Chapter 7 He's an Old Bastard_1

A beautiful woman in her mid-twenties entered the room, named Qiao Wei, who was the group leader of the sales team Qin Hai belonged to. She wasn't only attractive in appearance but also had a very gentle and soft personality. Like Xiao Lingling, she took great care of Qin Hai during this period.

Seeing Qiao Wei coming in, Qin Hai hurriedly stood up to greet her.

Qiao Wei seemed to be in a poor state of spirit, with slight dark circles under her eyes and a somewhat pale complexion.

Upon hearing Xiao Lingling's words, Qiao Wei smiled and gently patted her hand, "Alright, Lingling, stop teasing Qin Hai. We finally have a handsome guy in our group. What would happen if he got scared off by you, and who would bring him back then?"

Xiao Lingling, seeing that Qiao Wei didn't believe her, said anxiously, "Really, Sister Weiwei, Qin Hai has truly gone bad. Just now he even said..."

"He said what?" Qiao Wei asked, looking at Xiao Lingling.

Xiao Lingling glanced at Qin Hai, intending to take the opportunity to threaten him, but to her surprise, he was looking back at her with a smile, seemingly unfazed by the prospect of her telling Qiao Wei what had just happened.

Xiao Lingling, who initially didn't really want to say it, noticed Qin Hai maintaining a look of anticipation, as if waiting for a good show. Anger flared up inside her, and she stamped her foot and complained, "He just now said he wanted to kiss me!"

After that, she turned up her cute little chin towards Qin Hai proudly, as if to say, "I've said it, now what are you going to do about it?"

To her disbelief, Qin Hai suddenly widened his eyes in astonishment and protested, "Xiaoling, you can't just say whatever you want like that. It doesn't matter much to me as a man, but if your boyfriend hears this, it would be terrible."

Initially, Qiao Wei was also shocked by Xiao Lingling's claim, thinking that Qin Hai really made such an outrageous comment. But after hearing Qin Hai's response, she immediately realized it must have been Xiao Lingling deliberately making up stories to bully the honest Qin Hai.

After all, through their interactions over some time, she knew Qin Hai's character well enough; with his honest, introverted, and sincere nature, he would definitely not say something so outrageous to Xiao Lingling.

So, after Qin Hai finished speaking, Qiao Wei looked at Xiao Lingling reproachfully, "Lingling, Xiao Qin is right, you really shouldn't talk so carelessly. Also, don't bully Qin Hai anymore, or you really might scare him away."

"Sister Weiwei, I..." Xiao Lingling was so upset to see that Qiao Wei completely didn't believe her that she was almost at a loss for words. Meanwhile, Qin Hai, watching Xiao Lingling get flustered, had an even brighter smile on his face, and he even winked at her, infuriating Xiao Lingling so much that she almost pouted through the ceiling.

"Alright, Lingling, you're good at languages, help me look at this document quickly, I need it urgently," Qiao Wei pulled out a document and handed it to Xiao Lingling.

Now that there was serious work to be done, Xiao Lingling quickly set aside the earlier conversation. However, after looking at the document for a moment, she said in frustration, "Sister Weiwei, this looks like it's in Italian, which I never learned."

Qiao Wei frowned and said, "Then what should we do? It'd be quite a task to find someone who understands Italian at the drop of a hat."

While Qiao Wei and Xiao Lingling were at a loss, a voice suddenly came from the side, "Sister Qiao, may I have a look?"

Qiao Wei and Xiao Lingling both looked at Qin Hai in surprise, with Xiao Lingling exclaiming dramatically, "Qin Hai, don't tell us you understand Italian!"

Over the years, Qin Hai had traveled around the world and could speak several commonly used languages, Italian included. But he was no longer the Qin Hai of the past; he was now just a guy with a junior high school education. To claim he understood Italian would only raise suspicions from Xiao Lingling and Qiao Wei.

So, he appeared to be quite embarrassed as he scratched his head and said with a sheepish smile, "Of course not. I just wanted to see what Italian writing looks like."

Xiao Lingling: "..."

Qiao Wei: "..."

Qiao Wei shook her head with a wry smile and handed the document to Qin Hai, "Just hold on to this for now. I also have the electronic file with me."

Just then, a bald man walked in from outside. Seeing the elegant Qiao Wei, a flash of greed quickly crossed his eyes before he turned and walked towards them.

Spotting the newcomer, Qiao Wei quickly spoke up respectfully, "Minister Jian!"

The man was named Jian Ren, around fifty years old, and the head of the marketing department. Coming over to them, Jian Ren glanced at Qin Hai and Xiao Lingling with a stern face and huffed, "Why are you still chatting? Get back to work immediately!"

Once Qin Hai and Xiao Lingling had returned to their places, Jian Ren said amiably to Qiao Wei, "Group Leader Qiao, come to my office for a moment, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

Qiao Wei agreed and followed Jian Ren to his office, while Xiao Lingling patted Qin Hai on the shoulder in a hurry, pursing her lips, "Qin Hai, this is all your fault for getting me scolded by Sister Weiwei. Humph, I didn't expect you to become so bad, I won't tell you anything anymore."

A while later, as Qin Hai idly perused the department's documents, his back was poked gently twice. When he turned around, Xiao Lingling stuck out her tongue at him and grunted, "I didn't really want to tell you, but I'm in a good mood today and won't hold a grudge. Did you know, a big incident happened in our company last night!"

"What's the big trouble?" Qin Hai asked.

"Our company has been robbed, and very important documents have gone missing." Xiao Lingling glanced around before leaning in towards Qin Hai and spoke mysteriously, "It's said that it was very likely done by someone inside our company!"

Qin Hai pretended to be clueless, and exclaimed in surprise, "Who could it be?"

"I don't know!" Xiao Lingling shook her head, and with a nod toward the direction of the minister's office, she whispered, "Didn't you see Minister Jian's scowling face? I heard President Lin gave him a real dressing-down last night."

"Xiaoling, where do you get all this information? Is it reliable?" Qin Hai was somewhat surprised; Lin Qingya had only just begun to suspect a mole, and somehow Xiao Lingling already knew about it.

Xiao Lingling shook her head proudly and sang low, "I'm not telling you, not telling you. Let's see what you'll do, let's see what you'll do!"

Qin Hai: "..."

Just then, Qin Hai suddenly heard a short scream, sounding like Qiao Wei's voice, coming from the direction of Jian Ren's office. He stood up abruptly, and as he listened intently, he thought to himself, could it be that Jian Ren that scumbag is bullying Qiao Wei?

With his Inner Qi, his hearing was far superior to that of ordinary people, so while he heard the scream, Xiao Lingling was completely unaware; instead, she was startled by Qin Hai's sudden movement.

"What... what are you going to do?"

Xiao Lingling watched Qin Hai in alarm, her heart fluttering in disarray, wondering why he suddenly stood up.

In her panicked state, seeing Qin Hai approaching her, Xiao Lingling blurted out, "Don't... don't come over..."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Xiao Lingling's face turned crimson, in a most charming and enticing manner.

However, unfortunately for her, Qin Hai seemed to have paid no attention to what she said, but instead took a few steps forward and listened carefully to the noises coming from the minister's office.

Soon after, a second scream from Qiao Wei reached his ears, and a surge of anger rose within Qin Hai; he couldn't believe Jian Ren that bastard would dare to do such a thing in broad daylight.

He had heard about Jian Ren's reputation from Xiaoling before; the man was well into his years and still lecherous, a genuine old pervert.

Without any hesitation, Qin Hai immediately headed toward Jian Ren's office, and quickly arrived outside. To his surprise, Xiao Lingling had followed him there.

When Xiao Lingling saw Qin Hai looking back at her, her face involuntarily reddened, and she smiled awkwardly with a bit of nervousness, "Qin Hai, what are you doing running over here? Oh, and... you didn't hear what I just said, right?"

Just at that moment, another scream came from inside Jian Ren's office, unmistakably Qiao Wei's voice, and this time even Xiao Lingling heard it.

In the office, Qiao Wei was huddled in a corner of the sofa, shivering.

Jian Ren said, "Xiao Wei, as long as you agree to me today, I promise to make you the deputy minister of the marketing department. Don't worry, I keep my word."

Qiao Wei sobbed softly, silent.

Jian Ren went on, "I know all about your father-in-law's hospitalization. Rest assured, if you come with me, your problems will be mine, and you won't have to borrow money for your father-in-law's treatment anymore." He picked up a stack of cash from his desk and tossed it beside Qiao Wei, "This is ten thousand yuan. Later on, I'll give you another fifty thousand, guaranteed to get him the best treatment in the hospital."

Seeing that Qiao Wei still remained silent, as if giving her tacit consent, Jian Ren's face flushed with excitement, and he lunged towards her.

"Ah—" Just like before, Qiao Wei screamed, then began desperately to push Jian Ren away.

Jian Ren was right; she was indeed in great difficulty, in urgent need of money, and also relied heavily on her job, so she didn't dare to scream for fear it would ruin her reputation and potentially lose her the precious job.

But she couldn't bear it; she couldn't stomach the thought of being spoiled by Jian Ren.

The only thing she could do was to try to push Jian Ren away, but how could she, a frail woman, stand a chance against him?

Gradually, Qiao Wei despaired, tears of desperation streaming from the corner of her eyes.