Chapter 19: I Want to Join Zhou Corporation

I shut the door behind me and locked it in one swift motion.

I bit through the knot of the tie on my wrist and casually tossed it into the trash bin.

Then I collapsed onto the bed.

...

Early morning, I stretched lazily and stepped out of my room, only to see Zhou Chenyan, dressed neatly, coming out of the guest room nearby.

The door opposite opened as well—Zhou Zizi appeared.

“Yanyan, what exactly did you and Ayan argue about yesterday? He went to sleep in the guest room alone. If Mom finds out, she’ll definitely blame you both.”

Zhou Zizi’s words seemed to carry concern for me, but the moment she saw Zhou Chenyan, she drew close to him, every gesture dripping with intimacy.

Just by the way the three of us were positioned, no one would guess I was this man’s wife.

“Isn’t it normal for a married couple to have disagreements?” I replied calmly and turned to go downstairs.

It was a pity, though. Those two didn’t even share a room last night.

When a man and woman are alone in a room, it’s the easiest moment for sparks to fly.

Useless.

They had the chance and didn’t know how to cherish it!

“Yanyan, what are you doing…”

Zhou Zizi exclaimed in surprise, but I ignored her.

Just then, Mrs. Zhou blocked my way, forcing me to greet her.

“Mom.”

“Oh, Yanyan, how did you sleep last night?”

I knew what she wanted to hear, but I really didn’t want to mention anything about my closeness with Zhou Chenyan. Even if nothing happened in the end, just bringing it up made me uncomfortable.

“Ayan, your neck!”

Zhou Zizi stared at Zhou Chenyan with a look of shock and worry. “Did something bite you?”

There was a mark on Zhou Chenyan’s neck.

More precisely, it was a bite mark—I had bitten him last night.

But I was anxious and weak at the time, so I didn’t bite hard enough to break the skin.

That left me feeling quite regretful.

At first, Mrs. Zhou looked puzzled as she examined the mark on Zhou Chenyan’s neck, but then something must have dawned on her, and her expression gradually shifted to understanding.

“That’s more like it.”

“Mom?”

Zhou Zizi looked confused.

But I understood perfectly. Mrs. Zhou had misunderstood. I glanced at Zhou Chenyan instinctively, and he was looking at me with a strangely complex expression I couldn’t decipher.

I linked my arm through Mrs. Zhou’s and said, “Mom, don’t stand here chatting. Let’s go downstairs and have breakfast.”

“All right.”

Since seeing the mark, Mrs. Zhou’s mood had been remarkably bright and cheerful.

Zhou Zizi, however, kept nagging, “I still think we should get a doctor to check on Ayan. His constitution tends to attract snakes, scorpions, and ants. Who knows if this bug bite is poisonous or harmful? Better to be safe and get him checked out…”

Mrs. Zhou had had enough and clicked her tongue. “Why do you, a child, have to keep staring at your brother all the time?”

“I’ve graduated; I’m not a child anymore.”

“Then when are you going to bring a boyfriend home for me to meet?”

That question left Zhou Zizi speechless.

Mrs. Zhou was relentless. “Since you say you’re grown up, stop clinging to your brother all day. Your brother has a family now. Marital intimacy is for couples, not for a child like you to interfere with.”

Zhou Zizi’s face instantly went pale.

“Mom…”

Zhou Chenyan was about to speak but was silenced by a glare from Mrs. Zhou. She warned him, “Say less. Don’t you have work later? Hurry downstairs and eat breakfast.”

Zhou Chenyan pressed his lips and said no more.

Mrs. Zhou looked at me with great satisfaction. “Don’t worry, I understand. As long as you two live well as husband and wife, that’s all I want.”

I felt embarrassed and helpless.

I was destined to disappoint her.

After breakfast, Zhou Zizi and Zhou Chenyan left together.

Both worked at Zhou Group now—Zhou Chenyan as president and Zhou Zizi in the design department.

In my previous life, I followed Zhou Chenyan with nothing but pride, overly sensitive in this regard, refusing to take money from their family or work at their company.

As a result, after so many years of marriage, no one in the company even knew I was the president’s wife.

Looking back, I was truly naive.

In truth, whether I joined or not didn’t matter.

Even without flaunting the title of Young Madam Zhou to gain influence, my reputation was still poor.

Climbing the social ladder by attaching myself to power, greedy and selfish, unscrupulous...

That was the judgment society cast upon me.

It was only before I died that I learned from Zhou Zizi that she had been the one spreading those rumors.

Now, I have changed my mind.

I want to enter Zhou Group.

Before I died, I overheard Zhou Zizi talking with Qian Yushu about shareholders, helping out, and silencing someone...

But I was about to breathe my last then, and the buzzing in my ears drowned out the details.

From those few simple words, I could only guess that whatever happened with Mr. and Mrs. Zhou wasn’t the work of Zhou Zizi alone.

After all, Zhou Zizi was a lone daughter. How could she have the ability to orchestrate a car accident and then clean it up so perfectly afterward?

She must have had help.

The war between Zhou Chenyan and me—the Zhou parents were powerful bargaining chips and my shield.

I couldn’t let anything happen to them.

Joining Zhou Group was imperative.

But since it was a family business, the Zhou family believed that once a woman was married, she should support her husband and raise children, playing the role of a noble lady at home.

They would never agree to me entering the company.

I needed a reason that would make them approve.

Lost in thought, I climbed the stairs and reached my room door when I suddenly heard voices inside.

I lightly grasped the doorknob, pushed the door open with the gentlest and slowest force, and saw Zhou Zizi inside.

She froze for a moment when she saw me but quickly regained her composure.

“Yanyan, you’re not in your room? I thought you were.”

“What are you doing in my room?”

I stared at her.

She twisted the edge of her clothes and spoke softly, “It’s almost time to eat. I wanted to come get you to come downstairs, but I didn’t expect you weren’t here...”

My eyes scanned the room.

She immediately added, “Don’t worry, I haven’t touched a thing. I really just came to get you for breakfast.”

Not a single word of that convinced me.

But without evidence, and since it was summer and she was lightly dressed with no apparent place to hide anything, I couldn’t press the issue.

I only warned her as she left, “Don’t enter my room without permission again.”

“Yanyan... I mean no harm.”

“I don’t like others entering my room. Of course, I don’t mean you any harm either. Don’t misunderstand and go spilling sweet words to your brother again, or I won’t be able to control myself. But I believe you’re kind enough not to make things difficult for me, right?”

Zhou Zizi froze.

I realized the best way to defeat a schemer like her was to fight fire with fire.

Her own tactics were best used against her.

The moment she left, I shut the door and carefully examined my room.

Nothing was missing, and nothing extra was there.

I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, puzzled.

She wouldn’t come into my room without reason—there had to be some secret motive.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the pillow on the bedside. I looked down carefully.

The pillow had been disturbed.