盯着自己的手机,沈明感到有些困惑.
就这么简单?
冷天齐公然取消了对顾峰的评价,让他悬而未决.这似乎有点奇怪.
然而,沈明接下来做的更加大胆——她将与冷天齐的晚餐安排在盐田广场,正是顾峰应该与他见面的地方.
那天晚上,冷天齐准时出现了.
沈明在她的外表上下了点功夫.她穿着一件她很少选择的绿色连衣裙,将头发扎成低马尾辫,散发出非常自然的森林般的氛围.
冷天齐看到她,目光柔和了下来,露出温暖的笑容.
"我还以为你在华谊案之后心情不好.我听说了.
沈明看了一眼菜单,开始点菜.
"这种事情不会让我失望.它只是占用了我一点时间,"她随意地回答.
冷天齐似乎对她的回答很感兴趣.
她回以淡淡的微笑.
"我喜欢的都点了.没有特殊的饮食限制,对吧?
冷天齐摇摇头."一点也不."
为了显示她邀请他的诚意,沈明点了一瓶昂贵的红酒——她通常不会挥霍的东西.
谈到华谊案,她补充说,"我还在想办法解决问题.你没看到我哥哥的脸.他很生气.
冷天齐很清楚苏玉燕的脾气.他微笑着,嘴唇紧抿在一起.
"我亲眼目睹了.有一次他和我哥吵架,他们俩生气地离开了桌子.我才明白,苏三夜的脾气和我哥哥一样.
沈明挑了挑眉."真的吗?我还以为你哥哥的脾气很好.他和我的弟弟——顾峰——似乎相处得很好.
"我哥哥很少和任何人亲近,但和顾峰在一起...他是个例外.
这顿饭很愉快.沈明发现自己在他们的谈话中放松了.她知道,冷天齐作为冷家的次子,总有一天会在自己的领域里获得强大的声誉.他举止冷静,对她很关心.
He even offered, "If you ever need help, don't hesitate to reach out."
After dinner, Shen Ming snapped a few pictures.
"It's rare to drink such an expensive wine. I want to take a picture to remember it," she said, holding up her camera. "Would you mind taking a few shots of me with this bottle?"
"No problem. Hand me your phone," Leng Tianqi said with a smile.
Once dinner ended, Shen Ming posted a picture on her social media. The photo was taken at the Xitu Lanya restaurant, with the bottle of wine clearly visible.
"Thanks to Mr. Leng for the lovely dinner. The wine was amazing, highly recommended."
The location tag showed that it was the same restaurant where they'd just eaten.
Although Shen Ming rarely posted on social media, this time, her post received a lot of responses.
Her phone buzzed with notifications.
There was a comment from Jiang Shaomo.
"This Xitu Lanya restaurant is great. I just ate there last week."
Ning Zhiqian also commented.
"Who are you dining with?"
Shen Ming swiped through the messages and deleted Ning Zhiqian's comment. Then, she clicked on his profile and quickly blocked him.
Two hours later, Leng Tianqi replied on her post.
"Let's plan another dinner sometime."
Instantly, Shen Ming's social media exploded with activity.
Friends who were connected to both her and Leng Tianqi saw his reply. It was a bold move—he had openly provoked Gu Feng, but to do it directly on her post was even more audacious.
She couldn't help but imagine Gu Feng's reaction when he saw it.
Thinking about it made her smile.
Leng Tianqi had canceled on Gu Feng to dine with her. That post quickly made its way to Su Yuyan's ears. He even sent her a private message.
"When did you get so close to Leng Tianqi?"
Shen Ming replied, "Just in the past couple of days."
Su Yuyan didn't respond further.
Ding-dong.
Another message popped up on her phone.
It was from Rong Zhaonan.
"Delete that post from your social media."
Shen Ming snorted.
She hadn't posted to delete it.
With a swift motion, she removed Rong Zhaonan from her WeChat contacts.
In her eyes, he and Ning Zhiqian were on the same level—both unworthy of her attention.
Seeing that she hadn't replied, Rong Zhaonan sent another message.
It showed that he was no longer on her contact list.
His face darkened in an instant.
He called her immediately.
But Shen Ming had no intention of picking up.
She tossed her phone aside and headed for the bathroom.
After a shower, she came out to find her phone still buzzing.
Thinking it was Rong Zhaonan again, she grabbed the phone and saw that it was Ning Zhiqian calling.
Without hesitation, she blocked his number as well.
As for the Huayi case, Shen Ming was finally taking it seriously.
Going through the documents, she noticed a significant gap in the files from August of the completion year to January of the following year. She called Xiao Wu to have him dig through the archives at the company.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Wu's voice trembled when he picked up the phone.
"Shen Mingjie... you still believe in me?"
"Stop wasting time. Get ready, I'll be at the company this afternoon," she said curtly.
After lunch, she made her way to the company.
When she arrived at her office, she found that several workstations had been set up.
Xiao Wu rushed over with the documents.
"What's going on here?" Shen Ming frowned.
Xiao Wu explained, "Shen Mingjie, our office has been moved downstairs."
Shen Ming took a quick glance inside.
At that moment, Gu Feng was walking toward her, speaking with her assistant.
"Just drop these off first, then let Xiao Liu know to come for the meeting at 2 PM."
"Understood, Mr. Gu."
One by one, the assistants left.
Gu Feng reached Shen Ming's side.
"Shen Mingjie, you finally made it to the office."
Her assistants entered the office that had been set up for them.
"So, my office is just free for you to move into whenever I'm not here?" Shen Ming asked coldly.
Gu Feng clapped his hands.
He said to the last assistant, "Go on ahead, make sure the meeting materials are ready."
Once the assistants were gone, Gu Feng turned to Shen Ming with a sneer.
"Shen Mingjie, you caused such a loss for the company. What's the big deal if I use your office for a while? Besides, my brother arranged a new project for me, and we need all the help we can get. It's only temporary, you won't mind, will you?"
He said "sister" in a mocking tone.
Shen Ming didn't even try to hide her disdain.
"You're using so many assistants for a project like this. I don't know if you're stupid, or if Su Yuyan is. Xiao Wu, let's go."
With that, Shen Ming walked away, Xiao Wu following behind her, still holding the documents.
Gu Feng stood frozen, a dark expression on his face.
His assistant walked over and asked, "Mr. Gu, the materials are ready. What about these?"
Gu Feng was lost in thought.
"Xiao Wu got in trouble, and he's still here? Doesn't he deserve to be fired?"
The assistant was just as confused.
"I think Mr. Su gave the green light."
"Hmph, Mr. Su doesn't know everything. Go upstairs and check on something..."
Gu Feng lowered his voice and whispered to the assistant.