Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Behind the Door
Li Yingxue's reservation was in the county seat, an hour's drive away. Ruan Xiangyi and the others arrived first, and after waiting for half an hour, Li Yingxue finally arrived. She had gone back to change her clothes and put on some fresh makeup. She walked in, followed by two more people.
Ruan Xiangyi was originally talking to Jiang Ruzhi. When she heard Li Yingxue's voice, she looked up and her attention was immediately drawn to the man behind her.
Why is he here?
Li Yingxue introduced: "This is Mr. Zhao Qingshi, Mr. Zhao. I'm sure you know him. The person next to him is Mr. Zhao's secretary, Ms. Xia Li."
Xia Li first looked at Ruan Xiangyi and nodded to her: "Hello."
Ruan Xiangyi nodded: "Hello."
After they were seated, the proprietress handed the menu to Li Yingxue, who passed it to Zhao Qingshi: "Mr. Zhao, take a look and see what you'd like to eat. I heard their specialty is fish in sour soup."
Zhao Qingshi didn't answer. He raised his eyes and pushed the menu over: "Little girl, order first."
Jiang Ruzhi was the same age as Ruan Xiangyi, making her the two youngest people there. But she didn't dare take it. Wasn't it obviously meant for Ruan Xiangyi? Ruan Xiangyi gritted her teeth and ordered the specialty dish: the sour soup fish that Li Yingxue had mentioned. She chose a three-pound grass carp. She handed the menu back to her. Li Yingxue checked off a few snacks and handed it to Zhao Qingshi. "Take a look. Do you need anything else?"
Zhao Qingshi glanced at it like flipping through documents, then raised his hand and picked up a piece of rice dumpling with fermented lees.
While waiting for their food, Li Yingxue struck up a conversation with Zhao Qingshi, asking how he ended up here. It was truly a coincidence. Zhao Qingshi curled his lips and said, "Of course it's for work."
Under the table, Jiang Ruzhi hooked Ruan Xiangyi's hand and leaned over to gossip: "I don't mean any harm, I'm just gossiping. Did Mr. Zhao come here specifically to see you?"
How did she answer this...
Ruan Xiangyi scratched his face and decided to play dumb: "It's just for work."
The dishes were gradually served.
Zhao Qingshi suddenly asked, "I heard that Miss Li lost contact last night and was admitted to the hospital. She was only discharged this morning?"
Mentioning this, Li Yingxue put on a delicate look, clutching her heart. "Don't tell me, I was so scared! The moment I heard thunder, my legs went weak and I couldn't walk. I spent the entire night in the hospital before I recovered. I still feel the aftereffects. It was really terrifying."
The rice dumplings with fermented lees were served. Zhao Qingshi placed them in front of him, stirred them with a spoon, and said nonchalantly, "It's quite scary. If you're afraid of thunder, don't go out on rainy days, so that others won't worry about you."
Li Yingxue obviously didn't understand what he meant, and smugly said, "Luckily they found me, otherwise I might have stayed there all night. It really makes me scared when I think about it."
Jiang Ruzhi whispered to Ruan Xiangyi, "How could she be like this? You found her, and she pushed you and hurt your foot, and she didn't even say thank you. She sounded so proud."
Before Ruan Xiangyi could reply to Jiang Ruzhi, she heard Zhao Qingshi say calmly, "I have to thank them, especially..."
Pretending to glance casually, he said, "I heard that a little girl injured her leg while looking for you."
Li Yingxue had a question mark on her face. How did he know?
But now that the conversation had come to this, Li Yingxue couldn't pretend not to hear it, so she solemnly apologized to Ruan Xiangyi: "I'm sorry. I was too scared at the time and pushed you away, causing you to get hurt. Don't worry, I will cover all the subsequent medical expenses. I'm really sorry, and thank you for finding me. When you return to Yitong, you can come to me if you have any problems."
Ruan Xiangyi curled her lips at her: "It doesn't matter, it's what we should do."
The words you said when you sent me off were all polite, there was some sincerity but not much, and Li Yingxue seemed to be just going through the motions.
Hearing this, Zhao Qingshi's expression faded. He tasted the lees and then frowned. Li Yingxue asked with concern, "Is it not tasty?"
Zhao Qingshi put down his spoon and didn't say whether it was delicious or not. He just said, "It's different from what I've eaten elsewhere."
"Somewhere."
"Yuyao," Zhao Qingshi said, "I hope I can go there again if I have the chance."
After saying that, Zhao Qingshi glanced at Ruan Xiangyi opposite him.
"Let me try it." Li Yingxue said as she was about to take the bowl in front of him. Zhao Qingshi moved his hand away from blocking her and looked at her indifferently, "Ms. Li, I'm married."
Li Yingxue was stunned. His gaze was clearly a reminder to her to be careful. Zhao Qingshi's marriage was well known in the circle, but the woman's name had never been revealed. All she knew was her surname was Ruan. She knew the daughter of the Ruan family and had met her twice to chat with her, but it wasn't Ruan Lingyu. The outside world generally believed that Zhao Qingshi was not serious about this marriage, but now it seemed that was not the case. She had never imagined that someone like him would be so content not to cross the line.
Li Yingxue smiled and said, "I haven't congratulated Mr. Zhao on finding his beautiful wife yet. Remember to invite me when you hold your wedding."
Zhao Qingshi fixed his gaze on the man across the dining table: "It's not my decision when to hold the wedding. It's up to my wife to decide."
“…”
Ruan Xiangyi took a bite of the red sugar rice cake and almost choked when she heard the words.
Xia Li was the only one present who knew the inside story. As the boss's secretary, she had to be eloquent and able to read people's expressions. Even if she knew the boss's secret, she had to pretend nothing happened.
Everyone present was just an audience for their flirting.
Zhao Qingshi withdrew his gaze.
Li Yingxue's smile became a little stiff. May I ask, who is your wife?
After this episode, Li Yingxue continued to talk to him about some random things, and Zhao Qingshi responded with a few perfunctory words without much interest.
Halfway through the meal, Jiang Ruzhi asked, "Didn't you just say you had something to do and had to leave first? Didn't you need me to cover for you?"
Ruan Xiangyi shook her head: "It's okay."
She originally wanted to go back to find Zhao Qingshi as soon as possible, but she didn't expect that he was here too. What could happen to her now?
After the meeting, Zhao Qingshi left first. Ruan Xiangyi and Jiang Ruzhi followed, and Zhou Zilang drove over.
At this moment, Xia Li suddenly appeared. In standard businesslike manner, she said, "Hello, Ms. Ruan, I have something I'd like to ask you. Is that convenient for you?"
The phone in her pocket vibrated. Ruan Xiangyi said sorry and said she would check the text message first.
When I opened my phone, a message from Zhao Qingshi popped up.
Zhao Qingshi: My car is parked on the side of the road, come over with Xia Li.
After turning off the phone, Ruan Xiangyi nodded to Xia Li: "Okay, right away."
Then he said to Jiang Ruzhi, "You guys go back first and don't wait for me. I'll be back with Miss Xia later."
Jiang Ruzhi thought, can you come back? She didn't want Ruan Xiangyi to go because Zhao Qingshi was married and she didn't want Ruan Xiangyi to get hurt. The man asked his secretary to come to her so late at night, and it was obvious that he had ulterior motives.
"It's okay, we can wait." Jiang Ruzhi smiled at Xia Li, "Miss Xia shouldn't take too long to ask for advice."
Xia Li: “…”
"It'll be long."
Jiang Ruzhi: “…”
One night kind?
Ruan Xiangyi held her back and said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be back after we finish talking."
Jiang Ruzhi was really worried that she would "go astray," so before she left, she kept telling her, "Be sure to come back. I'll be waiting for you at home."
After they left, Xia Li helped Ruan Xiangyi down the stairs. Zhao Qingshi's car was parked not far away. After a while, Zhao Qingshi got out, walked over, opened the passenger door, bent down and carried her up.
There was someone next to her, and Ruan Xiangyi said shyly: "I can."
After sending the person off, Xia Li thought he was no longer useful and was about to leave, but Zhao Qingshi said, "Get in the car. It's hard to get a taxi here."
They were staying at the same hotel, and Xia Li hadn't intended to disturb the owner and his wife. But this place wasn't like a big city, and it wasn't easy to get a taxi. Zhao Qingshi had arranged for her to come here on short notice, so he couldn't just ignore her.
For the first time, Xia Li rode in a car driven by his boss himself.
Zhao Qingshi said, "This is Xia Li, you met her last time."
Xia Li greeted: "Hello, Madam."
The last time he was talking about was probably when he and Guo Wen went to the hotel to arrest someone. She was a little ashamed of causing such a big misunderstanding.
Ruan Xiangyi: "Hello, Sister Xia Li."
Xia Li is 27 years old this year. She doesn't know how old Ruan Xiangyi is. She can only tell from her skin and spirit that she should be younger than her. When she heard the boss's wife calling her sister, she sighed that the boss was really not a human being and was afraid that she would be silenced by the boss.
Zhao Qingshi never felt that he didn't deserve anything. On the contrary, he would get whatever he wanted. But when he heard his wife calling her subordinate "sister", he did feel strange. For the first time, he even wondered whether others would think he was an old man eating young grass.
"Xiangyi, Xia Li is only a few years older than you, just call her by her name." He corrected shamelessly.
Xia Li knew what her boss was thinking, so she smiled and said, "Yes, ma'am, just call me by my name."
Ruan Xiangyi thought they thought she called him old, and after a few seconds of embarrassment, she called him Xia Li in a serious tone.
Zhao Qingshi felt relieved.
Xia Li's back felt a lot more relaxed.
Xia Li had booked the hotel. There were no suites; the best rooms were king-size beds with a river-view balcony. He had just swiped his card and entered the room, but before he could insert it, Ruan Xiangyi screamed and was lifted up by him, holding her against the door.
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