Chapter 48 Guilt "I'm just... feeling a little uncomfortable."...

Qiao Yunzheng has never been one to sleep in late. On the contrary, her sleep quality is very poor, especially in the past few years when she has taken on the heavy responsibility of the Qiao family business. She can count on one hand the number of times she can get a good night's sleep.

Five years later, she slept in the same bed with Wen Hong again. She thought she would toss and turn, but smelling the familiar cool woody scent, she unexpectedly slept very soundly and had no dreams all night.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already nine o'clock in the morning.

The seat beside him was empty; Wen Hong was no longer in the room.

His air-conditioned quilt was pressed tightly against the edge of the bed, stretched into a stiff, long strip.

Qiao Yunzheng stared at the long strip and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Last night, in the darkness, she boldly snuggled into his arms and felt his body temperature rise at an alarming rate, but he did nothing.

He simply reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her tighter, and then made no further moves.

Nestled in that warm embrace, before her consciousness faded, Qiao Yunzheng thought, it's okay, she has plenty of time. She will be good to him, and he will be patient enough to coax her, just like he has been to her many times before.

Qiao Yunzheng got out of bed and drew back the bedroom curtains. Sunlight streamed in, instantly filling the entire room.

She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, closed her eyes, raised her face towards the source of the warmth, and smiled contentedly.

The living room was empty. Wen Hong's shoes and briefcase were gone from the doorway, leaving only the well-packaged breakfast takeout paper bag on the dining table.

After washing up, Qiao Yunzheng sat down at the dining table and laid out the breakfast from the bag one by one.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up her phone, took a picture of the breakfast that had been laid out, sent it to Wen Hong, and then typed a message in the input box: Thank you.

My fingertips paused, recalling last night, and I slowly added two more Chinese characters after those two words: husband.

She stared at the unsent message for a few seconds, feeling inexplicably guilty. Her ears burned, and she felt as if countless eyes were staring at her phone.

She hurriedly deleted those two words and, trying to cover it up, added three restrained and polite words before finally sending the message: Thank you, Mr. Wen.

After breakfast, Qiao Yunzheng went to her study to deal with work emails sent by her assistant.

First came several work briefings, mostly summaries of Qiao's recent routine affairs.

She turned the pages one by one. Compared to before, the company was generally doing better, except for one thing that made her frown.

Recently, a key project that the Qiao family recently bid for unexpectedly failed to win.

Since Qiao Yunzheng took over, she has lost two important projects, which has drawn a lot of criticism and opposition. At the time, Qiao Yunzheng attributed the problems to her own lack of ability and the instability of the company, without giving it much thought.

Despite her immense effort and preparation for this project, she still couldn't escape failure.

She stared at the words on the briefing, looking at the name of the winning bidder, Wen's, and the price quoted below, which was only 500,000 lower than that of Qiao's.

Such a tiny difference, yet such drastically different results. Suddenly, Qiao Yunzheng thought of a possibility, and her eyes sharpened.

After much deliberation, she sent an encrypted email to her assistant.

After finishing the rest of the work, I looked up again and it was already past noon.

Qiao Yunzheng turned her stiff neck, leaned back in the chair, and picked up her phone to look at it.

Wen Hong hadn't replied to her message yet; the chat box was silent.

A notification popped up in her chat window announcing that Wens Foodstuff Group had won a key government-supported project, and she clicked on it without thinking.

I glanced at it briefly, and it was pretty much the same as what was described in the work briefing.

The news app's prominent headline scrolls through various sections—finance, society, and entertainment—randomly. Just as Qiao Yunzheng swiped right to exit, a photo above the entertainment news headline caught her eye.

She stared at the face wearing a black mask, feeling like she'd seen it somewhere before, especially those beautiful, fox-like eyes, which were particularly alluring.

Clicking into the details page immediately brings up several clearer photos of a man, a male celebrity in his early twenties who became an internet sensation because of his perfect character in a hit drama.

Qiao Yunzheng suddenly sat up straight, remembering something.

She had only seen this person once by chance at the airport exit, without any real contact, just a glimpse from afar. What impressed her most was that in the crowded airport, a dozen burly men formed a human wall, completely protecting him in the middle.

On that occasion, she was almost hit on the head by a crazed fan with a selfie stick.

She remembered that Assistant Chen said that day that this celebrity was very popular recently and had the potential to become a star.

But now it seems there's little hope of getting promoted.

In the news video, the man, still wearing a mask, looked dejected as he bowed deeply to the camera, tears streaming down his face.

Qiao Yunzheng read the news article and realized that the male star had a chaotic private life. He had become arrogant after only a few days of fame and had taken advantage of his idol status to sleep with fans, which was exposed by the victim.

It was like opening Pandora's box, with countless negative stories pouring in. Only after careful investigation by the media did they discover that behind this male celebrity's extravagant and wasteful lifestyle were a pair of parents who were defaulters on the list of dishonest debtors.

It's truly rare to see a nobody like him collapse so spectacularly.

Qiao Yunzheng was surprised as she opened the comments section.

Amidst the overwhelming condemnation, one comment received an exceptionally high number of likes:

[For someone so obscure to be exposed so thoroughly, there's only one truth: they offended the wrong person.]

Her gaze lingered on the comment for a few seconds, and then a thought suddenly struck her.

After finishing reading the news and closing the app, Wen Hong's chat window remained silent.

Qiao Yunzheng was a little hungry, so she quickly packed her things, slung her bag over her shoulder, and went out.

As soon as I entered the elevator, my hand touched something hard in the inner pocket of my backpack. I then remembered that it was the access card for Junyu that Wen Hong had given me. So I changed my mind and drove straight to Junyu.

Stepping back into Junyu, only two months after her last visit, her mindset had undergone a complete transformation.

The receptionist had seen her privately several times before. When she saw her come in, her eyes lit up, and she called out in a clear voice, "The boss lady is here!"

Because of this sound, people from all directions craned their necks to look at Qiao Yunzheng, and she couldn't help but blush.

Without her needing to say anything more, the receptionist had already reported, "You're here to see Lawyer Wen, right? Lawyer Wen is in a meeting. You can go to his office and wait for him. He should be here soon."

Under the gazes of everyone around her, Qiao Yunzheng only gave a hurried "hmm" before rushing upstairs.

As expected, even without anyone to guide her, she easily swiped the access card to the passage.

The meeting room was located near the stairs. Through the glass door, Qiao Yunzheng saw Wen Hong sitting at the very top of the long table, leaning back lazily in her chair. She seemed nonchalant, but her pride and confidence shone through.

She stood by the corridor, looking at Wen Hong whom she hadn't seen in so long, and a pang of sadness welled up in her heart.

She didn't know when it started, but the man beside her had become less sharp and more cautious and timid. She suddenly missed the arrogant Wen Hong who used to be by her side.

Qiao Yunzheng didn't disturb him. She stood quietly for a while, then left and went to his office.

His phone was left quietly on his desk by its owner.

Qiao Yunzheng smiled; no wonder he hadn't replied to her messages.

She sat on that expensive-looking leather sofa, waiting for him.

His office style is very similar to his home, a cool business style with black, white and gray tones. The only warm color is probably a brown photo frame on his desk.

From where Qiao Yunzheng was sitting, she could only see the wood grain on the back of the photo frame. But she remembered that she hadn't seen this photo frame when she last came to his office.

Driven by curiosity, she got up, turned around his desk, and sat down in his office chair.

The two people in the photo are smiling, their arms linked, and anyone who sees them would think they are a match made in heaven.

These are photos from yesterday's wedding. He actually developed them so quickly and put them on his desk.

After staring at the photo for a long time, Qiao Yunzheng suddenly remembered that he and Wen Hong hadn't taken wedding photos yet.

She was engrossed in reading when Wen Hong pushed the door open and walked in. He was clearly taken aback when he saw her.

His gaze slid across her face and landed on the photo she was holding, a fleeting hint of tension in his eyes.

Qiao Yunzheng casually put the photo back in its place and looked up at him.

In the past, if he had seen her come to find him, he would probably have teased her in a very arrogant and drawn-out tone, saying something like, "It's only been a short time since we last met and you already miss me so much."

He paused for a moment before closing the door and walking up to her: "Why did you come over?"

A fleeting sense of disappointment crossed Qiao Yunzheng's mind, but she quickly recovered and smiled at him, saying, "I sent you a message but you didn't reply, so I came to find you."

Wen Hong then noticed his phone lying on the table, somewhat annoyed: "I was in a meeting just now." He picked up his phone, opened it, and saw the picture Qiao Yunzheng had sent him. His expression softened, and he asked her, "Have you had lunch?"

Qiao Yunzheng shook her head: "No," she paused, and then added ambiguously, "It's no fun eating alone."

"Okay." Wen Hong didn't say anything else, put her phone in her pocket, and picked up her briefcase. "Let's go then! Together."

She was taken aback: "Aren't you busy anymore?"

“Most importantly…” Wen Hong hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Eat.”

The two did not drive and chose a nearby private restaurant.

They entered the high-end restaurant, which required reservations, with ease.

Wen Hong hardly needed to ask Qiao Yunzheng; she ordered four dishes on her own, and when the dishes were served, they were all her favorites.

He kept his head down and ate his meal very attentively.

Qiao Yunzheng rested her chin on her hand and looked at him, her eyes crinkling. Suddenly, she brought up the male celebrity: "Does that matter have anything to do with you?"

Wen Hong paused with his chopsticks, looked up, clearly not expecting her to find out so quickly. But he didn't directly admit or deny it, instead saying, "People with questionable character are not suitable to be public figures. Even if it's not now, their downfall is only a matter of time."

Qiao Yunzheng said "Oh" and didn't ask any further questions. She just casually said, "That's a pity. After all, she's really good-looking."

She observed his expression.

If it were in the past, he would probably have made a sarcastic remark about her poor taste, and then sulk for a while.

But today, he only paused for a moment, and then gave a faint "hmm".

At this moment, the accumulated guilt surged forth, threatening to overwhelm Qiao Yunzheng.

It was she who personally transformed the flamboyant and unrestrained Wen Hong into the person she is today.

The two of them didn't say anything more and finished the meal in silence.

After finishing their meal, the two went back to Junyu, drove their car out, and went home together.

Affected by her own feelings of guilt, Qiao Yunzheng sat quietly in the passenger seat, her head resting against the window, letting the light and shadows of the roadside sway past her eyes, without moving or saying a word.

Wen Hong noticed the change in her mood and reached out her hand while waiting at a red light.

His hand paused in mid-air for two seconds before finally reaching out to her forehead: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Qiao Yunzheng remained still and softly hummed in agreement.

His expression immediately became tense: "Where do you feel unwell? There were no allergens in the dishes you just ordered. Did you eat anything else?"

“No,” Qiao Yunzheng turned her head to look at him, her gaze fixed, “It’s just that I feel a little uncomfortable.”

Author's Note: Thank you so much "Sunshine" for the nutrient solution! My motivation is back to full, muah~