You are the best in the world (6)
The departure of a heartless girl without saying goodbye in middle school and the despair of a broken relationship she brought to him in college were the two most embarrassing defeats in Chu Xiangbin's first twenty years of life.
The only difference is that after middle school, he could not help but think of the girl's bright smile. After returning from Q University in his sophomore year, Chu Xiangbin put all his thoughts on his studies and career, leaving no room for memories to sneak in.
As time went by, the scar healed. The image of the little girl gradually blurred and faded in his memory, and finally only a faint shadow remained in his heart. If he didn't try to find it or think about it, he would lose all trace of it.
Chu Xiangbin thought this was a good idea.
It wouldn't be long before he could completely forget about that heartless and unfeeling girl.
This optimistic thinking lasted until his third year at Vio Capital.
Not long after Chu Xiangbin joined Vio, he was noticed by Lu Yunkai, the then vice president of the investment and development department, because of his outstanding ability. Lu Yunkai valued talent and appreciated Chu Xiangbin very much. He did not mind his increasingly unrestrained temperament and spared no effort to promote him.
In his third year in the company, Chu Xiangbin was promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Investment and Development Department at a young age at an astonishing speed.
During that period, the casual conversations in the company after dinner were all about who was the prince or the person with connections of this young man who had risen rapidly in the company within two or three years.
It didn't take long for the rumor to change direction.
It was not because everyone had overcome their jealousy and admitted that Chu Xiangbin was indeed very capable, but because after the spring recruitment that year, another real well-connected person landed at Vio Capital—
"This is crazy, this is crazy." A male employee pushed open the door of the Investment and Development Department's tea room and came in while complaining to the two female employees behind him, "What was Mr. Qin thinking? He actually parachuted someone into the position of Minister of the Human Resources Department? The position has been vacant for so long, and everyone is discussing which deputy minister should take it. Why would he let a newcomer come?"
"What newcomer? How can an ordinary newcomer sit in that position? I think he is most likely a member of the Qin family."
"I think so too. There's nothing surprising about this. They just arranged for a relative. After all, our Vio is strictly a family business of the Qin family, right? If President Qin just wants to place someone in the position, those little puppets on the board of directors wouldn't dare to say anything."
The male employee lowered his voice indignantly and said, "But isn't Mr. Qin afraid that the deputy ministers will have opinions?"
"What will they think? I heard that the deputy ministers of the Human Resources Department are now receiving salaries, bonuses and year-end dividends in accordance with the rank of full ministers. I heard that the parachuted in girl is a young woman who graduated only two years ago? That makes it even more obvious that they are just a stamping machine and have no real power. On the contrary, if any of the deputy ministers were really promoted, the other two would be really unhappy."
"That's true. Mr. Qin is very calculating."
"After all, it's to reform the Qin family and revive them. How could their ideas and methods be so simple? There must be something else in it that we can't guess. But, it has nothing to do with us."
"That's true, but everyone used to say that Deputy Minister Chu was a relative, but now it seems that the real relative has just arrived." The male employee said with a bit of mockery, "We are different. We have no connections at all. We can only rely on ourselves to climb up step by step at a snail's pace..."
Before the male employee finished speaking, a sinister male voice suddenly rang out, disturbing his sleep.
"You are climbing slowly, not because you have nothing to do, but because you waste the time that could have been used for work or rest on these most meaningless and useless things."
"!"
After hearing this voice that had become so familiar and traumatic to them over the past two years, the faces of the three employees, one man and two women, changed at the same time.
They hurriedly turned their heads to look in the direction where the sound came from.
"Chu... Minister Chu!"
The glass door of the lounge, which was separated from the tea room by a floor-to-ceiling glass window, was opened, and Chu Xiangbin, who had been there at some point, walked out with a gloomy face.
When he passed by the three people, he was originally prepared to leave - after all, he had heard words like relationship so many times that he was numb to it and it didn't matter anymore.
Chu Xiangbin paused as he thought of something and turned to look at the male employee with a pale face.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, the male employee shrank back and lowered his head, "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Minister, we shouldn't be talking about you in the tea room..."
Chu Xiangbin smiled coldly, "You seem very dissatisfied with me?"
"No—no, I would never dare!"
"No? But I heard there was." Chu Xiangbin turned and walked out. "It doesn't matter. Starting today, you will temporarily join the second project team I'm leading now - let me see your work ability. As long as you do better than me, I will immediately give my resignation letter to the company and at the same time, I will do my best to ensure that you take this position."
“…!”
The male employee's face turned pale, but before he could explain or struggle, Chu Xiangbin disappeared outside the tea room.
After a few seconds of silence, the two female employees breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other.
"Minister Chu is still Minister Chu... How terrifying."
"That's pretty good. I'm telling you, I was on a project team with him before, just filling in for him for a few days, and I almost got burned. It's just that there's nothing important to do today - King Chu is special in that respect, he doesn't care about these trivial things - otherwise his Tyrannosaurus Rex mode is really not something a normal human can handle."
The male employee wanted to cry but had no tears: "If he wants me to follow the team, then I am doomed, right?"
"Who told you not to check if there was anyone in the lounge when you came in just now?" The female employee looked at him sympathetically and helplessly.
"I looked, and there was no one in the room—how would I have known that he was resting on the sofa, with its back blocking it?"
"Well, just accept your fate. At least it's easier to make progress with him, even though it all cost me my hair and my life."
“… … ”
After Chu Xiangbin left the lounge with a frown, the air pressure around him has been relatively low.
It’s not that he minds what they say. Chu Xiangbin really doesn’t take such small gossip to heart - the only thing that annoys him is the break time.
In the past two days, he was in charge of three project teams. Team one and team three had deadlines yesterday. He had been working for more than a week without a good rest. After finishing his work this morning, he was going to go to the lounge to take a nap - but he didn't expect that the three employees outside were getting more and more excited as they chatted.
He came out because he couldn't stand being disturbed in his sleep anymore.
When Chu Xiangbin was thinking about the progress of Group 2 and whether he should go back to the office and lie down on the hard wooden sofa for a while, the cell phone in his suit pocket suddenly vibrated.
Chu Xiangbin stopped and took out his cell phone to check the unread messages.
The information was developed by Lu Yun.
"There's a new head of the HR department in the company. Come to the 21st floor and say hello."
"… "
Chu Xiangbin frowned and wanted to refuse, but still replied with "OK".
If it was Qin Lou, he probably wouldn't give him face, but Lu Yunkai was different. He loved him to the extreme and almost treated him as his son.
Text messages like the one in his hand were more like reminders between friends than superiors. If he rejected Lu Yunkai's kindness, he would inevitably appear to be unkind.
Even though he didn't have it.
"… "
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, a cold smile flashed across his face. Chu Xiangbin turned around and walked towards the elevator.
Chu Xiangbin went up to the vice president's floor on the 21st floor and went straight to Lu Yunkai's office.
When he walked to the door, the door of Lu Yunkai's office was half open, and the deputy general manager's assistant just came out. When the other party saw Chu Xiangbin, he nodded to Chu Xiangbin in understanding: "Minister Chu, the new head of the human resources department just came to the office to say hello to General Manager Lu, you can also go in and say hello."
"Yeah, okay."
Chu Xiangbin agreed without caring. He knocked on the door, and after hearing a "come in" from the inner room of the office, he pushed open the half-open outer door and walked in.
After passing the empty outer room of the vice president's office, Chu Xiangbin walked into the tea room specially opened by Lu Yunkai in the office with familiarity.
Sitting next to the sea of tea was Lu Yunkai, and there was also the back of a young-looking girl.
An indescribable sense of familiarity rose from the bottom of his heart, and a sense of alertness that he couldn't explain the origin flashed through his mind, and Chu Xiangbin's footsteps suddenly stopped.
Lu Yunkai, who was facing the door, heard the noise and stood up. "Xiao Chu, come over and meet me. This is our company's new head of human resources..."
The person with his back to him stood up in front of the teapot and turned around. The face had not changed much from the shadow of the little girl who had always stood there in his deepest memory, the only difference was that the smile was no longer bright and shining.
She still looked at him, the emotion in her almond-shaped eyes was perfunctory and distant, as if she was looking at a stranger—
"Hello, Minister Chu. I am the new head of the Human Resources Department, Luan Qiaoqing."
“… … !”
Chu Xiangbin froze in place in a daze.
For a moment he felt as if he had fallen into a big pit dug by fate.
And don't even think about climbing out in this lifetime.
********
(Note: The following is a continuation of the timeline of Qiaochu CP in the main text, that is, after the end of the injustice and Chu Xiangbin's return to vio; because the main text has already included it, the process is skipped and no further elaboration is given)
********
(Several years later.)
The day Luan Qiaoqing learned that Chu Xiangbin had "defected" to join Qinrui Investment Bank and returned to the company, she almost exploded with anger.
But just after she rushed to the 22nd floor, the general manager's floor, she heard Qin Lou say in person that Chu Xiangbin was going to return to the company to continue working there as soon as she got out of the elevator. Luan Qiaoqing felt like she was going to become a puffer fish and fly into the sky.
After Qin Lou finished talking about the matter, he turned around and strolled away. Luan Qiaoqing was ready to chase him without thinking, asking his brother if his head was caught in the door and that was why he wanted to "take in" Chu Xiangbin.
Unfortunately, before she could take two steps, the man who was standing still beside her grabbed her wrist.
Luan Qiaoqing was caught off guard and staggered.
After she regained her balance, she turned her head and looked at Chu Xiangbin, "You still dare to pull me at this time... Are you looking for death?"
Chu Xiangbin smiled, "Minister Luan's temper is bad for your health."
"Do you think that since we're at the company, I can't possibly hit you?" Luan Qiaoqing clenched her fists in anger.
Chu Xiangbin lowered his head and laughed: "I know Minister Luan, you are not the kind of person who is fussy about details - what difference does it make to you whether it is a company or not?"
"You know why don't you let go of your hand?"
Chu Xiangbin let go of his hand obediently. He watched Luan Qiaoqing pull her hand back and rub her wrist with an unpleasant expression. He was silent for two seconds and said, "It's no use for you to go find Qin Lou. My return to the company is a foregone conclusion. No one can change it."
Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth in anger, "You are so shameless. If I were you, I would definitely not have the face to return to the company I betrayed - how are you going to deal with it in the future? Aren't you afraid that everyone will stab you in the back?"
"… "
Chu Xiangbin was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly, "Minister Luan, are you worried about me?"
“I’m worried—” Luan Qiaoqing was choked by his words. She felt terrible and almost jumped up on the spot. “I’m worried that your end is not bad enough!”
"Then, according to what Minister Luan said, my worst fate would be if I returned to VIO, so why are you trying to stop me?"
“…” Luan Qiaoqing was speechless, her expression became even more twisted, and she looked at Chu Xiangbin as if she wanted to rush up and bite him.
Chu Xiangbin laughed when she stared at him.
Luan Qiaoqing became even more annoyed, "How dare you laugh?"
"Does Minister Luan know that he has a particularly serious illness?"
"It's none of your business," Luan Qiaoqing cursed, and after two seconds she couldn't help but turned away guiltily and asked, "W-what's wrong?"
"."
Chu Xiangbin didn't rush to speak, but turned around and faced Luan Qiaoqing. The seriousness buried deep in his eyes made Luan Qiaoqing stunned for a moment.
When she came to her senses, Chu Xiangbin was already standing very close to her.
Luan Qiaoqing's face changed slightly, and she subconsciously wanted to take two steps back to create some distance - but before she could react, Chu Xiangbin had already raised his hand and pressed down on her head.
Luan Qiaoqing's face suddenly turned green.
—This dog man is more than a head taller than her, and the posture at this moment is like touching a dog.
Luan Qiaoqing was about to explode, and Chu Xiangbin knew her trigger point very well. Just before Luan Qiaoqing exploded, Chu Xiangbin smiled.
"On the way to Country E's airport, didn't Minister Luan say an 'm'? I looked up the meaning of this after I got back, and found that it seemed to be different from the explanation Minister Luan gave me."
“—”
Luan Qiaoqing was instantly speechless.
m corresponds to s, and this letter has some sexual connotations. She regretted it after she said it that day. Fortunately, she found that Chu Xiangbin didn't understand it at all, so she just talked nonsense.
Now it seems that the consequences have been laid.
But in front of the "big enemy of the company" and the "number one traitor", Luan Qiaoqing thought that she must not be timid. She stiffened her neck and said stubbornly: "What's wrong with being different? You are so free normally, why do you have to go and check even such a small matter?"
Chu Xiangbin ignored her attempt to change the subject by provoking her. He lowered his eyes and smiled, "But after finding out the meaning, I found that this letter is actually the most suitable to describe your attributes, Minister Luan."
“—?” Luan Qiaoqing froze for a few seconds and was about to explode again.
Chu Xiangbin interrupted him in time, "That's what I said, Minister Luan, this is your biggest problem."
Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth viciously, "While I'm still talking to you nicely and before I refrain from hitting you, you'd better speak human language."
Chu Xiangbin smiled, "Do you know why you are so angry and concerned about my betrayal?"
"Who wouldn't be angry when meeting a traitor like you!?"
"Who else did you see rushing in front of me besides you?"
"… "
"Minister Luan, think about it carefully. If the person who betrayed Vio was not me, but any other senior executive in the company, would you be so angry?"
“… … ”
Luan Qiaoqing's expression changed.
Although she was not sensitive to many things, she was not so stupid that she could not understand even when Chu Xiangbin pointed out something to her.
When she randomly substituted the hypothesis that Chu Xiangbin mentioned into other senior executives, she immediately stopped thinking before discovering the truth.
—Luan Qiaoqing thought this was just a naive way of protecting herself. She thought it would be better for her not to think this through.
However, Chu Xiangbin would not give her any leeway: "Minister Luan, you have been in the company for several years. Among the people other than your sister and your brother-in-law, who are you closest to?"
Luan Qiaoqing subconsciously looked away, trying to suppress her guilty conscience and said, "Anyway, it wasn't you. I've never had so many arguments with anyone in my entire life - do you still think we have a good relationship?"
Luan Qiaoqing felt more and more guilty as she spoke.
Chu Xiangbin smiled.
Having achieved his goal, he took a step back happily and cheerfully—
"This is what I meant by your problem, Minister Luan."
"… What?"
"M. You look carefree, and when you are nice to people, you can be considered enthusiastic and cheerful, right? The price you pay is that you are only interested in everything for a short time, and after a while you will unconsciously switch to someone you are more interested in... Do you call that a 'friend'?"
Luan Qiaoqing slowly frowned, "Why do you say that to me? You don't know me."
"No, I can't say anything about Song Shu, but in the past few years, I am the one who knows you best." Chu Xiangbin lowered his head and laughed mockingly, "Who do you think I am the same as you when I am fighting against you? Do you keep arguing endlessly?"
“… What do you want to say?”
"I want to say that because you are only enthusiastic for a short time, the simplest and most direct way to make you never forget is to stimulate you. The more stable the hatred value in you is, the more you will unconsciously pay attention to and pursue it - in short, m."
“… … ”
Luan Qiaoqing opened her mouth to refute him, but didn't know where to start.
Because the more she thought about what Chu Xiangbin said, the more terrifying she felt - every word Chu Xiangbin said hit her sore spot, forcing her to admit that everything he said and what he revealed about her was right.
It was a dark side that she herself hadn't discovered or wasn't willing to think about.
The most powerful evidence for Chu Xiangbin's words is that if she had to choose someone other than Qin Lou and Song Shu in the company to whom she could speak or confess without scruples...
That must be Chu Xiangbin. There is no need to even think about this question.
Chu Xiangbin stood by the elevator door, watching Luan Qiaoqing's changing expressions and eyes, and could guess how complicated, irritable and confused she was feeling at the moment.
Chu Xiangbin lowered his eyes, a hint of triumphant smile flashing across his eyes.
"It seems that Minister Luan needs some time to think on his own. I won't bother you. You can think about it slowly. Come back to me when you have figured it out. It doesn't matter how long you wait. I have a lot of patience."
After Chu Xiangbin finished speaking, he pressed the down button of the elevator and was about to walk to the elevator door.
Luan Qiaoqing hadn't figured out the mess in her heart yet, but that didn't stop Chu Xiangbin from distracting her and cultivating her for so many years. She subconsciously started to provoke him.
"Give up, I won't look for you. I don't even want to see you again. And I will definitely not let you return to the company so easily!"
"Minister Luan, please do your best to stop me from coming back." Chu Xiangbin smiled, "I would love to."
"!"
The elevator door opened in front of Chu Xiangbin.
Before he stepped in, he paused, then turned to look at Luan Qiaoqing, "Remind Minister Luan that you don't need to look for Qin Lou or Song Shu. It's useless to look for them. I have had too many entanglements with them, and I know a lot of things that outsiders shouldn't know. So even if I don't want to stay in Vio, Qin Lou and Song Shu may not let me go."
After he finished speaking, without giving Luan Qiaoqing time to react, Chu Xiangbin walked straight into the elevator.
The elevator door closed.
In the gap that was gradually narrowing, the man in a suit who looked very gentlemanly raised his hand and mouthed "goodbye" to Luan Qiaoqing.
A few seconds later, the elevator was empty and no one was there.
Luan Qiaoqing came back to her senses and said: "Ah!!"
Groundhog roaring.jpg
One day at noon.
Vio Capital staff cafeteria.
A few minutes ago, Luan Qiaoqing finally succeeded in snatching her sister from Qin Lou's clutches amidst his resentful gaze, at a level of danger comparable to snatching food from a tiger's mouth.
At this time, the two of them were sitting face to face in the cafeteria, and Luan Qiaoqing was sighing opposite Song Shu at the frequency of almost every time she picked up a grain of rice.
Song Shu listened for half a minute, and finally couldn't help asking, "Did you ask me to come down to have dinner with you, or to listen to your sigh?"
"..." Luan Qiaoqing raised her head and gave her sister a look of resentment. Then she simply put down her chopsticks, propped up her chin and looked out the window dejectedly.
Song Shu asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, actually. Just these past two days, someone told me something that completely overturned my understanding of myself."
Song Shu was slightly surprised: "Have you ever known yourself?"
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
Seeing Luan Qiaoqing's frustrated expression, Song Shu smiled and said, "I was just kidding you. What did that person say that was such a big blow to you?"
"He-he actually said that I only get excited about everything after a short while!" Luan Qiaoqing turned around angrily. "He also said that I'm a MILF? He said that I'm only impressed when someone is mean to me? Bullshit, he's a MILF!"
Song Shu nodded after listening: "Who said this?"
"Sis, you also think he's talking nonsense, right?!"
"No, I just think he knows you very well. It doesn't seem like an ordinary relationship... Could it be Chu Xiangbin?"
"!"
Luan Qiaoqing was so scared that she almost jumped up from the stool.
For a long while, she opened her eyes wide and looked at Song Shu, who had a calm and innocent expression. For a moment, she didn't know whether to ask "How can this be called a deep understanding?" or "How could you guess that it was Chu Xiangbin?"
After a long silence, Song Shu kindly took the initiative to answer her questions: "Besides me, the only one who knows this much about you can be Chu Xiangbin."
Luan Qiaoqing laughed stiffly, "Ha, hahahaha... Sister, your joke is not funny at all. How could it only be Chu Xiangbin?"
"Isn't it him?"
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
After getting the answer from Luan Qiaoqing's eyes, Song Shu did not press her any further and continued to eat with his head down. "If you only asked me to come down to ask this, then I don't mind if you find time to sit down and have a good talk with Chu Xiangbin."
Luan Qiaoqing gave up struggling, leaned over the table and asked in a dead voice: "Talk? What to talk about? He has almost figured out everything about me that I don't even know about."
Song Shu chuckled.
Luan Qiaoqing raised her eyes lazily and said sadly, "It's already this time, sister, not only do you not sympathize with me, you even laugh at me."
"I did laugh at you, but I was laughing at your stupidity."
"? What's wrong with me?"
"Since Chu Xiangbin has already exposed his cards to you to this extent, why don't you think about it the other way around?"
"The other way around? What do you mean the other way around?"
Song Shu looked at Luan Qiaoqing helplessly, raised his hand and knocked her forehead, "Use your stupid head - Chu Xiangbin obviously knew this a long time ago, so why did he do this?"
“…!”
Luan Qiaoqing's figure suddenly froze.
A few seconds later, she quickly got up from the table and said, "Sister, you mean—"
"I didn't say anything. Think about it carefully." Song Shu picked up the plate and prepared to leave.
Luan Qiaoqing reacted and quickly stood up and chased after him, "I don't want to think about it. Why should I think about his affairs? A traitor who betrayed you and my brother at the most critical moment, humph, you are still willing to take him in, I don't know what you are thinking!"
"… "
Song Shu turned his head and stared at Luan Qiaoqing for a long time.
Until Luan Qiaoqing felt guilty after being stared at, "You... why are you looking at me like that?"
"With your acting ability, you are not suitable for such probing words and actions. It's a bit silly." Song Shu said bluntly and mercilessly, "But you should also talk to Chu Xiangbin directly about what we think - I will not interfere in your affairs."
After Song Shu finished speaking this time, he didn't give Luan Qiaoqing any chance to try to persuade him or to struggle. He just threw away the kitchen waste and went straight back upstairs.
Luan Qiaoqing stood there alone, thinking back and forth, his expression changing constantly, sometimes happy, sometimes angry.
After a long time, she raised her head and walked out as if she had made up her mind. She looked so imposing and powerful that she was just short of marching out of the cafeteria.
—
Luan Qiaoqing's original plan was to pick an auspicious day and use the clues she got from Song Shu that day in the cafeteria to force Chu Xiangbin to tell the truth.
Unfortunately, before Chu Xiangbin officially returned to the company to resume his duties, a wave of rumors about him began to circulate in the company.
"Hey, have you heard? I heard someone outside the company say that Chu Xiangbin didn't come back because of Qinrui's downfall. He was on Boss Qin's side from the beginning."
"What a coincidence! I just heard a friend talking about this to me this afternoon."
"Ah? How come I don't know? Is this true?"
"Of course it's true. My friend's friend was a former employee of Qinrui. It was spread before their internal collapse that the product that Minister Chu brought to their investment bank was a deliberate trap for Qinrui."
"If this is true, will Qin Rui trust Minister Chu?"
"This is where the legend begins - they say Minister Chu is a double agent. Chang Ting thinks he is one of theirs, but he is actually from our company."
"There must be a reason why Chang Ting would think that, right? I still find it unlikely."
"What's the big deal? There are the most conflicts and conflicts of interest between the top leaders. This kind of power game is commonplace for them. If they lose the bet, it's just someone's mistake."
"But it was such a big fight at the time. Especially, I heard that President Qin, Song Shu, and Minister Luan met people from Qinrui when they were having dinner outside. Minister Luan almost beat Chu Xiangbin."
"Maybe it's just show?"
"That's impossible? Minister Luan doesn't look like someone who can hide so many things."
"But this makes sense - I was wondering before, no matter how outstanding Chu Xiangbin's ability is, no matter if there is some deal between their senior management that we don't understand, but how could someone with Mr. Qin's temperament agree to let someone who betrayed the company come back at a critical moment. But if he was originally on Vio's side, then everything makes sense."
"So, we have wronged him?"
"Ah, isn't that too pitiful for Minister Chu? How badly did everyone in the company scold him before? Especially Minister Luan, I think they were about to come to his door with a knife."
"yes… "
Meanwhile, outside the door.
"Minister Luan?"
"!" Luan Qiaoqing, who was standing at the door of the tea room on the HR department floor, suddenly changed his expression and quickly turned his head to look behind him.
The staff in her department were holding cups of water and looking at her blankly, "Boss, why are you here...?"
"No, it's okay. You go in, I just suddenly remembered that I forgot something important..."
Luan Qiaoqing turned her head with a strange expression and quickly left the scene.
After walking a few meters, Luan Qiaoqing breathed a sigh of relief when she was sure that the employee was no longer paying attention to her.
But when she thought about the conversation she had just heard outside the tea room, Luan Qiaoqing suddenly felt unwell.
After returning to the office in a panic, Luan Qiaoqing paced around the office restlessly for several times, and finally hesitantly found Chu Xiangbin's phone number from her phone's address book.
After hesitating for a long time, Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth and dialed the phone.
The call was connected quickly. It was the male voice that Luan Qiaoqing had been most familiar with in the past few years and that could make her angry the most, but now it always made her feel complicated whenever she thought of it.
"Minister Luan suddenly called me at this time. Did you finally figure it out?"
Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth slightly and wanted to retort, but when she thought of the words she had just heard, and then thought about the harsh words she had spoken to Chu Xiangbin after learning that he had "defected" to Qinrui, she suddenly felt insecure and guilty.
There was silence for a long time, but the person on the other side kept waiting patiently.
Luan Qiaoqing finally gritted her teeth and said somewhat compromisingly: "Are you free this weekend? Let's go out and talk."
The other side was silent for a moment, then laughed.
"OK."
"… "
Chu Xiangbin agreed readily on the other end of the phone, which made Luan Qiaoqing feel inexplicably happy and unhappy.
She hesitated and asked, "When is convenient for you?"
"I'm currently unemployed at home. It depends on Minister Luan's arrangement of the time."
"What about the location?"
"It's up to you."
"..." Luan Qiaoqing narrowed her eyes slightly, "You said it, don't regret it."
"Yeah," Chu Xiangbin laughed, "I said it. I'm really looking forward to how Minister Luan can make me regret it."
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
Luan Qiaoqing: "Send me your address and I'll drive to pick you up downstairs at your house at 6pm on Saturday."
Luan Qiaoqing finished her words without pausing and hung up the phone. When the words "call ended" flashed by, her murderous expression appeared on the black screen.
"With this dog-like temper, how could this dog-like man possibly like me? I think he has made an enemy of me for a lifetime, so he wants to piss me off to death!"
"… "
The phone remained innocently silent.
Despite her complaints, Luan Qiaoqing still drove her beloved red sports car to the downstairs of Chu Xiangbin's community on time at 5:50 p.m. on Saturday according to the address Chu Xiangbin sent her.
To Luan Qiaoqing's surprise, Chu Xiangbin, who had been standing in front of the building and seemed to have been waiting for who knows how long, had obviously arrived much earlier than her.
Luan Qiaoqing parked the car in front of the man, and the car door automatically spun up and opened like wings. Chu Xiangbin held the door, leaned over slightly, and raised his eyebrows, "I want to sit in the passenger seat?"
Luan Qiaoqing looked at him, "It's a two-seater sports car. If you don't sit in the passenger seat, where are you going to sit? On the roof or under the car?"
—Luan Qiaoqing threw back the exact same words on the way to Country E’s airport. Seeing Chu Xiangbin’s silence, she suddenly felt stunned.
Then Luan Qiaoqing slowly remembered that she came here today to apologize to someone who had been wronged and scolded by her.
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
It’s over. What should I do if I find it easy to criticize this person
But to Luan Qiaoqing's surprise, Chu Xiangbin was silent for two seconds and then smiled. It wasn't the kind of smile that was angry or forced - one could see and hear that his smile was from the joy in his heart.
Chu Xiangbin lowered himself and sat in the passenger seat: "Thank you, Minister Luan, for coming all the way to pick me up."
After reflecting on herself and feeling relieved, Luan Qiaoqing looked away a little uncomfortably, "Well, well, no... you're welcome. Fasten your seat belt and we'll be off."
"good."
"… "
On the way, Chu Xiangbin was silent, just looking out the window or straight ahead.
Luan Qiaoqing glanced at him secretly several times, but he didn't say anything, either because he didn't notice or pretended not to see it. If they had been in the same enclosed space like this before, he would have probably started fighting with her, right
Now that the purpose is clear, why not just stop bothering her
Thinking of this, Luan Qiaoqing felt that Chu Xiangbin's already handsome features had become much softer and more pleasing to the eye.
Especially today, probably because he didn't need to go to a formal occasion like the company, the man only wore a casual suit, his hair was loose and hung down on his forehead, and his expression became even more lazy, giving him a bit of a gentlemanly vile vibe.
If I unbutton two of my top shirt buttons again like I did when I went to a nightclub on a business trip in Country E, it would probably be even worse…
The scene of them almost kissing in the hotel lobby that day suddenly flashed through her mind, and Luan Qiaoqing was shocked by her own divergent thoughts.
Even the car body shook.
Luan Qiaoqing's heart beat so fast that it almost jumped out of her chest - she didn't know if it was because of the fright of the car or because of her guilty conscience.
After the car stabilized again, the interior of the car was strangely quiet for a few seconds. Then Luan Qiao listened to the direction of the passenger seat and saw a man leaning his elbow on the car door and supporting his chin with a muffled laugh.
Luan Qiaoqing's face suddenly became hot, "You...what are you laughing at?"
Chu Xiangbin lowered his supporting hand, turned his head and smiled at Luan Qiaoqing, "I don't mind you staring at me - you can look at me however you want after we reach our destination, but we are still on the road, so let's put safety first, okay, Minister Luan?"
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
Soft? Pleasing to the eye?
Bullshit! It was all an illusion caused by her poor eyesight!
The eye-catching red sports car sped along and arrived at the destination half an hour later.
It was dark early now, and it was about 6:30 when they got off the car, but it was almost dark. The sports car was parked in an open-air parking area, next to some small trucks, vans or low-priced family cars.
Luan Qiaoqing's light running shoes stood out in the middle.
Thinking back to the bumpy cement road when he first came in - Chu Xiangbin looked around after getting off the car, and the way he looked seemed to him that Luan Qiaoqing had taken him to a vegetable market or a snack street or something like that.
Chu Xiangbin leaned on the roof of the car and looked across. "Is Minister Luan planning to bring me here to buy groceries and then go back to cook for me?"
Luan Qiaoqing rolled her eyes at him and said, "Dream on."
"So where are we going?"
Luan Qiaoqing paused and curled her lips slightly, "Anyway, it's not a place like a western restaurant or a coffee shop where you have to pay attention to dress etiquette." As she spoke, she walked around the car and came to a meter in front of Chu Xiangbin, "What? Are you afraid that I will sell you out?"
Chu Xiangbin smiled, "You can't do anything that promising. I'm more afraid that you'll sell yourself out."
Luan Qiaoqing: “…”
Just based on this bastard's mouth, could she have guessed that he liked her even if she was a great god?
Luan Qiaoqing turned around and left in frustration.
Chu Xiangbin lowered his head, smiled, and followed.
After walking for about ten minutes, passing through the small strip market, Luan Qiaoqing brought Chu Xiangbin to a store.
The store can be considered simple - and it's a barbecue restaurant.
Although Chu Xiangbin had not guessed it before, he was not surprised at this time. He just found it a little funny - even after so many years, Luan Qiaoqing's habits have not changed at all.
Luan Qiaoqing stopped in front of the store and glanced back at Chu Xiangbin, "Minister Chu himself said that I can choose the place at will. Are you regretting it now?"
"Of course not," Chu Xiangbin came back to his senses and walked forward with a smile, "I think this place is very suitable."
Luan Qiaoqing glanced at him, "What's appropriate?"
Chu Xiangbin curled his lips and said, "Let's talk."
"?" Before Luan Qiaoqing could say anything, the man walked straight into the store.
Although Chu Xiangbin was wearing a casual suit today and was not very formal, it was probably because of the temperament of a superior that he had developed in the workplace over the years. From the moment he entered the barbecue restaurant, customers would look at him with surprise and scrutiny.
This situation continued until he and Luan Qiaoqing found an empty table in the store and sat down.
The girl from the barbecue restaurant came to deliver the one-time order form, and her eyes were full of restraint and shyness when she looked at Chu Xiangbin.
Luan Qiaoqing noticed this and secretly curled her lips.
After the girl nervously and excitedly introduced their store's signature barbecue and reluctantly left, Luan Qiaoqing propped up her chin boredly and lazily glanced at the man sitting opposite her out of the corner of her eye.
"Minister Chu is worthy of being Minister Chu. He can't hide his elite charm no matter where he goes."
Chu Xiangbin scanned the menu without looking up, "You want to blame me for this too?"
"..." Luan Qiaoqing felt a little empty in her heart, and once again remembered the most important purpose of her trip, and consciously retracted the hedgehog's thorns.
Chu Xiangbin was a little surprised to hear the other party "obediently" quiet down. He raised his eyes to look at Luan Qiaoqing, "Didn't you want to talk to me today? What to talk about?"
Luan Qiaoqing avoided his gaze and spoke vaguely, "Order first, and we'll talk after you order."
"… Um."
Chu Xiangbin did as he was told.
A few minutes later, Chu Xiangbin handed the menu to the waiter in the store. After the waiter left, he retracted his gaze and slowly fell on Luan Qiaoqing, who was so guilty that she was desperately drinking water.
After looking for a few seconds, Chu Xiangbin smiled.
"If Minister Luan wants to get drunk so he can start talking, he should wait for the beer we ordered to be served. Drinking cold boiled water won't work."
"..." Luan Qiaoqing put down the cup, raised her head and glanced at him with dissatisfaction and resentment.
Chu Xiangbin: "We have ordered the food, and now we can talk. Minister Luan, please tell me what you want to ask."
Luan Qiaoqing was silent for a long time, looking at the water cup in front of her. Finally, she spoke slowly, "I heard...someone in the company said that you went to Qinrui just to...pretend to surrender."
After saying this, Luan Qiaoqing carefully raised her head and glanced at Chu Xiangbin—the man's expression was no different from usual, and there was no sign of any omissions.
Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth and said bluntly: "I just want to know, did I really wrong you before?"
Chu Xiangbin raised his eyebrows slightly, "Minister Luan only wants to know this one thing?"
Luan Qiaoqing: "This is what I want to know most now."
"Okay." Chu Xiangbin nodded. "The process is complicated, but Qin Lou did know that I would take that product to Qinrui a long time ago."
"..." Luan Qiaoqing paused.
After a long while, she frowned with some annoyance and guilt, "Why didn't you tell me? Even if you just gave me a hint... I wouldn't have been so angry with you at that time..."
Chu Xiangbin smiled, "The most important reason should be that Minister Luan really lacks talent in acting. And just like Song Shu chose to hide you in the beginning, your many performances without knowing the truth can be fully used to 'confuse' the enemy."
“… … ”
Luan Qiaoqing was speechless for a moment.
After a long while, when the waiter of the barbecue restaurant had brought up the first piece of barbecue and left, Luan Qiaoqing finally managed to utter those words.
“Yes… yes… I’m sorry.”
She didn’t know if it was because she was holding it in or because she blamed herself too much, but as soon as she finished speaking, Luan Qiaoqing, who had restrained her usual aggressiveness and bluffing and looked like an ordinary little girl, blushed.
Chu Xiangbin was stunned for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, "If you want to apologize, then apologize. Why are you blushing?"
"... You're the one who blushed." Luan Qiaoqing muttered in dissatisfaction.
"If you're not blushing, then raise your head and let's see?"
“… I won’t.” The head lowered even lower.
Chu Xiangbin could hardly stop laughing at Luan Qiaoqing's appearance.
The pit that he originally wanted to force her to step into was right in front of him, but seeing that Luan Qiaoqing's face was red as if it was about to combust, Chu Xiangbin couldn't bear to bully her anymore, so he didn't force her to jump into the pit.
Coincidentally, barbecue and beer were brought up one after another, and Chu Xiangbin just accompanied her in a play of reconciling grudges over wine, so that she wouldn't be so ashamed when she saw him in the future.
As a result, before the night was over, Luan Qiaoqing got herself drunk first, and then actively and swiftly started to sprint towards the pit.
At that time, Chu Xiangbin had just come back from a phone call. After confirming that he and Luan Qiaoqing were going to drink, he sent a message in advance to inform his assistant to drive over to pick them up. After seeing this, the other party immediately called him and confirmed the address of the barbecue restaurant with him.
When Chu Xiangbin finished the call and returned to the table, he found that the girl sitting opposite him had laid down on the table at some point.
Moreover, there were several empty beer cans and a small empty bottle of white wine on her hands.
Chu Xiangbin: “… ?”
Chu Xiangbin hurried over, "Minister Luan?"
“…” The little girl lay on the table, motionless.
Chu Xiangbin's smile faded, and he panicked, "Luan Qiaoqing?"
“…” Still no movement.
Chu Xiangbin thought about it and asked tentatively: "Sister Qiaoqiao?"
"!" The little girl sat up straight, her eyes were hazy but her expression was very serious: "Who called me?"
Chu Xiangbin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The car will be here soon. Let's go back to the parking lot and wait. Then I'll take you home."
"Go home? No, I'm not going home." Luan Qiaoqing frowned and slumped down, mumbling, "There's no one to play with me when I go home. It's so lonely. I don't want to go home."
Chu Xiangbin was slightly stunned.
After a moment, he lowered his eyes and said, "Why is there no one with you? Didn't you lose someone?"
"… "
Luan Qiaoqing, who was already drunk and almost unconscious, naturally had no way to respond to him.
Seeing that the little girl was about to lie back on the table, Chu Xiangbin could only help her up from the table immediately. After paying the bill, he took her out of the barbecue restaurant.
All the way to the parking lot, the little girl followed him quietly and obediently without saying a word - she was much more obedient than she usually was when she was awake.
Chu Xiangbin couldn't help but feel surprised and emotional: Some people act crazy when they are drunk, but he is probably just too crazy, so he becomes quiet when he is drunk.
But he was drunk after all, so his movements were inevitably not as agile as when he was sober. After coming out of the barbecue restaurant, on the way through the strip market to the parking lot, Chu Xiangbin found several times that the girl next to him wanted to wander in another direction - it took him a lot of effort to pull the girl back behind him several times when she had run away.
In the second half of the journey, Chu Xiangbin had no choice but to help Luan Qiaoqing, who was drunk and silent but able to run around, and he could only hold her in his arms and half drag and half hug her towards the parking lot.
By the time they got back to the parking lot, the assistant who had driven over to pick them up looked to have been there a while.
"Minister Chu, this is..." Chu Xiangbin's assistant looked at the little girl who was half supported by Chu Xiangbin in his arms in surprise. After looking at her for a long time, he asked in astonishment: "Is this Minister Luan from the Human Resources Department?"
"Yeah." Chu Xiangbin responded casually, "She and I went out to eat and drank some wine. Thank you for your hard work today."
"… It's not hard, it's not hard. This is what I should do." The assistant was stunned for several seconds before coming back to his senses. He quickly turned around and opened the back door for the two of them.
Chu Xiangbin helped Luan Qiaoqing into the car, and then he sat in the back seat.
The assistant got into the driver's seat with an indescribable expression, started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
After starting, he carefully glanced at the rearview mirror and said, "Minister Chu, where would be more convenient for me to take you?"
Chu Xiangbin thought for a moment, "Do you know where Minister Luan lives?"
"have no idea… "
"Then take us back to my house."
assistant:"… … "
After a while, looking at the little girl in the rearview mirror who was leaning on the shoulder of their Minister Chu and seemed to be sleeping soundly, the assistant nodded with difficulty.
"good."
The author has something to say: The length of this chapter... is probably four chapters in one, meh.
Judging from the progress, it is estimated that the story of Qiaochu CP will end in the next chapter.
New article for you guys:
Sweet Love Doesn't Belong to Me by Jiang Xiaolu
Copywriter
Zhou Li originally agreed to be Chen Yanxian's girlfriend simply to avoid losing their simple and precious friendship.
The two have been dating for two years, holding hands, kissing and sleeping together.
Apart from this romantic relationship, it seems that there is not much difference between us and friends.
Chen Yanxian, a junior, went abroad to study for a year. Zhou Li became a free person again and had a great time chasing stars, watching TV series and playing games with her sisters. She completely forgot that she had a boyfriend far away.
On the first day after returning home, Chen Yanxian was waiting for Zhou Li downstairs of her dormitory. In the night, the light and shadow were dim. When Zhou Li saw Chen Yanxian for the first time, she felt a little emotional.
"Chen Yanxian, I almost forgot what you look like!"
“… …”
One year after graduation, Chen Yanxian went from being a poor and handsome college student to a company boss. He was extremely busy and at the same time he had frequent contact with his female classmate who was also his assistant.
Zhou Li thought he had found true love, so he secretly cried for a while and proposed to break up, wishing each other well and beauty.
Chen Yanxian, who had just returned from working overtime late at night, went crazy.
Zhou Li said: "Our love is not sweet at all."
Chen Yanxian: "However sweet you want, I'll give it to you."
Simple and pure face x super scheming and shameless