Chapter Seventy-Eight: Xu Bozhou's Birthday
Su Xiao's hand, which was holding the teacup, suddenly stopped, and the warm tea sloshed around, splashing onto her fingertips.
Her brows furrowed slightly, her eyes filled with doubt:
"Warehouse? I've never heard him mention that... Weren't my mother's things disposed of along with the old house's clutter a long time ago?"
Old Qin paused for a moment, then sighed:
“Your father was a meticulous man. He probably didn’t tell you back then because he was afraid you were too young and would get into trouble with these things. I remember the address roughly; it was in Qinghe Town on the outskirts of Beijing, not far from the old house where your mother used to live.”
He turned and called out to the butler.
“Go to my study and bring me the note from the mahogany box at the bottom of my desk. Your father drew a simple map for me back then so I wouldn’t get it mixed up.”
The housekeeper responded and quickly left. Su Xiao looked at the painting on the table, her fingertips unconsciously curling up.
Her father's warehouse, her mother's belongings... These things she had never heard of before were like a sudden opening, filling her heart with a mixture of anticipation and unease.
Soon, the housekeeper came over with a yellowed piece of paper, which Old Master Qin handed to her:
"Look, the address and map are all here. He said the warehouse key was with the old butler, but he went back to the countryside the year before last. I asked my assistant to help you contact him, and we should be able to find it soon."
Su Xiao took the note, her fingertips touching the rough paper. Her father's familiar handwriting was on it, with a crooked path drawn at the end marked with the word "warehouse".
She held the note, looked up at Old Qin and smiled, a glimmer of light in her eyes: "Thank you, Old Qin, this is so important to me."
Looking at her, Old Qin patted the back of her hand:
"Your mother would be happy if she knew. I'll keep this painting safe. I'll invite you over again sometime to tell me about the techniques you used in its restoration."
Su Xiao nodded in agreement, sat with Old Qin for a while longer, and then got up to take her leave, clutching the map.
She had to go and see it no matter what.
After leaving the Qin family, Su Xiao went to the company, where the West Coast project was nearing completion.
The conference table in the office was completely covered with exhibition blueprints.
Su Xiao squatted in front of the table, the tip of her pen tracing the arc of the audience passage, her fingertip pressing on the label "Booth No. 8, Zone 3".
Heavy-duty exhibition equipment needs to be placed here, and the load-bearing parameters must be checked three more times.
The coffee on the corner of the table had gone cold, but she was completely unaware until a familiar shadow fell over the drawings.
"Are you monitoring the load-bearing capacity of the booth?"
Xu Bozhou's voice reached my ears as I held a newly printed simulation report of the exhibition's crowd flow in my hand.
When Su Xiao looked up, she saw him bending over to look at the blueprints. Stray hairs fell down his forehead, covering the weariness in his eyes, but his fingertips precisely pointed to the spot where she had drawn the circle.
"Moving the mother and baby room two meters south is too close to the emergency exit, which will easily cause congestion when there are many people at the exhibition."
She followed his finger and saw the emergency exit markings on the edge of the drawing. She quickly picked up a pen to make corrections.
Xu Bozhou handed over a cup of hot coffee; the cup was just the right temperature to warm his hands.
"We left two extra power outlets in the media area because the power tripped once during last week's simulation when reporters' equipment was piled up together."
He paused, his gaze falling on her reddened fingertips—ink stains from when she was finishing drawing the map that morning.
"Let Chen Huai handle the rest. You can rest for ten minutes."
Su Xiao hummed in agreement and sipped her coffee while flipping through the abortion report.
The two worked late into the night before getting off work. Xu Bozhou naturally took the exhibition proposal folder from her hand, hooked his fingertips around her wrist, and walked towards the parking lot.
"Let's go somewhere first."
He didn't explain much. When he opened the car door, Su Xiao saw the black velvet box in the trunk.
Inside lay a Black Forest cake, with no candles on the cream, but a line of small words written in chocolate: "Happy Birthday".
"Xiaoxiao, today is my birthday."
Xu Bozhou closed the trunk very quietly.
"Just the two of us, or..."
Before he could finish speaking, the elevator doors of Luofengyuan opened and were met with a loud "Happy Birthday!"
Gu Ming held up a gift box with the words "Get Rich Quick" printed on it, while Tang Yi carried two cans of beer. The two of them squeezed into the entrance hall and paused when they saw Su Xiao and Xu Bozhou.
At the same time, the soft rustling of balloons could be heard from the corner of the stairs behind them.
Xu An was holding a bunch of pink balloons, and Qin Yu had a dark blue ribbon wrapped around his arm. The two of them peeked out and met Gu Ming's gaze.
The air was still for three seconds.
"Wow, Dr. Gu's got pretty good information, huh?"
Xu An laughed out loud, shoved the balloon into Qin Yu's arms, and took a few steps closer.
"I thought we could pull off a surprise attack."
Gu Ming raised an eyebrow and shook the gift box in his hand: "It's better than some people who are so secretive that they can't even tie a balloon string properly."
Qin Yu awkwardly stepped forward and said, "Happy birthday."
Xu Bozhou looked at the chaotic scene before him.
Gu Ming's beer can brushed against Xu An's balloon, Qin Yu's ribbon got tangled in Gu Ming's gift box, and Su Xiao was bending down to help Qin Yu untangle the ribbon, her fingertips moving gently, a hint of a smile in her eyes.
He suddenly reached out and pulled Su Xiao closer to him to prevent her hair from being brushed by the pink balloons that floated by.
My fingertips brushed against the inside pocket of her trench coat, and through the fabric, I could feel her soft breathing.
"Looks like there won't be any peace and quiet."
Xu Bozhou's voice reached Su Xiao's ears, carrying a low, husky laugh.
Su Xiao looked up at him and caught a glimpse of the smile in his eyes.
"There's no need for tranquility in the first place."
She raised her hand and wrapped the ribbon she had just untied around his wrist, tying the light blue ribbon into a loose knot.
Happy birthday, Uncle.
Gu Ming snorted and put the beer on the coffee table.
"Alright, stop being so mushy. Where's the cake? I've been starving all afternoon."
Xu An joined in the commotion, while Qin Yu quietly went to the kitchen to find a plate.
The beer can was pulled open with a "pop," and foam splashed onto the coffee table. Gu Ming smiled and handed over a glass of beer: "President Xu, shouldn't the birthday boy have a drink first? Don't keep staring at your Xiaoxiao, we 'third wheels' are still here."
Xu Bozhou didn't reply; his fingertips first gripped the empty glass in front of Su Xiao.
Gu Ming wasn't paying attention when he poured the wine, and the liquid spilled over the rim of the glass and is now dripping down the side.
He took a tissue and wiped the bottom of the cup clean before handing his own cup over.
"Drink less, your stomach is still empty."
Just as Su Xiao was about to take it, Xu An suddenly leaned in, a bit of cream on his nose, holding up half a cake:
"Don't listen to him! Birthdays are for having fun! Hey Gu Ming, why did you steal my cake?!"
She reached out to grab it, but the ribbon slipped off her arm and got tangled in Gu Ming's beer can. The two of them started fooling around, while Tang Yi slapped his thigh and laughed.
Su Xiao took a sip of wine, her eyes filled with a smile.
She secretly slipped the brooch she had wrapped in advance into Xu Bozhou's arms from her bag.
Xu Bozhou smiled as he held the packaging box and couldn't help but whisper in her ear:
"The way you're doing this makes it seem like we're having an affair..."
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