NMBJ2 - 19

A-Kuan, with red eyes, desperately reached through the car window, yanking at her hair and pulling her out. “Get out! Go call her down!”

Ni Kailun had already heard A-Kuan’s frantic shouting from the phone. She threw the phone on the bed and suddenly stood up, walking forward. However, after just a few steps, the baby in her abdomen suddenly started moving wildly.

She quickly sat down, her breath becoming heavy, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

She thought for a moment, the time was tight, and finally, gritting her teeth, she picked up the phone again.

Zhao Pingjin had a social gathering that day. After finishing his business, he had drunk quite a bit. His driver and Shen Min helped him back to the Park Hyatt.

Shen Min watched him settle down, then Zhao Pingjin fell asleep. Shen Min stood up to leave, but just as he was about to go, he re-entered and gently woke Zhao Pingjin, his expression serious. “Miss Ni has an urgent matter.”

Zhao Pingjin, suffering from a bad headache, immediately snapped to attention.

Shen Min repeated, “Ni Kailun.”

Zhao Pingjin took the phone that Shen Min handed him.

Shen Min turned on the lights and went to the living room to get something. When he returned, Zhao Pingjin had already hung up the phone. He was about to pull the covers off to sit up. His expression was calm, but as he reached for the shirt by the bed, he suddenly swayed and almost fell.

Shen Min, quick as lightning, caught him.

He helped him back to the bed, and Zhao Pingjin frowned deeply. He had been drinking, and his face had been pale all evening. Now, his breathing was labored. Zhao Pingjin gasped, his voice weak. “Bring me my phone.”

Shen Min immediately handed it over.

Zhao Pingjin turned the phone back on. Since early spring, there had been significant turmoil within the senior ranks of Zhongyuan Group. He had been keeping a low profile, rarely answering calls. After his uncle’s illness and passing, the internal power struggle within the board of directors became increasingly subtle. This included his father-in-law taking control of several key projects under Energy Holdings, which were then assigned to the management team under Zhao Pingjin’s direction. Over the last two years, he had been working to consolidate leadership within the core management team, reducing internal strife. Following last month’s board meeting, five out of eight board members voted in his favor, effectively sidelining his father-in-law’s influence. This caused a huge argument between him and his wife, Yu Xiaoying.

They had been in a cold war ever since. He had gone home, but she had ignored him. Having drunk too much that night, he ordered the driver to take him back to the Park Hyatt.

With the situation becoming more complex, he had kept his personal phone turned off. Now that it was on, messages poured in, and the phone vibrated non-stop. Before long, several calls came through, and he became increasingly irritated, pressing all the incoming ones away with a frown, trying to control his temper.

Zhao Pingjin began making calls.

Shen Min buttoned up his shirt for him.

Supporting himself on Shen Min’s arm, Zhao Pingjin stood up, but dizziness and double vision overwhelmed him. Shen Min stayed silent, tightly holding his arm as he listened to the phone.

The call was answered.

Zhao Pingjin chuckled. “Roger, my buddy, I need you for something. Are you at the hotel tonight?”

His tone was casual, light, and carefree, with a hint of a playful smile.

The two of them went downstairs. Shen Min drove him to the hotel, where Zhao Pingjin made a few more calls on the way. The car drove into the hotel’s driveway, where Roger Xiao was already waiting, accompanied by a young man in a blue suit, looking like a flamboyant young man who shouted enthusiastically, “Brother, hurry up, we’re waiting for you!”

Zhao Pingjin, naturally, recognized him—it was Hu Shaolei’s cousin, a playboy who only cared about drinking and partying. Zhao Pingjin got out of the car. “How’s the situation?”

By now, the workday was over. Roger Xiao, plump and wearing a white shirt and a black vest, with a small beard, looked like a professional snooker player, but in reality, he was an experienced manager, having run two top foreign hotels in Beijing for over ten years. He was quite familiar with Zhao Pingjin and grinned, “I made the call first, but they wouldn’t let us in. The two guys guarding the door said it’s fine. Xiao Chao went in, said hello, and it doesn’t look like there’s much going on.”

The young man in the blue suit nodded eagerly. “I saw her, she’s a beauty, an absolute stunner. But I heard she’s my brother’s girlfriend?”

Zhao Pingjin stretched out a hand and slapped his head. “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Hurrying to the elevator, Zhao Pingjin was stopped by Roger Xiao. “Hold on, Zhouzi.”

Roger Xiao came close, lowering his voice. “There’s more than just Sun Kehui inside.”

Zhao Pingjin froze for a moment, his senses heightened. “Who else?”

Roger Xiao whispered quickly in his ear, then shrugged. “It’s probably Hu Dong—he’s just a front, but Sun Kehui is just the connection. The real boss is inside. Looks like they’re trying to move up.”

Zhao Pingjin nodded slightly, signaling that he understood.

Roger Xiao smiled, putting his arm around Hu Shaochao. “Go on, get the boss out. I’ll entertain him.”

Hu Shaochao scratched his nose and did as instructed.

Roger Xiao followed Zhao Pingjin into the elevator. At the door to the suite, the hotel’s butler was waiting. “Good evening, Mr. Xiao, Mr. Zhao.”

Zhao Pingjin entered the suite and took a quick glance around. The living room had been cleaned, though there were wine stains on the carpet. Huang Xitang was sitting quietly on the sofa, wearing her evening gown with a coat draped over it.

Zhao Pingjin didn’t even glance at her, walking directly toward the study.

Outside the suite, Roger Xiao stood in the living room, speaking quietly to the attendant standing nearby. “Mr. Zhao instructed that the surveillance footage has been handled, please rest assured, sir.”

In the small living room of the suite, Sun Kehui was sitting by the door. As soon as he saw Zhao Pingjin, he gritted his teeth. “Yo, Zhou Zhou, you sure love meddling in other people’s business.”

Zhao Pingjin didn’t even spare him a glance. He slightly bowed and shook hands with the man sitting in the chair. “It was a misunderstanding, and I apologize for the trouble.”

The man, sitting in the shadowy corner of the sofa, was in his fifties, wearing a short-sleeved white shirt. His broad forehead and slightly yellowed wrinkles made him seem unbothered, and he laughed. “Zhou, so it’s all just family.”

Zhao Pingjin smiled faintly, keeping his composure. “Huzi is just joking, he knows that.”

The man’s face remained in the shadows as he slowly said, “Huzi, is what Zhou said true?”

Sun Kehui’s face turned green.

Zhao Pingjin spoke politely. “I must have spoiled your mood. I’ve arranged another suite for you, somewhere quieter. Please, allow me to escort you there, and Huzi and I will join you for a drink.”

The man stood up, laughing heartily. “No need, no need.”

Zhao Pingjin quickly approached. “I’m sorry to disturb you tonight. I’ll make it up to you another time.”

The man walked out. “No problem, no problem.”

At that moment, Zhao Pingjin’s secretary, Shen Min, entered and nodded at him, signaling that everything had been arranged. Zhao Pingjin said, “I’ll escort you downstairs.”

Zhao Pingjin was a step slower and lowered his voice to Shen Min behind him, “Take her out.”

Zhao Pingjin stood in the corridor, watching the man enter the elevator.

Turning back to the suite, Sun Kehui was about to leave with his bag, but when he turned around, he saw the door had already closed.

“In such a hurry to leave?” Zhao Pingjin blocked the doorway, still wearing a thin smile, but his face now darkened with a chilling anger. “Sun Kehui, we haven’t settled our accounts yet.”

Huang Xitang followed Shen Min downstairs. The car was parked in front of the lobby on the first floor. Shen Min escorted her to the car, and Zhao Pingjin’s driver stood beside it, saying, “Miss Huang, Mr. Zhao asks that you wait for a moment.”

Xitang sat in Zhao Pingjin’s car, making two phone calls to Ni Kailun and her assistant, waiting for a while. Shen Min came out, greeted her, then walked away. Just under two minutes later, Zhao Pingjin finally came out.

Zhao Pingjin sat in the back seat, his face grim. He didn’t look at Huang Xitang and, with a low, impatient voice, said, “Where are you staying? I’ll take you home.”

Huang Xitang pursed her lips. “I’ll go on my own.”

Zhao Pingjin’s anger flared. “Go on your own? Are you waiting for someone else to invite you upstairs for drinks and chatting?”

Huang Xitang remained silent.

Zhao Pingjin couldn’t suppress his temper. “Are you leaving, or are you planning to sit here forever?”

Xitang still didn’t speak.

Shen Min approached and opened the car door. Seeing they were arguing, she habitually intervened. “Xitang, let’s go.”

Shen Min handed her a cotton ball soaked in alcohol and a pack of band-aids. “Help him clean the wound on his hand.”

It was only then that Xitang saw the long cut on the back of his hand, slowly bleeding. She didn’t know where it had come from.

Shen Min leaned over to Zhao Pingjin. “Zhou, I’ll head back now.”

Shen Min closed the car door.

Xitang couldn’t ignore the blood on his hand and said, “Give me your hand.”

Zhao Pingjin remained motionless.

Xitang tried to pry his wrist open.

Zhao Pingjin shrugged her hand off. “Don’t touch me.”

Huang Xitang angrily shouted, “Zhao Pingjin!”

Finally, Zhao Pingjin relented, allowing Huang Xitang to press his hand against the armrest of the seat. She tore open the alcohol cotton ball package. Zhao Pingjin lowered his head and saw that her right hand was shaking slightly as she struggled to hold the cotton ball steady. His heart ached, and he almost shed tears.

Zhao Pingjin turned his gaze away, staring at her neck and body, clenching his teeth tightly. His voice was stiff. “What did he do to you?”

Huang Xitang fell silent.

“Speak.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened? What do you mean by that?”

Huang Xitang finally screamed, her face turning red, her body shaking with fury. She threw the cotton ball soaked in medication at him. “He tore my clothes and touched my chest! Do you want to check? Why are you yelling at me? I don’t know anything! All these goddamn bastards, I’ll kill every last one of them!”

Zhao Pingjin finally reached out and pulled her head tightly against his chest.

The car drove toward the capital airport’s highway entrance.

Xitang fell quiet, tending to the wound on his hand.

Zhao Pingjin finally stopped speaking.

Xitang could easily tell he was furious, his anger so intense it was reflected in his tone. His chest rose and fell erratically, his breathing uneven, but he was trying his best to control it.

He had clearly been drinking tonight, his eyes red and the weariness on his face evident.

Xitang had to fly back to Shanghai overnight.

Zhao Pingjin accompanied her alone until after 4 a.m. at the airport. Xitang’s assistant hadn’t arrived, so he picked up her boarding pass for her.

Xitang looked at the boarding pass in his hand and finally realized that he was sending her back to Shanghai.

She refused. “My assistant will be here soon, there’s no need for you to trouble yourself.”

The two of them were about to argue again.