Plunder-Chapter 168: Scheme
How long had it been since she had kissed his lips?
Qiao En had forgotten the time.
All she knew was that the moment their lips touched, her world spun around, and every rational cell in her brain seemed to enter an instant hibernation.
That kiss was soul-stirring, and yet so hard to part from.
Zhou Jin’an kissed her passionately, as if he wanted to devour Qiao En whole.
It seemed that only by devouring her could he truly possess her.
Her body softened gradually, steadily succumbing to his advances.
His large hand climbed to her waist, seeking to meld her bit by bit into himself.
At the critical moment, Qiao En’s rationality returned.
She forcefully pushed Zhou Jin’an away.
Both were breathing heavily.
On Qiao En’s fair cheeks, a rosy flush had spread, and her eyes were misty and luminous.
"I’m sorry."
She lowered her head.
She had returned, but she didn’t want to go back to the past.
Though the misunderstanding between her and Zhou Jin’an had been cleared up, there were still many unresolved issues.
She didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes and let the tragedy happen again.
"I’ll wait for you."
Zhou Jin’an’s rationality also returned.
He understood what was on Qiao En’s mind, and he had no intention of pressuring her.
The air between them slowly calmed down.
Qiao En opened the door, and he followed her inside.
"Did you go to find An Jinrong?"
Zhou Jin’an got straight to the point.
Cheng Lu had been on stakeout all night and hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
But Zhou Jin’an understood Qiao En; she was someone who wouldn’t rest until she reached her goal.
"Hmm."
Qiao En took out a document from her bag, "Good news came early."
On the document, An Jinrong had already signed his name.
With this signature, the Jinghuan redevelopment project could proceed smoothly.
Zhou Jin’an frowned deeply, observing Qiao En for a long time.
Should he be happy? Qiao En had overcome another challenge.
But he couldn’t bring himself to feel joy.
"What did you do?"
A shadow of darkness flickered in Zhou Jin’an’s eyes.
As a man, he was well aware of An Jinrong’s little schemes.
Qiao En was no ordinary person, and he would never allow anyone to treat her as prey.
"Do you really want to know?"
Qiao En pursed her lips with a smile, took out her phone, opened a video, and handed it to Zhou Jin’an.
In the video, a man and a woman, in a state of undress, were entangled with one another.
Zhou Jin’an didn’t recognize the woman, but he recognized the man at a glance.
It was An Jinrong.
A smile also played at the corners of Zhou Jin’an’s mouth.
The Qiao En he knew had returned.
"You’re still as bold as ever."
He let out a sigh of sentiment, handing the phone back to Qiao En.
She took it and leaned back into the sofa, "Blame him for having nothing but lust on his mind."
Qiao En playfully stuck out her tongue.
"Too dangerous, leave such matters to me in the future."
His voice was gentle, and his large hand brushed over Qiao En’s head.
A sense of warmth gradually filled Qiao En’s heart.
Coming back this time, she found that Zhou Jin’an had changed a lot.
Exactly where he had changed, she couldn’t precisely say.
Perhaps, she had changed too, only she hadn’t noticed.
But such matters, she still intended to handle them herself.
"Hmm."
Qiao En responded.
Zhou Jin’an sat for a while longer. He had originally wanted to stay the night, but Qiao En insisted he leave, and he didn’t force the issue.
Many things seemed to have returned to the way they had been, yet they hadn’t.
After going downstairs, he looked up and stared at that window for a long time.
That night, Zhou Jin’an did not return to Chu Garden.
He stayed in the apartment Qiao En used to live in before.
The two buildings faced each other, and he moved a chair to sit on the balcony, staring at the window of Qiao En’s bedroom for a long time, until the lights went out.
An Jinrong must have drunk too much, tossing and turning for half the night, sleeping like a dead pig.
After the girl finished her task, she left under the safe escort of Detective Wu.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Detector Wu sent Qiao En a message.
The video had been shot, and was already a big bargaining chip, but who knew Qiao En was planning something bigger.
"Only by cutting the weeds can you get rid of the roots."
Qiao En insisted.
Early the next morning.
Ronghua Hotel went viral across the internet.
The clip of An Jinrong’s date with a young girl was being shared everywhere.
His phone was turned off; no calls could get through.
Before leaving, the girl even pulled out the phone line from the room.
He slept like a dead pig, until waking up at noon.
The passionate woman from last night had gone.
An Jinrong had been greatly satisfied, and he slowly got up, washed, and showered.
He was shaving when there was a knock on the door.
He went to open the door, bare-chested and wrapped in a towel.
As a result, journalists filled the doorway.
The flash of their cameras was so blinding he could hardly open his eyes. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Before he could cover his face, he had already been photographed.
"Director An, is the content of the video true? Rumor has it that you are married, with a wife and a daughter in Jinghuan. Who is this young lady you were dating?"
A reporter thrust a microphone towards An Jinrong’s lips, pressing him for a response.
An Jinrong was confused but also realized something was wrong.
He had just been transferred back to Rong City for less than a month. He had an impressive resume, a significant position, and just took charge of major projects like Jinghuan’s reconstruction. Recently, he had been frequently appearing in the public eye, with countless eyes on him.
"Nonsense, what young girl?"
An Jinrong firmly denied it, even stepping aside to let the journalists peek into the room.
"This is my office reception room. Your actions today are a serious violation of my right to privacy. I will notify your supervising bodies; this matter must be thoroughly investigated."
He adopted an official tone, trying to use his authority to intimidate the people who came.
But among the journalists, there were several video bloggers who were live-streaming the whole time.
An Jinrong was unaware, though.
Someone bold enough went inside the room, took a quick look around, and declared, "This is a misunderstanding. We will definitely punish those who spread rumors severely."
An Jinrong, with years of experience in politics, knew how to manipulate public opinion to turn the situation around.
"Look carefully, everyone; there is no young girl here. As for the malicious slander, I will definitely investigate it to the end."
But before his words even finished, a red lace panty fell out from underneath the covers.
In an instant, all eyes were on that red lace panty.
"Director An, what is this?"
A reporter daringly pointed at the panties, questioning An Jinrong.
An Jinrong panicked, grabbing the covers to hide them.
But a gourd pressed down only made another pop up.
Several used condoms tumbled out from under the covers.
Finding it impossible to cover up any longer, he angrily pushed the people in the room out.
"Get out, all of you get out."
He did not know that his disgraceful behavior had already been exposed in the live broadcast.
That morning, nearly two million people watched this shameful scene.
"Director An."
When An Jinrong was most helpless, Secretary Huang arrived.
With his own strength, he broke through the wall of reporters outside and squeezed in.
"Director An, the Commission for Discipline Inspection just called, and they want you to come over right away to cooperate with the investigation."
An Jinrong felt his head buzz, and cold sweat dripped down copiously.
"What’s happening now?"
It took him a while to finally ask.
"Director An, don’t even ask. Your issue is currently being live-streamed all over the internet. Everyone is watching. Also, the video from last night has been recorded, and the Commission for Discipline Inspection has it now. Director An, someone has set you up."
Secretary Huang whispered the whole story.
At that moment, An Jinrong understood everything.
He understood but it was all too late.
