On the way home, I kept thinking about one question.
Since Lu Wan chose to abort the child, there must have been a lover behind the scenes.
Could it be that my wife really rekindled her old feelings with Lu Feng?
If that were true, why didn't she just run away with him? Why come back home and choose to abort the child?
After much thought, there's only one possibility: the lover cannot marry her.
Back then, for some reason, they couldn't be together. Now the distance between them is probably even greater, making their chances even slimmer.
Even if their past feelings were reignited, maybe they just wanted to savor the old romance, enjoy the memories, rather than truly be together.
Thinking this through, I was filled with anger. If my wife dared to do this, then what did she think I was?
Maybe sensing something, my wife remained silent during the whole trip.
At this moment, I wished she would say something—at least we could be open and honest.
Suddenly, she said to me, "Zhao Jian, I want to go to the market to buy some groceries."
I stared at her in surprise, "You're so weak now, can you handle cooking?"
She smiled and said, "Exactly because I'm weak, I need to buy some good food to nourish myself."
I could sense what she really meant—she was trying hard to be a good wife and a good mother.
Life rarely goes smoothly. I guess what I'm facing now is just one of those many hardships. Every family may appear calm on the surface, but who really knows what's behind closed doors?
Honestly, if my wife could truly devote herself to me from now on, I would forgive her. Every family has its difficult chapters—I don't want to cause our family to break apart and become a laughingstock.
When we got home, following our routine, my wife cooked while I lay on the sofa watching TV.
I thought to myself how happy life would be if Lu Wan and I had a child.
It was proof that she could get pregnant, and I was confident that my body had no problems.
But by Lu Wan's attitude, it seemed she didn't want the child—what was going on?
Just as I was pondering this, my phone suddenly rang.
I picked it up and was surprised to see it was Zhang Zhiyuan calling.
When I worked as a driver, he never called me personally. If there was an important client to pick up, Liu Jing always notified me.
For him to call me himself today felt strange.
As soon as I answered, I said, "Hello, Mr. Zhang!"
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "Xiao Zhao, here's the deal. I've confirmed the business with Yuxing Group. They want you to go there in person to introduce our products' features and benefits."
Damn it! Zhang was handing me a task like this, knowing I had no knowledge of our products' performance!
But to keep my job, I had no choice but to agree.
Zhang Zhiyuan sounded pleased. "Xiao Zhao, I see you as very capable. I have high hopes for your future."
That bastard was clearly flattering me, hoping I'd land the big Yuxing deal and save the struggling Xingchang company. That was the real agenda.
After hanging up, I pulled out some资料 from my briefcase and studied carefully.
As sales manager, it'd be a joke if I knew nothing about our products.
Time flew by, and by then my wife had prepared a meal.
Maybe due to her weak condition after the abortion, the meal was especially abundant today.
But my attention was clearly elsewhere—I studied資料 while eating.
My wife understood I was working hard and dealing with pressure as a new sales manager.
I spent a whole hour eating; she never rushed me, just patiently waited.
That was the admirable part of my wife.
When I finished, she said, "Honey, I'll wash the dishes. You focus on studying."
She still wanted to contribute to the family.
Touched, I nodded. "Alright."
This Sunday was the dullest I'd ever had, spending the whole day indoors studying.
Finally, I'd gone through most of Xingchang's product specs and felt exhausted.
Checking the time, it was already nine in the evening.
My wife said, "Zhao Jian, take a shower and come to bed."
I secretly thought, maybe she wanted some intimacy.
But when I got into bed and tried to get close, I realized otherwise.
She said, "I just had surgery. We can't be intimate for a month. Please understand."
Damn it. What's the difference between this and being single?
Though unhappy, I had no choice. I kissed her forehead and said, "Alright, you should get some rest too."
On the surface, we looked warm and sweet, but deep down I was still unhappy—because of Lu Feng's presence.
The next day, after eating breakfast made by my wife, I headed straight to the company.
At the gate, I saw Zhao Hu wearing a light blue suit—he looked like a different person.
Seeing me, he hurried over. "Bro Jian, good morning."
He was clearly good at schmoozing, exactly the kind of person I needed.
I parked my car and said, "Wait in the guard's lounge for a while. After my meeting, I'll handle your matter."
The security guard at the entrance was Ren Tingting's ex-lover. Knowing I'd changed status, he acted obsequiously like a lapdog.
Ignoring him, I grabbed my briefcase and headed to the sales office.
By then, some staff had arrived, including Ren Tingting and Fu Xin, who came early.
They respectfully greeted me, surprising the others in sales.
I enjoyed that feeling. Though sales manager wasn't a high rank, it still represented my capability.
Assigning Zhao Hu to sales and standing as manager wasn't an easy feat.
The first thing I did in the office was plan the day's work.
In my view, sales couldn't succeed by slacking off like before.
Soon, Liu Jing came by. As she passed my office, she deliberately glanced inside.
I sensed hostility—she clearly saw me as her number one enemy.
Forget it. After the meeting, I'd make them see who's boss.
At nine, I went to the GM's office for the leadership meeting.
Honestly, it was my first time attending such a meeting, and I was somewhat excited.
The GM started by praising me, telling all managers the Yuxing Group deal was thanks to me.
I felt all their eyes on me change; no longer the rookie.
I smirked inwardly—exactly the result I wanted.
Then department managers gave their reports.
When it was my turn, I said to Zhang Zhiyuan, "Boss Zhang, I want to fire someone."
He looked surprised; sales staff rarely were without business, so firing was hard.
"Who do you want to fire?" he asked.
I replied, "One named Xiang Qiufeng—he doesn't obey me. You have to fire him."
Before I finished, the HR manager spoke up.
"Ren Xin has a permanent contract. Firing him will be difficult." He looked at Zhang.
I knew all decisions were in Zhang's hands.
Zhang thought a moment. "Zhao Jian just became sales manager. He needs to assert authority. Manager Sun, prepare Xiang Qiufeng's dismissal letter for Zhao."
The meeting ended quickly. I felt I had won a great victory.
On my way out, I stopped Manager Sun from HR.
Now that I was favored by Zhang Zhiyuan, Sun greeted me warmly.
"Manager Zhao, don't worry. Soon, the dismissal letter will be on your desk."
I said, "Manager Sun, I have another request."
"Our HR serves all departments. Just say the word."
I said, "After Xiang Qiufeng leaves, our sales will be understaffed..."
Before I finished, Sun said, "Don't worry—there are plenty of recent graduates eager to work. They lack experience but can be trained."
Sun clearly didn't get my point, so I added, "A friend of mine wants to join sales. Can you ease his way in?"
"Sure, no problem—that saves HR some hassle."
Sun looked even happier.
I said, "I'll have him come report to HR immediately."
Coming downstairs, I found Zhao Hu already getting impatient in the guard's room.
His biggest flaw was impatience—hardly a recipe for success at work.
When he saw me, he asked, "Why did it take so long?"
To him, I was still just a driver with no influence.
The guard looked at Zhao Hu with big eyes, thinking, "This guy must have a special connection with me to speak like that."
Guards knew how to read the room to get their work done well.
I said to Zhao Hu, "Come with me now. I'll take you to HR to report."