Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Netherworld

  It wasn't Xiaojuan's secretary that walked in, but rather Qian Xiaohong and Chou Xiaoxiao. Lu Xiaoying was shocked to see Qian Xiaohong and Chou Xiaoxiao together, as she had thought Qian Xiaohong would never go to the company that had once harmed the Lan Group, let alone be with Chou Xiaoxiao. This made her think that Qian Xiaohong's actions were suspiciously vengeful, but who was she seeking revenge against? Was it because she found out that Zhang Mingyu was deceiving her and everyone else kept quiet about it, so she came to take revenge over this small matter? That didn't make sense.

  Lu Xiaoying and Lan Jingqiu stared foolishly at Qian Xiaohong, their eyes filled with doubts.

  Qian Xiaohong also saw her old friend, she looked a bit embarrassed, but in the blink of an eye, she became nonchalant.

  The encounter of friends may be a great joy in life, but at this moment, Lu Xiaoying really didn't want to meet her old friend with whom she used to share all her secrets and sympathize. Now, meeting in such a competitive environment undoubtedly cast a shadow over their so-called friendship, stabbing a knife into the hearts of both Lu Xiaoying and Lan Jingqiu, a very deep knife that made them bleed.

  Chou Xiaoqian silently watched both sides, even at this point he did not fully trust Lan Jingqiu's former friends who were now his own partners. He secretly observed whether Qian Xiaohong had any mysterious glances or if Lan Jingqiu had any secret signals for her. He hoped that Qian Xiaohong would really defect and come to his company, but the "sacrificial pawn" tactic was often seen on TV, so he always suspected that Qian Xiaohong might be a mole sent by them.

  After making sure there was no flaw or doubt, he sneered and said: "I didn't expect to meet my former subordinate here. What's the matter? Are you also here to compete for the Tianyu Company's cosmetics supply rights?"

  "Uncle Lan," Lu Xiao Ying glared at Qiu Xiang with a sneer, "There's nothing to be afraid of in this world, what's scary are those shameless petty people who swindle others' money and still have the nerve to show their faces!"

  "Miss Lu," Qiu Xiaoqian smiled instead of getting angry, shaking his head and saying, "When speaking, you must have evidence. Am I embezzling funds from the Lan Group? If you have evidence, then sue me. If not, don't speak nonsense. Otherwise, I'll sue you for defamation. And if this affects my company's reputation, I'll make you compensate for the losses. Remember, don't say things without evidence in the future."

  "Don't be so smug!" Lan Jing said with a cold smile. "Don't think that we'll just let it go, as long as we find evidence, we will definitely make you return what you took, intact." After finishing speaking, he glanced at Qian Xiaohong again and called out to Lu Xiao Ying to leave with them, brushing shoulders with her as they passed by.

  "Fine, I'm looking forward to it!" Qiu Xiaoqian also let out a cold laugh. He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to glance at the backs of Lan Jingqiu and Lu Xiaoying with disdain. Suddenly, he stopped smiling, his face darkening as he said, "Pfft", "Can I help you find evidence?"

  He turned around and looked at Qian Xiaohong, pondered for a moment and said: "I believe you understand the boss's intentions best, bring out your old skills, get the cosmetics supply rights of Tiandy Company to our company, and let Lan Shi Group eat shit."

  Qiu Xiaoqian was clear in her mind that Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying actually didn't have much culture, nor did they have any management skills within the company. However, they had one thing going for them: they were pretty, enthusiastic, generous, hardworking, and diligent. As long as they wanted to close a deal, no matter how difficult the client was, they could still get it done. So, as long as Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying were in charge, there wasn't a single client who would refuse them, at least not until now. If it weren't for these two women, Lan Shi Group might still be struggling in the mud.

  This time he saw Lan Jingqiu and Lu Xiaoying also came to compete for the supply rights of Tiandu Company, so he reminded Qian Xiaohong while also testing Qian Xiaohong. He wanted to know if Qian Xiaohong was sincere in jumping to his company. If Qian Xiaohong could really win this deal for Baitu Company, then he would truly believe in Qian Xiaohong.

  "I know what to do," Qian Xiaohong nodded and said casually, then sat on the sofa in the reception room drinking tea, looking confident.

  Chou Xiaoqian stopped talking and sipped his tea, but his eyes kept stealing glances at Qian Xiaohong. Up until now, he had always been uneasy about Qian Xiaohong's surrender.

  Lan Jingqiu and Lu Xiaoying talked to the general manager for a long time before leaving his office, they returned to the reception room again, Qiu Xianqian looked at them, and gave another cold laugh.

  "I want to talk to you," said Lu Xiaoying as she walked up to Qian Xiaohong.

  "There's nothing much to talk about," Qian Xiaohong said without lifting her head to look at Lu Xiaoying, "things that should have been said before weren't said, and now there's no need to find me to talk."

  "We're good friends, how did you become like this today?" Lu Xiao Ying sighed and said with a tone of helplessness and anger, "I've also experienced emotional failure before, you know our situation, but I didn't blame anyone."

  "Don't mention the past," Qian Xiaohong suddenly stood up, her eyes wide with anger, staring at Lu Xiao Ying and scolding, "You are you, I am me. From now on, I'll be straightforward. I'm cutting ties with all of you. When we meet again, it's just business rivals, not friends. Don't consider me a friend either. Even if you want to pretend to be friends, I won't acknowledge you. If we run into each other on the road, don't even bother greeting me."

  "You!" Lu Xiao Ying's eyes were also wide with anger, her body trembling with rage, her fists clenched tightly, wanting to punch Qian Xiao Hong in the face and wake her up.

  Lan Jingqiu stood aside and sighed, saying: "Forget it, Xiaoying, everyone has their own ambitions, you and I don't have to force each other."

  Although the two of them were arguing this time, when they parted ways, Lu Xiaoying still looked at Qian Xiaohong with regret. A moment later, she suddenly burst into tears and then sighed a few times before turning around to follow Lan Jingqiu out.

  The two of them passed by Shang Juan's desk, and Lu Xiao Ying gave Shang Juan a look, hoping that she could help them out, considering the over 1,000 yuan towel.

  Dan Juan glanced at Lu Xiao Ying, nodded slightly, and then lowered her head to do her own thing. Meanwhile, Lan Jing Qiu and the others returned to Hai Feng City that day, waiting for news from Tian Yu Company.

  A few days later, Lan Jingqiu received news that Tiandu Company had formally signed a contract with Baifu Company, and Baifu Company had obtained the supply rights.

  Actually, Tianyu Company had already reached an agreement with Baifu Company that afternoon. Qian Xiaohong's flirtatious glances at the general manager of Tianyu Company were still effective. As for Secretary Shan Juan, she did help Lan Jingqiu say a few good words, but in fact, she also accepted a gift from Qian Xiaohong, which means she accepted gifts from both sides. The real decision-maker was Shan Juan's aunt, who didn't say anything and couldn't even help with the already signed contract with Baifu Company.

  Besides, the relationship between Dan Juan and the general manager was not as good as she said. Although they were uncle and niece, her uncle and aunt had been divorced for a long time, and her divorced uncle had already seen that she was arrogant and loved to take advantage of others, so he had the intention of firing her in his heart.

  Bai Hu Corporation collaborated with Tian Yu Corporation, which made the relationship between Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying deteriorate. The two would glare at each other whenever they met on the street, and their conflict escalated to the point of physical fights. Both women declared that from then on, they would be sworn enemies.

  Qiu Xiaoqian was delighted to see that Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying had become sworn enemies, at least he was now completely convinced that Qian Xiaohong had truly broken with the Lan Group and had come to the White Fox Company in good faith.

  The cooperation with Tianyu Company has begun, and after signing the contract, Qian Xiaohong seems to have nothing to do. With her idle time, she starts to resent Zhang Mingyu, the man who deceived her. Now she wants this freeloader to suffer a bit.

  She sent a text message to Zhang Mingyu, saying that she helped the White Fox company win an order, and her boss gave her a reward of 200,000 yuan as a thank you, so she was in a particularly good mood now and hoped someone would celebrate with her.

  Zhang Mingyu still didn't know that Qian Xiaohong had discovered he was a swindler, but only heard that Qian Xiaohong had 200,000 yuan, so he was overjoyed and immediately agreed to meet with Qian Xiaohong. On the phone, he told Qian Xiaohong that he had a lot of things to say to her, which he wanted to tell his loved one as soon as possible. Because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, he missed her very much and was eager to meet her in person to alleviate their longing.

  Qian Xiaohong saw the text message sent by Zhang Mingyu, gritting her teeth with hatred, but still sent a text message:

  Dear, I also miss you so much and want to see you right away. How about this: let's meet at the old place by the river at 9 o'clock tonight? Yours, Hong.

  Although she didn't see Zhang Mingyu in person, after Qian Xiaohong sent this message, she could imagine Zhang Mingyu's excited look, and it was as if he had jumped up screaming. Because Zhang Mingyu also sent her a message like this:

  Dear, what can I say? I've been busy with work lately, so it's been a long time since I last saw you. But not seeing you doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of you. Every day, I recall the happy and joyful moments we shared in the past. You don't know how eager I am to see you today. You said you're only free at 9 pm tonight, which makes me feel helpless because I'll be waiting anxiously. However, as long as you're happy, I'm willing to wait, even if every second feels like a thousand years. But I don't mind. Now that we're finally going to meet, my heart is filled with excitement. See you tonight. Love, Mingyu, your darling.

  Qian Xiaohong glanced at the text message and sneered, then put the phone into her bag.

  At nine o'clock in the evening, Qian Xiaohong arrived at a quiet forest by the river, Zhang Mingyu was already waiting there, he had been waiting here for Qian's sake.

  Qian Xiaohong looked at his back and smiled coldly again.

  The sky was a deep purple, and the hazy night made the forest even more quiet. Only outside the forest, on the main street, were the lights bright, with a noisy and bustling sound.

  Zhang Mingyu sat on a rock with his back against a large tree, wearing a white suit, and it seemed that he had dressed up carefully before coming.

  He leaned against the big tree, leisurely smoking and puffing out thick smoke.

  Suddenly, he felt a gust of cold wind blowing up from the ground, his whole body shuddered, he wrapped his clothes around his chest and looked around cautiously.

  But unexpectedly, when he turned his head around, he saw a disheveled woman with her left face charred by fire and spitting black blood standing beside him. He let out a miserable cry, suddenly collapsing to the ground, kicking his legs wildly for a few moments before becoming completely still.

  Qian Xiaohong was originally burned to death, she just wanted to scare the man who cheated on women's emotions. Seeing Zhang Mingyu fall to the ground, she coldly laughed and turned away.

  The next day, the police found Zhang Mingyu in the woods. The current Zhang Mingyu was a cold corpse with a difficult-to-look-at death, his eyes were wide open, his face was purple and red, and his mouth was agape.

  The police found no suspicious evidence of his death, and there were no leads at the scene. In the end, the case was ruled as a cold case, and Zhang Mingyu's body was also transported back to the morgue of a hospital.

  However, Chen Zhenhua saw the corpse's dead appearance, and he was clear in his mind that this person must have been scared to death. He had also heard about this person's relationship with Qian Xiaohong, so he suspected Qian Xiaohong. But since he was just an archivist at the police station, he couldn't intervene in the case. Moreover, he didn't want to personally go and catch Qian Xiaohong.

  He was busy in the archives room for a day, and after work, he went to the Lan Group. He said that he had found evidence of Qiu Xiaoqian's embezzlement from the Lan Group and told Lan Yutong that she could sue Qiu Xiaoqian in court now.