Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Haven’t You Had Enough of the Trick of Catching by Releasing

Zhou Lin came out of the meeting two hours later, the rain had stopped, and the sun had emerged from behind the clouds once more.

Cheng Zhiwei was completely drenched, her hair clinging wetly to her face, a picture of utter dishevelment.

Especially in front of Zhou Lin and his group of impeccably dressed people, she blinked, and the droplets of water on her eyelashes fell like tears.

Just like tears.

It was Secretary Zhang who first spotted her, his mouth agape in shock, but he didn’t immediately call out her identity. Instead, right before Zhou Lin got into his car, Zhang whispered something into his ear.

Zhou Lin paused mid-step and turned to look over.

As he stopped, so did the people around him, and naturally, they all saw Cheng Zhiwei in her sorry state.

It was in this moment that Cheng Zhiwei suddenly felt a new emotion, a stark realization of the insurmountable gap in status between her and Zhou Lin.

And then there was that incident from the past.

The chasm between them could truly be called an unbridgeable gulf.

An unprecedented sense of helplessness swept over her, and the bleak reality made her step back involuntarily, turning to leave.

"Sister Zhiwei?" Bai Zhuzhu’s perfectly timed exclamation of surprise rang out, "What happened to Sister Zhiwei? How did you get so drenched?"

Cheng Zhiwei paused, but didn’t turn around.

"Sister Zhiwei..." Bai Zhuzhu ran a few steps to her side, "What happened to you? How did you end up looking so pitiful?"

Pitiful?

Cheng Zhiwei turned around coldly.

Secretary Zhang had already walked over, calling out in a low voice, "Young Madam?"

Cheng Zhiwei looked as if she had been fished out of water, her whole body exuding a mix of heartache and disarray.

Her face deathly pale, Cheng Zhiwei glared at Secretary Zhang, "Am I such an embarrassment that you dare not call out to me loudly? Or do you think I, as the Young Madam, have brought you shame?"

Her anger flared quickly, leaving Secretary Zhang only able to respond, "Young Madam has misunderstood."

Bai Zhuzhu, lifting the hem of her skirt with an elegant touch, her makeup and outfit pristine, made Cheng Zhiwei’s disarray all the more obvious.

And yet, she seemed determined to add insult to injury.

Her provocative smile was like a thorn stabbing into Cheng Zhiwei’s heart as she said, "Secretary Zhang, there are clothes I just bought in the trunk. Please fetch them for Sister Zhiwei."

She paused, her voice slightly coy as she boasted, "After all, it’s all bought with Brother Lin’s money. Sister Zhiwei shouldn’t mind."

Sweat appeared on Secretary Zhang’s forehead, he dared not respond to Bai Zhuzhu’s statement, merely looking at Cheng Zhiwei, "Young Madam..."

Cheng Zhiwei closed her eyes, took a deep breath; after being drenched in the rain, her husband stood a short distance away, looking on with indifference, the other woman boasting in her presence, even the secretary dared not acknowledge her identity in front of others.

What irony.

Utterly outrageous.

Bai Zhuzhu was about to say more when Cheng Zhiwei suddenly looked up, her icy stare causing Bai Zhuzhu to swallow the words she was about to say.

Cheng Zhiwei sneered dismissively, standing tall and straight. Did they take her continued forbearance for weakness?

She started walking toward Zhou Lin.

Zhou Lin refused to divorce her, yet also refused to recognize her status. How could he have his cake and eat it too? No matter what, they still were legally married.

Secretary Zhang hurried after her, "Young Madam?"

Cheng Zhiwei walked straight up to Zhou Lin, ignoring the various inquiring and mocking gazes, and said bluntly, "I need to talk to you."

Zhou Lin frowned at her soaked clothes and hair, his tone cold and somewhat sarcastic, "Do you enjoy the rain?"

No one enjoys getting rained on, and even those who might wouldn’t enjoy a downpour.

Zhou Lin was just being deliberately contrarian.

Cheng Zhiwei lifted her gaze slightly towards the receptionist peering out of the main entrance, her lips curling in scorn, "They wouldn’t let me in, saying there was an afternoon reception and I had to stay well away."

It wasn’t intentionally reporting them, just stating the facts.

""

Zhou Lin turned his head to look at a certain president beside him.

The man’s face darkened as he asked his secretary, "What reception do we have this afternoon?"

The secretary flipped through the schedule, "There are no reception duties this afternoon."

Cheng Zhiwei curled her lips, "Is that so? It seems your company’s threshold is too high for someone like me to qualify."

The man didn’t take it to heart, "It must be some misunderstanding."

Zhou Lin adjusted his cuffs and spoke leisurely, "It seems that our collaboration with your company needs further consideration."

The man was startled and quickly put on a flattering smile, telling his secretary to investigate.

"Get in the car," Zhou Lin said indifferently, as he had no time to wait for their investigation results. "Secretary Zhang, take care of it."

"Yes, President Zhou," Secretary Zhang bowed his head, waiting for the car to leave.

Cheng Zhiwei got into the car from the other side; Bai Zhuzhu was a step late and had to sit in the passenger seat.

The air conditioning was on in the car.

Cheng Zhiwei, who had been caught in the rain, suddenly felt a chill from the blast of cold air and sneezed twice on the spot.

Zhou Lin passed a tissue to Cheng Zhiwei with slight disgust and instructed the driver, "Turn off the air conditioning."

The driver quickly turned off the AC, and Cheng Zhiwei felt much better.

All the way, Cheng Zhiwei wanted to speak with Zhou Lin, but he was busy, continuously on the phone until they returned to the hotel, when he finally stopped.

"Zhou Lin, I have something to ask you," Cheng Zhiwei intercepted him.

Zhou Lin responded without much emotion, "Go take a shower."

"Zhou Lin, I really have something to ask you," Cheng Zhiwei insisted, needing to get it clear so she wouldn’t have to wait for another chance to see Zhou Lin.

Zhou Lin frowned, "Go back and clean yourself up properly."

"Zhou Lin."

"Sister Zhiwei, just go take a shower, it’s not good to catch a cold," Bai Zhuzhu feigned concern.

Cheng Zhiwei ignored her and continued to follow Zhou Lin, "Zhou Lin..."

Zhou Lin was very impatient, "I don’t have time."

"I’ll just ask one question, what will it take for you to let go of me?"

"Cheng Zhiwei, starting to make a scene again, are we?" Zhou Lin scoffed, "Have you not had enough of playing hard to get?"

He brought her back, already giving her the benefit of the doubt for the sake of their past marriage, yet she had the audacity to push her luck further.

He stepped into the elevator with long strides, and Bai Zhuzhu hurriedly followed, pressing the close door button.

Cheng Zhiwei was left outside the closing doors.

In her astonishment, she then found herself laughing in frustration.

"Cheng Zhiwei?" He Ye’s voice came through.

Cheng Zhiwei stiffened for a moment, then turned around with a forced smile, "Senior He Ye."

He Ye parked his car and walked over swiftly, looking at Cheng Zhiwei in surprise, "Where have you been? How come you’re all wet like that?"

Cheng Zhiwei gave a wry smile, "You saw what happened on the internet, right? I guess it was Zhou Lin’s doing. I went to find him and got caught in the rain."

He Ye said, "That’s what I’m here for. I tried calling you but couldn’t get through."

Cheng Zhiwei took out her phone, only to discover that it had run out of battery and shut down at some point.

"You said the person who took you back to your room that day was arranged by Xu Tian?" He Ye asked.

Cheng Zhiwei nodded, "That’s correct."

"But Xu Tian told me that she asked that person, and he said he didn’t see you that day, assuming you had gone back to your own room."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read