Mu Hua usually gives people the impression of being calm and reserved, but the moment Xiao Shu was injured, he seemed to become a different person, rushing into the amusement park without regard for anything, his face showing an unprecedented look of fear and ferocity.
Xiao Shu was placed in Mu Hua's arms, his face covered in sand and blood. Mu Hua quickly cleaned the blood from his face, his heart tightening. Blood was flowing from the corner of his eye, and Xiao Shu cried out in pain with his eyes closed.
"My eyes hurt, I'm going to go blind!"
"Don't open your eyes," Mu Hua comforted in a trembling voice. "You can't open your eyes, or the blood will flow in. Daddy will take you to the hospital right now, to the hospital, quick, let's go now."
Xiangxiang and Lele were also frightened. Standing in the shadows under the slide, Xiangxiang was trembling all over. Lele took her little sister's hand and held it tightly, as if trying to comfort her. But both little hands were equally cold.
Xia Qing also turned to Du Xiaoruo and said,
"Xiaoruo, you and Ni An take care of the children first. Mu Hua and I will go to the hospital. My cousin is the director of the children's hospital. I should be able to help out."
"Okay, go ahead."
Mu Hua carried the little book and ran wildly toward the parking lot. Xia Qing also ran a few steps, but couldn't keep up with Mu Hua's pace, so she simply took off her high heels and carried them in her hand, running barefoot after him.
The child who had caused the trouble watched Mu Hua and the others leave, then tried to run away after sliding down the slide.
Lele let go of Xiangxiang's hand, grabbed the little boy's wrist, and mustered her courage to shout loudly.
"It was you who promoted this little book, don't even think about running away."
The boy was very strong. Although Lele was a bit taller than him, he wasn't as strong. The boy suddenly swung her around, and she landed on her bottom on the sand.
Du Xiaoruo braced herself against the fence with one hand, leaped into the air, and landed directly in front of the boy, pressing down on his shoulder.
After subduing the little boy, Du Xiaoruo pointed to the security camera under the big tree.
"There are security cameras over there. Kid, come with us to the property management office."
Upon hearing that there was a security camera, the child saw it under the tree and burst into tears, immediately kneeling down as he cried.
"I was wrong, I was wrong, it was an accident. Please don't tell my mother, she'll beat me to death. Please, kind people."
Du Xiaoruo and Ni An exchanged a glance.
Ni An shook her head. "Let's go to the property management office and find his parents first."
As they led the child toward the property management office, they walked out of the small garden and bumped into Qiao An, who was returning home from get off work, in the property management lobby.
"Dad," Lele called out to Qiao An, who was about to enter the elevator.
Qiao An stopped and turned around. She saw Ni An holding a boy by his side. The boy's face was covered in tears, and there was some fine sand on Lele's clothes.
"You got into a fight with someone?" Qiao An's first thought was that Lele had gotten into a fight with that little kid.
Lele shook her head. "No, he pushed Xiaoshu. We need to check the surveillance footage now."
The elevator doors closed automatically. Qiao An turned back and asked, "Where's Xiao Shu?"
“They took him to the hospital,” Xiangxiang replied softly. “Xiaoshu’s face was covered in blood, Uncle, I was so scared.”
"It's okay." Qiao An reached out and patted Xiangxiang's head a few times, then took out her phone and made a call.
A moment later, the property manager on duty came out to greet them, his face beaming with smiles.
"Mr. Qiao, right? Our General Manager Jiang asked me to receive you first, and he is on his way here in person."
"Check the surveillance footage."
Joan’s tone was completely commanding, and the manager didn’t dare to be negligent, since his boss had personally given instructions. He quickly ushered them into the VIP reception room.
When we complained about the noise last time, they just stayed in the lobby. This time, they used their connections, and their treatment is completely different.
The VIP reception room was very elegant, and there were people to make tea for them. The children also had warm juice to drink.
Du Xiaoruo sat down on the sofa first, and Ni An, who followed her in, naturally sat down on the sofa next to her. Qiao An walked over, gave Ni An an unpleasant look, and squeezed into a narrow space between him and Du Xiaoruo.
Ni An paused for a moment, then quickly moved aside to make room for Qiao An.
The manager turned on the LCD screen opposite the sofa and used the walkie-talkie to call the monitoring room, asking them to play the surveillance footage of the children's play area around 9 o'clock.
The surveillance cameras at Chenxiang Apartment are all high-definition, and the slide is at a relatively high angle with no obstructions in front, so you can see very clearly.
Around 9:15, Xiao Shu climbed up the slide and waved happily to Lele, who was still at the bottom of the slide, as if signaling him to hurry up.
Then, at the bottom of the slide, the boy pushed Lele aside, rushed up the slide, and pushed Xiaoshu down.
The whole process seemed premeditated; the boy's movements were swift and decisive, completely unlike what he claimed was an accidental push.
Upon seeing this, the property manager looked very displeased and ordered someone to notify the boy's mother to come over.
Before long, the person arrived. Du Xiaoruo recognized at a glance that the boy's mother was the hot-tempered woman who lived in room 2118.
The woman already knew the gist of the matter from the phone call, and as soon as she got to the room, she started her usual tantrum.
"It's normal for kids to play and make noise, what are you trying to do? Are you bullying us, a widow and her child? You said before that our house was making noise for you, and you came to our door to cause trouble time and time again. Now you're saying my son pushed someone. What child isn't naughty?"
The property manager reviewed the surveillance footage and, wanting to avoid further trouble, gently advised the matter.
“Ms. Zhang, the surveillance footage shows that the children weren’t just playing around. And even if they were, now that the other child is injured, we should take them to the hospital, apologize, and offer compensation. What do you think?”
"What's there to apologize for? What's there to claim compensation for? Our child often gets minor scrapes and bruises when he goes to that amusement park, and I've never caused trouble for anyone."
Unable to persuade them, the property manager was at a loss and could only look helplessly at Du Xiaoruo and her group.
"Why don't you just call the police?"
"Your name is Zhang Hui, right?"
Joan crossed her long legs, looking at the woman with a relaxed and elegant air.
"I just had someone check. The house you're living in now was left to you by your ex-husband. He gave you the house when you divorced, but he no longer pays child support. You're raising your son alone now, working as an accountant at Luotian Technology. Your son has your surname, his name is Zhang Jiafeng, and he attends Luofeng No. 1 Experimental Primary School, right?"
After hearing Qiao An's words, the woman became visibly wary. "What are you going to do?"
Qiao An glanced at her phone screen, which displayed Zhang Hui's personal information that Secretary Jin had just sent.
“We’ve recorded the whole thing today. I have the contact information for Mr. Chen from Luotian Technology, who is also your boss, as well as Ms. Yin, your son’s homeroom teacher. If you don’t want this to spread in your company and Zhang Jiafeng’s school tomorrow, you’d better watch your attitude.”
After saying this, Zhang Hui's face turned very pale.
Joanne added one last thing, "If you lose your job, how will you, a widow and her son, survive? Your son's school must be expensive, right?"
Zhang Hui's lips trembled twice, and after a long while, her tone softened considerably, "I am willing to take responsibility."
Seeing that the situation had taken a turn for the better, the property manager quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Let's head to the hospital now and see how the injured child is doing."
Qiao An stood up, "I won't..."
Then he saw Du Xiaoruo and Ni An walking towards the door together. Qiao An quickly stepped forward and squeezed between the two of them.
Du Xiaoruo glanced at him.
Feeling a little guilty, Qiao An tried to make conversation, "Xiao Shu is injured. As his uncle, shouldn't I go and visit him?"
"Mm." Du Xiaoruo nodded, then, realizing her attitude had been too cold, added two more words, "Okay."
In the VIP ward of the Municipal Children's Hospital, Xiao Shu lay quietly on the bed. Mu Hua and Xia Qing sat on chairs beside the bed. No one spoke, and the ward was quiet.
When Du Xiaoruo and her group arrived, Mu Hua, worried about disturbing Xiao Shu, asked them to talk outside.
"Let's talk in the conference room," Xia Qing said, walking out of the ward. "I'll call my cousin and borrow their small conference room."
As everyone walked towards the conference room, Du Xiaoruo asked in a low voice, "How's the situation?"
"It's nothing serious," Xia Qing said. "It was about five millimeters away from hitting my eyeball. Luckily, I only needed a few stitches. It might leave a scar, but a minimally invasive scar removal surgery can fix it."
Du Xiaoruo felt relieved. "Then we won't go in." She pointed to the conference room. "Your parents can talk amongst yourselves."
Indeed, this matter concerns Mu Hua and Zhang Hui's family, and it's a bit inexplicable that unrelated people like them were dragged in.
Du Xiaoruo's words reminded everyone, and everyone except Mu Hua stopped in their tracks.
Mu Hua turned around, his expression returning to its calm and composed state.
"Yes, yes, it's nothing. You guys go back and rest. Xiao Shu will be under observation at the hospital overnight. If everything is alright, we'll go back too."
“Brother Hua, just give me a call if anything comes up,” Ni An said.
Mu Hua waved his hand, "Go back quickly, there are still doctors and nurses here, you can't help if you stay."
As everyone turned to leave, Mu Hua called out to Du Xiaoruo again.
"Xiaoruo, could you please make a cake for Xiaoshu? He keeps talking in his sleep saying that Xiaoruo's mom makes the best cakes and ice cream. I think if he wakes up and sees his favorite cake, he won't be in so much pain."
Du Xiaoruo glanced at the clock at the end of the hospital corridor; it was 10:15 PM.
"Okay, I'll bring it over as soon as it's ready."
"Thank you for your trouble, Xiaoruo. It's so late, you must be tired."
Mu Hua thanked them and went into the conference room with Zhang Hui's family. The rest would probably involve going through the apology and compensation process.
After leaving the hospital, Xia Qing hailed a taxi and saw Ni An standing there like a fool. Judging from his appearance, he probably still wanted to go back to the restaurant to help.
Xia Qing also gave Ni An a push, stuffing him directly into the taxi. She smiled and winked at Du Xiaoruo before getting into the taxi and leaving as well.
"The couple already spends very little time together while filming the show, don't you have any sense?" Xia Qing also scolded Ni An in the taxi.
Ni An scratched his head sheepishly, only then realizing why Qiao An had been acting strangely today, like always squeezing between him and Du Xiaoruo.
Seeing his silly look, Xia Qing asked with a hint of gossip, "Ni An, why haven't I seen your girlfriend?"
No, no.
"You've never been in a relationship before, have you?"
Ni An looked out the car window awkwardly, and after a while, nodded shyly.
"It's okay." Xia Qing patted Ni An's shoulder like a big sister. "I'll introduce you to someone suitable in the future."
The Bentley stopped in front of the restaurant. After getting out of the car, Du Xiaoruo went into the kitchen, put on a cartoon apron with the Beibei Restaurant pattern, and skillfully took out the ingredients commonly used for making chiffon cakes, such as low-gluten flour, eggs, powdered sugar, and butter.
Only one row of overhead lights was on in the kitchen. Joan sat on a bar stool on the other side waiting for her. From this angle, it had a dreamlike, movie-like feel to it.
Today, Du Xiaoruo wore a gauze dress with an ink painting design. Her short hair seemed to have grown a bit longer, and she tied it into a half-bun on top of her head. With the lights pouring down from above, she looked like a dancing elf on a stage, and every movement she made had a skillful beauty.
Perhaps it was the tranquility of the environment that made her feel relaxed, or perhaps it was because she had become somewhat familiar with Qiao An, but even though Du Xiaoruo knew he was sitting in the shadows, she wasn't nervous at all and danced freely and gracefully on her stage.
Lele was a little thirsty while she was in the hospital, so she went to the water bar, poured herself a glass of cold water, drank it, and then went back to the kitchen, climbed up and sat on the high stool next to Qiao An.
"Aren't you sleepy?" Joan asked.
Lele shook his head, staring at his busy mother like a little fanboy. His big eyes shone brightly in the dark. He liked watching his mother busy, as it gave him a sense of security and home.
Du Xiaoru put the cake into the oven, which she was already very familiar with. She baked it at 148 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes, and the resulting chiffon cake was fluffy and soft, neither too dry nor too wet.
Once the cake was baked, she started whipping the cream. As if by magic, with the buzzing of the whipper, the liquid whipped cream gradually turned into a delicate foam.
This was the first time Qiao An had ever seen the cake-making process. Watching all the ingredients change shape between Du Xiaoruo's slender white fingers and finally assemble into the shape of a cake in a shop window, the pressure that had been building up all day was unknowingly completely released.
Joan felt she had fallen into depravity; how was this any different from Secretary Jin and the others watching people trim cow hooves and cut soap?
The baked chiffon cake overflowed a bit from the mold. After unmolding it by turning it upside down, Du Xiaoruo used a spatula to scrape off the overflowing scraps.
"Open your mouth." She picked up a small piece of sponge cake and called out to Lele.
Lele and Du Xiaoruo had long been working together seamlessly, so he could get the freshest scraps of cake at this time.
This was the first time Qiao An had ever seen this scene. When he saw Du Xiaoruo walking over with a plate of broken cake in her hand, he was a little at a loss. Then he saw Lele next to him with her mouth wide open, and on a whim, he opened his mouth as well.
Du Xiaoru put a piece of cake into Lele's mouth. She hesitated for a moment, pursed her lips, picked out a larger piece of cake from the plate, and carefully fed it into Qiao An's mouth.
"......"
The air became deathly silent.
Qiao An, “…” Why did I do something so embarrassing? I’m 1.87 meters tall, 27 years old, the general manager of Yase, the man at the peak of his career who is about to acquire Jinse Group. Why should I shamefully open my mouth and wait for someone to feed me cake?
Du Xiaoruo was also a little embarrassed, after all, putting something in someone's mouth is something that only very intimate people can do.
Lele nudged Du Xiaoruo and pointed to her empty mouth, indicating that she wanted more.
Du Xiaoruo stuffed another piece of cake into Lele's mouth, put the rest of the cake and the plate on the table, and fled the scene of the crime with a red face.
Lele chewed on the soft, fragrant cake base, glanced at Du Xiaoruo who had fled in panic, and then at Qiao An who was completely petrified. She was secretly pleased and would be happy to eat all the cake crumbs by herself while they weren't paying attention.
The cake was delivered to the hospital, but Xiao Shu was still asleep, and Mu Hua looked a bit tired. In order not to disturb them, Du Xiaoruo and the others left without staying any longer.
Back in the dormitory, Xia Qing was wrapped in a small blanket and chatting with netizens in front of the camera in the living room. When she saw Du Xiaoruo and the others return, Xia Qing turned the camera towards the door.
I unexpectedly saw Mr. Ha in the live stream, and I got a little excited.
Good evening, Mr. Ha! As expected of a regular guest at Beibei Restaurant, you're always around!
[What do you mean by "regular guest"? Mr. Ha just dotes on his wife; the three of them should always be together.]
Honestly, you only realize after marriage that nothing is more romantic than enduring companionship, and vows of eternal love are just empty words.
[Hey upstairs, tell us your story, hahaha.]
Qiao An greeted the camera and the netizens, then told Du Xiaoruo and Lele to get some rest, closed the door for them, and left.
Du Xiaoruo changed into slippers and walked over, asking softly, "Why aren't you asleep yet? It's so late."
Xia Qing also yawned.
"I'm just afraid that the director will say we're not staying in the dorm properly again and that we'll be fined all the time. I was explaining to everyone about Xiaoshu getting hurt last night, and we've been talking about it ever since."
"Alright, everyone should get some rest too." Xia Qing waved at the camera and grabbed a towel from the side to cover it up.
Secretary Jin was always very efficient. Within three days, all of Du Tiancheng's documents appeared on Qiao An's desk.
Every major event in his life over the past twenty years has been meticulously listed, and even Du Tiancheng's hobbies, the appearance of his past girlfriends, and his preferred clothing style have been thoroughly investigated.
Qiao An looked at the stack of documents in front of her, which was as thick as an English-Chinese dictionary, and pressed her aching temples.
"No, honey, do you not know what the 'important point' is?"
Secretary Jin looked aggrieved. "Didn't you ask me to investigate Du Tiancheng? And you said the more detailed the better."
Qiao An closed her eyes and took two deep breaths. "Does that mean he has to wear all kinds of underwear? What kind of image do I have in your eyes?"
Secretary Jin knowingly took the documents, turned to the last page, and showed the information on that page to Qiao An.
"Mr. Qiao, this is what you're interested in."
Joan's gaze fell on the page of dense text. She scanned it quickly, reading ten lines at a glance, and finally her eyes settled on one item, a knowing smile appearing on her lips.
The question is, where did Du Tiancheng's money go? Here's the reason.
"Contact Du Tiancheng and have him come over," Qiao An instructed Secretary Jin, turning her gaze away from the documents.
Secretary Jin produced a huge black leather notebook from somewhere, opened it, adjusted her glasses, and reminded Qiao An,
"You're going to visit Mr. Wang and Mr. Li, the shareholders of Jinse, later. We've already arranged a time in advance, so you probably won't have time to see Du Tiancheng this afternoon."
Qiao An gets a headache just thinking about Jinse's shareholders. They're all stubborn old fogies. Jinse's stock price has plummeted, and nobody wants to sell at this time. They're still hoping for a turnaround for the Qiao family.
Han Nianwei's case is currently only influenced by public opinion; no strong evidence has been found in the judicial system. Therefore, the stubborn shareholders are still unwilling to give up, and the acquisition of shares faces numerous difficulties.
Joanne pressed her temples with her long, slender fingers and asked,
"Is it alright if I see Du Tiancheng during dinner?"
Secretary Jin nodded and wrote down the schedule for "meeting Du Tiancheng at dinner" in his large black leather notebook.
The afternoon's meeting with shareholders did not go smoothly, which resulted in Qiao An having little appetite for dinner. She hastily ate a little vegetable salad and some black pepper butter chicken breast before putting down her fork.
"Let him in." Joan touched the corner of her lips with a handkerchief.
Across from him, Secretary Kim was stuffing beef into his mouth. He glanced at the almost untouched food in front of Qiao An, then at the expensive Kobe beef in front of him that he had only eaten a third of, ran out to call Du Tiancheng, and then quickly ran back to continue eating.
Qiao An rested her elbows on the table, clasped her hands together, and pressed the tip of her nose against her palms, staring calmly at Du Tiancheng.
Du Tiancheng felt uneasy under Qiao An's gaze, but dared not speak first. Although his sister was married to Qiao An, Du Tiancheng rarely interacted with her. He couldn't explain why, but he always felt that Qiao An was unfathomable and that they were completely different people. Moreover, Du Tiancheng hated the feeling of looking up to others, so he avoided Qiao An as much as possible.
Before Du Tiancheng fainted from nervousness, Qiao An finally spoke calmly.
"How's my batch of pearl buttons doing?"
Du Tiancheng was stunned, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. "Almost...almost done."
"Are you sure?" Qiao An put down her hand and pushed a document in front of Du Tiancheng.
Du Tiancheng glanced at it; it was his factory's production schedule. Under the item "Yase Pearl Buttons," it was marked "Pending Production."
"Mr. Qiao, I'm sorry, the factory is having some cash flow problems lately. I'll get back to you as soon as possible."
“No need.” Joan leaned back in her chair. “I’ve already found another factory to make this batch of buttons. As for you…”
Du Tiancheng didn't know if it was because he was physically weak or because he was scared. In the well-air-conditioned private room, cold sweat kept sliding down his forehead, and his hands started to tremble, like a pitiful worm waiting for a verdict.
"I'll give you one week to transfer the deposit and penalty I've paid to you to the company account."
"Okay, okay." Du Tiancheng wiped away his cold sweat and hurriedly agreed. He should return the money since he hadn't done a good job.
Du Tiancheng thought it was over, but Qiao An's next words plunged him into despair.
"I'll give you another half month to return the 21 million to Du Xiaoruo."
For a middle-class family like the Du family, over twenty million yuan was a huge sum of money, and it had already been almost entirely squandered. Du Tiancheng was in a dilemma.
"But Mr. Qiao, that money was given to the family voluntarily by my sister; we didn't force her..."
Before Du Tiancheng could finish speaking, he saw Qiao An put her long, beautiful index and middle fingers together and make a smoking motion to her lips, her gray-blue eyes full of provocation.
"Mr. Qiao, I..." Du Tiancheng trembled uncontrollably, "If I return the money, will you let me go?"
“I’m not a policeman, I just want money.” Joan withdrew her hand, even showing a reassuring, gentle smile on her face.
He waved his hand, and Du Tiancheng stumbled out of the private room.
Qiao An called him back, "Wait, I want to ask, has Du Xiaoruo studied Muay Thai?"
"No...no, I don't think so." Du Tiancheng shook his head. "I've never heard of it."
"Did she know how to make desserts before?"
"No...no, I don't think so." Du Tiancheng shook his head again. "I've never heard of it."
Joanne waved her hand impatiently, "Get lost."
After Du Tiancheng left, Qiao An felt inexplicably irritable. She knew before that she was not valued at home, but now that she had confirmed it herself, she felt very unhappy, inexplicably unhappy.
While Joan was still in a daze, Secretary Jin finally finished eating, letting out a satisfied little burp and sighing.
"As expected of Kobe beef, the taste is amazing."
"Isn't that amazing?" Joan scoffed. "The price is even more amazing."
As Secretary Kim listened to that familiar sarcastic tone, a sense of foreboding rushed to the top of her head. Was this guy trying to skip out on the bill?
Sure enough, before leaving, Joanne left with the words, "Splitting the bill."
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