Ning Zhi felt her face burning hot as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
She despised being the third party the most, but she almost became one.
Ning Zhi quickly hid her arm behind her back and said, "I'm going out" before hastily leaving the office.
Mr. Peng's hotpot restaurant?
Lin Sha's words lingered in her mind for a long time. Ning Zhi sat at her desk and thought about what Lin Sha had just said. That was the restaurant that she had brought Li Yan to, her self-proclaimed secret hideaway.
It turned out that Li Yan was bringing someone else there. Ning Zhi could not help but smile bitterly, as a bitter feeling spread in her heart.
In the office, Lin Sha snorted as she watched Ning Zhi hastily leave. It seemed that this Ning Zhi was nothing special.
"Lin Sha, I remember we agreed to act and not to interfere with each other's matters. You've crossed the line." Li Yan looked at Lin Sha unhappily. She had frightened Ning Zhi.
"Ah Yan, I also remember that you promised me that you would give me a face in public. But ever since Ning Zhi returned, all your attention has been on her. Where should I, your legitimate fiancée, place my dignity?" Lin Sha expressed her dissatisfaction.
She was still in the company, but Li Yan wanted to be affectionate with Ning Zhi. Needless to say, Lin Sha, the spoiled princess, could not tolerate it.
"You investigated me? When did I take you to Mr. Peng's hotpot restaurant?" Li Yan's face was filled with danger. He felt that this woman had gone too far.
"What do you mean by investigation? You're my fiancé. Is it wrong for me to know more about my fiancé?" Lin Sha continued nonchalantly, striding to his desk and slamming her hand on it.
"You'd better act it out, or when my family comes to inspect next week, and should there be any problem, I won't be able to help you." Suddenly, her broken Mandarin turned fluent.
"Got it. Is there anything else?" Li Yan pinched the space between his eyebrows, Clearly not interested in dealing with Lin Sha. If it weren't for his mother's meddling and arranging this marriage, he and Ning Zhi wouldn't have ended up like this.
"Nothing. Can't I stay in the same office as my fiancé when there's nothing to do?" Lin Sha intentionally emphasized the word 'fiancé', as if reminding him.
Li Yan ignored Lin Sha and turned his attention to his email, starting to focus on his work.
The situation on Lu Ping's side seemed to be very serious. The project had been stalled for a long time, and further delays would result in a botched outcome.
Li Yan read the report sent by Lu Ping and frowned. Halfway through the construction of He Ling, the natives suddenly emerged and obstructed the execution of the project. They demanded for the compensation to be doubled before they could move. Otherwise, they would be blocking the area for 24 hours.
To make matters worse, they sent mostly elderly people, children, and even pregnant women to confront them.
Ning Zhi was also looking at the same information. The project was jointly managed by her and Lu Ping. Lu Ping was in charge of investment and planning, while Ning Zhi was in charge of negotiating with the natives to finalize the compensation. Now that there was a problem with the natives, she couldn't escape responsibility.
However, facing a group of people who didn't care about anything but money, Ning Zhi also had a headache. They had already agreed on the compensation amount, and it was written in black and white, but now, it had become so troublesome. Violence wouldn't work because they were dealing with the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled. No wonder Lu Ping had been struggling with this for such a long time without resolving the issue.
Ning Zhi pondered over strategies for the He Ling project but felt like something was missing.
Ning Zhi thought to herself, 'I need to conduct a field trip.'
Li Yan observed Ning Zhi's expression through the surveillance monitor and frowned.
"Do you like her that much?" Lin Sha suddenly appeared behind Li Yan. "Special Assistant Ning is indeed very beautiful. She resembles someone I used to know, the one from the Su Family. Yes, I remember now. Her name is Su Heng."
Lin Sha observed Li Yan's expression. Just as she had expected, his hands were clenched tightly. It was obvious that he was suppressing his emotions.
"I'm warning you, don't provoke me further," Li Yan said in a low voice before picking up his coat and leaving the office.
Lin Sha even deliberately cleared a path for him to leave and watched him depart. Then, her gaze shifted back to the surveillance monitor.
Shortly after, Lin Sha saw him going to find Ning Zhi.
Just as she thought, Lin Sha considered her as nothing more than a substitute.
Substitutes could be either high-quality or low-quality versions, and Ning Zhi was undoubtedly the closest imitation of the original. However, a fake would always be a fake. Lin Sha's lips curled into a self-assured smile.