Chapter 75 Get out!
That evening, Qin Qiao went to visit Xiao Jun and Zhang Zhut, who shared the same ward. As soon as she entered the room, Xiao Jun looked as if he had seen a ghost and hurriedly tried to get out of bed. But when he looked down and saw that his hospital gown was loose and even the buttons were undone, he quickly and clumsily shrank back into the covers.
In contrast, Assistant Zhang, having seen the world, managed to sit up despite the pain that made his forehead sweat. He forced a smile through his pale lips and called out in a dry voice, "Madam."
Seeing this, Xiao Jun suddenly straightened his back and, with the spirit of a retired soldier, called out again, "Madam!"
The contrast made Tian Jiayue, who followed in, burst out laughing.
Qin Qiao sat in the ward for an hour, asking only two questions: How did they know she was here? And how did they know Chen Jiashu might be in that village?
Zhang Zhu turned his gaze to Tian Jiayue, which made Tian Jiayue doubt herself. When had she ever revealed a single word to anyone outside?
“That day, I was passing by the break room when I overheard Secretary Tian and General Manager Zhu mentioning Chairman Chen…” Assistant Zhang paused here, afraid they would misunderstand that he was eavesdropping, and quickly explained, “I really was just passing by, and I stood at the door for less than half a minute!”
In his excitement, he aggravated the injury on his ribs, raised his hand to cover it, and hunched over to endure the pain.
Tian Jiayue recalled that Zhu Ao knocked on the door and came in, asking her if she had gone to see Jia Shu.
She recalled the blog post Zhu Ao wrote targeting her sister-in-law. Although Zhu Ao didn't admit it, she still felt a vague unease.
Besides, wasn't it him who contacted Officer Ma? Isn't he just asking a question he already knows the answer to?
She secretly grumbled to herself, but Zhu Ao smiled slightly and said, "If I weren't so busy, I would like to go and find Jia Shu myself, just like you. Jia Yue, I know you're worried about your brother... How about this, I'll give you a long leave so you can go see him."
My brother is not here now, and Zhu Ao is the vice president, so he has the authority to manage the personnel arrangements for the entire headquarters.
She hummed in agreement, and Zhu Ao then asked, "Are we going to Wanping Village?"
"yes"
*
In the dead of night, a tearing pain pierced Chen Jiashu's heart and woke him up.
He sat up instantly in the darkness, immediately covering the eye with his left hand. He could feel the eyeball throbbing abnormally under his palm, one beat after another, like a fully inflated balloon about to burst.
What I saw was not pure darkness, but red, purple, and distorted light churning wildly, accompanied by a feeling of nausea rising straight to my throat.
"Well......"
Large beads of sweat rolled down his face from his hair. Chen Jiashu leaned forward in pain, his upper body dangling into the air, and he fell off the bed, blanket and all.
Chen Jiashu curled up, his back muscles taut like iron, pushing up his navy blue sweater. He trembled violently, the pain radiating to his temple and brow bone on the same side, half of his head throbbing with pain.
He rolled over and knelt down, digging his fingers deep into his eye sockets as if only by doing so could he prevent his eyeballs from "exploding".
His other hand frantically groped in the air.
Bedside table!
drawer!
medicine!
His fingertips touched the cold object, and as if he had found a piece of driftwood, he grabbed it. But then, he pulled the object down.
His consciousness, which had just been restored for a brief moment, was once again swallowed up by the excruciating pain that tore his nerves apart.
...
The loud noise woke Old Lu and his wife in the next room. They hurriedly put on their coats and rushed out of the room in the dark. The moment the door opened, in the pale silver moonlight, they saw that the eight-immortal table in the center of the room had been knocked far away, and the man on the ground was rolling around on the floor for some unknown reason.
The old woman was terrified and hurriedly ran to her second brother's house. She knocked on the door and called her second brother and nephew. Together, they managed to help the man up and onto the bed.
Old Lu turned on the incandescent light hanging in the center of the ceiling, and the pale yellow light instantly filled the entire room.
The man turned over to face the wall, his body still trembling, but it seemed to have subsided slightly. Upon closer listening, a low moan of pain could still be heard suppressed in his throat.
The second brother grew angrier the more he looked at it: "If he's not a Bodhisattva in disguise, then let's just throw him into the Three Caves and let him die there."
Old Lu glanced at the man's sweaty, shiny nape: "A living person, exhaust him to death, their hearts will never be at peace... Xiao Tao repeatedly told us not to let Lao Ban die, if he dies, we'll be finished with the two children."
The second brother was so angry he didn't want to say anything. He waved to his son, and the father and son left together.
The old woman went out for a while and soon returned with a basin of warm water, in which a grayish towel was soaking.
"Go after him." Old Lu's face darkened, and he turned and left after uttering those words.
The old woman placed the basin of water on the table, and with her withered hands scooped up a towel from the water. Due to her age and lack of strength, she had to wring it out several times before it was barely half dry.
A wind picked up outside, causing the incandescent light bulb inside to sway. The old woman's shadow on the mud wall slowly moved to the bedside.
The old woman cried out "Ouch!" and staggered backward, her frail back bumping into the octagonal table. A patch of murky water spilled from the basin, flowing down the edge of the table and spreading a dark stain on the cement floor.
"Get out!!"
A hoarse, chilling growl sounded, and the old woman's heart skipped a beat. She looked up and met the man's bloodshot eyes. His alabaster-like face was terrifyingly cold.
He then said, slowly and deliberately, "Or kill me now."
Although he was blind, the man exuded a chilling and intimidating aura. The old woman felt inexplicably frightened, quickly picked up the basin, retreated to the doorway, turned off the light, closed the door, and hurried to find the old man.
*
Qin Qiao returned to Lanchuan at 3 a.m. on the sixth day.
I attended Qiao Shu's board meeting at 8:00 AM.
Although the equity transfer document signed by Chen Jiashu has made her an important shareholder of the company, according to the Articles of Association, her formal acquisition of the reserved board seat still needs to be approved by the directors.
Prior to this, Sun Gang had already informed Zhu Ao that the board meeting would be chaired by Zhu Ao, who was acting as chairman.
Sun Gang told her not to worry, it was just a formality. With controlling stake in the company, Chen Jiashu's decision was the final outcome.
It passed without any doubt.
After the board meeting, Zhu Ao invited her to sit in his office. When they talked about how she looked unwell, Qin Qiao just smiled faintly and brushed it off with a casual remark.
Zhu Ao took a bottle of warm mineral water, returned, and handed it to Qin Qiao, who was staring out the window in a daze.
"Would you like to work for the company?"
Qin Qiao turned her head, raised her chin to look up at his downward gaze, and caught the bottle of water.
She saw sincerity in his deep brown eyes. Qin Qiao smiled and said without beating around the bush, "Okay, what position will you arrange for me?"
Zhu Ao was taken aback by her quick agreement and paused for a moment before laughing and saying, "You're a professional journalist, um... the public relations department just happens to be short of a vice president, where would you go?"
“No…” Qin Qiao shook her head gracefully, her slender white fingers lightly tapping the sofa armrest: “You forgot, I work in finance. I heard from General Manager Sun that the finance department is short of a position. Do you think I can do it?”
The man's gaze behind his glasses dimmed slightly, but was quickly replaced by a deeper smile: "The finance department is currently conducting its quarterly audit, and the entire team is working non-stop. The atmosphere is too tense. If you go in now, I'm afraid it won't be helpful, but rather a source of suffering. How about you get used to the environment in the public relations department first, and we can discuss this further after this busy period is over?"
"Since we're working non-stop, isn't that precisely when we're short-staffed?"
Unscrew the bottle cap, Qin Qiao lowered her eyes to the water overflowing from the bottle, which had already wet her right index finger that was holding the bottle: "Even if I can't directly touch the core business, helping to analyze the data and coordinate the process is better than letting everyone wait outside. It's not about 'suffering,' it's my duty to share Jia Shu's burdens."
Zhu Ao hesitated for three seconds, then said, "Fine! Since you insist, it would be unreasonable of me to stop you. There's a separate office on the second floor of the finance department that's been empty. Go there. I'll give the order that all the core documents and data from the audit period be sent to you for review first, so you can also help me check them."
...
The glass door closed slowly and silently after Qin Qiao left. Zhu Ao's cold gaze remained fixed there, the smile on his lips freezing into a thin line.
The boardroom on the eighth floor of the group building.
Lu Dong blew on the foam on the tea, not in a hurry to drink it, his gaze still fixed on Director Xu's face: "I estimate that Zhu Ao will arrange a position for this Director Qin... Director Qin next."
A director outside the system—who knows where she goes, who she meets, or what she investigates. Giving her a meaningless position allows us to keep track of her movements and prevent her from doing anything underhanded.
Moreover, it can earn a good reputation for prioritizing the overall situation and not taking advantage of others' misfortunes.
Director Xu nodded slightly: "Director Qin... she actually holds 20% of the shares... Zhu Ao wants to lock her up like a canary, but he's afraid that an eagle will fly out."
He rubbed his thumb against the smooth phone screen and shook his head with a smile: "Old Lu, this show is getting more and more interesting. Jia Shu... he made such a big promise to Zhu Ao before, and now that kid Zhu Ao is going to be furious."
Suddenly, two more gatekeepers appeared beside him, their eyes fixed on him like searchlights. This prize he had just acquired tasted far more bitter than gall.
"Pie in the sky?" Director Lü snorted. "As soon as Jia Shu disappeared, Zhu Ao took office according to the regulations, although it was temporary... But look at Zhu Ao these past few days... He's not even putting on an act anymore, he's just convinced that Jia Shu won't come back."
The core leadership already knew about Chen Jiashu's disappearance. He was likely kidnapped and his chances of survival were slim. The chairman was probably already facing a life-or-death situation. Thinking that such a determined young man might also become a "deceased person," Lü Dong sighed with a heavy heart.
He suddenly lost his appetite and placed the teacup back on the huanghuali wood tea table. A few drops of tea splashed out, the plump water droplets trembling on the smooth wooden surface.
As Chen Jiashu's wife and the group's second-largest shareholder, Director Qin certainly has the right to say such things, but these words... sound like a precise attack on someone with ulterior motives.
He glanced at Zhu Ao with a slight lowering of his eyes, but maintained a polite and tolerant smile on his face, and even led the applause.
Director Xu tapped his phone screen with interest, leaned closer to Lü Dong, and lowered his voice: "Old Lü, no rush. We'll... wait and see."
A light drizzle began to fall in the evening, and it got dark early. Qin Qiao drove her Audi out of the company's garage and instead of going straight home, she took a detour to a shopping mall.
It was already six o'clock when she got home. The children received the gifts she brought back and immediately cheered with joy, their cheerful laughter filling the living room.
After dinner, Qin Qiao sat with the children on the floor in the playroom, piecing together building blocks one by one. The warm yellow light shone down, gently enveloping the four of them nestled together.
After finishing her work, she turned and went into Chen Jiashu's study, locking the door behind her.
The study was so quiet that only her breathing could be heard. Qin Qiao sat down in the swivel chair he often sat in and slowly tilted her head back. The lamp above her head was blindingly bright, the excessive light piercing her eyes and making them sting.
She closed her eyes.
Tears that had been held back for so long finally fell silently at this moment.
Children this age are always easy to coax; they still believe that their father is just on a business trip abroad and will be back in a few days.
One "days" after another... she believed that Jia Shu would definitely come back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
