“Thank you, boss!” The secretary was overjoyed when he heard that he would have a five hundred yuan red packet during the Lunar New Year. He accepted the task with joy.
Anyway, he only had to make sure that the wine met all the requirements of his boss. It did not matter how much they cost. The boss would pay for them.
However, Wei De might have come up with a plan, but God had other plans.
The day after Zhai Sheng was engaged with Qiao Nan, Zhai Sheng and Zhai Hua were called back to the camp for a secret mission.
The day after Zhai Sheng left, Qiao Nan received someone’s invitation to have tea with her.
Shi Qing laughed at Qiao Nan. “What do you think? Are you going to accept the invitation? It is not easy to have tea with her. The last time she treated us to a meal, we had yet to finish the meal and we almost ended up being punched by them. Back then, she did not know that you are Brother Zhai’s girlfriend. But right now, everyone knows that you are Brother Zhai’s fiancée.”
Everything that was related to Qiu Chenxi — regardless if it was treating her to tea or to a meal-came with the risk of being punched by her henchmen.
“Do I seem like someone who is starving and thirsty?” Qiao Nan shot a disdainful look at Shi Qing. “If not for Brother Zhai and my master, there was no way that I would be acquaintances with people like Qiu Chenxi. After all, we are from two different worlds and we do not have common topics to talk about. Now that I am engaged to Brother Zhai, if I meet her now, Qiu Chenxi may feel that I am mocking her. No matter what I do now, I will be in the wrong.”
If she agreed to having tea with her, it would be like showing off her new status; if she did not agree to it, it would seem as if she ignored her and was arrogant.
When dealing with such troublesome matters, Qiao Nan was used to ignoring it. People could interpret it in whichever way they liked.
However, Qiu Chenxi was determined to meet Qiao Nan. There was no way that Qiao Nan could refuse to see her.
“Hey, she is here looking for you?!” Shi Qing, who idled around at the Qiao family’s residence, heard a knock at the door. She opened the door and found her cousin at the entrance.
“I am here to look for Qiao Nan.” Qiu Chenxi was slightly surprised at seeing Shi Qing. But she felt it was expected of her to be here. “Your relationship with Qiao Nan is really beyond the ordinary. You are so… beyond words.”
Back then, Shi Qing liked Zhai Sheng very much and she even wanted to vie with her for his affection.
But right now, Qiao Nan was Zhai Sheng’s fiancée and Shi Qing became good friends with her.
She had never seen relatives like Shi Qing who bit the hand that fed her. She could not tell her relatives apart from the outsiders. She was a complete fool.
There was one thing that Qiu Chenxi felt most jealous about: Qiao Nan used to be Shi Qing’s love rival, but she became close friends with Shi Qing and was engaged to Zhai Sheng. Yet, Shi Qing had no issue with them being together.
Shi Qing was her relative. Back when she was still with Zhai Sheng, Shi Qing would not give up her affection toward Zhai Sheng. She insisted that it was her right to like Zhai Sheng.
“Did you tell Qiao Nan the words that you used to tell me? Did you tell her that you love Zhai Sheng and you will never give up?” Qiu Chenxi could not help but ask.
Shi Qing leaned against the door and answered lazily, “No.”
“Why?!”
“Because of Brother Zhai.” Shi Qing smiled. “When you were with Brother Zhai in the past, you would brag about Brother Zhai to me, making it difficult for me to forget him. I know that instead of being angry at me, you felt smug and happy at that time. You must have felt smug that the man that I couldn’t have was your fiancé and that he would marry you in the future. However, do you know how terrifying Brother Zhai has turned into after telling me that he is in a relationship with Qiao Nan?”
“Terrifying?”
“Yes, terrifying!” Shi Qing could not help but widen her eyes. “Whenever he goes to the Qiao family’s residence, he will give me the murderous stare when he sees me. He does not need to say anything and I understand what he means. He wants me to leave right away. He does not want me to be their third wheel. If I am tactless, he will make sure that I leave right away. You spent more time with Brother Zhai than me. You should know better than anyone else that Brother Zhai is cold and indifferent toward everyone. However, Qiao Nan is the only special person in his eyes.”
As a woman, Shi Qing knew very well that if Zhai Sheng saw her around when he came looking for Qiao Nan, he hoped for nothing but for her to leave right away.
All these years, even without Qiu Chenxi, Shi Qing also had other chances to be in touch with Zhai Sheng.
However, whenever she was around Zhai Sheng, he would treat her indifferently.
But when there was Qiao Nan around, Zhai Sheng would only have eyes for her. He felt that others were redundant and wished for them to get as far away as possible.
He loved Qiao Nan wholeheartedly and there was no need for him to express it in words. People around him could feel his deep love for her.
Zhai Sheng had put his whole heart into loving Qiao Nan. Shi Qing was envious of the affection that he had for her and she gave her blessing to them. She knew that no one could be able to come between them. If she tried to intrude on their private moments, she would be sent away by Zhai Sheng.
One would bring bad things upon oneself as a result of one’s bad character.
But Zhai Sheng had no flaws!
“Qiu Chenxi, do you know what it takes for a woman to give up on a man? It is not the presence of another woman, but the man himself. Qiao Nan did not do anything to me or say anything to me. It was Brother Zhai’s attitude that made me give up thoroughly and willingly!”
“…” Qiu Chenxi tried to come up with ways to rebut Shi Qing, but she could think of nothing to say.
Qiu Chenxi thought hard about what Shi Qing said, especially the part about the attitude of the man that made a woman give up on him. She was rendered speechless. “Can… can you really take it lying down?”
Qiu Chenxi could not understand why Shi Qing could be so unaffected.
Could it be that Shi Qing was not serious about Zhai Sheng? Could it be that she was pretending and lying to her all the while?
If not, why was it that she felt heartbroken upon learning that Zhai Sheng was engaged to Qiao Nan and could not sleep for nights, whereas Shi Qing slept soundly and continued to be friends with Qiao Nan?
If not for Shi Qing who helped Qiao Nan a year ago, even if she had yet to find out that Qiao Nan was the vixen that Zhai Sheng had been protecting, she would have already sent her men to give her a thrashing.
Shi Qing shrugged her shoulders. “Did I not make myself clear enough?”
“I want to see Qiao Nan!” Qiu Chenxi had no wish to speak to Shi Qing any more. She peered into the house. “This is the Qiao family’s residence, not the Shi family’s residence. I am here to look for Qiao Nan. I am not here to look for you. Please stand aside.”
