The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

Just as Zhou Yanruo was about to knock on the door, the door to Shang Yibo's office was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

He Tao stormed out, followed by Li Mo, who was bowing and scraping.

Zhou Yanruo stepped aside to let the two pass by her. He Tao, with a face full of indignation, ignored them completely, while Li Mo gave her a slight nod as a greeting. He then took small, backward steps and whispered to He Tao, "Mr. He, come to my office. Let's talk some more."

"Yanruo, you're here. Come and sit down." Shang Yibo saw Zhou Yanruo standing at the door and came over to greet her.

Zhou Yanruo: "Did I come at the wrong time?"

"It's fine whenever you come." Shang Yibo pulled Zhou Yanruo to sit on the sofa in front of the French windows and said, "I just finished dealing with the walnut matter."

Zhou Yanruo: "I knew you would deal with He Tao sooner or later, but I didn't expect you to do it so quickly. Judging from his resentful expression, your talks didn't go well?"

"No, it's just a minor hiccup, it can be resolved," Shang Yibo replied confidently.

"Oh, all right."

Zhou Yanruo was still advising Shang Yibo that morning that the company was in a critical period and that, out of caution, it would be best to postpone dealing with He Tao.

It now appears that Shang Yibo did not adopt her suggestion; he had his own ideas and had already dealt with the matter swiftly and decisively.

Therefore, she could no longer dwell on the question of He Tao's departure.

He changed the subject, saying, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Hmm, what is it? Go ahead and say it."

"Do you remember when I told you that someone always sent me private messages on Weibo, saying some sarcastic and mean things?"

"You said that when we analyzed the situation, we concluded that someone who knew so much must be someone close to us, most likely Zhang Qian. We were even going to ask Zhang Qian, but unfortunately, we were too late."

"It's not Zhang Qian."

Shang Yibo's expression darkened, and he looked at Zhou Yanruo with concern, asking, "Did that person harass you again? What did they send you? Let me see."

“Don’t worry, he didn’t say anything this time. He messaged me privately, saying he wanted to meet me.” Zhou Yanruo straightened up and sighed. She added, “Fortunately, we can confirm it’s not Zhang Qian.”

For some reason, Shang Yibo also breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps subconsciously, neither of them wanted that person to be Zhang Qian.

Shang Yibo pressed further, "What did he say? Why did he want to meet with you? Is it someone he knows?"

Zhou Yanruo took out her phone, logged onto Weibo, and handed it to Shang Yibo. "He didn't say anything. Judging from the tone of the comments, he's much more polite than before, and not so harsh. I can't tell if he knows him or not. You can see for yourself."

The private message was brief, but its content was suspicious: "Maybe I made a mistake. I'm willing to clarify things in person, or apologize. Tonight is fine; you can decide the time and place. Just leave me a message."

The next message reads: "If tonight's schedule doesn't work, then we'll reschedule for two weeks. Looking forward to your reply."

Shang Yibo frowned. "Are you going to the appointment? Isn't it unsafe?"

Zhou Yanruo replied firmly, "I will definitely go. This matter must be resolved. I can't let these things bother me anymore. I want to know who is hiding behind this and what they want to do."

Shang Yibo nodded: "I'll go with you. Let's do it tonight, leave him a message."

Zhou Yanruo: "I also wanted you to come with me, but I don't know whether I should leave a message to make it clear to him that I'm asking my boyfriend to go with me to see him."

Shang Yibo likes the title of "boyfriend," and this is the first time Zhou Yanruo has brought it up since their reunion, and it still feels so natural.

He smirked and raised an eyebrow smugly, saying, "Well, I'll let your boyfriend protect you."

"Huh?" Zhou Yanruo realized what was happening, poked Shang Yibo's chest with her finger, and said, "You can't pretend to be an adult for long before you start acting all serious again."

"What do you mean by pretending to be an adult? I am an adult, okay? Didn't you just see how I handled official business decisively? Do adults have to be 'proper'? My girlfriend just officially gave me my status, can't I be a little smug?"

"Fine, fine, fine, whatever you want. You're much more pretentious than before, and you can talk a lot. I can't argue with you."

“It’s okay if we can’t win an argument, we don’t need to have a debate.” Shang Yibo leaned closer to Zhou Yanruo, pointed to his cheek, then to his lips, and said affectionately, “Just show us with your actions. Here, here, stamp it.”

"You're so poor, so annoying." Zhou Yanruo reached out and gently patted his face twice.

The two agreed to send a private message to that person, stating that Zhou Yanruo would be meeting him with her boyfriend at 8 pm in the tea room of the Yihua Hotel.

The private message was sent, and the other party replied almost instantly with just two words, "Okay." They didn't seem to care whether it was one person or two people coming.

The two were busy with their own work and agreed to meet downstairs at a certain time.

During this time, Fang Xichen and Chu Fanqing each called. Fang Xichen's call was just to check on her son's first day of work. The two chatted for a few minutes, and Shang Yibo casually told Fang Xichen that there were already arrangements online that he wouldn't be going back to Zimo Garden for dinner.

Chu Fanqing, as the chairman, was more serious when he called. He first inquired about the morning's meeting, then instructed him to focus on the progress of the Boya Bank loan extension, offering some guidance along the way. Finally, he discussed the planned trip to Bangkok next week and the arrangements for his entourage.

Chu Fanqing did not mention He Tao's matter, but only asked Shang Yibo to arrange accompanying personnel for him according to professional needs.

So Shang Yibo took the initiative to say, "I have already dismissed He Tao today. You must be very clear about what he did in the company."

Chu Fanqing's calm voice came through the phone: "You are the president, you have the authority to make personnel decisions. I will not only not interfere, but I will also support you unconditionally."

Shang Yibo's carefully prepared explanation was completely undermined by Chu Fanqing's statement.

Dealing with He Tao was a decision made after weighing the pros and cons, and he believed it was the right thing to do, no matter how much resistance they encountered. However, he still had to consider Chu Fanqing's feelings, since He Tao was someone he had personally promoted.

His father was still the same father he had admired since childhood; his own little thoughts seemed childish in front of his father.

His voice trembled as he said, "Dad, thank you."

Ignoring his emotional appeal, Chu Fanqing asked directly, "How do you plan to arrange the manpower I need in Bangkok?"

"I plan to promote Yan Haochen."

"Old Yan's son?"

"Yes, he is Uncle Yan's son. I checked his educational background and he majored in finance and business administration. He has been very active in the self-media field in the past year. He works privately in his friend's company to make investment plans and provide investment consulting. He has already become well-known in the investment circle. In order to avoid being noticed, he uses online pseudonyms."

"Very good, quite rigorous." Chu Fanqing rarely praised Shang Yibo, and then said, "However, this is all theoretical. Practical experience is still needed. Compared to loyalty and character, experience can be accumulated. People with character problems are indeed unusable. What we need are people who can fight side by side."

"I think so too."

"People still need training, but can you control them?"

"I'm confident," Shang Yibo replied with certainty.