Gu Yingchuan’s concern for Qin Wan was truly beyond her expectations.
She was a little shocked and dazed, but more than anything, a faint warmth spread through her heart.
She sat quietly in her chair and waited for a while.
About ten minutes later,
Gu Yingchuan came down the stairs in a suit, looking fresh and well-groomed.
When Qin Wan noticed him, she picked up the bowl at the head of the table and filled it with hot porridge. By the time he sat down beside her, she had it ready to hand to him.
They had breakfast in harmony, then left one after the other and headed for the garage.
From a distance, Qin Wan spotted her little white Polo.
Parked beside it was a black Bentley whose purchase tax alone could have bought who knew how many of her beat-up cars.
Cao Jun had been waiting by the car for quite some time.
As soon as he saw Gu Yingchuan approaching, he hurried to open the car door and greeted them. “Good morning, President Gu. Good morning, Miss Qin.”
Gu Yingchuan gave a slight nod.
Qin Wan replied with a faint smile. “Good morning, Assistant Cao. I really put you to trouble last week.”
“It was nothing, Miss Qin. You’re too kind. It’s just that your car is really old. It’s only been temporarily repaired, so you’d better be careful when you drive it.”
Cao Jun couldn’t help warning her.
At that, Gu Yingchuan paused in the act of getting into the car. His thin lips pressed together briefly, and he turned to Qin Wan. “Why don’t you take one of my cars?”
He hadn’t realized Qin Wan’s car was in such bad shape.
It was already a cheap little Polo, and it was an extremely old secondhand car on top of that?
No wonder it had broken down in the middle of the road!
But at the man’s suggestion, Qin Wan reflexively waved her hands. “No, no, it’s fine! I’ll just be more careful when I drive.”
Most of the cars she could see in the garage were worth over a million. If people at the company saw her driving one in, who knew what kind of rumors they’d spread behind her back?
“I’ll head off, then. Drive safely.”
Afraid the man might insist on lending her a luxury car out of kindness, Qin Wan tossed out the words, opened her car door, and darted into the driver’s seat. She drove out of the garage in one smooth, swift motion.
Her movements were fluid and seamless.
As if all his expensive cars were hot potatoes.
A distinctly helpless look crossed Gu Yingchuan’s cool face. He let out a quiet sigh, then bent down and got into the car.
Monday morning rush hour was especially congested.
Though the distance was short, Qin Wan barely managed to clock in on time.
At the regular meeting, project director Zhang Meng made a point of announcing that Qin Wan’s team would be responsible for Shengjing Group’s bidding project.
The announcement was so formal that Qin Wan immediately grew wary. She lowered her head and sent her assistant, Fang Qing, a WeChat message, asking her to look into the project’s background before it had been assigned to her.
Just as she’d expected—
“Manager Qin, there’s no way this project can be completed! Shengjing’s person in charge rejected Team C’s proposal outright. And because they tried to bribe him, they were kicked out of Shengjing. Now our company is definitely on their blacklist. How could we possibly still have a chance of getting the project?”
Fang Qing placed the investigation materials and Team C’s proposal in front of Qin Wan.
Qin Wan’s expression darkened. Her fingertips, pressing hard as she leafed through the documents, had gone white—
Zhang Meng really had set a vicious trap for her.
She’d dumped this hot potato in Qin Wan’s lap and could use it as an excuse to get rid of her, too.
Failing to complete a project this big would be enough to lower her performance rating on the grounds of poor work ability. Under company policy, they could then fire her without paying her a cent.
The scheme was practically staring her in the face!
“What are we going to do now, Manager Qin?” Fang Qing asked again, despairing.
Qin Wan put away the documents and looked up at her, her composure already restored.
“If we haven’t reached a dead end, there’s no reason to give up.”
A glint of determination flashed in Qin Wan’s clear eyes. Calmly, she instructed Fang Qing, “Everyone will have to work hard over the next few days. I’ll review Team C’s proposal and figure out exactly what’s wrong with it. Get everyone together for a meeting at one this afternoon.”
“Understood, Manager Qin.”
Seeing how composed her direct supervisor was helped Fang Qing relax a little. She acknowledged the instruction and returned to her desk.
Qin Wan threw herself into her work.
Before she knew it, it was time to leave.
She was packing up, planning to go back to the villa and keep working overtime, when the WeChat client open on her computer began flashing repeatedly.
She clicked on it. The messages were from Shen Wenna—
“Wanwan, are you still mad?”
“You didn’t come home this weekend, and I’ve been so worried about you! But this has to be resolved eventually. Even if you don’t plan to move back in, you still need to come and settle this matter!”
“Wanwan, if you’re willing to come back and deal with this, I promise there won’t be a next time, all right? If there is, I’ll leave with you. I’ll definitely divorce your uncle!”
As Qin Wan read the three messages in succession, her hand tightened abruptly around the mouse.
Just as she was trying to work out how much of Shen Wenna’s words was true, Shen Wenna sent another picture.
In it, Shen Wenna’s arm was mottled with purple bruises. It was obvious Xu Liming had hit her!
A surge of anger spread through Qin Wan’s chest.
“I’m coming home right now!”
After typing those words, Qin Wan shut down her computer, gathered her things, and hurried to the underground garage.
Before starting the car, she didn’t forget to send Gu Yingchuan a WeChat message, too—
“I need to go home for a while. I’ll be back later… I won’t be having dinner, so please apologize to Nanny Wang for me.”
After sending it, she locked her phone and tossed it onto the passenger seat, then floored the accelerator and sped home.
Gu Yingchuan saw the message half an hour later, after his meeting had ended.
The man’s brow furrowed slightly.
Years spent navigating the business world had made him almost instinctively sense that something was wrong—
If they were so eager to get this daughter home, why hadn’t they chosen the weekend, when there was plenty of time? Why pick Monday evening, when working people were at their most exhausted and under the greatest stress?
A faint sense of danger stirred.
Gu Yingchuan abruptly rose from his executive chair and strode out of his office.
“President Gu?”
Cao Jun, bent over some paperwork, suddenly felt a pressing presence approach from behind. He looked up, and the man had already stopped beside his desk.
“Come with me. We’re going to the residential complex where Qin Wan lives,” Gu Yingchuan ordered gravely.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he headed straight for the elevator without pausing.
Cao Jun had no idea what had happened, but the man’s expression was dark. He immediately grabbed the car keys and hurried after him without wasting a second.
Five minutes later, the black Bentley slowly emerged from the company’s underground garage.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the little white Polo passed through the residential complex’s gate, driving in with practiced familiarity.
It soon pulled up in front of the building where Xu Liming’s apartment was.