Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
“What about the company?”
“Isn’t the company doing fine?”
The assistant paused, recalling the conversation with Qiao Anhao. “Mr. Lu, when do you intend to leave?”
Lu Jinnian hesitated. “I have not decided.”
“Mr. Lu, I have already carried out your orders regarding Qiao Anhao…”
Lu Jinnian remained silent, but his hand tightened on the glass of wine upon hearing her name.
When the assistant remembered that Lu Jinnian had emphasized not to let Qiao Anhao know about his actions but yet he had betrayed him, he started to feel guilty and immediately changed the topic. “Mr Lu, did you leave without saying anything because of Miss Qiao?”
Lu Jinnian stiffened. His lips tightly clenched and various emotions seeped into his eyes. After a short while, he downed another glass of wine and relaxed his temples back to his usual cold expression. He then replied faintly, “Stop mentioning what has already passed.”
“But Miss Qiao…”
The assistant had wanted to say she had been looking for him for four whole months, but the moment he mentioned her name, Lu Jinnian smashed the glass of wine violently onto the table, before he could continue with his sentence. Snarling, he said, “I told you not to mention anything about her to me! ”
The assistant became silent instantly.
The entire room fell into a deep silence.
Shortly after, the assistant changed the topic. Lu Jinnian remained silent the entire time, his face dark as he continuously smoked his cigarette.
When the cigarette was reaching its end, he pressed it into the ashtray and stood up. “It’s getting late, I’m going back to the hotel.”
The assistant started to panic.
Initially he was just trying to have justice for Mr. Lu when he told Miss Qiao about what he had done. Yet when he found out that she still cared about Mr. Lu, even going as far as calling his assistant every single day for four months to ask if there was any news, he started to feel a bit guilty for his previous actions.
Tonight, when Miss Qiao called, she had pleaded for him to help relieve tension between her and Lu Jinnian, but the moment he mentioned her, his boss got mad.
When he asked him where he had been gone for the four months and when he was returning to Beijing, he was not able to get a response… Was he driving him away instead?
Despite the disappointment, the assistant was determined to help Miss Qiao…
Because of this, he anxiously asked, “Mr. Lu, which hotel do you stay in?”
Lu Jinnian turned, glancing over. “What’s wrong?”
His gaze caused a wave of anxiety and guilt to surge in the assistants heart, fear that he would be seen through. Quickly, he said, “I just wanted to send you there, besides, I did not drive today.”
Lu Jinnian stared at him for about two seconds, and just when his assistant thought that he was exposed, he suddenly replied, “Four Seasons Hotel.”
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Without waiting for a reply, Lu Jinnian opened the door and left.
The assistant paused, and when he snapped back to his senses, he hurriedly took out his phone to text Qiao Anhao. [Miss Qiao, Mr. Lu stays in Four Seasons Hotel. From my understanding of his personality, his room will definitely be 1001. If you tell the staff his identity number, they will open the door for you, the number is…]
After successfully sending out the message, he seemed to have recalled something and sent another text over. [Oh right, Miss Qiao, Mr. Lu mentioned that he would be leaving soon. You can use his identity number to inquire about his flight number, but I can only help you this much; the rest is up to you.]
When he made sure the text went through, he hurriedly left the room to chase after Lu Jinnian.
Seemingly guilty for the second betrayal, he could not look straight into his boss’ eyes.
Lu Jinnian held Miss Qiao so deeply in his heart, there was no way he would stop loving her. The more he tried to avoid her, the more the assistant was certain that he still cared… Even though, he was not sure what had happened to cause Lu Jinnian to give her up.
But she was the only solution. The only one that could make Mr. Lu upset was Miss Qiao, and at the same time, she was the only one that could make him happy, too.
So his betrayal was justified, right? He just wanted to help Mr. Lu … Help him regain the happiness he had lost for so many years.
Yes, right, he was helping him find happiness! When they finally came to be together and the betrayal came to light, he could seek help from Miss Qiao.
Knowing that Miss Qiao would be a strong backing, the assistant seemed to calm down somewhat. Through the rear view mirror, he glanced at Lu Jinnian.
–
The assistant didn’t send Lu Jinnian upstairs, he stopped at the entrance of the hotel before driving off.
Since it was a couple days after New Year’s, there weren’t many occupants, and now that it was late into the night, there was only one man at the counter and two security guard in the main hall.
The elevator was at the top floor, so Lu Jinnian pressed the button and waited. After about two minutes, a light bell sounded and the doors opened. Lu Jinnian walked in and pressed for top floor.
When the elevator reached his floor, he walked out and followed the long stretch down to the end. In front of room “1001”, he stopped, reaching for his card to open the door.
The room was in pitch darkness.
Lu Jinnian used the faint glow from the corridor to find the electricity slot. He placed his room card in, lighting up the room.
He turned and closed the door. Strolling back into the room, he removed his jacket and loosened his collar before heading towards the bedroom.
With one hand, he pushed open the bedroom door, and with the other, he pulled out his tie, tossing it onto the bed beside him. He started to unbutton his shirt while turning to close the door. Just before he entered the bathroom to shower, he caught sight of something, and his whole body froze. After about three seconds, he turned back.
Qiao Anhao sat on the sofa in front of the floor to ceiling window.
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Lu Jinnian was not prepared, he had never expected to see Qiao Anhao sitting in his room. He froze, his fingers no longer unbuttoning his shirt.
This was the first time Qiao Anhao had dared to enter someone else’s room without permission. She was jittery and anxious. With her clear black eyes wide-open, she stared straight at Lu Jinnian for a while before heading towards him. “Lu Jinnian, I’m sorry for disturbing you. ”
Lu Jinnian remained silent, his gaze never leaving Qiao Anhao as she approached, his mind in a daze. It was as if he was dreaming.
When she was about half a meter away from him, she lifted her head. Her heart thumped frantically, as though it was about to jump out of her throat. “Lu Jinnian, can we talk?”
Her words seemed to be a dagger, striking deep into his heart. His face paled.
Once he had sent a text to her with a similar meaning, [Lets have a good talk during dinner.]
But that day, he waited the entire night. He had even humbled himself and thrown his pride, but only to be met with disappointment.
Lets have a talk … She did not give him an opportunity to do so, sentencing him to death instantly.
His hands started to tremble, and due to the intensity, the button on his shirt was yanked off, falling onto the ground with a clear “ding”. Lu Jinnian snapped back to his senses, a distant look clouding his eyes as he stared at her coldly, sucking all the warmth from the room. After about half a minute, he spoke in an emotionless voice. “I think there’s nothing to talk about between the two of us.”
Without any emotion, he diverted his gaze away from her face. Moving his hands down to the next button, he continued to unfasten his shirt as he walked casually to the bathroom. Just when he was about to enter it, he turned abruptly to look at Qiao Anhao. He stiffened slightly before adding coldly, “I don’t care how you entered today, but I hope that I won’t see you when I’m out, or I won’t hesitate to call the police.”
Turning, he entered the bathroom.
Anxiously, Qiao Anhao reached out for his shirt.
Lu Jinnian tensed, and his lips clenched tightly. He lowered his head to stare at her white, slender hands. Confusion and a mixture of other emotions clouded his eyes, but he still commanded her in a sharp tone, “Let go!”
Qiao Anhao lowered her head instantly, her fingers trembling. She was visibly frightened by his tone. But she tightened her grip on his shirt, even if from anxiety, her palms were starting to sweat. “Lu Jinnian, I know that you’re angry, but could you give me some time? Let me finish what I want to say…”
“I’m not interested!” he interrupted irritably. With the other hand, he took hold of her wrist and pulled her hands off.
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Qiao Anhao could feel him pry her hands off, and she started to panic. In her anxiety, she started to blurt out what she wanted to say today. “Lu Jinnian, on the night of Valentines Day…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence. The words “Valentines Day” seemed to be a curse, turning Lu Jinnian into a madman. The originally calm man turned aggressive, pressing her against the wall. His hands wrapped around her neck as though he was going to strangle her if she continued.
Qiao Anhao could distinctly feel the anger emitting from him as he tightened his grip on her neck. She started to feel breathless, and her face turned red.
When Lu Jinnian glanced down at her face, his gaze remained murderous, as though he could kill her at any moment. “You want to talk? Or are you here to mock me?”
Lu Jinnian remained silent for a second, and when he spoke again, his voice was much calmer and resolute, without any room for objections. “If you are here tonight to talk about the past, it’s not necessary. Whatever happened was in the past and is no longer important to me.”
He loosened his grip on her neck, and after grabbing her wrist, he pulled her to the door without waiting allowing her to react. Opening the door, he violently pushed her out and slammed the door behind her.
Without her presence, Lu Jinnian’s tensed body was finally able to relax.
He stood behind the door for a while before heading to the bedroom. He had originally wanted to shower, but now, he reached for the cigarettes in his luggage and lighted a stick.
Dangling the stick in his mouth, he caught sight of the phone that was lying silently in the corner of his luggage.
He stared at the phone for a long while before reaching for it.
The SIM card in the phone had already been thrown away. When he switched it on, it indicated that the battery was low. He stared at the photo of the conversation he had had with Qiao Anhao for a long while before enlarging one.
The first text was between the two of them and it was dated four months ago.
He paused for a long while before reading the words in it.
[Don’t wait for me, I won’t go.]
He clearly remembered that the message was sent by her after he had waited three whole day outside the Qiao mansion. When he had received it, he was about to faint from fatigue.
That was after he had taken over Xu Enterprise and had waited the entire night on Valentines day. It was the first thing she had sent to him.
Even today, he could still remember how agitated he had been at that time.
When he read the message, he had found out that she knew that he had been waiting… She just didn’t want to see him.
Despair engulfed him, but he didn’t want to give up. In order to touch her, he replied, [Qiao Qiao, I love you.]
[I have loved you for thirteen years.]
The two texts seemed to have sunk into the sea, for it was only after two hours that he received a reply.
[Are you even worthy?]
[I would never accept you who hurt brother Jiamu.]
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
I would never forgive you for harming Brother Jiamu.
So all this while, he could never match up to Xu Jiamu, and once he harmed him, he instantly became worthless.
Are you worthy?
Yes, was he worthy?
The first time he had met her, just her bag was worth a few months of his part-time job pay.
When she had period cramps and had to rest in the hospital, the thirty dollar medical fee he had paid was sixty percent of his entire fortune, but the moment she opened her Chanel wallet, inside lay a thick wad of cash.
In Hangzhou, when she, Xu Jiamu, and Qiao Anxia went out shopping, they didn’t hesitate to buy items costing up to five digits. But what about him? He had just felt ashamed, since he wasn’t even able to afford the cheapest item in the mall.
So was he worthy?
He knew that he wasn’t and it was the motivation behind his hard work and determination.
He thought that with money, he would have the right to love her, but in the end, she was still an unattainable dream.
On Valentines day, she didn’t turn up, but he didn’t mind.
He waited three whole days for her, and still he didn’t mind.
When she was implicated and got entangled in a drug scandal, everyone was blaming her, but at that time, he had come out to stand by her.
He knew that if he were to be involved in a scandal, it would definitely bring about trouble.
But he just wanted her to be all right.
From the moment he fell in love with her, he was determined to protect her.
He had given her love, but yet, she had repaid him with “Are you worthy?”.
Yes, he was not worthy. Even if she had lost her parents, she was still leading a glamorous and luxurious life.
And what about him? He was the son of a mistress, a prostitute, an illegitimate son… The moment he arrived in this world, he was engulfed in such negativity.
At that time, the rumors about him went viral, his past, and even his mother’s past were dug out and exposed one by one.
He sat silently in his car late one night, staring at the text [Are you worthy?], and he felt as though his world was collapsing.
In order to love her, he had driven himself to such lengths, to the point of mistreating himself. At that time, he had felt that his actions were lowly, past lowly for her to ask him if he was worthy. So he pleaded, [Qiao Qiao, I’ll return Xu Enterprise to Xu Jiamu, can we go back to the past?]
Instead, she had placed him on her blacklist.
At that time, he felt as though his heart had died.
The love that had persevered for thirteen years… He no longer had any excuse to continue this love, instead, reasons to not love kept appearing one after the other.
But in the end, when he was determined to leave her, he still left his assistant with a long list of things regarding her.
As he typed out each word, he realized that all these years, she was his entire world.
Lu Jinnian’s fingers started to hurt, snapping him back to his senses. It was when he realized that his cigarette had reached its end and had burnt his fingers.
He tossed the cigarette into the ashtray and put away his phone before entering the bathroom to wash his burn.
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
He had intended to forget everything, so why would he suddenly reminisce about the sealed past?
It was probably because of her sudden reappearance.
He wanted to know why she would find him now when she was so ruthless back then…
He shook his head violently at that thought, closing the tap.
This was bad. He had used such a long time to forget her and had been trying to convince himself to cut off all ties, but just her reappearance was able to cause a stir in his heart.
If this went on, he would definitely make the same mistake… But such heartache and despair was too much to go through for a second time.
Lu Jinnian gripped the basin. He lowered his head and fell into deep thought. When he seemingly made up his mind, he pulled out a towel to wipe his hands before going back to the bedroom. He removed the shirt that was missing a button and changed into a new one before placing his few belongings back into his luggage. Reaching for the hotel phone, he dialed the counter. “Help me order the earliest flight to America, and I want to check out.”
After hanging up, he scanned the room. When he was sure that there wasn’t anything left, he closed his luggage and headed for the door.
–
After meeting Lu Jinnian that day, Qiao Anhao had sent up a new chat group with her, Zhao Meng, and Lu Jinnian’s assistant.
The day she was chased out of Lu Jinnian’s room, her first thought was to send a crying emoticon to the chat.
Zhao Meng’s first reaction was [Qiao Qiao, what’s wrong? You didn’t succeed?]
Qiao Anhao raised her head to look at the tightly shut door before replying sadly, [No]
[Ah?] Lu Jinnian’s assistant sent a shocked emoticon, then asked, [Miss Qiao, didn’t you have a talk with Mr. Lu?]
[I wanted to, but the moment I mentioned Valentines Day, he became infuriated and even took hold of my neck in a strangling motion. He then threw me out of the room]
Zhao Meng who was a big fan of romance novels seemed to have forgotten the motive for the chat and sent a love emoticon. [Wa, best screen actor Lu is so cool, drools]
Lu Jinnian’s assistant remained calm. [Oh, previously, when I mentioned Miss Qiao, Lu Jinnian was also immediately enraged! I was so scared that I couldn’t continue.]
He then added quickly, [Miss Qiao, he’s defending against you]
[I’ll just wait at the entrance till he comes out…]
The assistant then wrote, [By my understanding of his personality, he probably won’t give you an opportunity to speak.]
[Are you here to help me?]
[I’m, but I’m just stating the truth…]
After fan girling for a while, Zhao Meng suddenly sent out an emoticon showing disgust. [You two dummies! If he doesn’t want to talk about the past, then don’t! The more you try to bring it up, the more he will avoid you, and what if he suddenly goes missing again? I say the easiest method would be to sleep with him!]
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Qiao Anhao: […]
Lu Jinnian’s assistant: […]
Zhao Meng: [Hey, what do you guys mean, are you disgusted by my idea? You guys are really dumb! Think about it, if he was really upset that Qiao Qiao didn’t turn up for Valentines day, would he have gone to Qiao house to find her?]
Zhao Meng: [That day, he waited for such a long time before giving up. He must have been in despair to leave without a word, must have been certain that Qiao Qiao didn’t like him, so right now, the thing that he cares most about is whether Qiao Qiao likes him and not the reasons why she didn’t turn up!]
Lu Jinnian’s assistant: [It seems to make sense.]
Zhao Meng: [What do you mean by seems? It’s definitely like that!]
Zhao Meng: [Qiao Qiao, for the last time, are you certain that you want to be with him?]
Qiao Anhao: [Yes]
Zhao Meng: [Then it’s set! Even if you guys aren’t a couple yet, there is mutual love, so you will definitely conquer everything. From what you’ve mentioned, he must be quite determined not to get back with Qiao Qiao, so even if you were to tell him that you like him, he might not believe you. So forget about explaining, why don’t you go the more direct way and just ‘sleep’ with him. When the time comes, his resolve will certainly weaken!]
Zhao Meng sent over a large chunk of text, but she didn’t seem to be reassured, so she added: [Qiao Qiao, remember to ‘sleep’ with him a few more times that night. If his resolve doesn’t weaken, there would be a high chance that you at least would get pregnant! You can then use the child against him!]
Lu Jinnian’s assistant added: [Miss Qiao, when you get pregnant, remember to send me a photo so that I can gloat about it to Mr. Lu!]
After that, the chat was flooded with their plans after Qiao Anhao became pregnant, everyone forgetting the current situation.
Qiao Anhao read their conversation and sent a sweating emoticon, then got them back to reality. [The problem is that he doesn’t even care about me right now! How am I supposed to ‘sleep’ with him?]
Before she could read their replies, the tightly shut door flew open.
She saw Lu Jinnian leaving the room fully dressed, with his luggage in tow.
She froze in shock momentarily before hurriedly straightening, “Lu Jinnian, where are you going?”
He ignored her, heading towards the elevator with his luggage.
Qiao Anhao followed behind hurriedly, but was not able to catch up. When she finally reached the elevator, he had already left.
She hurriedly pressed for another elevator, and in the meantime took out her phone and sent a text to the group chat. [What do I do? Lu Jinnian left with his luggage, is he leaving?]
The assistant who had followed him through multiple crisis remained unusually calm. [Miss Qiao, calm down, I’ll check which flight he is on.]
