My cousin-in-law helped me achieve my ambitions.

"Stop pretending! Your face is so pale, and you still say you're not tired?" Tian Jing put on a stern face, grabbed Su Ming's arm without saying a word, and pulled him to the shadows behind a pile of soft packaging materials. "Sit down! Don't refuse, why are you being so polite with me? I studied beauty for a few months before, and I know a little about massage. I guarantee I can massage that soreness away for you."

Knowing he couldn't refuse, Su Ming had no choice but to obediently sit on a small stool with his back to Tian Jing.

Tian Jing stretched out a pair of fair and warm hands and gently pressed them on Su Ming's lower back. Her hands were soft but strong, with a slight warmth at the fingertips, pressing down along Su Ming's spine.

"Does it hurt here?" Tian Jing breathed softly, leaning forward slightly, her soft chest inadvertently pressing against Su Ming's back.

Su Ming froze. His already sore lower back was rubbed by her, and combined with the amazing sensation from his back, a tingling sensation instantly spread throughout his body. He lowered his head awkwardly, the faint fragrance of Tian Jing lingering in his nostrils. He couldn't help but mutter to himself: What the hell is this? I just crawled out of one woman's bed, and now I'm surrounded by another woman's tenderness.

"Sister Jing, be gentle..." Su Ming replied in a slightly hoarse voice.

Tian Jing was completely unaware, thinking he was just really tired. Her movements became even gentler and more delicate as she massaged him, muttering curses under her breath about Lin Shumei being "ruthless." Su Ming could only laugh awkwardly, but in his heart, he was reminiscing about Lin Shumei's alluring and seductive posture in bed.

Although Tian Jing's technique wasn't exactly professional, her gentleness and attentiveness helped Su Ming relax his tense nerves considerably. The warm touch came from his waist, following his meridians and gradually dispelling the soreness and fatigue caused by excessive indulgence.

Just as Su Ming was about to groan in pleasure, Tian Jing paused in her actions and suddenly changed the subject.

"By the way, how's that batch of ICs going? Did Yang Jing call you today?"

Su Ming shook his head: "No."

"Then why don't you hurry up and urge him!" Tian Jing playfully patted his back. "You can't drag this out. You have to be thick-skinned and keep urging him to make him annoyed and know you're not someone to be fooled!"

Su Ming's face flushed slightly, and he stammered, "He...he might still be away on a business trip."

"Who cares if he's really on a business trip or not!" Tian Jing's tone left no room for argument. "Remember, he owes you now, not the other way around! You need to let him know you take this seriously. Just believe half of what he says, and treat the rest like he's talking nonsense."

Looking at Su Ming's honest and unassuming appearance, she sighed with disappointment, then seemed to have made up her mind: "No, I'll hit him now! I'll watch you hit him! Do as I say, I'll teach you how to talk!"

As she spoke, Tian Jing pulled out a work notebook and a pen from somewhere, looking every bit the strategist ready for battle. Seeing how serious she was, Su Ming couldn't refuse any longer, so he reluctantly took out his phone and immediately dialed Yang Jing's number.

The phone rang several times before being answered, and Yang Jing's voice came through the receiver, clearly showing impatience.

"Hey, Xiao Su, what's up?"

"Brother Jing, it's me, Su Ming."

"I know it's you. What's up? Speak quickly, I'm busy here."

Su Ming took a deep breath, about to speak, when Yang Jing spoke first, his tone even carrying a hint of reproach: "Didn't I tell you? We'd deal with it when I got back from my business trip! Why are you calling again? I'm out there right now, how am I supposed to investigate for you?"

Su Ming was speechless for a moment after being shut down by his retort, and didn't know how to respond.

Just then, Tian Jing quickly wrote a line in her notebook and pushed it in front of Su Ming.

Su Ming glanced at it and immediately read aloud from the paper, "Brother Jing, I know you're busy, but this is extremely urgent for me. Could you please handle this for me? Please. Even if you're away on business, you could ask one of your colleagues to check the inventory records. That shouldn't be difficult, right?"

Yang Jing was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone, seemingly weighing his options. After a while, he slowly spoke, "It's like this, Xiao Su. Before you called, I had already had someone in the company check, and they said our shipment quantity is correct."

Upon hearing this, Su Ming's anger flared up instantly. What did he mean by "no mistake"? Wasn't this blatant denial?

He no longer cared about Tian Jing's expression and roared into the phone, "Yang Jing! I only signed the document that day because of you, without even counting the papers! And now you're telling me you didn't do anything wrong? Are you trying to renege on your debt?!"

"Hey, hey, Su, don't be so anxious!" Yang Jing seemed surprised by Su Ming's strong reaction and quickly tried to soothe him. "Didn't I say I need to go back and investigate this myself? But I'm really out of town right now. You keep pressuring me like this; I have to finish things one by one. How about this, wait a few more days until I get back, and I'll definitely call you then, okay?"

His tone sounded sincere, but Su Ming detected a strong sense of perfunctoriness in it. Before Su Ming could say anything more, Yang Jing hurriedly said, "I have something to do here, I'll hang up now," and then hung up the phone.

Hearing the busy tone from the receiver, Su Ming was so angry he almost smashed his phone.

Tian Jing shook her head helplessly and sighed softly, "It's over. Judging from his tone, he probably won't admit to it. Su Ming, we need to prepare for the worst."

Su Ming slumped down, putting down his phone, and stared blankly at Tian Jing: "Then... what should we do?"

Tian Jing frowned, thought seriously for a moment, and said, "We'll prepare two plans. First, I'll keep an eye out for you in the warehouse these next few days to see if there's any chance of scrapping or data errors, and help you smooth over the books for those three hundred ICs as soon as possible. But that's only a temporary solution, not a permanent one. If we get caught, we're both finished."

She paused, her tone becoming even more serious: "Secondly, and as a last resort, see if you can manage to scrape together some money, preferably thirty to fifty thousand yuan. Then, find an opportunity to invite Lin Shumei to dinner, tell her the whole story, and then give her the money, begging her to step in and settle things for you."

"Lin Shumei?" Su Ming hesitated.

"Yes, it's her." Tian Jing nodded. "Although this woman is mean and greedy, she is, after all, the warehouse manager. She was in charge of this batch of goods, and with such a big mistake, she can't escape responsibility. If you give her the money, she might scold you, but for the sake of the money, she might try to help you cover it up. After all, for her, a few tens of thousands of yuan is much more important than the life or death of a new employee."

After listening to Tian Jing's analysis, Su Ming remained silent, but his heart was in turmoil.

A gift? 30,000 to 50,000 yuan?

He did receive 10,000 yuan from Lin Shumei, but he had already sent it back to use for his father's surgery. Moreover, while gift-giving might work for others, it probably wouldn't be effective against a woman like Lin Shumei who wasn't short of money.

What could possibly make this woman willingly shoulder a massive burden of over 280,000 yuan for him?

Su Ming's mind raced. He thought about the passionate lovemaking he had with Lin Shumei in bed these past two days, and her alluring, tantalizing gaze. A bold and audacious plan gradually took shape in his mind.

Money is important, but for a woman like Lin Shumei, there is something more irresistible than money—a man who can make her feel like she's in heaven in bed.

Right now, the only bargaining chip he has that would make her willingly plead for him is probably his young and strong body.

He had to find a way to make Lin Shumei completely dependent on him physically, to make her develop an almost pathological dependence on him. Only in this way could he reveal the whole IC matter at the most opportune moment, so that she would voluntarily, even willingly, solve this enormous problem for him.