The protesters were asking for fifty million dollars as compensation for every two-story house. When the manager of Trend Company who was in charge of the relocation project didn't compromise, they ganged up on him one day after work and beat him up.
Now, they had become these so-called "nail households"—families who didn't accept the compensation and refused to leave their home. The result was that, over time, they became more anxious and they started to cause more trouble than they did before when they saw that the other houses around them were already torn down.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Evelyn spoke on the microphone. "The amount of monetary compensation for housing demolition is mainly determined by two factors. One is the assessment price of the legal house property, and the second is the compensation for house decoration according to the market price. We have hired professionals to assess the price of each house property of the West Village and calculate the compensation price for decoration. After the calculation process, we've estimated that the fair compensation for each household involved in this relocation project to be 1.2 million. However, in light of the problems, our company has agreed to increase that amount to 1.5 million. We are willing to help, but don't you think asking for 50 million dollars is being highly unreasonable?"
This produced such an uproar that the reporters stared at each other in awe. "Fifty million? That doesn't sound right?"
"How can they come here and make such unfair demands?"
"Yeah, they have gone too far this time! I support ZL Group and Trend Company!"
The reporters' discussions made the ten-odd troublemakers blush with shame.
One of them, however, wasn't convinced. "We've lived in West Village for decades. What we've asked you to compensate is not the market value of our houses, but our love for our homes! Fifty million is nothing to ZL Group. Why can't we ask for this amount as compensation?"
"Right! Do you think we don't know how much you sell each of those apartments for after the reconstruction? Tens of thousands of dollars per square meter, perhaps? Don't try to hide the fact that you will make a lot of money from this. If you ask me, you guys are the ones who are greedy and heartless!"
Once Evelyn realized that these people were making a fuss out of nothing, she stopped feeling afraid. "Who is greedy and who isn't, is a question I would like to leave for the lawyers of ZL Group. I'm sure they will be glad to provide you with the answers later. As for the assault on myself, I won't be so forgiving on the attackers. Please expect to hear from my personal lawyers about that too!" Then she turned to face the reporters and said, "I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I hope you accept my sincerest apologies. This matter is now officially closed. Please focus your attention on the launching of the new product. Thank you!"
Evelyn walked down the stage and left gracefully.
Under the stage, some of the troublemakers who felt guilty wanted to leave, but they were stopped by the bodyguards, who asked them to wait for the legal team.
More reporters started to come to Trend Company after hearing the news, but they didn't have an invitation, so they could only wait at the entrance. Some nosy residents of the West Village also came and waited outside the company to watch the drama. Thus, the company gates were swarming with people.
Evelyn appeared, guarded by eight bodyguards. They carefully observed the people around her, stopping anyone from approaching her.
A car was parked at the entrance of the building. The moment the person inside the car saw Evelyn, he got out and broke through the crowd to approach the woman surrounded by microphones and cameras.
The journalists had sharp eyes and had recognized the man at a glance. They began to call out to him. "Mr. Ji, the son of the diamond family is here!"
"Mr. Ji, are you here to pick up Miss Huo?"
"Why are you here, Mr. Ji? Are you afraid that Miss Huo will get hurt?"
The journalists began to bombard Calvert with questions.
Facing the cameras, he only nodded with a smile and did not say anything.
When he walked up to Evelyn, he took off his suit jacket and gently put it over her shoulders. "I'm sorry that you've had to go through all of this."
Evelyn's mouth twitched. "Thank you for your concern."
The photo of Calvert and Evelyn was uploaded on the Internet within seconds, ushering good wishes and blessings from various netizens around the world as they prayed for the couple's happiness.
Calvert's car was parked right in front of the entrance, but Evelyn wanted to take her own car. Unfortunately, he did not give her the chance to refuse and quickly dragged her towards his car in the presence of all the reporters.
Evelyn wanted to say no, but with so many people around, she had no choice but to walk towards Calvert's car.
When she was about to get into Calvert's car, she saw a familiar car parked across the road by chance.
Her eyes met with the familiar man who was having a cigarette and leaning against the door of the car.
Following her gaze, Calvert also saw Sheffield.
He opened the car door and reached out a hand like a gentleman to help her get in. "Evelyn, get in the car. Be careful," he said softly.
Evelyn didn't say anything, but tears welled up in her eyes.
If there weren't so many people around, she would've ignored Calvert and run up to Sheffield.
However, in consideration of the people and the fact that she was still Calvert's nominal girlfriend, she couldn't just go and talk to Sheffield in public.
Disappointed, she bit her lower lip and sat inside Calvert's car. As soon as she buckled herself up, she rolled down the window and stared at the man.
Sheffield was wearing a dark green overcoat. Compared to the noisy crowd at her side, he looked very lonesome, standing by the car.
As Calvert drove away slowly, Sheffield just stood there and watched them leave together.
As soon as Evelyn came back to her senses, she called Sheffield.
He stubbed the cigarette butt into the ashtray in his car and looked at the caller ID on his phone. It said "Love Eve."
After the phone rang for a while, he finally slid the answer key and said, "Eve, does your forehead still hurt?"
Upon hearing his affectionate voice, Evelyn couldn't help but burst into tears. "I'm fine. You..." 'Does he already know what happened at the venue earlier?'
"Please ask Calvert to take you to the hospital. If you get a concussion, I will sue them all and make them pay 50 million as compensation!"
Evelyn withdrew her eyes from the window. She raised her hand to cover her eyes, trying not to let the tears in her eyes fall down. "Sheffield..."
She called out to him by his name.
He replied in the same playful tone as usual, "I'm here, honey. You can continue with your work. Remember to come and sleep with me when you have time."
However, Evelyn didn't laugh. On the contrary, she wanted to cry.
She put down her hand and looked at the man in the driver's seat, who had been restraining his emotions. "Stop the car!" she demanded.
She wanted to get out of the car and look for Sheffield.
In a calm voice, Calvert replied, "There are journalists tailing us. Wait a minute."
"So what? Stop the car!" All she wanted to do was embrace Sheffield and nothing was going to stand in her way.
"You want the journalists to snap a picture of you two? I hope you realize that you, ZL Group and I will all be affected by this sort of publicity. Evelyn, please try to calm down! Even if you don't care about yourself, you should at least consider about the reputation of ZL Group!"
Sheffield heard what Calvert had said over the phone. "Be a good girl, Evelyn. He's right. Just go on and make sure to call me later when you're free. I'll catch you later. Bye!"
Before Evelyn could respond, he hung up.
The whole world quieted down eventually. Sheffield looked away as he sat in the driver's seat and took out a few plum candies from his pocket.
He unwrapped one and put it into his mouth. 'I wonder how Evelyn eats this stuff?
I'd better tell her to stop eating these candies, just in case her gastric mucosa starts acting up, ' he thought to himself.