TL: Hua
Qinyuan is located in the high-tech development zone in the west of the city. Amidst the bustling, it had a peaceful atmosphere with elegant decoration and a style reminiscent of Jiangnan ancient charm, catering to high-end diners.
Because the high-tech development zone where it is located is the economic center of Jiangcheng and is home to many well-known enterprises, it is often chosen for business negotiations and gatherings, including elites and executives from nearby companies who also come here for meals.
Since meeting with Hongsheng’s President Lu a few days ago, the contract renewal cooperation between Jiazhao and Hongsheng has been progressing very smoothly. Today is the day when the two sides officially sign a new contract.
Lu Yunfeng was very considerate and attended the negotiation in person. The location was set in Room 1 of Qinyuan.
Qin Chaoyan, as the nominal new leader of Jiazhao, naturally had to attend, and he arrived at the location half an hour in advance.
Just as he entered the room, a familiar low-key off-road vehicle stopped at the Qinyuan parking lot.
Chen Jiang quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car, taking out the wheelchair from the trunk, then opening the back door and carrying Ye Rongxu to the wheelchair.
Ye Rongxu was wearing a black suit today, with a bow tie at the collar, and his short hair was specially groomed. His face was fair and delicate, like a medieval aristocrat coming out of a painting or a book.
He turned his head to look into the distance but was blocked by a clump of green bamboo. He couldn’t help but think: I can’t see Jiazhao from here.
When he secretly withdrew his gaze, Chen Jiang took a thin blanket from the car and put it on his lap.
Ye Rongxu hurriedly stretched out his hand, grabbed the edge of the thin blanket with his thin white fingers, pulled it up, covered his legs tightly, and said, “I’ll do it myself, uncle; you go get the gift first.”
“Okay.” Chen Jiang turned around, took out the gift he bought on the way here, and then pushed Ye Rongxu to the birthday party venue, Room 2.
When Ye Rongxu arrived, there were not many people in the room. Several teenagers of about his age were sitting at the table, playing cards and chatting.
“Brother Xuan, why didn’t you book Room 1? We are not short of money.”
Cao Yuxuan said, “It’s not a last-minute change of mind. Someone booked it first. It seems they are discussing business next door, but No. 1 and No. 2 are almost the same.”
Just after he finished speaking, he looked up and saw Ye Rongxu being pushed in. His eyes lit up, and he hurriedly threw down the cards and walked over happily, saying, “Rongxu, you’re here. We haven’t seen each other for a long time. The last time we met was on your birthday. By the way, I happened to be out of town when you got engaged last time, so I couldn’t make it. But I specially sent a gift and asked my mother to bring it to you. Did you receive it?”
Ye Rongxu nodded, showing his usual noble smile, and asked Chen Jiang to hand him the gift, saying, “Thank you, happy birthday, Cao Yuxuan.”
Cao Yuxuan hurriedly took the gift and said happily, “Hey, let’s have fun together, no, I mean, thank you too.”
The group of teenagers who had just played cards with him laughed so hard that they fell all over the place. They didn’t expect Cao Yuxuan to really invite Ye Rongxu and soon came to greet Ye Rongxu after laughing.
“Rongxu, are you feeling better?”
“It feels like I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“It’s been a year, right?”
“Brother Xuan still got some face to be able to invite you. By the way, your fiancé…”
“Ahem.” Cao Yuxuan interrupted the person who was talking and said, “There are still those who have not arrived, let’s continue playing cards. Rongxu isn’t used to the crowd, so don’t squeeze in here.”
“Oh, oh.” The crowd subconsciously made room, but their eyes still unconsciously looked at Ye Rongxu’s hand.
Ye Rongxu stroked the ring on his middle finger and thought to himself: Fortunately, I remembered to put on the ring before going out.
Many of the people present had attended that engagement banquet and recognized at a glance that Ye Rongxu was wearing an engagement ring on his hand and were secretly surprised.
Meanwhile, Cao Yuxuan didn’t attend the engagement banquet, so he carelessly missed the ring. He lowered his head and said to Ye Rongxu, “Rongxu, they’re a bit noisy. Do you want to sit in the lounge for a while?”
Ye Rongxu likes the hustle and bustle, but he is not suitable for staying in a busy environment for a long time. He hesitated and nodded.
After nodding, he turned around and found that the private room was full of rich second-generation people who were about 17 or 18 years old, at most 20 years old, having fun and making noise. Chen Jiang standing here seemed a little out of place.
After hesitating, he said to Chen Jiang, “Uncle Chen, wait for me outside. I won’t stay too long.”
Amidst the young people’s lively gathering, Chen Jiang standing here coldly as a bodyguard did appear a bit strange. Besides, these were all people that Ye Rongxu knew. After he glanced at the crowd, he nodded and went out.
After Chen Jiang left, Cao Yuxuan pushed Ye Rongxu, exchanging pleasantries with him while taking him to the lounge next door.
The lounge was decorated in an elegant and retro style. There were rockery bonsai on the table, and the sound of water gurgling and smoke lingering. Behind the table was a screen with a classical landscape painting on it.
Cao Yuxuan saw the incense burning on the rockery bonsai and hurried forward to extinguish it, then asked Ye Rongxu nervously: “You are not allergic to this kind of fragrance, right?”
Ye Rongxu shook his head and said, “I don’t smell anything.”
“That’s good.” Cao Yuxuan breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, it wasn’t the first day he’d met him, and he was well aware of how delicate his childhood friend’s body was, so he couldn’t afford to have something happen to him at his birthday party.
But…
Cao Yuxuan glanced at the screen, hesitated, and said, “Rongxu, you rest first, I’ll go outside to get you some fruit.”
Ye Rongxu was looking out the window. Hearing the words, he turned back, shook his head, and said, “You are the birthday star, just go and do your own thing; don’t worry about me.”
Cao Yuxuan coughed dryly and said, “No, I’ll go get some fruit.”
Ye Rongxu nodded, and after he left, he continued to look out the window.
Room 2 was on the third floor of Qinyuan, and he realized that with the higher floor, his view was unobstructed and he could just about see Jiazhao’s building.
Ye Rongxu couldn’t help but control the wheelchair and moved closer to the window. Looking at the rows of glass windows on the distant building, he subconsciously thought: Qin Chaoyan might be behind a certain window.
Maybe the other party is working hard on a project at this moment, exhausted, or maybe… he is being scolded by the higher-ups.
Thinking of this scene, Ye Rongxu couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his lips and laugh secretly.
While thinking, he took out his mobile phone, adjusted the camera mode, zoomed in, and zoomed in again…
Hey, it seemed he could vaguely see the situation inside the office building.
He thought for a moment and sent a message to Qin Chaoyan, asking: Which floor is your office on?
In the private room next door, Qin Chaoyan felt his phone vibrate, took a strange look at it, and quickly replied: Fifteenth floor.
The world’s most adorable Xuxu: Oh~
Ye Rongxu raised his phone again with his fair and slender hands, adjusted the camera zoom to the maximum, and pointed it at the fifteenth floor of the Jiazhao Building.
Let’s see if Qin Chaoyan is slacking off or getting scolded.
The curve of his lips was becoming more pronounced, and his eyes were full of laughter with a hint of evil.
At this time, footsteps suddenly came from behind.
Ye Rongxu thought it was Cao Yuxuan and didn’t care to turn around, saying casually, “You’re back.”
But the next moment, his hand suddenly froze, and the smile on his face disappeared.
No, the door wasn’t open; it wasn’t Cao Yuxuan.
And if Cao Yuxuan came back, the voice should come from the direction of the door, not from behind the screen.
Ye Rongxu hurriedly put down the phone, turned his head immediately, and then stiffened.
The person walking from behind the screen was none other than Qin Jingxu. He was still adorned in a suit, but his cheeks were a little sunken and his expression was obviously haggard.
This wasn’t unexpected. He should have just been released from the detention center.
Ye Rongxu pursed his lips and subconsciously clenched his phone, not wanting to see the other party. After coming back to his senses, he immediately pressed the wheelchair button and planned to go out.
But Qin Jingxu pressed the wheelchair first; his voice was hoarse, saying: “Xiao Xu, I just want to say a few words, can I?”
Ye Rongxu shook his head: “There’s nothing to say.”
Then he continued to press the wheelchair button.
Qin Jingxu’s eyes darkened, and seeing that he was determined to leave, he whispered: “I came here to return the jade pendant to you.”
Ye Rongxu paused and turned his head slowly.
Qin Jingxu saw the suspicion in his eyes, smiled bitterly, and said: “Now you won’t believe anything I say, right?”
Ye Rongxu frowned. He felt disgusted when the other party still put on this kind of attitude in front of him after clearly doing something bad.
But thinking that the other party had saved him when she was a child, he hesitated and explained seriously: “You don’t have to care whether I believe it or not, and I don’t care about what you think either. We’re not lovers. In fact, if you like someone, you can just tell me directly. Or perhaps if you had admitted your relationship with Shu Ming when I called you in the hospital, we can cancel the engagement normally, but you… *sigh*, forget it. ”
Ye Rongxu shook his head secretly and reached out his hand, saying, “Don’t you want to return the jade pendant? Give it to me.”
The jade pendant was a customized gift from his mother when he was first born, and was given to Qin Jingxu when he was saved by the other when he was a child.
He didn’t ask for it back before because of the lifesaving kindness. Besides, it was already given away, and it wasn’t a token of love or anything, so there’s no reason to ask for it back.
But if Qin Jingxu took the initiative to return it, he certainly wouldn’t refuse.
Qin Jingxu’s expression turned a little ugly when he heard it. After a long time, he still took out the jade pendant.
But when the jade pendant fell into Ye Rongxu’s palm, he didn’t let go. Instead, he held the string of the jade pendant and said slowly, “I’m going back abroad tomorrow, and even though I know that everything is irreversible, there are still some things that I would like to explain to you. I…”
*
In the dining room outside the lounge, the teenagers who had gathered to play cards inevitably talked about Ye Rongxu.
“Did you guys see that just now? The engagement ring on Ye Rongxu’s hand.”
“What do you mean? He and Qin Chaoyan are not engaged for real, right?”
“Who knows? But I think it’s possible. Just now, when we mentioned his fiancé, he subconsciously touched the ring.”
“Anyway, Qin Jingxu is definitely out of the picture. Alas, look at what happened at the engagement banquet.” The person who played the cards sighed.
“Yeah, I thought they had a good relationship before. Didn’t everyone say that Ye Rongxu liked Qin Jingxu? I didn’t expect… Tsk.”
“What do you mean by like? Ye Rongxu was in the hospital for many years before. Have you ever heard him say he likes anyone? Isn’t it all said by the Qin family!”
Cao Yuxuan, who passed by with the fruit, became uneasy when he heard this and asked, “What about the engagement banquet? How come Rongxu doesn’t like Qin Jingxu anymore?”
Someone who was playing cards turned around and took a piece of dragon fruit from his plate, saying, “Hey, Brother Xuan, you didn’t attend the engagement banquet, so you didn’t see what Qin Jingxu did…”
The person described the events of the engagement banquet in detail and took another piece of cantaloupe from his plate, and continued, “Because of this, Qin Jingxu was detained, and he was probably released recently.”
“And if you think about it carefully, it’s always the Qin family that takes the initiative to mention Ye Rongxu every occasion they meet the Ye family, saying something like, ‘Xiaoxu is so and so; let Jingxu go; Jingxu can coax him; he likes Jingxu taking care of him.’ Plus, at these gatherings where we come out to play, only Qin Jingxu can call Ye Rongxu out. Gradually, we all feel that Ye Rongxu likes Qin Jingxu.”
“Yeah, it seems to be true.” Several people at the card table nodded.
“But in fact, Ye Rongxu is in poor health and doesn’t participate in our activities. The Ye and Qin families have a good relationship, so it’s normal for Qin Jingxu to call him out, right? If you really want to say it, Lin Jiaojiao can also call Ye Rongxu out.”
But it’s just that Lin Jiaojiao doesn’t like to hang out.
“Look, Ye Rongxu is in better health now; Brother Xuan can also call him out today.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Several people nodded again.
The person who spoke saw that everyone agreed and felt that his analysis was correct. He took another piece of fruit from the fruit plate and continued while eating: “So if you ask me, Ye Rongxu may not really like Qin Jingxu. If he really likes him, would he break up so cleanly?”
“Even if he liked him, it’s impossible now.” Another person threw out a few cards and continued, “No one can tolerate what Qin Jingxu did during the engagement banquet.”
After speaking, he also reached out to take the fruit, but was stunned the next second: “Hey, Brother Xuan, why are you shaking? Tsk, why is your face so pale?”
“I have committed a great sin.” Cao Yuxuan’s face was bitter as he hurriedly shoved the fruit plate to them, turned around, and ran towards the lounge.
“Hey.” Several people at the card table looked strangely at his back.
Cao Yuxuan trotted all the way to the door of the lounge, and before he stretched out his hand to open the door, the door opened by itself.
Then Ye Rongxu controlled the wheelchair out of the lounge with a gloomy face.
Seeing Cao Yuxuan, his face didn’t ease up in the slightest, and he controlled the wheelchair to continue towards the outside, obviously intending to leave directly.
Cao Yuxuan’s heart “thumped,” and he hurriedly caught up, bowed his head, and apologized: “I’m sorry, Rongxu, I’m really sorry; I didn’t know he…”
Just then Qin Jingxu chased after them. When Cao Yuxuan saw this, he quickly made amends by blocking Qin Jingxu.
Qin Jingxu’s face sank slightly as he said, “Get out of the way!”
Seeing this, Cao Yuxuan hurriedly called the people at the card table who were looking stunned, urgently saying, “What are you guys waiting for? Quickly come and help.”
“Ah? Oh, oh. ” Several people hurried forward.
Cao Yuxuan took the opportunity to get away, turned around to help Ye Rongxu push the wheelchair, and continued to apologize in a low voice: “I’m really sorry, if I knew what he did, I would never agree to help…”
Ye Rongxu’s face still didn’t improve, and he turned around, asking: “Did you discuss it with him before making an appointment? Or…” Was it Qin Jingxu who instructed it from beginning to end?
Cao Yuxuan shook his head and explained in a hurry: “No, no, absolutely not; I made an appointment with you first, and then I couldn’t help showing off in the group chat, telling others that you would come to my birthday party. Qin Jingxu somehow found out about this. He told me that there were some misunderstandings between you two, and he wanted to explain to you in person, so he asked me for a favor. He also said that I couldn’t let you know in advance. If you knew, you wouldn’t see him, so he asked me to help hide it. I thought you liked him before… Ah, my bad, look at my crow mouth. Anyway, I’m very sorry for this matter. I’ll send you out first; tomorrow, no, tonight I will definitely come to apologize at your doorstep.”
He knew that Ye Rongxu wouldn’t stay to attend his birthday party, so he apologized and sent him out.
After Ye Rongxu knew that he didn’t deliberately set up a plan, his face improved slightly, and he said, “No need to apologize; it’s your birthday today; there’s no need to spoil your mood because of me; go back. Uncle Chen is outside; he will pick me up.”
Although he said that, his attitude was already distant and cold, unlike when he first came.
Cao Yuxuan smiled bitterly, knowing that if Ye Rongxu showed his anger directly, it meant that he was just angry for a while, and things could be resolved with an apology. But if he didn’t even get angry with you, it meant that he was really planning to cut you off.
“Okay, I know, but it’s just a few steps away; I’ll open the door for you and send you out.” He trotted over to open the door, his expression regretful.
Ye Rongxu nodded his head, and after controlling the wheelchair to leave the private room, he suddenly turned his head again, with a serious and earnest look, and said to Cao Yuxuan as well as the other people in the private room, especially Qin Jingxu, “There is one thing I want to make clear. I have never liked Qin Jingxu, not before, and never in the future.”
Everyone in the private room was stunned. Qin Jingxu was no exception, and then his expression was stiff and turned very ugly.
After Ye Rongxu finished speaking, he turned around and said to Chen Jiang, who had been guarding outside the door, “Uncle Chen, let’s go back.”
Chen Jiang nodded and stepped forward to hold his wheelchair.
The next second, Qin Jingxu suddenly broke away from the people who blocked him, stepped forward quickly, and pressed the wheelchair: “Xiaoxu, let’s talk alone.”
Just as the voice fell, the door of room No. 1 was suddenly pushed open.
Qin Chaoyan, who was wearing a dark suit with his slender figure, slowly raised his head.
His handsome face had a hint of drunkenness, but his eyes were calm. As he looked at Qin Jingxu pressing his hand on the wheelchair, his dark eyes gradually turned cold.
Lou Xinyu and Lu Yunfeng, who came out later, were a bit puzzled when they saw him suddenly standing still.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Yunfeng said, and his eyes then looked in Ye Rongxu’s direction. He was stunned at first, then understood something, and suddenly became interested.
Ye Rongxu was also stunned at this moment, looking up at Qin Chaoyan and forgetting to react for a moment.
Qin Chaoyan didn’t say a word and kept looking at him with deep eyes. After a long time, he suddenly walked over.
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