Please Confess to Me

Chapter 25

***

Su Company Building.

At 10:00 a.m., the workaholic Su Hang heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Su Hang casually responded.

Fang Yu pushed the door and entered the room. He approached Su Hang’s desk and quietly waited until Su Hang finished signing the document in front of him.

“Boss, I’ve found the person you asked me to check last night.” Fang Yu handed him the investigation report. “One of these two people is Zhang TingTing, the youngest daughter of S City’s Vice-Mayor. The other is Wang Xin, daughter of the Wood Stone Properties owner.

“Wood Stone Properties?” Su Hang frowned. “What’s Wood Stone?”

“Wood Stone Properties is a company established int he past two years. It was only a construction team before. Wang Xin wasn’t really qualified to attend the Star River Charity Banquet, but she was good at flattering, and she happened to be a college classmate of Zhang TingTing. She must have heard that Zhang TingTing was going to attend and asked Zhang TingTing to take her along.” Fang Yu explained.

Su Hang knocked his desk with his fingers, his eyes on the report in front of him. He looked at the two girls’ pictures back and forth, then asked: “How is Wood Stone Properties doing?”

“The company was just established, so their operations and management aren’t quite there yet.” Fang Yu said. “The Boss of Wood Stone Properties was a contractor before. He caught up with the real estate boom that happened in recent years and suddenly shot up in wealth. He made a lot of money, but he often deducted the wages of his migrant workers, so his reputation isn’t very good.”

Su Hang frowned, and a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes. “What’s their current project?”

“They bought a piece of land by getting a bank loan a year ago. They’re planning to develop it into commercial housing.”

“Let’s talk with the relevant departments. Make sure they carefully monitor this Wood Stone Properties project.” Su Hang said.

“Understood.” Fang Yu nodded his head and smiled. “I’ll be sure to tell them to carefully check if Wood Stone Properties is fully conforming to regulation. If they intend to deforest one square meter of greenery, we must make sure they cut down 1.1 meters.”

If this commercial housing project really was following the standards set by the state, then several house suites will be lost as a certain percent of greenery had to preserved in the land. A loss of a single suite would cost millions according to the current house prices in S City, let alone several suites. The building materials also needed to be carefully inspected to make sure no corners were being cut.

Due to this strict review, the construction time was bound to get extended. That’s money spent every day. Moreover, Wood Stone Properties was a small and newly established company. They would definitely cry over their bank loan interest alone. If the construction time was lengthened and the houses ended up not selling well, then Wood Stone Properties’ chain of funds would be broken in minutes. Fang Yu felt that his Boss was a bit too ruthless.

Wang Xin, this little girl, probably would’ve never have imagined that after one casual remark about Shen Xi, she would end up making her entire family suffer such a great loss.

“The Vice-Mayor’s daughter….” Su Hang pondered for a moment, then said: “Is the Vice-Mayor looking at S City’s change of term next year?”

“Yes, Vice-Mayor Zhang is a popular candidate for the next mayor.” Fang Yu replied.

“Does Zhang TingTing like wearing fur?” Su Hang remembered Zhang TingTing wearing fur in the banquet last night.

“Yes, but it’s all said to be artificial fur.” Fang Yu replied.

“Find some evidence and send it to the Animal Protection Association.” After saying this, Su Hang closed the investigation report and put it aside.

“Understood.” The Animal Protection Association was a group of hot-blooded youngsters. If they found out that the daughter of a prospective mayor was wearing fur, he’d be crucified. The Animal Protection Association wouldn’t hesitate to protest at the steps of the government building. Cutting down the future of a mayor candidate, the Boss really is terrible, ah. Fang Yu tutted in his heart as he turned away and left the office.

Meanwhile, in the Shen Charity Foundation office.

Shen Xi had received a call from Li Ye, the manager of the foundation, telling her to attend the foundation’s year-end summary meeting.

“The list of donated goods from last year have been confirmed, so let’s talk about our plans for next year. I went to the Shen Group company building a few days ago, and I don’t think the amount the company can allocate to us next year will be optimistic.” Li Ye glanced at Shen Xi.

“Then, we can only target screen our funding recipients and try to give priority to those who are more in need.” One staff member said.

“Which orphanage isn’t in need? Something like that won’t be easy to define.” Another staff member said.

“Then let’s visit them a few more times. We can post an announcement on our website and explain things to the orphanages too.” Shen Xi spoke up. “Shen Group experienced great turmoil this year. We all know this. The reduction of donations from them is certain. I’ll put the revenues of my cafes to the foundation, and try to raise money some other way.”

“The foundation can also organize more fund-raising activities to try and raise money from outside sources. But….” Li Ye started. “Our charitable donations won’t be in the same standards as the Star River Charity. We’re not on the list.”

Star River Charity, the largest charity organization in China, had an open list of registered charities. Charities in this list were largely acknowledged by the state and the public. This not only makes operations of the charities much easier and more convenient, but it also gives the charity an excellent reputation for being attached to such a well-known foundation.

“That doesn’t matter.” Shen Xi doesn’t care. “When the Shen Family founded this charity, it was merely to do some good deeds. It wasn’t to get into some list. So don’t worry about such things and let’s just do our own thing.

“Besides, I’ve always thought that this charity is a matter of doing what I can. I’m not the type to slap my face until swollen.” Shen Xi added with a smile.

(T/N Slap one’s face until swollen is a saying that basically means ‘do whatever it takes just to keep up appearances /look imposing/ save face’ )

As soon as Shen Xi said this, the atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became much lighter.

“That’s right. When we go out and raise money, it’s not like we absolutely need to reach a certain target. It’s a donation! it’s all goodwill anyway.” A staff member laughed.

“Yes.”

“That’s right!”

With all of them agreeing with each other, and the topic of reduced funding for next year was downplayed. They continued to talk about other things, and soon, the meeting was over.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” As he walked out of the meeting room, Li Ye suddenly remembered something. He took out an envelope from the folder he was holding and gave it to Shen Xi. “I have an invitation letter for you.”

“Me?” Shen Xi was somewhat surprised to be receiving an invitation from Li Ye. The envelope was slightly thick. Curious, Shen Xi opened the envelope and discovered that inside was a letter filled with colorful patterns. On the top of the page was the words “Welcome Sister Shen Xi to Qing’an” written in a child’s scrawl.

“This is?” Shen Xi asked.

“This Qing’an orphanage is one of the poorest orphanages we’ve funded. It’s been established for many years, and its address is in the old city area.” Li Ye recalled. “That area used to be a little dangerous. In the past, we used to send people to deliver goods, but our volunteers rarely visited this orphanage.”

“Security has improved in the past two years though, so I was going to send someone to check out the children’s living environment.”

“But why did they invite me by name?” Shen Xi still didn’t understand.

“Aren’t you the president of the foundation? You give them food and clothes every year. It isn’t surprising that they remember your name, ah.” Li Ye chuckled.

“Old city area? That’s not too far.” Shen Xi looked down at the invitation letter filled with innocent and childish scrawls.

“We were going to deliver a batch of bedding and winter clothes in two days. Did you want to come with?” Li Ye asked.

“Yes.” Shen Xi had nothing going on for the next few days, so she nodded.

“Then, I’ll tell the orphanage dean to expect you.” Li Ye answered.

Shen Xi nodded. Afterward, she was busy for a while, sorting out things for the foundation. It wasn’t until 4:00 p.m. that she managed to return home.

At 4:30 p.m. Su Hang’s private cell phone suddenly rang. He looked at the screen and found that it was the Dean of the orphanage, so he immediately answered.

“Dean.” Su Hang’s voice was noticeably less cold than usual.

“Little Hang, ah, did I disturb your work?” At the other end of the line was a middle-aged woman with a kind and amiable voice.

“Not at all.” Su Hang put down his pen as he spoke.

“That’s good. Well, I just wanted to ask, are you free in two days?” The Dean asked.

“Two days? Is there something going on?” Su Hang asked, puzzled.

“Oh, nothing big. It’s just that we haven’t seen you for a long time. The children miss their Brother Hang.” The Dean replied with a smile.

“Dean, I’ve been busy recently. I may not have the time to visit.” Su Hang said. “Tell those little guys that I’ll visit when I’m done.”

“Ah, it seems that the children can only play with Brother Hang’s wife for now.” The Dean sighed with regret.

“Ah? What do you mean?” Su Hang asked.

“Interested?” The Dean asked with a smile. “In two days, The Shen family’s charitable foundation will be coming to deliver winter clothes for the children. Apparently, Shen Xi is also coming?”

“Shen Xi’s coming?” When he heard that his wife was going, Su Hang’s body straightened.

“Yes, the foundation just called me.” The Dean laughed.

“Why would Shen Xi suddenly decide to visit?” Su Hang knew that Shen Xi was responsible for a charity dedicated to helping children in orphanages. But such a small orphanage like Qing’an shouldn’t have attracted her attention.

“I asked the children to write a letter of invitation.” The Dean explained. “You know, if it wasn’t for this foundation set up by Shen Xi’s family, our orphanage would’ve closed a long time ago. I always wanted to thank the Shen family in person. So I thought I’d take the opportunity the get the children to invite her.

“Dean…”

“I thought you would be the one to take Shen Xi back here for a visit first, but you have no time. How about you take advantage of this and come together with Shen Xi?” The Dean asked. “The last time we saw each other was at your wedding, and we never had the chance to have a good talk.”

When Su Hang heard that Shen Xi was going, he really wanted to go with her. But his original intention was to wait until their hearts had connected, and then go to the orphanage together.

But now wasn’t the time, and he really was busy these days.

“Next time, Dean.” Su Hang had no choice but to refuse.

“Well, you must be busy. I won’t continue to bother you.” The Dean hung up.

As Su Hang put down his cell phone, he began to think of Shen Xi, which led him to remember last night. His rash actions, Shen Xi’s anger the next morning…the bite mark on his shoulder still ached. Su Hang thought that he had enough patience. After all, he had waited for so many years, he didn’t care if he needed to wait a little more. But these past two months, he had the faint feeling that Shen Xi might actually like him a bit. Maybe…he could try.

As he thought this, Su Hang pressed the internal line on his desk. “Fang Yu, come in for a while.”

Fang Yu quickly entered the office and asked: “Boss?”

“Can I spare a few days of vacation?” Su Hang asked.

“Boss, your itinerary has already been arranged for the next six months. I can’t spare you any more time…but New Year is coming in just over a month. You can…” Fang Yu had been looking down at the itinerary in his hands. When he lifted his head, he saw Su Hang staring at him, and Fang Yu couldn’t help but change his tone: “How many days off do you want?”

“Three days. It’s best to have it on the weekend.” Whether his attempt to talk with Shen Xi succeeded or not, Su Hang would need time to calm down.

“Three days!!!” And on the weekend???

“Yes?” Su Hang gave him a look.

“I….I’ll try to shuffle some things around. I’ll see if I can spare you for three days.” Fang Yu succumbed to the despotic power of his Boss.

“Go.” Su Hang waved his hand in satisfaction.

Su Hang looked at the picture frame on his desk and couldn’t help but reach out a hand to brush his fingers across the silhouette. He thought about last night, the tumult feelings and confusion he and Shen Xi had both felt. Su Hang gently smiled.

“Shen Xi, I have something to tell you.”