Chapter 29#

Early morning.

The temperature had dropped a bit more. The withered yellow branches by the roadside were now almost completely bare. Fallen leaves on the ground rose with the wind, burying themselves in the soil, emitting a fresh yet somewhat decaying scent as the wind dispersed it.

Amidst the sound of honking, the morning sun rose silently into the sky.

Like a daily ebb and flow floating in the heavens.

Xiao Wu arrived at his office holding a freshly bought coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other.

His office was actually a cubicle next to Qiao Nanqi’s. It wasn’t large, but it was convenient, allowing him to handle matters for Qiao Nanqi at any time.

Just as he sat down, a call arrived as if timed perfectly with his start of work.

When Xiao Wu saw the contact name “Zhao Rong” displayed on his phone, he actually felt a sense of “as expected.”

He was Qiao Nanqi’s private assistant. Besides work matters, he often dealt with people in high society for Qiao Nanqi. Those individuals were all high and mighty; when they wanted him to do something or tried to reach Qiao Nanqi through him, they never considered the time.

Some time ago, a female celebrity who was a spokesperson for their branch company had attended a gala with Qiao Nanqi. Afterward, she called repeatedly late at night and in the early hours of the morning. Qiao Nanqi ignored her, so he could only handle it. Fortunately, she eventually offended Qiao Nanqi and never appeared again.

Xiao Wu was long used to such things. His job by default meant no fixed working hours.

But Zhao Rong was different.

When Zhao Rong was at the company, although he occasionally asked for documents, he always paid attention to the company’s official working hours. If it was even a minute past, Zhao Rong would rather wait until the next day than drag him into it.

Even during casual conversation, Zhao Rong was thoughtful in every word. He never had any awkward responses when Xiao Wu inadvertently mentioned Qiao Nanqi.

He was always like a breath of fresh air. This kind of gentleness was quiet and never overemphasized. If Xiao Wu hadn’t encountered all sorts of people, he wouldn’t have been able to notice such thorough gentleness.

Aside from Zhao Rong, among those young masters and CEOs, who would be so meticulous as to time a call exactly with working hours despite having his private number?

Back when he was simply running errands for Mr. Qiao, why did he think Zhao Rong was a “foul within” playboy, a “good-to-look-at but useless” trophy lover?

Xiao Wu immediately answered the “trophy’s” call: “Mr. Zhao?”

The voice on the other end, warm and clear like a spring breeze, came through immediately: “Sorry to bother you. I asked you for a document yesterday and said I’d pick it up today, but I’m out with a friend today for some formalities. I might not be at the company for these two days. Can I come find you then?”

Before Xiao Wu could even react, he was already nodding and saying, “Of course, please go ahead with your business.”

“Thank you.”

The call was very short, showing that the person on the other end really didn’t want to waste his time.

Why didn’t their President care about such a person?

No, it wasn’t that he didn’t care at all.

When Zhao Rong first came to the main company, Qiao Nanqi had specifically instructed him to handle Zhao Rong’s requests well. Seeing the wedding ring on Zhao Rong’s hand at the time, Xiao Wu didn’t dare be negligent and even asked Zhao Rong if he wanted to join the company directly as a shareholder—Zhao Rong refused.

After more interactions, he discovered their relationship wasn’t what he had initially thought.

Lately, it had become even stranger.

Not only did Zhao Rong make him feel like he was getting to know him for the first time, but even Qiao Nanqi was constantly acting weird.

For instance, Qiao Nanqi hadn’t come to the company for several days.

Today, the office next door, spacious enough to be a residence, was still empty.

And his desk was piled with documents that required Qiao Nanqi’s personal attention or signature from the past few days.

Mr. Qiao’s authority in the company was long-established. No one thought anything was wrong with his blatant absenteeism, and no one dared to press him, so all these things ended up with Xiao Wu.

Just after finishing the call with Zhao Rong, Xiao Wu steeled himself and called Qiao Nanqi.

The line rang for a while before being connected.

Xiao Wu tremulously explained the situation.

“I’m at the company.”

The man’s deep voice came through, slightly hoarse and rather haggard.

Normally, Qiao Nanqi didn’t intentionally put on airs when he spoke, but there was always a layer of distance between him and others. His magnetic voice, wrapped in this aura, was like a sharp blade, with every word carrying immense weight.

Xiao Wu was stunned and glanced at Qiao Nanqi’s office again.

The other end added: “Materials Lab.”

The call was immediately hung up.

Xiao Wu hurriedly picked up the documents needing Qiao Nanqi’s signature and half-walked, half-ran downstairs, fearing Mr. Qiao might suddenly go AWOL again.

The Materials Lab wasn’t in the other large testing areas; it occupied several floors below the top floor, some of which were adjacent to other people’s offices. This layout was for Qiao Nanqi’s convenience to check in from time to time.

From the top floor, one didn’t even need to take the elevator.

Xiao Wu checked floor by floor and saw Qiao Nanqi on the floor adjacent to other people’s offices.

Zhao Rong’s office was also on this floor.

Passing by Zhao Rong’s office, Xiao Wu subconsciously glanced inside. It was still as simple and empty as the first day Zhao Rong used it; aside from an extra water cup on the desk, nothing else could be seen.

It was as if the owner of this room didn’t intend to stay for long.

He walked past Zhao Rong’s office to the end and saw Qiao Nanqi through the glass wall.

Qiao Nanqi was wearing a white lab coat required for entering the lab. On other staff members, this coat would reach past their knees, but on Qiao Nanqi, it not only failed to cover his knees but instead highlighted the length of his legs.

He stood by a table, leaning slightly against the edge, one hand in his pocket, seemingly talking to the lab staff in front of him. He looked even more haggard than his voice on the phone suggested, with a light layer of stubble on his upper lip. His hair wasn’t messy, but it definitely hadn’t been meticulously styled; there were even a few slightly upturned strands.

The surroundings were silent, the glass wall blocking the sound from both sides. Although he couldn’t hear, Xiao Wu could tell from the outside that the atmosphere inside was heavy—except for the staff member talking to Qiao Nanqi, everyone else was moving back and forth with their heads down, no one daring to speak.

A staff member came out and said to Xiao Wu, “Here for President Qiao? He should be out in a bit.”

Xiao Wu nodded and said casually, “Starting experiments so early?”

The person immediately made a miserable face: “It’s not early; it’s an all-nighter.”

“What?”

“President Qiao came to the company last night, in the middle of the night. We were just about to finish our overtime when he suddenly showed up, saying he wanted to test recent experimental results and understand the process, and that anyone who wanted to leave could leave. Heavens, how would I dare leave? As a result, we spent the whole night reproducing a bunch of experiments. I’m exhausted, really. It’s lucky our company is never stingy with overtime pay.”

Qiao Nanqi stayed here all night?

Or arrived in the early hours?

Mr. Qiao’s image as a workaholic, which had been wavering due to his days of absenteeism, was now once again firmly rooted in Xiao Wu’s heart.

But that image hadn’t been steady for long before it wavered again.

Although Qiao Nanqi was in the lab, he wasn’t nearly as focused as before.

Every few minutes, he would turn his head and glance toward the office area, unsure of what he was looking for—it was early morning, and few people in the office area would be at work. Even Zhao Rong, who was usually very punctual, hadn’t come today; that area was currently silent.

Yet Qiao Nanqi kept glancing every now and then.

After pulling an all-nighter, his slightly reddened eyes softened the sharpness of his gaze, masking his edge. For a moment, Xiao Wu actually felt that Qiao Nanqi’s occasional glances weren’t aimless but were directed at a specific spot ahead, his eyes even showing a hint of longing.

After a while, Qiao Nanqi came out.

Although Xiao Wu was curious, he didn’t dare ask. He pretended not to have seen anything and spread out the documents for Qiao Nanqi to sign one by one.

Qiao Nanqi signed several with a flourishing script, reading them faster than usual.

He had clearly dragged a large group of people to work through the night with him, yet he was now the one least focused on the work.

By the fourth signature, Qiao Nanqi’s pen point paused.

His face was expressionless, and his voice was low as he asked, “…What time does Zhao Rong usually arrive?”

“Huh?” Xiao Wu almost didn’t react, his tongue tying for a moment. “Mr. Zhao? He usually arrives on time, but he said he had something today and didn’t come.”

Qiao Nanqi’s eyes darkened.

Didn’t come?

Why didn’t he come?

Didn’t he come every day before?

Qiao Nanqi remembered yesterday at dusk, in the interplay of golden light and shadow, Zhao Rong laughing heartily.

Did he go to find someone again?

Lu Xingping? Fang Zhuoqun?

Or those… fair-weather friends who liked to hang around Zhao Rong?

Is he having a lot of fun? Is he smiling at someone somewhere again?

Did Zhao Rong… not regret it? Does he not want to come to the company to see him?

Skritch—

The pen point slashed down forcefully, tearing the neat paper and leaving a jagged black mark.

“…Sir?”

Qiao Nanqi glanced again at the distant office that no one had entered.

“Zhao…” He paused and changed his tune, “Have all the senior management and shareholders with a significant stake seen these documents?”

“No.” Xiao Wu shook his head. Although their company had some shareholders, not many were in management, and those who were listened to Qiao Nanqi. To put it bluntly, it was still Qiao Nanqi’s one-man show. Everything was decided by Qiao Nanqi, and others’ opinions didn’t matter. Moreover, Qiao Nanqi was very wary and had a high desire for control in this regard; he never let others handle what he could do himself. Over time, basically every matter only needed Qiao Nanqi’s nod.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Qiao said, “Others also have the right to know. Why do you bring them to me for signature without asking them?”

Xiao Wu was dumbfounded. What was this about? But he didn’t dare question it and could only say, “Then… should I let the others see them first?”

Qiao Nanqi handed all the documents back to him and turned toward the lab entrance.

But after taking a few steps, just as Xiao Wu was about to start this sudden task, Mr. Qiao stopped again and turned back to say, “Everyone must see and sign them. Have those who aren’t here come over as well.”

Xiao Wu was already nodding at Qiao Nanqi’s “whims” one after another. Mr. Qiao actually felt it wasn’t enough and walked back to take the documents from his arms. “Sign them here with me.”

After speaking, he walked into the lab with the documents.

At that time, Zhao Rong was handling some handover matters with Fang Zhuoqun.

Back then, he had secretly transferred his saved money to Fang Zhuoqun and even invested in some things in Fang Zhuoqun’s name to prevent Chen Ze and the others from eyeing his money when they were at their wits’ end.

As for Qiao Nanqi, he hadn’t guarded against him at all then—after all, if Qiao Nanqi wanted to leave him with nothing, hiding money even at the ends of the earth would be useless. This was why Zhao Rong hadn’t withdrawn these assets immediately when the Chen family got into trouble.

Now it seemed Qiao Nanqi wouldn’t settle old scores. Whether he was dealing with the likes of Yu Xian, interacting with Lu Xingping, or settling down in Zhuxi with Zhao Ming after the marriage agreement matter was handled, he would need these assets, so it was better to withdraw them now.

Thus, Fang Zhuoqun took leave and accompanied him early in the morning to handle these matters.

When Xiao Wu’s call came, Zhao Rong was feeling dizzy looking at a pile of documents needing signature or authentication.

He hadn’t dealt with so many dense words in years, and his brain felt like a tangled mess; his head throbbed. After hearing the useless, autocratic order Mr. Qiao issued early in the morning, he frowned and blurted out, “Is he a psycho?”

Xiao Wu, who worked for the “psycho”: “?”

Zhao Rong, realizing his slip: “.”