Chapter 288

Manager Wang's face stiffened a bit, and he quickly said, "Manager Lu, this kind of thing… why would you need to handle it personally!"

"Of course he has to handle it himself." Ning Jinli said, "If you handle it, I won't be at ease."

Manager Wang impatiently snapped at her, "Do you even have the right to speak?!"

Ning Jinli looked at Lu Jue-ming, "You must handle this matter properly for me, and I don't want similar situations to happen again in the group."

Manager Wang flew into a rage, slamming the table, "Are you looking for death? Dare to speak to our Manager Lu like that! Believe it or not—I—"

Before he could finish, Lu Jue-ming earnestly replied, "Yes, Miss Ning."

Manager Wang stared for two seconds, "Manager Lu… why… why are you dealing with her? She's just someone who deliberately picks trouble and causes a scene, she…"

"She is my boss," Lu Jue-ming said word by word, "Shen Nong Medicine was founded by her."

As soon as those words were spoken, Manager Wang's brain instantly crashed.

Yu Teng, Li Weiwen, and Lili beside them almost had their jaws drop.

"No, Manager Lu… your joke has gone too far." Manager Wang forced a smile, "How could she possibly be… be…"

Lu Jue-ming's gaze was stern, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Manager Wang broke out in a cold sweat, glancing at Lu Jue-ming, then nervously looking at Ning Jinli.

Such an outrageous thing, he really couldn't accept it.

But regardless of whether he accepts it or not, Manager Lu has said it, so it's a fact.

"Ning… Miss Ning…" Manager Wang's legs went weak, he held the tabletop, and struggled to speak to Ning Jinli, "I… this… this really is…"

Ning Jinli's phone rang.

She took it out and glanced at it; it was a message from Xiao Qidi.

It asked whether she had finished handling the matter of bringing those two classmates on board.

Only then did Ning Jinli recall that she had agreed with Xiao Qidi to go on a date.

The original plan was for her to come to the group for a trip, then after finishing go enjoy some rare alone time with Xiao Qidi, but she hadn't expected an unexpected situation to arise, delaying her until now.

"Manager Lu, I have something else to attend to, I'll leave first," Ning Jinli ignored Wang's pleading, stood up, and said, "Let me know once you've settled today's situation."

"Yes, Miss Ning." Lu Jue-ming rose to see her off.

Ning Jinli also said to Yu Teng and Li Weiwen, "Just focus on your work."

The two nodded blankly.

"Lili," Ning Jinli gave an approving glance to the trembling girl beside her, "Your performance was pretty good, deserving encouragement."

Having said that, Ning Jinli left.

Watching her retreating back as she left the meeting room, Manager Wang's face turned ashen, and he collapsed onto the floor.

It's over, I'm completely done for this time…

"You three, get back to work." Lu Jue-ming said to Yu Teng and the others.

"Yes, Manager Lu!" The three also left one after another.

Manager Wang looked hopefully at Lu Jue-ming, "Manager Lu… I…"

He wanted to say a few words in his defense, but realized no matter what he said it would sound feeble, and in the end only three words came out, "I was wrong."

Lu Jue-ming said expressionlessly, "I'm going to check the surveillance footage and ask the staff present for their descriptions; you can judge for yourself whether to submit a resignation letter."

After Lu Jue-ming said that, he strode away.

The meeting room had always been spacious and bright, but to Manager Wang it now seemed to have grown dark, the four walls appearing to close in on him, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Whether to submit a resignation letter…" Manager Wang muttered hopelessly, "Huh, what 'whether' is there left? I don't even have a say anymore. It's obvious they won't keep me…"

"Damn it, Zhang Haoyang, this brat has gotten me killed!"

Just thinking about the cause of his current predicament made Manager Wang's chest feel tight with anger.

And at that moment, Zhang Haoyang called him.

He had wanted to reject the call, but after hesitating two seconds, he still answered with a dark face.

"Manager Wang, I and Si Ya have already treated our wounds and are preparing to return to the company; how's the situation on our department's side?" Zhang Haoyang's voice came from the phone, "Should I call the police, or simply bring them over to have Ning Jinli arrested first?"

"Catch your mother's ass in the Gobi!" Manager Wang shouted angrily, "It's all your little bastard's fault! Who else should you have provoked but her! I now want to kill you!"

After saying that, Manager Wang furiously smashed his phone to pieces.

——

At this moment, Zhang Haoyang was sitting in the car with Si Ya.

He heard the beeping from the phone, looking completely bewildered.

Si Ya saw his expression was off and asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Haoyang furrowed his brows, bewildered, "Manager Wang scolded me with one sentence and hung up; I don't know what happened either."

This situation is clearly not right.

The two repeatedly analyzed what Manager Wang had scolded, then together concluded that surely Ning Jinli had also beaten up Manager Wang; otherwise there'd be no other reason for him to be so angry.

After reaching that conclusion, Zhang Haoyang touched the spot on his body that still faintly ached, sneered, and said, "Damn… I never realized before that Ning Jinli is a complete psycho."

Si Ya, still feeling uneasy, said angrily, "With this kind of person, you can't use normal methods, Haoyang; today I've lost face big time. If you don't let me vent this anger, I… I won't go on living!"

Zhang Haoyang retorted unhappily, "Who let you act smart and do a video livestream? Am I not embarrassed too? All our university classmates saw the joke!"

"Zhang Haoyang! You…"

"All right, all right, Xiao Ya, let's not talk about this; let me think about how to deal with her."

"……"

The car fell into silence.

It was already late.

Zhang Haoyang watched the streetlights flicker on one by one, at a loss.

Si Ya couldn't help saying, "Haoyang, with your abilities, do you still need to waste time thinking of a plan? To deal with someone like Ning Jinli, just use violent means! She hit us, we hit her back!"

"Well..." Zhang Haoyang's expression hesitated, awkwardly, "You saw it just a moment ago, didn't you? I... I can't beat her."

He did want to, but he just doesn't have that ability.

"Oh come on, did you get hit on the head?" Si Ya said anxiously, "Even a gang boss like Wang Kai, who has dozens or even hundreds of lackeys under him, you've got him eating out of your hand—your name-brand watch and sports car, weren't those his apology gifts? You've completely forgotten."

Zhang Haoyang snapped out of it, "Oh, you mean, have Wang Kai go..."

Si Ya nodded, "As long as you say the word, Wang Kai will definitely listen, but if you don't think highly of his abilities, just find someone stronger!"

Zhang Haoyang put on a brave front, but inside he felt waves of weakness.

He still couldn't figure out who was secretly helping him intimidate Wang Kai, which left him wondering where to find someone stronger.

After thinking it over, he decided it would still be best to use Wang Kai.

That way, at least he wouldn't give himself away.

Besides, someone like Wang Kai is perfect for dealing with Ning Jinli.

"Xiao Ya, give Wang Kai a call and tell him I need him to take care of someone," Zhang Haoyang said while giving instructions and picking up his own phone to make a call, "I'll ask an acquaintance in the Security Department whether Ning Jinli is still at the Headquarters Building."

"Okay!" Si Ya immediately contacted Wang Kai.

A few minutes later, both had finished their calls.

Si Ya said that when Wang Kai heard it was Zhang Haoyang asking for help, he agreed without even asking for details, directly summoning his thugs; all that would be needed later is to give him an address, and he'd bring his people to handle it.

Zhang Haoyang's face lit up with delight. "Wang Kai is still quite sensible, great. I just found out Ning Jinli left the Headquarters Building only a few minutes ago; I'm driving over now—I might run into her on the way."

"Quick, quick, quick! Don't let her get away!" Si Ya urged excitedly.

Zhang Haoyang started the sports car, floored the accelerator, and headed toward the Group Headquarters.

The place where the two were seeing a doctor was right near the Group Headquarters Building; just as Zhang Haoyang had expected, he indeed spotted the car Ning Jinli was driving, and quietly began to follow it.

"Haoyang, are we just going to keep following her like this? When can we get Wang Kai to make a move?" Si Ya asked.

Zhang Haoyang actually had no plan at all either; after all, this was a spur-of-the-moment idea, not something he could think through thoroughly, so he said, "Let's see—if we keep close tail on her, we'll surely find an opportunity."

At that moment, Ning Jinli was driving while chatting with Xiao Qidi over a Bluetooth earpiece.

Ning Jinli's words were full of apology: "You finally have some free time, and I originally wanted to spend these days keeping you company, but instead I've been going to class reunions and helping people find jobs… leaving you hanging, I'm sorry."

In the earpiece, Xiao Qidi's voice was gentle: "No need to say sorry; when you had time before, I was often busy and couldn't be with you either, and you never blamed me, so how could I not understand and be considerate of you?"

A happy, sweet smile appeared on Ning Jinli's face: "I promise, over the next few days I'll be with you every single moment."

At that moment, a new call came in.

Ning Jinli glanced at the screen—it was her mother calling—so she told Xiao Qidi, then answered Ye Zhiqiu's call.

"Mom, why are you calling me so early in the morning?" Ning Jinli asked this because Ye Zhiqiu and Ning Shan had gone to the other side of Earth; it was evening domestically, but morning where they were.

The couple had probably left for abroad a month and a half ago, mainly to take a vacation trip after reuniting in the modern world to enhance their feelings.

"Xiao Li, are you busy right now?" Ye Zhiqiu's voice sounded a bit low.

"I'm just about to go on a date with Qidi," Ning Jinli teased, "Ah, I really envy you and Dad—now that the Ning Group is back on track, with a bunch of senior elders in charge, you two don't have to worry about anything; you can go on dates whenever you want, unlike me, who still has to squeeze time in. Mom, what's the matter?"

Ye Zhiqiu stayed silent for two seconds, then spoke in a lighter tone: "Nothing, nothing, I just missed you. Since you two are going on a date, I won't bother you. Have fun!"

"All right, Mom, muah! By the way, could you pass a muah to Dad as well? Hehe."

"Mm, okay."

After hanging up with her mother, Ning Jinli immediately resumed her call with Xiao Qidi.

Meanwhile, inside the Ning Family Ancestral House's large villa.

Ye Zhiqiu stood by the bedroom's floor-to-ceiling window, holding her phone, gazing at the villa scenery in the sunset.

Actually, she had already returned to the country; she had just called Ning Jinli to say something very important.

"Are you sure you want to tell our daughter?" Ning Shan's voice came from behind her.

Ye Zhiqiu withdrew her gaze but didn't turn around, her eyes resting on the shadow reflected in the floor-to-ceiling window glass as she slowly exhaled a turbid breath, "Xiao Li... she's grown up now; I think she'll understand."

Ning Shan stepped forward, silently raised his hands, and gently placed them on Ye Zhiqiu's shoulders.

Ye Zhiqiu hesitated for a moment, then slowly touched his hand, then pushed his hand away, saying, "I'm going to stay the night at Qing Lan Jie's place," and turned to leave the bedroom.

Ning Shan wanted to say something but held back, not following her, and said nothing else.

—

As night fell completely.

Ning Jinli was less than a half-hour drive away from the place where she was to meet Xiao Qidi.

But since it was Friday night, traffic was getting heavier and heavier.

After she finished chatting with Xiao Qidi and focused on driving, she soon keenly noticed a red supercar tailing her, keeping a certain distance behind no matter which way she went.

Because the distance wasn't very close, under normal circumstances one couldn't make out who was inside the supercar.

Ning Jinli then circulated her Internal Skill to sharpen her vision, and finally saw that the person driving the supercar was Zhang Haoyang, with Si Ya sitting in the passenger seat.

"Huh? These two guys are tailing me? What do they want?" Ning Jinli wondered.

Given what had happened that day at the Group, plus the pair's sneaky behavior, Ning Jinli immediately decided to see what they were up to.

Afterwards, she deliberately veered off the main road, heading toward a remote area.

After driving for about twenty-plus minutes, the surroundings grew so dim even the streetlights were faint, with no other vehicles on the road and no pedestrians in sight.

Yet the red supercar continued to follow.

Ning Jinli continued driving down an even more secluded lane, then turned into a path that looked like it had been abandoned.

Inside the red supercar, Zhang Haoyang wore a triumphant expression, "Xiao Ya, see? I told you we'd find an opportunity!"

Si Ya muttered, "What's she doing running out to this godforsaken place? I remember this area is slated for demolition—the lane she turned into is a dead end."

"Ah, don't overthink it," Zhang Haoyang said dismissively, edging toward the lane, "She probably just wanted to detour around the traffic jam, got lost—women drivers do that all the time, right? This is heaven giving us a hand!"

Si Ya had a vague feeling something was off, but the explanation seemed plausible enough, so she didn't think further, grabbed her phone, told Wang Kai the address, and urged everyone to come quickly.

"How long will it take to arrive?" Zhang Haoyang asked.

Si Ya said, "It really is Heaven helping us; Wang Kai just happened to have a group of subordinates handling business nearby, about twenty to thirty of them. I told him not to wait for the whole force to gather, just come directly; it should only be a few minutes."

"Great! That's wonderful!" Zhang Haoyang exclaimed, slapping the steering wheel excitedly.

Then he drove the car to the mouth of the alley, just in time to block the road so that Ning Jinli couldn't drive away.

The two sat in the sports car, sneering as they stared at the car where Ning Jinli was parked a few meters away.

At that moment, Ning Jinli got out of the car, faced the supercar's glaring headlights, and calmly asked, "You've been following me this long; you can come down and talk, right?"