41 Coward
Seeing Hu Yufang nodding repeatedly, Yang Zhi's heart exploded with joy. He thought this time, they were almost certain to win. In fact, this was the strategy they had figured out after several rejections: for a small startup, the chances of success were extremely low if they rashly approached the hospital to sign a comprehensive business partnership without strong backing.
However, if a small-scale collaboration is initiated in the name of scientific research or exploration, and the department provides some highly anonymized data and lets them intelligently conduct feasibility verification, it can speed up the approval process while reducing transaction costs.
After seeing Hu Yufang and Ke Mi off, Zhou Qi stood at the door, waiting for Yang Xiao and her group to come out. "Boss Yang, let me give you a ride."
Yang Xiao waved her hand, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Boss Yang has arranged a driver, so I won't bother you, Doctor Zhou." She wore a light blue silk shirt tucked into her navy blue dress. Her collarbone-length hair was lifted by the wind, revealing the small, delicate silver crescent-shaped earrings by her earlobes. She was so beautiful that Zhou Qi couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Then Mr. Yang, can you please give me some face?" Zhou Qi looked at Yang Xiao, who was standing in the wind at night wearing thin clothes, and subconsciously moved his steps to stand in front of her to block some of the evening wind for her.
Zhou Qi was a real talker. In front of so many people, he insisted on sending her off alone. Now, as soon as he said that, Xiao Fei and Zhao Mutao, standing nearby, had already imagined some clichéd scenario where the icy Dr. Zhou fell in love with the charming CEO Yang at first sight and wanted to chase her to the ends of the earth.
"Oh, Doctor Zhou said so. Not to mention Mr. Yang, I, the big Mr. Yang, feel very honored too. Let's put it this way, there are too many people coming to our company, and one car can't accommodate them all. Yang Xiao and I will take Doctor Zhou's car, and Xiao Fei, Xing Yang, and Mu Tao will go back with Uncle Yao, okay?" Yang Zhi also came out to make trouble. Ever since Zhou Qi entered the box, he felt a little unhappy and irritable.
Looking at the decent-looking Dr. Zhou, how could he have his eyes glued to Yang Xiao right from the start? Now he actually wanted to leave them alone and send Yang Xiao back, but with Yang Zhi around, he couldn't do that.
Yang Xiao was truly overwhelmed. After the excitement and joy of the deal being essentially finalized, she was also overcome by the exhaustion of intense tension. All she wanted now was to return to the hotel, take a shower, close the curtains, and get a good night's sleep.
"Then Doctor Zhou, please take Mr. Yang back. I'll take a taxi back myself." Yang Xiao didn't want to smell the faint smell of gunpowder between the two of them, so she stepped aside and waved to stop a taxi. She got in nimbly, quickly closed the door, and drove away in a cloud of dust. Only Zhou Qi and Yang Zhi were left standing on the roadside, watching the blue taxi disappear around the corner.
"Let's go, Mr. Yang, I'll take you there." Zhou Qi nodded politely and walked towards the parking lot first.
"Hey, did you know Yang Xiao before?" Yang Zhi, realizing it wasn't Zhou Qi who was making the decisions at the dinner table, started to speak without restraint. The inexplicable undercurrents between him and Yang Xiao had been vexing him to death since he'd appeared. Friend or foe, there was no way he could pry anything out of Yang Xiao's iron lips.
"She is another child adopted by my adoptive father." Zhou Qi was not sure whether this description was accurate, but because the other party and Yang Xiao not only worked together but also had financial dealings, he had to answer. He was afraid that if he offended him, he would cause trouble for Yang Xiao.
"Brother, oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? Hello, Brother Zhou, I'm Yang Xiao's other partner, Yang Zhi, the Zhi from Li Zhi." Hearing that it wasn't the answer Yang Zhi had expected, he breathed a sigh of relief and smiled flatteringly, "Oh, Yang Xiao didn't even tell me that you were her brother. If I had known, I would definitely have given you a gift today."
After saying this, Yang Zhi felt relieved, but Zhou Qi became unhappy and his face turned cold.
What does this mean? Does it mean that I want to be his brother-in-law?
Haha. Yang Xiao hasn't given him any status yet, yet he's quite good at flattering himself. Who is your brother?
Although Zhou Qi was unhappy, he didn't say anything. After all, he felt that he was still a respectable person. He drove Yang Zhi from the underground parking lot to the taxi stand on the first floor, made up an excuse, and let him get out of the car.
When Yang Zhi was kicked out of the car by Zhou Qi, he was still a little panicked. His attitude towards Zhou Qi also took a 180-degree turn. From the original confrontation, treating him as an imaginary enemy, he now stood alone in the wind, his mind in a messy internal struggle: Did I behave badly just now and offend him? But what did I say to offend him... This future brother-in-law has a strange temper.
As soon as this thought came to Yang Zhi, everything made sense. No wonder Yang Xiao had been constantly on his mind these past few days, even appearing in his shower. So, he was... But then, wouldn't Zhimiao become a family business? The equity would have to be dispersed. If it was too concentrated, it wouldn't be able to go public, and there wouldn't be a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
What Yang Xiao didn't know was that in the short time she'd spent showering and lying in bed at the hotel, she'd already been fast-forwarded to marriage and childbirth in other people's minds. She stared at the smoke alarm, its red light flickering on the ceiling, but couldn't fall asleep again.
The feeling of her limbs and eyelids being exhausted, yet her mind being incredibly active, was a bit painful. But this time, almost none of her old ailments had returned. Aside from the nervous swallowing at the dinner table, there were no palpitations, trembling hands, or the inability to stand.
At that time, she only thought, I must talk it over, this is Zhimiao's last chance.
Yang Xiao suddenly laughed out loud, her smile charming. There was no Prince Charming in this world who could save her from danger, nor was there a knight with a sword traversing the snow to come for her. She had only herself, and she could only save herself.
So happy that she did it.
When you are drowning at the bottom of the pool countless times, you can expect someone to hand you a branch or a palm, but please don't wait.
No one would jump into these strange and dangerous waters without hesitation just to save you.
You can also learn to swim.
This is the truth that Yang Xiao firmly believes in, a truth she has understood since she suffered from insomnia in high school.
It was gradually getting brighter outside the window. Beams of white light squeezed in from the gap between two khaki curtains. A few clear and long bird calls pierced the glass and reached Yang Xiao's ears.
Yang Xiao woke up and checked her phone. It was only a quarter past six. Last night, Yang Zhi had sent her over thirty messages, all laden with emotive exclamations, like the announcement of high school results in ancient times. In short, the message was: Your brother is Zhou Qi. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Yang Xiao didn't bother to reply. She tossed her phone aside and went to brush her teeth and wash her face.
The toothpaste foam was still in my mouth when Zhou Qi called.
"What are your plans for today? Do you need me to be your guide?" Zhou Qi's voice was unsteady, mixed with the whistling sound of the wind, as if he was walking. "You haven't had a good walk around for so many years, so you might not be familiar with the place."
"I didn't make any plans. I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. Thank Brother Fang Qiu for me. Um...thank you too." Yang Xiao spat out the toothpaste foam in her mouth, and her voice became clearer. "I'll just show them around. I'll leave tomorrow, so I won't bother you anymore."
Zhou Qi heard the sound of her spitting toothpaste foam and laughed softly: "I'm downstairs from your hotel. I recently opened a new bun shop, and it tastes good. I'll bring it to you to try. I'll wait for you in the lobby."
"No, I don't feel like eating buns anymore." Yang Xiao splashed some water on her face and hung up the phone hastily. She admitted that there was something blissful and romantic about being in a good mood early in the morning and finding out that the person she loved was waiting for her downstairs with her favorite breakfast. But she couldn't help but want to escape, an emotional protection mechanism that sought to avoid harm.
After all, Zhou Qi was used to playing hard to get tricks, giving her some sweet treats, making her cry, and making her heart float and sink only for him.
"Then you can share it with your colleagues. Let's meet privately, okay?"
Could the Zhou Qi who was now eagerly and tenderly wanting to see her on the phone, and the Zhou Qi who had cruelly told her not to come back a few months ago, really be the same person? Why were people so fickle, so contradictory? Yang Xiao hated to think about such questions; she hated to try to understand Zhou Qi's heart, which was locked in a safe.
"No." Yang Xiao continued to decline.
"Can you give me a chance to explain?" Zhou Qi spoke sincerely, but Yang Xiao really wanted to laugh when she heard it. She felt that Zhou Qi at this moment was like a cheating husband who was confessing to her and begging her to forgive him.
"Didn't humans invent the telephone?" Yang Xiao shot back, exposing his desire to meet under the pretext of a conversation. "Or do you need to put on a good show with your facial expressions?"
Zhou Qi was speechless. It was true, after all these years, he'd almost forgotten how Yang Xiao's tongue had been honed to a sharp edge in town. Her venomous words were a little painful to hear. But he really did want to see her, to protect her, even if this second reason was just a justification for the first.
With them around, Yang Xiao would definitely be able to return safely. Furthermore, he was currently enjoying a surge in popularity, and the wealth he had accumulated was enough to keep the Miao family and the Ji family behind them quiet for a while.
So, he just wanted to see her selfishly.
Not through the phone screen, not through thousands of kilometers, but seeing her, the real, vivid, and lively her.
Thinking of this, Zhou Qi suddenly felt like playing dirty and refusing to leave. Ever since he knew she was coming, he had planned to swap shifts with someone else, just so he could have some free time during her two days to see her, ask about her condition, and see her clear eyes. After learning about her anxiety disorder, he had a period of doubt and depression.
He felt that it was his responsibility. Yang Xiao was there because of him, and Zhou Daye was there because of him. Their family might be much simpler and happier without him.
But Fang Qiu told him that this was not the case.
Without Zhou Qi, Yang Xiao would have felt so powerless and miserable when Zhou Daye suffered a cerebral infarction. Without Zhou Qi, Yang Xiao's unspeakable grievances and pressures might have made her anxious. It was because of the existence of this "trouble" that she could, as a family, warm each other with Zhou Daye and Yang Xiao in times of storm and struggle out of the quagmire.
"Zhou Qi, I guess. Yang Xiao may never want your guilt or apology, nor does she want you to be the sinner who escapes far away. What she wants is someone who can walk side by side with her and share the ups and downs with her."
Yang Xiao, don't be a coward.
This is what Zhou Qi once told Yang Xiao, and now Fang Qiu also told him in a disguised way: Zhou Qi, don't be a coward.
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