novelraw Chapter 165 : Attraction
Chapter 165 : Attraction
Outside the Peace Palace.
Zhou Ming and Zhou Nuoman sat side by side on a clean street bench.
Zhou Ming was over fifty, with a scholarly appearance and thin-framed glasses.
Judging by his looks alone, he seemed more like a mature, steady business manager than the Vice Chairman of a large conglomerate.
He sat upright on the bench, holding a thermos.
His expression was calm, giving no indication of his current emotions.
Compared to Zhou Ming, Zhou Nuoman beside him appeared much more agitated.
In the past, this business elite always paid great attention to her image in public.
She would either wear an elegant high-end dress or a meticulously tailored suit.
Her makeup was always impeccable, her demeanor outstanding.
But now, Zhou Nuoman wore only simple foundation.
She was dressed in casual clothes she had almost forgotten in a corner of her closet.
Though still a quality beauty, compared to her previous self, the sense of downgraded consumption was strikingly apparent.
There was no choice. The entire Zhou K Group had been sealed for illegal activities, operations halted, and assets frozen.
These past few days, she had been running around with her father, handling various conflicts like firefighters.
If she still insisted on pursuing beauty in high heels, her feet would likely give out.
"Dad! Why are we waiting here?"
"How did we end up in this situation? Did we make the wrong crucial choice before?"
Zhou Ming patted his daughter's shoulder, gesturing for her to calm down.
He looked up at the motionless Peace Palace, then spoke softly: "Nuoman, what we're experiencing now is extremely important for you. This is the most expensive but also the most valuable lesson in your life. You need to use your brain to feel it carefully."
He continued in a voice only the two of them could hear: "What situation are we in now?"
"Over twenty top executives of the group have been arrested. After the case is tried, more than half of them will face execution. Why am I, as Vice Chairman, able to move about freely without being controlled? Do you think the police have forgotten about me?"
Zhou Nuoman was intelligent. Hearing her father's words, her anger that was about to erupt quickly subsided by half.
But then she remembered something and turned to her father, speaking glumly: "The Empress clearly promised to support you. How can she go back on her word?"
"If we hadn't distracted the other financial groups with internal strife under such great pressure before, their actions would have been hindered at every step."
"Now that Zhou Boxin's faction has been uprooted, the Empress wants to get rid of us after using us. This is too much!"
Zhou Ming didn't interrupt his daughter. After she had poured out all her doubts and dissatisfaction, he patiently explained.
"Child, you can't look at things superficially like before. The Empress isn't burning bridges after crossing the river. On the contrary, she's helping us pave the way for the future."
"Think about it. The Zhou K Group is on the verge of collapse, everyone in the family is in fear for themselves, yet we can be openly invited into the Peace Palace at this time. Doesn't this clearly show that we've already been recruited?"
"If we don't suffer a bit now, there will be much worse days ahead."
Zhou Nuoman was slightly stunned. After some thought, she immediately understood.
This logic was actually quite simple. If she weren't in such a confused state of mind, she should have realized it herself.
A thriving financial group had disintegrated overnight.
The massive shock left her physically and mentally exhausted, her mind in chaos. Caught in the vortex, she could no longer analyze problems objectively and calmly as before.
At this moment, Zhou Nuoman finally understood what her father had just said: this was the most expensive lesson in her life.
How could it not be expensive?
At the cost of an entire financial group's collapse, there was probably no one else in the world who could "enjoy" such a lesson.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Nuoman raised another question: "So are we trying to garner sympathy now? Why do we need to send fruit baskets every day?"
Zhou Ming smiled faintly, not answering this question.
As an excellent teacher in guiding his daughter, he naturally understood that he shouldn't directly give her the answers to all questions.
Because that would cause his daughter to lose the ability to think independently.
Just as the father and daughter were talking, a staff member from the Peace Palace security department suddenly approached.
After completing security checks on the two, they were finally led through the gates.
Zhou Nuoman originally thought she would be taken to an office building or similar place.
Unexpectedly, the security personnel drove her and Zhou Ming to a hospital.
Filled with curiosity, Zhou Nuoman began to ponder.
'Father's fruit basket is meant for Shen Han. She reportedly suffered gunshot wounds in the battle at the industrial park.'
'Her identity as the Empress's guard captain provides a good cover for Father to seek an audience from this angle.'
'I wonder who will come out to negotiate? I must learn well from Father's methods and learn to have a more long-term perspective.'
As she was thinking, the security personnel had already led them to the 15th floor of the inpatient department.
A guard squad member came with a box, asking them to deposit all electronic devices before continuing to lead them towards a certain hospital room.
Passing through the rest area, Zhou Nuoman was startled by the large group of people waiting there.
With her extensive business experience, she could clearly sense that those sitting quietly in the waiting area were no ordinary people!
Zhou Nuoman quickly glanced and then averted her gaze, following Zhou Ming closely as they entered the innermost hospital room in the corridor.
Seeing the Zhou father and daughter's figures disappear, the group of waiting visitors immediately began to whisper among themselves.
"Who were those two? How come they're allowed into the room?"
"Ah, Old Bi, have you really been out of touch with current affairs for too long since retirement?"
"That's the Vice Chairman of the Zhou K Group. His projects were relatively clean, so he wasn't targeted in this cleanup."
"Can there be intact eggs under a fallen nest? His coming now won't change the Zhou family's situation."
"Heh, Old Li is still as assertive as when he was young?"
"If he's willing to cut off some flesh, he might not be unable to fight for chips to get back to the table!"
A group of retired old men and women, analyzing the current situation, each showed great interest, diluting their frustration at not being able to visit.
......
Upon entering the hospital room, Zhou Nuoman was immediately dumbfounded.
She halted in her tracks, not even noticing that she had fallen behind her father.
Her gaze was fixed on a young woman sitting by the hospital bed not far away.
She was a young woman full of unique charm, with lustrous black hair and a cool demeanor.
From Zhou Nuoman's angle, she couldn't clearly see the woman's features.
But just seeing her profile was enough to make one feel her peerless beauty!
The cool woman sat upright in a visitor's chair by the hospital bed, turning her head to speak with an assistant standing beside her.
Behind her stood two Alphas in military uniforms, both with firearms at their waists.
In that instant, it was as if lightning flashed through Zhou Nuoman's mind!
Who had the right to have armed guards inside the Peace Palace?
The answer was actually obvious.
Realizing his daughter had fallen behind, Zhou Ming immediately turned and coughed lightly, calling Zhou Nuoman over.
Zhou Ming wasn't surprised to see the Empress here.
He stopped a meter away from her, naturally bringing his daughter to greet the Empress.
Gu Junwan nodded politely but didn't invite the visitors to sit.
She raised her eyes to look at the man standing before her in a humble posture and began to inquire about information regarding the Zhou K Group.
Zhou Ming responded appropriately, not only analyzing many issues the special task force had yet to uncover, but also providing solutions he could think of for each one.
While the Empress was conversing, everyone around maintained silence.
Before entering this hospital room, Zhou Nuoman had reminded herself to carefully observe her father's conduct.
But now she couldn't concentrate on the conversation at hand.
She kept finding herself examining Gu Junwan up close, as well as Shen Han reclining at the head of the bed.
Upon closer observation, she found the Empress's aura even more imposing.
It wasn't a sense of arrogance, but a kind of pressure inherent to those in high positions.
The elegance and nobility revealed in the Empress's every gesture were extremely charming, so perfect that one dared not look directly.
Zhou Nuoman surreptitiously shifted her gaze to the Alpha on the hospital bed.
She wore a patient's gown, her long hair scattered over her shoulders, with clean white bandages around her eyes.
Though she made no movement, and even appeared sickly at the moment, there was an inexplicable attraction that made one's gaze linger on her.
Excluding what she had seen in videos, this was Zhou Nuoman's first time seeing Shen Han's real appearance.
Whether due to her injuries or not, Shen Han looked particularly gentle.
Framed by her black hair, the skin on her cheeks appeared especially fair.
Her nose was high and straight, her lips full and red.
The feminine softness overpowered the innate sense of strength in her Alpha nature, brewing a more dazzling radiance about her.
Suddenly, Zhou Nuoman felt her heartbeat quicken.
She didn't know what was happening to her, but a desire to move closer to the other welled up from the depths of her heart.
It wasn't that she wanted to do anything to her, she just wanted to look more carefully at that extraordinary Alpha.
And perhaps ask her how her recovery was going, if her eyes were seriously affected?
Just then, Zhou Ming, who was lowering his head slightly to report information to the Empress, suddenly found her aura turning cold.
His breath caught, and while carefully considering if there had been any problem with his words, he hurriedly looked up to observe the Empress's expression.
He saw her phoenix eyes narrow slightly, a flash of coldness passing through them.
Cold sweat was about to drip from Zhou Ming's forehead.
He keenly sensed that the Empress's sudden coldness wasn't triggered by him, and quickly turned his face slightly, his gaze sweeping towards his daughter beside him.
When he saw his daughter staring intently at the person on the hospital bed, his back instantly broke out in a cold sweat!
Heavens! Was his good daughter trying to ruin him?