The Madman and The Doll

Chapter 48

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The cuffs of his shirt were pulled up almost roughly—the winding, ugly and hideous scar instantly appeared in Song Shu's field of vision, causing his pupils to shrink suddenly.

Her figure and movements froze in place.

The kitchen was silent for a few seconds before Qin Lou came back to his senses. Before Mei Jinghan, who was shocked beside him, could look up, he had already lowered his hand and brushed his shirt sleeve back to cover it.

"Why are you running so fast?" His voice was particularly calm at this moment, with a hint of ease that was only trying to hide it.

Mei Jinghan was also confused, not knowing what had happened. "Yeah, Nannan, why did you suddenly come in?" Mei Jinghan said, then looked down at Qin Lou's hand that was hanging down by his side and hidden in her blind spot, "What happened to you just now?"

"… I'm sorry, Mom." Song Shu took a deep breath and suppressed her trembling voice. She looked up at Mei Jinghan and Qin Yuzheng, "I have something urgent to discuss with Qin Lou."

Mei Jinghan's expression froze for a second, and it took her a second or two to react. She quickly agreed, "Oh, OK, OK, you guys go and talk."

Song Shu nodded, took Qin Lou's hand, and walked out without looking back, dragging the man who was more than ten centimeters taller than her.

After the two of them left for half a minute, Mei Jinghan in the kitchen turned around uneasily and asked Qin Yuzheng: "Did I see correctly just now? Did Nannan's eyes turn red?"

Qin Yuzheng frowned, "It seems so."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. But he was fine during the meal. How come he suddenly got angry after such a short while?"

"I know Nannan's personality. She's not the type to throw tantrums. It must be this Boss Qin's problem. Did he do something to let Nannan down and was caught by Nannan?"

"… She was looking at Qin Lou's wrist, not his cell phone. Can you still catch someone by the wrist?" Qin Yuzheng asked helplessly.

“That’s right.”

"Okay, don't worry about it. Just ask them after they finish talking."

"Um."

On the other side, in the cloakroom on the first floor.

Song Shu stopped, as if she had forgotten what she was going to do. She stood there stiffly for a few seconds before turning back and closing the sturdy sliding wooden door of the cloakroom.

After the door was sealed, Song Shu did not turn around, but slowly lowered his shoulders and leaned against the door.

With her back to Qin Lou who had been dragged in by her, she could no longer hold back the tears that she had been suppressing for so long. They struggled to jump out of her eye sockets and fell silently to the ground.

Drop after drop of water wet the light gray ground, leaving darker marks that were almost black.

Unlike others, she cried quietly without making any sound.

Qin Lou was stunned.

He walked through the corridor before coming in. Along the way, he thought that no matter how the little clam scolded and got angry, he could deal with it and try his best to coax him - but he didn't expect that the little clam didn't say a word after coming in.

He didn't utter a word, and then he saw Little Clam cry for the first time.

Qin Lou was so confused that his mind went blank.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that many years ago, he maliciously teased the girl who couldn't open her shell. She sat at the desk and concentrated on doing homework and refused to pay attention to him. He was angry and annoyed. He sat at the corner of her desk, swinging his legs and looking at her expressionless pretty little face, and then asked maliciously:

"Little clam, if you cry in the future, will golden beans or white pearls fall out?"

At that time, the little clam still ignored him.

But Qin Lou now knows the answer.

It turned out that they were neither gold beans nor pearls, but knives, sharp and cold, which stabbed into the softest part of his heart one after another.

The pain made him stunned and his whole body numb. He stood there like a piece of wood or a fool.

It took Qin Lou a long while to regain his senses. He panicked and took two steps forward but stopped at a loss. It took him several seconds to react and carefully hug the person from behind.

Then he hugged her tightly and forcefully, as if he was afraid that she would run away.

The madman was in a panic, his eyes were wandering in panic. He could only follow his instinct and lower his head to kiss the girl's temples and tear-soaked cheeks through her soft long hair.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, don't cry, doll."

"… "

His hands were clasped in front of her. Song Shu froze for a few seconds, tears still falling, but she ignored them and just lowered her head to hold his left sleeve.

Qin Lou stopped and wanted to stop it but didn't dare.

It was the first time he saw Song Shu cry, and shedding tears so quietly. He felt so heartbroken that every part of his body felt like it was being pierced by tiny needles.

After an unknown amount of time, Song Shu finally pulled up the sleeve with trembling fingertips. The horrible scar she saw in the kitchen was revealed again.

That is the character “book”.

It's just that it was carved too many times, with scars on top of wounds, and wounds on top of scars. There is no healthy spot on the entire wrist.

There are bumpy scars all over.

She clearly, clearly just took a bite here. If she had known this would happen, she would never have eaten it.

Song Shu bit her lip silently, her tears falling faster and faster. Some of them hit the ground, some fell on Qin Lou's sleeves, and some wet his wrist and fell on the ugly, almost unrecognizable word "书".

Song Shu felt as if a needle had pricked her eyes. She hurriedly reached out to wipe away the tears that were falling, as if she was afraid that the tears would soak into and hurt the wound that had already scabbed over and fallen off again.

But before her trembling fingertips could touch her, Qin Lou, who could no longer bear it, grabbed her.

Qin Lou couldn't bear it any longer and turned her around, pressing her against the sliding door of the cloakroom. He leaned over and lowered his head to kiss her lips, which had turned white from being bitten by herself, from the side.

Qin Lou kissed her with a frown on his face, his eyes filled with heartache.

"Don't cry." He coaxed in a low voice, "Please don't cry, okay? I was wrong. I won't do this again in the future, so don't cry..."

"Crazy." Song Shu dodged his kiss and said with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, I am a madman. It is my fault." Qin Lou whispered, "The madman knows he is wrong."

"… "

Song Shu bit his lip and stopped talking.

She knew it wasn't.

He was the most innocent one. He did nothing wrong and nothing had anything to do with him, but he was the one who suffered the most because of her.

It was obviously her fault, but this man kept hugging her and apologizing to her, and carefully begging her to stop crying. It was obviously him who was hurt the most, and she cried because of his pain.

madman…

Song Shu stretched out his hands, slowly put his arms around Qin Lou, and then hugged him tighter little by little.

She leaned against his chest, lowering her eyes which were red from crying.

"I'm sorry. I will never leave you alone again, Qin Lou."

It's her fault.

After seeing him in pain just this once, she would never dare to do it again.

After the visit to Qin Qing's parents' home, Luan Qiaoqing's hostility towards Song Shu was greatly reduced.

Or maybe there still is, but Song Shu had no extra experience to pay attention to it - a month later, Song Shu personally experienced the real reason why Chu Xiangbin was called the King of Chu.

That drinking culture practice was just a small part of the due diligence. In the next three weeks, Song Shu's team conducted the most detailed, complicated and rigorous investigation and review of the AI company from top to bottom, breaking down the entire company in detail - from business capabilities to team structure, from corporate governance to laws and regulations, user growth rate and content growth rate are basic indicators, and even the profitability and potential profitability that generally need to be considered in the IPO (initial public offering) stage are also included in the scope of investigation.

The energy, resources and time that Chu Xiangbin needs to spend to complete an investment have reached an appalling level, and his requirements for the team can only be described as "abnormal".

Due diligence is only the first step after the project is established - it is followed by project evaluation and review and decision-making before investment. With the participation of the risk control committee and the investment decision-making committee, the rigor of these two rounds is even greater than that of the due diligence stage.

After more than a month of hell, all team members lost nearly 10 pounds on average, and their average daily sleep time was less than 6 hours. During meetings, they looked like zombies with eyes like hungry wolves, and when they went to the cafeteria to eat together, they wolfed down their food in a hurry - other employees in the company wanted to avoid them when they saw them.

At this point, Song Shu finally understood how Vio and Chu Xiangbin earned their professional reputation in the venture capital industry.

As a member of the team, Song Shu had an obligation to do so. In order not to hold back the entire team and to fulfill her responsibilities within the team, she had to temporarily put her investigation on hold and prepare for this investment project wholeheartedly.

In early October, this investment project that consumed countless efforts of the entire team finally reached the final step: with the participation and witness of Song Shu, the contract was signed and the investment was completed.

Chu Xiangbin and the other party’s person in charge completed the last meeting within the project investment and returned to the company.

In the past month, Song Shu suspected that he had been flying in the sky with Chu Xiangbin for half of the time. The feeling of getting off the plane and stepping on the ground seemed unreal.

Given Chu Xiangbin's current ability and status, the company naturally sent a special car to pick him up.

Song Shu could see that Chu Xiangbin seemed a little excited about completing such an investment. On the way, he rarely restrained his Tyrannosaurus Rex temper and talked to Song Shu about this investment.

"This company has solid data and very high asset quality. I expect we will receive a considerable return on investment in the short term. It will probably need two or three rounds of financing before the IPO, and we can make full use of these opportunities. After I go back, I will draft a new investigation report and report the follow-up situation to the investment committee. The report on the 22nd floor will be handed over to you."

"Yeah." Song Shu was used to it. "But short-term investment returns are much more difficult than selecting a high-quality asset. Is Team Leader Chu so confident in them?"

Chu Xiangbin snorted and laughed indifferently, with his unique arrogance, "Of course, if an investment project that I can personally supervise does not have excellent development prospects and estimates that exceed a certain level of superiority, do you think I will rashly participate in it?"

Song Shu just smiled and said nothing.

Chu Xiangbin paused for a few seconds and could only continue his own words. "What's more, those slick old foxes in the investment decision-making committee are the kind of people who won't release their eagles until they see the rabbit. They actually agreed to the strategic investment method, which shows how much they estimate the development potential of this company."

Song Shu nodded after listening, "Fortunately the project was completed smoothly. I heard that other investors are also eyeing this piece of fat meat."

"That's normal. Even in our buyer's market, even if whoever holds the funds is the financial backer, high-quality assets will always be a scarce resource in the market." Chu Xiangbin raised his eyebrows, "But by the same token, when the source of funds is sufficient no matter which buyer is chosen, our Vio brand name is also a guarantee that high-quality assets want to obtain."

Song Shu asked: "Except for the strategic investment part, what other protection can VIO provide to enterprises?"

"Of course, the strength and reputation of Vio are the gold seal of the industry. Companies that can be invested by Vio will first jump to a higher level in the ratings of various parties - our investment is the greatest affirmation of them."

"… "

Although she had only joined Vio for a short time, Song Shu knew that it was a company that Qin Lou had supported. Hearing this, she felt just as proud as the old employees of Vio.

Thinking of this, Song Shu lowered his head and looked at his phone.

—Because Song Shu was too busy with the project he was involved in and had no time for, Qin Lou had been complaining about being ignored for several weeks.

The project was finally over, and she would have to face a madman with a lot of resentment when she returned to the company. It seemed that she had better make time today to have dinner with him in the evening...

Before Song Shu could finish his thought, Chu Xiangbin, who was sitting next to him, received a ding on his cell phone.

Chu Xiangbin glanced down and then said, "Tonight is the celebration party for the group. I'll have my assistant book the location and send it to you. You can send it to the group chat later."

"Okay." Song Shu hesitated, "But I have some personal matters to take care of tonight, so—"

"By the way, tell them that Mr. Lu can also come tonight." Chu Xiangbin turned his head and asked, "What did you just say?"

"… "

The smile in Song Shu's eyes had sunk deeply.

After a few seconds, she curved her eyes slightly and smiled harmlessly, "Nothing, I'll notify everyone to arrive on time."

"Um."

Chu Xiangbin didn't suspect anything and turned back to stare at the phone again.

Song Shu turned to look outside the car.

The woman's smile on the window glass slowly faded.

…Mr. Lu, is this Lu Yunkai

The past month or so has really kept her busy, so busy that she almost forgot why she joined this team in the first place.

If the person who directly stretched out his hand and pushed her mother into hell was this Lu Yunkai...

She must meet him seriously.

The celebration banquet starts at 6:30 in the evening.

There is a special small banquet hall on the 3rd floor of vio capital's office building. However, after all, it is just a celebration banquet in the name of the group. In order to avoid appearing too high-profile in the company, Chu Xiangbin's assistant chose a venue outside the company for the group's banquet.

There was only half an hour left before the dinner. At nearly 6 o'clock, Song Shu was still providing psychological counseling to someone on the 23rd floor.

"Lü Yunkai will go there tonight. I will get the opportunity to contact him through the key team of the Investment Development Department. Isn't this the purpose of my joining this team?"

"I didn't stop you from going."

Song Shu was helpless, "But if you go with me and see you there, do you think my contact with Lu Yunkai will have any effect?"

"..." Knowing he was in the wrong, the man said nothing and just held the clam shell tighter in his arms.

Song Shu thought for a moment and said, "Then after the celebration banquet is over, I will come back to accompany you, okay?"

The light in Qin Lou's eyes flickered slightly, but he soon lowered his eyes, "What if you get drunk again at the celebration party?"

"I can't not drink at all. I don't have that kind of unique say. But I won't be in a situation like last time in the future, so don't worry."

"I'm worried."

"..." Song Shu sighed softly, turned sideways in his arms, and looked back at him, "Then tell me, what do you want?"

"Since you can't not go, and I can't go with you," Qin Lou frowned and lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "Then I can take you there, right?"

Song Shu was silent for two seconds, then smiled faintly, "Yeah."

Qin Lou's eyes lit up, "Then I'll go change my clothes."

"But before you go upstairs, I remember the assistant team sorted out a bunch of documents for you. Are you sure you can postpone it?"

"After the celebration party tonight, you come back and work overtime with me."

"… All right."

Qin Lou went to change his clothes with satisfaction.

Song Shu looked at the man's back, his eyes filled with deep emotion.

Qin Lou used to be very clingy to her, and would get anxious if he couldn't see her for a long time. Song Shu slowly helped him to calm his temper and adjust his mood, and he had already improved a lot...

However, after that incident and the long separation, she could clearly feel during this reunion that Qin Lou was more worried about her than before, and he almost wished she wouldn't leave his sight for even a moment.

She was not annoyed by his closeness, but was worried...

Song Shu turned her head and her eyes fell on the office area at the end of the floor. She knew that in the cabinet behind the desk, there were many medicine bottles with foreign labels.

Wait until this is over.

Song Shu lowered her eyes and thought. She had to help him adjust.

6:25pm.

Song Shu took a private car driven by Qin Lou and arrived downstairs at the restaurant that was scheduled to host the celebration banquet.

When Song Shu got out of the car, he saw the parking attendant standing on the driver's side, staring blankly at the closed door.

Song Shu said, "He will leave soon, no need to bother."

"Oh well."

Song Shu bent down and looked into the car. "You go back. I'm going upstairs. I'll go straight back to the company after I'm done."

Qin Lou leaned over the steering wheel, his eyes dark and fierce, but he still pretended to be pitiful, "I'll wait until you go upstairs before I leave."

Song Shu smiled, but did not expose his scheme. She just gave him a reassurance, "I will be back as soon as possible."

"Um."

Song Shu turned and entered the restaurant. The valet waited on the side, ready to direct this very low-key but luxurious car to leave its parking lot. Then he saw the car body move and get into the empty parking space next to it.

Parking guy: “… ?”

Didn’t we agree that we would leave without staying

The car window rolled down, and the person in the driver's seat looked at the parking boy who ran over to inquire about the situation, "I'll wait for her to come out."

The young man was stunned. "There is a reception room on the first floor. Why don't you wait there?"

"No need." Song Shu was not around, Qin Lou was a little depressed, and listlessly created a persona for himself, "She doesn't like outsiders to see me following her around, and she doesn't like to bring me out in public."

The parking guy's heart skipped a beat.

He glanced up and down.

The young man in the car looked to be around 25 years old, with a face that was half-bright but could not hide the contours of his handsome features. His figure, outlined by the suit, seemed to be the type that was tall and strong...

It would be fine if he “doesn’t like being seen by outsiders”, but he also “doesn’t like showing up in public”. Could it be that this man is not actually his boyfriend, but is kept by the young girl just now

Thinking about the beautiful young woman with the harmless smile, the valet boy suddenly felt his three views were shocked.

He looked at Qin Lou in the car with sympathy and envy, "You are a little miserable, but at least you are not at a loss, so don't ask for too much."

"Um."

Qin Lou continued to look listless, leaning over the steering wheel and staring at the direction of the restaurant's porch. Deep in his dark eyes was a suppressed, restrained, and unexpressed greed and desire.

"I don't ask for anything... just for her to look at me."

The parking guy sighed sympathetically and left.

At this time, Song Shu, who had already entered the restaurant and walked into the elevator under the guidance of the receptionist, had no idea that he had been portrayed as a cold and heartless financial sponsor by someone in the parking lot outside the building.

In the elevator room.

Song Shu happened to meet two female colleagues from the same team. They were both from the investment development department and were quite familiar with each other. They started chatting while waiting for the elevator.

After more than a month of getting along with each other, some people in the group have changed their attitude towards Song Shu, but another part selectively ignores Song Shu's work achievements in the group and still believes that Song Shu is a "privileged" person who has risen to the top with the help of the 22nd-level thigh.

Unfortunately, the two people in front of us belong to the latter.

After greeting each other cheerfully, the elevator just happened to come down.

The three of them entered the elevator, with no one else accompanying them. The enclosed elevator carried the three of them upwards.

One of them suddenly spoke up and asked the other, "The one who just sent you here was your boyfriend, right?"

"Well, did you see it?"

"Of course I did. Was it his own car?"

"Yes, he is a native of Q City, and his parents have some savings, so they paid the down payment for him to buy a car."

"It's impressive to be able to afford the down payment in Q City. If you marry into the city, can you be a full-time wife there peacefully?"

"Who knows?" The female colleague who was asked could not hide her pride with her modesty. She paused for two seconds and seemed to remember Song Shu who was also in the elevator box. "Qin Qing, how did you get here? We didn't seem to see you just now?"

Song Shu looked back and smiled faintly, "I took a taxi here."

The female colleague's eyes flickered. "Oh, I see. But I remember that Mr. Yu from Junsheng Law Firm is your fiancé, so why didn't he send you here?"

—There have long been rumors in the company that Song Shu and Yu Qisheng have broken off their engagement. The more accurate original words are, "Qin Qing was dumped by Yu Qisheng, who had been fed up with Qin Qing for clinging to CEO Qin's thigh and being a nameless substitute."

Song Shu naturally knew the other party's purpose of asking this, so she simply showed a sad expression and continued to say what the other party wanted.

"Qi Sheng and I have broken up because of our incompatibility."

"Ah, our personalities don't match..." The two female colleagues looked at each other meaningfully.

Song Shu estimated that by no later than tomorrow noon, this news confirmed by her would spread throughout the company - but it was also better this way, as Yu Qisheng's reputation could not be damaged because of her.

The elevator door opened. The three of them walked out of the elevator one after the other and headed toward the small banquet hall that they had reserved.

On the way, they went to the bathroom to fix their makeup.

While packing the earrings, another female colleague took up the conversation and persuaded Song Shu, "I think you should find a stable boyfriend. Whether he has money is secondary. The most important thing is that he can take his girlfriend to heart and not look down on her."

"That's right. If my boyfriend wasn't nice to me, I wouldn't care even if he paid for the house in full." The first female colleague paused and said more seriously, "Otherwise, even if he's rich, if he doesn't take me seriously and doesn't spend money on me, what's the point of that?"

"… "

Song Shu just smiled and said nothing, showing appropriate cooperation in his expression.

At this moment, her whole mind was focused on how to handle the situation when she met Lu Yunkai later. How could she be willing to spend any time dealing with these two people

However, her words went in one ear and out the other, and some people couldn't stand it any longer—

The door of a restroom was pushed open, and the woman inside walked out with the clattering sound of her high heels.

The three of them took a glimpse and were stunned at the same time.

The expressions of Song Shu's two female colleagues in the same group changed slightly, "Minister Luan, why are you here too?"

The author has something to say: Luan Qiaoqing: … Since you are facing my sister, then only I can be fierce, and you can’t!

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