My Terrible Life in Those Years

I glanced at Old Liu in surprise: "You little rascal, how come you don't have any instinctive sense of justice when it comes to such a despicable and unscrupulous thing?"

Old Liu casually fiddled with his camera.

"In this developed region, these kinds of petty scams are commonplace, don't be shocked. Quickly think of how to tell Du Yan, 'Hey, this girl is still trapped in the snare, all that talk we gave her yesterday was for nothing!'"

"So, we need to come up with a way that allows her to recognize the reality before her and accept it!"

"This girl is so stubborn, it's going to be a bit difficult. Peach Blossom River? How about we try your charm?" Old Liu looked me up and down with ill intent.

I know what he's thinking. Du Yan and I have nothing going on. He only believes 90% of what he thinks, and he still has doubts about the remaining 10%.

"Screw you, hurry up and come up with something. Aren't you the best at both overt and covert tricks? Show us one."

"Hey, Lao Jiang, tell me, why are you so concerned about this girl? You said it's just to get revenge for her, but that's enough! So don't try to fool me with that!"

He's incredibly cunning; after being in this coastal area for a while, he's become even more cunning than before.

"You guessed right. First, it's to get revenge for her, and second, it's for that scumbag of hers."

"Huh? What do you mean? You're bisexual now? You like middle-aged men at work? What? Am I not enough for you?"

This guy is a complete scoundrel; whatever he says changes completely!

"Get out of here! Be serious, we're doing serious business!"

He had a sly grin on his face, as if he knew everything about me. I had to punch him before he would behave.

"That scumbag is a leader in one of my superiors. I need to use him for the approval of some projects."

"Huh? You've only been here a few days, and you've already got this big project under your belt, dealing with approval authorities?"

"That's just because our company is so great, it has absolutely nothing to do with me!"

"You want him to just step in and close that project for you?"

I gritted my teeth: "No, I'm thinking, is it possible to sabotage this project through him?"

Old Liu stared at me for at least a minute, as if he didn't recognize me!

"Old Jiang, are you out of your mind? Are you sick? Everyone who tries to get this approval is hoping to get it done, and you're trying to ruin it?"

"Stop talking nonsense. This project could cause serious trouble if it's not handled properly. It's illegal, and the amount involved is huge. If it gets discovered later, this manager might try to pin the blame on me!"

Old Liu suddenly realized: "Oh, is that so? Well, it'll be very difficult for you to do this yourself."

I slapped his thigh hard, making him wince in pain.

"That's why I need you, my mediocre cobbler, to handle things with the company's upper management."

I haven't planned to tell Aunt Shu and Wan Ning about their matter yet.

"Isn't that simple? Just record an audio message and give it to him in person or send it to him. He'll behave immediately!"

A sudden thought struck me: Damn, this guy really has a clearer perspective than an outsider! I was stuck on Du Yan's situation, but with just a few words from him, he opened up a whole new path for me.

Seeing my expression, the scoundrel Lao Liu smugly said, "How about it? Not bad, right? Actually, this girl is too easily swayed by scumbags, and she's too deeply in love. It's too difficult to change her mind, but it's actually easier to deal with that scumbag, especially someone with a job, status, and a position of power. Take him down first, and then, if you want to help Du Yan, can't you do it through him?"

I exclaimed in surprise, "You bastard Liu, your rank has leveled up!"

He slapped my thigh, getting revenge for the slap I had just given him.

"How's it going, Peach Blossom River? What's next? Hey, Lao Jiang, being with you is so much fun, full of surprises. I haven't seen any obvious strengths or special characteristics in you. Why do so many interesting things just happen to you? To be honest, with you here, I'm really starting to not want to go back to Pengcheng!"

I ignored him and started thinking.

"But can such a small amount really make him submit? I feel like that might be a bit difficult."

"Are you stupid? Since he asked someone else to represent his wife, he definitely doesn't want her to know. The purpose of you sending it to him is to tell him that if he doesn't help you, you can just send this to his wife. Honestly, compared to your wife, your workplace and superiors probably don't have much of an impact on this kind of thing."

"What if his wife eventually sides with him?"

"Then just tell his wife that this woman has a child and he wants a share of the inheritance!"

I was shocked again: "Dude, is this all you've learned in all this time? You're practically a strategist in disguise!"

"Sigh, our boss's mistress is always doing this kind of thing. After seeing and hearing about it, I'm glad I didn't waste my time and learned a little bit."

Good heavens, it turns out you become like those you associate with! But at least it wasn't all for nothing.

I quickly organized my thoughts.

"So, do you know how to extract this recording? You need to save it; it might come in handy later."

Old Liu was beaming with pride; it was rare for him to impress me like this.

In the face of experience, intelligence should be set aside for now!

"This is no problem for me. I can easily find a computer, export the files, and store them in our respective email accounts. We can access them anytime we have a computer!"

"Okay, I'll tell Du Yan I'd like to borrow her camera for a couple of days!"

"So, what are you going to say to this girl now?"

I paused for a moment, then said, "Nothing we say to her now will work. Unless that guy comes forward himself, or she sees something concrete, she won't give up. We'll figure out a way to deal with this slowly."

Old Liu laughed heartily and gave me a hug: "Let's go, hurry back, we'll get back to Xiancun by noon, then we'll make me a chicken hot pot!"

During dinner, I invited Du Yan to join us. She kept her head down, looking somewhat embarrassed to face me.

My neighbor came to help her, but I never expected things to turn out this way. Moreover, she ignored and forgot about many of the issues we had discussed with her beforehand.

I comforted her, saying, "Girl, don't overthink it. Now that you've talked things out, relax. There's no use worrying about things. Just wait, and the answer will come in time."

Old Liu casually added, "You're right, girl. They didn't do anything to you today, so this result is already good. We originally thought they were going to cause some trouble!"

I ordered a bottle of beer and gave half to Lao Liu.

Halfway through her meal, Du Yan asked me, "Can I have one too?"

What does that mean? Is it about drowning one's sorrows in alcohol?