After a good nap, Lily felt in high spirits, her feet swinging happily.
"Business is business, personal is personal. If there's a chance to collaborate, I'll cooperate. Who would turn down money? But we won't be close in private," she said, a bit concerned about Selena.
"I think Zoya is not a good influence. If Selena doesn't leave her soon, she'll get dragged down. Luckily, it was kind-hearted, excellent me today. If it were someone with a worse temper, they wouldn't have let her off."
Aria sighed. "Kind-hearted, excellent, good-tempered, you indeed. I agree."
Despite her speechlessness, Aria felt relieved. This level of self-absorption indicated Lily was alright.
She then brought up Selena's facial injury. "She still has to go back to filming. You said you'd handle Director Mei. Are you going to ask Edmond for help?"
"Of course not." Lily shook her head vigorously, speaking with righteousness.
"If it involves asking for help, my husband can only ask for me, not for another woman. I'm petty, I'm jealous, and I would get upset."
Aria stared at her. "..."
Aria didn't banter with her further, guessing what Lily was planning. "Are you really going to make that call? Do you dare?"
Lily remained silent.
After ending the video call, she spent a long time hesitating and procrastinating, taking nearly half an hour before finally taking a deep breath and dialing a number.
"Auntie..."
When Edmond came back, he found Lily running barefoot around the bedroom.
She would run a few laps, stop to catch her breath, then do stretches and squats, all with an unusual level of excitement.
"The doctor told you to rest more. Why are you exercising late at night?"
Edmond closed the door behind him and scooped her up mid-stretch, making Lily gasp and cling to his neck. Detecting the reprimand in his voice, she kissed his cheek.
"I'm fine. My arm doesn't hurt much anymore."
In the afternoon, she had listened to the doctor's lengthy explanation, concluding that it was just a dislocation that would heal quickly after being set back in place, not requiring a whole month to recover.
Edmond placed her on the bed, tapping her forehead with his long fingers, his handsome face serious.
"Follow the doctor's orders."
Lily smiled and agreed, pulling him down to sit beside her, her face brimming with joy.
"I wasn't exercising, I was just too happy and needed to relax."
Seeing her unusually good mood, Edmond smiled and asked, "What made you so happy?"
Lily climbed onto his lap, holding his face in her hands and kissing his lips twice, her voice filled with happiness.
"My aunt just scolded me. My aunt scolded me just now... Oh, she scolded me."
She started crying before she could finish her sentence.
"My aunt hasn't spoken to me for a long time. I thought she didn't love me anymore. I called her just now and told her Selena got hurt saving me, asking her not to blame Selena."
"She asked if I was hurt. I said my shoulder hurt, and she scolded me. She called me stupid, saying I should ask her for help if something happens to me, not someone else."
Lily's aunt was the famous and notoriously temperamental Director Mei.
Edmond knew this but was unaware of the details between Lily and her aunt.
He didn't ask, just held her and comforted her until she stopped crying.
Lily leaned against him, her eyes bright, her hand wrapped around his neck as she gave him a heartfelt kiss.
"Edmond, I realized today how good you are to me. When Zoya was cursing, I kept thinking about you, about many things, and I realized you are really, really good to me."
She said, "Edmond, I really, really like you."
Edmond deepened the kiss.
The next morning, Lily was awakened by her phone ringing.
It was a call from Leopold.
"Lily, there's a problem at home. Can you come back?"
Leopold took twenty minutes to explain the situation.
It went like this: L&S Group had a subsidiary, Shenghui Real Estate. Their new suburban development was set to be handed over next spring.
Recently, they got into trouble.
Someone reported that the underfloor heating in the new development was substandard, alleging that the person in charge had taken kickbacks from the heating supplier, leading to shoddy workmanship and materials.
The whistleblower sent videos and photos as evidence to a TV journalist.
The project manager at Shenghui tried to bribe the journalist to settle the matter privately, but the journalist wouldn't have it. When negotiations failed, the manager, in a moment of poor judgment, assaulted the journalist.
By the time Brooks and Leopold heard about it, it was the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, too late to contain the situation.
The journalist, still in the hospital, was determined to expose the issue once discharged.
The manager was fired, Brooks personally apologized, and compensation was offered, but to no avail.
The incident had also spread among the homeowners' groups, causing an uproar among those whose homes were nearing completion or still under construction. They were demanding answers, with some even storming the headquarters.
The proposed solution from headquarters was to fire the manager and redo the non-compliant heating installations.
While appeasing the homeowners, they sought to resolve the matter privately, hoping the journalist would not report it.
The journalist involved was none other than Sun, from the TV station's social news department, known for his tough stance.
Sun was notorious for exposing any story he got his hands on, earning a reputation for being a crusader for the people.
His uncompromising nature had made him many enemies, but he was fearless, with high public support and a relative in a high position, making him untouchable.
Unfortunately, the Shenghui manager had assaulted him.
Sun refused to be swayed by L&S Group, showing no deference even to Brooks, insisting on reporting the incident and filing complaints with regulatory authorities, leaving no room for maneuver.
Brooks, desperate, thought of Edmond.
Given that Jingxiu Group recently collaborated with the TV station, Edmond would likely have connections there, possibly able to persuade the station leaders to talk to Sun.
They were willing to make further concessions, as long as Sun refrained from reporting and complaining.
Anything that could be settled with money wasn't a problem; the issue was the severe implications of exposure, including plummeting stock prices and a tarnished reputation.
The association with terms like "cutting corners" and "shoddy work" would be disastrous.
Brooks initially wanted to approach Edmond personally but, recalling Edmond threatening him with a baseball bat, hesitated and sent his son instead.
Leopold, having failed to meet Edmond yesterday, called Lily today out of desperation.
When Lily went downstairs, Edmond had just returned from his run. Her arm injury prevented her from joining him today.
"Leopold called me."
She explained the situation, which didn't surprise Edmond. Holding her close as they walked to the bedroom, he smiled and asked,
"Would you like more shares in L&S?"
Lily was confused.
Hearing that this situation could earn her shares in L&S, she became excited.
"I just scolded Leopold on the phone, saying if he wants my help, they should give me all the shares Zoya holds. I promised to devote myself to L&S. He hung up, furious."
While eating, Lily kept muttering, praising Edmond.
"Edmond, he hung up on me. But you're different. You never hang up on me. You always let me hang up first."
A grain of millet stuck to her hand. Edmond grabbed a napkin, holding her hand in his, wiping it away, and took the opportunity to make a request.
"If you know I'm good to you, then show me some more care. When you go out to eat, let the driver stay with you as a bodyguard. I pay him double. Don't feel embarrassed. If something happens to you again, my heart can't take it."
Lily, her eyes sparkling and smiling, found the millet porridge exceptionally sweet that morning.
"Okay."
After breakfast, Lily cheerfully prepared to return to the Jian family.
Edmond stopped her, saying that if they were going to ask for help, they should do it properly. Not personally visiting and daring to hang up the phone was too much, and they shouldn't indulge him.