by Catofdreams
Lang Jie bid farewell towards Yang Wei as he went into his own room. He took lots of pictures and happily sent them to his wife.
"Look, honey! The company was extremely generous this time! But if it's like this, work is probably going to be really difficult…"
Lang Jie sent his wife a message. Someday, he hoped that he could bring his wife there.
"I'll work hard so we can have luxurious holidays, my Xue Yan!", he talked to the ceiling as he lied down on the soft mattress in one of the bedrooms.
The space was too large for him to stay alone, which made him miss his wife even more. If only he wasn't on a business trip, he would ask his wife to come and feel the luxury he was experiencing, but since he thought that the company was paying for it, it didn't feel right.
As he closed his eyes while waiting for his wife to respond, he felt all of the fatigue earlier come back crashing towards him. Not long after, he fell asleep.
In the room to the far right of the floor, a door was slightly opened. A woman was inside the room. She listened to everything that Lang Jie, Yang Wei, and Wen Cheng were talking about earlier. She watched them from a distance, and her eyes turned to hearts as she saw her husband feeling extremely happy as he saw the room he was going to stay in.
Xue Yan was now using her disguise as Xue Jin just to be safe. Even if she planned for them not to meet anymore, she thought that it would be better to be safe than sorry. After all, she still didn't know what her husband's schedule was going to be like for the entire trip.
She wanted to go to her husband's room when he was resting and search his memories for his schedule, but he didn't want to do anything that would disrespect her husband's privacy. If it was anybody else, she'd be fine with it, but her husband is special.
As Lang Jie and Yang Wei bid their farewells towards Wen Cheng, Xue Yan caught the patriarch's attention. She then gave him a thumbs up to tell him that he was doing a good job. Wen Cheng's eyes glinted as he made a smug expression and made an OK gesture with his hand.
Despite having faced against each other in a battle before, the Purple Lotus Clan's Patriarch and the world's strongest cultivator seemed to have impeccable teamwork, if you could even call it that. Wen Cheng was simply trying to please Xue Yan since he didn't his entire clan to be eradicated if he made a slight mistake.
As Wen Cheng finally finished his duty of treating the special guests well, he made his way towards the secret meeting that was about to be held underneath the hotel.
The masters within the Purple Lotus Clan were all seated around a long table. Wen Cheng took a seat at the very tip of the table, making his position clear compared to the other masters.
"So, patriarch… what do we do now?"
Wen Cheng leaned on his chair as he revealed a smug expression.
"Isn't that obvious? I am a man who always repays favors.", Wen Cheng smiled as he snapped his fingers. His subordinates gave each of the masters around the table a folder. As soon as they checked the contents, everyone in the room let out a gasp.
"Patriarch, are you seriously going to do this?", one of the masters couldn't help but ask.
"I don't think it's a good move! It's going to take a massive amount of our resources to be able to do this!", another master voiced out his opinion, but Wen Cheng already seemed firm in his decision.
"I told you. I am a man who repays favors, even if it costs a fortune!", Wen Cheng had a determined look in his eyes.
As he threw the folder in his hands onto the table, the folder opened, revealing the contents inside.
In the folder was a detailed report about Lang Jie, as well as the company he was working for.
"Whatever it takes, I will surely repay the favor, Xue Yan."
CHAPTER 12 – “THE IMMORTAL HOUSEWIFE’S GREATEST FEAR”
*RING*
Lang Jie's phone alarm started ringing. He immediately got up and started preparing for work. He thought that he had to work hard in order to show his gratitude towards the company.
As soon as he finished preparing, he immediately went out to look for Yang Wei, but when he opened the door, the guy he wanted to meet was already outside his room, about to knock on his door.
"Oh, you're already up. You ready?", Yang Wei asked Lang Jie. The two of them felt refreshed after having a good rest in their rooms.
Lang Jie nodded in response. The two of them went into the elevator. Yang Wei took out his phone and started reading the news, which he does every morning.
The inside of the elevator was quiet, until suddenly…
"WOAH!"
Out of nowhere, Yang Wei let out a surprised voice, which made Lang Jie look at him in confusion.
"What's wrong?", Lang Jie asked.
Yang Wei showed him the news article that he was reading,
"I-isn't this the company we work for?!", Yang Wei tried to confirm, since he couldn't believe it.
Lang Jie glanced over the article.
"A new company has been bought out by the Purple Lotus Group..."
Lang Jie's eyes became wider and wider as he continued reading. In the photo on top of the article was Wen Cheng, who was shaking the hand of the CEO of their company. It was just yesterday evening that they met Wen Cheng, but in the photo, Wen Cheng was in his home country, which was almost 14 hours away.
"Maybe this happened a while ago?", Lang Jie asked Yang Wei. Both of them were in a state of shock as they both finished reading the article.
"M-maybe…", Yang Wei responded. He himself was unsure about what was happening since he didn't have a clue about anything that happens in the upper echelon of the company.
"Companies probably negotiate about deals like these over a long time, right?", Yang Wei added.
"That does make sense… maybe that's also why we're able to stay in luxurious rooms…", Lang Jie responded.
"Yeah… the Purple Lotus Group sure takes care of their employees well, right?", Yang Wei thought of how good the Purple Lotus Group has been to them. They were able to stay in such good rooms, and they were also greeted by the CEO himself as soon as they arrived in the hotel.
"I wonder how long they've been keeping this a secret…", Lang Jie was still shocked. The announcement was just so sudden. They were in the middle of the business trip and then the company just gets bought out of nowhere.
"Maybe it's been a while. Our business trip was already planned last month. Perhaps they've already been bought out then…", Yang Wei voiced out his thoughts on the situation.
Lang Jie thought that what he said made sense. After all, if they were going on a business trip, the old management wouldn't send them on a business trip if they planned to change ownership, right? Perhaps the new management was the one that planned their trip.
Sadly, that wasn't the case.
The night before, the Purple Lotus Group was frantically busy, arranging for Wen Cheng acquiring the company Lang Jie worked for.
Even though the company was not even close to a quarter of the Purple Lotus Group's worth, it still cost quite a fortune to be able to acquire the company. After all, the arrangement was quite sudden.
Wen Cheng lost almost half his fortune as he acquired the company, but he was not fazed. After all, he had something that he had to do. He traveled across the world with the help of an artifact from the Purple Lotus Clan's treasury in order to be able to personally negotiate with Lang Jie's bosses.
In just a few hours, they were able to successfully acquire the company, which was immediately announced to the world.
Xue Yan felt incredibly uneasy as she read the news article.
"What is that old man trying to do…?", she felt a hint of anger surge from within her, but she didn't want to take any action yet. She could still feel the presence of her husband within the hotel, so she didn't want to make a mess yet.
She patiently waited for her husband to leave the hotel premises, but even after a few hours, she felt that he was still in the area. She texted him in order to find out what
was going on.
"Darling, how are you? Are you working right now?"
Xue Yan couldn't ask directly, so she thought that that was the best message she could send. After a few moments, her husband replied right away.
"I'm fine, honey! How about you? For some reason, all of our meetings were postponed, so we're just in the hotel hanging out with our new boss."
Xue Yan felt even more uneasy as soon as she read Lang Jie's messages. She tried to think of what Wen Cheng was up to. She thought that maybe he wanted to use Lang Jie to threaten her or something along those lines, which made her surge up with anger.
Wen Cheng was having a meal with Lang Jie and Yang Wei when he suddenly felt something coming from the top of the building.
'Ah, has she found out?', Wen Cheng couldn't help but let out a smile as he thought of Xue Yan's reaction after hearing the news.
"You two just eat up! Don't worry about anything. I'll personally take care of you during the entire trip!", Wen Cheng happily urged his two employees to continue enjoying their day, which made them feel uneasy.
"Boss Wen, don't we have meetings to go to?", Lang Jie couldn't help but ask. Everything felt less like a business trip and more of a vacation, which made him feel as if he was just wasting the company's expenses.
"You don't have to act formal around me! Just call me Brother Cheng! And you don't have to worry about trivial things like that!", Wen Cheng tried to make them feel at ease, but they were still feeling tense.
"Ah, Brother Cheng… we'd feel bad wasting the company's money like this…", Lang Jie voiced out his thoughts.
"That's right, Brother Cheng… if there's anything we could do, we'll do it! After all, we're here to work!", Yang Wei added. The both of them felt the same way. Even though they loved being treated the way they were, they still wanted to do what they came here for.
Wen Cheng thought about it for a while.
"Hmm…", he looked at the two men seated with him.
"What do you usually do at work?", he asked.
"Well… we usually audit our clients' financial records and sort out documents for our bosses…", Yang Wei explained to Wen Cheng, who only gave them a nod in response.
"That seems like a lot of work…", Wen Cheng continued to nod as he thought about what to do.
"Well, I've decided. I'll be promoting the two of you to supervisors.", Wen Cheng showed his gentle smile, which, along with his words, dazzled both Lang Jie and Yang Wei.
"A-are you sure boss?!", Yang Wei couldn't help but stand up as soon as he heard that. He couldn't believe his ears as he heard that they were skipping a few steps on the ladder and go straight to being supervisors.
"Yes… and as I said before, you should drop the formalities. We're all friends here! Let's just drop the line between business and friendship, I don't care much about these kinds of things anyways.", Wen Cheng said with a hearty laugh.
Lang Jie and Yang Wei looked at each other and thought of the same thing.
'Wow, our new boss sure is easygoing…"
"Of course, I hope you'll do a good job. Well, even if you don't, it's fine. You can just do whatever you want!", Wen Cheng let out another laugh. Lang Jie and Yang Wei laughed along with him as they laughed at the thought of their boss telling them it's fine to slack off.
"Don't worry Brother Cheng! Even if you tell us to slack off, we'll still work hard!", Lang Jie was still determined to try his best. After all, he thought that he had to earn money through hard work. If he treated his wife with money he earned while being lazy, it wouldn't sit well with him.
Wen Cheng found his determination to be appealing. Before, he thought that Lang Jie was just an average man that was able to marry Xue Yan because of his luck, but now he thought that the man is quite admirable for a mortal.
"Ah, that's right Brother Cheng! What are we supervising?", Yang Wei almost forgot about an important matter. They were promoted, but Wen Cheng only said that they were going to become supervisors. He never told them any of the job's specifications.
"Oh, right… hmm… let me think about it first…", Wen Cheng stroked his beard as he tried to think of anything they could do that sounded technical, but he really couldn't think of anything. The man was a cultivator, not a businessman.
"I'll speak about it with the others who handle the business. For now, the two of you can just take it easy and go have fun. Think of it as supervising the hotel or the country or whatever...", Wen Cheng told the two of them.
"Thank you very much, Brother Cheng!", the two of them expressed their gratitude in unison.
"It's no problem. You two go and have fun now.", he sent them away with a smile on his face. Lang Jie and Yang Wei stood up and bowed towards him, who simply waved at them to tell them goodbye.
"Ah, right, Brother Jie, I almost forgot. There's something we need to talk about.", Wen Cheng called on Lang Jie.
"Brother Wei, you may leave first.", Wen Cheng told Yang Wei, who also stopped as soon as he heard Wen Cheng call Lang Jei.
"Ah, then I will take my leave first, Brother Cheng!", Yang Wei bowed once again before leaving the room.
Lang Jie approached Wen Cheng once again and sat back down on the seat he was on earlier.
"I heard that you have a wife.", Wen Cheng was now ready to put his plan into action. His eyes glinted as he was ready to let out the words that would put everything into motion.
"Ah, yes I do! She's a wonderful woman!", Lang Jie couldn't help but smile as he talked about his wife.
"Ah, that's nice to hear. Well, the truth is…", Wen Cheng started telling Lang Jie about his plan. Lang Jie looked at him in surprise as he listened to everything that Wen Cheng said. As soon as Wen Cheng finished talking, Lang Jie stood up and bowed towards him.
"T-thank you, Brother Cheng…", Lang Jie managed to let out a few words. After their conversation, Lang Jie was having a hard time speaking.
"No problem Brother Jie.", Wen Cheng smiled towards him.
"You can go now. Don't forget about what I just told you.", he added. The smile on his face grew bigger as he noticed the look on Lang Jie's face.
"Yes, Brother Cheng!", Lang Jie quickly made his way out.
As soon as Lang Jie left the room, Wen Cheng immediately felt a strong sense of killing intent coming from outside the room.
His instinct made his body react. He immediately stood up and steeled himself for whatever was coming. The defense array around the hotel activated and teleported him and his men into the alternate dimension.
In front of them, Xue Yan stood there with an angry expression on her face. She was being covered by a thin layer of light, which seemed to be qi that was overflowing from her body.
"Wen Cheng!", she angrily exclaimed. Her voice alone made the ground shake violently.
Everyone in the vicinity trembled in fear as they looked at the woman in front of them. Even Wen Cheng could not help but tremble in front of the divine being standing before them, but he had to step forward.
"W-what is it, oh Venerable One?", Wen Cheng's voice trembled along with his body. His entire body was soaked with sweat.
"What did you tell Lang Jie?!", Xue Yan's expression turned even grimmer. Wen Cheng paled as the thin layer of qi that surrounded Xue Yan grew bigger and bigger, slowly turning into a large blinding light.
"This lowly one did nothing wrong, oh Venerable One! If you're displeased with something, please take my head and spare my clan!", Wen Cheng started to plead towards Xue Yan, but her anger was far from being quenched.
"You dare to tell this Venerable One what to do?!", Xue Yan angrily responded. She did not move an inch, but Wen Cheng, who was kneeling in front of her, started feeling an extremely heavy force pushing down on him. The other members of the Purple Lotus Clan also felt the same, and since most of them were just average cultivators, they couldn't resist the force. Bodies started slamming down towards the ground.
"Please, oh Venerable One! I only wanted to obey your commands and please
you!", Wen Cheng continued pleading, hoping that his subordinates could still be spared.
"You… you tried to ruin my marriage! If Lang Jie ever comes to hate me, the first thing I'll do is to eliminate each and every one of you!", Xue Yan angrily roared to the heavens.
"Every single person that has a trace of Purple Lotus shall disappear from this world!", Xue Yan raised her hand. A large beam of light surged from her body and shot straight to the skies, piercing through the clouds.
Moments later, beams of light started raining towards the members of the Purple Lotus Clan.