"This... There's still no news for the time being." Shen Mingshu hesitated for a moment before saying.
"Mr. Shen, don't you think your lie is rather unconvincing? Tell me the truth." Ye Yanxi lowered her voice and pressed.
"You've seen through me. Hehe." Shen Mingshu let out a few hearty laughs. "How about this? I think you're highly suitable to be the spokesperson for a new product our company recently launched. If you agree, I'll definitely offer you a higher appearance fee than the market price. What do you say?"
However, Ye Yanxi wasn't swayed. "Don't try to change the subject. I want to know the whole truth. You said you knew it."
Shen Mingshu was speechless. "Why do you have to know?"
"Originally, I had no doubts. If it were just ordinary rivals, you would've told me already. But now, your evasiveness only makes it more suspicious." Ye Yanxi said calmly. "I think this matter... might be related to me, since you've gone to such great lengths to hide it from me."
"What could it possibly have to do with you? Goddess, you're really overthinking it."
After Shen Mingshu evasively mentioned that Xiao Yu had been wronged, Ye Yanxi had already formed some speculations in her mind.
Subsequently, from his words, Ye Yanxi had pretty much guessed the truth. All she needed was his verbal confirmation.
Taking a deep breath, Ye Yanxi lowered her voice and voiced her speculation. "Was it the He Group that did it?"
On the other end of the phone, Shen Mingshu held the phone with his mouth agape in an exaggerated circle. He was silent for a long time.
Hearing Shen Mingshu fall silent on the other end of the phone, Ye Yanxi tightened her grip on the phone and pressed him again. "You don't need to say anything else. Just answer my question. Did the He Group frame Xiao Yu?"
Ye Yanxi's stubborn nature gave Shen Mingshu a headache. Sighing, he replied, "Yes, but Yu didn't want you to know about this."
"It was really the He Group!" Ye Yanxi's voice suddenly grew excited. She had just made a random guess, but unexpectedly, that was the truth.
Originally, there was still a glimmer of hope in her heart that Shen Mingshu would deny it. But now...
Although she hadn't acknowledged He Zhenhua, blood was thicker than water. Their father - daughter relationship was unchangeable.
However, he was the one who framed Xiao Yu. She thought that even if they didn't acknowledge each other, there wouldn't be any entanglement between her and He Zhenhua. But now, things had come to such a situation. One was her lover, and the other was her biological father.
"Yu never intended for you to know about this, let alone involve yourself in it. As long as the truth is uncovered, he'll be released soon. Just wait patiently for the result."
"Thank you, Brother Shen."
"You're welcome. By the way, don't tell Yu what I told you today." He didn't dare to imagine how miserable he would be if Xiao Yu found out.
After saying that, Ye Yanxi hung up the phone.
After thinking for a while, she found the business card He Zhenhua had given her before and then directly dialed his number. Presumably, it was his office number.
After a few rings, it seemed that a young woman answered the call. Presumably, she was He Zhenhua's assistant.
It was useless if she couldn't find He Zhenhua directly. After Ye Yanxi reported her name, the assistant said she would inform the president and then hung up the phone.
After waiting for a while, Ye Yanxi was extremely anxious. She wanted to receive He Zhenhua's call quickly, but at the same time, she hoped it would come a bit later. It was extremely torturous.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Ye Yanxi stared at the unfamiliar number on the phone screen. At that moment, her heart skipped a beat. She had an intuition that this was He Zhenhua's number.
"Hello."
"Is that Xiaoxi? The secretary said you called me just now."
Ye Yanxi's eyes were deep. In an instant, many scenes of confronting He Zhenhua flashed through her mind. "Yes. Will this call disturb you?"
"Oh, it's okay. I just finished a meeting. It's no problem."
"Mr. He, I have something to talk to you about."
Mr. He.
Hearing these two words, He Zhenhua felt a complex mix of emotions. She had taken the initiative to call him, but she was still so formal and polite.
"Let's set a meeting place then. See you later."
"No need." Ye Yanxi directly refused. "Tell me the company address. I'll come to you."
"That's fine too."
After saying that, He Zhenhua sent the address to Ye Yanxi.
As soon as Ye Yanxi hung up the phone here, she rushed out of the door and took a taxi directly to the He Group building.
When the taxi stopped in front of the He Group, Ye Yanxi got out of the car. She saw towering buildings all around that blocked out the sky. The setting sun shone through the gaps between the buildings onto the ground, making her feel extremely depressed.
After standing still, she calmed her breathing for a while before rushing towards the He Group building.
Entering the first - floor lobby, she told the receptionist her name.
As soon as the receptionist heard her name, she immediately showed a gentle smile and personally led her towards the president's exclusive elevator. She pressed the elevator button. "Ms. Ye, the president has been waiting for you in his office for a long time."
Ye Yanxi forced a distracted smile and said, "Thank you."
After the elevator doors closed, watching the numbers rising continuously, there was a nameless anger in her heart. She clenched her fists and controlled her breathing to keep it from being too rapid. Gradually, her emotions stabilized.
The moment the elevator stopped, Ye Yanxi had never felt so calm. Her complexion returned to normal.
Maybe the receptionist had informed them in advance. As soon as she got out of the elevator, a slender young woman was waiting there.
"Ms. Ye, hello. I'm the president's assistant. I talked to you on the phone before." The assistant's voice was very sweet, and her smile was just right, making people feel comfortable.
"Hello." Ye Yanxi just replied indifferently.
Regarding her attitude, the assistant always kept a smiling expression on her face. She led Ye Yanxi towards the office. "Ms. Ye, please follow me."
When they reached the president's office, the assistant gently knocked on the door. He Zhenhua's deep voice came from inside. "What is it?"
"President, Ms. Ye is here."
"Let her in."
So the assistant opened the door and made a gesture of invitation to Ye Yanxi. "Ms. Ye, please come in."
It was almost evening at this moment. He Zhenhua's office was as bright as day. He was sitting behind a large desk, looking at a stack of documents. There was only a computer and a photo frame on the desk. The photo in the frame was a picture of He Zhenhua and Jiang Pinzhen.
The photo frame was placed within easy reach. In the photo, the two were intimately snuggled together, looking deeply in love.
As soon as Ye Yanxi entered, He Zhenhua stood up.
"You... Well, sit down for a while first." He Zhenhua seemed a bit flustered, which was rare for him. But in an instant, he regained his composure and pointed to the sofa beside him.
Then He Zhenhua quickly walked towards the door. "Assistant He, pour two cups of..." As if thinking of something, he turned back to look at Ye Yanxi. "What would you like to drink?"
"Just boiled water will do."
After instructing the assistant to pour two cups of boiled water in again, He Zhenhua sat back on the sofa beside Ye Yanxi with a smile on his face. "Xiaoxi, actually, I've always wanted you to come and take a look at my company."
Ye Yanxi thought silently in her heart. When they met before, He Zhenhua had even warned her to stay away from the He family and personally told her... that she was just an orphan.
Now He Zhenhua's attitude had changed so much. Maybe it wasn't that he suddenly realized his past mistakes, but that he wanted to win back Jiang Pinzhen.
Although He Zhenhua seemed to be a ruthless person and didn't act like a gentleman, his feelings for Jiang Pinzhen were truly sincere. Otherwise, he wouldn't have suddenly become gentle towards her, whom he had disliked so much before.
Ye Yanxi wanted to get straight to the point and was about to speak, but the assistant came in with the water. So Ye Yanxi was forced to swallow her words.
After the secretary left and closed the door again, Ye Yanxi spoke. "I came here today to ask you something, Mr. He."
"Since you're here, I also have something for you to see." He Zhenhua didn't answer her question. He got up and took out an album from behind the desk.
It could be seen that this photo album had been around for a long time. The edges were a bit worn and yellowed, and it was obvious that the owner often opened it. Was this an old photo album from the past?
Ye Yanxi took a look. The photo showed a chubby baby, seemingly less than a year old.
Could this be a photo of her when she was a child?
Before Ye Yanxi could suppress the surprise in her heart, He Zhenhua had already spoken. "The photos in this album were all taken before you went missing. At that time, our family was very happy. Pinzhen and I often took you out to play."
Sure enough, these were photos of her when she was a child.
Her heart suddenly softened as she stroked the little child in the photo.
But so what?
She just stared at the cover of the photo album, with a bittersweet emotion surging in her eyes. It was a long time before Ye Yanxi forced herself to look away.
"Mr. He, I came here today to ask you something. A warehouse of the Xiao Group was investigated a few days ago for suspected arms smuggling. I wonder if you know about this, Mr. He?"