She was fired after she refused to be the CEO's dog licker.

I looked at the man in front of me and was stunned. Wasn't Zhou Hanzhi lying in the hospital, being taken care of by his beloved Lin Xixi? How could he appear here?

But while I was stunned, Zhou Hanzhi had already taken my glass and finished the big glass of red wine, then gestured to Zhou Pinzhi who was still standing there: "Pinzhi, is it ready?"

The rest of the Zhou family was just as surprised as I was by Zhou Hanzhi's sudden appearance. Old Madam Zhou raised her eyes, her brows twitched slightly, her eyes were full of surprise and confusion. Shen Hualan beside me also uttered a surprised sound: "Hanzhi, why are you back?"

Only Zhou Pinzhi looked calm and was not at all surprised by Zhou Hanzhi's arrival.

"Cousin is back from a business trip? He came back just in time, just in time to drink for Manager Meng." He still smiled as warmly as the spring breeze, but his words were sharp. His eyes turned from Zhou Hanzhi to my face, and then back to Zhou Hanzhi's face. "He came back at such a coincidence that I thought my cousin was monitoring every move at home and came back at the right time."

His words were meant to expose Zhou Hanzhi's lie about being on a business trip.

But he even used the word "surveillance". These two words are not good words no matter where they are used, let alone in a complicated family like the Zhou family. Monitoring every move in the family is obviously a taboo of Old Lady Zhou. I saw her brows frowned.

This Zhou Pinzhi is indeed very dangerous, with a dagger hidden behind his smile that can hurt people without being seen.

But Zhou Hanzhi was not flustered at all. His expression was still natural. He sat down steadily beside me with a faint smile on his lips. "It's not a coincidence. I heard from my mother a few days ago that Pinzhi would bring his girlfriend home to meet his parents on Saturday. So I rushed back as soon as I finished my work. I didn't want to lose my manners."

"Madam, is this not considered rude of me?" Zhou Hanzhi looked at Madam Zhou with a smile.

The way he addressed Madam Zhou remained the same, with far more respect than intimacy.

Madam Zhou fixed her gaze on Zhou Hanzhi's face, paused for two seconds, then slowly opened her eyes, revealing a bit of kindness: "Well, it's still timely."

"Originally, I was thinking that Han Zhi might not be able to come back today, but I didn't expect that he would finally come after rushing away. It shows that he really takes his brother's affairs to heart." Shen Hualan smoothed things over in time.

Mrs. Zhou's complexion looked a little better, and the atmosphere at the table eased.

But I stared at Zhou Hanzhi's face beside me, and I felt a wave surging in my chest and couldn't calm down.

Zhou Hanzhi looked calm and composed, but I was closest to him and could see most clearly that his face was already pale, with a look of haggardness and fatigue between his brows. After drinking the glass of red wine in one breath, his brows were slightly furrowed, and he was obviously unwell. A trace of red wine stain at the corner of his lips made his face look even paler, but there was a sense of fragility and brokenness that made people feel distressed.

He had been ill for the past few days and was even hospitalized last night. He was already unwell, yet he just snatched my glass of red wine and drank it all.

My stomach is not good, does that mean his health is fine? He drank a big glass of red wine, and didn't even eat a bite of food before drinking it. How could he not feel uncomfortable now?

Last night he pushed me away so firmly and looked at me with such distant and indifferent eyes, which clearly showed the relationship between us. Why did he ignore his own discomfort and rush to drink that big glass of red wine for me today?

Zhou Hanzhi, what does he mean? Since he has decided to stay away from me, why does he want to get close to me and stir my heart?

My heart became more and more confused and tangled.

"So, my cousin came here because of me? Why do I feel like he rushed back because of Manager Meng?" Zhou Pinzhi spoke again at this time, looking at me with a smile, "My cousin is so concerned about Manager Meng that he rushed to drink for him before he even had a bite of food. He even remembered such a small thing as Manager Meng's stomach problems so clearly. Manager Meng is probably more important to my cousin than the rest of us, right?"

Zhou Pinzhi's words instantly brought my troubled mood back to the shore of rationality.

Zhou Pinzhi is stirring up trouble again. He deliberately brings up the sensitive topic of my relationship with Zhou Hanzhi so that other people in the Zhou family will misunderstand.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhou Pinzhi finished speaking, Madam Zhou's sharp eyes swept towards Zhou Hanzhi and me.

I was embarrassed and flustered: "Manager Zhou misunderstood, Mr. Zhou is not..."

"Manager Meng is really important to me." Zhou Hanzhi interrupted me slowly and continued, "The Story Project is the most cost-effective investment I have ever made. It has added another beautiful chapter to my investment success history. Talents like Manager Meng are rare. She is my project leader, and I certainly cherish her. I won't let her damage her body because of a glass of wine. What's more, Manager Meng has been hospitalized once because of stomach problems. I can't let her stay in the hospital again, right? Pinzhi, can you bear it?"

Oh, he drank for me because of work.

Yes, after all, I am still his oxen and horses, working hard to make money for him. If the oxen and horses all fall down, who will the capitalists use to plow the fields?

I understand and I am sober.

The surging emotions in my chest slowly subsided. A place that had just heated up quickly cooled down and then gradually condensed into ice.

It's just that my heart is a little bitter and astringent. I told myself a long time ago that I shouldn't have any expectations, but why can't I control myself? The result of having expectations is often that the expectations are not met, and the heart hurts even more.

Zhou Hanzhi's words were still calm and relaxed, with a little teasing: "I did come back for Pinzhi's matter, but it was definitely not for Pinzhi. I mainly wanted to see Jiang Yin. Jiang Yin was my classmate in college, our department beauty, and a celebrity back then. I didn't expect that by such a coincidence, she would enter our Zhou family and become my cousin's wife. We are really destined to be together."

Old classmates, influential figures, coincidence, and fate.

Zhou Hanzhi said these words with profound meaning.

However, I felt very upset at the moment, and I couldn't guess whether his deep meaning was referring to the past when Jiang Yin confessed her love to him, or if there was something else going on...

I only saw Jiang Yin's face suddenly showing embarrassment. She quickly stood up and raised her glass: "Yes, it is indeed a coincidence, cousin, I toast you too."

It can be seen that Jiang Yin was begging Zhou Hanzhi for mercy.

"Okay, toast to coincidence and fate." Zhou Hanzhi's lips curled up slightly, his smile deepened, and his words became more meaningful.

I watched Zhou Hanzhi drink another glass of wine, and my heart, which had just turned cold, couldn't help but tighten again.

He hasn't eaten a single bite of food so far and has already drunk two glasses of wine. How can his body handle drinking like this?