Picking Up Fragments

"Yingzi, I don't want to hide it anymore; I like you! Today I was irrational because I got jealous seeing you with another man again. I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

This sudden confession left Li Yingzi momentarily at a loss.

She admitted that she didn't dislike Liao Fan. After all, he had been pursuing her for so many years. But she definitely didn't like him either.

If there's no feeling, there's just no feeling. This forced confession didn't move Li Yingzi at all; instead, it put her in a very awkward and passive position.

She didn't know how to handle it or how to respond. If she rejected him, she and Liao Fan probably wouldn't even be able to remain friends.

How awkward would it be for them in the company afterward?

Li Yingzi felt her mind spinning.

At that moment, a business card suddenly slipped out of Liao Fan's pocket as he kneeled on one knee.

Jiang Siming, who was standing right beside him, curiously picked it up and took a look. It was a card with the florist's name and contact number.

Thinking it was nothing, he flipped the card over, only to find a line of words written on the back.

"Mr. Liao, my husband went out to restock. I'll be waiting for you at the store at 11 tonight. Don't keep me waiting, okay? Muah~"

The delicate, flowing handwriting was unmistakably from a woman, and there was even a red heart at the end—definitely not written by a man.

When Liao Fan saw the card in Jiang Siming's hand, he realized he was in trouble and quickly moved to snatch it back.

But Jiang Siming wasn't one to be easily outmatched, and there was no way Liao Fan could snatch it from him with just his average strength.

"Mr. Liao, who's this person waiting for you at 11? The florist's wife?" Jiang Siming asked with a sly grin.

Li Yingzi snapped out of her conflicted thoughts and, intrigued, took the card from Jiang Siming to have a look.

"Liao Fan, you really are something. If it weren't for this card, I'd never have found out about your true colors! Seducing another man's wife—are you even human?" Li Yingzi said, flinging the card onto Liao Fan's face.

Liao Fan's face turned pale as he immediately began explaining, "Listen to me, Yingzi. Just let me explain."

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"Explain what? Are you going to say it was the florist himself, not his wife? What, are you gay?"

Li Yingzi's words left Liao Fan speechless.

"It was... she seduced me first... Yingzi, listen to me. I haven't been in touch with her for ages. She's a loose woman; how could I possibly like her? My feelings for you are real, I..."

*Smack!*

A crisp slap left a red handprint on Liao Fan's face.

"I really despise you!" Li Yingzi said, turning on her heel and walking away.

Frustrated after so long with no progress, humiliated by the slap, and still seething with anger from Jiang Siming's interference, all of Liao Fan's negative emotions boiled over. He threw the bouquet to the ground and rushed to block Li Yingzi's path again.

"Li Yingzi, who the hell do you think you are? A star or the moon? I've chased you since freshman year! Any other woman would've been moved by now. But not only do you not appreciate it, you're flirting with some high school buddy!"

"So what if I fooled around with the florist's wife? You can mess around with someone else, but I can't? I used to think you were pure, but now I see you're just like her! What's the difference between you and that florist's wife?"

*Smack! Smack!*

Two more slaps, louder and sharper than before, landed on Liao Fan's face.

"Did you skip all your language classes? What do you mean by 'messing around'? Do I owe you anything? Who I hang out with is none of your business!"

"And I've told you before, I have no feelings for you and to give up. I even changed jobs three times, but you kept following me. Now that your true colors are showing, you even have the nerve to play the victim. You're truly disgusting!"

Li Yingzi's gaze grew colder, her eyes filled with disdain. She used to think of him as a college friend, a good buddy, but now, that friendship was utterly destroyed.

"Fine, I'm disgusting? Then let me disgust you one more time. Don't forget, I'm your boss. I can fire you anytime I want!"

"What grounds do you have to fire me? You think being a manager makes you the chairman?" Li Yingzi sneered.

"I have photos of you chatting with headhunters. And the 6 million you asked me to transfer yesterday—I haven't touched it. As long as I don't, it'll look like you're embezzling company funds. Add that to your underperforming track record this year, and if I report this to upper management, do you think they'd hesitate to fire you?"

Liao Fan sneered, feeling as if his intelligence had finally returned to him.

"You're shameless!" Li Yingzi's face turned white with anger.

Liao Fan didn't get angry; instead, he looked at her with a lecherous gaze.

"If you agree to be my girlfriend and come to my place tonight, I can let this slide. You'll still get your 2 million annual salary and live comfortably."

When a person's true nature is exposed, it's almost impossible to hide again.

Li Yingzi never imagined Liao Fan would turn out like this. Her intuition had always been right—her reason for not agreeing to be with him was that she always felt something was off about him.

Here is the sentence-by-sentence translation:

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At this moment, Jiang Siming, who had been watching the scene, stepped forward. He finally finished his cigarette, extinguished the butt, flicked it with his finger, and landed it precisely in the trash can.

"Manager Liao, don't you know the saying 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it'?"

"Hmph, what do you mean?" Liao Fan sneered.

Jiang Siming raised his phone, showing the screen where the recording function was clearly running. It had already been recording for several minutes, meaning it had captured the entire argument between the two of them.

"You bastard! You set me up!" Liao Fan's face twisted with rage, and he lunged forward, trying to grab Jiang Siming's phone.

Jiang Siming raised a foot and kicked him, knocking Liao Fan to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain.

"You're involved in blackmail, concealing company funds, and even attempted coercion for sexual relations—attempted rape. I'm sure the police will have a good place for you."

Jiang Siming raised the phone in his hand, showing that he had dialed the emergency number.

Jiang Siming explained the situation over the phone and then hung up.

"Xiaoming… isn't this a bit harsh?" Li Yingzi felt a pang of sympathy.

"Someone like him deserves no sympathy. Think about it: if I hadn't been here today, what would have happened to you? Even if he didn't succeed in his vile plans, he'd just escalate in the future, ruining your job, your career. Then he'd easily find an excuse to publicize it within the industry, and you'd never work in finance again."

Jiang Siming's analysis hit the mark, exposing Liao Fan's nature with pinpoint accuracy.

No need to be surprised by Jiang Siming's deductive ability; he'd encountered similar situations in the past.

Soon, a team of police cars arrived, and a stern-faced female officer stepped out with a few of her colleagues.

This female officer looked very familiar, and Jiang Siming recognized her immediately. She was none other than the police officer Li Shengxue, who had arrived to handle the aftermath of Zhao Xiaoxiao's kidnapping incident.