Ten minutes later, the two of them arrived at a studio.
Twenty minutes after that, Jiang Linzhi stared at the young woman before him, his jaw dropping.
“She” was wearing a pale-blue hoodie and a dark-gray plaid pleated skirt. Her long, slender legs were clad in light-gray tights and white slouch socks, with light-brown Birkenstock-style sandals on her feet.
That wasn’t all. She had winged eyeliner and peach-colored eyeshadow on her face, with a few glittering little hearts stuck at the corners of her eyes. A light-brown beret sat atop her head, her hair was tied into fluffy twin ponytails, and wispy bangs framed her forehead. A white, fluffy scarf covered her Adam’s apple.
As long as she didn’t open her mouth, she looked like the very picture of a sweet, youthful, energetic girl!
Jiang Linzhi walked around her in three circles to the left and three to the right.
Apart from being a little too tall—flat shoes couldn’t hide his elegant, statuesque bearing—in terms of his face alone, there was absolutely nothing unusual about him.
To the point that even his own mother wouldn’t have recognized him!
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Jiang Linzhi sighed with feeling. “President Pei has contributed so much to our company! The organization will remember your sacrifice!”
Pei Cizhou didn’t seem to care. “They’re just clothes and makeup. They’re merely a means to an end. Anyone can wear them.”
Daniel pushed over a wheelchair. He had also noticed the problem with his height, so he calmly sat down in it. “Until we can quietly transfer the programming and planning departments out, I’ll have to use this trick to come to work. Just don’t go around announcing it until even the security guards downstairs know, all right?”
“Of course, of course! For the sake of keeping our company running normally, I’ll definitely keep it a secret!” Jiang Linzhi secretly took two pictures with his phone. “But what identity are you going to use to enter the company? The building requires facial recognition downstairs. Won’t you give yourself away the moment you scan your face?”
“What a stupid question. Obviously, I’m your girlfriend—the one who suspects you’re cheating on her and insists on coming to the company with you because you’ve broken your leg.”
“…”
Well, thank you very much.
—
At the manor.
After riding horses, Qiuyun accompanied the young miss back to Bright Moon House.
Jiang Chuling chattered away. “Little Heng won’t be back until three days before school starts. I don’t have classes tomorrow, so what should we do in the afternoon?”
Qiuyun reminded her, “Miss, did you forget? We said we’d take the children from the welfare home to the amusement park.”
“That’s right!” Jiang Chuling nodded repeatedly. “The amusement park sounds great. There’s even a winter ice-and-snow wonderland to play in!”
The two returned to Bright Moon House, took showers, and changed clothes. Then Jiang Chuling had to go to the first floor of the annex for dinner.
Since there was nothing else going on at home in the evenings, everyone had begun eating dinner together.
Qiuyun took out her phone. “Teacher Wang just added me through Assistant Chen. She said she wanted to thank me, so she ordered a whole table of food for me and everyone at Bright Moon House.”
Jiang Chuling nodded. “She should thank you. If Jiang Chuyun had fallen, she would’ve been in serious trouble too.”
So Jiang Chuling had no choice but to go to her parents’ place alone.
When she arrived at the first floor of the annex, she asked Auntie Xiuxiu, “Where are my parents? Have my brothers arrived?”
“The master and madam are upstairs in the study,” Cao Xiuxiu replied. “The eldest young master is here too. He just went upstairs. The fourth young master said he had something to do tonight and wouldn’t be coming back for dinner.”
Jiang Chuling pouted. “He’s the one who has the most things to do every single day!”
She hurried upstairs. The study door was open, and just as she was about to enter, she heard her father’s raised voice from inside.
“Qiuyun is such an outstanding girl. How can you still not be satisfied?”
Hmm?
Sister Xiaoqiu?
Jiang Chuling came to an abrupt stop. Taking advantage of her small size, she quietly slipped inside and hid behind a decorative vase beside the door.
Then she heard her eldest brother’s exasperated voice.
“She’s too outstanding. We’re simply not suited for each other!”
Jiang Yihua bared his teeth in frustration. “How are you not suited? Where exactly are you not suited? Qiuyun is beautiful, has a great figure, and is intelligent. Now she has even earned your grandfather’s favor, and she holds shares in several subsidiary companies. I’m not saying she’s proficient in every possible skill, but among girls her age, I honestly haven’t met many who are more capable than her!”
Jiang Lin’an was speechless. “That’s precisely why we’re not suited! To be honest, I admire her too, but it’s only admiration. We can be friends, confidants, or even brother and sister, but we can’t be lovers.”
Given Assistant Qiu’s work ethic and the speed with which she handled everything, he truly admired her as a human being. But if he were expected to have candlelit romance and fall in love with a girl like that…
Sorry, that was simply too much for him.
Jiang Yihua was about to say something else when Yu Xiang interrupted him. “All right. If the child doesn’t want to, stop trying to play matchmaker. What if you actually pair them up and end up with a resentful couple? You’ll be the one crying then.”
“…”
Fine.
Since his wife had spoken, Jiang Yihua could only let the matter drop.
He waved his hand. “All right, all of you, go downstairs and eat.”
Jiang Lin’an made a quick exit, only to run straight into his sister, who hadn’t had time to retreat.
The two of them stood in the elevator, staring wide-eyed at each other.
He sighed helplessly. “Don’t tell me you’re just like that Sister Xiaoqiu of yours—you don’t keep anything to yourself either?”
Jiang Chuling innocently touched her index fingers together. “Actually, there’s no need to keep it a secret, right?”
What was the point of having gossip if she couldn’t share it? She’d burst from holding it in!
Jiang Lin’an: “…”
“Then tell your Sister Xiaoqiu not to misunderstand me. It’s not that I have anything against her, and it’s not that I dislike her. We’re simply not suited to be lovers.”
Jiang Chuling beamed. “I understand, I understand! I know exactly what you mean.”
Then she turned around and told Sister Xiaoqiu everything that had happened.
Qiuyun wasn’t surprised.
Judging from the eldest young master’s ex-girlfriend and the junior schoolmate he usually looked after, his type was clearly the soft, sweet, adorable girl—the kind he could go grocery shopping with, cook dinner with, and watch movies with as part of a sugary-sweet couple.
As for someone like her, who opened her eyes every morning thinking about making money, how could there possibly be any sparks?
Qiuyun didn’t mind, either. She wasn’t money, so why should everyone like her?
The next day, Qiuyun took Jiang Chuling to the welfare home to pick up the children who had placed in the top ten of their classes, and spent the entire day with them at the amusement park. They took some photos and short videos along the way.
Two days later, Yu Heng would return to the capital. Once he got settled, it would be time for school to begin.
After school started, Qiuyun had more free time and finally found a chance to visit the company.
However, before she even reached the building, Daniel intercepted her.
“Miss Qiu, President Pei is waiting for you in the car.”
“…” Qiuyun asked cautiously, “Did he say what this was about?”
“No.” Daniel added, “But President Pei has been looking through documents the entire time, so I assume it’s something to do with the company.”
Since it was a business matter, there was no need to deliberately avoid her.
“Where is he?”
“Miss Qiu, this way.”
The two of them followed the street around a corner and arrived beside President Pei’s car. Daniel opened the rear door, and Qiuyun got in.
“President Pei.”
Pei Cizhou looked up with a smile as bright as sunshine. “Good morning, Miss Qiu.”
“Er… Good morning.”
“Have you had breakfast?”
“Not yet. I was planning to eat at the company cafeteria.”
Qiuyun also noticed the folder in his hand. “Why did you ask me to come?”
“Here.” Pei Cizhou handed her the documents. “This is our schedule for today.”
?
Qiuyun took them and looked down. “A medical examination in the morning and an inspection of the factory in the afternoon?”
“Mhm.” Pei Cizhou said, “We’ll go to the military district hospital together and have more detailed tests done—bloodwork, liver and kidney function, and neurological examinations.”
