Release that Man

As she expected, ‘Trash’ was indeed Chen He.

“You bastard!” An Zining glanced at the phone, and the air of resentment gathered around her as she picked up phone to yell into it. Her attack was relentless. “Didn’t you say we have no common ground? So, why are you calling me? If you have any questions, have your lawyer contact mine. If you call me on my personal number again, I’ll sue you for harassment!”

The person on the other end of the phone was used to An Zining’s personality and expected such a response before he even made the call. Not only was he not surprised by the sudden scolding, he had the ease to scoff and say, “There’s a charity ball we’re supposed to attend together tonight, but it’s fine if you don’t want to go, because honestly, I wouldn’t want to risk my life appearing at a function with my ex-wife…”

Next came a long string of sarcastic and snide comments from both parties. They spent twenty minutes mocking and hating on each other. The only meaningful exchange happened at the last minute of the conversation.

“Stop wasting my time! You coming or not?” Chen He roared.

“Of course, I’ll be there! You think I’ll be afraid of you‽” An Zining roared in return.

Then, both huffed and ended the call in unison.

Ye Shuang had no words.

The call with Chen He proved to be quite a stress-reliever. After taking a long breath, An Zining turned to Ye Shuang and ordered with enthusiasm, “Help me contact the make-up artist, the dress makers, beauticians… The second drawer on the left-hand side has a black leather name-card holder that has all of their contact numbers—call them to schedule a session for me this afternoon.”

Ye Shuang nodded and went searching for the name-card holder. As she pulled out her phone to make the calls, she glanced at the intern next to her and asked with confusion, “This is weird, why do they insist on going to the same party if they’re in the middle of a divorce settlement?”

“…” The intern quietly studied this girl who had suddenly appeared to steal his job, and after realizing that the other party didn’t treat him as an outsider and didn’t feel that bit of shame from stealing his job, he could only sigh inwardly and grumble, “To put it simply, it’s the matter of face and business stability. When the two families were joined via marriage, there was no reason for them to appear at the same function together, but with the divorce, everything has changed. To create the mirage that the two families’ relationship hasn’t deteriorated to the state where their stocks would be influenced, they have to do more surface work. Of course, it’s a different matter whether that is true or not, but such pretenses still have to be done.”

“Wow! I asked that for fun, but you really know why!” Ye Shuang turned with shock in her eyes. She wasn’t lying; she had indeed merely asked for fun. Ye Shuang did not expect an intern to know these things, but he not only knew that, he was also kind enough to share it with her. Ye Shuang was feeling quite touched.

The intern felt even more brooding when he heard that; he shouldn’t have volunteered that information. “I’m about to end my intern life after all, and such things are fairly common in other cases.”

Brother Wong, who stayed in the living room, could hear their conversation, but he didn’t intervene. He did pay extra attention their way. Looking at how friendlily Ye Shuang was chatting with the intern, Brother Wong was surprised but glad. Even though the girl did come out of nowhere to put a wrench in their plan, she did seem friendly. Perhaps she wanted to have a better relationship with them, or maybe she was feeling rather sorry for stealing the intern’s job, so this was her attempt at reconciliation.

At this point, Brother Wong’s impression of Ye Shuang improved slightly. No one would complain about an understanding colleague, and good interpersonal skills were often more desirable than impressive professional skills in group cases. Even though this case was supposed to be reserved for their workshop, and even though the intern was lacking one last trial before his status could be officialized, based on their recent interaction with the girl, the accident this time probably was not her idea either, so she couldn’t be blamed.

Just as Brother Wong was intensely filling in the blanks in his mind, Ye Shuang, after hearing the explanation from the intern, had her curiosity quenched. She nodded her thanks before continuing with her work, ending the conversation.

Brother Wong was shocked silly. That’s it? Could it be that the girl thinks an open apology is too hard to say it out loud?

The intern was similarly disappointed. That’s it? Could it be that I’ve given the wrong answer to her question, causing her to think we have nothing in common‽

Ye Shuang had no idea that the other two individuals were so anticipatory of her response. Instead, she focused her attention on the job at hand. She found the few name cards that looked most worn and called them up one by one to help An Zining book her schedule.

Even though Ye Shuang herself had no idea what went into the preparation for a ball, she was facing experienced professionals. After asking about the type of ball, most of them had no other questions beyond whether An Zining had any special demands.

An Zining had not mentioned anything like that, but Ye Shuang thought about An Zining’s condition and that fifty percent possibility, so she did ask for a low heels, those that were meant for walking and comfort; heels that were as high as stilts were all out.

“Then this afternoon, you’ll go to Chen He’s company to negotiate with his lawyer, be careful of the man’s assistant. He’s just as bad as his boss, and he’ll probably create some trouble for you at the company. Hmm, why don’t you have Xiao Wong go with you? If they really do that, have Xiao Wong teach them a lesson!”

When Ye Shuang finished the call, An Zining happened to come out of the bedroom with the lawyer after their discussion was done. It was obvious that An Zining had a bad impression of her ex-husband. Even though Ye Shuang had only worked there for two days, whenever Chen He’s name was brought up, it was accompanied with a slew of insults, and An Zining had animosity toward anyone around Chen He, justified or not.

Brother Wong stood up from the sofa argued, “Miss An, my responsibility is solely your personal protection.”

Obviously, he was feeling a bit iffy about An Zining’s earlier arrangement.

An Zining though didn’t think much of it. “It’s okay, Ye Shuang is a better bodyguard; she’ll protect me.”

This was the second time An Zining had mentioned something of that sort. The people there couldn’t help but turn their heads toward Ye Shuang in unison. However, no matter how they studied her, they couldn’t imagine a slender figure like Ye Shuang being powerful enough to protect An Zining. Only Miss Chef, who came out of the kitchen with a freshly baked pizza, froze. Thinking about what happened on the road yesterday, she shivered involuntarily.

Brother Wong had a hard time believing An Zining, but he didn’t think it was wise to directly counter his boss, so he glanced pleadingly at the lawyer. The lawyer, in his smart suit, pushed the gold-rimmed glasses that sat on his nose upwards and resolved this problem in a tactful way by offering an alternative solution. “If Miss Ye Shuang is that impressive, I’d prefer she follow me to the negotiation. After all, a female presence during the negotiation will be able to influence the other party into let their guard down. We do also have an intern who can take Ye Shuang’s place as Miss An’s personal assistant when she’s gone.”

An Zining’s eyes glowered. “You’re right! That bastard still owes Ye Shuang a roomful of new furnishings!”

Whenever she could find a chance to stick it to her ex-husband, An Zining would be exceptionally happy.

Chen He had already promised to sponsor the renovation, and she wasn’t afraid that the bastard would renege on a promise to his savior. The thought had slipped her mind due to the divorce, but now that she remembered it, of course, she wasn’t going to let Chen He sneak his way out of this one.

“Ye Shuang, when you’re free, call Fang Mo to contact the renovation company and have them send the receipt directly to Chen He!”

An Zining was not only wicked but also clever. She knew to drag a third party into the situation to prevent Chen He from running away from his responsibility.

The issue of renovation aside, at least the sub-team members had been settled. The intern would temporarily take Ye Shuang’s post and assist Brother Wong as they accompanied their boss to her beauty session while Ye Shuang would accompany the lawyer to Chen He’s company for the negotiation.

Before going to the company, the lawyer suggested they go to the hospital first. Even though Chen He’s mistress had been shuttled away already, the hospital might have her records. The lawyer didn’t have much hope because the opposing lawyer would have thought about it and deleted the records already, but he had to try to know for sure. Furthermore, while records could be deleted, people would still talk, and there was a price to all information.

“You’re leaving now? That’s fine, do you have a car?” An Zining asked.

“We can take the bus,” the lawyer answered.

An Zining thought about it and said, “Public transport is rather troublesome. Why don’t you take one of my…”

“Boss!” Miss Chef didn’t have the heart to let the lawyer suffer the fate as her, so she interrupted by saying, “They can take the public transport! The people from our workshop love taking public transport!”

The people who loved to take public transport frowned silently.

“You all have such a quirk?” An Zining didn’t quite understand it, but she respected personal preference. “So be it, come back soon. If they give you any trouble, just snap their necks like twigs!”

The lawyer glanced at Miss Chef before pulling his gaze away to nod. “Of course.”

…

Ye Shuang and the lawyer’s lunch was settled at the hospital canteen. After their lunch break, the lawyer brought Ye Shuang to meet the doctor for Chen He’s mistress. As expected, they left with nothing. The doctor said he could not remember treating such a patient, and the request to see the records was denied with reference to doctor-patient confidentiality.

There were two possibilities—either Chen He’s men had already gone to notify the good doctor, or the doctor really could not remember. Regardless, the doctor’s answer was infallible, at least legally. Therefore, unless the lawyer could procure a warrant, there was nothing they could do.

After wasting a whole afternoon, it finally came time for the negotiation. At 2 pm, the lawyer led Ye Shuang to Chen He’s company. The two elites entered the boardroom for their war while Ye Shuang was left stranded in the guest room, bored out of her mind.

The coffee had been refilled twice already, but the lawyers still had not shown themselves. The guestroom door was pushed open, and a woman strode in.