Chapter 48 Picking Up People

Zhan Lintian placed his hands on Jiang Xia's waist, his well-defined fingers pressing on the table, "confining" the man before carefully feeling his body temperature.

Jiang Xia felt warm and cozy, and he thought it smelled nice, but he couldn't quite put his finger on the scent.

The two of them squeezed into the not-so-spacious kitchen.

Zhan Lintian peered into the pot: "Poached eggs?"

As he spoke, the heat mixed with moisture fell on Jiang Xia's neck, sending a tingling sensation straight to her bones, and Jiang Xia couldn't help but dodge forward.

Zhan Lintian grabbed Jiang Xia's waist with his right hand and pulled him back, so that Jiang Xia's back was pressed against his chest.

Zhan Lintian chuckled and lowered his voice, "Why are you hiding? What's wrong?"

He looked at the blush on Jiang Xia's cheeks, his eyes dark, and suddenly called out softly, "Jiang Xia."

Jiang Xia replied, "Yes, Mr. Zhan, what's wrong?"

Zhan Lintian wasn't too happy with the title "President Zhan," but he didn't force him to change it.

He raised an eyebrow and said, "It's nothing."

Jiang Xia's body tensed up, his ears suddenly felt burning hot, and the heat spread down his neck to his heart.

President Zhan was clearly doing it on purpose...

Jiang Xia said gently, "President Zhan, there's a lot of oil fumes in the kitchen, please go out first."

Zhan Lintian slowly reached out his hand, his fingertips about to touch Jiang Xia's right hand holding the spatula. Jiang Xia gripped the spatula tightly and looked at him nervously.

Their eyes met, and the two stared at each other at close range.

Zhan Lintian stared into Jiang Xia's eyes and gently grasped Jiang Xia's right hand...

Hmm, was I that obvious last night?

Instead of confronting him, he took the spatula and gripped it tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He said matter-of-factly, "I'll do it."

Jiang Xia stood to one side, feeling restless if he got too close, but it would be too impolite to hide in the living room, and it was even more inappropriate to just watch the guests wielding spatulas to cook.

Zhan Lintian took a moment to ask, "Did you sleep well last night? Why are you up so early?"

Jiang Xia coughed once: "You slept well."

Mr. Zhan felt warm all over, and the other person was holding him tightly. The feeling of being tightly wrapped up was especially comfortable for him, who was prone to feeling cold.

Zhan Lintian hugged him like a koala, pulling him into his arms.

Jiang Xia felt as if he were sleeping in a heated bag with a constant temperature, surrounded by heat sources, but not the kind of heat that was too dry.

President Zhan held his feet between her legs, and the warmth seeped into her skin little by little.

In the middle of the night, he secretly reached his hand under the covers to get some fresh air. He had only been cooling off for a moment when President Zhan, who was still asleep, grabbed his hand and shoved it back under the covers.

At that time, he even suspected that President Zhan hadn't slept at all.

Jiang Xia snapped out of her thoughts and quickly explained, "I have to go to work today, so I have to get up early."

"I really don't want to go to work," Zhan Lintian sighed.

Jiang Xia did not answer, because she did not mind going to work, and it was too quiet at home with no one to talk to.

He doesn't play games or watch videos; he just curls up on the bay window to read books, trying his best not to think about Wu Ming.

When people are busy, they don't have time to think about those messy things.

Jiang Xia sensed that President Zhan needed to calm down, so he said apologetically, "President Zhan, I won't be able to stay home with you during the day."

Zhan Lintian paused in his stir-frying, then smiled and said, "I happen to have something to do too."

Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but laugh. He didn't know how to handle this situation and instinctively wanted to escape...

Zhan Lintian then made a soup with unleavened dough dumplings, and bright green vegetables floated in the oily soup.

Jiangxia took a bite and found the flavor rich and not bland.

"Delicious," Jiang Xia couldn't help but say, he liked the light flavor.

He did it very simply, and Jiang Xia thought to himself that he could learn from him in the future.

After the two had breakfast, Zhan Lintian noticed that the clothes he had changed into the night before had been washed and ironed by Jiang Xia.

He touched the ironed shirt; it wasn't wrinkled at all.

Jiang Xia had quickly dealt with these things during his free time after leaving the kitchen, and Zhan Lintian hadn't even noticed.

He came out after changing his clothes, leaned on Jiang Xia's shoulder, and jokingly said, "Thank you, President Jiang."

His tone was light and cheerful.

Jiang Xia coughed lightly, embarrassed, and then laughed.

Zhan Lintian asked nervously, "Do you have a cold?"

"No." Jiang Xia shook his head and looked out the window. It was already daytime, but the outside was gloomy and the wind was still howling.

After a few days of spring-like weather, Montreal was hit by another cold spell. After the last wave of temperature rise ended, the temperature dropped steadily, and even the air was filled with the damp smell of the sea.

Jiang Xia bent down to put on his leather shoes at the door. There was a project meeting today, and the client might send someone to attend, so he had to be a bit formal.

He gently touched the ground with the toes of his shoes, adjusting them to fit his feet perfectly.

He specially changed into a coat with straight shoulders and added a warm undershirt under his shirt.

Since the places he would be going in and out of later would all be indoor spaces, he wasn't dressed very warmly.

Jiang Xia straightened his clothes. In recent years, most of his coats have been drop-shoulder styles, but he still prefers straight shoulders, which make him look more energetic.

As Zhan Lintian watched him straighten his clothes, he said, "You were dressed like this the first time I met you."

This rigid combination actually suits Jiang Xia surprisingly well... but he looks good in anything.

Jiang Xia took the umbrella from the doorway, then grabbed a sapphire blue wool scarf and clutched it tightly in his hand, asking in confusion, "Is this the first time I've seen this? I don't think I ever wore something like this when I was in the Fog Kingdom?"

Zhan Lintian said, "I was watching from the deck the night you went to the private port on Red Island to pick up Wu Ming."

The two went out and walked and talked.

Jiang Xia was shocked. At that moment, she vaguely saw a man standing next to Ying Hua, but she couldn't see him clearly. She could only look up and smile at them.

I never expected it to be President Zhan.

Zhan Lintian only said, "It was very windy that night, and you weren't dressed warmly enough."

The two of them went downstairs.

Mr. Zhan's driver was already waiting here in the car.

Zhan Lintian looked at Jiang Xia and asked softly, "Jiang Xia, see you next time."

As Jiang Xia breathed, white mist appeared before his eyes, and the wind carried his voice to Zhan Lintian's ears.

Goodbye, Mr. Zhan.

Jiang Xia was somewhat absent-minded, but forced himself to go to the company.

Ironically, although I went to Wu Ming's engagement party just to say goodbye in a unique way, the Wu family was not stingy at all.

He forgot to take the wedding favors when he left, and afterwards, the Wu family sent two boxes of wedding candy.

A box of wedding candy is paired with a designer scarf, and another box of wedding candy is paired with a golden osmanthus brooch.

The names of the two soon-to-be-married couple were written on the box.

The only difference was that the box containing the scarf had Xie Xingzhang & Wu Ming on the cover, while the other box had Wu Ming & Xie Xingzhang on the cover.

These are gifts that the Xie and Wu families gave to their guests.

Jiang Xia brought the wedding candies inside to the company. Most of them were chocolates, which were too sweet for him to eat.

Colleagues from the project team came over to share the joy.

Everyone knows that Wu Ming is Jiang Xia's friend.

A colleague said, "Is this Wu Shao's engagement party? It turns out his engagement was true."

Jiang Xia took a sip of tea: "What?"

My colleague, while eating chocolate, explained, "Someone has already mentioned this in the comments section of Ms. Xie's video."

"I just don't know why the news hasn't been released yet."

"I heard that rich people like to hold their weddings in the Maldives. I went there two years ago, and the scenery is indeed beautiful." My colleague said, pursing his lips, "but it's too expensive."

Jiang Xia sat quietly in his chair, listening.

Wu Ming probably didn't let the two families reveal the news so that it would be easier to annul the engagement later.

His colleague asked him, "Team Leader Jiang, have you been there?"

Jiang Xia smiled and shook his head.

It's not very meaningful for someone to travel alone; he rarely goes out.

"Hey, Team Leader Jiang, what's the point of staying home all day? The first phase of the project is launching this afternoon, and the client is treating everyone to dinner. Are you going?"

Jiang Xia asked, "What do you want to play?"

"They said they found a place by the river for a team-building karaoke session." His colleagues wanted to invite him to go with them. "Go ahead, go ahead, the editor-in-chief told us to leave work early, we'll be done by seven or eight at the latest."

Jiangxia agreed.

When he was leaving get off work in the afternoon, his editor-in-chief called him to take on an outsourced job.

In a sporting event, one of the athletes, a favorite to win, came from a country where the language was less commonly spoken. He was a last-minute participant and was required to be interviewed.

The organizers sought help from others.

It wasn't much money, but Jiang Xia accepted it, treating it as a chance to relax after watching a game.

Moreover, finding people for many small jobs isn't as magical as it seems. The person in charge simply browses through WeChat, and if they find someone suitable, they send a message to arrange the job.

Jiang Xia thought that as long as he could get the person in charge's contact information, that would be fine.

More than that, he was worried about going out to sing, so he wore headphones all afternoon and crammed a few songs at the last minute.

He was busy with something and didn't have time to check his phone.

Wu Ming surprisingly didn't send any messages, presumably because President Wu warned him and he finally behaved himself.

Jiang Xia was about to leave work when she received a call from Wu Ming as soon as she entered the elevator.

Jiang Xia stood in the elevator, watching the floors drop one by one. The closer they got to the basement, the worse the signal became, and Wu Ming's voice became intermittent and increasingly indistinct.

"Jiang Xia, I..."

"I might have to study abroad."

This is Wu Zhou's idea—as long as he is still in China and in Montreal, he must complete the marriage.

Unless he has something more important to do, such as improving his education, he can only delay for a while longer.

Wu Ming has already discussed it with his fiancée, Xie Xingzhang.

Xie Xingzhang didn't want to go to a foreign country where he was unfamiliar with the people and places, to get a useless diploma.

Therefore, this task fell to Wu Ming.

Wu Ming's voice grew softer and softer, tinged with a cautious probing, as he awaited Jiang Xia's reply.

Jiang Xia's voice carried a detached coolness. After a soft chuckle, she said in a low voice, "Congratulations. Have you decided which school to apply to?"

Jiang Xia continued, "To be honest, the Wu family wanted you to study abroad when you were in high school."

Now, the Wu family has fulfilled their original wish.

Wu Ming pondered for a long time, hesitated for a while, and then pleaded, "Jiang Xia, come abroad with me. I'll cover your tuition, and I'll have someone handle everything else related to studying abroad. I want to be with you."

Jiang Xia lowered his eyes. If it were him when he was going from high school to university, he might have really followed Wu Ming abroad without hesitation.

At that time, he had few channels to obtain information and was both unfamiliar with and afraid of foreign countries. However, after worrying for several days, he still made the decision to go abroad to work and study at the same time.

Unfortunately, Wu Ming's spoken English was poor, and he wasn't too keen on attending a preparatory course, so his plan to study abroad ultimately fell through.

But now, he doesn't need it anymore.

Jiang Xia said calmly, "Congratulations, I've arrived at the underground parking garage. I'll hang up now."

There was no further sound from Wu Ming on the other end of the phone, and Jiang Xia didn't care what he said afterward, so she hung up the phone directly.

Actually, it doesn't matter where he goes. He's all alone in Montreal. Unless, as the old woman said, he finds someone to marry and settle down here, he won't be considered truly rooted.

She could go abroad, but she would definitely not be with Wu Ming.

Wu Ming has been contacting him frequently these past few days, but Jiang Xia's reaction has been lukewarm. He only hopes that Wu Ming can adapt to life without him soon.

He has so many friends, it wouldn't matter if he were gone.

Jiang Xia stopped thinking about trivial matters and drove home to change into a long black down jacket.

Because he was going out for a team-building trip, his original formal attire was a bit too thin.

He needs to learn from his mistake. Last time he went camping at Ying Hua's house, he didn't wear enough clothes. Luckily, there was a barbecue grill to keep warm.

This time, we don't have the same conditions; if we wear too little, we'll definitely feel freezing.

Before leaving, Jiang Xia casually picked up the short, royal blue scarf she had worn that morning and wrapped it around her neck.

He exhaled a breath of hot air, and white mist appeared.

Considering that he might be drinking tonight, he didn't drive his own car but took a taxi directly to the dinner venue.

Upon arriving and seeing the restaurant, Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief.

He was shocked when his colleagues told him that they were having a meal by the river during the day. They thought that going to the river to be exposed to the cold wind in the dead of winter would probably mean that the whole team would have to take sick leave the next day.

Fortunately, it was just a restaurant by the river. The client booked a private room on the first floor, which had an open balcony with a view of the river.

The private room was very warm. After Jiang Xia went in, he took off his scarf and coat, revealing a gray shirt with white vertical stripes underneath.

He arrived very early. There was only one female representative from the client present. The two of them exchanged a few words of polite politeness, and then she took charge of ordering the food.

Jiang Xia casually reminded everyone, "One of our group members can't eat mangoes."

The person in charge gave an OK sign, indicating that he understood.

During this process, people came in one after another. There were microphones in the private room where people could sing, and some people had already started selecting songs and testing their voices.

Jiang Xia sat in a chair, not participating in the commotion, only occasionally picking up his phone to check it.

Wu Ming called several more times during this period, but he refused to answer them all.

Wu Ming sent me a WeChat message.

Jiang Xia typed back: "I'm having a dinner party, so it's inconvenient for me to call."

“I know everything you just said. I’m not considering going abroad. The current industry outlook is not great. I’ll probably focus more on job adjustments rather than further education.”

Wu Ming stared at the messages popping up on the screen. With each word Jiang Xia spoke, his heart sank.

Every word and sentence exudes a sense of alienation.

His eyes were bloodshot. How could it be nothing? Jiang Xia spoke so casually, as if the two of them had no connection whatsoever in the future.

Wu Ming felt as if his heart was being squeezed, and the pain made it hard to breathe.

But he had to go abroad; this was the safest way to end the engagement.

He should go abroad first to cool things off; the Xie family can't really let him drag Xie Xingzhang out of the marriage.

Since Xie Xingzhang doesn't want to go abroad and his desire to annul the engagement is strong, then he has no choice but to play the "bad guy".

This is a very dignified way to handle things, and the older brother is willing to clean up the mess for him.

It seems quite common for couples to break up because one of them goes abroad to study and they are in a long-distance relationship. It's just a matter of fate, not a matter of one abandoning the other.

Both sides can save face.

Wu Ming really wanted to ask Jiang Xia: back in their senior year of high school, Jiang Xia was willing to go abroad with him, so why doesn't he want him now?

But he didn't dare to ask further.

Many things need to be kept secret. As long as everything is kept secret, his image in Jiang Xia's eyes won't be too bad.

He just wanted to be an ordinary person who broke up with his girlfriend due to relationship problems, not a scoundrel who failed to take precautions during premarital sex, causing his girlfriend to get pregnant and have an abortion.

Wu Ming didn't dare to make a big fuss, because he didn't know how much leverage the Xie family had over him.

Simply not being able to get together with Xie Xingzhang won't ruin her reputation.

But if his previous relationships were exposed... then Jiang Xia would know that he had been lying all along.

He lied to Jiang Xia for many years, claiming that he had never been in a relationship.

This needs to be handled discreetly.

The elders in the family also felt the same way, especially my grandfather. His thinking was very simple: he was afraid that if his reputation was ruined, he wouldn't be able to marry a suitable daughter from a good family, so they absolutely couldn't make a big scene.

Wu Ming was suspicious and kept wondering if Jiang Xia knew about Xie Xingzhang's pregnancy and that tonight's so-called dinner was just a lie.

So he mobilized his network to inquire around and found out where Jiangxia would be having dinner that night—a restaurant owned by a friend.

Jiang Xia wasn't lying to him; she genuinely didn't care anymore.

When Wu Zhou came home from get off work, Wu Ming was sitting on the sofa, looking at him with red eyes: "Brother, do I really have to go abroad?"

Wu Zhou said coldly, "There are no suitable schools for you in China, and if you were to go to university in China, why didn't the Wu family arrange for you to go to Mengcheng?"

"Only if you go abroad will everything make sense."

Wu Ming reluctantly accepted this explanation. His mind was in complete turmoil; he couldn't think of a better idea, nor did he have the ability to resolve the situation.

The Xie family is also putting pressure on Xie Xingzhang.

Wu Ming couldn't bear to put Xie Xingzhang under any additional pressure, so he could only compensate her with money and didn't ask her to join him in resisting marriage.

Everything was gradually getting better; he just needed to endure it for half a year. However, he simply couldn't stand Jiang Xia's calm demeanor.

Wu Ming clutched his hair, almost in despair: "But Jiang Xia doesn't want to go with me. Has he found out something? Is he going to abandon me...?"

Wu Zhou interrupted him: "You're nobody to him. His reluctance to go abroad with you doesn't count as abandonment. What do you expect him to feel guilty about?"

Wu Ming instinctively sensed something was wrong, but his emotions were already out of control, and he subconsciously retorted, "That's not how it is, brother! You don't know how much he valued me before. I was always his only friend."

“He even went out for a group gathering tonight, at the newly opened restaurant with a view in Zhao Sucheng’s house. I’m going abroad, and he just congratulated me!”

Even though the two people are having a normal conversation, why do they feel like there's an invisible barrier between them?

Wu Zhou calmly watched him go mad, then slowly spoke, his words cutting to the heart: "So you're just unwilling to accept that he wasn't willing to go abroad with you."

"He doesn't want me anymore," Wu Ming murmured in despair.

This trip abroad was unavoidable. He will leave first, and then find a reason to return to China after Wu Zhou has settled matters between the two families.

Wu Ming originally wanted to bring up Zhan Lintian, but he was afraid that Zhan Lintian would bully Jiang Xia.

But his older brother had just reprimanded him for privately contacting CEO Zhan.

He wasn't stupid; he knew he couldn't say much at that moment and had to swallow his words.

Wu Zhou watched in silence, then let out a sneer.

"Wu Ming, you are really spoiled."

"In this world, you can't just ask for something and expect others to give it to you. There aren't that many perfect situations."

Wu Ming subconsciously replied, "But Jiangxia used to be like that..."

Wu Zhou interrupted him directly, strode past him, and left with the words: "There won't be another Jiangxia in the future. Wu Ming, haven't he done enough for you all these years?"

Wu Zhou returned to his study. He didn't turn on the main light; only the desk lamp was on, casting a warm yellow light on his cold, hard profile.

He rubbed his throbbing temples. Wu Ming wailed and howled, and those around him, unaware of the situation, thought Jiang Xia was deceiving him.

He couldn't stand Jiang Xia's lack of enthusiasm... So, all these years of liking Jiang Xia and enduring it, wouldn't he have to turn the Wu family upside down before he was done with it?

There was a time when he even thought that Jiang Xia and Wu Ming would be together, and he wondered how they would cope with the pressure and manage their little family.

Later, he watched as the two maintained a lukewarm relationship.

He also felt that perhaps Wu Ming really didn't like men, and Jiang Xia was at a loss.

Now, Wu Ming has gone mad because of Jiang Xia's estrangement.

Wu Zhou snorted coldly, speechless. Sure enough, what is too easily obtained is never cherished.

He got up again, and this time he didn't arrange for a driver to drive him; he drove himself out.

Wu Zhou arrived at the restaurant entrance but did not go in. It was a single-story Thai restaurant, located in a slightly out-of-the-way area, but with an excellent view of the river.

There was a parking lot right in front of the restaurant, so he parked in the space closest to the entrance, sat in his car, and dialed Jiang Xia's number.

It was very noisy on the other side of the river gorge. I called out "hello" several times, but I couldn't hear clearly.

Jiang Xia strode to the balcony, closed the sliding door to shut out the noise, and said, "Hey, Mr. Wu, sorry, it's a bit noisy here."

"Still having a get-together?"

The man's voice came through the receiver, sounding slightly deep.

Jiang Xia replied, "Yes, it hasn't been long since it started."

After exchanging a few words, Wu and Zhou hung up the phone.

Jiang Xia, not understanding what was going on, went back inside.

After dinner, several female colleagues decided to go on a cruise to see the night view, which would take two hours.

Jiang Xia thought for a moment and decided to go home first.

He politely declined, saying, "Maybe next time."

"Team Leader Jiang, do you have a car? Could you give us a ride to the port? It's not far, it's nearby. It's too cold outside, and we don't really want to walk there."

Jiang Xia shook his head: "Sorry, I didn't drive today. I'll go ask the colleagues on the client's side for you."

Someone from Party A's side drove over.

Jiang Xia was familiar with a good-natured colleague from the client side, so he thought it shouldn't be difficult.

He noticed during his meal that some of the clients also wanted to see the river view and even said they wanted to visit the city's new landmark building.

Jiang Xia smiled and walked towards the client's team. Before he got close, a deep male voice rang out.

"Do you need me to deliver it?"

His figure stood out exceptionally tall under the city's neon lights.

The project team members had heard of the Wu family because of Jiangxia, so they naturally recognized Wu Zhou. They looked at him with a mixture of surprise and delight.

"Hello, Mr. Wu!"

Someone couldn't help but greet him: "Mr. Wu, are you here for dinner?"

Mr. Wu stopped and uttered two words calmly: "No."

Wu Zhou's gaze fell on Jiang Xia, his eyes softened, and he said slowly, "Jiang Xia, I've come to take you home."

.

A note from the author:

Wu Zhou now wants to send Wu Ming to Africa.

Wu Zhou: He doesn't want to be friends with you anymore, but he's acting like he abandoned you. Why are you crying?

Zhan Lintian: I've paid for the plane tickets, but not the return ticket. [Sunglasses]