When Ji Xu'an heard this, she fell silent once more for several seconds. If Jiang Jiang had not cared so much about this point, perhaps she would never have mentioned this matter to anyone for the rest of her life.
And during her silence, Jiang Jiang had already guessed what Zhou Zisuo had done.
"What is it? Don't tell me she drugged you?"
The expression on Ji Xu'an's face froze for a moment. After reacting, she could not help but raise a hand to rub her temple. "Not exactly."
But in truth, what Zhou Zisuo had done was not much better than drugging her.
At that time, Ji Xu'an had been on a business trip out of town, and Zhou Zisuo happened to be staying in the same hotel as she was.
"At that time she had already confessed to me, and I rejected her." Ji Xu'an paused. "And I specifically reminded her that I did not want this matter to affect the cooperation between us."
"At the time, she agreed."
But no one had expected Zhou Zisuo to be so bold.
She had actually bribed the hotel management staff and, while Ji Xu'an was not in the room, secretly slipped into Ji Xu'an's room.
When Ji Xu'an spoke to this point, her expression grew even colder. "At that time Secretary Zhao had in fact inspected the room. It was just that no one expected her to hide under the bed."
Even more unfortunately, that night Ji Xu'an could not refuse and ended up drinking several extra glasses. She endured the haze of drunkenness and tidied herself up, and by the time she lay down on the bed, she was already drowsy.
"At that time I was very unaccustomed to having anyone else near me, so the moment she approached the bedside, I noticed."
The ending did not need to be stated. Zhou Zisuo was naturally driven out of the room by a furious Ji Xu'an.
The next day after returning, Ji Xu'an publicly announced that she would terminate the cooperation with Zhou Zisuo.
Jiang Jiang understood. No wonder Ji Xu'an had been unwilling to bring it up; for her, this counted as a scandal.
"There is still one thing I don't understand." Jiang Jiang carefully organized her words. "If you truly disliked her that much, with your personality, after she did such a thing to you, why didn't you…"
Jiang Jiang did not finish the rest of the sentence, but Ji Xu'an understood her meaning. She wanted to ask why she had not retaliated against Zhou Zisuo.
"Zhou Zisuo had a financial backer protecting her." Ji Xu'an explained in an indifferent tone. She pressed her lips together. "Besides, at that time I…"
In the end, it was because at that time Ji Xu'an did not have someone she liked, and on top of that, Zhou Zisuo had not succeeded.
So after weighing the interests involved, Ji Xu'an accepted the compensation from the capital behind Zhou Zisuo and ultimately chose only to terminate the contract with Zhou Zisuo and never contact her again, rather than completely crushing her.
If it were now, and Zhou Zisuo did the same thing again, the ending would naturally be different.
Ji Xu'an did not know how to explain this to Jiang Jiang, because at the time she truly had not done anything to Zhou Zisuo. No matter how she put it, she could not shake off the suspicion of having gone soft on Zhou Zisuo.
Jiang Jiang did not know whether she believed Ji Xu'an's explanation. She always felt that Ji Xu'an was still hiding something from her; otherwise, how could she explain Sister Zhou's existence?
However, Jiang Jiang did not continue to press further. Some matters needed to be left at that. In the end, she only asked softly, "So you haven't been paying attention to Zhou Zisuo's Weibo, right?"
Ji Xu'an was stunned for a moment. "No."
She quickly reacted. "Did she say something on Weibo?"
Jiang Jiang did not say whether she had or had not. She merely lowered her eyelashes slightly. "Perhaps I misunderstood."
Ji Xu'an immediately responded, "I'll have Secretary Zhao handle it right now."
If Jiang Jiang said there was, then there must be. Ji Xu'an believed Jiang Jiang.
Jiang Jiang watched as she took out her phone and called Secretary Zhao. After Ji Xu'an finished giving instructions and hung up, Jiang Jiang asked, "If one day Zhou Zisuo does something else that makes you unhappy, will you still, like three years ago, choose to handle it lightly for the sake of interests?"
Ji Xu'an did not hesitate. "No."
What she did not say was that Zhou Zisuo had in fact already done so.
The ambiguous words she had spoken in front of Jiang Jiang, making Jiang Jiang feel as though a fishbone were stuck in her throat because of her existence, had already made Ji Xu'an very unhappy.
Perhaps Jiang Jiang was right. It was her leniency three years ago that had given Zhou Zisuo the illusion that she had a good temper.
Ji Xu'an would not fabricate things out of nothing. Over the years since Zhou Zisuo's debut, she had committed quite a few mistakes. It was only because someone behind her had suppressed them that they had never been exposed.
Unfortunately for her, Ji Xu'an knew of many of Zhou Zisuo's scandals, and these alone were enough to make Zhou Zisuo suffer severely.
Jiang Jiang did not know Ji Xu'an's plans. After hearing her answer, she could not help but reveal a thoughtful expression.
Seeing that she was not speaking, Ji Xu'an grew even more nervous inside.
Perhaps because she had already confessed even this kind of humiliating experience, Ji Xu'an simply chose to compromise completely. She softly asked Jiang Jiang, "Is there anything else you want to know?"
Jiang Jiang already knew most of the matters, and the rest she could more or less guess. So when she heard this, she shook her head. "No more."
Ji Xu'an's fingers tightened and then relaxed. "Then… can it be my turn to ask you?"
There was a trace of humility in her tone that was not easily detected, as if so long as Jiang Jiang disagreed, Ji Xu'an truly would not ask another question.
Compared to Ji Xu'an, Jiang Jiang had concealed far more. She could roughly guess what Ji Xu'an wanted to ask. After several breaths of silence, Jiang Jiang nodded. "Go ahead."
Ji Xu'an let out a silent breath of relief. She gazed into Jiang Jiang's eyes, her voice lowered, as if afraid of startling her. "You previously said you had lost your memory and didn't remember anything. Was that true?"
Of course it was not true.
Ji Xu'an likely also knew what the answer to this question was, so Jiang Jiang had not intended to lie again. "At the beginning, I truly didn't remember anything. But later on, I recalled some things."
Ji Xu'an's heart was lifted high, her gaze never leaving Jiang Jiang's face for even a fraction of a moment. "Then you…"
"Did you really once have a fiancé?"
Just as expected, she was going to ask this.
Instead of answering, Jiang Jiang asked back, "Do you care about this question very much?"
This time Ji Xu'an did not conceal anything at all. She nodded openly and generously; after all, she had already confessed her feelings.
"I care very much."
Jiang Jiang's brows knitted slightly. "Why? Whether I did or didn't, that is already in the past."
Ji Xu'an shook her head faintly. Her lips parted, and her voice carried a trace of hoarseness. "It's not the same. Even if it is in the past, I still want to know."
"It's not only because of jealousy. I also want to understand your past, to know what kind of life you used to live."
Ji Xu'an said softly, "I want to be a little closer to you."
A sudden heat flared by Jiang Jiang's ear. Although Ji Xu'an did not say she liked her again, her words and expression revealed that message in every possible way.
Ji Xu'an's gaze was too scorching. Jiang Jiang had no choice but to lower her head to avoid her line of sight and said softly, "There was."
Ji Xu'an silently clenched her teeth. So it was indeed true!
"That person…" Ji Xu'an closed her eyes briefly, striving to steady her emotions. "Did you like him?"
Jiang Jiang shook her head again. "I didn't like him. It was merely a marriage bestowed by the Emperor."
As soon as these words were spoken, many of Ji Xu'an's speculations were confirmed. Jiang Jiang was indeed born into a distinguished family with an illustrious background.
She pondered for a moment and then asked again, "That person…"
"Does he look very much like little Yuan?"
—
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