Chapter Thirty-Three: Another Battlefield
"I'm not sure."
Su Xiao shook her head, and seeing that the sound of water had stopped from Lin Xi's side, she stopped the conversation.
Xu An found Lin Xi a change of clothes and delivered it to her.
*
When the hustle and bustle of the birthday banquet at the old house subsided.
The main hall was left with only the fragmented light reflected from the crystal chandelier, mixed with an overwhelming smell of alcohol.
Xia Zhi squatted down next to the sofa and gently wiped Yan Mingshen's forehead with a warm towel.
"Ming Shen, shall I help you to bed for a while?"
Yan Mingshen's brows were furrowed, and his usually cold and hard features were softened by the alcohol.
Her dark hair fell beside her cheeks, creating a somewhat gentle illusion.
He didn't respond, but subconsciously raised his hand and put it on her shoulder.
Yan Mingshen was much wider than her, and after getting drunk, he lost his strength, so most of his weight was on her.
The warm light in the corridor cast their shadows, making them appear to grow longer and shorter.
His warm breath brushed against the back of her ear, carrying the burning scent of alcohol.
After finally getting Yan Mingshen into bed, Xia Zhi took a breath and prepared to get up to pour him a glass of warm water.
Her wrist was unconsciously gripped by Yan Mingshen, though not with much force.
Xia Zhi smiled and leaned down to coax him, but heard him murmur in a hoarse voice in an almost ambiguous tone:
"Su Xiao..."
Xia Zhi froze on the spot, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.
She gave so much, but in the end, he still longed for that useless Su Xiao.
Xia Zhi slowly clenched her hands.
She'll ruin her sooner or later, leaving her no chance to recover.
*
I slept without any dreams.
Morning.
After consulting with Lin Xi, Su Xiao took Lin Xi directly to the company.
Lin Xi's rented apartment is on the outer ring road, which is very far away.
I'm afraid I'll miss the check-in deadline if I make the whole trip.
Su Xiao didn't care, but Lin Xi still had to rely on perfect attendance to pay the rent.
"Thank you, Team Leader Su."
Lin Xi finally felt a sense of reality when she sat down at her workstation.
Everything that happened yesterday feels like a dream.
"Don't mention it."
Su Xiao moved the mountain of documents onto Lin Xi's desk and smiled.
"If anything happens to you, I'll be the one who suffers."
"..."
Lin Xi sighed helplessly, but couldn't help whispering gossip:
"By the way, Team Leader Su, what's your relationship with General Manager Xu? He... yesterday..."
"Childhood friend, I guess."
Su Xiao interrupted her before she could finish speaking.
She wasn't a slow-witted person, but her father's situation was a barrier.
No matter how much Xu Bozhou did, she still felt awkward.
She didn't want to experience betrayal again.
Yan Mingshen is, and so is Xu Bozhou...
She had already fallen into the same trap twice before.
Seeing that she was unwilling to say more, Lin Xi wisely shut her mouth and turned to look at the documents on the table.
"Xiaoxiao! Look who's here."
Qin Yun walked in from outside with a captivating charm, casually giving Su Xiao a flirtatious wink.
"Um?"
Following her words, Su Xiao looked towards the door.
It's the weekend and we're clearing things out.
He was carrying an old-fashioned wooden box, and an elderly man with silver hair was following behind him.
The old man used a rattan cane, wore a Zhongshan suit, and had a dazzling jade thumb ring on his hand.
"General Manager Zhou"
Su Xiao got up to greet the person: "And who is this?"
"This is Qin Zhouhua, Old Master Qin."
On the weekend, Qingchao nodded and calmly helped the elderly woman towards the reception area.
Su Xiao was slightly startled.
The Qin family has three generations of military service, and the old man Qin dedicated his entire life to the country.
A person who only appears in newspapers suddenly came to find an unknown nobody like her.
She was truly flattered.
Su Xiao followed the old man and sat down in the reception area, feeling a little awkward.
"Miss Su, I'm also a bit short on time, so I won't stand on ceremony with you."
On the weekend, Qing opened the wooden box, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Su Xiao.
"Do you think this can still be repaired?"
Su Xiao took the box and couldn't help but frown.
The wooden box was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the paper looked brittle.
Fortunately, it was preserved very well.
She took out a pair of gloves from the drawer, put them on, and carefully took out the scroll.
The scroll could not be opened, and it was difficult to determine the adhesion and damage with the naked eye.
"May I ask you what this painting depicts?"
"landscape."
Old Master Qin sighed.
Even when he is just sitting still, he seems to be surrounded by an invisible aura.
"We had already spoken with Mr. Tang before we came."
Zhou Moqing added from the side.
"Old Tang said he wasn't very confident, so he asked me to bring Old Qin to see you."
He didn't actually have high hopes.
Even Grandpa Tang couldn't do it, how could a little girl like her possibly do it?
But Su Xiao does have some skills.
Old Qin examined the fan and found that the repair was flawless, with the materials and workmanship exactly the same as the original.
I had to come and take a look, no matter what.
"It can be repaired."
Su Xiao put the painting back into the wooden box and closed it.
He looked up at Old Master Qin intently:
"But the construction period is very long and the materials cannot be restored. Can you accept that?"
Landscapes are her forte, but this is paper.
If she's not mistaken, they stopped producing [products] years ago.
Even if she could reproduce the color, there would definitely be subtle differences in the material.
"It's alright, I'll be content as long as I can see it one more time."
Old Qin's expression was somewhat moved.
This painting was done by his wife some years ago.
He has been unable to move on from the loss of his loved one for so many years.
The painting has been left unfinished for a long time.
Now that I've come to my senses, I can no longer open it.
"Okay, then I'll leave it here for now."
Su Xiao put the box aside and took off her gloves.
"I've already had the deposit transferred to Miss Su's card. If it can be repaired, the Zhou and Qin families will definitely reward you handsomely."
Zhou Moqing was also somewhat surprised.
She readily agreed to a job that even Old Tang wouldn't dare to take on.
Regardless, such courage is admirable.
"I won't accept the money, but I'd like to ask you to help me look up something."
Su Xiao pursed her lips.
She understood that this favor was given to her by Old Tang.
Therefore, she couldn't afford to waste this opportunity.
The Yan family is wary of the Xu family, and seeking help from Xu Bozhou would only alert them.
The Qin family is undoubtedly the best choice.
Su Xiao looked up at Old Master Qin, who didn't beat around the bush and simply nodded slowly.
"Can."
Grandpa Qin tapped his cane lightly and glanced at Zhou Moqing.
Zhou Moqing immediately understood.
"Miss Su."
He took half a step forward, his tone decisive.
"You don't need to refuse this money; it's Mr. Qin's idea. Just send me the information you need to check before you leave work."
Seeing this, Su Xiao no longer refused and nodded in agreement:
"Okay, I'll definitely send it to you before I leave work."
After the two left
Su Xiao organized the bidding documents from the West Bank, saved them in a document, and left work just in time.
As soon as I entered the garage, I saw the familiar black Bentley parked there.
Yan Mingshen leaned against the car door, his dark gray suit jacket unbuttoned.
One hand was in his pocket, the other held a cigarette, the embers of which flickered in his eyes.
He looked up at her, his eyes unusually tender.
Before she could react, a blinding headlight suddenly swept over her.
The purple Rolls-Royce drifted right up to her, the window rolled down, and Xu Bozhou's face was revealed.
He wasn't wearing a coat, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone, revealing his collarbone, which gleamed a pale white under the light.
"Get in the car, I'll give you a ride."
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