Chapter 9: She Wasn

Cheng Yuan’s face turned cold; he felt Rong Ci was abusing her status to demand special treatment: “Secretary Rong, correct your work attitude—do you think this is your home?!”

Rong Ci picked up her bag, her demeanor unchanged: “If you’re dissatisfied, you can fire me right now.”

“You—”

He had accompanied Feng Tingshen to Country A, but he was also aware that Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation.

Though he enjoyed Feng Tingshen’s deep trust, the company wasn’t his personal fiefdom—he didn’t have the authority to order Rong Ci to leave.

Moreover, Rong Ci was well-favored by Madame Feng; if she went to her and complained, even if he was certain Feng Tingshen would protect him, he’d still come out worse off.

Rong Ci ignored him and walked past him to leave.

Cheng Yuan’s face turned green with rage as he left the secretary’s department.

Jiang Zhe noticed his grim expression and asked: “What happened?”

Cheng Yuan told him the whole story.

Jiang Zhe was greatly surprised.

He usually interacted with Rong Ci the most.

He had some understanding of her personality.

He couldn’t help saying: “This doesn’t sound like something Rong Ci would do—could there be a misunderstanding?”

“No misunderstanding—the process was exactly as I described. In my view, Rong Ci is just abusing her status for special treatment—where’s the goodness you always talk about?”

Jiang Zhe paused: “Maybe she’s about to quit and is starting to slack off?”

But Rong Ci’s recent work has still been highly active—no different from before.

At that moment, Feng Tingshen walked over from nearby: “What’s going on?”

“It’s Secretary Rong—she left before finishing her work.”

“If you’re dissatisfied, just follow procedure and fire her.”

It was clear Feng Tingshen didn’t care about this matter at all.

Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan both froze.

It wasn’t that they thought Feng Tingshen was too cold toward Rong Ci.

Rather, from his tone, it seemed he had no idea Rong Ci had already submitted her resignation?

But wasn’t her resignation his own idea?

Had they misunderstood something?

They were about to speak when Feng Tingshen’s phone rang.

It was Lin Wu calling.

Feng Tingshen didn’t look at them again; as he walked past them toward the elevator, he answered: “I’m leaving work now, I’ll be there soon…”

Jiang Zhe and Cheng Yuan exchanged glances.

Jiang Zhe: “Maybe General Feng forgot?”

“There’s a possibility.”

After all, Feng Tingshen had always been indifferent to Rong Ci’s affairs.

…

On the other side.

Feng Jingxin was very close to Madame Rong.

Previously, whenever Feng Jingxin was home, whenever Rong Ci returned to the Rong household, she would almost always bring her daughter along.

But now, though Feng Jingxin had returned to the country, she hadn’t called Rong Ci even once in all these days—instead, she called Lin Wu every day, missing her terribly if they didn’t see each other for a few days.

If that’s the case, there’s no need to force it.

Besides, with Feng Jingxin and Lin Wu so close now, if Madame Rong found out, she’d be furious.

So, on this visit to the Rong household, even though Feng Jingxin had returned to the country, Rong Ci didn’t go to Feng Tingshen’s to pick her up—she returned to the Rong household alone.

There was traffic on the way; when Rong Ci arrived at the Rong household, it was already past six in the afternoon.

Madame Rong saw her, her smile faltered, and she gently touched Rong Ci’s face with concern: “You’ve lost weight.”

Rong Ci’s eyelashes flickered slightly as she replied: “Work’s been busy lately.”

The old lady sighed: “No matter how busy, you must eat properly.”

“I know, Grandma—I’ll pay attention.”

Rong Ci sat beside the old lady, resting her cheek against her shoulder, drawing warmth from her.

Seeing the lamb stewed enough, the old lady ordered someone to serve her a bowl of soup to warm her up.

Listening to the old lady’s caring words, Rong Ci thought of everything that had happened recently, and her eyes grew watery.

She feared the old lady would worry if she found out, so she quickly suppressed her emotions and asked: “Have Auntie and the others returned from their trip yet?”

“Not yet—they’re having too much fun and said they’ll come back a week later.”

“What about Uncle? Will he have business dinners tonight?”

“Your uncle heard you were back, canceled his dinners, and said he’d come home to have dinner with us—he should be here soon.”

“Good.”

No sooner had they finished speaking than Rong Changsheng returned.

Seeing Rong Ci, he smiled: “Little Ci, you’re back?”

But immediately frowned: “Why are you so thin? Haven’t you been eating properly?”

Rong Ci smiled: “I was just too busy… I’ll eat more later.”

Rong Changsheng grunted, and as the servants brought out dinner, he kept piling meat onto her plate.

Rong Changsheng said she was thin, but Rong Ci could see he looked worn out too.

Though she didn’t work at Rong Corporation, she knew the company was struggling; Rong Changsheng was exhausted every day from managing its affairs, yet couldn’t yet turn things around.

Over the years, there were several projects where, if Feng Tingshen had offered help, Rong Corporation would never have sunk to this state.

But except for those two times when Madame Feng issued a direct order, Feng Tingshen had never helped her.

She thought that if not for Madame Feng, given Feng Tingshen’s misunderstanding of her, he wouldn’t have helped her—he’d have destroyed Rong Corporation himself.

Thinking of this, Rong Ci gave a bitter smile; the delicious lamb in her mouth suddenly lost its flavor.

Knowing how difficult things were for her, even when he needed help, Rong Changsheng had never once asked her to seek Feng Tingshen’s aid.

After dinner, while the old lady dozed off, Rong Ci handed Rong Changsheng a card containing seventy million.

“Little Ci, Uncle doesn’t need—”

“I don’t have much use for it,” Rong Ci pushed the card toward him. “I can’t help you with anything else—this is all I can do.”

She had always been good at studying—she could handle research and development, but she clearly wasn’t suited for business.

Fortunately, years ago she had patented several AI inventions, and the tech company she co-founded with Yu Moxun and others paid her annual dividends; altogether, even if she did nothing, she earned tens of millions a year.

Rong Changsheng felt ashamed: “You’ve already given me money many times, yet the company still…”

Remained half-dead.

“It’s Uncle’s fault.”

“Company transformation requires heavy investment—it’s normal. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

As she spoke, she recalled the day she met Yu Moxun—when he left, he had said to her: “AI is developing rapidly. With your development skills and my operational expertise, if you hadn’t gone off to get married back then, our company would likely be worth tens of billions now and could easily become the industry leader in this field. Fortunately, AI still has enormous potential—we still have a chance. I hope you’ll return as soon as possible.”

If she could truly regain her former abilities, once she returned to the company and helped it grow, she could then provide even greater financial support to Uncle.

…

Feng Tingshen arrived home at ten at night.

Feng Jingxin rubbed her eyes: “Dad, you’re back?”

“Mm.” He replied coolly: “If you’re sleepy, go to bed.”

“Got it, goodnight, Dad.”

“Mm.”

Feng Jingxin went upstairs to sleep; Feng Tingshen took the water the butler poured, drank it, then went upstairs too.

The bedroom remained pitch black.

It seemed no one was there.

Feng Tingshen paused, then turned on the light.

Indeed, no one was there.