Pharmaceutical Negotiator - Chapter 34

Clouds gather before a storm. Night was falling. Due to the overcast sky, the darkness came sooner and was heavier.

The main light in the office was off. Zhang Sitan had turned off the air conditioning too, as it was wasteful to leave it running.

The computer screen reflected a faint blue light. A pair of gold rimmed glasses rested on her ears. Feeling slightly fatigued, she buried her head close to the screen, focusing completely on taking notes.

The phone next to her vibrated softly, but she didn’t notice.

Her slightly pale fingertips gripped the mouse tightly, knuckles slightly protruding. Under the light, the skin on her fingers appeared a faint pink.

Only after typing the last line on the keyboard did she finally pick up her phone.

Ignoring some unimportant notifications, two WeChat messages seemed more important.

Zhang Sitan first tapped into the message from Qi An: “Really want to escape.”

Is she uncomfortable at the gathering? Zhang Sitan thought.

But she didn’t reply. She exited the interface and opened the message from Su Wei.

There were two messages. The first was a picture. In the picture, two people Qi An and Luo Murong were huddled together whispering something, looking like they were getting along well.

Hmph, Zhang Sitan raised an eyebrow.

This is the so called “really want to escape”? She looks quite happy.

She automatically ignored Su Wei’s question, “Is your little assistant dating?”, and replied:

“Message me when you’re almost done eating. I’ll pick her up.”

Su Wei replied with an OK hand gesture and didn’t ask too many questions.

Of course, she might have just wanted to wait until Zhang Sitan arrived to ask her in person.

When applying for university, Qi Shenli gave Qi An a lot of freedom apply for anything, any major, and she and Qi Zhiguo would back her up.

So Qi An randomly chose a Sino-foreign joint venture program in Business English, sacrificing the major for a 985 university. Qi Zhiguo told her that she must get a teaching certificate and become a teacher in the future, as the work environment was good.

Perhaps due to regional reasons, coupled with Qi Zhiguo being a professor, Qi An was indoctrinated with the ideal of becoming a teacher since childhood.

But she refused to stand on the podium. Qi Zhiguo was depressed about this for a long time, saying that she would realize the appeal of a “safe” job once she entered society.

Qi An’s first job was being Zhang Sitan’s assistant. She was very happy with it.

Although there were times when she was very tired and fatigued, there was no need for scheming, no worry about the payoff not matching the effort. So, since graduating, Qi An hasn’t found entering society to be scary.

She was well protected.

Therefore, at the dinner table, watching these rich young men get drunk and start to act wildly, she was startled.

Then, inexplicably, she remembered Qi Zhiguo telling her, Be a teacher, the work environment is good.

At that moment, she somewhat understood the meaning of this “environment.”

The private room was filled with smoke, cigarette butts were strewn all over the floor, and wine bottles were scattered haphazardly.

Zhu Tengyu was probably on drugs. He had stripped off all his clothes, gasping violently as he slumped in a chair.

The three girls’ clique also got drunk and started arguing with others.

Qi An felt nauseous. Although the room was large, the smell of smoke, alcohol, and spit on the floor had permeated every corner, a sour stench that lingered.

She looked to Su Wei for help. Su Wei was also slightly frowning, considering leaving.

She had heard Cola mention that Zhu Tengyu had become a drug addict, but she didn’t expect him to be so shameless, openly exposing himself and sharing drugs with the three girls.

One of the girls took it. Her eyes wide, she nodded rhythmically. There was only conversation and the clinking of bottles in the room; no music was playing, yet she felt a melody in her ear, instinctively wanting to fondle herself and sway to the beat.

The class monitor didn’t say anything, calmly drinking his tea, unmoved.

He had organized this dinner. Tonight, he had recorded too much material, including Zhu Tengyu’s confession about the people buried under the X bridge pier.

The Zhu family had contracted the bridge project, and when construction began, they found two pairs of Tongzi (virgin boys) to “guard” the bridge, burying them at the head and tail of the structure.

When Zhu Tengyu talked about this, his expression was full of pride, as if divine beings would truly bless them with wealth because of their sacrifice.

This was enough to take down Zhu Tengyu and his family.

“I think that’s enough, I’m going back first.” The class monitor got up, simultaneously asking Su Wei, who was sitting next to him, if she wanted to leave.

The class monitor’s family had military style rules and a curfew. Everyone was used to it, so they didn’t say anything.

Su Wei was about to leave anyway. Seeing the class monitor ask her, she nodded and stood up too.

“Qi An, are you leaving?” she asked.

Qi An hadn’t spoken much during the conversation, only agreeing a few times when others asked her.

Now that Su Wei suddenly called out to Qi An, a few of those who weren’t too drunk looked at her, especially Cola, who exclaimed, “You guys know each other!”

“Work acquaintance.” Su Wei didn’t want to explain much, pulling Qi An towards the door.

Luo Murong couldn’t handle his liquor and was passed out on the table.

Just now, Zhu Tengyu’s drug effect suddenly kicked in, which scared Qi An so much that she didn’t dare move, but she also didn’t want to leave Luo Murong alone, so she thought about waking him up.

The class monitor understood her intention and said, “Don’t worry, someone will take care of him.”

Qi An hadn’t even processed this when she saw the class monitor toss the car keys Luo Murong had on the table to Cola: “You take care of your baby daddy.”

Cola looked disgusted: “It has nothing to do with me, I won’t do it.”

Despite saying that, her actions betrayed her words; she took the keys.

This whole exchange left Qi An bewildered, so much so that she forgot to walk out the door with Su Wei.

Outside the Imperial Grand Hotel, Su Wei sighed, “Class monitor, your plan goes too far.”

“Just an overstatement. Zhu Yun is too cunning, this was the only resort.”

Zhu Yun is Zhu Tengyu’s father. A tiger begets a tiger, but this prodigal son of his might just ruin him.

“We’re leaving now. Take care, class monitor.” Su Wei knew the class monitor’s character and didn’t say much more.

At the dinner table earlier, she noticed the class monitor secretly recording and taking photos. Thinking of the Zhu family’s recent arrogance and the long-standing discord between their two families, she guessed a few things.

She was sitting close to the class monitor, so she leaned over to cover for him, making it easier for him to record.

The class monitor nodded. His driver also pulled the car over right then. Just as he was about to get in, he saw Zhou Yangle standing next to Su Wei and couldn’t help but say:

“Don’t worry about what was said in the group chat. Life is your own, and you are the only one who has the right to manage it.”

“I know,” Su Wei smiled, touched. “Thank you, class monitor.”

“What was said in the group chat? Did I miss any messages?” Su Wei’s phone was like her own to Zhou Yangle; she knew all the messages and contacts. She truly couldn’t guess which messages the class monitor meant when he said “don’t worry about it.”

“Nothing. Hurry up and get the car!” Su Wei pushed away Zhou Yangle, who was sticking close to her. Qi An was still there, and she didn’t want to be too intimate.

“I’ve been drinking!” Zhou Yangle protested.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go get it. Wait here for me.”

Su Wei walked towards the parking garage, sending a message to Zhang Sitan on the way.

The “group messages” the class monitor referred to were actually the analysis those three girls performed on Zhou Yangle from head to toe after Zhou Yangle posted a photo, and they also sarcastically remarked that Su Wei was “trendy” for becoming a lesbian.

Su Wei didn’t care about these boring comments, but she knew Zhou Yangle was even more boring; despite having piles of medical books to memorize, she particularly liked to waste time flipping through Su Wei’s phone.

Su Wei didn’t want to ruin her mood, so she deleted those chats one by one.

In fact, some people in the group supported her, like Cola and Luo Murong.

The class monitor never spoke in the group, so his sudden comfort was truly unexpected for Su Wei.

After driving the car over, Zhang Sitan had already arrived too. Su Wei honked the horn, signaling them to get in.

“I can’t believe it, you two actually live together.” After hearing the address Zhang Sitan gave, Su Wei realized that she and Qi An lived together.

“Yeah,” Zhang Sitan replied lazily from the back seat. “It was a bit rushed, and I didn’t have time to find a place.”

After ten o’clock, she had been worried about Qi An, so she rushed over. When Su Wei messaged her, she had just gotten off the bus. The fatigue of the day combined with the rush just now left her physically and mentally exhausted.

“CEO Qi doesn’t lack property in Beijing, does she?” Su Wei smirked, looking at Zhang Sitan through the rearview mirror.

Zhang Sitan didn’t say anything, because she couldn’t explain why Qi An, who wasn’t lacking places to live, was squeezing into a place with her.

Zhou Yangle and Qi An had both been drinking. The smell of high-proof liquor was strong. Su Wei opened the window, but a faint smell of alcohol still lingered in the car.

Su Wei knew Zhou Yangle’s capacity; in Shandong, she could hold the position of the female “vice-companion” for drinks.

Qi An was slumped listlessly in the back, head tilted, presumably not having much tolerance for alcohol. Su Wei tried to drive smoothly to avoid too much disturbance to Qi An’s stomach.

“So when did Qi An become Luo Murong’s girlfriend? I was completely shocked when I saw her today. I even wondered if Luo Murong’s girlfriend just looked too much like Qi An and I mistook her.”

Qi An then began to explain to Su Wei why she was pretending to be Luo Murong’s girlfriend.

Then the conversation shifted to Su Wei having to explain to Zhou Yangle that she wasn’t that popular in high school, so it wasn’t a case of someone desperately chasing her and failing, and thus having to find a fake girlfriend to save face.

“But you just rushed over like this, isn’t that being a little too concerned about your subordinate?” To change the subject, Su Wei redirected the focus to Zhang Sitan.

Leaning back, Qi An, looking uncomfortable, turned her head towards Zhang Sitan: “Didn’t you say you were passing by, Sister Sitan?”

“…” Zhang Sitan turned her head towards the window, silent.

Su Wei subtly observed through the rearview mirror, feeling a little pleased, knowing she guessed correctly that these two had feelings for each other.

She continued to stir the pot: “She wasn’t passing by at all. She specifically messaged me to let her know when we were done eating so she could pick you up.”

“!” Qi An’s head was heavy from the alcohol. Although Luo Murong was there and prevented anyone from forcing her to drink, she still symbolically had one glass.

Even though it was only one glass, the liquor was strong, and it still got to her.

She gently grabbed Zhang Sitan’s head, which was facing the window, and turned it towards herself, asking, “Really, Sister Sitan, did you come specifically to pick me up?”

Zhang Sitan’s head was fixed by a pair of hot little hands. Because the grip was quite strong, the flesh on her face was slightly squeezed out.

Hearing Su Wei’s soft laughter, she felt a little embarrassed. She simply hummed in agreement and gently pushed Qi An’s hand away.