Chapter 20 (Second Update)

Zhong Hejing chuckled, but only she knew how much of it was self-deprecating.

"Before I met you, I had never met anyone who was so contradictory," she said.

"Then what should we do?" Qiao Wu smiled as well. "Why not trust your intuition?"

Seeing that Qiao Wu wasn't so easily fooled, and since she had already said so, Zhong Hejing didn't beat around the bush. To be honest, she was indeed a bit exhausted: "My intuition is that you called me here for more than just this. Right now, President Lu is in the hospital, and Lu Jinzhi hasn't returned to the country. As for the others... I guess their hearts aren't in the company. So, is there anything you need from our company?"

She couldn't think of anything else.

Qiao Wu was amused by her serious demeanor. Seeing that the other party no longer regarded her as the "her" of the past, he pushed the prepared snacks in front of Zhong Hejing and began to flip through the exercise book on the table again: "If it were a work matter, I wouldn't have chosen to talk to you here in this way, and I certainly wouldn't have mentioned any so-called friendship. That would be too informal. I invited you here in my own name, but of course it's just a private matter."

She received a call from Ms. Lu Ning today, asking if Lu Ning had left her homework at home.

So Qiao Wu went to her room and, sure enough, found the homework.

The other end was probably playing it on speaker, so Lu Ning's voice came through immediately, proud and assertive: "I told you I wrote it!"

The little girl did her homework diligently for the first time. Although she didn't understand a single question, she still filled every workbook.

Little did I expect that I would get up in such a hurry the next day that I would forget that I had left my workbook on the table. When I arrived at school, the teacher kindly said that it was okay.

It's not okay!

If you write something, you should let the teacher know, otherwise it's all for nothing!

Therefore, she insisted that the teacher call home to verify.

After learning the whole story, Qiao Wu was both amused and exasperated. In order to fulfill the child's dream, he even opened the workbook to take a picture and send the page of homework to the teacher.

The result was a pile of practice questions, and not a single one was answered correctly.

Fortunately, I didn't send her to the international class, otherwise she might not have been able to understand the questions and would have just copied them directly.

So Qiao Wu was correcting Lu Ning's homework during the free time while waiting for someone.

She flipped through a couple of pages and realized that Zhong Hejing showed no sign of leaving, which made sense to her.

This is the second time she has brought up personal matters, and the fact that she didn't leave means that Zhong Hejing is willing to continue the conversation.

In fact, Zhong Hejing didn't think too much about it. Just watching Qiao Wu's natural actions of checking the homework, she had the illusion that she was just having afternoon tea at a friend's house. The long-lost sense of ease made her reluctant to leave for the time being.

Even though she said before she came that she wasn't very familiar with the person in front of her.

She had a rare appetite and picked up the snacks on the table to eat, but she ate them very slowly.

The atmosphere was so harmonious that she finally let go of those messy thoughts.

"As far as I know, Zhong Shixia isn't the kind of kid who would deliberately cause trouble." She changed the subject to a lighter one. "It really was just a misunderstanding with Lu Ning."

Qiao Wu asked, "You don't hate them?"

"A child who hasn't grown up." Zhong Hejing recalled the slap. "I wouldn't say I hate him."

That's the truth; she just felt powerless.

If she had a healthy body, these problems wouldn't exist.

"Were you already unwell before they arrived?"

Zhong Hejing: "Mm."

It was no secret that she was sick.

At first, it was just insomnia and anxiety, but later some physical reactions appeared.

However, Zhong Hejing went to the hospital for a check-up, and the doctor only said that she was overworked and under a lot of work pressure, coupled with a heavy psychological burden, which triggered various physical reactions due to psychological problems.

I've been managing it with medication and seeing a psychologist regularly.

But even though she has reduced her workload, her immunity is declining rapidly. She is experiencing not only physical symptoms, but also a lack of energy for daily life.

"Actually, I was quite worried about you after seeing you yesterday," Qiao Wu said honestly. "If you don't mind, would you like to go to the Lu family's hospital for a check-up?"

Zhong Hejing has been through so much fright today.

Many people have said the word "worry" to her, but ultimately they all have only one purpose: to worry that she cannot inherit the company, or to worry that she can inherit the company.

They're all quite pure.

Does Qiao Wu belong to the former or the latter?

"The Lu family shouldn't be so poor that they'd be eyeing our company?"

Qiao Wu chuckled: "I already said it has nothing to do with the Lu family, it's just me."

Zhong Hejing reflexively asked, "You're thinking about it too?"

"..."

Realizing what she had said was foolish, Zhong Hejing couldn't help but laugh.

Actually, it doesn't matter where she goes to see a doctor. She knows she has some psychological issues, and perhaps it was destined that she would end up like this.

“You’re not the kind of person who would easily let your guard down,” Qiao Wu said. “Even if you’re sick, you’ll still have suspicions. If you don’t want to go, I suggest that in addition to looking for the cause within yourself, you should also look for it in others. You can have a thorough check-up of the medications and health products you’ve taken in the past, or even your family doctor, maid, or nanny.”

Zhong Hejing suddenly froze, her expression turning serious as she looked at Qiao Wu with a probing gaze: "Are you saying my illness might be man-made?"

"There's no harm in doing something. Living in such a complex environment, it's always good to be more careful."

Why do I feel this way?

“It might be because…you have a very strong will to live.” Qiao Wu pointed to the pastries on the table. “So I believe you have a very strong heart, and unless something unexpected happens, you won’t be easily defeated by trivial matters.”

Qiao Wu studied psychology, and everything Zhong Hejing did and every action showed that she was an extremely positive person. So-called psychological problems might exist, but they wouldn't be very serious.

In the original storyline, Zhong Min was drugged by his nominal father in the same way.

At this moment, Zhong Hejing finally understood the purpose of Qiao Wu's invitation to meet her.

It's a very obvious reminder.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Qiao Wu didn't continue the topic: "If you like this dessert, come over anytime."

Just as Zhong Hejing was about to speak, she heard the sound of horses' hooves behind her.

She turned around and saw someone riding a black horse walking straight towards her.

Lu Yingchi?

Zhong Hejing had heard many people's opinions about Lu Yingchi. Lu Yingchi was becoming increasingly difficult to manage and was an absolute spoiled brat who often made Old Master Lu so angry that he would curse him out.

He even jumped off a building last year.

Thinking of this, she turned her head back. She had just hit her younger brother yesterday, and she didn't want to see these annoying things again today.

"I heard we have guests." Lu Yingchi rode his horse closer, squinting as he tried to see who was in the pavilion.

He didn't hear clearly when he returned, but he was furious to learn that Qiao Wu had let people in and even allowed them to drive their car directly into the back courtyard.

Besides the Lu family, is she also working as someone else's lackey outside?!

Is she Nezha?! Does she have three heads and six arms?!

This looks like an octopus! No, it's a centipede!

He gritted his teeth inwardly, wanting to see who this person really was.

Qiao Wu put down her homework and looked up: "So this is how you greet guests?"

Lu Yingchi thought to himself: I'm already being kind by not letting the princess trample on that person, and you expect me to be any more polite?

Qiao Wu: "Get down."

Seeing that the other party appeared to be a woman, Lu Yingchi frowned and dismounted.

What a waste to have ridden the princess out like that.

Qiao Wu frowned: "I remember you had class this afternoon."

"Don't look at me like that, I didn't skip class!" Lu Yingchi tied up his horse and walked over, explaining with a sour face, "The teacher changed the class at the last minute this afternoon."

"Then say hello."

"What are you hitting..."

Lu Yingchi walked over and then recognized the person sitting there: "Zhong Hejing?"

Qiao Wu rolled up her notebook and tapped his arm: "Call me 'sister'."

Lu Yingchi dodged, saying, "Don't push your luck!"

Since Qiao Wu asked him to greet them, he figured he should be able to, so he pulled out a chair and sat down: "Why are you here? The old man isn't home."

Lu Yingchi didn't pay much attention to business matters, only vaguely remembering that Zhong Hejing seemed to have inherited her family's company and become the president, so she was here to discuss business.

“I invited her,” Qiao Wu said. “She is my guest.”

"Your guest?"

Lu Yingchi found it even stranger.

He didn't know about others, but everyone knew that Qiao Wu and Zhong Hejing didn't get along.

Qiao Wu nodded: "So if you're going to be rude, please leave."

"..."

Lu Yingchi clicked his tongue lightly.

He chose to infiltrate the enemy camp over leaving, and reluctantly called out, "Sister."

Zhong Hejing was so startled that she took a sip of water to calm herself down: "Hello."

That's so weird.

If Lu Yingchi weren't so tall and strong now, she would have wondered if she had traveled back more than ten years to when Lu Yingchi followed Qiao Wu around like a shadow.

How did they become so obedient?

"What is this?" Lu Yingchi saw the practice questions on the table, picked them up and flipped through them casually, then kept blabbering, "Holy crap, what kind of rubbish is this? I could write better with my feet than her, how can she even understand it? Also, are there any correct answers on this? She can perfectly miss the correct answers on the multiple-choice questions? Does she even have a brain?"

Qiao Wu simply tossed him the workbooks she hadn't finished reading: "Since you're free, why don't you help her correct them?"

"Why me?" Lu Yingchi said unhappily. "My time is precious and I can't waste it watching this kind of garbage."

“She did her homework very late last night, very diligently,” Qiao Wu said. “But she forgot to bring her homework today, and she felt very aggrieved when the teacher called me. I think she must really want to do well since she just started at a new school.”

Lu Yingchi: "..."

"You can't even do junior high school problems?" Qiao Wu looked at him suspiciously. "They say your intelligence declines after you get into university..."

Lu Yingchi grabbed the pen from the table and, without even looking at it, drew a big red X on the homework: "Shut up."

Qiao Wu smiled and said, "Remember to be careful."

"Today I'll show her what it means to have vastly different levels of intelligence!"

So Qiao Wu used a fork to put a piece of cake on his plate and said, "Good luck."

She originally wanted Lu Yingchi to take it himself, but to her surprise, Lu Yingchi ate it without even looking up.

Qiao Wu paused almost imperceptibly, but didn't take it seriously.

Let alone feeding them cake, we used to feed them food and water all the time.

Zhong Hejing, standing nearby, stared in disbelief.

Is she really so ill that she's having this delusion? Is Qiao Wu feeding Lu Yingchi?!

Lu Yingchi was still looking down at his homework, seemingly not taking his earlier actions to heart.

But only he knew that his eyes were filled with red crosses on the homework paper, and he hadn't absorbed a single word. Those few seconds felt like an eternity to him, and his mind was filled with countless thoughts.

What happened to Qiao Wu?

Why do you have to feed him cake by hand? How old is he? Doesn't he have hands to eat?

If I don't eat in front of outsiders, would that be disrespectful to her?

But if I eat it, I'll lose face!

By the time he realized what was happening, he had already eaten the cake.

And! Right there! Qiao Wu's hand!

Realizing this, Lu Yingchi felt a surge of heat, his eyes constantly fixed on the fair hand on the table.

Qiao Wu didn't seem to intend to feed him anymore; his fork, still covered in cream, was placed in his direction.

So sweet.

When did our family's pastry chef start making desserts so sweet?!

Lu Yingchi didn't look up, holding his pen: "I want to drink tea."

Qiao Wu glanced at him and saw that he was still diligently correcting Lu Ning's work, so she poured him a cup of tea.

This time, however, she pushed the teacup in front of Lu Yingchi. Lu Yingchi was a little dazed, and when he saw the hand being handed over, he subconsciously lowered his head.

He only snapped out of his daze after someone tapped him on the head.

Seeing that his chin was almost resting on the table, Qiao Wu asked, puzzled, "Where are your hands?"

Lu Yingchi was stunned for a moment, then immediately reached out, picked up the teacup, drank it all in one gulp, slammed the cup down on the table, picked up his homework, and got up to leave.

Qiao Wu was used to his erratic behavior: "Take the princess back."

After walking several steps, Lu Yingchi silently walked back, untied the princess's hand, and walked away.

Zhong Hejing was also confused: "What's wrong with him?"

Qiao Wu put himself in their shoes and said, "They probably didn't know how to do those questions and went to look up the answers."

This is the most likely possibility.

"Lu Yingchi and Lu Ning are getting along quite well now?"

"We're all family, how could things not be good?"

"You seem to be doing well too."

Qiao Wu picked up the cup that Lu Yingchi had knocked over on the table and chuckled as he heard this: "To me, they are family too."

The way the two interact doesn't seem fake.

Zhong Hejing nodded thoughtfully.

As Lu Yingchi led the princess away, he remained dazed, grabbing the princess's ear and nagging incessantly, "Princess, she fed me cake, why do you think that is?"

"Trying to please me?"

"Hilarious, do you think I'm that easy to please? She's dreaming."

"Don't worry, I won't hand you over to her just because of this cake."

"You also think it's too cheap, right? It should be worth several dollars."

The princess, annoyed to the point of exasperation, tossed her head and walked away haughtily.

On the other side, Zhong Hejing kept Qiao Wu's reminder in mind, so she got up and said goodbye after sitting for a short while.

Qiao Wu saw her off to her car.

The two had just reached the road when a black Porsche sped towards them.

Although he knew the other party wouldn't hurt anyone, Qiao Wu still subconsciously reached out and pulled Zhong Hejing aside: "It's Lu Xuan."

Zhong Hejing thought to herself, there shouldn't be anyone else in this family besides him.

However, this does fit his persona. While Lu Yingchi is still in school, his news can only be obtained from people in the industry, but Lu Xuan is frequently trending on social media.

Although none of the entries were favorable to him, Zhong Hejing honestly felt that most of them were true.

After all, Lu Xuan is indeed a rather arrogant and difficult-to-manage rich second-generation who does things unpredictably. The older he gets, the more unpredictable his temper becomes. He acts like a big shot because he really is a big shot. As for his poor acting skills and bad temper...

Not a single one of them wronged him.

The Porsche braked suddenly beside them.

After getting out of the car, Lu Xuan didn't even look at who was standing next to him, and went straight to Qiao Wu.

He gritted his teeth: "Are you going to do anything about Lu Jinzhi or not?"

Qiao Wu asked knowingly, "What happened to him?"

"What's wrong?" Lu Xuan pointed to his phone. "None of my SIM cards are working!"

As he spoke, his hands trembled with anger: "I've never heard of 'insufficient balance' in my entire life!"

Today, Yu Xiu brought his new agent to the company, saying he felt sorry for what happened last time and invited him to lunch.

Lu Xuan originally didn't want to go, but considering that today was the first day and Qiao Wu had paved the way for him, he went anyway.

He has always been extravagant and doesn't care how much he spends. He has never let anyone pay when he goes out to eat, let alone his agent. It would be ridiculous to let someone else pay the bill.

However, his card was suspended.

Every single one of them has been suspended!

The card he used to sign the contract with the company, with all the money he received for his work, had long since been spent without him even realizing it; he never carried any money with him.

So today, when he was eating, he didn't even have enough money in his WeChat account!

not enough!

Lu Xuan still can't forget the way Yu Xiu and his new agent looked at him.

Yu Xiu even mocked him while paying the bill: "It seems like you don't even have enough money to buy jewelry for your housekeeper."

This is an utter disgrace!

What's even more infuriating is that Lu Jinzhi actually blocked him!

“Either you take care of Lu Jinzhi now, or…” Lu Xuan raised his hand, made a throat-slitting gesture, and said sinisterly, “or I will wait at the airport and assassinate him on the day he returns to the country.”

Zhong Hejing looked at Lu Xuan, then at Qiao Wu.

That's a lot to say! Qiao Wu can actually control Lu Jinzhi?!

Qiao Wu suppressed a smile and said, "Isn't this a good thing?"

"What did you say?"

“This way you can prove that you are capable of surpassing Lu Jinzhi, and also prove that you can afford to hire me.” Qiao Wu shrugged and said, “If I want to be the first choice, it seems that this is the only way.”

Zhong Hejing thought that if such nonsense were put in front of Zhong Shixia, even that child would hesitate for a few seconds.

But Lu Xuan's rising anger suddenly stopped.

Zhong Hejing, who witnessed it firsthand: ...

Is his temper unpredictable?

No way, you actually believe that?!