That night, I was tossing and turning again, so I wasn't exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when I woke up the next day.
Ever since my wife and I started having problems, the stress has been really getting to me.
Right now, the only thing I have left is my job.
If I lose that too, I feel like I'll really be in a tough spot.
Honestly, I'm feeling how hard it is to just get by more and more these days.
I haven't been to work since the whole catching the boss cheating thing, and I had no idea how he'd treat me.
If things got too bad, I'd just give the car back to the boss and find another job.
Actually, I'd already made up my mind about that before even going to work.
Around seven in the morning, I got to the boss's villa right on time.
Seeing me, the boss seemed pretty polite. He said, "Little Zhao, you're right on schedule today! How's everything at home, all sorted out?"
Honestly, my head was a mess. I didn't know what the boss meant by that.
Maybe in my mind, he was asking when Lu Wan and I would get divorced so he could be with her openly.
So I just smiled and didn't answer his question.
The boss saw I was in a low mood and didn't press it.
We didn't talk much on the way. I suddenly felt like the connection between me and the boss had faded.
I knew that was a bad sign.
Looks like I really needed to start looking for another job.
After dropping the boss off at the company, I chain-smoked three cigarettes in the break room.
I was thinking about whether I should just quit. It'd be way better than the boss kicking me to the curb.
Given the situation, I didn't have many options left.
I thought about it and decided to hand in my resignation.
Now that I'd made up my mind, I didn't hesitate anymore and went straight to the boss's office.
I peeked into the boss's office and saw he wasn't there at all.
But the secretary's office clearly had someone in it. Fang Xinyi was looking down, writing something.
Since Fang Xinyi was now the general manager's secretary and my direct superior, if I wanted to resign, I'd definitely have to go through her.
So I thought about it and walked into her office.
When Fang Xinyi looked up and saw me, she seemed a bit surprised. Her beautiful eyes stared at me without blinking.
In that instant, I could feel her eyes were really bright, like a lotus flower rising from the mud, untouched.
Such a pure girl working as Zhang Zhiyuan's secretary was a real shame.
Knowing Zhang Zhiyuan's personality, even if he hadn't gotten with this girl yet, it was only a matter of time before she fell into his clutches.
That's why I felt bad for her.
"Zhao Jian, is there something you need?" Fang Xinyi suddenly asked.
For some reason, in front of Fang Xinyi, I suddenly felt awkward and couldn't speak naturally.
Maybe that's what they call "beauty syndrome"!
But the resignation was something I was set on.
I said to Fang Xinyi, "Secretary Fang, I'd like to resign."
Fang Xinyi was really surprised by what I said. She asked, "You're doing so well here, why do you want to quit?"
I thought about it, not knowing how to explain it to her.
Maybe she didn't know about all the stuff going on between me and the boss!
I thought for a moment and then said, "I'd like to change my work environment."
Fang Xinyi said, "Zhao Jian, I just started working here myself and I'm not familiar with everything. I'll tell General Zhang about your resignation. Everything will be decided by General Zhang. But before General Zhang gives his opinion, I hope you can still focus on your work."
I don't know why, but hearing those words made me feel warm inside. I really thought Fang Xinyi was a good girl.
It was like when I first met my wife. Back then, my wife was also so understanding.
I was slightly touched and said to Fang Xinyi, "Miss Fang, I really need to thank you."
Fang Xinyi suddenly smiled at me and said, "You're welcome. We're all colleagues here!"
I told Fang Xinyi about it in the morning. At noon, the boss was already having a heart-to-heart with me in his office.
At this point, the boss seemed really polite to me. He even surprisingly poured me tea, which was something I never would have expected.
As soon as he sat down, he asked me, "Little Zhao, Fang Xinyi told me about your wanting to resign. Are you unhappy working here?"
Judging by what the boss said, it seemed like he wanted me to stay.
I felt a bit guilty and didn't know what to say.
Then, the boss continued, "Originally, my asking you to go after Gu Xiaofei was out of good intentions."
As soon as I heard the boss say that, the anger in my heart couldn't help but rise.
I reluctantly agreed to that whole thing because of the temptation, but now I was in a situation where I couldn't back out.
I still couldn't figure out why the boss would do that.
Since I wasn't even afraid of quitting anymore, I decided to just lay it all out on the table. I said to the boss, "General Zhang, are you having an affair with my wife?"
When I asked that question, I mustered all my courage, so when the words came out, they were like a bombshell.
Zhang Zhiyuan froze there, clearly not knowing how to answer.
But having been in the business world for so many years, Zhang Zhiyuan was a shrewd guy. He asked, "Who told you that? Was it Gu Xiaofei?"
I thought about it and said, "Who told me isn't important. What's important is that I know this happened."
Zhang Zhiyuan suddenly fell silent, as if he was thinking about something.
According to normal human behavior, if there was nothing going on between Zhang Zhiyuan and my wife, he would have quickly denied it.
The fact that he didn't immediately deny it meant that in my mind, their affair was already a certainty.
After a while, Zhang Zhiyuan finally said, "Little Zhao, is that your reason for resigning?"
I replied, "You could say that!"
Zhang Zhiyuan continued, "If I told you I wasn't, would you believe me?"
I shook my head and said, "Then please tell me, how did you get to know my wife?"
Clearly, I knew some inside information. If Zhang Zhiyuan didn't explain it clearly, then I definitely wouldn't believe what he said.
Zhang Zhiyuan's face immediately turned very ugly. He sat there for a long time, unable to give a reason.
I turned around, ready to leave, when suddenly, Zhang Zhiyuan called out to me.
"Little Zhao, hold on a minute. I have something else to say to you."
I turned back and looked at Zhang Zhiyuan, my former boss.
Three years ago, when I first started working for Zhang Zhiyuan, his Xingchang Technology was at its peak. Back then, thanks to land redevelopment, his building materials company had developed rapidly.
But the Zhang Zhiyuan of today didn't speak with the same confidence as before, and the company also owed the bank a large loan.
Actually, I didn't think I had a big future at this company anyway.
That could also be considered part of the reason for my wanting to resign!
Zhang Zhiyuan walked over to me and said, "Little Zhao, since you're determined to leave, then that BMW X1, consider it a gift from me."
Ever since Zhang Zhiyuan bought that car, I'd been the one driving it. Besides picking him up and dropping him off for work every day and taking some clients around, I had quite a bit of personal use for it.
Thinking about it, Zhang Zhiyuan had actually been pretty good to me, not only letting me drive the car but also covering all the car expenses.
Any other boss wouldn't have been so generous.
Now it seemed like it was because he was having an affair with my wife that he was being so good to me. Maybe he wanted to make up for the mistakes he had made!
But then I thought about it again, and it didn't seem right, because Zhang Zhiyuan wasn't that kind of person at all.
From graduation until now, I had been working for Zhang Zhiyuan for three years. He had fooled around with quite a few respectable women, but I had never seen him offer any compensation.
So I couldn't understand why Zhang Zhiyuan was being so good to me.
Thinking about this, if I still insisted on resigning, it seemed a bit unreasonable, and I didn't want to accept a gift without having earned it. I felt awkward just accepting a car from him for no reason.
Clearly, everything was related to my wife, but I couldn't figure out the connection.
The best way to find out the truth was to stay at this company, because with time, I'd always find some clues.
And Zhang Zhiyuan didn't seem to want me to leave either, though I didn't know why.
At this moment, I had to admire Zhang Zhiyuan. He really played the emotional card well. No wonder he was good at business.
I was instantly moved by Zhang Zhiyuan and said, "General Zhang, I'll still work for you!"
Hearing this, Zhang Zhiyuan was very happy. He said, "Since you're staying with me, there's something I still need you to do."
I quickly asked, "What exactly is it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "It's still that same request. I hope you can win over Gu Xiaofei."
Hearing this, I really didn't know if Zhang Zhiyuan was genuinely confused or pretending. Didn't he know that Gu Xiaofei had a strong background?
The few moves I'd made against Gu Xiaofei had been complete failures. In her eyes, I seemed to be nothing more than a plaything.
I shook my head and said to Zhang Zhiyuan, "Gu Xiaofei is someone with a powerful background. I can't afford to mess with her."
Actually, by saying this, I was still testing the boss's attitude.
Zhang Zhiyuan thought for a moment and said, "That's precisely why I need you to do this even more."
I was even more confused. I looked at Zhang Zhiyuan, wondering what his real intentions were.
After thinking about it, I said, "General Zhang, I can do this for you, but I want to know why?"
Indeed, you need a reason to do anything. What exactly did the boss want to achieve by having me use a "handsome man" strategy?
Zhang Zhiyuan sighed deeply and said, "Alright, let me tell you the cause and effect of all this! The Resignation Drama...