Zhu Yun encountered Wu Zhen before Li Xun did.
That morning, when Zhu Yun arrived at work, she spotted a blue BMW in front of the building. She had seen that car once before, outside the Jili building.
She went upstairs. Wu Zhen was, as expected, waiting outside Feiyang’s office door. Wu Zhen had dressed with particular care that day — waves in her hair, a long flowing dress, and vivid red lips. She stood with her arms crossed in front of Feiyang’s office, her hair on the right side swept back behind her ear, looking as though she had stepped out of a magazine spread.
Zhu Yun walked over. Wu Zhen spotted her too and said with cool arrogance, “Where’s Li Xun?”
Back when Li Xun was at his busiest, he had practically lived at the office every day. But ever since Zhu Yun had started forcing him to exercise, his routine had improved considerably and he was sleeping at home at night again.
“He hasn’t arrived yet. Do you need something?” Zhu Yun asked.
Wu Zhen looked Zhu Yun up and down. “What’s your relationship with him?”
Zhu Yun said, “Ms. Wu, why not just tell me the reason for your visit?”
Wu Zhen gave Zhu Yun an imperceptible roll of her eyes. “I’m not here for you.”
Neither woman had any particular warmth for the other — mutual distaste ran both ways. Zhu Yun unlocked the door and went in, and Wu Zhen followed her inside, dropping herself onto the sofa.
Zhu Yun poured herself a cup of warm water, opened her computer, and glanced at the time — just seven o’clock. Li Xun should be arriving in about another half hour.
“Why won’t you drop the suit?” Wu Zhen asked from the sofa.
Zhu Yun didn’t turn around and replied with a question of her own: “Why should we drop the suit?”
Wu Zhen said, “You’re both being foolish. This is a losing proposition from the start. Even if you ultimately win, whatever you recover won’t cover your legal fees.”
Zhu Yun said, “You’d also need to factor in the indirect gains — such as the losses you’d incur from a failed listing.”
Wu Zhen stood up. “So you really are targeting our listing! Harming others with no benefit to yourselves — you’re utterly despicable!”
Zhu Yun said, “That description is hardly one we deserve.”
Wu Zhen said, “Business is about mutual benefit. Even if Jili’s listing fails, that money won’t flow into your pockets. You chase people around like rabid dogs — what exactly is the point? “
Zhu Yun kept typing at her keyboard and said nothing.
Getting no response, Wu Zhen pressed on, “Old Gao is at least your old classmate. You can’t even honor a shred of past ties? You’d rather suffer eight hundred losses yourself just to drag someone else down with you — how can you be so heartless?” She looked at Zhu Yun’s back and gave a contemptuous laugh. “With a heart that cold, I don’t know why he only got six years — sixty years would have been better.”
Zhu Yun turned around. “Say that again.”
Wu Zhen raised her voice defiantly. “I said he should have gotten sixty years! He should be locked up for life!”
Zhu Yun strode over. “Get out!”
Wu Zhen flung her bag to the side and glared at Zhu Yun, shouting, “You dare touch me and see what happens?!”
Zhu Yun grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her toward the door. Wu Zhen hadn’t expected her to actually lay hands on her, and immediately struck back — a hard slap landing on the back of Zhu Yun’s head. Zhu Yun’s fury flared. She abandoned any thought of throwing Wu Zhen out, spun around, and went straight for Wu Zhen’s throat.
“Who gave you the nerve to make a scene here?!”
Wu Zhen was livid, the whites of her eyes shot through with red. She hurled insults as she fought back against Zhu Yun with every ounce of her strength.
Out in the corridor, Li Xun, Hou Ning, and Zhao Teng had all squeezed into the same elevator and were making their way up. The moment the doors opened, they could hear the sounds of a struggle and shouting from down the hallway.
Zhao Teng frowned. “Hey — isn’t that Team Leader Zhu’s voice?”
They turned the corner into the hallway and found a cluster of people gawking in front of the Feiyang office. Zhao Teng went over first and dispersed them.
“Are you all Feiyang employees? What are you all standing around for? Get back to work!”
Inside the office, Zhu Yun and Wu Zhen were locked in a full-blown brawl, both women fighting like they wanted to finish each other off. Zhao Teng stared wide-eyed and immediately moved to break it up, but his arm was pulled back. He turned to Li Xun and asked, “You’re not going to step in?”
Li Xun said with a rakish ease, “Have a little faith in your team leader, won’t you.”
Zhu Yun and Wu Zhen were similarly built — neither was the frail, willowy type, and Wu Zhen’s energy was even more volatile than Zhu Yun’s. However, Zhu Yun had been well-nourished since childhood, and considerable strength was concealed beneath her fair, soft exterior. Her physical constitution was exceptional. After the initial chaos settled, she slowly gained the upper hand and ultimately pinned Wu Zhen to the ground.
Li Xun’s lips curved involuntarily. He let go, allowing Zhao Teng to go in and separate them.
Wu Zhen had lost the round, her eyes red as she caught sight of Li Xun. She shouted at him, “You scheming little worm! Always calculating against everyone!”
Hou Ning turned and shut the door behind them. Li Xun walked over to his own desk. Wu Zhen got up off the floor, her chest heaving dramatically from the exertion.
Li Xun leaned against the desk and lit a cigarette. Hou Ning and Zhao Teng both returned to their seats and started working. Zhu Yun went to the restroom to tidy herself up — Wu Zhen had scratched a red mark across the back of her neck.
Li Xun said, “Fang Zhijing sent you?”
Wu Zhen said, “Never mind who sent me. Name your price.”
Li Xun smiled. “What price?”
Wu Zhen said, “Dragging this out helps neither of us.”
Li Xun exhaled a relaxed breath of smoke. Wu Zhen looked at him. After the scuffle with Zhu Yun just now, her hair was disheveled, her clothes were dirty, and her makeup was smeared. She had come with some vague notion of perhaps catching his attention, but clearly that ship had sailed. She would have to use Fang Zhijing’s method after all.
Wu Zhen picked up her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers from inside, tossing them in front of Li Xun. Li Xun didn’t pick them up — he just looked on expressionlessly.
Zhu Yun was just coming out of the restroom when she heard Wu Zhen say, “These are Gao Jianhong’s medical records. And his CT scans.”
Zhu Yun stopped in her tracks.
Wu Zhen said, “Fang Zhijing didn’t send me. I came on my own. I didn’t want to bring this up, but I really have no other choice. Gao Jianhong is about to go in for surgery. With things the way they are, how can he have any peace of mind? Can’t you leave us a way forward?”
Li Xun smoked heavily, without a word.
Wu Zhen took half a step forward. “Think of it as doing a good deed. Old Gao was your classmate, after all. I’ve heard that you two were even on the same team for competitions.”
Li Xun laughed coldly. “Who told you that?”