DPT chapter 40

Zuo Chi slept restlessly, Sheng Li’s appearance disturbing his thoughts, making him wonder what Sheng Li really wanted to do.

Was it because he quickly got engaged to someone else after breaking off the engagement with him, feeling embarrassed?

Or was it from a friend’s perspective, thinking that Qin Xu wasn’t a suitable marriage partner?

What the hell was Sheng Li upset about? He couldn’t guess, and didn’t want to guess. Over the past so many years, he had pondered over every expression and every word of Sheng Li’s, and it exhausted him.

At half past two in the middle of the night, Zuo Chi got up to drink water, then walked to the door, looking through the peephole.

No one. Sheng Li had left.

Of course he left. Was he supposed to stay outside for two or three hours?

He went back to the bedroom to sleep, closing his eyes and forcing himself to count sheep. After counting over a thousand, drowsiness finally washed over him again.

The next day was Saturday, and Zuo Chi woke up early. After getting dressed in a shirt and trousers, he prepared to go out.

As he opened the door, it felt like history repeating itself. Sheng Li stood blankly in front of him, still wearing yesterday’s clothes. Having not slept all night, his face was pale, and he looked a bit haggard.

He held a cup of soy milk and a bag of buns in his hand. “Breakfast I bought for you. The soy milk isn’t sweetened.”

Zuo Chi didn’t take it. “You didn’t leave yesterday?”

“I didn’t want to go.” Thinking about going back to the empty villa, he didn’t want to leave, Sheng Li said, “Don’t worry, I slept in the car and didn’t catch a cold.”

How could someone as tall as Sheng Li sleep comfortably in the car?

Zuo Chi felt he was acting foolish. “Why do you have to do this? Wasn’t I clear enough yesterday?”

“I was clear too.” Sheng Li looked at him, his expression somewhat pitiful. “You found a way to convince your father and mother to agree to cancel our engagement, so you can definitely use the same method to cancel the engagement with Qin Xu.”

Zuo Chi sneered, “Why do you think I quickly got engaged to Qin Xu after canceling the engagement with you?”

Sheng Li was first confused, then the color drained from his face, and the hand holding the plastic bag of breakfast trembled.

Zuo Chi said coldly, “This is the method. Agreeing to marry into the Qin family was the only way to cancel the engagement with you. Engagement isn’t a game, it’s not something you can just cancel at will.”

If time could rewind, Sheng Li would definitely go back and beat up his past self for not stopping Zuo Chi from canceling the engagement. If he had persuaded Zuo Chi in time to dispel the idea of breaking off the engagement, would Qin Xu still be involved? Would there still be trouble with the Qin family?

His lips turned blue. “Is there no other way?”

Zuo Chi squatted down to put on his leather shoes, tore off a piece of disinfectant wet tissue, and wiped his hands. He threw the used wet tissue into the trash can, closed the door, but didn’t answer Sheng Li’s question, walking past him.

As the elevator doors were about to close, Sheng Li squeezed in sideways. There were seven or eight people in the elevator, and they stood diagonally from each other, their eyes meeting in the air for two seconds.

Zuo Chi looked away, took out his phone, trying to block Sheng Li’s gaze.

Most people got off on the ground floor. Only the two of them were heading to the basement.

When they reached the parking lot, Zuo Chi went straight to his car and stepped on the accelerator.

Sheng Li was late for work. He was often late, which wasn’t a big deal.

But on Monday morning, there was a senior management meeting, and he walked into the meeting room disheveled and bleary-eyed, enough to anger Sheng Changyu.

After the meeting, he was left behind alone. Sheng Changyu looked at him angrily. “Where were you fooling around last night?”

Sheng Li denied, “Nowhere.”

“Don’t think I don’t know. You recently invested in a web drama, just to get an unknown Omega into the cast,” Sheng Changyu was frustrated, “You’re twenty-five already, only thinking about having fun. Do you really plan to ruin the Sheng Group under your hand?”

Sheng Li thought of that little model. He wanted the omega to act with him just to anger Zuo Chi, to prove that he wasn’t easily influenced by Zuo Chi.

But driving Zuo Chi away only proved that he was a fool.

Zuo Chi could easily manipulate his emotions. He could do it before, and now it was even more evident.

Sheng Changyu continued to scold him, “Smell your clothes! They reek of alcohol! Did you even go home yesterday? You’re always hanging out in bars. Are bars your home? Sheng Li! Can’t you give your father and me a break? Are you going to hand over the Sheng Group to someone else?”

Sheng Li wasn’t interested in managing the company. “You forced the company onto me, not something I wanted.”

Sheng Changyu glared at him. “Then what do you want? Say it! If you had other pursuits, it’d be fine, but all you want is to eat, drink, and sleep. Are your father and I going to watch our only son become a waste?”

What did he want? Sheng Li didn’t know before, but now he had a clear answer – he wanted to get Zuo Chi back.

“Is there no other way?”

He should have asked himself, not Zuo Chi. Sheng Li felt like he had grabbed a lifeline. If… if the Sheng Group could offer more benefits to the Zuo family through cooperation, with Zuo Yi’s profit-seeking nature, maybe he would change his mind.

If… if he could compete with the entire Qin family, could he take Zuo Chi back from Qin Xu’s hands?

He knew saying it aloud sounded like the ranting of a madman, especially in the eyes of those around him, he was just a useless shell. Let alone competing with the Qin family, it would be difficult to even maintain the current development of the Sheng Group.

But this thought ignited a fire in his heart.

Sheng Changyu continued to lecture him, “You refuse to work properly, refuse to marry, and you’re destroying your own life. I warn you, if you keep playing around like this, I’ll control your sources of funds. Let’s see what you will achieve without the Sheng Group, without your father!”

Sheng Li looked up. He had heard these words more than once, and he knew what Sheng Changyu said was true. In the past, he just found it annoying. But this time, he resented his own incompetence more than anything.

“I understand.”

“You’d better! Change your clothes in the office compartment! Spray some pheromone blocker and pull yourself together.” Sheng Changyu finished his instructions and rushed off, glancing at the clock on the wall.

He didn’t expect Sheng Li to change so quickly. He had been hoping for his son’s success for over twenty years, but his expectations were diminishing day by day. He didn’t know if he could retire before feeling confident enough to hand over the position of chairman to Sheng Li.

There were no secrets in this circle, and news of Zuo Chi’s engagement to Qin Xu spread quickly.

Zuo Chi could feel the odd looks from the company’s employees, and he received some inquiries from friends. It was a bit embarrassing; after all, some people had attended his engagement party with Sheng Li, and now, after more than half a year, his fiancé had changed.

Nobody would criticize him to his face. “It’s fine. You and Sheng Li were friends to begin with. It’s weird to get married. After canceling the engagement, you can still get along like before.”

As for what they said behind his back, Zuo Chi didn’t know, but he guessed it wouldn’t be pleasant.

Han Qice managed to get Zuo Chi’s phone number from someone and sent him a text apologizing: I was drunk that day and wasn’t very clear-headed. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spread rumors and cause you trouble.

If Han Qice hadn’t sent this message, Zuo Chi wouldn’t have known where the news originated from.

He replied: It’s okay. Besides, it’s not a rumor; everyone will know sooner or later.

That’s what he really thought. Since he agreed to Zuo Yi’s conditions, he would inevitably face criticism, it was just a matter of sooner or later.

Han Qice: Are you really going to marry Qin Xu?

Han Qice: It’s so unfair.

Zuo Chi: ?

Han Qice: I liked you first. After you canceled your engagement with Sheng Li, shouldn’t you have considered me first?

Zuo Chi was surprised. He didn’t know how sincere Han Qice’s words were. He knew that Han Qice had liked him in middle school, but that was ten years ago. After so long, he should have forgotten, right? Even at Sheng Li’s party, when Han Qice invited him to go to the spring resort together, he only thought it was a way to make conversation.

He believed in long-lasting feelings, but he didn’t believe that he could be liked by someone for that long.

Moreover, whether it was true or false didn’t affect his decision. Perhaps his engagement with Qin Xu was only temporary, but he had a basic sense of morality. Since he was currently engaged, he shouldn’t develop relationships beyond friendship with other Alphas.

If emotions followed a strict order, there wouldn’t be so many disappointed people. Zuo Chi thought about himself and Sheng Li, meeting each other when life had just begun. He didn’t know if it was fortunate or unfortunate.

Life is full of uncertainties. Some people accompany each other through long years, witnessing each other’s naivety, ignorance, and youthful days, thinking they would always walk forward together, only to have to say goodbye at a certain fork in the road.

There’s no rule that meeting early leads to a perfect ending.

His anger, sadness, and pain had been excessively consumed over the past six months. Now he could calmly face Sheng Li. Whether they remained friends or not, he would try to minimize Sheng Li’s presence in his life.

Zuo Chi wasn’t good at rejecting people with words. He stared at the message interface, feeling at a loss, until a new notification popped up.

It wasn’t from Han Qice. He had just thought of Sheng Li, and Sheng Li messaged him: “Are you off work? I’m downstairs waiting for you. Let’s have dinner together.”

Zuo Chi: “I have to work overtime.”

Sheng Li: “Oh.”

Zuo Chi didn’t know what “oh” meant. He tossed his phone into the drawer and started studying the project approval documents on his desk.

Half an hour later, his assistant knocked on the door, holding a lunchbox. “Manager Zuo, this is… Mr. Sheng bought dinner for you. He’s in the first-floor lounge. Can he come up?”

The assistant was just stating facts, but Zuo Chi felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Sheng Li was his former fiancé.