Gu Yan sighed, “It’s alright. We’ve been keeping in touch through WeChat, occasionally video calling. She’s just lost a lot of weight.”
Tang Qingru merely responded in a low voice, “As long as she’s fine.”
Gu Yan looked at him and sighed softly.
She felt somewhat sorry for them. When 19-year-old Qi Yan met 26-year-old Tang Qingru, regardless of their social status, the teacher-student relationship alone created an insurmountable barrier between them.
The Qu Corporation.
The conference room was silent. Today was Qu Bai’s first day at the company, and Qu Xiao had no intention of putting him in his place, merely going through the motions with him.
Because he had already identified which people in this conference room were Old Master Qu’s allies. What he needed to do was quietly uproot them completely.
“That concludes today’s meeting.”
As soon as Qu Xiao finished speaking and stood up, Qu Bai also rose. “Big brother, where is my office?”
Without turning his head, Qu Xiao replied coldly, “Should the CEO personally escort a vice president to his office? Furthermore, this is the company. No one here is your big brother.”
Watching Qu Xiao’s retreating figure, Qu Bai’s face darkened.
Fine then. He would make sure to prance around right under his nose and see what he could do about it. After all, he still had the old master backing him.
Glancing at the people remaining in the conference room, Qu Bai knew these were all the old master’s people.
A faint smile appeared on his face. Ultimately, he was still superior – there would always be someone supporting him from behind.
When Qu Xiao pushed open the door and entered his office, he saw Liang Yan holding a tablet with an unpleasant expression.
Frowning slightly, he walked over. “What’s wrong?”
Liang Yan handed him the tablet. “Brother, just as expected, someone is trying to throw muddy water on you regarding last night’s incident.”
Qu Xiao just glanced at it briefly, not particularly concerned. “They won’t make any rash moves without evidence.”
Liang Yan looked at him worriedly. “But brother, they’ve been watching you secretly all along. I’m afraid they might use this opportunity to search Rose Garden. If they find guns there, even just the charge of illegal firearm possession could push you into the spotlight.”
Qu Xiao lit a cigarette with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ve already made arrangements. They’ll never find anything there.”
Hearing this, Liang Yan felt relieved and went back to playing games on his tablet.
After finishing his cigarette, Qu Xiao returned to his desk to review contracts.
Around noon, someone knocked on the office door.
Qu Xiao called “Come in” and saw a bodyguard enter carrying a pink lunch box.
Curious, Liang Yan put down his tablet and walked over. “Oh? Which young lady admiring my brother sent this? It’s even pink – seems she has a youthful heart. Let me see what delicious food is inside.”
Qu Xiao merely glanced at the lunch box indifferently before saying calmly, “Throw it away.”
Qi Zi quickly interjected, “Sir, it’s from the madam.”
Liang Yan looked at him confused. “The madam? Which madam? Could it be that vixen?”
Qu Xiao also put down his pen, a hint of anger in his eyes.
Seeing that Qu Xiao was about to lose his temper, Qi Zi hurriedly explained, “No, it’s your wife. She just personally handed it to me downstairs.”
Now even Qu Xiao was surprised. “Where is she?”
“Madam said there are guests at home tonight, so she went to buy groceries herself. She gave me this lunchbox to deliver to you and asked me to pass on a message – you must finish everything.” Qi Zi said as he placed the lunchbox on the office desk.
Liang Yan was a step faster than Qu Xiao in opening the lunchbox, releasing an aromatic fragrance.
He stared incredulously at the beautifully presented dishes with their enticing color and smell. “There’s no way she made this. It must be Aunt Mei’s cooking.”
Qu Xiao remained silent, picking up his chopsticks to taste a bite. The flavor was excellent and suited his palate perfectly, but this wasn’t Aunt Mei’s culinary style – it seemed she had indeed cooked it herself.
Though she mentioned having guests at home tonight, he couldn’t recall being informed about any visitors.
Watching Qu Xiao enjoy the food with evident relish, Liang Yan unconsciously swallowed. “Brother, let me have a taste.”
Without looking up, Qu Xiao responded, “This is for me. If you want some, go buy your own.”
Liang Yan cursed under his breath before sneakily reaching for a shrimp and popping it into his mouth.
“Hey, this really isn’t Aunt Mei’s cooking!”
Qu Xiao glared at him with a darkened expression. “Yu Yang, throw him out.”
As he was being escorted out miserably, Liang Yan complained pitifully, “Brother, you’ve changed. When we were young, you’d give me your food even when you were hungry yourself. Now you won’t even share a bite.”
He remembered how Qu Xiao had always yielded everything to him as his younger brother – even when establishing his overseas influence, Qu Xiao had contacted him first.
Yet now he was being thrown out over a single shrimp. Had the brotherly love truly vanished?
Qu Xiao showed no intention of acknowledging his complaints, instead finishing every last bite of Gu Yan’s cooking.
Just as he set down his chopsticks, Gu Yan called.
Her silver-bell-like voice chimed through the receiver as he answered: “Was it delicious?”
A handsome curve graced Qu Xiao’s lips, though his voice remained as steady as ever. “Delicious.”
“Did you finish everything?”
“Every bite. Should I send you a photo as proof?”
Gu Yan found his remark both amusing and exasperating. “No need for photos! You’re making me sound like I’m checking up on you.”
Qu Xiao unconsciously smiled along with her, toying with the hair tie in his hand.
Gu Yan asked another question: “What time will you finish work today?”
Qu Xiao glanced at the documents on his desk – there was still one contract needing signature. “Around five o’clock.”
“Good, we’ll wait for you to come home for dinner. I have a surprise for you then.”
He instinctively asked, “What is it?”
“Hey, I said it’s a surprise! You’ll find out when you get home. I need to drive now, talk later.”
“Alright, drive safely.”
“See you tonight, Uncle Qu.”
Staring at the ended call and the empty lunchbox, Qu Xiao felt like he was dreaming.
He even wondered if everything was just a dream – why would Gu Yan suddenly treat him so well?
His thoughts drifted far away as he gazed at the sunflower-adorned hair tie in his hand.
After a long while, he checked the time, pocketed the hair tie, and stood up to leave.
First, sign the contract. Then return home to have dinner with her.
Meanwhile, Gu Yan had returned to Rose Garden with Aunt Mei after buying abundant groceries. The moment they entered, they saw a beautiful woman hugging Tang Qingru while crying uncontrollably.
Tang Qingru’s eyes were also slightly reddened. He merely patted the beautiful woman’s back intermittently, unable to utter a single word of comfort.
Seeing that Gu Yan had returned, Liang Yueran quickly pulled her aside to the doorway and asked, “Who is that man? Why did my mother start crying as if her heart would break the moment she saw him? And why did you make my mother come see him?”
Suddenly struck by a thought, Liang Yueran’s eyes widened in shock. “Could he be my mother’s old flame? But that doesn’t make sense—he’s so much younger than her. Is he my mother’s illegitimate child???”
Considering the man was about the same age as her cousin, Liang Yueran’s face turned pale. “That’s it. He must be my mother’s illegitimate child. No wonder he looks so familiar to me.”
Gu Yan looked at her with utter speechlessness. “Liang Yueran, could you please not let your imagination run wild like that?”
Frowning slightly, Gu Yan carried the groceries inside. “Let’s go in first. You’ll understand when your cousin returns later. I don’t really know how to explain it to you right now.”
Watching Gu Yan enter the kitchen and start helping Aunt Mei prepare the meal, and glancing again at her still-sobbing mother, Liang Yueran decided to escape into the kitchen for some peace.
She looked at Gu Yan curiously and asked, “How do you know how to cook? Weren’t you pampered growing up just like me? Is it all an illusion—were your parents actually treating you like a servant?”
Gu Yan rolled her eyes dramatically. Of course, she couldn’t tell her that in her previous life, Xu Tao and Qin Yao had deceived her into believing that to gain Qu Xiao’s trust, she had to handle his affairs personally. That was why she had taken cooking classes and asked Aunt Mei about his favorite dishes.
Thinking of this, Gu Yan sighed inwardly. It was just a pity he had never gotten to taste any of it.
Noticing Gu Yan’s distraction, Liang Yueran couldn’t help but give her a light slap. “Hey, what are you doing? I’m asking you a question, and you’re spacing out.”
Snapping back to reality, Gu Yan flashed her a charming smile. “Haven’t you heard? To capture a man’s heart, you must first capture his stomach. Once he gets used to my cooking, he won’t be able to leave me.”
Liang Yueran stared at her as if she were an idiot, completely failing to grasp her logic. Why bother doing it yourself when there were servants available?
She looked at Gu Yan with disdain. “If a man wants to leave you, it doesn’t matter how delicious your food is. Even if you made him eat dog crap from the streets, he’d still say it’s tasty.”
“Of course, Cousin would never eat dog crap.Gu Yan’s mouth twitched, and she simply ignored her.
She realized Liang Yueran was just like her former self—prone to letting her imagination run wild with absurd ideas.
………
The Qu Family Old Mansion.
In the study.
Qu Mou’s expression was grim as he looked at Old Master Qu. “Dad, that beast publicly humiliated Xiao Bai in front of so many people today. Aren’t you going to do something about him?”
Old Master Qu toyed with the priceless jade walnuts in his hand, frowning slightly as he regarded him. “A Mou, why are you still so impatient? The Qu Corporation only revived under his leadership. When the time is right, I will naturally deal with disobedient pieces. But now is not the moment.”
“Besides, A Mou, you shouldn’t harbor such hostility toward him.”
Qu Mou stared at Old Master Qu, his face darkening. “Dad, you know perfectly well he’s not my son. Why do you insist on keeping him around?”