Chapter 2 Meeting with "Qiao Yunzheng, does it hurt?"
In the office on the second floor, Wen Hong stood by the window, her gaze falling on the slender figure in the central hall on the first floor.
The cigarette between his fingers burned quietly, leaving a ring of curled black ash, until the scarlet sparks scorched his skin, and a very soft inhale escaped from between his teeth.
Wen Hong suddenly came to her senses, her tone sounding no different from usual: "The Miss Qiao you're talking about, is it her?"
He spoke very slowly, but to his assistant, it felt like a knife hanging over his head, a slow, agonizing torture.
"Four...four..."
The big boss had just flown in from headquarters to the branch to inspect the work, so the law firm temporarily assigned him to be the boss's assistant for a while. In addition, he was from the Sichuan-Chongqing area and had some difficulty distinguishing between retroflex and alveolar consonants. When he got nervous, he couldn't even speak fluently.
Wen Hong's brows furrowed more and more tightly.
"That's impressive." He kept staring out the window, the two words squeezed out between his teeth sending chills down one's spine.
Since the branch office in Shencheng had only recently opened, Wen Hong was just making a routine visit to inspect the work. He was originally scheduled to fly back to headquarters the day before yesterday.
But just before he was about to leave, he suddenly received a call from his capable assistant and good friend Song Nanchen: "Wen Hong, guess who I met?"
Wen Hong put her luggage in the trunk, quickly climbed into the back seat, and replied unhurriedly, "I'm hanging up now."
On the other end of the line, Song Nanchen's voice was filled with barely suppressed laughter: "Miss Qiao from the Qiao Group in Kuncheng came to the law firm specifically to see me today..."
When Wen Hong heard this name, he froze and remained silent for a long time.
On the other end, Song Nanchen seemed to have anticipated his reaction. After a pause, he continued to tease, "I think they're quite sincere. They've been waiting for five hours since this morning."
Wen Hong was stunned for a long while, as if she had just regained her composure, and asked casually, "Oh? What do you want?"
Song Nanchen: "Miss Qiao wishes to entrust me with the matter of the Qiao family's dispute."
"Tch," Wen Hong scoffed lightly, seemingly unconcerned: "You agreed?"
A man's low chuckle could be heard coming from the receiver: "Whether I agree or not depends on the conditions the boss offers."
The new branch office is very busy, and Song Nanchen, who is in charge, has been working continuously for a long time. He has applied for leave from Wen Hong several times, but Wen Hong has rejected his application every time.
Wen Hong gritted her teeth: "Fine, Song Nanchen, you're really something."
Song Nanchen laughed triumphantly and stopped trying to sell the case: "I'm not an expert in this area. I've already given her your business card."
Upon hearing this, Wen Hong's brows relaxed slightly, and he gave a soft "hmm".
The car had barely driven away when it suddenly turned back, as if the earlier departure was just a spur-of-the-moment joke.
For the past few days, Wen Hong has been waiting for a phone call, waiting for that voice to ring in his ears again after so many years.
Aside from work calls, Wen Hong's cell phone remained completely silent.
A few minutes ago, when his assistant came in to report, it was still the same old meeting procedures and trivial matters. He still didn't hear the news he wanted, which made Wen Hong increasingly irritable.
He loosened his tie and waved his hand irritably: "Go find Song Nanchen for these trivial matters."
After hesitating for a while, the assistant weakly replied, "Attorney Song... is on vacation."
Wen Hong, without any qualms, said matter-of-factly, "Then send it to his email and call him."
The assistant opened her mouth, but could only agree.
Before leaving, he hesitated at the door for a long time before finally mustering the courage to whisper, "Um, Mr. Wen, there's a Miss Cao downstairs looking for you. She's been waiting for a while..."
"Miss Cao?" Wen Hong frowned.
I seem to remember someone like that.
The Cao family's daughter has some dealings with the Wen family. With her father's permission, she's been pestering him lately, and now she's even come to Shencheng with him.
But what does the Wen family's relationship have to do with him?
Wen Hong didn't even look up: "Do I look like I have nothing better to do?"
"But she won't leave..." the assistant said bravely. "Maybe she has some urgent matter to attend to! She's been here for three days in a row."
Wen Hong had no patience to listen to his nonsense. She just glanced up and the assistant immediately shuddered: "Okay, I understand. I'll get her out of here."
He could only silently sympathize with the girl downstairs.
Wen Hong rubbed his temples, lit a cigarette, and irritably turned the pulley. The moment he turned to face the window, his gaze fell on something, and he froze.
"etc……"
He suddenly stood up, walked to the French windows, looked towards the central hall on the first floor, and then uttered, "The Miss Qiao you're talking about, is it her?"
"Mr. Wen, that's Miss Cao, she came all the way from Kunming..." The assistant was completely unaware that something was wrong. "I'll go and make arrangements to send her away."
Wen Hong felt a throbbing sensation between his eyebrows.
He suppressed the urge to curse and gave his assistant a cool look: "Let her come up here."
"Huh?" The assistant was a little confused, unable to understand why the boss was so fickle.
Wen Hong ignored him and dialed the internal line directly. "Find a Mandarin teacher to give those guys with unclear pronunciation a lesson," she said, glancing at her bewildered assistant. "Also, transfer this guy from my office."
When Qiao Yunzheng arrived at the office door, she saw her assistant looking utterly devastated, but she still smiled kindly at him. The man, however, gave her a complicated look.
A nameless unease crept into Qiao Yunzheng's heart. Before she could figure out the source of this unease, she heard her assistant urging, "Wen Lu is inside."
Qiao Yunzheng nodded, suppressing her complicated emotions, walked to the door, and knocked on it with her finger.
No one answered.
The unease, like a receding wave, surged back with even greater force in an instant.
She knocked again, but still no one answered.
Just as Qiao Yunzheng hesitated, the door suddenly clicked open from the inside.
Before she could even see what was happening inside the house, a strong hand grabbed her arm.
The arm gripped her so tightly it hurt, and he almost roughly pulled her into the house before slamming the door shut behind him.
This sudden turn of events left Qiao Yunzheng no time to think; her instinct was to cry out in alarm. However, just as the sound was about to burst from her throat, the person in front of her froze her in place.
A familiar face suddenly loomed large before her eyes, clearing away all the chaotic emotions in her mind, leaving only panic.
His phoenix eyes were filled with anger as he stared at her intently.
It really was him.
"Miss Qiao has kept me waiting." Wen Hong's eyes were red, but the corners of her lips curled into a mocking smile.
Qiao Yunzheng had imagined what it would be like to reunite with Wen Hong, but she never expected it to be when she was in such a sorry state.
Five years ago, Qiao Yunzheng was sent by her parents to a beautiful small town to recuperate.
Qiao Yunzheng was born with a hypersensitive constitution, and she had allergic reactions to many very common things. Mild reactions included rashes and itching all over her body, while severe reactions could lead to shock, difficulty breathing, and even death. As a result, she was pampered and raised with great care by her family from a young age, like a delicate porcelain doll encased in a glass case.
Every year during the spring and autumn seasons, her father would send her to this small town to alleviate her physical discomfort caused by the changing seasons.
At that time, she was the arrogant eldest daughter of the Qiao family, noble, spoiled, and aloof. It was in a small tavern in that inconspicuous town that she first met Wen Hong.
That day, taking advantage of Uncle Zhang's inattention, she secretly slipped out of the villa, her eyes full of curiosity.
She was like a paper kite that could never fly high; though obedient and compliant, her heart was full of barbs.
That was the first time she had ever seen the bright lights and bustling atmosphere of a tavern: dim lighting, energetic singers, and dancing men and women...
It was already February, but she was still wrapped in a scarf and a hat, completely covering herself up except for her large eyes. She stood there blankly at the entrance of the tavern, looking inside, completely oblivious to anything amiss.
A man stood on the round platform in the center of the tavern, holding a guitar in his arms. He was adorned with jingling ornaments that swayed with the rhythm of his dance, dazzling even more than the lights above him.
Qiao Yunzheng lost track of how long she had been staring blankly. When the music paused, the man on stage finally noticed her at the door.
A fleeting look of surprise crossed his face, but he quickly masked it. He waved to her as if greeting a long-time friend: "Hey! Sweetie, wanna come in for a drink?"
From a young age, her parents repeatedly warned her that she must never eat anything from outside and must not touch alcohol. This was an almost unchangeable rule in the Qiao family. Anyone who dared to give Qiao Yunzheng a bite of something from outside would be severely scolded by her father.
But in her memory, she didn't seem to have had any serious reaction.
She privately thought that her parents were being overly paranoid.
She nodded slightly to the man, then walked in as if nothing had happened, sat down at the bar, and held the glass of orange-yellow transparent liquid that was handed to her in her palm.
The light fell into the liquor, shattering into a rainbow of fluorescent colors.
"So beautiful," Qiao Yunzheng said, as her heart pounded, as she drank her first glass of wine.
He drank it all in one gulp.
The spicy sensation slid down her throat and quickly filled her nasal cavity.
It wasn't as delicious as she had imagined, but it gave her a strange sense of excitement.
It was as if a sudden burst of light pierced through the long-silent night, and the wind that escaped from that opening rushed toward her.
That wind is called freedom.
It was Wen Hong who brought it to her.
Now, Qiao Yunzheng stands before Wen Hong once more. The father who protected her so tightly is no longer there, and she is no longer the naive little girl she once was.
Wen Hong is certainly no longer the same as she was back then.
He now sports a neat short haircut, wears well-tailored business attire, and looks clean and sharp. He no longer wears those jingling earrings; it seems that time has washed away his impetuousness, transforming him into a calm and capable individual.
If you ignore the bulging veins on his hand as he gripped his arm tightly.
Five years ago, Wen Hong had never looked at her with such anger, nor had he ever treated her so rudely.
Qiao Yunzheng felt inexplicably wronged, yet ashamed of her inexplicable emotions.
What was he angry about? She couldn't quite figure it out.
“You…” The place where his hand was gripping her was painful, and she wanted to remind him to let go.
But before he could finish speaking, his arm was violently lifted and slammed against the door above his head.
She certainly didn't think Wen Hong would do anything ambiguous with him, so she wasn't too worried about that aspect.
The man suddenly leaned closer, and his dark eyes magnified in front of her.
Qiao Yunzheng even saw herself reflected in those obsidian-like pupils. She thought she must look extremely pathetic at that moment.
However, the man didn't give her much time to overthink. He suddenly leaned down, and the warm touch turned into a sharp, stabbing pain.
The pain in her neck brought her back to her senses.
The brain reacts belatedly.
"What are you doing?!" She used almost all her strength to break free from him and reached out to slap him.
Wen Hong easily intercepted her arm.
He effortlessly pushed her arm back down, his arrogant voice ringing out above her head, revealing neither joy nor anger:
"Qiao Yunzheng, does it hurt?"
He didn't seem to expect a reply from her, and without waiting for her reaction, he said to himself, "This is what you owe me."
A note from the author:
There will be another chapter later~
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