Chapter 1988: What Was Lost

"Noon? No, why? Did something go missing in the office?" He Liping's answer was beyond Zhao Desan's expectations.

Hearing her curious inquiry, Zhao Desan knew he had guessed wrong; someone else had brought the buns. So he laughed and said, "Nothing, I was just asking casually."

"Have you arranged things for after work? I'm waiting for you." He Liping whispered on the phone.

"I'll only know about after-work things after work, but there shouldn't be anything. I'll tell you, Sister He, before I get off work." Zhao Desan said with a smile.

"Alright then, send me a message before you get off work. I'm a bit busy here, so I won't talk anymore." With that, He Liping hung up the phone.

After putting down the phone, Zhao Desan was a bit puzzled. Who had brought these meat buns to his office? Just as he was feeling confused about this, his phone vibrated twice, and a message came in. He quickly picked it up and saw it was a message from Lan Mei. Suddenly, his heart understood. Opening the message, sure enough, the content of Lan Mei's message was related to this: Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, I saw you didn't go to the cafeteria for lunch, so I brought you a few buns. I saw you were sleeping, so I didn't want to disturb you. Have you been overwhelmed by that Li Fang matter recently? It's all my fault. If I had followed the procedures for the paperwork, this wouldn't have happened.

So it was her? Zhao Desan's heart sank, but at the same time, he felt a bit comforted, and a warm current surged up. Recently, due to Zheng Jie's betrayal, Zhao Desan had felt that Lan Mei was also a bit annoying, especially when he saw her hurriedly tidying her clothes at the door of the conference room that day. He truly had an indescribable feeling; he just felt that these women who had truly moved his heart, why were they all like this? However, men are always easily moved by details that women do, such as Lan Mei bringing him buns to eat. How could this act of sending charcoal in the snow not move Zhao Desan? He once again felt that this woman, Lan Mei, had given her sincere heart to him. At the very least, when he worked under her, she valued and appreciated him very much. When he was about to be transferred to take charge of the Chanba Development Zone, logically speaking, when encountering such a capable subordinate, most leaders are unwilling to let them go, but Lan Mei was very straightforward. She had always felt that Zhao Desan was being wasted under her, so she let him go very directly.

Recalling the bits and pieces of being with her, Lan Mei was originally such an arrogant woman who was overbearing and looked down on everyone, but in front of Lan Mei, he had become more and more able to hold his head high because of the tangled relationship he had with her. At first, standing in front of the cold, arrogant, and beautiful Lan Mei, Zhao Desan didn't even dare to look at her directly. Now, not only could he be cheeky when talking to her, but sometimes he would even throw tantrums. It was precisely because Lan Mei had him in her heart that she repeatedly lost the dignity she had established in front of him. By now, she had almost no dignity left in front of Zhao Desan.

As a divorced woman who was also coveted by the biggest leader in the unit, sometimes she really had no choice. Forced by Zheng Tulu's lewd power, she could only submit to him. The most serious time was when she was deliberately taken by the old guy to a prefecture-level city to attend a meeting. During that week, Lan Mei suffered inhuman humiliation from Zheng Tulu every night. Every part of her that he could enter, he entered, even Lan Mei's anus, which she had always resisted the most, was forcibly penetrated by Zheng Tulu after he rushed into her room drunk one time. That time made Lan Mei experience a heart-wrenching feeling. After being violated by Zheng Tulu, she had trouble defecating for several days, and it took several days to recover. Of course, Lan Mei was afraid that Zhao Desan would worry if he knew about this and would go find Zheng Tulu, which would further intensify the conflict between the two, so she swallowed this bitterness.

However, Zhao Desan knew why Lan Mei had followed Zheng Tulu to the prefecture-level city to attend that meeting. She had told him later that it was because Zheng Tulu had lewd photos of them secretly taken during a trip to Sanya, and the old guy had been using those photos to threaten her. For a divorced woman like her, it didn't matter, but she was afraid that once these photos were leaked, it would cause devastating damage to Zhao Desan's future. For his future, Lan Mei submitted to Zheng Tulu and went with him.

Zhao Desan sat in the chair, his mind recalling when he first met Lan Mei. He still remembered that he and she had quite a bit of conflict at the beginning. Perhaps it was true that enemies don't meet unless they are on the same path. His first direct conversation with her was actually when he mistakenly sent a yellow text message to Lan Mei's phone and was called into the office to be reprimanded. Some things are just like this; a blessing in disguise. He also used his strength and ability to dispel Lan Mei's prejudice against him, gained her appreciation in a very short time, and then the relationship between the two gradually underwent subtle changes. In the end, they actually sparked the flames of love.

Zhao Desan's indifference toward Lan Mei was entirely triggered by Zheng Jie's betrayal. After he carefully recalled the days they had walked together, he found that Zheng Jie was essentially different from her. At least Lan Mei had never made him pay for anything, but had always helped him as much as possible. The situation with Zheng Jie was exactly the opposite; he had always tried his best to help her. Therefore, Zhao Desan felt that he shouldn't be so cold to Lan Mei and must occasionally care about her to let her understand that he was not a heartless man who would turn his back after pulling up his pants.

So, Zhao Desan picked up his phone and called Lan Mei. After a long while, Lan Mei answered the phone.

"Hello, Director Lan." Zhao Desan called her gently.

"Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, is there something?" Lan Mei's voice on the phone was somewhat hoarse.

"Director Lan, thank you for the buns you brought me. I didn't eat lunch, and I was woken up by hunger. I was wondering who brought me the buns. Hehe." Zhao Desan thanked Lan Mei with gratitude.

Lan Mei smiled faintly and said, "I didn't see you come to the cafeteria for lunch, so I just brought a few buns. I went to your office and saw you sleeping on the desk, so I put them down and left."

"Director Lan, you are still the best to me." Zhao Desan said with a grin, and a warm current surged in his heart again.

Lan Mei smiled slightly, then changed the topic and asked, "Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, is it that Li Fang matter recently that has been overwhelming you?"

"Pretty much." Zhao Desan nodded and said. In fact, he knew in his heart that the Li Fang matter was only a part of it; the bigger reason was that being betrayed by Zheng Jie made him feel tired.

"Sigh, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been lazy and signed for the migrant workers' wages and the project funds together, you wouldn't have had to be so troubled." Lan Mei blamed herself on the phone. Her voice sounded very hoarse, as if she had cried.

"Director Lan, this is not your fault, and you don't need to blame yourself. Who knew that the boss, damn him, was not a good person and even ran away with the migrant workers' wages!" Zhao Desan had never blamed Lan Mei, but instead blamed the boss who took the project.

"Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, I want to thank you." Lan Mei suddenly said something inexplicable.

Hearing her say this, Zhao Desan was confused and asked blankly, "Thank me for what?"

"I know, if it weren't for you stabilizing that Li Fang, she wouldn't have been able to get the money for so long, and she would definitely have come to trouble me. This matter was caused by my negligence and failure to follow procedures." Lan Mei also had some understanding of the progress of this matter.

Hearing that Lan Mei said she wanted to thank him for this reason, Zhao Desan not only smiled indifferently but also said, "Director Lan, then you underestimate me, Zhao Desan. Don't worry, no matter what, that Li Fang will never find her way to you."

The only thing Lan Mei had been worried about recently was that Li Fang would come to trouble her. Zhao Desan's confident words could be considered a shot of adrenaline for Lan Mei. That Zhao Desan could still think of her and consider her in this matter made Lan Mei suddenly feel a surge of sourness in her heart. Her nose became sore, and she choked up.

Hearing Lan Mei choking up on the other end of the phone, Zhao Desan asked anxiously, "Director Lan, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying?"

"No, nothing." Lan Mei quickly stopped choking and said hoarsely.

"Really nothing?" Zhao Desan asked skeptically.

"Really nothing. Alright, Comrade Comrade Xiao Zhao, I won't disturb your work. I'm a bit busy here, so I'll hang up first." Lan Mei finished speaking and hung up the phone, not giving Zhao Desan any room to pursue the question.

Listening to the beep-beep-beep sound coming from the phone, Zhao Desan slowly put down his phone. He felt a bit strange about Lan Mei suddenly choking up on the phone. He hadn't said anything, so why did she suddenly cry? This left him completely

unable to figure it out.

It turned out that half an hour ago, Zheng Tulu had come to Lan Mei's office again. Taking advantage of He Liping being out on business, the old guy thought of Lan Mei again. Because she was a 'white tiger,' the old guy wouldn't let her go so easily. Whenever there was an opportunity to approach her and satisfy his animal desires, he would never miss it. ===== CHAPTER 1989 =====