The island was quiet at night, with swans occasionally letting out a few penetrating calls. The island's restaurant, like a crystal cube, was even more beautiful in the darkness.
Security guards patrolling the island heard footsteps and came over to investigate. Seeing it was Joan, one of the guards greeted her.
"Mr. Ha?"
Joanne pointed towards the restaurant, "I'm here to pick them up."
"They're inside, you can go ahead with your work." The security guard said this and then left.
Pushing open the door to the restaurant, through the glass partition of the dessert room, I could see Xiaoruo busily fiddling with something. The cameraman had already left, and she was the only one left in the restaurant. She was so focused that she didn't even notice someone entering the restaurant.
Qiao An walked to the opposite side of her, and when she saw the scene inside, her gray-blue pupils contracted, and a look of shock appeared in her eyes.
In that transparent, all-glass dessert room, a beautiful red velvet cake sat on the huge central worktable. The alluring dark red cake pillar was surrounded by concentric circles of flowers, each flower a different shade of red, as if one had stumbled into someone's secret garden.
What's even more amazing is that the top layer of flowers on the cake surrounds a pair of red velvet high heels. I don't know how they did it, but the high heels look incredibly realistic, and they are breathtakingly beautiful amidst the lavish surroundings.
Except when she's shy, Du Xiaoruo usually appears aloof and distant, but the cake she made is extremely alluring and stunning, completely opposite to her personality.
When Qiao An first came into contact with fashion, she heard a senior designer say that a person's work is a reflection of their inner world. So her inner world was so splendid and magnificent?
Because of his work, Qiao An had been exposed to various interpretations of "beauty," but when he suddenly saw this stunning scene in this crystal-like space, he was still deeply shocked.
While Qiao An was in a daze, Xiao Ruo also saw him.
For a moment she was lost, her face showing a mixture of emptiness and satisfaction after the release of inspiration. The interplay of these two emotions made her face look much more vivid than her usual cold and aloof appearance.
Qiao An stood tall and elegant, smiling as she asked through the glass door, "Mrs. Qiao, may I come in?"
"Huh? Is...okay?"
Qiao An pushed open the door, and Xiao Ru hurriedly hid her phone.
Xiao Ruo's little scheme couldn't be hidden from Qiao An; before she could even put her phone away, it was snatched away.
"Let me see what you're doing behind my back!" Qiao An snatched the phone, the screen still locked and on the previous page.
Qiao An was almost a head taller than Xiao Ruo, and with his longer arms, Xiao Ruo couldn't reach the phone when he held it above her head.
The screen remained in the editing backend of the social media app. A nine-grid image of a red velvet cake had already been uploaded, and the text was only half-edited.
@Reporter He Qian from Minwang, I'm so sorry you didn't get to eat your favorite cake on your birthday. Here's a make-up cake for you, I hope you like it...
“Isn’t this boring?” Qiao An’s eyes lit up with a deep smile as she teased her. “You should tag Fan Yingjiao again and show her what real red velvet looks like.”
"No, no." Qiao An rejected her previous suggestion again. "It's not domineering enough. You should directly @Fan Yingjiao and tell her to bully my husband again, and Xiyou will be crushed by you."
Qiao An was so engrossed in the self-written and self-acted plot of her novel that she didn't notice Du Xiaoruo had climbed onto a chair next to her, snatched her phone, and gave Qiao An a flick on the forehead.
The two were now very close. Qiao An raised her head and her lips brushed against Xiao Ruo's fair neck, the fresh and sweet citrus scent emanating from her becoming even stronger.
Joanne's Adam's apple bobbed, her heart pounded, and a seductive, sweet, and ambiguous scent filled the air.
For a fleeting moment, he impulsively grabbed her ear, pulled her head down, and kissed her lips fiercely, biting them until they bled.
Anyway, Xiao Ruo stole his first kiss at the bar one day, so today he'll just return the favor with another kiss. Overwhelmed by his feelings, Qiao Erha even forgot that the first kiss incident was something he made up himself.
Just as Joan was about to carry out his immature first kiss plan, a series of frantic coughs came from the doorway.
The delivery guy stood bewildered at the door of the dessert room, his face as red as a tomato.
"Excuse me, I knocked on the door, but you guys were too engrossed in it. I... I'm sorry." The delivery guy was so embarrassed that he started speaking English.
"What do you do?" Qiao An was so angry she wanted to punch someone. You better give me a reasonable explanation.
The deliveryman shrank back, "Didn't you order me to pick up the cake?"
"It's me, it's me." Xiaoru jumped off the chair in a flustered and shy manner, and ran to the packaging cabinet to find the box needed for the ten-inch double-layer cake.
The deliveryman picked up the cake and made a special promise before leaving.
"Don't worry, I won't go around talking about what I saw today. I'm very professional."
As soon as he stepped out of the restaurant, the delivery guy pulled out his phone and immediately started yelling in the delivery group chat.
[Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Guess what I just saw? Du Xiaoruo and Qiao An were kissing inside Beibei Restaurant!]
Asuka 01: [Really? You're making this up, aren't you?]
[Trying to coax you is like being a dog. Don't let Du Xiaoruo's usual cold and aloof demeanor fool you; she's incredibly passionate around Qiao An. She jumped onto a stool and forcefully kissed Qiao An, leaving her forehead red from the kiss.]
Asuka 05: [Seriously? Why is it a kiss on the forehead?]
"Well... well, we have to take it one step at a time, right?"
Boss Lady Fei Niao: "Let me kiss Qiao An, and I'll die happy."
Hey Boss Feibiao, [I'm still in the group chat, you bitch!]
After the deliveryman left, the dessert room returned to quiet.
Qiao An was still pondering whether he could continue with the previous plan when his phone rang again. He glanced at it impatiently; it was Mu Hua.
As soon as I answered the phone, the three little ones' chattering voices came through the receiver, basically telling them to hurry home for barbecue.
Joanne's head was throbbing from their noise. "You guys eat first, no need to wait."
After receiving the call, Du Xiaoruo had already gotten ready, put on her coat, and slung a small crossbody bag over her shoulder. She was standing obediently at the door waiting for Qiao An to come out together.
Seeing this, Qiao An thought, "What's the point of kissing him?" and followed Du Xiaoruo out the door with a long face.
As I walked onto the covered bridge, my phone rang again; this time it was an unfamiliar number.
Qiao An rarely answers calls from unknown numbers; she hangs up as soon as she sees the number.
But the other party was quite persistent, hanging up three times in a row, and then calling back a fourth time.
"You should answer it," Du Xiaoruo couldn't stand it anymore and whispered, "What if it's something urgent?"
Qiao An's hand was already on the red button to hang up, but upon hearing Du Xiaoruo's words, her thumb slid to the green button next to it to answer.
The call connected, and a refined, mellow middle-aged male voice came from the other end.
"I'm your uncle. Do you have time to meet tonight?"
Qiao An had never heard of having an uncle, so she replied, "I am your seventh uncle." Then she prepared to hang up the phone.
The other person paused for a moment, then spoke again, their tone tinged with amusement.
"Qiao An, this is Jin Jin. Let's find a place to meet. Are you in Yinge right now? There's a teahouse inside the Jin Chan Department Store in Yinge. I'll have my secretary send you the name of the shop later."
Du Xiaoruo messaged Mu Hua to tell him she wouldn't be home for dinner and accompanied Qiao An to Jinchan Department Store.
The tea room had been cleared out in advance. Jin Jin sat by the window, drinking tea. This was the spot where he first met Qiao An, directly opposite Qiao An's Yase shop.
Yase had just done a display, and in the window was an elegant little black dress. It was a fairly ordinary style, but a lot of effort was put into the fabric. The dark fabric, under the refraction of the light, looked like it was inlaid with hundreds of millions of tiny diamonds, reflecting a different light from every angle.
Jin Chan wasn't involved in the women's clothing business, and Jin Jin didn't understand these things, but she heard from the company's young female employees that Ya Se was using some kind of scarcity marketing strategy, where the classic styles they launched each quarter had to be snapped up.
The secretary led Qiao An and Du Xiaoruo to Jin Jin's side. Jin Jin put down the Jianzhan (a type of Chinese wine cup), smiled, and pointed to the seat opposite.
After the two sat down, Jin Jin personally poured tea for them.
Through the glass, Qiao An saw a familiar shop across the street. He knew there was a teahouse across from this shop, but he had never been inside. He didn't expect that the floor-to-ceiling glass had a secret, allowing him to see the inside of the shop so clearly.
Jin Jin's gaze drifted lightly to the person opposite her, then subtly returned to its original position.
After the tea was poured, Jin Jin finally spoke.
“I was sitting right here that day. You’re even more ruthless than I imagined.”
Qiao An picked up her teacup and took a sip of tea. "My staff and manager do these things every day. It's no big deal if I do it once in a while."
Jin Jin burst into laughter, "You're harmless, but do you know how much I've lost since this happened?"
He held out his hand.
Du Xiaoruo sat quietly to one side, secretly wondering, how much? Fifty million? Five hundred million?
Tsk, the world of the rich. If she had lost that much money, she would definitely be crying her eyes out in bed, not out having tea.
Qiao An smiled faintly and talked nonsense without changing her expression, "I really didn't expect things to turn out this way. This was not my intention."
Jin Jin had seen through everything long ago, but she didn't expose Qiao An. Instead, she pointed at him.
"I heard you're acquiring Jinse's shares? Besides the 47% held by Jin Xizhen, are you going to take the rest?"
Qiao An looked up at Jin Jin and said, slowly and deliberately, "If you want to do it, you should be the largest shareholder."
Jin Jin laughed again, "You're quite ambitious. I heard you're still 20% short of securing the deal. Is it because you're short of money, or is the other party unwilling to make a move?"
"We have both. We're short of money, and the other party isn't willing to sell, since the stock price is too low right now, and it's not worthwhile to sell."
Qiao An's candor made the conversation go even more smoothly than Jin Jin had expected. He didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his terms.
“I will buy these 20% of the shares and give them to you. Could you also help with Jin Chan’s recent public opinion crisis…” Jin Jin carefully chose his words.
Qiao An put down her head and looked up, her clear eyes filled with sincerity.
“Uncle, these are just small family squabbles. Ever since I started my own business, you have always supported me. I will always remember this kindness.”
Jin Jin smiled and shook her head. "You're smarter than I thought."
“You can hold a press conference now. I will align my story with the public opinion.” Joan stood up. “My wife and I haven’t had dinner yet, so we won’t keep you any longer.”
After the conditions were met, Qiao An had no desire to continue catching up with Jin Jin. She had just reached the door when…
Jin Jin called him back and remarked, "Qiao An, you look a lot like your grandmother."
Qiao An paused for a moment, then pushed open the door and walked out of the tea room without responding.
This is the liveliest area in Yingge, and the noise outside pulls people back to reality from the deep and tranquil atmosphere of the teahouse.
Du Xiaoruo felt that Qiao An was not in a good mood, probably because of Jin Xizhen, so he also disliked Jin Jin.
Outside Jinchan Department Store, people were already setting up stalls at the night market.
The two didn't want to eat at a restaurant, as they would be easily recognized.
I bought some fried skewers from a stall and some beer from a supermarket. I walked along the night market and found a quiet corner in a small park to sit down.
This is a small open space with soft grass underfoot. Several oddly shaped sculptures stand on the grass. Du Xiaoruo looked at them for a while and thought they looked a bit like a bunch of ants crawling on the ground.
Qiao An placed the food she had bought on the small stone table and invited Du Xiaoruo to come and eat.
Xiaoruo walked over, opened a can of room-temperature beer and placed it in front of him, then opened a can of ice-cold beer for herself, tilted her head back and gulped down half of it, feeling refreshed all over.
Qiao An couldn't help but laugh when she saw how boldly she drank beer. She clearly had a terrible alcohol tolerance, but she had such a strong presence. She really had a huge craving for beer.
After drinking beer for a while, the effects of the alcohol kicked in, and the two of them became much more talkative.
Du Xiaoruo's cheeks flushed red as she asked curiously,
"Jin Jin just said he'd buy you shares, why did you say he'd been supporting you behind the scenes? Didn't you two have no contact before?"
"His purpose in giving me shares was to win me over, divert public attention, and help Jin Chan weather this public relations crisis."
Du Xiaoruo bit off a piece of sausage, chewed it, nodded, and felt that they were tiring to talk to each other, with eight hundred thoughts in every word.
Qiao An took a small sip of wine and sighed silently.
"Are you unhappy?" Du Xiaoruo asked. "Is it because Jin Jin gave you the shares?"
"No." Qiao An shook her head. No matter who gave it to her, it was like a windfall, and there was no reason not to be happy.
He paused for a moment, then spoke again.
"For the past twenty years, I have had a belief that I would acquire Jinse and crush Jin Xizhen and Qiao Qingchuan. Now, although Jin Xizhen still holds a small portion of the shares, I have become the largest shareholder of Jinse in the blink of an eye. It can be said that my dream is about to come true."
"But do you know what that feeling is? It's when your dream comes true..."
“I know.” Du Xiaoruo put down the empty beer can with a hearty laugh. “Don’t you feel especially empty after your dream comes true? I understand.”
Joan, "Huh?"
Du Xiaoruo was getting carried away. She took out her phone, opened her social media app, and the page was still on the editing page she had just left.
[@Fan Yingjiao, if you bully my husband again, I'll make sure you ruin Xiyou.]
The accompanying photos are nine stunning pictures of red velvet cakes, which are worlds apart from the cake made by Fan Yingjiao, completely outclassing it.
Fueled by alcohol, Du Xiaoruo sent the message directly, then handed the phone to Qiao An.
"How are you feeling now? Are you in a better mood?"
Joan swallowed the part she was about to say, "I felt so happy after achieving my dream that I could fly," and instead adopted a pitiful puppy-like expression.
"I feel much better now, thank you, honey."
On the surface, she feigns weakness and pitifulness, but inside she's already soaring with joy, achieving success in both love and career. The old saying goes, "Success in love, failure in career"—it seems we shouldn't believe that anymore.
The two chatted for a while longer about random things. Du Xiaoruo was especially cute after drinking; she was talkative and very loyal. She insisted on becoming sworn sisters with Qiao An, and it took a lot of persuasion to dissuade her.
Fortunately, she wasn't too drunk today. When the designated driver arrived and there were outsiders present, Xiaoruo's social anxiety kicked in again, and she immediately became quiet and well-behaved.
The sudden change in Xiao Ruo's personality left Qiao An unaccustomed. After learning that Xiao Ruo was socially awkward, he even went to research her. Some people with social anxiety are like that; they are more relaxed and show their true personality in front of familiar people, but become invisible in front of strangers.
Actually, Qiao An didn't think there was anything wrong with it. People's personalities are all different. But when he thought that Du Xiaoruo became like this because she was abandoned by her parents, he still felt a little uncomfortable.
Once in the car, Qiao An took out her phone and sent a text message to Secretary Jin.
[Jin, did you study psychology in college?]
Secretary Kim: [Yes, what's wrong? I'll charge extra if this skill is needed.]
Joan, [Can you treat social anxiety? The kind caused by psychological reasons.]
Secretary Kim, [I studied Consumer Psychology.]
Joan, [It's alright, you can rest now.]
The next morning, the sun shone brightly, birds sang, and flowers bloomed. On the first day without Fan Yingjiao, even the air was fragrant.
Mu Hua held up his megaphone and shouted loudly at the stairwell.
"The sun's already high in the sky, time to get up and have breakfast."
Du Xiaoruo was woken up by the noise. She frowned, grabbed the pillow next to her, covered her ears, and went back to sleep.
Mu Hua's urgent voice rang in her ears again, "Du Xiaoruo, get up now, you're the only one left to get up."
Xiaoruo couldn't sleep anymore. She sat up abruptly, quickly washed up, and went downstairs.
Instead of eating at the dining table today, everyone brought their breakfast from the breakfast shop near the entrance to the living room, sat on the carpet, and ate breakfast around the coffee table.
The TV in the living room is usually not turned on, but the one that is on now is switched to a financial channel.
After Du Xiaoruo sat down, she picked up her coffee and took a sip. At that moment, Jin Jin's face appeared on the TV screen.
Jin Jin maintained his gentle and refined demeanor, speaking eloquently in front of the camera.
Good morning, friends from the media and viewers watching on screen.
"The reason we've gathered everyone here so early for the Jinchan Group's press conference is mainly because some things have happened in our family recently, and this has had a very negative impact. I now realize that this is not a family matter, but has risen to the level of personal integrity and morality. Therefore, I think it is very necessary to hold this press conference immediately."
Watching Jin Jin's speech on the screen, Xia Qing glanced thoughtfully at Qiao An.
"Tell me, what benefits did you receive from Jin Jin?"
Qiao An glanced at the camera in the live stream and righteously lectured Xia Qingye, "Don't talk nonsense, he's my uncle."
Xia Qing rolled her eyes, displaying a disdainful attitude that seemed to say, "I knew everything all along."
Du Xiaoruo looked at Jin Jin on TV, then at Qiao An, and felt like she had forgotten something.
cake?
Social media apps?
She put down her sandwich, checked her phone, realized she'd forgotten it, and stood up to go upstairs to find it.
Xia Qing also shoved her phone in front of Du Xiaoruo.
"No need to look anymore, just use mine."
"Thank you." Du Xiaoruo respectfully accepted the phone that Xia Qingye handed her.
The first thing I saw on my phone was Du Xiaoruo's domineering post defending her husband, which had over 100,000 likes and shares. He Qian herself had even reposted it and verified it, saying, "The cake is really delicious, and her pampering of her husband is just too much to bear."
Du Xiaoruo closed her eyes, thinking about packing up and finding a new planet to live on.
After Jin Jin's press conference started, Qiao An's phone kept ringing. He stood up from the floor, in a great mood, and reached out to pinch Du Xiaoruo's face, but when he met her piercing gaze, his outstretched hand turned and pinched Xiao Shu's face instead.
"I'll be going now, you guys enjoy your meal."
Xiao Shu puffed out her cheeks and glared at Qiao An, annoyed by this kind of uncle who had no sense of boundaries.
Even Mu Hua couldn't stand it anymore, "Has this kid been living too well lately?"
The live stream was filled with wails of despair.
Where's my matchmaker? Wake up, my matchmaker! I want to be in a relationship!
I can practically smell the saccharine stench of this romance through the screen.
My mom asked me if I wanted to eat breakfast, and I said I was full from eating dog food. Now she's questioning my mental state.
[Can anyone come in and be honest? Am I watching a reality show about kids or a dating show right now?]
[Is this definitely a dating reality show, or perhaps a marriage of convenience that blossoms into love?]
I'm a single dog, never been in a relationship, and I watch others dating and raising kids with a fond, aunt-like smile. I don't even know what I'm getting out of it.
Inside the Qiao family's manor, Kim Hee-jin sat alone at an empty dining table. The table was laden with breakfast dishes, each served in a small dish, totaling dozens of varieties, so exquisite they bordered on extravagant.
The breakfast on the table remained untouched.
Seeing Jin Jin's public support for Qiao An at the press conference this morning, Jin Xizhen's expression remained unpleasant, and she lost all appetite for breakfast.
She closed her light blue eyes and slid her thumb up and down on the prayer beads.
Qiao Qingchuan is currently undergoing compulsory drug rehabilitation. Because of her cover-up of Qiao Qingchuan, her reputation in the public eye is also very poor. In addition, she is getting old and it is impossible for her to lower herself to personally make money.
Jin Xizhen holds 47 percent of the shares in Jinse Group, but she only has the right to control these shares, not the right to own them. Before Qiao Rukun's will was announced, no one knew who would end up with these shares.
She now feels a sense of powerlessness, as if a great building is about to collapse and the rise and fall of dynasties is imminent.
Seeing that Qiao Qingchuan was truly beyond help, Jin Xizhen paused, her thumb gripping the prayer beads. It was time to make a decision.
She stood up and walked towards the bedroom.
After entering the bedroom and closing the door, Kim Hee-jin dialed an international number.
The phone was answered, and the person on the other end sounded as if they had been woken from a deep sleep; their sleepy voice sounded rather sweet and innocent.
"Mother."
Kim Hee-jin's face, which had been gloomy all morning, finally broke into a smile.
"Child, it's time for you to go home."
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