Under One Person: I, Jiaqian Jushi, work from nine to five

"Someone's here??" Zhang Chulan also noticed someone coming in, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't Ma Xianhong.

"You are..." he asked Ma Xianhong.

Facing Zhang Chulan's punchable face, Ma Xianhong momentarily wanted to punch him, but he restrained himself and, seeing Zhang Chulan's somewhat stiff expression, said:

"Never mind who I am... I heard you dealt with my friend, and I'm here to find out why!!"

Although his expression was a bit stiff, he felt good about himself and didn't seem to reveal any flaws.

"Old Ma, I've been waiting for you for days, why are you only coming now?"

Zhou Fengliu wiped his face and walked over. Before Zhang Chulan could answer Ma Xianhong's question, he greeted Ma Xianhong first.

"Old Ma?" Zhang Chulan was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Ma Xianhong, the person involved, was extremely panicked.

He never expected that Zhou Fengliu, that inhuman bastard, would be lying in wait for him here, and not only that... he seemed to recognize him.

"Brother Liu...is he Ma Xianhong?" Zhang Chulan carefully examined the energetic young man in front of him.

No matter how he looked at it, this height and appearance didn't resemble Ma Xianhong at all. Even if Ma Xianhong had been tricked, he was still a former leader of a sect, and his temperament was definitely stronger than that of the energetic young man in front of him.

"Hey, don't think I won't recognize you just because you've changed your identity... Old Ma, since you're here, let's be frank with each other."

Zhou Fengliu said this.

"What...are you talking about? I'm not some old Ma."

Ma Xianhong was inwardly panicking, but outwardly he appeared as calm as a rock.

"He's faking it..."

Feng Baobao, who was heating up her food, also came over. She looked Ma Xianhong up and down with a shrewd expression, and then sniffed the food.

"Mmm, it's still the same flavor, strong and pungent, that's Ma Xianhong for you."

"..."

Seeing that he was about to be exposed, Ma Xianhong simply stopped pretending.

"I am Ma Xianhong! So what!"

Ma Xianhong is indeed an honest man; with just a little trickery, he confessed without being asked.

Upon seeing Ma Xianhong admit his identity, Zhang Chulan first glanced at Zhou Fengliu, and then staged a scene where he knelt down in front of Ma Xianhong in three seconds.

"Brother, I've been waiting here for a long time!"

His actions surprised Ma Xianhong.

"What are you doing?" Ma Xianhong couldn't figure out what Zhang Chulan was up to.

"Take a look at this first..." Zhang Chulan handed the phone to Ma Xianhong.

Ma Xianhong took the phone; it contained a video. Upon opening it, he saw images of several temporary workers who had entered Biyou Village.

In the video, he and his friends are doing all sorts of silly things, like telling him there's no good juice to drink...

It gave him a bit of a headache.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Our meaning is very simple... I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you! I've been spreading false information and waiting here all this time because I want to have a deep conversation with you."

Zhang Chulan shared his thoughts.

"Open your heart? You want to open your heart to me?" Ma Xianhong raised an eyebrow upon hearing Zhang Chulan's words.

...

A moment later.

Ma Xianhong and Zhang Chulan had a heart-to-heart talk, like men.

Meanwhile, Zhou Fengliu was eating the food that Feng Baobao had just heated up.

"Little Zhou, didn't you want to arrest Ma Xianhong? (chewing)"

While eating, Feng Baobao asked Zhou Fengliu another question.

"Ah, no rush... I promised Zhang Chulan that I'd wait until they finished their heart-to-heart talk before making my move... Anyway, he can't escape."

As Zhou Fengliu listened to Feng Baobao's words, he recalled what Zhang Chulan had told him a few days ago.

First courtesy, then force...

You can't just resort to violence to deal with Lao Ma. If you're too aggressive, Lao Ma will only become more aggressive. Even if you beat Lao Ma to death, it might not make him back down... It will only create a mortal enemy for the company.

Therefore, the way to deal with people like Ma Xianhong is to show goodwill. Since Ma is responsive to gentle persuasion but not force, we should keep using gentle persuasion... leaving him with nowhere to vent his anger.

Zhang Chulan said it, and he did it.

Under his smooth-talking, Ma Xianhong gradually lowered his guard and chatted with him from day to evening.

Chapter 237 Ma Xianhong: I can't tell! I can't tell at all! (Second Update)

It must be said that, in order to plant the seeds of doubt in Ma Xianhong's mind, Zhang Chulan even managed to get Zhao Fangxu to record a video to assure Ma Xianhong:

As long as Ma Xianhong does not participate in the upcoming battle with the mastermind behind the scenes, the company will not consider him a fugitive.

"In the end, this is still your tactic of sowing discord, Zhang Chulan. I thought you were too kind to me."

After watching Zhao Fangxu's guarantee video, Ma Xianhong looked at Zhang Chulan standing to the side.

"You still want to divide us, don't you? You want to defeat us one by one... Your methods are quite clever."

Hearing Ma Xianhong's skeptical tone, Zhang Chulan didn't refute anything:

“If that’s really what you think, then there’s nothing I can do. Old Ma, I really don’t want to make things this ugly… Really, I want to help you. Going against the company will only lead to your downfall.”

"Ha... No matter what you say, I won't believe you anymore. You screwed me over badly in the village..."

Ma Xianhong picked up his backpack and prepared to leave.

Don't you believe it?

now it's right!

Hearing Ma Xianhong say he didn't believe him, Zhang Chulan wasn't disappointed by his failure to achieve his goal. He continued:

"Yes, Old Ma, don't trust anyone... whether it's what I just said or what anyone else says, don't believe it..."

What exactly do you mean?

This reversal made Ma Xianhong frown.

He originally thought Zhang Chulan was a lobbyist for the company, saying all that in order to drive a wedge between him and Qu Tong. But Zhang Chulan's words, telling him not to trust anyone, seemed to negate Zhang Chulan's purpose in doing all this.

"It means... I'm not the only one you can't trust right now. You shouldn't trust anyone else; you can only trust yourself..."

"Your own judgment, your own choices, your own perceptions... trust no one but yourself."

Hearing Zhang Chulan say these words, Ma Xianhong was momentarily dazed and lost his composure.

Don't trust anyone?

Can't you trust anyone?

Even my sister can't be trusted?

Why should I believe my sister?

At this moment, countless memories flashed through Ma Xianhong's mind, including memories of Biyou Village and fragments of memories of his time with his sister Qu Tong.

Qu Tong said that if he could make the Body Refining Furnace, he could find his lost memories, and he believed it.

Qu Tong had told him not to confront the company and to focus on researching the Body-Refining Furnace, and he believed her.

Qu Tong had said he would listen to his sister and trust her, and he believed it...

Qu Tong once said that she was the older sister...

Ma Xianhong felt a sharp pain in his head.

Who can I trust?

Whose words are true?

Is she the older sister?

Or is it Zhang Chulan?

They all said it was for my own good...

I...

I can't tell them apart! I simply can't tell them apart!

Ma Xianhong, an honest man who had been brainwashed multiple times by Shuangquan Shou, was now somewhat awakened by Zhang Chulan's words that he should not trust anyone.

He was somewhat obsessed; he couldn't discern the truth from falsehood based on his own understanding...

"Old Ma... what's wrong?"

"Old Ma?"

"Don't follow me... I need to think about this by myself. Let me find a quiet place to think things through..."

Ma Xianhong told Zhang Chulan to step back, and then turned to leave.

Something is wrong!

Something's definitely not right!

Zhang Chulan could tell that Ma Xianhong was in very poor condition. He sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Logically speaking, after hearing what he just said, Ma Xianhong shouldn't be in this shaky, fleeing state.

He'd already explained the reasoning; Ma Xianhong had no reason not to consider it carefully...

Zhang Chulan frowned, and suddenly remembered what Zhou Fengliu had said.

Perhaps what Brother Liu said was true; the relationship between Lao Ma and the person behind the scenes was not equal at all...

...