Er Bao furrowed his brows. In the end, he sighed helplessly. “Alright, I will endure for the sake of Mom’s face.”
Er Bao’s behavior like a little adult was so cute that Qiao Nan was totally KO-ed by him. In the end, she had no choice but to transform all her love for her son into countless kisses.
“Mom, I want too!” At the sight of this, San Bao turned into a green-eyed monster. She pounced on Qiao Nan and requested for kisses.
Although Da Bao did not say anything, he also walked over to Qiao Nan quietly and turned his little face to Qiao Nan, his intention obvious. Such beautiful and adorable children were hers. Looking at how smart they were, Qiao Nan could not help kissing them. Furthermore, she was kissing the wife and husbands of ‘other people’. Qiao Nan kissed more enthusiastically than ever! She would stand to gain no matter what!
“How is it?” Different from the happy atmosphere at the Zhai family, the atmosphere at the Deng family seemed graver and stiffer. Deng Wenchang had been cooping in his father’s study room. The father-son pair was staring bitterly at the phone in the study room as if they were nursing a huge hatred. Almost every time the phone rang, the father-son pair would be very emotional. As soon as the phone call ended, Deng Wenchang could not wait to ask for the outcome from his father. “Is there any action at the Zhai family’s end? Did Qiao Nan call or contact anyone?”
“Not at the moment.” Father Deng put the phone down. His palms were feeling wet and covered in sweat. He first wiped his own hands to prevent his son from discovering it before patting Deng Wenchang’s shoulder. “Wenchang, don’t be so nervous. Our people are already watching the Zhai family like a hawk. We may not be able to get first-hand information but the speed at which you receive them won’t be less than Qiao Nan’s. As long as you are well-prepared, what are you afraid of?”
Deng Wenchang was not as confident as he made himself out to be. He felt that given his capability, he was bound to succeed if he was against only Qiao Nan. However, the Zhai family was a huge problem. The Zhai family had Zhai Yaohui, this old chief, and Old Master Zhai was not someone to be trifled with. If the Zhai family were to take action and use their connections, Deng Wenchang felt that he could not compete with the Zhai family.
“This is too infuriating!” Deng Wenchang was so angry that he slammed the table. “Qiao Nan is so shameless. She took advantage of the fact that she is a woman and used such distasteful means all the time. Because of these reasons, I didn’t perform as well as her. Dad, this is so unjustified!” If everyone had the same starting point and foundation, Qiao Nan could forget about surpassing him in this life.
However, if Qiao Nan were to tap on the Zhai family’s connections, gather more information on the ambassador, and even secretly contacted him to build the relationship, Deng Wenchang felt that even if he was a piece of gold, he would not be able to withstand being drowned by the yellow sand flying all over the sky in this muddled world.
Father Deng thought alike too. “The outcome is the same whether we are angry or not. We can’t change it. Who told Deng family’s foundation to be weaker than that of the Zhai family? Even the Peng family is not assured of winning when competing with the Zhai family. If the Zhai family uses their power to suppress us, the more you should fight harder. You must not lose to Qiao Nan.”
“Sigh, women are not as gracious as men in handling matters. They will do many petty things. The ludicrous thing is that the Zhai family doesn’t even persuade Qiao Nan otherwise. Qiao Nan and you are colleagues and both of you are in the same department. Of course, you should share the resources. It will be really good if everyone performs well. What’s with the secrecy? I really don’t know how the Zhai family manages to become who they are today. They don’t feel anything for collective honor at all. It’s too selfish.”
If the Zhai family had not been too selfish and Qiao Nan too petty, would his son be anxious to this extent?
“Wenchang, rest assured. Unless they receive the information just seconds before the departure, no matter how much homework Qiao Nan had done, I promise that you will get the same information as Qiao Nan. This time, the Peng family’s attitude in collaborating with us is not bad. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have any chance.”
Deng Wenchang helplessly gave a long sigh. “We can only do this. I hope that I can be a step quicker than Qiao Nan.” Perhaps the Zhai family would really find stuff that they could not.
It was the Zhai family who was too petty first. Hence, they could not blame the Deng family for using such disgraceful means to win them.
If Qiao Nan was open and honest enough to share the information that she had on hand, did he need to make things difficult for himself and spend so much energy on such shameful deeds?
Facing such an individual with no love for colleague and no regard for fair competition, Deng Wenchang felt so aggrieved. If he had a chance next time, he definitely would not become colleagues with women. They were so narrow-minded, not gracious at all, and extremely petty.
After the father-son pair had discussed and consoled each other, their moods were more stable.
For the sake of waiting for the information, besides taking his meal, Father Deng even missed the news on the state-owned television channel. He kept Deng Wenchang company in the study room and waited for the phone call. As for what was reported in the news, he asked his wife to update him before going to bed at night.
Regrettably, the phone at home still did not ring even after Father Deng’s wife updated him about the television news.
The next day at work, Deng Wenchang, plagued by fears of missing the call and had not slept well for the entire night before, walked into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with panda eyes.
“Hahaha…” At this moment, the people in the department had more issues with him. He was the first to get off work yesterday. They would not mention it since it happened yesterday. However, today, Deng Wenchang arrived last at work. What was this youngster thinking? Why didn’t he simply go to heaven?
Compared to others who were placing attention on Deng Wenchang, Qiao Nan, who was oblivious to such trivial externalities, focused only on completing the tasks at hand properly. After one morning, when Qiao Nan returned to her seat after lunch, she was shocked to discover Deng Wenchang glaring at her like a ghost with a pair of sinister and gloomy eyes, as well as a ghastly face. “Is there any matter?”
Deng Wenchang snorted with disdain. “Do you think that I will plead with you? You only know how to use some despicable tricks. You hope that I will plead with you? Dream on. I definitely won’t lose to you this time.” His father said that there was no movement at the Zhai family since yesterday night. It had been more than ten hours.
His father almost suspected that the Zhai family and Qiao Nan had long guessed their plan. Therefore, they deliberately guarded against them and would not send any information of practicality and meaning to the Zhai family’s residence and Qiao Nan until the last minute.
Anyway, regardless of Qiao Nan’s disgusting ideas, he would not be lured into her trap or give her a chance to jeer at him. It was just a waiting game. He did not believe that his patience would be worse than Qiao Nan’s. He would see whose endurance level was higher.