Using power to force marriage

It's already 11 p.m., and we won't have any peace until the misunderstanding is cleared up tonight.

Ruan Fu was prepared to stay up all night; if Zhao Jingnian failed to give her a reasonable explanation, she would divorce him.

Her husband must belong entirely to her, and only to her.

Yu Ming's residence is not far from "Xi Yue Manor", only a ten-minute drive away, which is also for his convenience to be on call at any time.

Upon receiving Zhao Jingnian's call, he didn't dare to delay for a moment and rushed over in a panic.

Upon entering, I sensed something was off; the owner and his wife both had stern faces, as if they had been arguing.

The two are usually very affectionate, what's wrong with them today?

He walked up to Zhao Jingnian and respectfully said, "Sir, you wanted to see me?"

The brooch sat on the coffee table in the living room. The man asked in a deep voice, "Where did this come from?"

Yu Ming stared intently, carefully discerning the details.

"This brooch is yours; you wore it a while ago."

Upon hearing this, Ruan Fu immediately raised her voice and condemned Zhao Jingnian, "This is your stuff, you old bastard, what else do you have to say?"

Seeing his boss's wife become angry and launch both verbal and physical attacks against his boss, Yu Ming couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Zhao Jingnian asked, "What's the story behind this brooch?"

Yu Ming tried hard to recall, and he vaguely remembered the brooch; it seemed to be a gift he had received on behalf of Zhao Jingnian a couple of years ago.

His gaze toward Yu Ming was cold and gloomy, exuding a strong sense of oppression. "I need you to explain in detail who gave you this brooch, when it was given, and for what reason."

Yu Ming felt a cold sweat break out on his back. Every year, countless people would rush to curry favor with him and offer gifts. He wasn't a genius; how could he possibly remember them all?

He has the most powerful brain; you have to memorize it even if you can't.

Yu Ming suddenly remembered the name Meng Xiangyi when he heard his boss mention it.

"Sir, this brooch was a Chinese New Year gift from Miss Meng two years ago."

The Meng family was quite respectable and wealthy in earlier years, but an accident three years ago led to their decline, and they are no longer well-known in the social circle.

Meng Xiangyi is the only daughter of the Meng family. After the family tragedy, her parents did everything they could to send her abroad for further studies, leaving her a way out.

Two years ago, before she went abroad to study, she made a special trip to deliver a gift.

That day was New Year's Eve. Zhao Jingnian was called back to the old house early. She came to the residence to look for someone, but found no one there. She only saw Yu Ming.

Yu Ming saw that the gift she gave was a brooch, which wasn't worth much money and was just an ordinary New Year's gift, so he took it upon himself to accept it on Zhao Jingnian's behalf.

"Sir, is there something wrong with this brooch?"

Yu Ming had examined it carefully and concluded that it was just an ordinary brooch and there shouldn't be any problem.

"Even if you didn't personally accept the brooch, can you honestly say you have absolutely no connection with Meng Xiangyi?"

Ruan Fu couldn't suppress her anger whenever she thought of Meng Xiangyi's provocative gesture of flipping her hair to reveal her brooch at the banquet.

"You said you don't know her, so why would she give you a gift? Especially a matching couple's gift."

The moment the words "couple's style" were uttered, Yu Ming's heart leaped into his throat.

He actually collected a romantic debt for his boss?

"Meng Xiangyi..." Zhao Jingnian chewed on the name repeatedly, but he really didn't remember it.

Yu Ming reminded him, "Sir, the female student you met by chance in the stairwell when you returned to Beicheng University as an honorary alumnus to participate in the centennial celebration two years ago was Meng Xiangyi."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Jingnian began to recall something.

He had just come out of the principal's office; the elevator was broken, so he took the stairs.

I ran into a female student crying in the stairwell; she was being threatened by a male professor.

Zhao Jingnian overheard a bit as she passed by. The professor was her graduate advisor. Knowing that her family had run into trouble, he took advantage of her misfortune and wanted to have an improper relationship with her. If she didn't comply, she wouldn't be able to graduate smoothly.

The professor recognized Zhao Jingnian, greeted him respectfully, and then, under the pretext that the student's paper was a complete mess, started crying after a few words of criticism.

He ignored it at the time, pretending not to see it, and walked downstairs.

Once downstairs, he instructed Yu Ming to do something for him.

This beast, disguised as a university professor, committed all sorts of evil deeds, which filthed his eyes.

Given Zhao Jingnian's status and position, this was nothing more than a trivial matter for him.

Soon, the beast was suspended from his post and investigated. The female student he met by chance in the stairwell changed her tutor, graduated smoothly, and was recommended by the school to study for a doctorate abroad.

Meng Xiangyi learned that Zhao Jingnian had taken care of her troubles and was very grateful to him.

At that time, she was not only facing her family's bankruptcy crisis, but also the pressure of graduation and sexual harassment from her supervisor. She was truly at her wit's end and in despair.

Zhao Jingnian was like a savior who descended from the heavens, rescuing her from dire straits.

She was grateful to him and admired him.

She was going abroad right after the New Year, so she used the money she had saved for a long time to order a pair of brooches and personally visited the shop on New Year's Eve to express her gratitude.

Although he didn't get to see Zhao Jingnian, Yu Ming accepted the gift on his behalf.

Yu Ming felt that Miss Meng was a kind person who knew how to repay kindness, and the gift she gave was just an ordinary brooch, not very valuable, just a thank-you gift, so he accepted it.

Then, Meng Xiangyi's thank-you gift was placed on the dressing room's jewelry shelf, and Zhao Jingnian wore it a few times on a daily basis.

In the financial news, Meng Xiangyi, who was studying abroad, was very happy to see Zhao Jingnian wearing the brooch she had given him.

She planned to return to China after graduating with her doctorate, work for the Zhao Group, strive to excel, and work hard to reach a position where she could stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

Who would have thought that Miss Ruan would suddenly appear and take away Mrs. Zhao's position? She was unwilling to accept it.

At the banquet tonight, she deliberately said some things that could be misunderstood, also in an attempt to sow discord between Ruan Fu and Zhao Jingnian.

Zhao Jingnian pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes filled with barely concealed annoyance. "You're just my assistant. Who gave you the authority to make decisions for me?"

Although there was no trace of malice on his face, the inherent authority and oppressive power of a person in a position of power were enough to make people tremble with fear.

Because Yu Ming acted on his own initiative, a misunderstanding arose between him and Ruan Fu, which was a serious mistake.

"I'm sorry, sir, I had no idea this brooch would cause you such trouble."

After Yu Ming explained the whole story, Ruan Fu's anger subsided considerably; she realized she had indeed misunderstood Zhao Jingnian.

"You really don't know Meng Xiangyi?"

"I don't need to know her."

Yu Ming took the initiative to apologize, saying it was all his fault.

Zhao Jingnian's head was throbbing from this whole affair. "I'll deduct a year's salary from your paycheck. Any objections?"

A year?!

"Of course, you can also choose to resign."

Zhao Jingnian has always been fair in rewarding and punishing; a mistake is a mistake, and Yu Ming shouldn't have acted on his own initiative. He has to pay the price for causing trouble.

"no comment."

He had no objection, but Ruan Fu did.

"Isn't a year's salary too much? Yu Ming is busy every day, worrying about work and taking care of your life. It's not easy for him either."

Ultimately, the fault lay with Meng Xiangyi. It was her scheming that caused the misunderstanding. Yu Ming never expected that the brooch he received two years ago would deliver a fatal blow to him two years later.

Zhao Jingnian lifted his eyelids slightly and asked her, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Ruan Fu held up one finger, bargaining with him, "One month's salary will do, a small punishment to teach him a lesson."

She knew Zhao Jingnian's rules; Yu Ming was indeed wrong and deserved punishment, but not so severely.

He nodded slightly. "Whatever you say goes."

Yu Ming immediately thanked Ruan Fu repeatedly; the working man had encountered a kind-hearted god.

Zhao Jingnian was cleared of wrongdoing. He glanced coldly at the unlucky brooch on the table and threw it into the trash can.

Why did you throw it away?

Ruan Fu picked it out of the trash can again. "I'll return it to Miss Meng tomorrow, so it's rightfully hers."

Meng Xiangyi said it was a token of her love with her lover. Since that's the case, then let's return it to her so she can give it to her lover.

Ruan Fu is very possessive, and she can't swallow this insult, so she has to go and talk things out with Meng Xiangyi.

"She can give this brooch to whomever she wants, but it shouldn't come into contact with my lover."

The man smiled faintly, his face showing a hint of fatigue. He reached out and hugged her, burying his face in her neck and nuzzling her. "Xiao Fu, let me hug you for a while."

After causing such a scene late at night, he was almost accused of marital infidelity; he really couldn't take it anymore.

To put it jokingly, he's already at the age where he needs to take blood pressure medication, and he can't stand Ruan Fu's antics.

"I'm sorry, Zhao Jingnian, I misunderstood you." She was so angry that she couldn't help but act impulsively.

But Miss Ruan has such a fiery personality; she's young and inexperienced, and has never experienced anything like this before.

Furthermore, she was impatient and impulsive because she cared about him too much.

"I'm so sorry~" she said in a sweet voice, apologizing to him.

Zhao Jingnian shook his head, "It's alright."

It's okay if you misunderstand him, as long as you don't leave him.

"But Xiao Fu, I've been wronged, and I'm a little unhappy."

His voice was deep and resonant, tinged with a hint of grievance that seemed out of place for him. "So you have to coax me."