A few days later, Lu Keqing returned as expected. She rushed from another city to Xu Zifan, and upon seeing him, gave him a big hug. "Xu Zifan, I did it! I did it!"
"Congratulations!" Xu Zifan hugged her tightly, then looked down and saw that she was smiling very happily, but her eyes were filled with tears. He wiped her tears and teased her, "Why are you crying? You won't be pretty if you keep crying."
"I'm crying tears of joy." Lu Keqing stepped out of his embrace a little shyly, wiped away her tears, and smiled at him again, "Are you really not pretty anymore?"
Xu Zifan deliberately leaned closer to her face, scrutinizing her for a long time. "Not bad, she's prettier than a robot, right?"
Lu Keqing pushed him away, but her eyes were smiling. "I'm hungry, go eat!"
Both of them could sense the difference in each other's attitudes during this meeting, because Lu Keqing had taken her revenge! With only Wang Yalin left, she was confident in her plan. So she finally revealed her true self, opening her heart to Xu Zifan.
During dinner, she told Xu Zifan that she had already taken action on Wang Yalin's side.
She took beautiful photos of Wang Yalin and sent them to Feng Donghui, also telling him that Wang Yalin was now Liang Liwei's woman.
With a hint of smugness in her eyes, she asked Xu Zifan, "What do you think Feng Donghui will do?"
Xu Zifan thought about Feng Donghui's personality, "He must think that Wang Yalin has turned his life around. He was ruined by Wang Yalin and is now in jail, so he definitely won't let her go."
Lu Keqing nodded. "No matter what trouble he causes, the Liang family will make Liang Liwei get rid of Wang Yalin. Until then, I'll just treat this as a few days off."
Xu Zifan looked at her, reached out and pinched her fingers on the table, and said softly, "Then shall we go on vacation?"
Lu Keqing's face flushed slightly, but she didn't hesitate and grabbed his fingers in return. "Okay, let's go to the island at sea, but is your company okay with that?"
"No problem, my dad hasn't retired yet, let him manage." Xu Zifan confidently named Xu Zhenhua. That old man has completely given up recently, occupying the chairman's position without doing anything, spending his days riding horses and playing golf with his old friends. He's so happy, he might as well contribute to his pursuit of a wife.
Lu Keqing was amused by his conscription tone and didn't know whether she should sympathize with Xu Zhenhua, the chairman of the board, who was being used as a laborer by his son.
Xu Zifan had his secretary, Zhang, rent a deserted island and took Lu Keqing out to sea without a word. Xu Zhenhua was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table in his office, but after that, he still had to obediently go to the meeting. After all, he was the chairman and couldn't refuse.
He had already made up his mind: once Xu Zifan returned, he would resign, and then Xu Zifan wouldn't be able to find him to conscript men again!
The island has a fantastic environment, everything is very natural. The owners have built a small two-story log cabin, fully furnished with all the necessary household items. They also brought plenty of their own food so they can enjoy nature on the island without having to suffer. This trip was purely for relaxation.
They strolled leisurely around the island hand in hand, digging up some wild vegetables and catching a few large crabs.
Lu Keqing is an excellent cook. As soon as she returned to the small building, she prepared a sumptuous dinner, the aroma filling the air. While she was cooking, Xu Zifan arranged the red wine and candles, and picked a large bunch of wildflowers to put in a vase. The two of them had a candlelight dinner on their first day on the island.
Looking at the candlelight dinner, Lu Keqing smiled and said, "Wouldn't you say we're Cinderella and the CEO?"
Xu Zifan chuckled, "No, what kind of Cinderella is as innocent as you?"
"Fine, you call me a scheming woman!" Lu Keqing plucked a flower and threw it at his head, where it landed right on the end of his hair. She couldn't help but laugh at the comical sight.
Xu Zifan took the flower and placed it behind her ear, his expression gentle. "I'm praising you because you're so cunning that I was able to see you."
Lu Keqing lowered her head and smiled. This was probably the most relaxed and happiest time she had been in the years since her family's accident.
As if he could read her mind, Xu Zifan reached out and took her hand. "The future is bright, and we'll have many more happy and joyful experiences together."
"Yes, definitely." Lu Keqing intertwined her fingers with his, without directly confessing her feelings, but the word "we" had already begun their new relationship.
Afterwards, they collected seashells on the beach, fished and scuba dived along the shore, hunted and roasted wild game in the woods, camped and stargazed on the high ground, and even spent a night in a cave where they buried a love lock...
It can be said that during these few days, they completely abandoned all worldly affairs, as if they were living in seclusion on a small island, in a paradise. Every day was happy and blissful, and when it was time to leave, they were even a little reluctant to go.
As the two watched the island recede into the distance from the speedboat, Xu Zifan pulled Lu Keqing into the cabin. "It's windy outside, let's go inside. Don't be reluctant, I'll buy it if you like it."
Lu Keqing turned around, cupped his face in her hands, and laughed, "Let me see what a domineering CEO is like?"
"That's what a domineering CEO is like. I can do whatever I want, and I can bankrupt whoever I want." Xu Zifan pulled her hand down and joked with her, saying all the silly things that couples say, things that never get boring.
They ended their love-defining journey at sea, and upon returning to Yanjing, they didn't rush to make it public, but immediately got busy again.
Xu Zhenhua reprimanded Xu Zifan, then gave him the chairman's position and transferred 20% of the shares to him. Afterwards...
The Xu family was officially handed over to Xu Zifan for management.
The power transition within the Xu family made headlines in major financial news reports. After reading the news, Chairman Liang was furious when he looked at Liang Liwei. "He used to be a spoiled brat like you, and he still managed to make a name for himself. But now? Xu Zifan has officially taken over the Xu family and is challenging me, while you're still playing around with your little star!"
That old bastard Xu Zhenhua used to avoid me like the plague, afraid people would compare me to him. Now he practically wants to eat at the same table with me every day, praising his son to the skies. Can't you at least try to be a little more respectable?
Liang Liwei said impatiently, "Who knows when he learned it? Didn't you say his grandfather taught him? You didn't teach me either, so why are you blaming me now? I tried to find a solution, but who knew their family was so weird, not caring at all that their daughter, whom they raised for seventeen years, would be someone else's bed warmer."
Chairman Liang snorted coldly, "Don't care? You used that woman to slap them in the face. Do you know how much business Xu Zifan has stolen from us? They don't care about arguing with you, you idiot! You'd better get rid of that woman quickly, stop embarrassing yourself and making a fool of yourself in front of others."
Liang Liwei agreed nonchalantly, "I've wanted to get rid of her for a while now. She's not as good at flattering people as those minor celebrities, but she asks for a lot. Is she trying to take advantage of me?"
Chairman Liang was furious at his attitude and waved him away. If Wang Yalin could put aside Xu Zifan's feelings, he probably would be spoiling her rotten right now. He only said that because Wang Yalin hadn't served her purpose and was causing trouble for herself. He acted like he understood people so well, but in reality, he was just a fool and couldn't compare to Xu Zifan.
Liang Liwei immediately ordered his men to kick Wang Yalin out of the villa, without even giving her a breakup fee. He had kept Wang Yalin as a mistress to help her deal with her family, spending a lot of money on her, and because of her, Xu Zifan had humiliated him several times. Now everyone in the industry is saying he's blind to talent and has a penchant for collecting trash and keeping pets. He's absolutely furious!
These past few days, that Feng Donghui has had a bunch of Wang Yalin's nude photos circulated online. Even though they're high-quality photoshopped, they're still disgusting. He feels nauseous just looking at her face now. Damn it, he didn't get a single benefit from that and only got a bunch of trouble. That woman is truly a jinx!
Wang Yalin is going crazy!
She endured Liang Liwei's rage daily, and had to carefully grovel and fawn over him, using every sweet word and dirty trick imaginable to barely keep him around. And what was the result? That bastard Feng Donghui, even in prison, couldn't stay still. He contacted his cronies outside and photoshopped a bunch of nude photos of her online, even buying a trending topic on Toutiao!
Feng Donghui was sentenced to more than ten years in prison. Adding this sentence won't make much difference. If he behaves well, his sentence can be reduced. He didn't even try to cover it up, which harmed her.
But that was the end for her. Liang Liwei blocked her that very day and never contacted her again. She lived in fear and anxiety in the villa, unable to eat or sleep. When she finally received a message, it was telling her to get lost!
She had no savings whatsoever, only a bunch of clothes and bags that Liang Liwei had bought for her. She didn't even have 500,000 yuan in her bank account, and the house and car weren't hers. She'd been essentially played for free for months, constantly groveling before him without any dignity. Just thinking about it drove her crazy!
Wang Yalin went to the club to find Liang Liwei, who was having a great time with his friends, one on each side. When he saw her, he said with disgust, "Can't you even understand human language? I'm tired of you. Don't hang around me anymore. If you want to hook up with a rich guy, go find someone else."
Wang Yalin cried, tears streaming down her face, "Liwei, I..."
"Hey? Miss Wang, why are you crying? If Young Master Liang doesn't pity you, you still have us. Come and sit with your brother, your brother will take care of you."
"That's right, Miss Wang. We can play whatever you want. Stop crying and come over here."
Looking at their lecherous expressions, Wang Yalin felt humiliated and furious. She ran out without looking back, leaving behind a group of people laughing and joking. She could vaguely hear them saying that she was pretending to be high and mighty, and that she really thought she was still a young lady!
Wang Yalin wept bitterly, feeling utterly out of place in the familiar Yanjiao. This time, she couldn't think of a way out. Either become a socialite, moving between various rich young men, or use the little money she had to buy a small house in a small town and live an ordinary, unremarkable life.
But how could she live like that? She'd never lived a normal life before; she simply couldn't handle it!
Wang Yalin suffered from insomnia night after night. Unwilling to belittle herself, she chose the life of an ordinary person. She sold her designer clothes and bags, rented a small apartment, and tried to find a job to start a new life. Not everyone pays attention to trending topics. Having left high society, not many people knew her. But she hadn't even graduated high school—where could she find a job? She ended up only being able to translate for others in English.
Translating a lot of things for a pittance, exhausting herself to the point of being overly picky, Wang Yalin couldn't take it anymore. She tried changing jobs to tutor, hotel waitress, bar hostess... but none of them worked. She couldn't do any of them; they were either mistreated or too tiring, and the pay was so low. She couldn't stand it!
Having experienced the struggles of ordinary people, Wang Yalin completely fell into depravity, becoming the socialite she once despised the most.