Female lead’s Delusion of Starting Over

Chapter 16 - Zhang Ziqin's Sorrow, Encounter with the Female Lead

Chapter 16: Zhang Ziqin’s Sorrow, Encounter with the Female Lead

“Director Lin Tianhai, do you have anything to say?”

“…” Lin Tianhai clenched his teeth. Lu Li’s confident demeanor made him wonder if he had really been caught in some wrongdoing, but there were things he dared not gamble on.

Should his wrongdoings truly be uncovered, facing Lu Guofu’s methods, ending up penniless would be the best outcome.

“I agree with Manager Lu’s thoughts. As his uncle, naturally, I wouldn’t hold Manager Lu back,” he forced a smile.

Lin Tianhai’s tone was rather bitter.

The other shareholders’ gazes towards Lin Tianhai changed.

“En!” Lu Li nodded. “As for the future development direction, I will have control over it. I won’t let the shareholders suffer losses. Of course, if anyone wishes to sell their shares, I personally would be willing to buy them at the current market price.”

He didn’t actually have any dirt on Lin Tianhai; having arrived a bit late in this world, he hadn’t had the time, but that could change in the future.

Unexpectedly, Lin Tianhai was so easily frightened.

All the better.

A meeting that was supposed to be a joint accusation against Lu Li ended with little more than a whimper under Lu Li’s pressure.

They all realized, Lu Li was not a simple character, at least not the wasteful playboy as rumored by the outside world.

***

Zhang Corporation, known as a major enterprise in Hang City, is a dream company for many.

Zhang Ziqin massaged her temples, the intense sadness and helplessness pressing down on her like a heavy hand. Lu Li’s indifference, those decisive words, caused her a heart-wrenching pain.

She felt Lu Li’s pain.

Such agony, Lu Li endured for eight years.

A full eight years.

“What do you think, when a man likes a woman but the woman never responds, will the man give up?” she murmured the question.

The assistant beside her had a complex expression. After Zhang Ziqin returned from Lu Corporation appearing distraught, she wasn’t a fool; she knew what had happened.

In the assistant’s view, aside from being deeply affectionate, Lu Li was practically worthless and absolutely not worthy of their CEO.

Their CEO, both beautiful and capable, had taken control of such a large company like Zhang Corporation at a young age, showing extraordinary ability. There wasn’t a single aspect where Lu Li could compare.

As Zhang Ziqin’s assistant, she had seen many times Lu Li being chased away by their CEO. Honestly, even if she felt Lu Li wasn’t good enough for the CEO, seeing Lu Li’s dejected look really made one feel pity.

“Miss Zhang, let me tell you a story!” The assistant hesitated for a moment and then spoke.

“…”

“Once upon a time, a prince fell in love with a beautiful princess. But the princess set a condition. She told the prince, if you come to my castle every day to profess your love, then after one hundred days, I will marry you.”

Zhang Ziqin’s eyes lit up with interest: “And then?”

“The prince went every day, rain or shine, he expressed his love to the beautiful princess until the hundredth day…” The assistant looked at Miss Zhang with a complex gaze, feeling that their CEO was like the princess in the story.

“What happened on the hundredth day?” Zhang Ziqin asked eagerly.

“On the hundredth day, the prince did not go anymore,” the assistant said.

“Why?”

The assistant hesitated briefly before continuing.

“Afterward, the princess angrily confronted the prince, asking why he gave up when it was just one day short, just one more day and she would have married him.”

“But the prince told her, the previous ninety-nine days, he proved his love for the princess, but he wouldn’t go on the last day. He wanted to retain his dignity because love is not about blind devotion.”

The assistant seemed reflective. Eight years, Lu Li Gongzi pursued their CEO for eight full years. How deep was that love!

Hearing the story, Zhang Ziqin was stunned.

Love is not about blind devotion!

Well said, yet she failed to do so.

Starting over, yet she still lost the person she loved the most.

Because between her and Lu Li, it was always just Lu Li making the effort.

Now, he’s like the prince in the story, about to give up. He no longer loves her.

Her heart felt as if it was pierced by a cold knife.

“Trouble ahead, Miss Zhang. Lu Corporation has announced the withdrawal of all collaborative projects with us.”

Zhang Ziqin’s vision darkened, a tear-like pain almost making her pass out. Even knowing Lu Li no longer loved her, it deeply wounded Zhang Ziqin’s heart.

“Do you hate me so much that you’re unwilling to continue even business cooperation?” she thought sadly.

***

The hustle and bustle, filled with the aroma of fireworks, everything seemed ordinary yet peaceful.

This was what she had longed for in her previous life, but such simple things were unattainable for a villain like her. In her previous life, she pursued Zhang Ziqin day after day, only to meet such an end. How much did he yearn to simply live in this mundane world?

But even such a modest wish was not something a villain deserved.

“What are you talking about, I clearly didn’t touch her, she fell by herself, I was just helping her up. Why are you saying I knocked her down?”

With an aggrieved voice tinged with anger, Lu Li glanced over and saw a stunning figure enter his view.

It’s her!

In the plot, there are many female leads who intersect with Lu Li, with grudges, but there are also a few Lu Li never interacted with.

This female lead named Chen Xiaoyi before him was one of them. In his previous life, Lu Li had seen her in the protagonist Ye Chen’s company, serving as Ye Chen’s CEO, a strong support behind Ye Chen with her formidable business skills helping Ye Chen’s corporation overcome one challenge after another.

Chen Xiaoyi originally lived in a well-off family, her parents were just ordinary white-collar workers, but in this big city, they were a happy family with a house and a car.

One could say Chen Xiaoyi’s life was very beautiful.

But at the age of eighteen, a sudden illness shattered this beautiful life.

To treat her, the family spent all their money, borrowing from relatives as much as possible, making those relatives now avoid them like the plague upon seeing their family.

After everything, just as Chen Xiaoyi’s condition began to improve day by day, her parents were involved in a car accident on a rainy night on their way to the hospital.

Chen Xiaoyi’s illness got better, but she lost her parents forever.

In the days that followed, she juggled working part-time and attending university, also burdened with a huge debt, until discovered by the protagonist Ye Chen and became the CEO of his company, which finally improved Chen Xiaoyi’s living situation.

What puzzled Lu Li was that, according to the plot, Chen Xiaoyi and Ye Chen should be in that kind of relationship. But in his previous life, it didn’t seem like that was the case.