Chapter 44#

Xia Yuantu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Looking at Qiao Nanqi’s current state, it was far more than just “falling for him.”

Young Master Qiao used to not even return home if his work wasn’t finished, but lately, he had been absent-minded every single day. He had even gone through indirect channels to buy a useless pet shop at a high price just to raise a few kittens. These past few days, he had been carrying a bottle of stomach medicine with only a few pills left, making roundabout inquiries everywhere about Zhao Rong’s past physical condition.

Yesterday, Qiao Nanqi was even worried that Zhao Rong was short on cash and had Xiao Wu transfer money to Zhao Rong’s old account. However, Xiao Wu’s attempt failed, only to find that the account had been closed. In the end, he could only ask Xia Yuantu to keep an eye on Zhao Rong’s old group of rich playboy friends to see if Zhao Rong had borrowed money from anyone.

Today, he had even put everything he had spent years of painstaking effort to obtain into black and white on paper. He hadn’t gotten angry when he was rejected; instead, he turned around and was terrified that Chen Senior or Chen Junior might say a single thing detrimental to Zhao Rong.

If it had been a few months ago, he wouldn’t have believed it if someone had killed him—that Qiao Nanqi would also have times when he was despondent and uneasy because of one person.

But on second thought, it didn’t seem that surprising.

No matter how these two usually were, when it came to stubbornness, they were exactly the same.

Now, one was no longer stubborn, but the other couldn’t let go.

Ironically, whether from the perspective of emotion or logic, Qiao Nanqi truly could be said to be suffering the consequences of his own actions.

He wanted to say some comforting words, but he couldn’t fish out any heartless remarks.

Xia Yuantu thought for a long while, but there really wasn’t much to advise. He asked: “Did Zhao Rong never mention it to you?”

None of them would have thought that among the dirty things the Chen family had done, Zhao Rong—who was nominally a member of the Chen family—would be involved.

Over the years, the grudges between them, He Nan, Chen Zehe, and those people seemed to have never affected Zhao Rong. Except for a year or so ago when Qiao Nanqi signed a marriage agreement with Zhao Rong under the pretext of “numbing He Nan,” Zhao Rong was like an insignificant ripple in the storm—present, yet only present.

“No,” Qiao Nanqi said, sounding exhausted. “I never knew.”

He suddenly loosened his grip.

The paper he had torn and crumpled into a ball fell from his palm. It was light, as if it had no weight at all, yet it weighed heavily on his heart.

He slowly unfolded the ball of paper, smoothing it out bit by bit and piecing it back together.

Once again, from beginning to end, seriously and without a word, he read it through.

After finishing one reading, he read it again.

…

Seeing his hands shaking uncontrollably, as if he couldn’t contain it at all, yet also as if he were trying his best to control his emotions, Xia Yuantu really couldn’t bear to watch him self-harm by reading it repeatedly: “Stop reading it. It’s not like you did this. You weren’t even together back then…”

“There are no scars on his body,” Qiao Nanqi said.

Xia Yuantu was stunned, not immediately catching Qiao Nanqi’s meaning.

Chen Senior and Chen Junior were experienced; they were more about slowly crushing a person’s will mentally and wouldn’t leave any evidence behind. Zhao Rong couldn’t produce any proof; if the listener didn’t want to believe him, Zhao Rong would have nowhere to speak of it.

Qiao Nanqi paused, then added: “I know now what the words Zhao Rong said to me meant.”

If he had never liked Zhao Rong from start to finish, he and Zhao Rong would have been more like passersby in each other’s lives. For Zhao Rong, he would have been a small helping hand from their first meeting in their youth, a marriage agreement where money and goods were settled after they met as adults, and the freedom he unexpectedly brought to Zhao Rong after dealing with those people from the Chen family. No matter what Zhao Rong did or what he did, it would have just been their respective choices.

But he liked Zhao Rong; they were supposed to like each other. That which he was unwilling to hear, unwilling to understand, and failed to do in the past was an unforgivable mistake.

“When I was with him, I felt he was so thin, so I thought he must love playing around too much and didn’t eat well at home. I told him to stay at home and had Sister Li make nutritious food for him. I just… never asked him.”

Not even a single question like—why is your health so poor?

Just like during those years in entertainment venues, watching Zhao Rong drain glass after glass of wine, yet never once asking—do you like this?

He hadn’t asked; he always formed his own conclusions the moment he saw something. He had never proactively tried to understand the self that Zhao Rong wanted to express, nor did he know how Zhao Rong had walked step by step to the moment where he stood behind him all these years.

When Zhao Rong said he didn’t understand at all, he actually didn’t comprehend the reason.

But at this very moment, he finally knew why Zhao Rong said he never understood.

Qiao Nanqi had Xiao Wu get some adhesive tape. After spreading out the materials and taping them back together, he carefully folded them and placed them in the inner pocket of his coat.

It was like sticking a sharpened blade into his chest, pushing it hard, and burying it deep into his heart.

His heart hurt, but he wouldn’t forget.

He asked Xia Yuantu: “Did Chen Junior say why they did it?”

The document only stated what Chen Senior had done to Zhao Rong at the time, without mentioning the reason.

Xia Yuantu replied: “He did. It was because Chen Senior found out he was going to the library often for a period of time and was afraid he had some other ideas.”

“Library?” Qiao Nanqi naturally still didn’t know.

“Yes. Later, Chen Senior locked him up for over a month and found that he was indeed a piece of mud that couldn’t be slapped onto a wall, so he let him go. Once those two pieces of trash were reassured, they didn’t do anything else to Zhao Rong.”

Qiao Nanqi stopped speaking.

“Old Qiao, even though you didn’t know about this matter with Chen Senior and Chen Junior, you were the one who dealt with them. No matter what, just consider that you’ve already vented Zhao Rong’s anger for him. These are things from many years ago; what can we do now?”

“I know your temperament. Zhao Rong isn’t willing to reconcile with you, and you can’t let go, so go and try to win him back. I’ve already told you this. It’s just that I haven’t been in a sincere relationship myself, so I’m afraid of giving bad ideas. The only advice I can give is that you might as well ask Zhao Rong what he actually wants. Him ignoring you today might be because what you’re giving isn’t what he wants. After all, he liked you for so many years, and I haven’t seen him liking anyone new yet—that person at the bar that night, I didn’t see him take them away.”

“Eh, speaking of which, I was too far away then and didn’t see clearly. Don’t you think that person looked a bit familiar? But I’ve definitely never met them…”

Qiao Nanqi didn’t pay attention to his last sentence of talking to himself.

“No need to ask,” he said to Xia Yuantu. “He actually… told me long ago.”

“Then what do you plan to do next?”

Qiao Nanqi didn’t answer.

But looking at his expression, the answer was already clear.

Xia Yuantu had long expected Qiao Nanqi’s stubbornness and could only say: “Don’t do anything impulsive. I’m leaving first? You haven’t been managing things much these past two days, and the others have all come to plague me.”

“Alright.”

Xia Yuantu stood up, patted Xiao Wu on the shoulder, and told him in a low voice to keep an eye on Qiao Nanqi before leaving.

After he left, Qiao Nanqi seemed to be extremely exhausted. He truly couldn’t continue sitting upright, so he leaned back slightly against the chair and closed his eyes.

He beckoned to Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu, who had long been suffocated by the atmosphere in the room, hurried forward: “Sir?”

“You don’t need to be busy with company matters these next few days. Do something private for me.”

“Help me organize all the information related to Zhao Rong on the surface and all the traces that can be found, and give them to me.”

Xiao Wu had long wanted to take a task and slip away. He nodded quickly and turned to leave.

Qiao Nanqi called him back again: “Wait, do you… do you have Zhao Rong added as a friend on any social media accounts?”

“Yes, I do.”

Qiao Nanqi slowly opened his eyes. He seemed to struggle a bit, then hesitated, his gaze drifting back and forth for a moment before he said: “Let me see your account.”

“Huh?”

“If it’s inconvenient… then forget it.”

“No, no, no, not at all!”

Xiao Wu regretted saying that as soon as the words left his mouth. Qiao Nanqi was usually so authoritative that he simply didn’t dare to refuse; he only realized he had agreed after he said it.

And their boss had already raised his hand, palm open, waiting for him to hand over the phone.

With a long face, Xiao Wu wondered if he had ever complained about his boss to friends on his account. Trembling and fearfully, he opened the account interface and placed it in Qiao Nanqi’s hand.

However, Mr. Qiao seemed to have no interest at all in the content of his account.

Qiao Nanqi simply searched for Zhao Rong’s account, then clicked into Zhao Rong’s homepage and began to look through it slowly and carefully from beginning to end.

Zhao Rong wasn’t an active person, so there wasn’t much on his homepage. Yet Qiao Nanqi looked very slowly.

Judging by his speed, he hadn’t missed a single word; he was probably reading every update ten times.

Xiao Wu was puzzled.

If he wanted to see Zhao Rong’s account, couldn’t the boss see it himself?

Why did he have to use his?

But Qiao Nanqi’s accumulated prestige was too heavy; he simply didn’t dare to speak up.

Waiting until Mr. Qiao had finished looking to his satisfaction, Xiao Wu finally got his phone back.

Then Qiao Nanqi said to Xiao Wu: “In the future, if Zhao Rong posts anything, take a screenshot and send it to me.”

“?” Xiao Wu was even more confused. “Alright.”

“Don’t tell Zhao Rong.”

Xiao Wu nodded in confusion.

Only then did Qiao Nanqi let him leave to go about his business.

And he didn’t return home immediately.

He contacted the lawyer handling Chen Zehe and those matters and asked someone to bring a message the next time they saw Chen Senior and Chen Junior.

“Tell them,” he said, “that their only younger brother is doing very well now. The Chen and Qiao families have been in contact for so many years; even if something happened to them, I will take good care of their only remaining heir. I have already handed over everything of the Chen family to Zhao Rong intact. Please ask them to stay inside peacefully.”

Since Chen Senior and Chen Junior could mistreat Zhao Rong for those things, he wouldn’t let them have peace of mind.

After finishing all this and going through all the trouble, the sky was already draped with the Milky Way.

The first thing Qiao Nanqi did after returning to the old mansion on Changxi Road was to pour food for the kittens at home.

When he was a child, although Qiao Anqing raised two cats, that was in the main Qiao residence, where servants handled everything. All he had to do was go up and stroke or hold them every day; he didn’t need to take care of them at all.

Staying here alone these days, Qiao Nanqi had handled everything personally every day and gradually became proficient in these matters of taking care of pets. These trivial tasks weren’t actually difficult, but only by doing them day after day could one know the persistence involved.

Zhao Rong had persisted for ten years.

Thinking of these things, Qiao Nanqi only felt a generalized pain in his heart.

These were things he had never noticed. Looking back now, he had already missed that headlong advance.

And he wanted to learn to repay him with companionship, to be good to Zhao Rong in such a steady, long-term way, but Zhao Rong had even deleted his contact information. When he tried again later, he couldn’t even add him as a friend.

Qiao Nanqi raised his hand and gently stroked the side of a kitten’s neck.

The kitten leaned against his hand.

Following the kitten’s movement as it drew closer, he pulled the cat directly into his arms.

In the past, when he pulled Zhao Rong’s collar, Zhao Rong would also follow his force and draw closer, leaning his whole body against him.

Letting him do as he pleased.

But now, even seeing Zhao Rong once required careful and elaborate arrangements.

Qiao Nanqi had never been in such a humble position before.

Yet, being in this state now, he was actually feeling lucky.

Lucky that he was the person Zhao Rong had liked for so many years.

Lucky that Zhao Rong had only left him and hadn’t fallen for anyone else yet.

Lucky that Zhao Rong was still here.

He still had a chance.