But how could she tell the president about her troubles? She couldn't exactly let him know that the person she wanted to take revenge on was part of the Ying family, could she?
And... after observing him for the past few months, Tao Xinrou increasingly felt that Ying Jingsheng wasn't like the other members of the Ying family she had imagined. He seemed... different from them?
She kept mulling it over until dinner was over, still pacing back and forth in the living room.
Fifteen years.
She had waited fifteen years, and finally she was on the verge of the truth.
Ying Huaishan's name was right in front of her—the cleaned-out archives, Zhou Yun's surveillance, Zhang Hongbin's threats—everything pointed in the same direction.
She was one step away from the truth.
But that step, she couldn't take.
The door suddenly opened.
Ying Jingsheng stood at the door, dressed in loungewear, his hair slightly messy. He looked at her without a trace of surprise, simply stepping aside and saying, "Come in."
Tao Xinrou froze: "Huh?"
"You've been pacing in front of my door for twenty minutes. You're about to wear a hole in the floor," he said flatly. "Come in. Don't stand out there."
Tao Xinrou's face heated up as she lowered her head and walked in.
This was only the second time she had entered this room in three months. He kept it very clean—a bed, a desk, a chair. On the desk was a laptop with the screen still on, displaying some data she didn't understand.
She stood in the middle of the room, at a loss.
Ying Jingsheng sat down in the chair and looked up at her: "Sit."
Tao Xinrou glanced around. The only place to sit was the bed. She hesitated, then sat on the edge of the bed.
The room fell silent for a few seconds.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Tao Xinrou thought for a moment and decided to come clean: "Well, it's like this. I have this friend who's been dealing with something pretty annoying lately. Her mother isn't in great health and has been on medication. Things were fine, but then a leader at her company suddenly started paying her a lot of attention. First, it was just small talk, then he said he knew an expert at the hospital her mother goes to and could help arrange a comprehensive check-up, claiming it was a company benefit."
"My friend thought it was obviously fishy—there had to be a catch. She declined politely, but guess what? That afternoon, the company sent out a company-wide notice with exactly what that leader had said! My friend knew it was a trap she shouldn't fall into, but if she signed up, it felt like walking into the trap, and if she didn't, she was afraid of seeming ungrateful. What do you think she should do?"
Ying Jingsheng listened, paused for a few seconds, then looked at her: "So that's what's bothering you?"
Tao Xinrou was taken aback: "Ah, yeah. Can't a person be bothered by a friend's problem?"
"I thought this 'friend' you mentioned was actually you."
Her eyes darted: "Ahem... President Ying, you're joking. Of course, it's my friend. I'm just worried for her, hehehe..."
Even Tao Xinrou felt her awkward laughter must have sounded terrible.
Ying Jingsheng watched her flustered state and smiled slightly, then his expression turned cool again. He didn't press further but went along with her story: "Then what does your friend hope to achieve?"
Tao Xinrou composed herself, forgetting the friend pretense, and became serious: "She just doesn't want to seem ungrateful and offend her leader, but at the same time, she really can't trust her family's care to the company."
"So the core issue is, under the premise of having to accept the benefit, to maximize self-protection and make subsequent potential extra attention difficult to carry out. Is that right?" Ying Jingsheng summarized clearly and calmly.
"Exactly, exactly! That's it." Tao Xinrou nodded like a pecking chick.
"The solution is simple. The core is one thing: go along with it, but don't cooperate."
Tao Xinrou looked confused, blinking: "Go along but don't cooperate? Isn't that contradictory?"
"Not at all. Your friend's leader pulled this stunt to use her mother as a leverage point and gain a hold over her. That leader wants to look like a caring boss while achieving his goal. It's a trap. To get out of it, first, she should accept the favor. If the leader asks again, she should agree with a smile and butter him up to shut him up. Second, she needs to find an excuse the leader can't argue against."
"Excuse? What excuse?" Tao Xinrou leaned in, her eyes eager.
"Simple: tell him that a relative has already booked an expert appointment for her mother, and emphasize that it took a lot of effort through a distant relative, so they can't politely refuse. Also, remember to thank the leader for his concern and say she'll definitely keep him in mind next time."
Tao Xinrou was stunned for two seconds, then her eyes lit up: "Right! That's a great idea! It accepts the favor without letting him interfere, and it makes me look considerate."
"Don't get too excited. There's one more key step: regarding the company notice, she should symbolically sign up, and a few days later explain the situation. That way, on the surface, she's fully cooperative with company policy. The leader can't find fault, and he can neither accuse her of being ungrateful nor force his way into her mother's care. He can't exactly ask her to cancel the relative's appointment and use his arrangement—that would be too obvious and expose his intentions."
Tao Xinrou clapped her thighs repeatedly, her face full of admiration: "President Ying, you're amazing! This is like pulling the firewood from under the cauldron. It doesn't offend anyone and perfectly avoids the trap. Way better than my clumsy ideas. I'll do just that tomorrow and make sure Zhang Hongbin can't touch me."
As soon as she finished, Tao Xinrou realized she had slipped up. She quickly stopped and looked at Ying Jingsheng apologetically.
Seeing her flustered expression, Ying Jingsheng smiled: "What? Wasn't this for a friend?"
Tao Xinrou's face flushed again as she laughed awkwardly: "Ah... well... it was for my friend, I just applied it to myself. President Ying, please don't tell anyone. It's our secret."
She made a "shush" gesture, her eyes sparkling, as if victory was already in her grasp.
"To thank you for your advice, from now on, if you have any orders, I'll do my best. By the way, what would you like for breakfast tomorrow? Crab roe soup dumplings, black truffle xiaolongbao, or lobster congee? I'll arrange it all!"
Ying Jingsheng watched her jubilant demeanor and laughed again: "No need, just a simple breakfast is fine."
"No way! I must prepare a high-end breakfast. Just wait, I'll make sure you have something hot tomorrow!"
With that, she cheerfully said "Goodnight" to Ying Jingsheng and scurried away like a whirlwind.
Ying Jingsheng sat in his chair, staring at the closed door, the smile lingering on his lips for a long time.
It seemed she still didn't know much about her father's case, at least not the core evidence. Otherwise, she wouldn't be stumped by Zhang Hongbin's petty tricks, nor would she come to him with such a clumsy friend excuse for help.
Thinking of this, his smile deepened.
When she lied, her eyes darted, and her fingers twisted at the hem of her shirt—she looked just like an elementary school student.