The Ex-Wife-to-Be Is Acting Weird After Losing Her Memory - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Lullaby One

“Baby, your business is naturally my business. How could I not help you?”

In the private office of the Zhen Group’s Public Relations Department, Zhen Ming held his phone in one hand while thoughtfully gazing out the floor-to-ceiling window. The sky was covered with lead-gray clouds, indicating an impending heavy snowstorm.

A week ago, the eldest daughter, Qiao Bao’er, and her circle of friends went on a skiing trip to Switzerland,潇灑ly leaving Zhen Ming, which left him with no opportunity to execute his planned aggressive marriage proposal. Bored, he accidentally scrolled through Qiao Bao’er’s WeChat Moments and noticed a post about an issue with her bank card, which immediately piqued his interest.

He was currently using every affectionate means possible to persuade Qiao Bao’er to hesitantly reveal her worries.

“Everything else is minor. I just found a diamond necklace at an auction the other day, but my card wouldn’t go through, so I couldn’t pay.” Qiao Bao’er said flirtatiously. “It’s an antique necklace, and I was planning to pair it with my wedding dress… Hmph, I won’t say any more.”

Hearing this, Zhen Ming’s heart skipped a beat. He steadied himself and adopted a casual tone: “Wedding dress? I thought you went to Switzerland to ski?”

Qiao Bao’er giggled: “You’re naughty. You heard me but are pretending to be dumb. It’s fine if you don’t want to marry me, I’ll just tell Big Brother…”

This made Zhen Ming overjoyed, feeling as if a pie had fallen from the sky and hit him on the head. He thought it would take much more effort to win over this golden princess, but she had accidentally let slip her intentions. He hurriedly said: “Of course, I want to marry you. It’s just that you keep refusing to let me visit your uncle and aunt, so I…”

During his relationship with Qiao Bao’er, Zhen Ming was more attentive and diligent than with any previous actress he had dated. But she was either flying around the world attending shows or saying she was shopping with her sisters, constantly disappearing, causing the meeting with her parents to be continuously delayed. Now the timing was perfect, and Zhen Ming naturally wouldn’t let the opportunity slip.

To show his generosity, he said: “Send me your account information. I’ll have the finance department transfer the money immediately. Buy whatever you want, and don’t worry about saving my money.”

Qiao Bao’er replied sweetly: “I won’t spend your money. If Big Brother wasn’t on a plane right now, I wouldn’t even bother mentioning this small matter. I’ll pay you back when I return.”

Given the Qiao family’s wealth, such opportunities for him to act as a savior were indeed rare. Zhen Ming simply chuckled: “Yours is mine. Don’t be so formal.”

He happily hung up the phone and casually instructed his assistant to follow up on the transfer. However, a few minutes later, the assistant returned with a troubled expression to report.

“Mr. Ming, Finance said that this foreign transfer amount is too large and requires small CEO Zhen’s approval to proceed with the procedure.” The assistant cautiously said, “How should we handle this…”

A look of hostility appeared on Zhen Ming’s face: “What does Finance mean? I need Zhen Zhen’s approval for a single transaction?” He furiously snatched the form from the assistant’s hand. After seeing the number, he instantly felt a rush of blood to his head.

“Thirteen… million?” His face twitched. He had thought, how expensive could a little girl’s jewelry be? One or two million should be enough to cover it. He hadn’t expected Qiao Bao’er to throw such a difficult challenge at him.

Since their unpleasant encounter last time, Zhen Zhen hadn’t explicitly troubled him, but she had issued a direct ban to the Finance Department: all cash transactions exceeding one million required reporting. He knew his cousin would never approve such a large sum.

But if he broke his promise to Qiao Bao’er, that marriage proposal, which was so close to being secured… Zhen Ming gritted his teeth, saying: “Without her, Zhen Zhen, am I, Zhen Ming, completely helpless?”

Company finance was a dead end, so he could only use his private funds. Zhen Ming painfully pulled out his phone. Thirteen million was an astronomical sum for him. It looked like he had no choice but to tap into his parents’ “fund.”

He dialed his mother, Wen Meixian’s, number.

When Wen Meixian heard the amount, her reaction was even stronger than Zhen Ming’s. She shrieked: “What diamond necklace costs over ten million? Ah Ming, you know the family finances well. The monthly living allowance we get from the Old Man is only two hundred thousand. Such a huge amount…”

“She might not even want it, and she said she’d pay me back when she returns to the country.” Zhen Ming impatiently interrupted his mother. “Her Big Brother is abroad on a business trip, which gave me this chance to show my affection. Instead of helping your son, you’re complaining about being poor…”

Wen Meixian said: “That twelve million is our entire savings, meant for our family’s living expenses after we move out of the ancestral home in the future.”

Zhen Ming confidently reassured her: “I’ll pay you back within half a month at most. Just transfer the money to me first.”

After hanging up, he asked his assistant: “Can we still allocate a million from our account?”

The assistant said awkwardly: “We do have money right now, but you instructed us a few days ago to set aside this money. It includes the final payment for Miss Qi’s RV…”

Remembering the RV he bought to placate Qi Yongshan, Zhen Ming felt a pang of regret, but compared to the urgent matter at hand, it all became insignificant. He waved his hand dismissively: “Transfer it to Bao’er first!”

As long as… as long as I can become the son-in-law of the Qiao family, let alone thirteen million, the entire Zhen Group will eventually be mine.

The anticipated heavy snowstorm was long overdue. It finally seemed to fall three days later with a crash, blanketing the entire city in a chilling layer.

Zhen Ming was awakened by an unfamiliar phone call. Due to the heavy snow, the Zhen Group had issued a work-from-home notice. He couldn’t be bothered to go home and face his mother’s glare, so he drove straight to the apartment of a small actress he had previously taken care of. She happened to be idle. They rekindled their affair and finally fell asleep in the middle of the night.

With his sweet dream interrupted, Zhen Ming’s tone was less than pleasant.

The person on the other end claimed to be from the production department of Dark Light. They spoke politely, saying the production team had to terminate the contract with New Energy because the second-phase investment had not been secured.

Zhen Ming shook his head to clear it: “The second-phase investment… shouldn’t it have been transferred to you already?”

When he initially collaborated with Qiao Tianyou to secure the investment rights for Dark Light, out of the total investment of thirty million, Qiao Tianyou immediately paid a three-million initial installment, agreeing to pay the remaining amount in three installments. Several months had passed, so why hadn’t the payment been completed?

The person chuckled subtly: “Mr. Zhen, the payment date has long exceeded the contractual deadline. Perhaps there was a problem with your partner. I suggest you confirm internally. I called today primarily to inform you about the contract termination…”

“Wait!” Zhen Ming was completely awake now. “Contract termination… Doesn’t that mean all our previous efforts were for nothing?”

He hung up the phone dejectedly, feeling as if he were dreaming.

Although this thirty million investment wasn’t his responsibility, but rather Qiao Tianyou’s “Fortune Treasure” company, since New Energy’s inception, there had been extensive brand promotion, media meet-and-greets, and various marketing activities that had cost a fortune, all charged to Zhen Ming.

Zhen Ming’s plan was very clever: he first used his privately established public relations company outside to take the orders, and then, using his official position, he temporarily charged this expense to the Zhen Group’s marketing budget, shifting the funds from one hand to the other. He had planned to receive a large sum of money once New Energy was listed, but now the situation had changed.

Without time to think, he grabbed his phone and called Qiao Tianyou’s assistant, only to get a constant busy signal.

Subsequently, no one answered the calls to Qiao Bao’er, the finance officer responsible for New Energy matters whom he had dealt with before, or anyone else.

An ominous premonition instantly gripped his heart. Ignoring the raging snowstorm outside, Zhen Ming shoved away the actress who was leaning toward him and fled the apartment building.

Driving in the snow was almost impossible. He anxiously drove along the main road, honking his horn constantly. He barely made it near Mid-City when he received another call from his assistant.

“Mr. Ming, are you free to talk now?” The assistant’s voice sounded like they were about to cry. “We just received notice from the Finance Department. It’s almost year-end closing, and those marketing expenses we used from the Group’s account won’t be coverable anymore…”

Zhen Ming didn’t hear anything else the assistant said. He struggled through the snowstorm and drove to the location of the Qiao family’s “Fortune Treasure” company, only to find the vehicle was not allowed to pass.

“The building ahead has been blocked by the economic crime investigation unit.” The security guard commanded him to detour with a solemn face. “Are you here to complain or to collect a debt?”

On January 13th, the new year had just begun. The Qiao family’s “Fortune Treasure” company, which had absorbed tens of billions of funds from investors, experienced major financial problems and was placed under investigation by the economic crime unit. The actual controller, Qiao Tianyou, had left the country several days prior and had not yet returned.

The investors who lost everything due to this crisis surrounded the “Fortune Treasure” building, blocking the traffic. In the heavy snow, the slogans written in ink on the banners were blurry, piled desolately on the empty ground in front of the door.

It was a harsh winter.

Unlike the investors who were crying on camera to the news media, the Zhen family had not invested money in “Fortune Treasure,” but their impact was no less severe than these people’s.

“How is this possible? A big company like the Qiao family’s just collapses…” In the living room, Wen Meixian paced frantically, her usually meticulously maintained appearance completely gone. She muttered incessantly, “My money… is my money all gone?”

To show his sincerity to Qiao Bao’er, Zhen Ming hadn’t suggested transferring the money to the auction house but had used his private account to transfer it directly to her account. Even now, if he wanted to apply for an asset freeze against the Qiao family, he couldn’t do it because he had no proof. Moreover, only a few elderly members of the Qiao family remained in the country, besieged by creditors daily, and completely unable to help him.

The only thing they could be thankful for was that they hadn’t successfully married into the Qiao family too quickly. Otherwise, let alone collecting debt, he might have become a joint debtor himself.

The gloomy atmosphere of Zhen Ming’s immediate family did not affect Zhen Zhen. She was sitting in her car, calmly reading an investment agreement. After the Dark Light production team officially terminated the contract with New Energy, she smoothly became the film’s final investor.

Today was the wrap party for Dark Light. Director Long had called Zhen Zhen specifically, warmly inviting her to attend the evening’s press conference.

Although she typically had little interest in such social gatherings, the thought of being able to bring her wife home afterward made Zhen Zhen agree without much hesitation.

The wrap party was held at a luxurious five-star hotel in the city. To attend the event, Zhen Zhen had gone home to change, selecting a dark blue women’s suit that Lu Jiayin seemed to have expressed a liking for. She only fastened a diamond lapel pin on her shirt. Her hair was neatly styled up, making her look both gentle and sharply decisive.

She smiled and opened the car door. Before she could step out, she heard an overwhelming roar of cheers from the fan waiting area nearby.

There were calls for their idols’ names, and loud cheers for the lead actors of the Dark Light movie. The sound surged like a tide, sweeping into a huge sound wave that filled the sky.

Among them, one voice was particularly distinct, loudly pouring into her ears—

“Ahhh! The ‘Ren Qi’ CP is real!”

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