69: status quo

Yan Zhuohua was someone who liked to act as soon as he had a thought. He directly dialed Officer Liu's number.

“Officer Liu, sorry to disturb you,” Yan Zhuohua said. “I wanted to ask how things are going with Zhao Mingting.”

“You're asking at a good time; I just went to check. Zhao Mingting has been getting increasingly anxious these past few days. I don't think he's far from compromising.”

“That's good. I plan to get this matter settled before the Spring Festival, though I'm not sure if it'll work out.”

Officer Liu caught his drift and explained with a smile, “If we can pry Zhao Mingting's mouth open this week, our follow-up investigation will be very fast. I can definitely get you a police report before the new year.”

“I've really troubled you, Officer Liu.”

“It's no trouble, just serving the people,” Officer Liu said with a laugh.

“Since you're serving the people, I should help out a bit too, shouldn't I?”

“What do you mean by that, Mr. Yan?”

“Literally. I'll lend a helping hand to make Zhao Mingting speak sooner.”

Yan Zhuohua hung up and called Xiao Xiao instead.

“Deputy Director Yan, is there something you need from me?”

“I remember Qinghe once asked you to keep an eye on the Zhao family for me. I wonder if you have time now to look into the Zhao family's current situation for me again.”

“No need to look into it, I've been following them all along,” Special Assistant Xiao replied very quickly.

“Ah?” Yan Zhuohua was stunned.

“As workers who love our positions, we must be anxious about what the boss is anxious about. So since the last mission, I've been following news of the Zhao family every day without fail.” Special Assistant Xiao's voice was serious and formal, yet full of drive.

“Then... well, you certainly have a lot of perseverance...” For a moment, Yan Zhuohua didn't know how to respond.

“Thank you for the compliment, Deputy Director Yan. Would you like me to send over the organized materials right now?”

“...You even organized the materials?”

“Of course! That's how serious and rigorous we must be about our work.”

“Then send them over,” Yan Zhuohua's voice sounded a bit weak.

After hanging up, Yan Zhuohua rapidly bombarded Yan Qinghe with messages.

“Where did you find someone like Special Assistant Xiao who loves work so much?”

“You?”

Without changing his expression, Yan Zhuohua skillfully retracted the message, added the word 'hubby', and sent it again.

“I don't know either; you'd have to ask HR. Or asking Uncle would work too. When I first met him, he was already the CEO's assistant.”

“I can't quite imagine the dynamic of Uncle and Special Assistant Xiao working together.”

“What if Uncle was responsible for the 'together' part, and Special Assistant Xiao was responsible for the 'working' part?”

“...I understand now.” Yan Zhuohua was speechless. “Then they were a perfect match.”

The highly efficient Special Assistant Xiao delivered the documents in less than five minutes.

The sound of knocking startled Yan Zhuohua, who was still happily flirting with Yan Qinghe on wechat.

Clutching his heart, Yan Zhuohua tried his best to squeeze out a smile. “Come in.”

Special Assistant Xiao got straight to the point and handed over the documents. Yan Zhuohua pinched them; they were a centimeter thick.

He roughly flipped through the documents Special Assistant Xiao had compiled.

“Special Assistant Xiao, can I ask you a question?”

“Please ask.”

“I just feel that, as someone who loves work so much, why didn't you go to those companies where you have to work overtime until midnight every day, and instead chose our Xingfeng Group?” Yan Zhuohua was truly curious. “Don't you find the vibe inconsistent?”

“Xingfeng Group has high salaries and good benefits. Plus, overtime comes with quite a lot of overtime pay.” Special Assistant Xiao was very sincere.

“Does someone like you, who seems willing to give everything for work, still care about salary?” Yan Zhuohua really didn't understand.

Special Assistant Xiao's gaze instantly looked very dangerous.

“Of course I care! The wicked capitalists have already obtained my wholehearted love and devotion to work. Are they unwilling to even leave me my salary?”

The wicked capitalist, Yan Zhuohua: “...”

Special Assistant Xiao, realizing something was wrong after speaking: “...”

Yan Zhuohua: “I'm sorry.”

Special Assistant Xiao: “I wasn't talking about you.”

Of course he wasn't talking about me; he must mean Yan Qinghe!

The office was filled with an awkward atmosphere. Yan Zhuohua tried to ease the tension.

“I feel like those words just now were somewhat familiar, like I've heard them somewhere before.”

Special Assistant Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief. “It's probably from those heartbreaking 'bittersweet love' TV dramas I usually like to watch.”

You have my body, but don't even think about having my heart?

You're actually into that?

“...That's nice.”

Yan Zhuohua was once again shocked by Special Assistant Xiao. He felt they couldn't continue talking, or he'd want to go to the psychiatric department to check his own brain.

“How about this, I'll look over these documents first and contact you if anything comes up? Otherwise, I'd feel guilty waiting here, thinking I'm delaying you from throwing yourself into your work.” Yan Zhuohua was well-versed in the art of conversation.

“That's true,” Special Assistant Xiao said as if it were only natural. “Then I'll head off to get busy. Contact me anytime if you have questions, Deputy Director Yan!”

“Okay.” I probably don't want to see you for a while.

The documents Special Assistant Xiao compiled were indeed thick, but his high work ability meant the report was written very methodically, making it a smooth read.

So after flipping through for ten minutes, Yan Zhuohua understood the Zhao family's current state. The branch family that had been suppressed by Zhao Mingting and the Su Family over a decade ago had risen up again, fighting for power and profit with Zhao Zixing in the company every day. To be fair, they did have some talent; if Zhao Mingting hadn't allied with the Su Family back then and hadn't been the head of the family himself, he probably wouldn't have won.

Even more terrifyingly, the materials stated that the leader of this branch, Zhao Minghong, had contacted Yan Qinghe several times, wanting to join forces with the Yan Family. This was a necessary move; few families, companies, or even individuals in City A wouldn't occasionally express their intention to cooperate with the Yan Family. However, this was done secretly, and Zhao Zixing didn't know yet.

As for Zhao Zixing, he was busy with infighting every day, leaving early and returning late. Fortunately, Qiao Rongjing and the Su Family were helping him from the side, barely managing to keep the situation under control.

Zhao Zijing was busy with blind dates. Yes, blind dates. She was already dissatisfied with the marriage partner Zhao Mingting had chosen for her. Now that Zhao Mingting was in jail, she quickly began looking for blind dates from various powerful families, wanting to marry herself off before Zhao Mingting got out. In the process, she could also pull in a major ally for her brother.

As for Zhao Zichuo and that mistress, they had already been kicked out of the Zhao family. They lost Zhao Zhongkai's support, and the slightly smarter Zhao Zijing was also in prison and hadn't come out yet. The two of them were no match for Su Mo, the legitimate wife. On the day after that birthday banquet ended, Su Mo found an excuse to ask them to leave. Now, they seemed busy throwing tantrums at the Zhao family's gates every day, wanting to return.

The Zhao family had already declined significantly in recent years, with their assets shrinking drastically. Now, with such internal and external troubles, it was no wonder Qiao Rongjing couldn't handle it and had to come to him for help. Yan Zhuohua lamented that the Zhao family was indeed a mess of a game right now.

However, even a mess is still a piece on the board.

Yan Zhuohua sent a message to Qiao Rongjing.

“Rongjing, I forgot to tell you. Two days ago, Zhao Minghong from that branch family once suppressed by Zhao Mingting reached out to Qinghe, wanting to talk about cooperation with our Yan Family.”

Qiao Rongjing must have been really busy, as he only replied after a long while.

“What? Did you guys agree?”