Transmigrating Into the Beautiful CEO’s Doomed Substitute - Chapter 31

Jiang Youyou’s lawyer brother called Qi Zheng early in the morning. Although the time wasn’t ideal, the content of the call made her very happy.

“Qi Zheng, I have three hours tomorrow evening. Would it be convenient for you to bring the contract? I need to read it carefully before I can give your friend advice.”

Qi Zheng’s smile faded slightly, and she hesitated: “Could it be a version with only the key points excerpted? After all, it’s confidential, and it has signatures on it. It’s not very convenient to bring the whole thing over.”

Qi Zheng thought that the contract was absolutely out of the question for him to see. Not to mention that some of the clauses were truly… just those two prominent signatures would make her speechless.

The lawyer, Mr. Jiang, didn’t mind. He had dealt with many similar situations, and for him, seeing the relevant clauses was more important: “That’s fine. Try to make the clauses as complete as possible, so I can fully assess the situation.”

“Okay.”

After scheduling the meeting location and time with Mr. Jiang, Qi Zheng couldn’t bring herself to sleep anymore. Her head still hurt a bit, but it didn’t diminish her pleasure.

It was a surprise to see CEO Shen in the restaurant; she usually was already at the company by this time.

“CEO Shen, morning.” Qi Zheng walked over and pulled out a chair, preparing to eat breakfast.

Shen Zhibing knew the moment she came downstairs and only looked up at her when she got closer.

Qi Zheng thought that CEO Shen’s extremely slight nod just now was her reply, but unexpectedly, CEO Shen actually spoke: “How are you feeling?”

Hmm? What about her body?

Seeing her look as if she hadn’t understood, Shen Zhibing was uncharacteristically not annoyed and said, “You drank last night. When you woke up today, did you feel any discomfort?”

So that’s what it was. Qi Zheng thought, You haven’t been through it? More or less there’s discomfort, but it doesn’t affect daily life.

“I’m fine, I wasn’t drunk.”

Thinking of her appointment with Mr. Jiang, Qi Zheng planned to tell Shen Zhibing in advance: “CEO Shen, I have something on tomorrow night, and I plan to stay at school.”

Shen Zhibing had gotten used to coming to the suburban villa after work every day and discussing data with Qi Zheng. Qi Zheng suddenly saying she was going back to school made her feel a little strange.

“Can you still stay in the dorm?”

“Yes, until the official holiday starts.”

Shen Zhibing thought for a moment and asked, “Why do you suddenly want to go back to school?”

“I have an appointment with someone tomorrow night to discuss something, and it might be quite late, so I…”

Shen Zhibing felt better upon hearing that Qi Zheng wasn’t unwilling to stay here: “It doesn’t matter how late you talk. Don’t you have a car?”

Thinking of the Bentley dedicated to serving and waiting for only her, Qi Zheng consistently felt it was a waste.

“I’m just going to discuss something; there’s no need for a dedicated car.”

Shen Zhibing, however, didn’t take it seriously. For her, any expense that could save time was worthwhile. Before, Qi Zheng’s time wasn’t valuable, and giving her a car was mainly for convenience when Shen Zhibing wanted to see her. But now that Qi Zheng was capable of more, there was even less reason to waste time.

“That’s the meaning of a dedicated car; you don’t need to feel it’s a burden.”

CEO Shen’s implication was that no matter how late she talked, she had to come back.

Qi Zheng wanted to argue for it again but worried that upsetting Shen Zhibing might lead to her not being allowed out tomorrow night, which would be worse. Fortunately, CEO Shen only required her to come back and didn’t restrict her from going out.

Qi Zheng quickly photocopied the key clauses of the contract, only hiding some overly direct phrases. She felt full of anticipation while doing this, even happier than when she was preparing to submit her resignation after being exploited in the workplace for many years.

Before Shen Zhibing left, Aunt Xin handed her a document: “This is Miss Qi’s comprehensive assessment report for the training results.”

Shen Zhibing flipped through it on her way to the company. It was as she expected; all her scores were good. Shen Zhibing didn’t dwell on the final score but focused on the trainers’ evaluation.

When she saw the section on Personality, Shen Zhibing slowed down her reading. Honestly, Qi Zheng’s personality was something she couldn’t quite figure out. She initially thought Qi Zheng was the soft, delicate flower that Lin Muyun said could be teased at will, and the “poor family’s child” who Lin Muyun claimed only cared about money. But after interacting with her, Shen Zhibing felt that this wasn’t the case.

She bought Qi Zheng back as a toy and never intended to treat her with respect initially. Qi Zheng was merely her tool; all Shen Zhibing wanted was convenience and obedience. But now, she finally admitted that her initial judgment of Qi Zheng might have been wrong.

Shen Zhibing’s eyes fell on the line that read, “Stable personality, overly low-key,” which seemed to better align with the Qi Zheng she had encountered. The car drove into the group’s parking lot. Shen Zhibing put the document into her bag. She thought of her past friendship with Lin Muyun and felt it was ironic.

Perhaps, the one who had been pretending and lying was Lin Muyun.

Then, Qi Zheng, who had been deceived and played with but remained faithfully devoted to her, seemed quite pitiful.

Back in the office, Shen Zhibing casually opened her email and saw the latest bank statement. The monthly spending amount was similar to the past, with no extra expenditure. She didn’t recall receiving a notification for an auxiliary card transaction, but she still carefully looked over the statement.

Sure enough, Qi Zheng had never used her card, not even a penny.

Shen Zhibing called Yun Fei in: “Help me find Eric and ask him when he’s returning to Haicheng.”

Eric was a private investigator Shen Zhibing trusted greatly. She would ask Eric to help with things that were inconvenient to investigate herself; this was more reliable than hiring someone outside.

“I received an electronic card from him last week. He should be back in about half a month.”

“Then please make a note of it. Ask him to come see me when he returns.”

Yun Fei finished recording and asked, “Does CEO Shen need something investigated?”

“Yes, I want Eric to help me investigate someone, but there’s no rush.”

Dinner Alone

When Shen Zhibing got home from work, only her portion of dinner was served.

Aunt Xin explained, “Miss Qi said she had something on tonight. She said she already told you.”

Shen Zhibing remembered and nodded, “Start serving.”

In Yunlu Flower Garden, Shen Zhibing often ate dinner alone. Sometimes when she was busy, she would order a meal to be delivered home and would eat while working overtime. Nothing special ever happened when she ate dinner with Qi Zheng; the two barely even talked, but the feeling still seemed somewhat different.

Especially today, with a comparison, it was clear that there was a difference between one person and two.

Shen Zhibing didn’t eat much. The Yongfeng project had been progressing rapidly recently, and the other party’s softening attitude was obvious. Shen Zhibing was naturally happy, but her work wasn’t limited to just this one thing. For her, the joy brought by business only lasted for a short time.

“Third Miss, is the food not to your liking today?”

“It’s great. I just don’t have much appetite. Give me half a bowl of soup.”

Qi Zheng saw the grave expression on the lawyer Mr. Jiang’s face and thought that this matter was probably not that easy to resolve.

“May I ask, who exactly did your friend sign this contract with?”

“What’s wrong? Is it related to the identity of the signatory?”

“The other party definitely has a very formidable legal team behind them. With contracts like this, all the restrictive clauses are hidden in the details and are not easy to deal with.”

Qi Zheng’s heart sank; Shen Zhibing was indeed an old fox.

“But it’s not entirely hopeless. There are two ways to terminate the contract: one is if the other party agrees, and the second is to pay compensation. Although the clauses are harsh, they aren’t completely malicious.”

From Mr. Jiang’s professional perspective, this contract was highly restrictive and covered all bases, making it difficult to find loopholes. But all these restrictions were simply intended to confine the person; there wasn’t much of an underhanded intent.

“The compensation is too high. My… that friend definitely can’t afford it. It looks like this contract must be carried out, then?”

“You’d best have your friend come talk to me personally. If paying compensation isn’t possible, you can try playing the emotional card.”

The emotional card? Wasn’t this contract specifically designed to forcibly generate a false relationship?

Mr. Jiang smiled and explained, “We sometimes encounter many similar clients. When looking at the contract, you’d think the two parties are hostile enemies, but who knows, after sitting down and talking, their relationship turns out to be quite deep.” He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said meaningfully, “You can’t understand the whole truth just by looking at the text. Many feelings are hidden within these cold words.”

Qi Zheng shook her head. If others might have a chance, where did she and Shen Zhibing have any deep feelings?

“You can also ask your friend’s opinion first. The emotional card is difficult to start, but in the later stages, it is often more effective than going to court.”

Qi Zheng knew the matter wasn’t that simple, but after hearing the lawyer’s professional opinion, it was difficult for her to maintain her previous state of mind. Did she really have to be tied to Shen Zhibing? If CEO Shen only talked to her about business, that would be one thing, but in the original book, Shen Zhibing’s personality completely changed after she learned that Lian Ao was marrying Lin Muyun, and she started tormenting the original host in various ways.

Qi Zheng silently counted the days. Lin Muyun returned to China during the original host’s graduation ceremony. Soon after returning, she got engaged to Lian Ao and then quickly married.

Recalling the emails from her counselor about ordering academic gowns and scheduling graduation photos, Qi Zheng realized that the graduation ceremony was imminent, and Lin Muyun would be returning soon.

None of this mattered to Qi Zheng; she didn’t care. But Shen Zhibing going crazy would lead to direct tragedy for her, and she absolutely had to prevent this change.

She couldn’t endure a crazed Shen Zhibing while being unable to terminate the contract. How could the stories that should only happen between two intimately loving people be profaned like this?

Qi Zheng was preoccupied with her thoughts. When she returned to the villa, it was later than expected, and she was surprised that Shen Zhibing hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

“Did your discussion go well?”

Qi Zheng had been recollecting the original plot all the way back. Suddenly seeing Shen Zhibing standing in front of her, she couldn’t snap out of it; her mind was still on the CEO Shen in the book who frantically ordered all sorts of props online.

“CEO Shen, have you been shopping online recently?”

Shen Zhibing paused, then shook her head: “I’ve been busy with the Yongfeng matter recently, no time.”

“Oh, then never mind.”

Shen Zhibing had thought Qi Zheng wanted to discuss shopping, and while a bit abrupt, it wasn’t impossible to talk about, but she couldn’t keep up with Qi Zheng’s erratic thinking.

“It’s very late, I’m going back to my room first.”

Qi Zheng rushed back to her room. Shen Zhibing had wanted to ask her about the graduation ceremony but didn’t find a chance to speak when they were face-to-face.

The attitude shift on the Yongfeng side was noticeable. Both within the company and among industry peers, rumors circulated that the Shen Group would ultimately win this competition.

At the Shiqun board meeting, several directors looked terrible, practically pointing fingers and saying Lian Ao was incompetent. Lian Ao’s face was grim as he accepted all the accusations; after all, he was the one who had made the grand promises at the time.

He now knew that the person who had turned the entire situation around was actually the inconspicuous Qi Zheng. No wonder Shen Zhibing brought her that day; how could an ordinary employee receive such treatment?

After the agonizing board meeting, Lian Jie followed Lian Ao into his office.

“Those directors are too harsh. In business, you can’t succeed every time. If you did, you’d be the richest person in the world by now,” Lian Jie wanted to stand up for his brother, but he held little sway; he barely had a chance to speak properly at the board meeting.

Lian Ao irritably tore at his tie, deep in thought, ignoring Lian Jie’s chatter.

“You go out first, let me be alone.”

After sending Lian Jie away, Lian Ao opened his computer, which held a file about Qi Zheng he had recently obtained. All the information showed that she was just an ordinary university student with a family background even more tragic than the average person. How did she suddenly ruin his plans?

Lian Ao remembered Wu Qin’s words at the birthday party that day and thought that perhaps Lin Muyun would know more about Qi Zheng. Their WeChat communication had stopped three months ago, but the latest message was from three days ago; Lin Muyun had left him a message, but he hadn’t replied.

Lin Muyun: [My family gave me a final ultimatum and told me I have to return to China.]

Lian Ao, of course, knew why the Lin family was urging her to come back. The Lian family was also putting significant pressure on them. They had reached a consensus on this matter six months ago. However, the situation was now becoming increasingly difficult for them to resist. Lian Ao frowned and messaged her back.

Lian Ao: [Which day are you coming back?]

Unexpectedly, Lin Muyun was online and quickly replied.

[I’ll come back after I finish processing the paperwork abroad. I’ll tell you the exact date once it’s set.]

Lian Ao hesitated and then called her.

“Young Master Lian is calling personally. Do you want me to come back or not?”

Lian Ao silently sighed: “Neither of us has a choice.”

Lin Muyun put away her smile and said self-mockingly, “You’re right. We’ve lost everything except money.”

Lian Ao didn’t call to listen to Lin Muyun’s sentimentality; he was just eager to know about Qi Zheng.

“Do you know Qi Zheng?”

On the other end of the phone, Lin Muyun was clearly stunned. After a moment, she said, “I know her. Why?”