Chapter 1985

"If a person is ugly, what's the point of dressing up so gaudily?" He Liping said with a look of disdain.

"Ugly people are always up to no good; a black-faced bun loves to pick at the dishes!" Zhao Desan casually recited a common folk saying that perfectly described Han Rui's character.

"Giggle, giggle..." Zhao Desan's humorous linguistic talent once again made He Liping burst into a series of silver-bell-like laughter.

Zhao Desan looked at He Liping with a cheeky grin after she finished laughing and asked, "Sister He, is there something you need from me?"

"What? Can't I come down to sit for a while if there's nothing?" He Liping rolled her eyes at him and asked.

Zhao Desan said with a grinning face, "No, no, I was just asking casually."

"How much did you drink when you accompanied Old Zheng out last night?" He Liping shifted the topic, asking directly about what happened last night.

"Not much, just a few cups," Zhao Desan answered truthfully.

"Who was the host?" He Liping was clearly prepared, probing bit by bit toward the topic she needed to know about.

This question made Zhao Desan freeze for a moment, but he quickly feigned indifference and said, "A real estate boss hosted it. A deputy secretary from the Municipal Committee was there too; there were quite a few people."

"Oh? Who has such great influence that even a deputy secretary of the Municipal Committee can be moved?" He Liping asked, deliberately feigning surprise.

"Ma Lan. Sister He, you probably don't know her, right?" Zhao Desan replied, noticing the strange look in He Liping's eyes and suddenly feeling that she was acting a bit odd today.

Upon hearing his answer, He Liping let out a contemptuous 'Heh heh' and said, "Ma Lan? How could I not know her? Isn't she just a coal boss from Yuyang? She wants to get into real estate in Xijing, right?"

"Right, right, that's her." Although Zhao Desan was still smiling, his smile was clearly somewhat awkward, because he saw that the look He Liping was giving him seemed wrong—it was a look filled with suspicion, giving him a feeling of shivering dread.

"Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, you worked at the Yuyang Coal Bureau for a few years after all, so you should be quite familiar with that Ma Lan, right?" Seeing that Zhao Desan's expression had undergone some subtle changes, He Liping asked directly about their relationship.

"Oh..." Zhao Desan gave an awkward 'oh' and suddenly realized he couldn't admit it, so he quickly shook his head and said, "No, I'm not familiar with her. We just had a few dealings; I just know her slightly."

He Liping let out a 'Hmph' and looked at him with a skeptical gaze. That look clearly made Zhao Desan feel that she didn't trust him. She said, "It's not as simple as just knowing her, is it? Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, you have to know that Sister He has treated you well. I know your past and present like the back of my hand; I just didn't want to bring it up in front of you."

Damn it! How could this woman know my past so clearly? Could it be that she really has a grasp on everything about me? Is she really sincere toward me? Seeing He Liping looking at him with that jealous gaze, Zhao Desan's heart became a tangled mess for a moment. He froze for a second, then accompanied her with a laugh, feigning ignorance as he said, "Sister He, I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Hmph!" He Liping let out another cold laugh, looking at him with a serious expression, and said with a thick sense of jealousy, "Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, stop pretending with me! You know in your heart whether I treat you well or not. If I hadn't told you about Zheng Jie, you'd probably still be kept in the dark, being led around by her! Why can't you be honest with me?"

Zhao Desan looked at He Liping's jealous appearance and knew that she might truly have developed real feelings for him. It seemed she really did have some understanding of his relationship with Ma Lan. He truly didn't know if He Liping was just bluffing him into telling the truth or if she really did know his 'past and present.' Could it be that he really had to confess his relationship with Ma Lan to her? Once confessed, wouldn't he be creating another formidable enemy in the Construction Committee? If he didn't confess, would He Liping feel that he was always hiding something from her? Zhao Desan truly didn't know what to do; his head suddenly felt huge. Looking at He Liping's cold and gloomy appearance, it made him feel very strange—how could He Liping know about his affairs with Ma Lan? Even if she had deliberately tried to find out, she might not necessarily have been able to know.

It turned out that Zheng Tulu had arrived at the office early in the morning, and when He Liping came to his office to greet him, he deliberately told her about the awkward scene when Ma Lan and Zhao Desan met at the drinking party last night. Because the old man had secretly sensed that He Liping and Zhao Desan had a special relationship, and she had been attempting to recruit Zhao Desan to serve under her, Zhao Desan could be considered an important chess piece between the two of them. Whoever obtained this piece would have a more stable official career. For the cunning and treacherous Zheng Tulu, although he had trusted He Liping at first, over the past year, the old fox had gradually discovered that He Liping had begun to act secretly to seize real power. To guard against He Liping's 'usurpation' ambitions, he took this opportunity to sow discord between her and Zhao Desan. After He Liping arrived at the office in the morning, he kept talking about the reactions of Zhao Desan and Ma Lan last night, and vividly recounted the emotional entanglements between Zhao Desan and Ma Lan during his time at the Yuyang Coal Bureau, with a description so immersive that it was as if he were a participant himself.

After Zheng Tulu deliberately revealed these secrets about Zhao Desan to He Liping, she felt very unhappy when she returned to her office. After all, women are very selfish creatures. Although He Liping usually took such good care of Zhao Desan, the main reason was the goal of recruiting him to serve her. As the saying goes, feelings are slept into existence, and this statement is not false at all. Over the past year or so, He Liping had gone from initial disgust toward Zhao Desan to gradually becoming emotionally invested. Although these feelings might be faint, she had invested them after all. As a creature with a strong sense of selfishness, she naturally did not want Zhao Desan to still have another woman in his heart while he was involved with her, or to maintain the same kind of man-woman relationship with another woman. Therefore, after hearing that Zhao Desan had finished his business in Zheng Tulu's office, He Liping did not wait long before walking out of her office and going downstairs to find Zhao Desan.

1085. Chapter 1072: Confessing the Relationship

【Chapter 1 Main Text】 ===== CHAPTER 1986 =====