CHAPTER 297: PROUD AUNT LAI, AUNT SHEN GIVES 100,000 POCKET MONEY! ☆☆☆☆☆_2

She thought about Li Zhiyan again.

There were only two more meetings left. If this ended quickly, she wouldn’t have to endure this kind of mental torment anymore.

These days were truly excruciating, yet somehow, Catherine found herself missing Li Zhiyan a little, even feeling a strange urge to call him back to the company.

"What’s wrong with me..."

The thought startled Catherine; she was appalled at herself for having such degrading ideas.

Li Zhiyan was merely a lowly Asian—a small employee under her command. Did he deserve such thoughts from her?

What a joke.

"He’s not worthy of intimacy with me."

As Catherine’s mind wandered chaotically, the secretary knocked on her door.

"Come in."

"President, Ms. Jin Muxue is here to see you. She’s a university professor."

Catherine was momentarily stunned but quickly recalled.

She seemed to have met Professor Jin at a business gala once, back when she and her husband hadn’t yet divorced over certain equity disputes.

Although they had divorced, their financial arrangements still entangled them in various agreements.

Thinking of her husband, Catherine felt deeply bitter.

Her husband was short and lacked substance. Coupled with Catherine’s rather intense energy levels...

Her husband had long since lost any vigor.

While he had been enthusiastic about discussing investments and business deals with her, every time Catherine tried to pull him back to the bedroom...

He would duck away, timid and evasive. Over time, the two had begun living separately. Though Catherine had grown accustomed to life with her son,

she was essentially in a single state now.

After all, their affection remained, but any physical connection had long since vanished. Strictly speaking, they were more like deeply bonded relatives now, after so many years of divorce.

But the loneliness in her heart had always simmered beneath the surface, and ever since Li Zhiyan joined the company, Catherine had started to feel as though she was about to lose control.

Her thoughts drifted further and further until the secretary subtly prompted her.

Only then did Catherine return to the moment and lift her head.

"Let Professor Jin in."

"Alright."

Liu Hongjie was somewhat acquainted with her husband, so this courtesy was one Catherine felt she should extend.

Soon, Jin Muxue, wearing high heels that brought her height to only 155 centimeters, walked in. Her petite figure, paired with her glasses and tailored suit skirt, along with nude stockings, made her appear exceptionally sophisticated and elegant.

Seeing Jin Muxue again, Catherine was somewhat astonished to realize that this woman’s bust wasn’t inferior to hers in the slightest.

Close to an E-cup, full and striking! Catherine struggled to understand how someone with a height of only 150 centimeters—barely reaching her own chest—could possess such vitality.

"Professor Jin."

"Catherine, hello."

After exchanging pleasantries, Catherine invited Jin Muxue to sit down.

"Professor Jin, are you here to discuss business matters today?"

"Other than some aspects handled here, I generally don’t deal much with business matters; my husband oversees them."

Despite their hidden divorce, outwardly they maintained the façade of a proper marital relationship, given the significant commercial interests involved.

"No, not quite."

"Catherine, I came to discuss something with you."

"I want you to fire someone."

Jin Muxue believed asking Catherine to dismiss a mere junior employee would be a trivial matter—after all, Li Zhiyan had no noteworthy background.

In their upper-class society, personal connections carried significant weight.

"Fire someone? Did someone offend you? Tell me, I’ll take care of it."

Firing an employee meant paying N+1 severance compensation at most, but for a company like Changlong Group, such expenses were insignificant.

Jin Muxue’s social connections were truly powerful; cultivating deeper ties with her could benefit Catherine greatly.

"Yes, a young man by the name of Li Zhiyan."

At the mention of him, Jin Muxue felt utterly humiliated. Never in her life had she been so humiliated before.

Last time, Li Zhiyan had truly beaten her mercilessly, without holding back at all.

Jin Muxue resolved to first cut off Li Zhiyan’s income, and later sabotage his attempts to find employment wherever he went.

"Li Zhiyan."

Catherine froze momentarily. She hadn’t expected Li Zhiyan to have offended Jin Muxue. It seemed this insubordinate brat had a knack for getting on people’s bad sides, and his downfall was inevitable.

Instinctively, Catherine was about to agree to fire Li Zhiyan, thinking she could gain favor with Jin Muxue this way.

But almost immediately, Catherine remembered that she still had plans to bully and dominate Li Zhiyan professionally. There were two more meetings she needed to complete first.

Firing Li Zhiyan wouldn’t be so simple either.

Within the company, Li Zhiyan did have backing.

Previously, when she’d tried to make things hard for him, she encountered quite a bit of pushback—even though she was the president overseeing all company affairs.

Yet there were so many pairs of watchful eyes on her.

Her actions couldn’t always be entirely unchecked.

"Professor Jin, not at the moment."

Jin Muxue’s youthful and innocent face immediately darkened.

"Catherine, he’s just a low-level employee. Is this your way of refusing to give me face?"