Chapter 9 Holmes and Zhu Qingzhi: The truth is that there is only one truth. ...
Yang Qing pushed open the door to the reception room and led Zhu Qingzhi and the others out: "It's just an extra room that no one usually uses. Today, because Director Zheng is coming, we temporarily arranged for someone to stand by there."
He spoke casually and walked with a limp, seemingly happy that she had signed on for the movie. But in the eyes of a talented actress like Zhu Qingzhi, poor acting was simply not worth watching.
Yang Qing didn't tell the truth and downplayed the important points. Was he trying to cover something up? Zhu Qingzhi didn't expose him and followed him into the elevator, but the moment the doors closed, she turned and ran out.
She wanted to see who was in [601].
At this moment, the staff in the reception room had just finished cleaning up the cold tea and discarded documents and were coming out of [602] one after another. When they saw Zhu Qingzhi rushing over, they all subconsciously made way for her. Some of them couldn't avoid her in time, so several scenes of polite courtesy unfolded.
In the chaos, she saw a man emerge from room [601], deliberately turning his back to her, and quickly weaving through the gaps in the crowd. She wasn't wrong; the people in this room genuinely wanted to avoid her.
Zhu Qingzhi watched helplessly as the man disappeared into the stairwell. Since she couldn't catch up with him anyway, she calmed down and glanced inside as she passed by room [601].
It was empty, and the furnishings inside were indeed very simple, but you could tell that it was an office where someone was usually stationed.
The door to the stairwell next door was slightly ajar, and she noticed a pen lying on the floor. It was a Month brand, very valuable, and not something an ordinary person could own.
Zhu Qingzhi went down the stairs all the way to the underground parking lot. The underground parking lot at Chaoxing wasn't a private parking lot; it connected several buildings in the area.
It was nearly 2 p.m., the time when employees were finishing their lunch break and returning to work. The parking lot was quite busy with both cars and people, so finding someone was simply unrealistic.
She weighed the pen in her hand; a little ink had leaked from the nib, and it showed signs of heavy use, indicating that it had been used for a long time.
Generally speaking, pens are personal items, and you should pick them up if you drop them. But that person, in order to get rid of her, didn't even have a few seconds to bend down and pick up the pen.
It seems he really doesn't want her to know who he is.
Interesting. She clipped the pen to her shirt pocket, thinking there was plenty of time to find it later.
*
Since parting ways with Gu Qiao in Xisha, Zhu Qingzhi's WeChat has been bombarded with messages from her, but her schedule was too tight, and she only managed to meet with her this afternoon.
Upon receiving the news, Gu Qiao volunteered to pick her up in Chaoxing, and the two went to Gu Qiao's small apartment in the north.
"What's Xiao Tang's background? I saw she posted another car agent ad today." Gu Qiao held up her phone, clinging to her like a koala.
"Don't talk nonsense, they have the ability."
Gu Qiao rolled her eyes at her and gave her a thumbs up: "You're good at being sarcastic. Hey, I heard from my brother that you and Wen Qi went home that day?"
Here she comes again! She's back with more questions! Zhu Qingzhi felt like the script in her hand had lost its appeal.
This is the question Gu Qiao has asked the most these past few days! It's almost as frequent as asking "I want to lose weight," "I'm so hungry," and "I want to see handsome guys."
"Ask, ask, ask! How dare you ask! It's all your fault!"
Zhu Qingzhi immediately launched into a tirade, "If it weren't for you, would I have come to Beijing? If you hadn't ignored my calls, would I have gone to the wrong private room? If I hadn't gone to the wrong private room, would I have been able to go home with Wen Qi?!"
"You should reflect on this yourself."
Gu Qiao was clearly stumped by the question, but Miss Gu's logic would not be disrupted by such a low-level trick.
"No, your legs aren't on my body. You went home with Wen Qi on your own! Let me tell you, confess and you'll be treated leniently, resist and you'll be punished severely. Miss, please cooperate."
She stood up straight, snatched the script from Zhu Qingzhi's hand, and put on a stern judge's expression. "Let me tell you, Wen Qi is not a good person. Stay away from him."
"How so?"
When she was little, someone drew a cat's face on her at school. She ran home crying for comfort, only to run into Wen Qi, who was looking for Gu Huaichuan. She was crying so hard that before Gu Huaichuan could say anything, Wen Qi said, "If you cry a little longer, no one will be able to tell."
This statement was just as devastating as "If you had come a little later, the wound would have healed." The level of sarcasm was off the charts, causing immense harm to the young heart of Princess Gu Qiao, who had been pampered since childhood.
She developed PTSD related to Wen Qi. It sounds unbelievable, but it's true! She used to be a pampered little princess! But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
She also overheard Gu Huaichuan talking on the phone with someone the night before last, and only then did she realize that this marriage alliance was proposed by Wen Qi. The revelations a few days ago were probably also tacitly approved by Wen Qi, and even the Xisha incident was inextricably linked to him.
Although there was no concrete evidence, it was just her brother's guess, but men understand men best, especially her brother and Wen Qi's group, whose minds are all twisted and complicated, and none of them are good people.
These things are definitely true, but can I say them?
She had witnessed Wen Qi's sharp tongue firsthand. Although he didn't talk much, once he opened his mouth, he could talk the dead back to life. If he ever found out that she was the one who whispered such things in Zhu Qingzhi's ear, she was worried.
She wasn't afraid of retaliation; what she feared was his continued performance, using fabricated lies to lower Zhu Qingzhi's trust in her, which would be counterproductive.
Then let's be tactful and say something bad about him. It will be easier to explain later; just say it was interference from outside the venue that disrupted her judgment.
"My brother said it! He did that thing in the Xisha Islands on purpose!"
Miss Gu's so-called "tactful criticism" is nothing more than using her brother's name to speak ill of others. But how can it not be considered tactful? She only chose to talk about one of the three things, which is already showing mercy.
Zhu Qingzhi forced a weak smile. She had already guessed this. When she learned that Xisha was a Wen family business, she was certain that Wen Qi was the mastermind behind it all.
However, she could understand why Wen Qi did this.
Even arranged marriages are still marriages. It's one thing for them to live apart in different cities, but now that she's back in Beijing, she needs to maintain a semblance of peace. Otherwise, it won't be fair to either side. If the news breaks later and the Wen and Lu families develop a rift because of this, it will truly ruin the essence of the arranged marriage.
Wen Qi is also the head of the Wen family, so he can think of more and longer-term things than she can. Therefore, she doesn't care about these things, including the fact that he tricked her back to the bridal chamber last night.
However, if you are perfunctory in your attitude towards Miss Gu's advice, she will be in trouble.
Zhu Qingzhi immediately grabbed Gu Qiao's shoulders, shook her vigorously, and tried to open her eyes wide, asking three soul-searching questions in a row: "Is this real? Is this really real? Is this really, really real?"
Gu Qiao's head was practically splattered from being shaken so much, but she still gave Zhu Qingzhi face: "Really! It's really true! It's really, really true!"
At nine o'clock in the evening, Zhu Qingzhi returned to the villa on the hillside. Wen Qi's car was not in the empty courtyard.
Upon entering the living room, she instinctively looked at the flowers in the vase on the coffee table. Unsurprisingly, they had been replaced with Kenyan pink roses. A plate of freshly cut fruit was placed on the dining table. Since Wen Qi hadn't returned, these were indeed prepared by the maid.
My phone chimed at just the right moment.
A WeChat verification message, with a profile picture of a morning star on the horizon: "I'm going to Haicheng on a business trip. I'll be back in three days."
It is Wenqi.
Zhu Qingzhi casually clicked "accept" and replied with "Received." Then, remembering Wen Qi's comment that "nobody likes going to work," she silently retracted and resent the message: "Understood."
Wen Qi's phone remained on the chat screen, taking in her subtle movements. He turned off his phone, his eyes darkening for a moment, but when he looked up, they were back to normal.
The scattered documents on the table under the incandescent light, the frantically scrolling numbers on the computer screen, the noisy phone calls coming and going—the oppressive atmosphere reached its peak.
The tender document has been revised since 4 pm, and the other party is sticking to the 0.1% budget difference, leaving almost no room for maneuver.
At 2 a.m., the final draft of the tender document was completed. Wen Qi rubbed his temples, stood up, and announced that everyone was dismissed.
Haicheng is near the sea, and the winter wind blowing against your body feels like a sharp knife, tearing through your bones and penetrating your marrow.
The Wen and Lu families' two buildings in Haicheng were also adjacent to each other. When he went downstairs, he happened to meet Lu Yao standing in front of the Lu family's building. Lu Yao had a cigarette in his mouth, and the smoke made it impossible to see his face or his condition.
But Wen Qi knew very well how ruthless the obstacles he had set for Lu Yao were.
Their cars arrived almost simultaneously. They exchanged a knowing wave as a polite greeting before getting into their respective cars and leaving.
Holding his phone, Xiao Ao briefly reported the situation with Wen Qi, then reminded him, "President Wen, the government meeting is scheduled for ten o'clock."
With the back window half-rolled down, the wind howled against his back, and Xiao Ao shrank his neck. "Arrange for Yuan Lang to wait for you downstairs at the hotel at nine o'clock tomorrow?"
Book me the earliest flight back to Beijing.
Xiao Ao was just about to reply to the pending messages on his phone when he heard this, and couldn't help but turn around and look at Wen Qi.
Due to the intense mental exertion, Wen Qi's lips were somewhat pale. The cold wind ruffled his hair, the car sped by, and the streetlights cast shifting shadows, making his eyes appear even more profound. There was no weariness or anxiety in them; he was simply issuing commands.
"Tomorrow we'll discuss this. Use the version of the tender document with a 19% profit margin."
"Also, give an update on the intelligent development project."
Yuan Lang had nothing to say; his job was to drive, and the quieter the better. But Xiao Ao's complaints were something he had to address!
The Wen family's main business is real estate, but due to Wen Qi's personal interests, he independently founded an information technology company—Venus—at the age of eighteen.
With its exceptional talent and keen foresight, Venus is one of the top companies in the country, and its headquarters are located in Haicheng.
Regarding the intelligent development project in Haicheng, the government initially favored Venus, but Wen Qi was not very enthusiastic this time, and the project will soon be taken over by the Lu family.
Lu's Group only entered the information technology industry in recent years and has not made much of a splash in the industry. This intelligent development project in Haicheng is not large in scale, but it is a good opportunity for Lu's Group to make its mark.
Perhaps Mr. Wen was willing to yield before, but isn't he currently competing with Mr. Lu? Why did he change his mind after just one meeting? Did Mr. Wen realize his mistake and compromise?
Xiao Ao could roughly understand Wen Qi's meaning, but he wasn't entirely sure.
He was selected by the president's office three years ago to become the secretary to President Wen's secretary, commonly known as a junior secretary. Because the senior secretary was assigned to other tasks by President Wen in the past few months, he was recently promoted from junior secretary to temporary senior secretary.
The pressure is really immense!
[Brother! President Wen needs to book the earliest flight back to Beijing!]
[He also stated that he wouldn't be participating in the land reclamation negotiation meeting tomorrow, and the tender documents haven't been significantly revised. He also asked the intelligent engineering project team to provide an explanation.]
[Does this mean they don't want that smart home project? Is that what they mean?!]
Xiao Ao had never realized he could type so fast; his reaction speed was almost at the level of a professional esports league player.
The chief secretary truly lives up to his reputation; he replied to a 2 AM message instantly: "I'll arrange it."
It seemed he hadn't guessed wrong. Xiao Ao breathed a sigh of relief and quickly started searching for flights to report back: "President Wen, the earliest flight is at 6:30."
A note from the author:
----------------------
Kiyoshi [question mark]: Hmm?
Wen Qi [cracks open]: There's a sick person downstairs.
Brother [rolls eyes]: The person upstairs is the one who's sick.
Author [laughing out loud]: My daughter is the smartest!
【Morning Star - Given the female lead's nickname is Chaochao, please tell me the male lead's nickname】
Light up a little star to help Xiao Wen on his journey to win back his wife! [Rainbow praise][Rainbow praise][Rainbow praise][Rainbow praise]
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