Something else seemed to have occurred to Mother Lu. Looking over at Lu Beichuan, she asked, “It’s almost time for the mid-year board of directors meeting, right?”

Lu Beichuan thought about it some and nodded. “Next Thursday.”

Mother Lu frowned. “Zhenzhen had 10% stocks, but she should skip the meeting next week anyway.”

Ye Zhen had been to these meetings in the past. Mostly they talked about the company’s investments in the past year. That being said, as the Lu’s Corporation was a family business, many of the shareholders were distant relatives of the Lu’s. Nevermind that they contributed nothing to the company, their habit of throwing out ideas during the meeting was very irritating.

“Mmm.”

Ye Zhen never planned to attend the board of directors meetings and Lu Beichuan was right in that there wasn’t a lot going on at her company. Qin Zhiyin was more than capable of handling anything that might come up, and she didn’t need to be there at all.

***

Meng Jie was the first to find out about Ye Zhen’s pregnancy outside of the Lu’s family. She went into the office to sign the contract and was shocked when she learned the news.

Looking at Ye Zhen’s stomach that was still flat, she asked, “How far along?”

“Two months. You can’t really tell yet.”

“Zhouzhou is just three years old, right? It’s only been three years. Can you body handle that?” Meng Jie had been pregnant before, even just for a short few months but she had read up a lot on it and knew the pain of being an expecting mother.

“I’ve gone for a checkup at the hospital already. The doctor said both me and the baby are very healthy.”

The smile on Ye Zhen could not be faked. Compared to the despair when she first found out about her pregnancy, now that Ye Zhen had made up her mind and had her issues sorted out, she had a much healthier glow and she looked happy and sweet all over.

Meng Jie smiled as she looked at Ye Zhen. “You look just like a woman in love. Yup, love will surely blind a person.”

“But love also makes one rational, don’t you think?”

Meng Jie was taken aback a little. She looked down slightly and looked at the contract laying in front of her. Sighing, she said, “Yes, love can also make one rational.”

“Are you sure you want to sign with Chaoxun Entertainment?”

Meng Jie teased Ye Zhen half-jokingly, “Is Mrs. Lu worried that You Jing will cause troubles for Chaoxun Entertainment?”

“No, I am not worried about him…” Meng Jie’s cellphone started to ring before Ye Zhen could even finish her sentence.

Meng took a look at it. It was from You Jing.

Meng Jie casually answered the call. “What is it, Mr. You?”

Meng Jie no longer avoided answering calls from You Jing. She no longer tried to avoid him. She treated him like a regular acquaintance with her most common tone, her calmest mannerism, and her politest words.

“I’m sorry. Who I sign with is a personal decision of mine. I don’t see how it has anything to do with you.”

You Jing said something else over the phone that made Meng Jie frowned and remained silent for a long while.

Ye Zhen had no intention to get in between these two. She wasn’t even going to talk things out between them. Meng Jie was one who could sever ties. She might be one who was blind in love, but as far as Meng Jie was concerned, she would only become more rational after a failed relationship.

As Ye Zhen was studying Meng Jie, Meng Jie, too, looked up at Ye Zhen before she stood up and gave Ye Zhen an apologetic smile.

Ye Zhen knew what she meant by that and gave her a “feel free” gesture.

Meng Jie walked out of the office and chatted outside for a little while, perhaps 10 minutes or so. She then walked back into the office and without further ado, she signed the contract between herself and Chaoxun Entertainment.

“I look forward to working with you, Mrs. Lu.”

Ye Zhen stood up and shook hands with her. “Same here.” She paused, then smiled. “Miss Meng had been in this circle for a few years now. You can talk to Qin Zhiyin about what you want in your agent and assistant. I have already talked to her, and we will do our best to accommodate.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lu.”

“You are welcome. You helped me out with my movie, it is only right that we accommodate you in return.” Ye Zhen looked at the charming Meng Jie. A beauty like her should naturally be in the spotlight in the entertainment circle. “How confident is Miss Meng with regards to the Film Empress award next year.”

Meng Jie raised her brows. “Film empress?”

Meng Jie being blacklisted five years ago at the peak of her career was a pity. She was just a skip and a hop away from the film empress title. But she had disappeared like a shooting star. That was not just Meng Jie’s regret, but also one of many of her fans.

“What is it? Is Miss Meng not confident about it?”

“If confidence alone is enough to get one this title, then I think everyone in the entertainment circle will be a film empress.” Meng Jie paused and looked at Ye Zhen. “But, now that Mrs. Lu has brought this up, I do have that ambition.”

Ye Zhen smiled. “Guess we will find out next year.”

Shen Weiyin was Meng Jie’s biggest competition. Nevertheless, whether it was recent or in the past, Shen Weiyin was never as strong as Meng Jie.

“We shall see.” Meng Jie stood up. “It’s getting late. I shall take off if there is nothing else. Please, there is no need to walk me out in your current condition, Mrs. Lu.”

Ye Zhen walked her out of her office and smiled. “Have a nice rest of the day, Miss Meng.”

Meng Jie left the office leisurely with the contract in her hand.

She put on her shades when she got down to the basement and walked toward her own car. Before she was able to get to it, she stopped some 10 meters from it.

Looking at the man standing in the headlight of her car, she smiled and said, “Something that you didn’t finish saying to me over the phone, Mr. You?”

The strange and distant “Mr. You” made him angry, but he also didn’t know what to do with his anger. He had no choice but to remain in control of himself in front of Meng Jie.

“I’m here to…” As he looked around, he noticed the document that Meng Jie was holding. He asked reflexively, “What is that?”

“My contract.”

“You really signed with Chaoxun?”

Meng Jie smiled. She pulled out her car key. The headlight of her car flickered, and she walked in You Jing’s direction. “Mr. You, that was the purpose of my visit today. Why would I come here and left without doing so?”’

“Haven’t I already told you over the phone? You can sign with my company! Your agent, your assistant, your makeup artist, they're all with my company! They had been with you day and night, and you are very familiar with them. Why would you want to go to an entirely new environment?”

Meng Jie had a sarcastic look on her. Walking over to You Jing, she looked up at him, “Oh, I should sign with Mr. You’s company then be blacklisted by you again?”

You Jing’s lips moved around. Looking at Meng Jie’s eyes that were painfully bright, he couldn't help but look away. With difficulty, he said, “I won’t… do that again."

“Is that so?” Meng Jie smiled and said, “In that case, I am glad that you are being so generous, Mr. You. That being said, it’s a little late now. I have already signed a contract. What’s done is done. Please step out of my way if there is nothing else. I have somewhere else to be.”

Seeing that You Jing was still blocking her car with no intention of moving out of her way, Meng Jie walked around him to open the car door. Nevertheless, the door was only half opened when she was hugged from behind.

His voice was forlorn, and tears were being choked back. “No, it’s not too late. I can pay for the penalty for breaching of contract if you are willing.

“I’m sorry, Meng Jie. I was wrong 5 years ago. I did not consider your feelings. I should have… should have severed my ties with those women sooner. I shouldn’t have…”

“There is no need to apologize to me. You have done nothing wrong.” Meng Jie tried to struggle free, but she failed. “You were not being selfish. I was too conceited. I boasted myself as your girlfriend when I was just one of your lovers.”

“No! That’s not true!” Meng Jie’s cold voice made You Jing feel a chill down his spine. He could do nothing, but keep his arms around her. He continued to try to explain himself. “We have been together for so many years. Can you not tell how I feel about you? What makes you think that you are the same as the others? You are my girlfriend, my only girlfriend! I have never thought of you as a lover nor have I ever thought of making you a kept woman. Meng Jie, you are not the same. You are different than the others.”

Meng Jie allowed him to hold onto her with a slight smile on her. “I’m different from the others? The others? Do you know what my biggest mistake is?”

She smiled a sarcastic smile. “My biggest mistake was that I never had a good look of where I truly stood. I knew what kind of a person you are. You are promiscuous. Yet I stubbornly asked you to change who you are and love only me.”

You Jing knew that his mistake could not have been worse. The past 5 years had been a gully that could never be refilled. He wanted to ask Meng Jie for forgiveness but any way he looked at it, that would never happen.

“I know what I did five years ago was wrong. I had no idea why you wanted to break up with me at the time, Meng Jie. I was… I was so angry that I had lost my mind. I didn’t mean to blacklist you; I just wanted for you to come back to me. As for the other women that you have mentioned, I have severed my ties with all of them already. I will not have anything else to do with them from now on. Please, will you forgive me?”

Meng Jie peeled off You Jing’s fingers one by one and escaped from his hug. Looking at him coldly, she said, “You’ve destroyed my passion for love, my anticipation for marriage, my faith in others, and my career. Why do you think that I will forgive you? You Jing, I will never forgive you in this lifetime.”

Her look was so cold that You Jing was startled.

The tender and poised woman in his mind seemed to be gone from this moment on.

He swallowed up all of his remaining words. He knew that Meng Jie would not be moved by him ever again. Nor would she smile that tender smile each time she saw him.

“You Jing, it has been five years. You are still as bossy, arrogant and naïve as you were before. Do you really think that you can have everything and anything that you want in this world?” Meng Jie smiled sarcastically. “I had been very conceited once as well and thought that I could change you. Reality and the price that I had paid told me later on that that was impossible.”

“As long as you are willing to believe and give me a chance, I will show you that I have truly changed,” said You Jing with difficulty.

“Is that so? I’m glad that you can change. It’s nice that you are no longer a player, and stop being a disappointment to your grandfather. Unfortunately, I don’t believe you.” Meng Jie opened up the car door, got in, and started her car under You Jing’s stare.

The car window rolled down, and Meng Jie gestured to You Jing to step aside. You Jing, on the other hand, held onto the window and said to Meng Jie, “If the Lu’s Corporation ever go belly up and Chaoxun Entertainment can no longer provide you with the resources that you need, I will always be there waiting for you.”

Meng Jie picked up something from his words. “If the Lu’s Corporation goes belly up? What do you mean by that?”

You Jing said nothing but just looked at her as he stepped away.

Meng Jie frowned deeply but she decided against asking more questions as You Jing had no intention of elaborating. She drove out of the garage.

By now, only matters related to the signing of Meng Jie would concern Ye Zhen. All of the other documents that were on her plate had been moved over to Qin Zhiyun’s desk.

That was an order coming from Lu Beichuan.

Ye Zhen could work, but not overwork.

Ye Zhen didn’t exactly like the idea, but it beat being home all day long.

It was already 11:30 AM and close to lunch hour. Ye Zhen called up Lu Beichuan, but it was his assistant who picked up the phone.

“Hi, Mrs. Lu, I am Boss’s Lu’s assistant.”

“Where is Boss Lu?”

“I apologize, Mrs. Lu. The board meeting is scheduled for today, and he is in the meeting with the other board members right now. I am not sure how long the meeting will be. Is there something urgent? Or can I let Boss Lu know to give you a call as soon as he gets out of the meeting?”

Nothing important. She was just looking for someone to have lunch with.

“It’s fine. I’ll go over there and wait for him.”

“Alright.”

After hanging up on the phone, Ye Zhen recalled that the assistant was right. She had forgotten that it was Thursday today, the day of the board meeting.

How should she put it… Most of the shareholders had investment in mind or were there building the place from the ground up alongside Old Master Lu. Nevertheless, there were also those who managed to get in through string-pulling.

Ye Zhen had been to a few of those meetings, and those individuals were so noisy that they gave her headaches. Now that she was pregnant, it was best for her to not be there. She worried that she might lose control otherwise.

Arriving at Lu Beichuan’s office, Ye Zhen curled up on a couch and grabbed a magazine leisurely. Time passed bit by bit ,and Ye Zhen had reached the end of the magazine before she knew it. It was already 12:30 PM. She summoned the assistant impatiently and asked, “Don’t any of those board members eat lunch? What is so important to talk about?”

The assistant replied to her question in a low voice, “Mrs. Lu, the meeting was over but… Old Mr. Shen came to the office 10 minutes ago and walked inside of the conference room.”

“Old Mr. Shen?”

“Old Mr. Shen from the Shen family.”

“Why is he here?”

“Old Mr. Shen is also a shareholder of the Lu Corporation,” explained the assistant patiently.

“He is?”

“Yes, the late Old Master Lu had given Old Mr. Shen 5% of shares when the company was first founded.”

Ye Zhen mumbled to herself. “But I have never seen him here before. Why is he here now?”

“That I am not sure.” The assistant smiled.

As soon as the assistant had finished talking, the door to the office was opened up and a playful laugh could be heard coming from the outside. Ye Zhen looked over at the source of the noise and couldn't help but frown. Lu Shaoyan?

“What are you doing here?”

Lu Shaoyan looked around Lu Beichuan’s office and chuckled. “I have been here for a while. The last time I was here was over 10 years ago. Both Lu Beichuan and I were just kids. It hasn’t even been that long, and now this office belongs to Lu Beichuan.”

Ye Zhen looked over at the assistant, gesturing to him to leave. Ye Zhen looked over at Lu Shaoyan after the office door closed behind him and said in a low voice, “What do you want from us?”

Lu Shaoyan sat down in front of Lu Beichuan’s desk, but avoided his office chair. He sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window behind the desk where the entire city could be seen and looked down at this prosperous city.

“You are biased against me.”

“Not biased. I have always thought that.”

Lu Shaoyan cocked his head and looked at her. “Always? Does that mean you were the reason that Lu Beichuan and I are on non-speaking terms out of the blue?”

Ye Zhen shrugged. “How can you say that I am the reason? You have always had ulterior motives. I merely pointed that out to my husband was all.”

Lu Shaoyan nodded and did not object to what she had said. He admitted to her accusation of him having “ulterior motives.”

“Smart!” Lu Shaoyan praised her. “I didn’t believe it in the past but now I believe in a woman’s sixth sense. It’s quite accurate.”

“As such, why are you here today?”

Lu Shaoyan looked over at the room door secretively. “I heard that you hold 10% shares as well. How come you aren’t at the mid-year board meeting?”

Ye Zhen frowned. “That has nothing to do with you.”

“You might be able to witness some drama should you be there,” said Lu Shaoyan in a regretful tone.

Ye Zhen got his subtext. “Drama?”

Her eyes deepened. She recalled the assistant mentioning that Old Mr. Shen was there. “You joined forces with Old Mr. Shen?”

She had just finished talking when Lu Shaoyan clapped. He stood up and looked at Ye Zhen. There was obvious amazement in his eyes. “Wow, this is why you are Mrs. Lu. Good observation. I’m impressed!”

“What do you want?”

“What could I possibly want? I merely invited Old Mr. Shen over to the board meeting. That's all. You know it as well as I do, with the exception of some properties, I don’t own a share of this company and therefore cannot attend the board meeting. Nevertheless, there are certain things that I wanted to show those on the board, so I asked Old Mr. Shen to show it to them during the meeting.” Having said that, Lu Shaoyan paused and smiled. “Would Mrs. Lu like to go find out what they are?”

“Something that you want to show to the board members?” Everybody was well aware of Lu Shaoyan’s ambition. It was obvious that he wanted to replace Lu Beichuan. All this was to show evidence that could destroy Lu Beichuan in front of others by Old Mr. Shen’s hands.

That was, assuming there was something that could destroy Lu Beichuan to begin with.

Ye Zhen had been Lu Beichuan’s sounding board over the last few years, reminding him what he could or could not do. She didn’t know the business world very well, but under her supervision, all of Lu Beichuan’s projects that were mentioned in the novel had gone smoothly with no hiccups.

If there were, indeed, evidence that could nail Lu Beichuan dead as Lu Shaoyan had suggested, then they couldn’t have been something that had happened in the past few years. They probably took place before she married Lu Beichuan.

Nevertheless, did such evidence exist?