Feng Qing covered her eyes, trying hard to hold back her tears, but they still trickled out one by one through the gaps between her fingers and rolled down her cheeks.
A few drops even hung on her chin. Against the light, Sheng Yan seemed to be able to see the chill emanating from those two teardrops.
Sheng Yan slowly reached out his hand and placed it on Feng Qing's back, gently patting her.
"If you dislike it, you don't have to go anymore. I can go on your behalf."
Feng Qing's sobs continued, but she bit her lip tightly, refusing to make a single sound. Only the tears could prove that she was crying.
Feng Qing didn't think she was really a person who could withstand great pressure. In the past, with her father and friends as her backing, she was willful and unrestrained. She knew that everyone would indulge her, and she had the capital to do so.
But since she returned to China, everything had been different from what she had expected. Before, she could get out of the drinking parties unscathed. She thought she could just endure a few vulgar remarks and leering looks. As long as she could achieve her goal in the end, she could swallow these grievances.
She just didn't expect that what she could endure was actually insignificant compared to the real disgusting things.
First, Jian Chengzhang threatened her to marry Jian Linhan if she wanted his help. Then, Qu Li, who was as old as her father, tried to molest her.
If this was the real world, she would rather have never lived in it.
Sheng Yan was beside her, not knowing what else to say. Since Feng Qing hadn't calmed down, he remained silent.
He vaguely remembered what Feng Qing was like in school. She was willful and unrestrained, as if the whole world was her plaything. She was confident and flamboyant, always looking down on everyone. No one could ever make her suffer such grievances as she was now.
From the day he met her, she had never been so helpless.
He suddenly thought that maybe he shouldn't have quarreled with Feng Qing. After all, she was just a young girl who was bravely trying to hold on to the company on the verge of collapse.
If he could, why should he let her be so tired?
Sheng Yan looked at Feng Qing and felt extremely心疼 for her. "Feng Qing, you can trust me completely. I will help you."
I won't let you suffer such grievances a second time.
Feng Qing didn't know what was really on his mind. She was still immersed in her own emotions. It took her a long time to finally adjust her mindset.
She finally lifted her head and wiped the tears from her eyes and face with the back of her hand, looking like she was ready to pick herself up again.
She refused to look at Sheng Yan. Instead, she faced the window, with a red nose that showed a kind of awkward stubbornness.
"I won't bear these things in vain. I'll make them know that even though I'm a woman, I don't need a man."
Sheng Yan looked at her swollen eyes and still red nose, sighed silently in his heart, and took out a bottle of water for Feng Qing.
"Drink some water."
Feng Qing took the water and gulped down more than half of the bottle. After she stopped, she gasped for breath, as if trying to expel all the bad air from her heart.
"Back to the company."
Sheng Yan didn't want her to throw herself back into work so soon. "Let me take you home."
"I don't want to go home. Back to the company." Feng Qing said this with red eyes, which made Sheng Yan feel a bit confused.
"You've been drinking. You need to rest."
"I don't need to."
Sheng Yan ignored Feng Qing's words and took her straight home.
"Sheng Yan, so now you can just disobey my orders?"
After all, she was Sheng Yan's superior, but he dared to completely ignore her words right in front of her.
"I prioritize your health." Sheng Yan pulled her out of the car and helped the unsteady her towards the elevator. "You can hardly stand still, and you still want to go to the company. What will the company's employees think of you?"
"I..." Feng Qing knew she was in the wrong and didn't know what to say for a moment, so she just kept quiet.
Sheng Yan took her home. When he wanted to go in, she blocked him at the door. It seemed that she wasn't drunk enough to be completely out of her mind.
"You rest at home. Don't force yourself. Anyway, there's still me and Qi Zhicheng in the company. Although Qi Zhicheng's ability is just so - so, as long as I'm here, Fengxing will never fall into someone else's hands."
Feng Qing didn't know if it was the alcohol kicking in. She just grinned foolishly at Sheng Yan and leaned on the door frame, laughing like a fool.
Sheng Yan reached out and tapped her between the eyebrows. "Okay, go in."
***
Feng Qing had a relatively good ability to digest her emotions. After resting for a few days, she put the previous things behind her and returned to her usual efficient self.
Sheng Yan didn't know what to say when he saw her like this. He could only watch her pretend to be strong.
And he never thought that Feng Qing's misunderstanding of him would be so deep.
Feng Qing handled her work as usual. At Sheng Yan's strong request, she no longer attended drinking parties. For some drinking parties that she really couldn't decline, Sheng Yan would go on her behalf. As for what exactly Sheng Yan did at the drinking parties to keep the other party from being angry about only an assistant showing up, Feng Qing had no idea.
Sheng Yan usually talked a lot to Feng Qing before attending a drinking party, and this time was no exception. After he finally finished his rambling and left, Feng Qing finally thought she could have some peace. But then, Special Assistant Qi mysteriously appeared in her office.
Feng Qing stared at him all the time, not knowing what he was up to. She didn't seem to have called him.
"I think there's something I need to show you." Special Assistant Qi didn't beat around the bush and placed a document in front of her.
Feng Qing didn't open it immediately. Instead, she looked at him suspiciously, not knowing what he really meant.
"Almost all the directors who no longer support us have sold their shares to one person." He looked at Feng Qing seriously and methodically. "I need to remind you that this person's shareholding ratio has exceeded yours."
Feng Qing frowned and opened the folder in front of her. There were photos of Sheng Yan meeting some directors privately.
She had no idea when they met or what they talked about. She flipped to the last page of the document and saw Sheng Yan's shareholding ratio. Her fingertips began to tremble.
Sheng Yan's shareholding ratio not only exceeded hers but was even about to exceed her father's. At his rate, he might have already exceeded her father. Even if she transferred her shares to her father, she might not be able to compete with Sheng Yan.
How could this happen? Why did he do these things behind her back?
Was it possible that when he said he was willing to help her, he was just doing this?
Feng Qing's hands gradually clenched into fists. A few seconds later, she closed the folder and said calmly as usual, "I don't remember asking you to investigate him?"
One after another, they didn't follow her arrangements and did things without her knowledge.
None of them made her worry - free.
"I'm employed by the chairman, so naturally I'm given priority by the chairman."
"Do you mean Dad suspects Sheng Yan?"