Chapter 33. He stepped aside to block her. ...

Xu Jialan took out his phone, found Xu Qingbang's number, stared at it for a long time, and finally dialed it.

Xu Qingbang's cold, deep voice came from the phone, "Hello."

Xu Jialan remained silent for a moment.

Xu Qingbang lost his temper first, "You called me first. If you don't say anything, I'll hang up."

Hearing him say this, Xu Jialan chuckled, "Why are you in such a hurry? As the chairman of the group, how can you be so impatient?"

Xu Qingbang snorted, "You don't need to use this trick to provoke me. What do you want from me?"

He spoke in a condescending tone.

Xu Jialan's lips curled up. He disliked Xu Qingbang's tone the most, as if no one was worthy of his attention.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, “You’ve always wanted me to work for your company, so I’ll agree to let you work there.”

Xu Qingbang chuckled, "You've finally figured it out."

Xu Jialan retorted, "However, don't be too smug for long. I don't care about your company at all. This time, I don't want a management position. Transfer me to the design department."

"Design department? What are you going to do in the design department?" Xu Qingbang was somewhat dissatisfied with his decision.

“This is none of your business. If you don’t agree, we’ll just stay like this. Even if I go out to work, I can still support myself. This is the biggest compromise I’m making.”

Xu Qingbang remained silent for a long time on the other end of the phone; Xu Jialan could only hear his heavy breathing.

"You'd better decide quickly, I don't have much patience."

Xu Qingbang felt that his son was born to bring him bad luck.

"I promise you."

"Okay, I'll wait for your transfer order. I'll go to work on time, but don't forget about my salary."

In the following days, Xu Jialan unusually did not appear in front of Chen Yaoan.

Xu Jialan went to Youye on Saturday afternoon.

Chen Yaoan casually asked, "Why haven't I seen you these past few days?"

"Go to work." Xu Jialan leaned against the reception desk with a lifeless expression.

Chen Yao'an asked in surprise, "You went to work?"

He replied indifferently, "Hmm."

"Where did you go to work?" she asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Go to my dad's company."

Chen Yao'an paused, "You bowed down to your father?"

She didn't want him to compromise himself because of her words, after all, in her opinion, Xu Qingbang was not a good father.

Seeing her suddenly serious expression, Xu Jialan reached out and tapped her head. "What are you thinking? I wouldn't beg him just because of something you said."

Chen Yao'an raised her hand to cover the spot he had knocked on, "Then why?"

"Because I still want to do design, Xu Qingbang's place is the most suitable platform right now."

People always have to make some compromises for life.

"oh."

Changing the subject, Xu Jialan suddenly pulled a bank card out of her pocket and placed it in front of her.

What are you doing?

"Aren't you short of money lately? Your landlord must be pressuring you to pay the rent again."

How did you know?

Xu Jialan stared at her phone and replied casually, "I've seen your landlady before."

Chen Yaoan looked down at the bank card, feeling inexplicably heavy-hearted. How did he know everything?

After a long silence, Chen Yaoan pushed the bank card back in front of him.

Xu Jialan's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"I can't take your money; aren't you short of cash lately?"

He snorted, his voice slightly annoyed, "You underestimate me. I'm not so desperate as to be short of a few tens of thousands of yuan."

He pushed the bank card in front of her again, saying, "The password is the first six digits."

Chen Yao'an knew he didn't lack the money, but she still didn't want to accept it. "I really can't accept it."

Xu Jialan's face darkened. "Try not accepting it!"

Seeing that she was unhappy, Chen Yaoan had no choice but to stop arguing with him.

Xu Jialan stayed in her shop for a while, intending to wait for him to have dinner together, but she remembered that there was no food at home, and Yan Shumei was not convenient to travel far, so she gave up in the end.

Before leaving, Xu Jialan went to the restroom. When he came out, Chen Yaoan handed him a notebook that was tied up.

He reached out and took it. "What is this?"

They were about to demolish it.

Chen Yao'an quickly stopped him, "Don't take it apart now, look at it when you get home."

Xu Jialan smiled, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "What secret do you want me to see when I get home?"

Chen Yao'an felt a little awkward under his gaze, "Anyway, you can look at it when you get home."

He suppressed his excitement and curiosity, and clenched the fist in his hand. "I'll take a look when I get home."

After leaving Youye, Xu Jialan got into the car and casually placed her laptop on the passenger seat. Before leaving, she glanced at it one last time and couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, wondering what she wanted him to see.

The car started moving, and Xu Jialan didn't go anywhere else; she drove straight home.

He carried his notebook upstairs, sat down on the carpet in front of the sofa, and reached out to untie the leather belt that was fastening it.

The notebook was opened, and Xu Jialan pressed the edge of the notebook with her right hand and flipped through it quickly. The pages inside were all blank, without a single word written on them.

Suddenly, something fell out of the gap in the notebook and hit his leg.

He looked down and picked up a bank card from the carpet.

It's the one he just gave Chen Yao'an!

Okay, that's really good!

Xu Jialan clenched her teeth in anger, her jaw muscles tensing.

Chen Yao'an, you're really something!

He gripped the bank card tightly in his hand, almost breaking it, the veins on the back of his hand clearly visible.

-

For the next period of time, Xu Jialan seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Chen Yao'an didn't know if he was angry because she had returned his bank card, but in any case, he hadn't sent her any messages since that day.

She thought he was probably busy with work.

It wasn't until a week later that Xu Jialan made a rare appearance at the bar.

He hadn't been here for a while, which surprised Shi Xingyu. "Huh, why haven't I seen you all this time?"

Xu Jialan seemed uninterested and only replied with one word: "Busy".

He sat down at the bar and ordered a drink.

"Why aren't you with Ma Qi and the others today? They're still at the same old place."

Xu Jialan glanced back at the group of people, her eyes flashing coldly, before quickly looking away.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Shi Xinyu guessed to herself, "What, did you two break up?"

"Um."

Shi Xinyu wasn't surprised at all, and even comforted him: "It's good that they broke up, they weren't good people to begin with."

Xu Jialan remained silent.

He was strikingly handsome, and his charisma made him stand out in the bar. Within minutes of sitting down, women were already flocking to him, drawn by his allure.

A woman in a black dress sat down next to him, her gaze constantly falling on him.

After mentally preparing herself, she leaned her upper body slightly towards Xu Jialan, casually tossed her hair, and then asked, "Handsome, are you alone?"

Xu Jialan's gaze fell on the wine in front of her, and she absentmindedly replied, "Mm."

"Let's have a drink together." She picked up her glass and clinked it against his.

She had already taken a sip from her cup, but Xu Jialan remained unmoved.

After a moment of awkward silence, she could only change the subject, "What's the handsome guy's name?"

Xu Jialan felt annoyed and turned to look at her, "What business is it of yours what my name is?"

The beautiful woman was surprised that such a handsome guy had such a bad temper. "If you're going to refuse, why are you being so fierce?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Jialan's gaze inadvertently drifted towards the door, only to see Chen Yaoan walk in from outside.

She glanced at the bar looking for Shi Xinyu, but saw Xu Jialan first.

The beautiful woman turned to leave, but Xu Jialan, as if possessed, called out to her, "Wait a minute."

The beautiful woman frowned and turned her head. "What?"

Xu Jialan looked away, picked up the wine glass in front of her, and said, "I'm sorry, I was in a bad mood and my attitude was a bit poor just now. I apologize."

Seeing that his attitude was alright, the beautiful woman sat down again, and the two clinked glasses.

Chen Yao'an walked past them, only glancing at them briefly, before sitting down a little further away from Xu Jialan on the other side.

She looked at Shi Xinyu, who was mixing drinks, and asked, "Why did you call me here?"

Shi Chanyu winked at her, "I need to talk to you."

"What is it?"

"We'll talk about this separately later."

"What's going on so mysteriously?"

Xu Jialan held her wine glass to her lips but didn't drink. She listened to their conversation but didn't hear what the beautiful woman next to her was saying at all.

After finishing his drink, Shi Xin came out from behind the bar and said, "Let's go somewhere else to talk."

The two left together.

The beautiful woman next to her was still chattering away when Xu Jialan interrupted her, saying, "Excuse me, I'll be right back."

Before she could respond, he got up and left.

Xu Jialan followed them at a distance, watching them walk towards the back door, but unexpectedly they stopped in the corridor leading to the back door.

He didn't follow them, and his intention wasn't to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Chen Yao'an: "What exactly do you want from me?"

Xu Jialan could clearly hear their conversation, and he consciously took a few steps back.

Chen Yao'an: "Why are you giving me your bank card?"

Recently, Xu Jialan has been particularly sensitive to the words "bank card". He stopped in his tracks and stood still.

"I just heard you were having some financial difficulties lately, so I wanted to help you out."

"Who told you that?"

“Of course I’ll listen to my landlord.” Shi Xinyu waved her hand. “It’s not important. Just take it if it’s given to you.”

"Never mind, aren't you still going to help your brother?" She knew that Shi Xinyu couldn't bear to leave her brother unattended; her family had recently been discussing buying a house for him.

"This is just what leaked out between my fingers, just give it back to me as soon as possible."

Chen Yao'an bit her lip. "Alright, then I'll accept it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Jialan couldn't help but sneer, her teeth practically grinding to powder.

If she won't accept the money he lent her, then she can accept money lent to her by others, right?

very good!

After speaking with Chen Yao, Shi Xinyu went to attend to her business. She patted Chen Yao'an on the shoulder and said, "If you have any difficulties in the future, just tell me. I'm always better than you."

Chen Yaoan smiled with satisfaction and nodded.

Shi Xingyu turned and walked towards Yinye. When she reached the entrance of the hall, she saw Xu Jialan standing there. She casually asked, "What are you doing?"

Xu Jialan replied simply and clearly, "I'm busy, go ahead and do your thing."

Shi Xingyu ignored him and walked away leisurely.

Chen Yao'an followed closely behind, walking to the end of the back corridor, where Xu Jialan blocked her way with a side step.