Chapter 45#

By the time Xiao Wu had prepared the items Qiao Nanqi needed, more than half a month had passed.

Qiao Nanqi required all information and traces related to Zhao Rong that could be found on the surface, which was no simple task. Zhao Rong had grown up in Yang City. Before being recognized and brought back to the Chen family at nineteen, he and Zhao Ming had lived a life of drifting through the streets and alleys, moving from place to place. There were naturally many locations to account for. Following the tracks to understand the trajectory of a person’s life from childhood to adulthood was not the work of a single day or night.

For the past half month, Xiao Wu hadn’t dared to slack off at all.

It wasn’t because he was truly that rushed, nor had Qiao Nanqi strictly pressured him. Rather, it was because he himself couldn’t bear to watch anymore and wished to gather these things and hand them over to Qiao Nanqi as soon as possible.

Back when Qiao Nanqi and Zhao Rong maintained an emotional relationship that seemed like partners but was actually unequal, Xiao Wu had thought Qiao Nanqi was someone without much of a heart. Keeping a person by his side, he would still bring whatever female star or other person was appropriate to hold up appearances during social engagements or galas. When Zhao Rong was in the company, Qiao Nanqi didn’t show him much special care either, only being exceptionally generous when giving gifts.

It was as if by simply having such a person by his side, everything was normal for Qiao Nanqi.

But then this person suddenly left. Qiao Nanqi went from being despondent in the beginning to how he was now…

—He felt their boss was about to go crazy.

In the past half month, Qiao Nanqi hadn’t been completely without the mind to work like he was during those few days right after Zhao Rong left the company. But after coming to the company every day, as if trying to distract himself, he never stopped once he sat down.

Processing documents, holding meetings, personally participating in experiments…

Tasks that used to take an entire day were finished in half a day. Everyone else was exhausted to the bone, and Qiao Nanqi, who was working non-stop, was even more haggard.

Yet Qiao Nanqi never rested.

He just stayed in that office where Zhao Rong had only stayed for a few days, holding a Rubik’s Cube. Sometimes he would turn it, and sometimes he would just look at it.

At other times, Qiao Nanqi would call up someone who had once worked with Zhao Rong. Zhao Rong had previously only held a position as an ordinary employee, with his workstation on the lower floors. Although it wasn’t an important job, there were quite a few people sharing the same room. Every day, Qiao Nanqi would call up a few people who knew Zhao Rong and ask miscellaneous questions under the pretext of checking their work.

By now, Xiao Wu naturally understood that these miscellaneous questions were ultimately just a roundabout way to learn what Zhao Rong was like in the company before. Qiao Nanqi went to great lengths to weave Zhao Rong’s name into work-related questions that were beyond reproach, as if he had truly only mentioned Zhao Rong by accident.

Only the slight curl of the corners of Qiao Nanqi’s mouth—which he himself didn’t even notice—upon hearing a piece of information even remotely related to Zhao Rong, faintly revealed his purpose.

Qiao Nanqi could have clearly asked directly, but he didn’t.

Having followed Qiao Nanqi for so long, how could Xiao Wu not understand?

Qiao Nanqi did it so that Zhao Rong wouldn’t be subject to any gossip.

Besides that, if Xiao Wu came, he would always take Xiao Wu’s phone to glance at Zhao Rong’s account.

At the very beginning, Qiao Nanqi had hesitated for a long time before saying to him: “…Send a message to Zhao Rong, saying it’s to… apologize for my rudeness that day.” He was naturally referring to the time Zhao Rong came to the company to pick up documents.

After Xiao Wu sent it, Qiao Nanqi had no mind for anything else and just waited there for a reply.

That day, Zhao Rong seemed to be taking care of his mother and didn’t see the message immediately. Qiao Nanqi waited just like that, coming to ask him every few minutes: “Did he reply?”

After asking dozens of times in this manner, Zhao Rong finally replied with just one sentence: “What rudeness? Which day?”

He had actually directly put the matter out of his mind.

The moment Qiao Nanqi saw this message, the light of anticipation in his eyes immediately dimmed.

Even so, Mr. Qiao, who should have been occupied with a multitude of affairs and gracefully navigating through banquets in all his glory, still acted like he had lost his soul every day.

Who knew when it would end—Xiao Wu hoped that after Qiao Nanqi got these materials, he could return to being a bit more normal. At least he wouldn’t have to make roundabout inquiries every day to get scraps of information about Zhao Rong from other people in the company.

Xiao Wu carried a stack of materials related to Zhao Rong to the office where Zhao Rong had stayed and knocked on the ajar door: “Sir? Everything you wanted is ready.”

Inside the room.

Qiao Nanqi was conversing with other staff members from the company.

Hearing Xiao Wu’s voice, his listless expression shifted slightly. He let the person in and then said to the person reporting in front of him: “Have you searched everywhere? Have you screened every place I lived or worked in for the past two years?”

The person nodded: “Mr. Qiao, we’ve really searched everywhere. We searched each place thoroughly four or five times, even using high-sensitivity metal detectors. We even dismantled some places that needed it to check. There really isn’t any ring.”

Qiao Nanqi’s brow, which had just relaxed because of the materials Xiao Wu brought, furrowed again.

When Zhao Rong gave him the wedding ring, it was at the company.

They had just finished their business in the office back then, and Zhao Rong, having dressed himself, handed it to him with great solemnity. He never took something like a wedding ring seriously, feeling that the state of a relationship had nothing to do with an object. After taking it, he seemed to have placed it somewhere and never wore it afterward.

Now that Zhao Rong was gone, he had moved everything related to the house out cleanly, and nothing was left in the company either. In the end, there were only those colleagues who had once interacted with Zhao Rong to ask, and only a Rubik’s Cube and a wedding ring of unknown whereabouts were left.

The ring had been sought for several days without a trace.

If it hadn’t been taken by someone else in the company, the only possibility was that he had casually put it in his pocket at the time, brought it home, and thrown it somewhere.

He was just about to move back from the old mansion on Changxi Road; he would have to look for it thoroughly once he returned.

Qiao Nanqi said: “Alright, I understand.”

The person understood his meaning and left the office.

Only Qiao Nanqi and Xiao Wu were left in the room.

Without Qiao Nanqi having to say anything, Xiao Wu placed the items in front of him and said: “Following what you said, I’ve basically screened everything I could find and everyone I could ask. This is all the information that can be found on the surface. If you need more, then we’ll have to…”

“No need,” Qiao Nanqi’s voice was low. “Those things that require certain means to find… he definitely wouldn’t want others to know.”

Xiao Wu didn’t ask further.

Qiao Nanqi’s mood finally improved a bit at this moment.

When he realized that he had indeed never understood the Zhao Rong of the past ten years, he understood the meaning of those words Zhao Rong had said.

If he made up for the knowledge he missed in those past years, would Zhao Rong forgive him?

Even if Zhao Rong was still angry with him, he wanted to fully understand the Zhao Rong of the past. To understand if, in those ten-plus years, besides the forbearance he knew about that Zhao Rong had swallowed alone, he had still missed many invisible wounds. To understand the bitterness he could have protected Zhao Rong from if he had realized his feelings earlier.

Qiao Nanqi began to look through them seriously.

He originally thought these would at most be some experiences and preferences from Zhao Rong’s childhood to his growth. But after turning just two pages, his movement came to a sudden halt. His finger, holding the corner of the paper, subconsciously pressed down, creating a crease in the smooth paper.

The information he caught sight of so unexpectedly was like a thousand-pound sword suddenly falling, leaving him dazed and bewildered.

“Zhao Rong’s past…” he asked, clearly knowing what he was asking, yet also seeming not to know what he was asking, “his grades were very good?”

Xiao Wu had clearly been surprised by this too and nodded without hesitation: “Yes. I specifically went to Mr. Zhao’s high school homeroom teacher’s house to verify. Mr. Zhao…” He scratched his head, no less surprised than Qiao Nanqi. “Mr. Zhao’s grades in high school were excellent. Except for times when he was delayed by family matters, he was first in every exam. Mr. Zhao’s high school was very ordinary. His teacher said that Mr. Zhao was admitted to one of the two best universities in our Yang City back then, and the school even seemed to have approved a scholarship for him. In short…”

In short, he was completely different from the Zhao Rong understood by the social circles of prominent families now.

At this moment, it suddenly occurred to Qiao Nanqi—Zhao Rong and Lu Xingping were university alumni.

When Zhao Rong first started getting closer to him, it began at a gathering. Lu Xingping had brought Zhao Rong along to the banquet, saying: “That little young master recently recognized by the Chen family happens to be my junior. I brought him along for some fun.”

Someone joked: “He looks quite young. Is he a junior from the high school you attended before? It’s easy to pick up bad habits in a place like this. How old is he?”

A gentle voice rang out: “Nineteen, not a high schooler.”

Qiao Nanqi looked in the direction Lu Xingping pointed. Zhao Rong, standing to the side, met Qiao Nanqi’s gaze and gave a obedient smile.

Memories flooded back.

“…But after Mr. Zhao reached university,” Xiao Wu continued, “it seems he… plummeted in that regard.”

Hearing this, Qiao Nanqi’s gaze sharpened.

He was no longer completely ignorant.

He thought of that matter Chen Junior had confessed to. The reason Zhao Rong had been under house arrest by Chen Senior for over a month was that Chen Senior and Chen Junior felt Zhao Rong had undergone a change in character during that time and were worried he suddenly had a mind to fight for the family property.

He thought of how, when he first felt Zhao Rong was idle and not doing honest work, Zhao Rong had rarely spoken to him with a hint of grievance, saying “I’m not,” only to be interrupted by Qiao Nanqi silently getting up and leaving.

More than half a month ago at the bar, Zhao Rong was high-spirited, standing out among a group of truly unlearned and incompetent playboys, announcing loudly, “I’ll cover the bill for everyone today.”

He also remembered the first time he saw Zhao Rong in the hospital corridor twelve years ago. The young Zhao Rong was clearly in a wretched state, yet his whole being had only a clean aura, completely unlike someone who would be dissipated.

He asked in a low voice: “Which year…?”

“Huh?”

“You said he started to change after university. Which year was it?”

“It seems it was his freshman or sophomore year, age nineteen. You can flip further back.”

Without him needing to say it, Qiao Nanqi had already quickly skipped over some content, specifically picking out things related to Zhao Rong’s grades during his student days.

The documents were spread out on the table in chronological order, clearly highlighting the watershed moment at age nineteen.

A truth that was obvious yet heavy and suffocating charged out along with this glaring watershed. In the vast expanse, it caught him off guard and left him utterly defeated.

Xiao Wu saw that he had just managed to rally his spirits with great difficulty, but now it was as if even his last bit of vitality had been drained away. He rested his forehead on his crossed hands, hiding most of his expression.

He looked down and saw that the piece of paper in front of Qiao Nanqi suddenly gained a small circle, as if a drop of water had fallen onto it.

He had clearly checked it when he brought it; where did the water stain come from…?

“Sir, are you… alright?”

Qiao Nanqi’s voice was instantly wrapped in a muffled hoarseness: “I’m fine.”

He just felt a bit unable to catch his breath.