Chapter 25#
That night, Qiao Nanqi had many dreams.
First, he dreamed of the memories of Qiao Anqing that he had frequently seen in his dreams over the years. Then he remembered the time Zhao Rong sat outside the door all night, and the scene of Zhao Rong turning and smiling at him when he woke up and saw Zhao Rong busy in the dining room.
What followed in quick succession were the images of Zhao Rong looking at him over the years.
Amidst the glitz and glamour, on the quiet campus, in the hospital corridor…
Many gazes that Zhao Rong thought were well-hidden, he had long ago silently discovered.
He actually remembered them all.
If he didn’t remember them all, how could he have been with Zhao Rong over a year ago?
In a half-asleep, half-awake state, Qiao Nanqi’s mind was a mess, but eventually, all these images slowly faded, leaving only the scene of the snowy day Zhao Rong moved into his house.
White covered the entire earth. Amidst the swirling snowflakes, Zhao Rong sat alone by the lonely path, his shoulders and head covered in snow. When Qiao Nanqi had just gotten out of the car, Zhao Rong, who had been somewhat dazed, suddenly had his eyes light up.
He wanted to walk over, but for some reason, that path grew longer and longer. As he walked, he only felt Zhao Rong getting further and further away, and he only felt the snow was so thick and the weather so cold.
As he felt colder and colder, he woke up.
His head was a bit dizzy, and the cold from the dream persisted into his waking state—or rather, the cold from reality had been brought into the dream.
It turned out he had caught a fever from being in the rain all night.
Normally, even a day in the rain wouldn’t affect him like this. He didn’t know if it was because he had been tense for too long recently, or because his mood had been too tumultuous last night.
After this night, he not only caught a fever but a high one.
Qiao Nanqi frowned and called for a doctor.
There wasn’t much to see in this situation, and he didn’t like getting IV drips, so the doctor left some medicine and departed.
He told Xia Yuantu he was sick and wouldn’t be going to the company. When he got up to go to the study to light the sandalwood, he again saw the thin layer of dust on the shelf.
Zhao Rong had left and wouldn’t be coming back.
Qiao Nanqi felt his headache worsening.
He stood silently before the shelf, watching a wisp of light smoke rise from the freshly lit incense, the refreshing scent dissipating into the surroundings.
Everything around was quiet.
Only the sound of his own breathing remained.
Qiao Nanqi rubbed his temples.
He dug out a housekeeping number he hadn’t called in over a year and asked someone to come and clean now. It happened that he was at home.
After doing this, Qiao Nanqi sat by the study window, gazing at the faint autumn sunlight outside, momentarily dazed.
This illness was like a sudden, passive vacation, leaving him with nothing to do. For a moment, it felt like returning to more than ten years ago when he lived on Changxi Road—quiet all around, with only him in the entire house.
A short while later, the housekeeper arrived.
Qiao Nanqi endured his headache to open the door.
The housekeeper who came was clearly one who often visited their home, but when she saw Qiao Nanqi, she froze for a moment, appearing somewhat surprised.
Then, she smiled apologetically: “Ah, it’s Mr. Qiao…”
Qiao Nanqi understood the meaning behind her words. Having no heart for pleasantries, he waved for her to come in and turned back to the bedroom.
He hadn’t been lying down for more than a few minutes when Xia Yuantu arrived with a large stack of documents and a laptop.
This young master, who could be considered one of the pillars of the main company, had a small ponytail at the back of his head, wore a loose short-sleeved shirt printed with text in an unknown language, and jeans with holes in the double digits—looking completely out of place with the serious documents in his hand.
When he saw Qiao Nanqi, he looked him up and down and said, “Tsk tsk, truly haggard.”
Qiao Nanqi ignored him and returned to his room after opening the door.
Extremely familiar with the place, Xia Yuantu moved a chair from the study and found a small coffee table from the living room, setting up a small workstation in the bedroom, placing the documents and opening the laptop.
“…”
“Hey, I heard you’re sick and can’t come to the company, so I’ve brought ’the company’ to you.”
“…”
“It’s been ages since I’ve seen you sick; it’s quite a novelty. But no matter, if you don’t go to the company, I’ll bring the company to find you. Sorry, President Qiao, you’ll have to work while sick.”
As he spoke, he went out of the bedroom to greet the housekeeper, then familiarly got a cup of warm water from the water dispenser in the living room and placed it by Qiao Nanqi’s bed. “Drink more hot water.”
“…”
Qiao Nanqi turned over and didn’t respond.
Xia Yuantu didn’t find it boring. He lowered his head and began processing the documents before him.
Although he said he was making Qiao Nanqi work while sick, company calls came several times, and Xia Yuantu didn’t say anything to Qiao Nanqi, handling them on his own. Buried in the documents, he didn’t forget to glance at Qiao Nanqi from time to time.
He even got up to refill the cup of warm water when it was about to run out.
By the time Xia Yuantu finished what was either the sixth or seventh call, Qiao Nanqi said in a deep voice, “I have a fever, not a broken bone. If you think my brain is fried and I need someone to look after me, you can hire a caregiver.”
Xia Yuantu’s movements paused, then he tossed his phone aside, took a look at Young Master Qiao’s current grumpy face, and said, “Your art of speaking is almost catching up to Xingping’s.”
“Almost? It seems I’m still not direct enough.”
“…” Xia Yuantu simply stopped working, muted his phone, moved his chair, and sat in front of Qiao Nanqi. “Why the sudden fever?”
“Exhaustion.”
“A month ago, when checking your cheap old man’s accounts, you pulled three all-nighters and didn’t get sick.”
“Caught a chill.”
“I was with you all day yesterday; where was the chance to catch a chill? Don’t tell me you didn’t go to the celebration feast last night and instead took a walk in the torrential rain?”
“Mm.”
“…Alright then.”
Seeing that the patient before him had turned into a “silent gourd,” Xia Yuantu figured they wouldn’t be able to chat. He remained silent for a moment before saying, “It’s not like I’m watching you and Zhao Rong fight. Knowing you’d definitely be alone, I figured I’d better come over and pour you a cup of water.”
He and Lu Xingping grew up with Qiao Nanqi.
He knew how Qiao Nanqi, who had just turned sixteen, had walked step-by-step to where he was today, during the years when they were fifteen or sixteen, loaded with parental expectations or even squandering based on their family background. Putting himself in Qiao Nanqi’s shoes, Xia Yuantu didn’t think he could have reached Qiao Nanqi’s current position.
What Qiao Nanqi possessed now was enough to make all of them envious, but what Qiao Nanqi had lost…
So he was very clear and understood Qiao Nanqi’s almost abnormal wariness and sense of isolation.
Even though Qiao Nanqi was surrounded by people, he would try to solve everything himself because he was only willing to rely on himself. He and Lu Xingping had their share of troubles over the years, and when they needed Qiao Nanqi, he never hesitated. But if the roles were reversed—minor matters were fine, but for major ones… if he and Lu Xingping were even slightly careless, they might not even know if Qiao Nanqi had encountered trouble.
Qiao Nanqi never said a word.
He was like a lonely island covered in flowers.
In the past, at least there was Zhao Rong.
He didn’t know if it was because he had seen Zhao Rong quietly watching Qiao Nanqi from the side so many times over the years, but after Zhao Rong and Qiao Nanqi got together, Xia Yuantu subconsciously stopped worrying about such things. Imperceptibly, those of them in the know seemed to have taken it for granted that as long as Zhao Rong was there, he would definitely treat Qiao Nanqi well.
But now Zhao Rong was gone.
And the patient on the bed added at this moment, following his words: “It wasn’t a fight.”
Xia Yuantu’s movements paused.
“Isn’t he still at the company?”
“He has shares.”
“…That’s it?”
“…”
“Didn’t you two sign a marriage agreement?”
“The terms of the agreement have ended.”
“You brought it up?”
Qiao Nanqi’s gaze shifted slightly. He looked up, scanned Xia Yuantu, and didn’t speak.
Xia Yuantu didn’t speak either.
No matter who brought it up, Zhao Rong could actually let go.
He had indirectly probed the mess between these two several times before, but now he was speechless.
Because he found that his first reaction seemed to be mixed with a sense of “as it should be” that lacked loyalty—he felt that Zhao Rong’s mind had finally cleared for once. Perhaps it was because the Chen family matter had disheartened Zhao Rong.
Who can keep going forward forever?
Qiao Nanqi perhaps… doesn’t know how to love.
“—Mr. Qiao?”
The knock on the door from the cleaning housekeeper broke the silence.
The voice came from outside: “While cleaning the living room, I found some things in the trash can that don’t quite look like trash. I’m not sure if I should throw them away… they look like… papers and documents. Do you want to come and take a look?”
Qiao Nanqi hadn’t thrown anything like that away.
He immediately understood why the housekeeper’s tone sounded hesitant.
“Have her put them on the study shelf first. I want to sleep for a bit.”
The self-invited “caregiver” slapped his thigh: “Alright, then I’ll watch her clean the study for you, okay?”
“Mm.”
Xia Yuantu opened his mouth, and seeing Qiao Nanqi shrink into the large quilt, with only a bulging mass visible on the bed where a figure had been, he swallowed his teasing words.
He originally had some schadenfreude at seeing Qiao Nanqi with a fever, but now he felt it was somewhat boring. The current Qiao Nanqi was lifeless.
In the past, Young Master Qiao hadn’t been without illnesses, but he had never acted like this.
Just as he walked out of the bedroom, Xia Yuantu’s footsteps suddenly paused.
—Could it really be because of Zhao Rong?
After that night, Zhao Rong didn’t see Qiao Nanqi again.
Perhaps his past with Qiao Nanqi stopped at that day’s cold night wind mixed with fine rain. Qiao Nanqi’s life was free without him, the “foul within” playboy, and he had his own way of living, which was also… free.
Zhao Rong still went to and from the company regularly.
Having stayed at the company for a while, Xiao Wu, who was naturally friendly, seemed to like chatting with him whenever he was free.
During their chats, he would casually say, “The President hasn’t come to the company for several days. Director Qiao has been cynically mocking the President for being unprofessional.”
Director Qiao was Qiao Ruoye, Qiao Nanqi’s cousin who had returned from abroad.
Xiao Wu spoke quickly, only then remembering the previous relationship between Zhao Rong and Qiao Nanqi and felt it was inappropriate.
Zhao Rong smiled and shook his head, not taking it to heart.
He had no interest in where Qiao Nanqi was or why he hadn’t come to the company. But it was also because he had completely let go that he felt no ripple upon hearing this; instead, he found it a bit funny—Qiao Nanqi had called him unprofessional so many times, but he never expected that one day someone would say the same about him.
He said, “Then aren’t you just idle?”
“The work still needs to be done; otherwise, if the President gets unhappy, the atmosphere will be too low.”
After finishing, Xiao Wu remembered he had work to do, handed Zhao Rong the documents he needed, and asked him before leaving, “Mr. Zhao, the next time there’s a personnel distribution, if you want to get a higher position, you’ll still need to make some preparations. Aren’t you going to find an assistant?”
“No need, I’m not sure how long I’ll stay.”
He didn’t really intend to hover under Qiao Nanqi’s eyes every day—what would be the point?
He had a fair amount of shares, but he didn’t think of showing off here. He would proactively return those shares to Qiao Nanqi at the price from over a year ago, without Qiao Nanqi even needing to ask.
And he wasn’t really there for work; most of the time lately, he was using the opportunity to learn and understand those project materials. Occasionally, when Lu Xingping didn’t have time, he would “happen” to drive Lu Xiaoyue home. He didn’t need an assistant.
After seeing Xiao Wu off, he was about to sit down and look at materials when his phone rang.
Zhao Rong looked and saw it was actually Liu Shun.
After Chen Ze was taken away for investigation, the news of the Chen family’s complete downfall couldn’t be hidden at all. It spread like wildfire, and everyone knew that Zhao Rong was now a “worthless, destitute playboy.” Those people had indirectly asked him before, but now that the news was confirmed, it had become quiet instead, quite fitting for Zhao Rong’s current “destitute” situation.
Liu Shun had previously sent him some casual chats and asked how he was doing lately. For the past few days, perhaps not wanting to bring up such awkward topics, he hadn’t sent much.
This call came very suddenly.
Zhao Rong’s eyes flickered, and he stared at the caller ID for a long while.
It was only when the ringing was about to stop that he finally answered.
“Liu’er.”
“Oh, Third Young Master—”
“No need to try and exchange pleasantries with me. We have some history; if there’s something, just say it directly.”
On the other end, all of Liu Shun’s words were stuck in his throat.
In his impression, this Third Young Master of the Chen family was gentle with everyone, never losing his temper, and always maintaining a bit of tact.
He had never been as direct as at this moment.
After Zhao Rong said this, he waited in silence for him to speak.
He hesitated for a long time before saying, “I… I just came to ask, someone said you and Big Qiao have that kind of… relationship? Saying you’re one-sidedly clinging to Big Qiao and selling out your cousin or something… I know you’re definitely not that kind of person, I’ve only heard rumors! Third Young Master, don’t… don’t misunderstand…”