Xiao Qiqi chuckled inwardly. This guy was quite convincing at feigning indifference. If she weren't used to his usual carefree and jovial demeanor, she would actually be a little scared.
"Oh dear, who is this person? Leader, how can you be so rude?" This was the first time Wei Ruobing had been reprimanded by a man like this, and she was clearly embarrassed.
"Young Master, it's too late, let's go!" The leader saw several heads peeking out of the hospital entrance and curiously looking at the car, so he started the car.
The car sped off, and sure enough, the area outside the hospital entrance was crowded with people pretending to be strolling around. Someone with sharp eyes spotted the leader sitting in the car and shouted, though the image was blurry, "That's Mr. Chen's bodyguard! There's someone in the car!"
The people who had just been acting nonchalant suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a bunch of cameras and video recorders snapping away at the rear of the car. The car in question was clearly not up to par, and soon slowed down. Several other cars appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the car, with someone even shouting, "Miss Wei, are you inside?"
Chen Yuanxing hugged Xiao Qiqi, pressed her head to his chest, and said with a wry smile, "Qiqi, whatever you do, don't stick your head out. Who knows what those paparazzi will do next!"
The car's interior was tinted, so the inside couldn't be photographed very clearly. But as the road gradually became congested, a car drove up, rolled up what was clearly a frequently used rear window, and started snapping photos of the front of the car.
Xiao Qiqi glanced up furtively, but the flash was so bright she instinctively shielded her eyes. Chen Yuanxing pulled her head back into his arms, saying, "Don't move." He then buried his face in Xiao Qiqi's hair, muttering, "Damn woman!"
The damned woman squeezed next to him clearly had no idea she was causing trouble. She leisurely put on her sunglasses, sat down nonchalantly, and let the flashes of the cameras continue to go off. She even slowly and seemingly unintentionally put her hand on Chen Yuanxing's leg.
Xiao Qiqi looked down and clearly saw Chen Yuanxing's leg. Feeling disgusted, she grabbed Chen Yuanxing's hand and slapped him. The "smack" startled not only Wei Ruobing but also the unprepared Chen Yuanxing, who was anxiously thinking that Xiao Qiqi's hand was on his leg.
Xiao Qiqi mumbled "shameless," which Chen Yuanxing heard clearly and couldn't help but laugh. Wei Ruobing, on the other hand, glared at Xiao Qiqi with hatred. Clearly, she had figured out Chen Yuanxing's identity—the young master he was talking about, whose face resembled Chen Yifan's by seven parts, but was even more handsome and younger.
"Hey boss, do you even know how to drive?" Chen Yuanxing asked, seeing that the people were relentlessly following him. "Will you die if you break the rules?"
The leader was clearly getting anxious. If things continued like this, Wei Ruobing reporting it wouldn't be a problem, but if the young master reported it, the master would definitely be furious. Protecting the Chen family's safety was their duty, so he couldn't worry about anything else and sped into the bus lane. After weaving and twisting around, he finally shook off the car behind him.
"Stop the car!" Xiao Qiqi shouted, pulling Chen Yuanxing along. "Let's get out now, Mr. Leader, and show Miss Wei around a bit more."
Seeing the cunning look in Xiao Qiqi's eyes, Chen Yuanxing knew that she disliked Wei Ruobing, so he quickly got out of the car.
Before Wei Ruobing could say anything more, Ling coldly interrupted her: "Miss Wei, let's walk around some more, otherwise we might not be able to make the headlines tomorrow!" Wei Ruobing was furious at Ling's sarcastic rebuke, but she could only let him drive the car quickly into the lane.
The two stood by the highway. Xiao Qiqi shrugged, but Chen Yuanxing grabbed her shoulders and looked closely into her clear, dark eyes. Seeing no anger or resentment, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, you're not angry."
Xiao Qiqi put her arm around his waist and said magnanimously, "What's there to be angry about? You're a star for once!"
Chen Yuanxing looked at her strangely: "That's strange."
Xiao Qiqi raised an eyebrow and glared at him. "What's so strange about that? I, Xiao Qiqi, am penniless, and I've actually managed to snag a rich young master out of thin air. Shouldn't I laugh out loud?" After saying that, Xiao Qiqi laughed smugly.
Seeing her pure and innocent smile, Chen Yuanxing couldn't help but kiss her forehead. "I didn't mean to lie to you."
"Oh, since you lied to me again, a bad record has been created, and your allowance is canceled starting today!" Xiao Qiqi pinched his finger fiercely, but with little force. Their hands clasped tightly together, and Chen Yuanxing, as usual, jumped up in anger. The two argued on the roadside for a while longer. Then Xiao Qiqi said, "Xingxing, this is a highway, how do we get back?"
Chen Yuanxing scratched his head, waving at the occasional taxi speeding by on the road. Xiao Qiqi, enveloped in his tall shadow, slowly rested her head on his shoulder, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes, but as cold and silent as the deep winter night. "What should we do, wife? They're all full."
"Let's just leave it be." Xiao Qiqi quickly regained her composure, gently shaking Chen Yuanxing's hand: "Let's go back."
"Go? Oh my god!" Chen Yuanxing wailed, pretending to faint. Xiao Qiqi laughed and hit him. After they finished laughing, they held hands and slowly walked towards the city along the edge of the highway.
"Xingxing, I'm so tired. When are we going to find a taxi?" Xiao Qiqi stopped walking, looked at Chen Yuanxing cheekily, and pouted.
Chen Yuanxing fell for it as expected, squatting down and saying, "Pigsy carrying his wife, come on, wife."
Xiao Qiqi was extremely proud and climbed onto Chen Yuanxing's back smugly. Even through his thick clothes, she could feel his strong back, which was so broad and warm. How long could she keep up with him like this and walk this road?
The next day, Xiao Qiqi went to work as usual. During her lunch break, those people naturally gathered to gossip again. Xiao Qiqi usually chimed in whenever she was free, but today she was unusually cautious, keeping her distance. Sure enough, they started talking about the gossip from the hospital the previous night—Chen Yifan's fall, Wei Ruobing's visit—and the visit itself wasn't the main issue; what followed shocked Xiao Qiqi. Some speculated that the person leaving the hospital with Wei Ruobing the previous night was Chen Yifan's only son, Chen Dashao. They even maliciously claimed that Wei Ruobing was not only having an affair with Chen Yifan but also with his son, and some even claimed to have photographed them returning to a suburban villa together!
Xiao Qiqi held her cup, speechless. The allure of public opinion was indeed terrifying. If she hadn't experienced it firsthand last night, she probably would have been enjoying this kind of entertainment too. No wonder Chen Yuanxing asked her those questions last night. One could imagine how his family and his parents were being dragged further and further apart by these gossip stories. No wonder he didn't want to go back. If he went back and inherited his father's business, wouldn't he become the second Chen Yifan?
The ringing of her phone startled Xiao Qiqi awake. It was Chen Yuanxing. Xiao Qiqi quickly went outside to answer the phone. Chen Yuanxing's voice sounded a little muffled. "Qiqi, I'm at the hospital."
"You went to see your father? Are you alright?" Xiao Qiqi quickly realized that he hadn't said he was going out that morning.
"Yes, my mom called me and asked me to come." Chen Yuanxing leaned against the hospital wall, his face not looking good. "He's not seriously injured."
"That's good, don't worry." Xiao Qiqi noticed that his voice sounded unwell and was somewhat concerned.
"Okay, it's nothing. Let's talk when I get back tonight," Chen Yuanxing said casually before hanging up the phone.
As soon as Xiao Qiqi returned to her office, she heard the people who had been talking all along sighing about how money can buy anything. Cao Rui saw that she was looking at everyone with some confusion and explained, "Just a moment ago there were those tabloid stories about Hua Tian and Chen Yifan on the internet, but they've all disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sigh, money and power can get you anything."
Cao Rui was about the same age as Xiao Qiqi, but she always acted like an old man. Xiao Qiqi had never been fond of her, and hearing her indignantly lament about "power" again struck her as particularly grating. She mumbled something and returned to her seat. But she couldn't concentrate on her work at all. After two hours of busy work, she found herself still looking at a lighting fixture price list, without even remembering the total price.
Reluctantly, she answered the phone, only to hear the voice of an unfamiliar middle-aged man, "Miss Xiao, is that you?"
Xiao Qiqi politely replied, "Yes, and who are you?"
"This is Chen Yifan. Ms. Xiao, are you free now?" The other party was direct, which startled Xiao Qiqi. She stood up abruptly from her seat, noticed that everyone was looking at her strangely, and quickly covered the phone and went to the conference room.
"It's Mr. Chen, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Well, it's nothing. I just wanted to see you. If Miss Xiao has time, could you come to XX Hospital now? I'm sorry, I have difficulty walking right now, so I can't come in person."
"Oh, Mr. Chen, please don't be so polite." Xiao Qiqi's forehead was sweating with nervousness. "I'm free, I..."
"The leader should be downstairs by now. If it's convenient for you, Miss Xiao, please come over now." The voice was gentle, yet authoritative, clearly indicating a habit of giving orders. "I'll wait for Miss Xiao."
Xiao Qiqi stared blankly at her phone. An invitation? An order? A showdown? She hesitated for a moment, then quickly wiped the sweat from her brow, grabbed her bag, hurriedly told her supervisor she had to go out, and rushed out of the company. She sensed that Chen Yifan didn't want her to tell Chen Yuanxing, so she hadn't even considered calling Chen Yuanxing right now.
Chen Yifan looked even younger than in the photos. Xiao Qiqi stared blankly at the face that resembled Chen Yuanxing by seven-tenths until Chen Yifan gave a slight smile. Only then did Xiao Qiqi realize that she had been too impolite and quickly lowered her eyes to withdraw her presumptuous gaze.
“Xiao Qiqi, right?” Chen Yifan gestured for Xiao Qiqi to sit down. “Don’t be afraid. I just want to meet you. Yuanxing spoke so highly of you today. I’m curious. You really are a nice girl.”
"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Chen." Xiao Qiqi's heart pounded, and she really didn't know what to say. Had Chen Yuanxing mentioned her to his father today?
"Hehe." Chen Yifan chuckled softly. His well-maintained face made him look no more than forty years old. His mature charm and seductive chuckle were enough to make many women's hearts flutter. How could such a mature and wealthy man not be the most active butterfly in the flower garden? Xiao Qiqi's mind went blank. In many years, wouldn't Chen Yuanxing become like this too? A middle-aged man with fatal allure, a mature, stable, considerate, and wealthy man. But who would be standing by his side then, appreciating and enjoying his fatal allure and tenderness?
Chen Yifan wasn't talkative, lacking the typical parental kindness and gentleness, yet he exuded a masculine charm that made Xiao Qiqi quite uneasy, though he seemed oblivious. Xiao Qiqi was also quiet, mostly staring at her toes. In the end, she only remembered one sentence from Chen Yifan: "Have Yuanxing go to work at the company tomorrow."
Without a second thought, Xiao Qiqi immediately agreed, "Yes!" But afterwards, she felt it was too hasty. Chen Yuanxing always had his own ideas; why should she decide for him? If he wanted to work at his father's company, would Chen Yifan have needed to personally talk to her? But Xiao Qiqi simply couldn't bear the unbearable pressure. For such a successful man, dealing with a naive woman like her was a piece of cake, right? Before the blade even touched her, Xiao Qiqi had already surrendered completely, utterly defeated.
42. Leaving the Nest
When Xiao Qiqi got home that evening, she bought grass carp to make Chen Yuanxing's favorite boiled fish, along with chicken legs and other dishes. Chen Yuanxing was still home, leaning back on the sofa, watching football with his legs crossed. Xiao Qiqi cheerfully said, "Xingxing, look what I bought!" But he didn't move at all. Xiao Qiqi put the things in the kitchen, went over to check, and found him asleep. Xiao Qiqi shook her head; she didn't know how he'd developed this habit of sleeping with the TV on! Just as she picked up the remote, he mumbled, "Don't turn it off." Xiao Qiqi knew he wasn't asleep, and pinched his straight nose, "Lazybones, why aren't you talking to me if you're not asleep?"
Chen Yuanxing kept his eyes closed, reached out and hugged Xiao Qiqi, asking, "Qiqi, what are we making for dinner tonight?"
"Hmm, there's boiled fish, beer-braised chicken, celery and lily bulbs, and a mixed shredded vegetable salad. How about that?" Xiao Qiqi said happily, whispering in his ear.
Chen Yuanxing opened his eyes, his beautiful eyes gradually smiling, "I knew Qiqi loved me the most, making me delicious food."
"If I don't love you, who will I love!" Xiao Qiqi pinched his cheek. "You don't look well? Is your father alright?"
"It's nothing," Chen Yuanxing said lazily. "The one who's in trouble is me."
Xiao Qiqi's heart skipped a beat. "W-what do you want?"
"Qiqi." Chen Yuanxing said with some distress, "I can only talk to you. My dad, he... he wants me to go to work at the company."
"Going to work?" Xiao Qiqi feigned surprise and pretended to be unhappy. "No, no, I'm not comfortable with you going to a company surrounded by beautiful women."
Chen Yuanxing was indeed amused by her and pinched her slender waist: "Yes, yes, I like voluptuous mature women. Look how thin you are, why don't you hurry up and gain some weight? Feeling threatened now?"
"Giggle..." Xiao Qiqi giggled as he tickled her. "Then go ahead and do it. Anyway, if I see any scandalous news about you, I'll beat you up every time!"
"Hehe, then I'll fight underground, I won't let you know." Chen Yuanxing joked. Xiao Qiqi pretended to be angry and punched him. He laughed and dodged, but still took a few punches. He grabbed Xiao Qiqi's hand and said seriously, "It's not going to that shady place, Huatian, it's going to Huayuan Real Estate, which is somewhat related to what you do."
"What Huayuan? Isn't it your dad's company?" Xiao Qiqi was stunned again. "The founder of Huayuan Real Estate Group is also surnamed Chen!"
Chen Yuanxing gave a wry smile. "His surname is Chen, Chen Fanyuan, my grandfather. Sister, you're not scared, are you?" He squeezed Xiao Qiqi's hand. "I didn't mean to lie to you. I'm scared, scared that you'll avoid me because of my family, so... cough cough, anyway, Huayuan is managed by my uncle. My uncle was hurt in a relationship when he was young, and he never married or had children. Do you... do you understand what I mean?"
Xiao Qiqi nodded like a robot. What was there to not understand? "I hate all that messy stuff at Huatian, so I would never go there. That's why my dad made me go to my uncle's company, saying I'd start from the bottom. But, sister, I'm scared."
What are you afraid of?
“I’m afraid…” Chen Yuanxing’s bitter smile went even further, “I’m afraid you’ll leave me because of my family, and that’s the truth.”
"Haha!" Xiao Qiqi laughed and patted his face. "Wow, young master, if I had known your family was so rich, I should have kidnapped you last year during the Spring Festival, extorted a large sum of money, and run away. Alas, what a pity. Now, I can't kidnap you, so I'll just have to rely on you! You'd better bring me lots of red bills, I still need to buy a house!"
Chen Yuanxing had been worried about Xiao Qiqi's attitude, but seeing her so cheerful and without any sign of worry, he breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, he would rather Xiao Qiqi were a materialistic and ambitious woman. "You really don't care?"
Xiao Qiqi shook her head vigorously, "Huayuan Real Estate is the number one real estate swindler in the country, so when you go there you must work hard for me! Build me the most luxurious, cozy, and beautiful villa in all of BeiX City!"
Chen Yuanxing's phoenix eyes gradually regained some color, but soon dimmed again. "But Qiqi, I hate doing business, I hate socializing! I hate cunning! I hate hypocrisy! I hate going to work!"
"You can make a lot of money at work, what's wrong with that? And you can look at beautiful women too. Why don't you hire a hot mature woman as your secretary? You can drool over her every day!" Xiao Qiqi longed for that life with beautiful women for Chen Yuanxing.
Chen Yuanxing laughed, "Xiao Qiqi, you're just daydreaming. I started as a junior employee at the company, and there's no way anyone would know my identity. Where would I make a lot of money? Where would I have a hot female secretary drooling over?"
"There will be someday!" Xiao Qiqi said dismissively, "Anyway, I want you to make a lot of money for me, preferably enough to drown me in a pile of money!"
Chen Yuanxing laughed even harder, "Xiao Qiqi, you little devil! What sweet treat did you eat today? Why do you need so much money? Are you going to eat it all?"
"Even if I don't eat them, I can keep them to scatter for fun!" Xiao Qiqi continued to indulge in her reverie. "I imagine one day I'll be standing on the Central Radio and Television Tower with a stack of bright red RMB notes on my back, scattering them downwards. The colorful RMB notes will drift down in graceful arcs under the beautiful starry sky. How wonderful that would be!"
Chen Yuanxing laughed so hard he almost fell over. "Xiao Qiqi, you really are a stingy, money-grubbing woman!" But behind the smile in his eyes was a trace of unseen worry, just like the worry that Xiao Qiqi hid deep in her heart. They both hid it too well to be detected.
The next morning, Xiao Qiqi dragged Chen Yuanxing out of bed early, ignoring his grumpiness from not having slept well. She changed his shirt and even tied his tie, suit, trousers, and trench coat. When he looked in the mirror, Xiao Qiqi's mouth dropped open, and he almost drooled. With a drooling face, he said with infinite intoxication, "Young Master Chen, you are so handsome!"
Chen Yuanxing, still half-asleep with his peach blossom eyes half-closed, was startled awake by Xiao Qiqi's goosebump-inducing, affected voice. He looked at the infatuated woman in the mirror and gritted his teeth: "Xiao Qiqi, are you trying to scare me like a ghost this early in the morning?"
Xiao Qiqi quickly composed herself, made a face at him, and then said seriously, "Don't flirt with pretty girls!"
Chen Yuanxing laughed, his peach blossom eyes finally brightening as he blinked, "Hehe, it's definitely worth flirting with beautiful women!"
Xiao Qiqi pounced on him, and the two of them hugged and cuddled together. In no time, Chen Yuanxing's crisp suit was completely ruined by Xiao Qiqi. Chen Yuanxing was speechless and said in a strange voice, "I'm out of tools to flirt with beauties!" Xiao Qiqi laughed even more heartlessly. Seeing her bright and sweet smile, Chen Yuanxing couldn't help but hug her and kiss her fair skin on her neck several times.
Finally, Xiao Qiqi was speechless, touching the obvious hickey on her neck, and changed into a turtleneck sweater. Xiao Qiqi cooked porridge, made roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), and a plate of homemade pickled vegetables. After breakfast, they went out together. At the alley entrance, they went their separate ways. Chen Yuanxing watched as Xiao Qiqi boarded the bus, then secretly took out the twenty yuan he had stolen the night before and hailed a taxi!
On the bus, Xiao Qiqi touched her bag, shook her head and smiled faintly. "Twenty yuan should be enough for a taxi, right? What will I eat for lunch after that? Idiot!"
Chen Yuanxing was a complete idiot. He spent nineteen out of twenty yuan, luckily the Huayuan Building wasn't far! Secretly pleased with himself, he clutched the change, whistling as he entered the Huayuan Building. Sure enough, he started from the bottom, his first step being a real estate salesman! Forget about beautiful women; before he even got his footing, he was sent to a subsidiary company's sales office, given a severe lecture by the department manager, and immediately put on his job! Standing at the entrance of a new residential complex's sales office in the biting wind, his day began. He forced a smile, enduring the lewd stares of plain-looking women and middle-aged women, and the howling north wind. He almost threw up and yelled, "I quit!" Finally, someone announced it was lunchtime, and Chen Yuanxing slumped onto the lobby sofa, panting. Before he could catch his breath, he realized he only had one yuan for lunch! For the first time, Chen Yuanxing was dumbfounded, facing the misfortune of going hungry!
However, the young master always had his own methods, such as using his charm! He flashed several bright and warm smiles at the beautiful female colleague who had been secretly watching him 312 times that morning at the sales office. Sure enough, she obediently ordered him a boxed lunch, practically feeding him herself. Within minutes, he was incredibly familiar with all the beautiful women at the sales office, and naturally, he didn't have to stand at the main entrance in the afternoon; he was thriving! When the department manager came to inspect, he was immediately speechless with anger. Young Master Chen was smugly nestled on the most comfortable sofa, drinking coffee and reading magazines, while the other employees were frantically dealing with a bunch of people of all ages asking about houses, buying houses, and handling paperwork!
The end result was that after just one day at work, Chen Yuanxing was kicked out of this branch! So he was kicked to another branch, and the same drama kept repeating itself, only the time it took was a matter of how long, the longest being 42 days and the shortest being half a day! In the end, Chen Yuanxing spent less than two years visiting all of Huayuan's branches in various provinces and finally came to the conclusion that Huayuan had no beautiful women! Of course, that's a story for later, so let's not go into it for now.
Chen Yuanxing's day was neither good nor bad, but it worried Xiao Qiqi greatly. She wanted to call him several times but held back. He would eventually leave home and fly away. She couldn't keep worrying about him and taking care of him forever, could she? His future responsibilities were so heavy. These were the processes he had to go through.
He hurriedly ate a couple of bites at lunchtime, but couldn't eat anymore. He'd spent all his money on a taxi; how was he going to eat lunch? Xiao Qiqi leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in anguish. Had he really fallen this deep in just one year? How long had it been since he'd had insomnia? How long had it been since he'd felt inexplicable heartache? How long had it been since he'd forgotten the pain of that past love?
But now, she was even more afraid of herself. The easier happiness came, the more afraid she was of losing it. Wasn't she the same? Cao Rui's boastful voice echoed in her ears again: "My mother-in-law called me every day to force me to get married! She's always nagging about wanting a grandson! It's infuriating!" Xiao Li then sarcastically remarked, "Your mother-in-law is so materialistic. If you couldn't have children, would she call your husband every day to force him to divorce you?" Cao Rui gritted his teeth: "Your wife can't have children!" He then sighed, "But if I really couldn't have children, that old woman might actually do something like forcing her husband to divorce me!"
Xiao Qiqi couldn't listen anymore. She jumped up and quickly hid in the bathroom. Such harsh words were so hurtful! Sitting on the toilet, she buried her head in her hands and answered Chen Yuanxing's call.
Amidst the whistling wind, Chen Yuanxing's incredibly excited voice rang out, "Qiqi's wife, I've changed companies again!"
Xiao Qiqi forced a smile and asked, "What do you mean by 'again'?"
“I was just at one company, and now I’ve been paid out, and then I’ll be going to another company tomorrow!” Chen Yuanxing was clearly not disappointed at all. “Qiqi, let me tell you, why are there so few beautiful women? I stood there all day, surrounded by a bunch of dinosaurs, it was really terrifying.”
Xiao Qiqi knew he was just making things up again, but she didn't care. She simply said, "I'm not working overtime today. I'm going home after get off work. What about you?"
Chen Yuanxing immediately wilted. "Qiqi, could you do me a favor?"