Chapter 14 "Now That's Harassment"
The conversation naturally yielded no results.
Yu Zeheng leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and amidst the chaotic noise, his clear, cold laughter was highly recognizable. His blatantly sarcastic, sweet voice made him think that even if she was different from the sunny and warm image in the photos after two years in Australia, she had at least changed.
But she really hasn't changed at all.
Yu Zeheng pressed his lips down, certain that his feelings of disgust were welling up again.
The car drove back to the Yu family's old house. Jiang Wenxin got out of the car and hesitated several times before finally speaking up: "Your affair with Xiao Shu should be your own business. We... I haven't asked too much about it."
Yu Zeheng stared at her silently and then casually closed the car door.
Jiang Wenxin tilted her head, a hint of reluctance flickering in her eyes: "But didn't you go too far this time? It's just a divorce, is it really necessary to make it a situation where we never speak to each other again?"
The driver picked up the travel bag from the trunk.
Yu Zeheng pursed his lips and remained silent.
"No one wants to see the old man of the Qiao family like this. Put yourself in his shoes. If I were lying in the hospital bed, you would do the same. And Xiao Shu will definitely help you with this."
Yu Zeheng said expressionlessly, "You are in good health, such a thing will not happen."
Jiang Wenxin frowned: "What I mean is, Xiao Shu is a good person. I don't know what happened between you two or what conflicts you had, but in the two years since you got married, Xiao Shu has been devoted to her family, to me, and to Mingwu."
“Mingwu is especially dependent on her. She will subconsciously go to Xiaoshu for anything because she knows that Xiaoshu will definitely help her solve it as soon as possible. You can’t do that.”
Yu Zeheng smiled coldly: "She has always been good at winning people's hearts with small favors."
Jiang Wenxin disagreed with his statement: "Even if it's about winning people's hearts, it's easy to pretend once, but to pretend for two years, isn't that very difficult? At least so far, I don't think Xiao Shu has any problems."
They arrived home one after the other. The huge house was now only occupied by three people, and it was cold and deserted. Yu Zeheng stepped onto the stairs, stopped, and said, "It's getting late, you should get some rest."
Jiang Wenxin frowned: "If the Qiao family comes to you again, I hope you can agree to help. It would be good for both the Qiao and Yu families."
"good evening."
Yu Zeheng didn't say a word to her and went upstairs.
—
Qiao Shu returned to the hotel.
Qiao Kaiyu was behind her, calling her "little sister" and saying, "If I hadn't been really forced into this situation, why would I have let you do something like this?"
Qiao Shu took off her high heels, put on slippers, threw away her bag, and lazily tossed herself onto the sofa. Tilting her head, her eyes still bright, she asked, "Aren't you tired after talking for so long, brother?"
She was tired of listening.
The media has been saying that they are now certain that they have divorced, and they have been gathering evidence from all over the place to support their claim. They have also concluded from the fact that there has been no new cooperation news in the past two years that the Qiao and Yu families have broken up. Whether the previous cooperative projects have been carried out smoothly is now in question. Both families have been affected to some extent, but the Qiao family has always been the most affected.
Photos of the old man being hospitalized were leaked, prompting questions from the board of directors. Even though they immediately issued a clarification, stating that the surgery was successful and he would be discharged soon, the old man's age and condition still made the situation worrying. The stock price continued to fall, and the market value evaporated by 1 billion yuan.
Qiao Kaiyu squatted down in front of Qiao Shu: "Grandpa loves you the most, and you don't want anything to happen to Grandpa again, do you?"
Qiao Shu had heard too many of these kinds of things since she was a child. Two years ago, she was actually brainwashed. In fact, the old man preferred the gender on the ID card to be male.
Qiao Shu blinked her eyelashes and said, "You saw it today too. He doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore. The person you need to persuade now is not me."
"As long as you agree and soften your stance, it's not that difficult," Qiao Kaiyu said in a low, earnest voice.
Qiao Shu smiled faintly, her tone icy: "You want me to beg him?"
Qiao Kaiyu said, "If it were useful for me to ask for help, my older brother wouldn't have asked you to step in, but the truth is, he doesn't give me any face at all."
Before Qiao Shu and Yu Zeheng divorced, Yu Zeheng was always very polite to him and would call him "Big Brother" like Qiao Shu did. After the divorce, however, he never gave him a kind look again and called him "Mr. Qiao".
"You really are my good brother, making me offer myself up to be humiliated." Qiao Shu's expression turned cold. He stuffed the cushion beside him into his arms, pushed the cushion out the door, and then closed the door with a cold face.
Qiao Kaiyu was turned away and left with a sullen face.
A few days later, there was another knock on the hotel door. Sister-in-law Chen Yi, holding Qiao Yan's hand, brought a trendy cake and coffee: "Your older brother told me that you've been staying in hotels all this time. Why don't you go home to live?"
"I'm used to staying in hotels." Qiao Shu had just finished working out at the gym downstairs and taken a shower. Her hair, still damp from being dried, was jet black and draped over her shoulders.
Qiao Yan tilted her head and called out, "Little Aunt."
Qiao Shu squatted down and patted his little head: "You've grown taller again."
“Oh yeah, I haven’t seen my little aunt for a long time. She’s grown so much taller. Aren’t I amazing?” Qiao Yan scratched her hair.
Qiao Shu smiled and said, "You're amazing! From now on, this is how your aunt will look at you." She looked up at her as if she were looking at a giant.
Qiao Yan chuckled twice.
Chen Yi said, "You're like a little monkey at home, but you become well-behaved in front of your aunt. There must be someone who can keep you in check."
“Our Xiaoyan is a very well-behaved girl.”
Qiao Yan nodded emphatically and told Qiao Shu about his puppy. Although his aunt hadn't checked it, he had been taking good care of it. Qiao Shu showed him a picture of Xiao Xi, and he exclaimed how cute it was, asking if he could play with Xiao Xi in the future.
"If there's a chance, yes."
Qiao Yan lay on the sofa and scrolled through Xiao Xi's photos and videos.
Chen Yi put her bag on the sofa and looked at Qiao Shu: "Your brother told me about that matter. I scolded him severely. That's just how he is. When he gets anxious, he doesn't care about anything. The company has been like this recently. He's worried that he won't be able to give the old man an explanation. He's so anxious that he's acting like a bad brother."
Qiao Shu stroked Qiao Yan's soft, fluffy short hair: "It's okay, I know it's not easy for him either."
Chen Yi continued, "Yes, when you got divorced, you disappeared without a trace. He was the one who had the hardest time, getting scolded from both sides. You know the old man's temper; he gave your older brother a thorough dressing down."
Qiao Shu lowered her eyelashes, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“Your older brother is truly protecting you. This time, he's genuinely in trouble. Could you please help him this once, for the sake of our many years of sibling relationship?”
"Once Grandpa recovers, I'll fly back to Australia; all my work is there."
"It's really hard to say what the old man's condition is right now," Chen Yi frowned. "Wouldn't it have been better if you just came back?"
Qiao Shu's eyelashes fluttered, and she sighed, "What can I do if I come back? The auction house is now on the right track and doesn't need me anymore."
After much deliberation, Chen Yi urgently needed to give Qiao Shu a reason to stay in China: "If you come to the company, your brother will be too busy to handle everything by himself, and you can help him out."
"Join the company?" Qiao Shu smirked, saying with little interest, "I really have no interest in it."
Chen Yi sat down beside her and took Qiao Shu's hand: "Look at Qiao Yan, he's still so young. Can you bear to wait until he grows up and has nothing?"
After looking at the photo, Qiao Yan raised her head, handed the phone back, and smiled brightly: "Auntie, Xiao Xi is so cute, I like it."
Qiao Shu smiled and touched his cheek.
"I'll think about it."
Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
—
Last year, after the team won the championship, several potential buyers contacted Yu Zeheng. He looked back on the team he had built from scratch and had mixed feelings. As a driver, he had fallen from the peak to the bottom. He stubbornly spent money on the team, which was not understood by many people, including Yu Xunli. He knew that the team was like a continuation of his professional career.
Every time the engine roared, it was like a throbbing pulse; he breathed with it.
Yu Zeheng has been a racing enthusiast for nearly twenty years.
He had no regrets about this matter, so he sold the team when it was at its highest value and returned to China to take over the family business as his parents had hoped. He did it with ease, as if he had returned from a derailed track. The only outrageous thing he did that year was to use part of the proceeds from the sale of the team for the expansion of the Tang Palace.
He single-handedly built Tang Palace, from design to completion, and he spent most of his spare time there.
Yu Zeheng has a suite on the top floor, a separate reception room with a gray carpet covering the floor. In the center is a circular sofa and an irregularly shaped oval coffee table with black and white ink-splashed patterns. The sofa faces a long black wooden table, behind which is a full-wall wine cabinet filled with various wines.
There was a knock on the door of the reception room, and the manager stepped in: "Madam is downstairs."
Yu Zeheng paused in signing, then looked up: "Who?"
"Your wife," the manager straightened up, "is downstairs playing cards with her friends."
Few people knew that Qiao Shu and Yu Zeheng had divorced. Apart from the key figures in both families, not many people were aware of it. Most people thought they were just living separately in different countries, since there had been no difference since their marriage.
When the manager saw Qiao Shu, he naturally greeted him personally, and then he felt it necessary to inform his boss.
Yu Zeheng pursed his lips and lowered his eyelashes, giving a curt "hmm" without any emotion.
He anticipated Qiao Shu's appearance; he would hear the clattering of her high heels behind the door. She would push open the door with a smile that disgusted him. Her sudden appearance carried an air of dominance. She approached, looking down at him, and then greeted him as if asking about the weather.
Or somewhere else, he gets out of the car, she crosses her arms, raises her arms and waves lazily, tilts her head, and raises a smile with every curve carefully designed.
She didn't.
Qiao Shu simply appeared around him, at a distance that just barely provoked his disgust.
Yu Zeheng didn't intend to pay any attention to it.
For several days in a row, Qiao Shu showed up without fail, sometimes just to drink and chat, sometimes to play cards. She was terrible at cards and didn't care about losing. She smiled and said that it was just tuition. Wherever she was, there was never a lack of people and joy.
Yu Zeheng's suite has floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a clear view of the second-floor lobby.
A group of people were playing poker. Qiao Shu held two cards and dared to go all in with all her chips, no matter what cards she had. At first, she might have fooled people, but over time, everyone knew she was bluffing. The psychological game failed, and coupled with bad luck, she lost more than she won.
Regardless of the outcome, she was in a great mood.
On the fourth day, Yu Zeheng walked through the second-floor lobby. The manager was on his left, reporting on the situation at Tang Palace in a low voice. Amid a burst of laughter, a suddenly loud voice rang out.
"President Yu."
Yu Zeheng stopped and looked at where the voice had come from.
A stranger, a short-haired girl wearing small, sparkly earrings, raised her hand and said, "Mr. Yu, if you don't come to help, your wife is going to lose everything again."
The crowd naturally moved aside, revealing Qiao Shu in the center. She was wearing a long-sleeved crimson dress with a loose, loose fit, which made her look even taller and slimmer. She crossed her legs, supporting herself with her small hands and arms, and still wore her wedding ring on her slender fingers.
She always managed to precisely provoke his emotions.
Qiao Shu smiled: "President Yu, want to play a round?"
She seemed completely at ease, nonchalant, as if their relationship was one where they could calmly play cards together. Where did her confidence come from?
Yu Zeheng curled his lips, not saying no directly, his voice cold: "You can't win, and I don't have the habit of taking advantage of others."
"How will you know if you don't try? Or..." Qiao Shu closed the cards from the previous round, the cards clattering softly in her hand. She raised her eyelashes, "Are you afraid of losing? You'll be unhappy if you lose to me, won't you?"
The last sentence was spoken very softly.
What to play?
Texas Hold'em.
Yu Zeheng sat down opposite her. He asked the manager to shuffle the cards and act as the dealer, making a total of five people including them.
In the first round, each player was dealt two hole cards, and then placed bets. The manager then revealed three community cards: the Ace of Spades, the 7 of Clubs, and the 2 of Clubs.
Qiao Shu picked up her cards and glanced at them, then pressed her fingertips down and slowly pushed out all the chips in front of her, going all in as always.
"Xiao Shu is throwing the bomb again. She always uses this trick, even though she has the worst hand." The short-haired girl rested her chin on her hand.
Qiao Shu smiled indifferently: "You can give it a try."
"I fold, my hand is terrible." The boy next to me threw away his cards.
Qiao Shu casually asked the short-haired girl, "Shall we call? My hand isn't very good."
She doesn't always get bad hands; sometimes, after they've won several times, she gets a great starting hand and wins it all back at once.
"I fold." The short-haired girl dropped her cards.
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Zeheng put forward his own chip, saying succinctly, "Call."
With only three people remaining, after much deliberation, the third person decided to fold. His hand didn't offer much of a chance of winning, and there was no need to risk getting involved in this situation.
"Open the cards." Yu Zeheng showed no extra expression as he tapped his fingers on the table.
“Wait a minute.” Qiao Shu pressed down on her cards and looked at Yu Zeheng. “How about we add another bet? If I win, I want ten minutes of your time.”
"That's a foul! Do you think we don't exist?" his friends jeered and laughed.
The two men faced each other across the table, ignoring the teasing from those around them. Yu Zeheng narrowed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "What if I win?"
"You can also make a request of me, such as never being able to appear here again." Qiao Shu smiled slightly, as if she had already won.
He nodded: "Okay."
That's good, but I can't tell if I agree with the first half or the second half.
Qiao Shu picked up two cards, flipped them over, and found an Ace of Spades and a 7 of Diamonds, which matched with the community cards. Almost at the same time, Yu Zeheng flipped over his cards, finding a 2 of Clubs and a 5 of Diamonds.
"We won."
She blinked: "Looks like I'm pretty lucky."
The crowd gasped: "You dared to play with such a hand? Mr. Yu, you and your husband really do have the same style of playing cards."
The words "husband and wife" always sounded jarring to him. Yu Zeheng stood up and said, "Come with me."
Qiao Shu corrected him: "Come with me. These ten minutes are something I won. As a prize, these ten minutes belong entirely to me."
After she finished speaking, she asked, "Where is your office?"
The manager clicked his tongue in surprise and pointed upstairs with his index finger.
"Thanks."
Qiao Shu walked past Yu Zeheng in her red leather high heels with black soles, her scent wafting over with her—faint, not strong, yet unforgettable.
Yu Zeheng pursed his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing. He glanced at the others and calmly told them to continue playing.
Qiao Shu entered the room.
It was just in an unexpected way.
Yu Zeheng entered behind her, the splash of red from her skirt fluttering like a vibrant color that had forcibly entered her palette. Her jet-black hair, like a waterfall, cascaded over her shoulders, fluttering with life as she moved.
For the first time, he felt his private space was being violated.
Yu Zeheng stopped looking at her, walked past her, went straight to the liquor cabinet, took out half a bottle of wine and poured it into a glass. His voice was low and deep: "I thought I made it very clear last time that I don't intend to play along with anyone's role-playing game. I have neither the time nor the interest. If you want to continue, I advise you not to waste your breath."
The faint sound of Qiao Shu sitting on the sofa came from behind.
Qiao Shu smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt, then looked around curiously and asked, "Who are you talking to?"
The liquor struck the glass, a pale golden hue. He frowned and stopped, still with his back to Qiao Shu. He asked expressionlessly, "Is there a third person here?"
“If you’re talking to me, why don’t you look at me? I thought that was basic courtesy between people.” Qiao Shu smiled.
The room was quiet for half a minute.
Yu Zeheng held a wine glass in his hand. He turned around to face her. The human eye is more powerful than he imagined. In that instant of eye contact, her face was clearly imprinted in his mind.
Qiao Shu nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, please continue."
"You went to great lengths to win ten minutes just to listen to me?" Yu Zeheng leaned against the counter, his posture casual.
Qiao Shu braced herself on the sofa, raised her shoulders, and let her skirt spread out beneath her. She leaned forward, her gaze fixed on him: "I'm here to discuss a collaboration with you."
Yu Zeheng's brow twitched. He stepped forward and walked to the desk, standing two steps apart. He looked down at her and said, "Cooperate with you, and then continue to use me?"
Qiao Shu remained expressionless: "Actually, if you think about it, my brother's suggestion is not only beneficial to the Qiao family, but also to your Yu family. Right now, both of our stocks are falling and we need good news. I will cooperate with your public performance, and you just need to convince the old man."
Yu Zeheng sneered, "You think I care?"
“I thought doing business meant you could clearly calculate costs and profits. Why are you so resistant to something that could yield a hundredfold profit with almost no cost? Are you that resentful about our divorce?” she asked softly.
Yu Zeheng: "You overestimate yourself."
Qiao Shu stood up and walked to him. The two faced each other, very close. "It's not that I overestimated myself, but you gave me the illusion that I hurt you a lot."
Her tone was slightly mournful, a feigned insincerity.
But his eyes were dark and bright, brimming with the sincerity of this world.
"As far as I know, you don't have a girlfriend yet, so I shouldn't affect you. Or if you already have someone in mind, that's fine too. I'll take responsibility for clarifying things for you."
"If I don't agree, are you planning to stay here?" Yu Zeheng retorted. "Or are you going to continue slandering me, saying I like you, can't forget you, and am deeply in love with you?"
Qiao Shu didn't seem to mind at all, and said, "If necessary."
The two stared at each other for a long time.
Yu Zeheng's expression was unreadable. After a long while, he suddenly changed his mind and said, "Okay, but this time I will set the rules."
Qiao Shu looked somewhat surprised, but she nodded and said, "Of course."
"Firstly, if you return to China, the media isn't stupid. It's too easy to be exposed in a foreign country, and I won't fly to Australia to play along with your act."
“No problem at all,” Qiao Shu agreed quickly.
Yu Zeheng's dark eyes remained calm: "Secondly, I need my partners to be absolutely honest."
Qiao Shu hesitated for a second, knowing what he was referring to, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Of course."
The cold voice rang out again: "Thirdly, since this is just a cooperative relationship, I hope we can keep our distance in private."
He was implying something.
Qiao Shu realized he meant now, and she laughed: "Are you allergic to your ex-wife?"
Yu Zeheng leaned back, as if instinctively creating distance between himself and her, his long eyelashes drooping: "I just don't want to be harassed by my ex-wife, I hope you can understand."
Forgiveness my ass!
The gentler and calmer Qiao Shu's smile appeared, the more turbulent her heart was. She suddenly moved closer, her fingers tugging at his tie. She pretended to straighten it for him, and as her cool fingertips slid across his neck, she clearly saw his prominent Adam's apple bob.
Her voice was sweet and gentle: "This is what you call harassment."
Then came a simple, harmless smile, as if a prank had been successfully pulled.
Before she could even lower her hands, both of her wrists were grabbed by another hand. A hint of panic flashed in Qiao Shu's eyes. Yu Zeheng slowly pulled off his tie, wrapped it around her wrists, and tied a loose knot with the hand holding her wrists.
He grabbed her wrist and lifted it slightly, forcing her to stand on tiptoe, her knee hitting his leg, her skirt rubbing against his trouser leg.
Qiao Shu's elbows pressed against his hard chest, almost touching each other's noses. Her breath suddenly tightened, and her eyelashes trembled. Yu Zeheng stared into her eyes and said, word by word, "If Miss Qiao knowingly commits a wrong, it will only make people suspect that you have ulterior motives."
-----------------------
Author's Note: They were almost kissing.
——
50 red envelopes will drop randomly.
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