Dong Jian's car slowly drove away from the villa area. Sitting in the back seat, Dong Jian gazed out the window.
"Go back and tell the brothers to prepare for war," Dong Jian said.
"Yes, sir!" The driver in the front seat nodded.
Dong Jian's lips curled into a slight smile as he called Wu Zhiming and briefly recounted what had just happened.
"Li Jingguo is a cunning old fox. He agreed not to go to war, which means he's probably playing the game of 'the enemy in the open, we in the dark,' waiting for a chance to deliver a fatal blow," Wu Zhiming said.
"I know," Dong Jian replied.
"So you deliberately gave him this opportunity to play the game of 'the enemy in the open, we in the dark'? But in reality, what he thinks is the open is just his imagination, right?" Wu Zhiming laughed.
"Master, you're very perceptive," Dong Jian said with a smile. "He thinks he's the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware that there's a yellow bird behind him."
"Interesting. Take care of yourself," Wu Zhiming said.
"Got it!" Dong Jian replied, then hung up the phone and said to the driver, "Let's visit some big shots in Tianlu City. Make it as high-profile as possible."
"Yes, sir!"
"I wonder who the first wave of enemies will be," Dong Jian said, squinting at the view outside, uttering a phrase that no one else could understand.
In Haixia City, night had fallen.
Song Siqing had just left her office when an unmarked Bentley pulled up beside her. She recognized the car instantly. The window in the back slowly rolled down.
"Dinner together," Wu Zhiming said from inside the car, looking at Song Siqing.
"You want to have dinner with me? What about Jingjing?" Song Siqing asked in surprise.
"I didn't ask her. Tonight, it's just the two of us," Wu Zhiming said.
"Just the two of us?" Song Siqing frowned slightly, then her eyes flashed as she opened the car door and got in.
"Why do you want to have dinner with me?" Song Siqing asked as soon as she got in.
"I suddenly wanted to learn something from you," Wu Zhiming replied.
"Learn something from me?" Song Siqing asked, frowning. "About Yao Jing?"
"Yes!" Wu Zhiming nodded.
"What do you want to know?" Song Siqing asked.
"We'll talk over dinner."
Li Sina drove Song Siqing and Wu Zhiming to a private restaurant in an alley. The place was secluded and quiet, perfect for a date.
Wu Zhiming, familiar with the restaurant, walked in and found a seat by the window, then ordered a few dishes.
This was Song Siqing's first time having dinner alone with Wu Zhiming, and she couldn't help but feel a bit strange.
"Aren't you afraid I'll tell Jingjing that you asked me out alone?" Song Siqing asked.
"No," Wu Zhiming shook his head.
"You seem very confident in yourself," Song Siqing remarked.
Wu Zhiming smiled and said, "It's not confidence in myself, but in Yao Jing. She knows nothing would happen between us."
"That's not necessarily true," Song Siqing said, rolling her eyes. "Jingjing is very naive and doesn't understand the complexities of people. You're rich, and I might just steal you away."
"Tell me about your past with Yao Jing," Wu Zhiming said.
"My past with Yao Jing?" Song Siqing looked at Wu Zhiming in confusion. "Why do you suddenly want to know about that?"
"Because I feel I don't know her well enough, and there are some things I can't rely on her to tell me. So, I have to ask you," Wu Zhiming said.
Song Siqing stared at Wu Zhiming for a long time before saying, "Jingjing always said you're a blockhead. It's rare to see this blockhead finally waking up!"
"After all, she's my wife," Wu Zhiming said.
"Then tell me what you want to know, and I'll see if I'm in the mood to tell you," Song Siqing said.
"Tell me about your school days with Yao Jing," Wu Zhiming said.
"Our school days?" Song Siqing reminisced and said, "Jingjing and I have been classmates since kindergarten. She was adorable back then, very endearing. Of course, I wasn't bad either. But funny enough, we didn't like each other back then. Jingjing was quiet, and I was a bit of a tomboy, so we didn't play together. Later, we ended up in the same class in primary school, and our relationship became more normal, but we were just ordinary classmates. Our relationship really changed in middle school."
"Middle school?"
"Yes, middle school!" Song Siqing said, flashing a captivating smile. "I matured early and developed faster than other kids. You know, developing early can make other girls look down on you, and it also attracts some annoying boys. I was quite depressed during that time, but Jingjing helped me. When other girls looked down on me, she played with me, walked to and from school with me. When boys bullied me, she stood up for me. You wouldn't believe it, but Jingjing was quite assertive in middle school!"
"She's quite assertive at the company now too," Wu Zhiming said.
"Her assertiveness comes from her desire to help others. She was assertive in middle school to help me, and now she's assertive in your company to help you. Over the years, Jingjing has always lived for others," Song Siqing said.
"Tell me more about your story with Yao Jing," Wu Zhiming said.
"Because of our relationship in middle school, we became close friends and besties. Later, in high school, Jingjing became even more beautiful, and the boys around us matured. Many boys started pursuing her, all kinds of people. But I knew that Jingjing didn't fancy any of them. Although she never said it out loud, she's a proud person and wouldn't even bother looking at most men. But there were too many self-satisfied men, and Jingjing found them annoying. However, there wasn't much she could do about it since we were just young girls... Until one incident in our first year of high school made me truly determined to protect Jingjing for the rest of my life," Song Siqing said, clenching her fists.
It was clear that the incident she mentioned still had a significant impact on her.
"What happened?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"Do you really want to know?" Song Siqing squinted at Wu Zhiming.
"You can choose to tell me or not," Wu Zhiming said.
"That incident... very few people know about it. I'm not sure if I should tell you. If you don't mind, I'd like to call Jingjing and see if she wants you to know," Song Siqing said.
"No need to call. She'll be here soon," Wu Zhiming said, glancing at his watch.
"She's coming? You invited her?" Song Siqing asked in surprise.
"Yes, I wouldn't bypass her to invite you," Wu Zhiming said.
"Smart move!" Song Siqing gave Wu Zhiming a thumbs up. This way, even if she told Yao Jing that Wu Zhiming had secretly invited her, it wouldn't matter.
Wu Zhiming smiled without saying more.
"It's not really something I can't talk about since it's in the past," Song Siqing said.
"If you think it's okay to talk about, then go ahead," Wu Zhiming said.
"In our first year of high school, after a minor argument with Jingjing, I didn't go home with her after school. I left first, and Jingjing stayed behind to clean up... On my way home, I had to pass through a small grove. When I reached that grove, I was blocked by some people," Song Siqing said.
"Oh?" Wu Zhiming raised an eyebrow.
"I was blocked by some school thugs and some hooligans from outside the school. They wouldn't let me go and tried to drag me into the grove. I struggled desperately, but it was useless. I felt truly desperate. You don't know, but our society was quite chaotic when we were young, and incidents of thugs bullying female students were common. I thought that was going to happen to me too... But then, Jingjing appeared," Song Siqing said.
"She appeared? If she was alone, it wouldn't have made much difference," Wu Zhiming said.
"She was alone indeed. It was quite late after she finished her duties. Jingjing saw those thugs dragging me into the grove from a distance and ran over immediately," Song Siqing said.
"And then? A lamb to the slaughter?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"No." Song Siqing shook her head. "Those thugs were going to drag Jingjing into the grove too, but Jingjing said something that made them give up."
"What did she say?"
"Jingjing said she would trade places with me. She offered to go into the grove with them if they let me go," Song Siqing said.
Hearing this, Wu Zhiming's face showed surprise.
"You're saying Yao Jing used herself to save you?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"Yes..." Song Siqing nodded. "You don't know, my parents divorced when I was very young due to an affair. No one had ever really cared about me, let alone someone willing to trade their safety for mine. From that moment, I vowed to be Jingjing's guardian for life!"
"What happened afterward?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"Afterward?" Song Siqing looked at Wu Zhiming with a pained expression. "Afterward, Jingjing went into the grove with them, and I... I couldn't stop them. Wu Zhiming, do you know how much I wanted to protect Jingjing then? But I was just a young girl, and they were several boys. I was powerless and could only watch..."
"Alright, stop acting," Wu Zhiming waved his hand and said. "If Yao Jing had really been harmed, given your relationship with her, it would have become your eternal secret. You wouldn't be able to speak of it."
"You're too smart, and I don't like it!" Song Siqing said angrily, glaring at Wu Zhiming.