PB - Chapter 51
Chapter 51
A few days later, Gu Jianchu found out that Gu Fanchu had sent flowers to Qiao Qi. The news came from Liu Yanyan, who had heard it from Yao Qiu. Gu Jianchu massaged the bridge of her nose intermittently. Not daring to disturb her, Liu Yanyan quietly left the office. Back at her own workstation, her chat with Yao Qiu wasn’t over, and she took the opportunity to let Yao Qiu know that the two bouquets President Qiao had received a year ago were indeed from Gu Jianchu.
Qiao Qi rarely received flowers, and this time, the sender had delivered them to Ruifeng in person. Gu Fanchu rarely appeared in the country, so no one paid him any mind when he first arrived at Ruifeng. But after he announced himself at the front desk, his name spread throughout the company in less than an hour, reigniting a year-old piece of gossip with new speculation.
The gossip quickly branched in two directions. One was that Young Master Gu, having rarely lived in the country, might not know about Qiao Qi's relationship with Old Master Jin. The other was that barely a year after Rongfang had snatched the U.E. project, Young Master Gu actually had the nerve to come to Ruifeng to pursue President Qiao. But regardless of the rumor, what everyone most wanted to know was Qiao Qi's reaction.
But Qiao Qi had no reaction. She was extremely busy, but out of courtesy, she paused her work to meet with Gu Fanchu. She said, “Mr. Gu, I do apologize, but I'm very busy today, so my time is limited.”
Gu Fanchu smiled and said, “I’m the one who should be apologizing for disturbing you so abruptly. I know you’re all busy. Jianchu is just like you—always busy.” He mentioned Gu Jianchu naturally, showing that the siblings had a good relationship. But he mistakenly assumed there was friction between Qiao Qi and Gu Jianchu, so he immediately fell silent to observe Qiao Qi's expression.
Qiao Qi understood. She spoke in a soft, gentle voice, “I've worked with President Gu a few times. She's very diligent and responsible.”
Gu Fanchu was pleased to hear Qiao Qi's praise for Gu Jianchu, but the U.E. project had a huge impact on Qiao Qi, so he still regretted his slip of the tongue. He said, “Miss Qiao, I didn't come for any other reason than to give you these flowers personally. Now that they're delivered, I won't take up any more of your time. But perhaps next time, if you're not busy, you might do me the honor of having a meal together?”
The Gu family seemed to have a penchant for inviting people to meals. Qiao Qi smiled faintly. “Alright, Mr. Gu. If there's an opportunity.”
“Thank you, Miss Qiao.”
Qiao Qi rose to see Gu Fanchu to the door, opening it for him personally. “Take care, Mr. Gu.”
Gu Fanchu said, “Please, don’t trouble yourself, Miss Qiao.”
In the outer office, Yao Qiu took over the task of seeing the guest out. She politely escorted Gu Fanchu to the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, she immediately pulled out her phone and sent two words to Liu Yanyan: He’s gone.
Yao Qiu wasn't quite sure how she and Liu Yanyan had started contacting each other so frequently. It seemed the other woman had taken the initiative, asking about President Qiao's recent activities. One thing led to another, and they started chatting about other topics, creating the illusion that they had become friends. After seeing the guest out, Yao Qiu first went to Qiao Qi’s office. “President Qiao, Mr. Gu has left. Where should I put the flowers?”
“Put them in the outer office.” Qiao Qi didn’t stop writing. “Have Jin Zhiyu and Xu Yangpu come to my office. And notify the marketing and operations departments about a meeting this afternoon.”
“Yes, President Qiao.” Yao Qiu left the office with the flowers in her arms. There was a vase in her outer office, so she casually placed them inside. Of the few times President Qiao had received flowers, only the two bouquets from Gu Jianchu had ever been displayed in her inner office. She finally understood the unspoken meaning behind it.
When Jin Zhiyu arrived on the thirty-fourth floor, his eyes lit up at the sight of the flowers. Seeing that Xu Yangpu hadn't arrived yet, he leaned close to Yao Qiu and asked, “So? Is it a possibility?”
“No.”
“I heard someone sent Sister Qiqi flowers before. Was it him?”
“No.”
“Then who was it?”
“I don’t know.”
Jin Zhiyu squinted at Yao Qiu. “If you don’t know, how can you say it wasn’t Gu Fanchu? Come on, Xiao Qiu, tell me. Who was it?”
“President Jin, President Qiao is still waiting for you inside. Aren’t you going in?”
Jin Zhiyu straightened up, dropping his playful tone. “You have to tell me when I come out,” he said. Just then, he saw Xu Yangpu approaching and added, “Perfect timing. Let’s go in together.”
In the office, after assigning a few tasks, Qiao Qi continued with other arrangements. “In a couple of days, the Su family will send someone to Ruifeng to sign a contract. Zhiyu, you’ll receive them. Yangpu, you go to Yuanhang this afternoon and sign a project with President Qi.”
Jin Zhiyu noticed that many of the tasks Qiao Qi was assigning were for several days in the future and was a little confused. “President Qiao, are you going somewhere?”
“I'm flying to Shenzhen in a couple of days. For the new factory’s restructuring.”
“Will you be gone for long?”
“About a month.” Qiao Qi glanced at the digital clock on her desk. “That’s about it. You two can go get lunch.”
Qiao Qi and Jin Zhiyu’s lunch was on its way, but Xu Yangpu had no one to deliver his, so he had to sort it out himself. Jin Zhiyu was holding back a question he wanted to ask Qiao Qi, but as soon as she finished speaking, she immediately dove back into her work. After hesitating several times, he also left the office. Yao Qiu wasn't outside, so he pouted and returned to his own floor, feeling unsatisfied.
In the afternoon, Qi Sitian called Qiao Qi, her voice filled with happiness. “Thank you, Auntie.”
Qiao Qi put down her work, a smile touching the corners of her eyes and brows. “You just finished fundraising, so you need a few good projects to stabilize the company. Don't worry about things on the Guangming side.”
“I know, Auntie. I’ll focus on getting these projects done right.” She suddenly remembered something and added, “You asked me about the trust company last time. The funds and contracts are all in order. Did you ask because there's a problem, Auntie?”
“No, I was just asking.” Qiao Qi's voice was soft and gentle, as if to soothe her. “Don't overthink it. It's nothing.”
“You get back to work, Auntie. I’ll treat you to a meal when you have time.”
After hanging up, Qiao Qi noticed that only a small patch of light remained beneath the floor-to-ceiling windows. In another half hour, it would be quitting time. The streams of traffic and the streetlights would illuminate the city together. At night, looking out at the city's lights from the thirty-fourth floor, she would always think that every color of light represented a different life. See? Life was, in fact, full of color.
With too much work, she unsurprisingly chose to work overtime. Yao Qiu, as always, worried about her dinner and then ignored Qiao Qi's suggestions that she leave for the day. By the time Qiao Qi finished her work and walked out of her office, the lights and computers in the outer secretarial area were still on. Hearing the sound, Yao Qiu looked up at her.
“President Qiao, are you leaving?”
“I’ll give you a ride home.”
Yao Qiu glanced at the time. If President Qiao insisted, she couldn’t refuse, but it would waste a lot of time driving back and forth. She said, “I drove here, President Qiao. Let’s just go downstairs together.”
“Alright.”
Qiao Qi wore glasses when she drove, so she saw the car parked in front of her house from a long way off. She didn't need to guess to know that the only person who would be waiting here at this hour was Gu Jianchu. She opened the iron gate with her remote, and Gu Jianchu waited for her car to drive in before starting her own and following her inside. As she got out of her car, Gu Jianchu walked toward her.
“Working late until now?”
“Did you need something?”
Gu Jianchu's beautiful eyes were filled with a smile. She moved closer to Qiao Qi and answered her question, “I missed you.” She had come not only because she missed her, but also out of jealousy. Of course, she wouldn't say the latter part out loud.
The night concealed Qiao Qi's blush. “It's late. You can go home now, Miss Gu.”
Gu Jianchu pretended not to hear her dismissal. She wrapped two fingers around Qiao Qi's dangling fingertips. When Qiao Qi didn't pull away, she applied a little more pressure. Qiao Qi followed her lead to the side of her car, where she pressed a button, and the trunk slowly opened.
To Qiao Qi's disbelief, the trunk was filled with fresh flowers. She was both surprised and amused. She cast a light, unreadable glance at Gu Jianchu. She had thought Gu Jianchu didn't know how to be jealous. This was the first time she had seen the lofty President Gu act so competitively—and against her own brother, no less. Suddenly, she found this side of her a little cute.
“My brother—” Gu Jianchu paused, correcting herself. “If Gu Fanchu is bothering you, you should reject him directly.”
Qiao Qi raised an eyebrow. “So you also came to deliver flowers in person?”
Gu Jianchu's fingers tightened, pulling Qiao Qi closer. Her other arm wrapped around Qiao Qi's waist, trapping her in an embrace. A smile played on her lips as she said in a low voice, “I came to kiss you.” With that, she captured Qiao Qi's lower lip.
A tingling sensation on Qiao Qi's lips made her part them unconsciously, giving Gu Jianchu an opening. And so, she let her. The light in the courtyard wasn't very bright, but it still elongated the two figures, who were pressed tightly together. Inside, Ping An had heard the commotion downstairs and was waiting lazily, but after a long while, no one came up.
When the kiss ended, Gu Jianchu was still wanting more. She leaned close to Qiao Qi's ear, her voice full of temptation. “Aren't you going to invite me up for a cup of tea?”
By now, that phrase had clearly become a euphemism. Qiao Qi’s hands were still resting on Gu Jianchu’s arms, her heart wavering. But her silence made Gu Jianchu inexplicably nervous. Gu Jianchu was terrified of hearing a rejection once reason took over, so she gave her no more time to think and kissed her again, this time with a palpable urgency.
Ping An finally saw the person who should have been back long ago, but that person had no time for him at all. He watched the two of them go upstairs before returning to his bed and continuing to lie there lazily. Qiao Qi's body and mind were completely dominated by Gu Jianchu. Lost in pleasure, she was oblivious to everything else, so it wasn't so outrageous that she had forgotten about Ping An.
The next morning, Gu Jianchu and Qiao Qi woke up together. As Qiao Qi started to get up, Gu Jianchu shifted, wrapping an arm around her to keep her from moving. “It's still early,” she said. “Sleep a little longer.”
“I'm used to getting up at this time.”
“Then starting this morning, you can change that.” Gu Jianchu was concerned. “You don't sleep well. You should sleep in a little in the morning.”
Having just woken up, Qiao Qi was less distant than she was during the day and was even in the mood to joke. “If you didn't come over at night to disturb my sleep, I don't think I'd need to sleep in.”
Gu Jianchu froze for a moment, giving Qiao Qi a chance to escape. As Qiao Qi went into the walk-in closet, Gu Jianchu remained lying diagonally across the bed. She glanced up and saw the pills on the nightstand. Reaching out, she picked them up to examine them. They were sleeping pills. Her expression darkened noticeably, and she casually tossed the remaining pills into the trash can.
When Qiao Qi came back out after changing, she saw Gu Jianchu propped up on the edge of the bed, her fair-skinned back bare, resting her head on her arm as she waited, watching in her direction. Qiao Qi avoided her overly bold smile. Her gaze shifted, and she vaguely remembered that something on the nightstand was missing, but for a moment, she couldn't recall what it was.
Seeing her gaze linger, Gu Jianchu sensed her confusion and said, “Your sleeping pills. I threw them away.”
A flicker of displeasure crossed Qiao Qi's brow; she didn't like her taking matters into her own hands. Then she said, “I'm going to Shenzhen in a couple of days. Don't come over at night anymore.” Her gaze fell on Gu Jianchu's back again, then quickly darted away. “You'll be late for work.” With that, she left the bedroom.
After Qiao Qi left, Gu Jianchu still didn't move. Her brow was furrowed with a mixture of helplessness and sorrow. She and Qiao Qi could be intimate, yet there was always a clear line between them. This feeling of being close yet distant left her feeling uncharacteristically insecure. She knew where the distance between them lay, but she had no idea how to break through it. Their entire night of entanglement was nothing more than a superficial remedy.
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