Qiao Qiao felt it was necessary to say something: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Ni Zijing raised her eyebrows at Qiao Qiao. Where am I talking nonsense?
She was not in a rush; there was still plenty of time to explain everything clearly to Qiao Qiao.
Zhou Nanzhen whispered to her husband on the side: “Zijing is so eloquent; who did she inherit that from?”
Ni Qing shook off the goosebumps on his body, while Jiang Yao just smiled. Zhou Nanzhen glanced at the kitchen: “Oh, look at my memory. You all go ahead and take your seats; dinner is almost ready.”
Ni Zijing was called over by Zhou Nanzhen to help. As she was leaving, she bent down and asked Qiao Qiao: “Do you feel uncomfortable? If this makes you feel uneasy, I will take you out first.”
Qiao Qiao sighed and said: “As long as you stop spouting nonsense, I will be perfectly fine.”
Ni Zijing happily pushed Qiao Qiao to the dining table. It had been a long time since Qiao Qiao had experienced the feeling of a whole family eating together. There were voices talking, the sounds of setting bowls and chopsticks, and the aroma of hot food.
She watched Ni Zijing, Ni Qing, and Zhou Nanzhen busy serving dishes together. Perhaps it was the steam rising up to her eyes, but Qiao Qiao felt her vision blurring slightly.
She quickly lowered her head to brush away the emotions in her eyes.
Fortunately, Ni Zijing did not say anything else during the meal, and dinner ended in a cheerful atmosphere. After the meal, although the Ni family warmly invited Qiao Qiao to rest at their home, Qiao Qiao insisted on going back. Seeing that Qiao Qiao’s attitude was firm, Ni Zijing brushed off her parents’ comments and prepared to take Qiao Qiao home.
Ni Zijing’s car slowly drove out of the villa area into the night. Shadows of light flickered across Qiao Qiao’s face, and Ni Zijing truly could not figure out what this little hedgehog was thinking.
She only felt that Qiao Qiao seemed a bit unhappy.
The entire ride was silent, Qiao Qiao’s gaze as cold as if it were frozen. When they arrived at the door, Qiao Qiao opened it without any intention of inviting Ni Zijing inside.
Ni Zijing understood: Qiao Qiao was angry that she had brought her home to eat without saying a word first.
“President Ni, please go back.” Qiao Qiao glanced up: “My assistant will be here shortly, so you do not need to worry about it.”
Qiao Qiao only turned on the light at the entryway, and the inside remained dim.
Ni Zijing glanced inside, unsure if Qiao Qiao would actually call her assistant over to keep her company. But being blocked at the door and unable to enter, she really wanted to help Qiao Qiao turn on the lights to brighten the place up and make sure she was taken care of before leaving.
“Are you unhappy?” Ni Zijing lowered her eyes, not understanding why she was so unwelcome to Qiao Qiao.
Qiao Qiao’s voice was very faint: “President Ni, I have finished the meal with you. I will say it again: please do not set your heart on me.”
How many times had Qiao Qiao rejected her now?
Ni Zijing watched Qiao Qiao without speaking.
In fact, Ni Zijing had seen the vulnerability when Qiao Qiao lowered her head at the dining table, but she did not call it out. Just from that scene at the hospital earlier, Ni Zijing could roughly guess how Qiao Qiao had grown up, so she was not surprised that she had developed such a sensitive and prickly personality.
She seemed indifferent to everything, yet she was so calculated in certain small details.
That moment Qiao Qiao lowered her head at the table had really tugged at her heartstrings, leaving Ni Zijing feeling both heartache and bitterness.
How long must someone have been alone to be so unaccustomed to warmth? She would rather live in isolation than surrender herself to anyone.
“Fine, I am leaving. I will have Sister Zou inform you of any announcements, but you can rest for the time being.” Ni Zijing finally compromised and stepped back a few paces: “I may be very busy lately and cannot keep coming over to take care of you. Pay attention to your foot and do not push yourself. When you need help, call someone.”
She had already returned to Beilin City and officially appeared before the media, so naturally, she had to handle various matters at the company.
The following days were handled by the little assistant who came to take care of Qiao Qiao’s daily life.
Ni Zijing was exactly as she had said, busy without measure. Being newly appointed, there were simply too many things to hand over and handle. Sister Zou brought several scripts to Qiao Qiao, saying they were all looking for Qiao Qiao to act in them soon.
Qiao Qiao was content with her leisure and picked scripts carefully at home.
Although Ni Zijing did not come in person, things were sent over in waves:
Sometimes it was fresh produce or fruit delivered locally, sometimes supplements, and sometimes even a bouquet of flowers.
When the assistant helped collect the deliveries, she held the flowers and hopped over to place them in a vase, exclaiming: “Qiao-jie, President Ni is so good to you. Even though she is so busy, she does not forget to send you things and flowers. Look at how beautiful these flowers are.”
Qiao Qiao glanced at them while flipping through a script: “Tacky.”
Sister Zou had given her a twenty-day break, so Qiao Qiao simply ignored her phone and turned off all electronic products, treating it as if she were living in seclusion at home. Since the day Ni Zijing said she was busy, she had still come to see her during the evenings for the first few days.
Qiao Qiao’s attitude had remained cold, and eventually, whether due to being busy or something else, Ni Zijing stopped coming.
Two weeks had passed, and although things kept being sent over continuously, the online hype surrounding Qiao Qiao and Ni Zijing began to fade. Qiao Qiao returned to the days when she could go out as long as she wore a mask and sunglasses.
Qiao Qiao thought: She must be about to give up, right?
Sure enough, this was just a whim of Ni Zijing’s, and it became boring after a while.
The little assistant did not know Qiao Qiao’s thoughts and continued to ramble on persistently: “President Ni has been very busy lately; I heard she slept at the company for several days. A while ago, I heard she signed someone else. Oh, Qiao-jie, why are you giving me money?”
It was not a small amount; it was a thick stack of cash. In this age where transfers were popular, the assistant did not expect to have her arms filled with money.
“Help me give this to President Ni.” Qiao Qiao did not have Ni Zijing’s WeChat, so she came up with this method. Qiao Qiao had not touched any of the many things Ni Zijing had sent over; they were all piled up in the kitchen and the refrigerator. She did not want to owe anyone anything. Whether Ni Zijing wanted to accept this money or not, she would at least feel at ease.
“Qiao-jie, that is not a good idea.”
Qiao Qiao moved her foot; the splint had been removed yesterday. She tried standing up and walking a few steps slowly before turning around: “You have worked hard during this time, Xiao Duo. You do not need to come take care of me starting tomorrow.”
As it happened, Sister Zou said there was a magazine photoshoot tomorrow afternoon, and it would be with Yu Huai.
Ni Zijing took a nap in her office and rubbed her swollen eyes.
Recently, there were several project proposals submitted that she had ordered to be revised again and again, but none were to her satisfaction. On top of that, having just joined the job, she often had business dinners to attend for more stable collaborations, and by the time she finished, it was often nine or ten o’clock.
She did not want to disturb Qiao Qiao, and Qiao Qiao had not replied to the messages she sent over.
However, she did remember to have someone buy fresh pork ribs and send them over every day, instructing Qiao Qiao’s assistant to remember to make soup for her, since eating bone soup was good for recovery.
Furthermore, in order to make time to go find Qiao Qiao, she had compressed many matters to be completed together. Once she finished signing these few documents at hand, she could go see her in person.
“Knock, knock.” Someone knocked on the door.
Ni Zijing sat up straight: “Come in.”
The door opened, and Xiao Duo’s uneasy face appeared in her line of sight.
“Something up?” Ni Zijing was a bit surprised to see her; shouldn’t she be taking care of Qiao Qiao at this hour?
Xiao Duo tremblingly held her bag and stood before Ni Zijing’s desk, swallowing her saliva.
Ni Zijing frowned: “Is something wrong with Qiao Qiao?”
“No, no, it is not that.” Xiao Duo closed her eyes and took out that stack of money, placing it in front of Ni Zijing: “President Ni! Qiao-jie asked me to give this to you!”
Ni Zijing: “?”
Xiao Duo said with a mournful face: “Qiao-jie said she does not want to owe you. She said if it is not enough, she will give more.”
She could already see President Ni’s face beginning to sink. Xiao Duo thought to herself: It is over, I am definitely going to be fired by President Ni in a fit of rage, right?
Ni Zijing looked at the eye-dazzling RMB on the desktop and almost could not catch her breath. It was her first time finding money so unpleasant to look at.
She actually gave her money?
Very well, Qiao Qiao was truly excellent.
After a long while, Xiao Duo heard President Ni speak coldly: “Did you handle what I asked you to ask last time?”
“Handled. I brought the key.” Xiao Duo quickly took out a set of keys from her bag and offered them: “It is right next to Qiao-jie’s. I rented it.”
President Ni had asked her to check if there were any apartments for rent in the residential area where Qiao-jie lived, and she had actually found one. It was right next to Qiao-jie’s, as if it were meant to be.
“Is she home?”
Xiao Duo did not dare to raise her head: “Ah. Yes, she is.”
“Fine, you can go off work. I will go over myself.”
Meanwhile, Qiao Qiao, who was home alone, opened the refrigerator. Most of the ingredients Ni Zijing had sent had been boiled into soup by Xiao Duo, but there were still many stockpiled in the fridge. And those supplements, Qiao Qiao was certain she would never eat them.
She stood before the refrigerator for a moment before quickly grabbing a large bag.
She stuffed those supplements, ingredients that were about to spoil but had not been eaten, and the dried-up bouquets into the large bag, intending to take them downstairs to throw them away.
Qiao Qiao hesitated while opening the door; would it be bad to throw away the things Ni Zijing brought over like this?
But then she thought, did I not already give the money to her? Then these are things I bought myself.
Yes, that was exactly it.
Each floor of Qiao Qiao’s residential area had two households, but she did not stay home much and had never met her neighbors. She did not mind, pressing the elevator and waiting.
The floor number ascended bit by bit until “Ding,” the door opened.
Actually, throwing things away was very simple, just carry them downstairs and drop them. But if she happened to run into the person who brought these things before throwing them away, it would be a bit awkward.
Qiao Qiao looked at Ni Zijing, who was stepping out of the elevator with a faint smile and standing before her. She did not know what to say.
Ni Zijing hung a set of keys on her finger and dangled them. Why did Qiao Qiao think they looked so familiar? Why did they look so much like the keys to her own home?
Seeing Ni Zijing shift her gaze to the large bag in her hand, Qiao Qiao instinctively stepped back a few paces and leaned against the wall.
“Taking out the trash?” Ni Zijing reached out to hook the bag: “Looks pretty heavy. Shall I help you?”
Shall I? Even the shall I? Qiao Qiao felt that Ni Zijing’s eyes were not as relaxed as the shall I sounded.
Qiao Qiao pulled on the large trash bag and did not give it over. Ni Zijing stopped talking as well.
She stood in front of her, unmoving, silently frowning. Qiao Qiao did not even know what she was feeling guilty about; was it not just throwing away some things that could not be eaten anymore?
Ni Zijing stood a few paces away from her, over 1.7 meters tall, tall and slender.
The oppressive feeling when she was silent was really more than just a little.
Just as the two were at a stalemate, the lights in the corridor went out. Qiao Qiao was startled and felt the bag in her hand being hooked away by someone, then with a pop, it was placed on the ground and the lights turned back on.
Qiao Qiao did not know where the anger came from; looking at the person blocking her way, she blurted out: “Can you stop liking me? I have already made myself clear enough, why must you not listen? I have not paid any attention to you during this time you looked for me, and I thought you had given up when you did not come. I gave you the money because I do not want to owe anyone anything. President Ni, how can you be so dense?”
The person in front of her remained silent for a long time before suddenly making a move, using her height advantage to press Qiao Qiao against the wall.
Ni Zijing happened to be under the light, blocking all of the illumination.
She tilted her head slightly, speaking to interrupt what Qiao Qiao had not finished saying.
“I cannot.”