private Life of a Certain President Lan in Our City’… I watched the news content in silence. Every word of the interview, after being “spiced up” by others, had completely changed flavor. The comment sections on Weibo were a wall of abuse.

‘Homosexuals… so disgusting…’ ‘Rich people really know how to play. IVF kids for inheritance, getting married then playing with women—what a drama!’ ‘Using IVF just to split the family property, she actually did it…’ ‘A woman like this, no matter how beautiful, has the heart of a snake and scorpion… terrifying!’ ‘The ex-husband committed suicide; he had eight lifetimes of bad luck to marry a woman like her.’ ‘Boycott this scheming bitch, hope she goes bankrupt soon!’ ‘Dox her! We must dox her!’ ‘That woman named You isn’t anything good either, she’s even been to prison.’ ‘Holy crap, swings both ways, beautiful, fair-skinned, and rich—she’s a winner at life!’

Guan Shuyun scrolled through her phone, reading the comments to me one by one. Eventually, she couldn’t go on. For some unknown reason, she reached out, snatched the newspaper from my hand, and tore it to shreds. “Stop looking. Eat.”

I forced a smile and stared at the scraps of paper on the floor, saying indifferently, “The effect is quite good. Why are you the one who’s unhappy in the end?”