Chapter 70: She Was Married

When Jing Yichen came to the office, he waited for Shangguan Ning, but she hadn’t reported to work yet.

He found it strange but since there were other urgent matters that required his attention, he turned to contact the Deputy President. This individual was in charge of the overseas mining business of Jingsheng Enterprise.

There were nine deputy presidents at Jingsheng, headed by Jing Yichen.They were in charge of different businesses and all pressing matters were to be reported to Jing Yichen. Eighteen directors were subordinate to the nine deputy Presidents.These directors resided in various countries and headed specific projects.

If at all there was a problem overseas that the directors or deputy presidents couldn’t handle, then Jing Yichen had to make an overseas business trip.

He had lived abroad for ten years, and had been to almost every city across the globe. He was familiar with each and every one of overseas businesses held by Jingshen Enterprise.

The foreign affairs office was facing one such issue currently for which they required Jing Yichen’s presence and expertise. JingYichen had to leave for the airport immediately, so took his private elevator to the lobby. He had just seated himself in his black Bentley, when he spotted Xie Zhuojun leaving the Jingsheng Enterprise building.

Jing Yichen pulled out his cell phone and sent out a message. When he received a revert, he frowned. His expression was an unhappy one.

Shangguan Ning didn’t find Jing Yichen when she got to the 76th floor. She wondered where he might be. Just then her cell phone rang. It was a message from Jing Yichen.

“Something urgent has come up and I have to make a last minute trip abroad. Reschedule all of today’s meetings. Leave any wild grass to Lee Duo.”

It took Shangguan Ning a while before she realized what he meant by “wild grass”.

Did he see her talk with Xie Zhuojun in the guest room?

Although she had nothing to do with Xie Zhuojun anymore, in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding, she made it a point to give an explanation to Jing Yichen.

“This bit of ‘Wild grass’ is somebody else’s problem. I needn’t bother about it. I am a flower that belongs to you. There is nothing going on between us. When are you back?”

Jing Yichen smiled upon reading her message. His heart warmed up at her words. Especially the ‘belongs to you’ and the ‘when are you back’ bit.

“Three days if it goes fast, five if it goes slow. Don’t worry. I owe you these days. I will make up for all this when I return.”

Shangguan Ning flushed seeing the message. This man had some cheek. She smiled and said,”shameless.”

She turned on the computer, and started to reschedule the rest of Jing Yichen’s meetings.

After that was done, she followed Lu Qing around, so as to get a better understanding of her job profile.

She needed to liaise with colleagues in different departments on various occasions. This was the time to connect with them and get to know them.

As per company policy, her personal CV was required to be filed in company records.

What Shangguan Ning didn’t know, was that her marital status had been updated to ‘married’. It used to say – single – but now Jing Yichen ensured that the necessary changes were done, after they got married.

All her female colleagues were happy once they got to know of this change. Since Shangguan Ning was married, she was no longer competition. She would obviously not vie for Jing Yichen’s attention now. They let out a sigh of relief.

But when the men saw her marital status, they wallowed in self pity because they no longer had a chance of pursuing her any more.

Shangguan Ning didn’t know that her marital status had been changed by someone. What she noticed was that all her female colleagues who were rude and indifferent to her earlier, now greeted her with much love and enthusiasm. Such a change in attitude!

In the meanwhile, once Xie Zhuojun left Jingsheng Enterprise, he immediately contacted his friend who was the Head of the local Police Station. He inquired about Shangguan Ning’s marital status.

The answer he received, spoilt his mood – she was married.

Also, the Head of Police Station was only able to find out about her marital status, not the person she married to.

The silhouette of the man who was with Ning at the beach, the other day, came to his mind. He frowned.

He arrived at home. Shangguan Rouxue was away, working. She was shooting for a show at the TV station.

As a matter of fact, most of the time she would be at the TV station, working. When she was free, she would spend most of her time at the beauty salon or socialising. She was barely at home.

He then thought to himself, he had no business demanding that Shangguan Rouxue be home. They weren’t married or engaged. In any case, he knew that even if they were to marry, these things would still not change. She would hardly ever be home.

But why was he even thinking of marriage? Was it because he had gotten to know that Shangguan Ning was married ?

The two sisters just couldn’t be compared. They were as different as chalk and cheese.

In the past when Shangguan Ning fussed over him, he found her pretty annoying. Yet, at this moment, when he was all alone, he felt rather lonely.

The Head of the TV Station gave Shangguan Rouxue a lift home. She then went on to attend a banquet hosted by the Head’s Wife.

When she got home, she found Xie Zhuojun smoking and in a gloomy mood. He was lying down on the sofa.

The crystal ashtray in front of him was full of ash and cigarette butts.

Xie Zhuojun didn’t come up to her as usual. He didn’t offer to take off her coat or get her bag. Shangguan Rouxue wasn’t happy but she didn’t show the displeasure. Instead, she came to him gently, and sat on his thighs asked, “Why are you smoking again, Zhuojun? Smoking is injurious to health. Hadn’t you quit?”

Xie Zhuojun didn’t reply and that made Shangguan Rouxue feel uneasy. She knew that something had changed. He just stared at her. Not out of love, like he usually did, but in a bizarre manner.

Shangguan Rouxue’s voice was even gentler than before. Her expression was one of sympathy and love. “What is it? Have you run into any problem at the company? Can I do something to make you feel better?”

Xie Zhuojun had been a smoker before, but after Shangguan Rouxue complained that she wasn’t a fan of smokers, he never smoked again. What had happened? Why did he start smoking again? And that too, this much?

The entire room reeked of smoke and she was starting to feel uncomfortable.

She coughed, as if the smoke choked her.

Xie Zhuojun came back to his senses. He stubbed the half-finished cigarette into the ashtray. He then helped Xue get out of her fur coat. It stank of alcohol. He carried her to the bedroom.

They made wild love. Shangguan Rouxue’s moans could be heard all over the house. Zhuojun didn’t stop until after sometime. He let Shangguan Rouxue fall asleep and then got up to leave.

The moment he left, Shangguan Rouxue who was supposed to be asleep, opened her eyes.

The stormy love making session that they had just had, had made her very suspicious and uncomfortable.

She took her cell-phone, sent a text to a certain number and deleted the message from her records, after it was successfully delivered.