Chapter 14: Asking for the location

Jiang Jingchu went up to his private suite at the hotel. He showered and, while drying his hair, checked his phone. An hour and a half had passed since Qin Huan’s message.

He poured himself a glass of red wine, sipping it while texting Gao Fei.

Jiang Jingchu: Is Qin Huan still at the company?

After about two minutes, Gao Fei replied with a single word:

“Yes.”

Jiang Jingchu raised an eyebrow, placing his phone on the bar, his mind elsewhere.

Half an hour later, he texted again:

“Still there?”

Gao Fei: Yes.

On Gao Fei’s third message, he sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

“Mr. Jiang, should I send you the real-time security footage from the lobby?”

This time, the reply was instantaneous:

“Yes.”

Really?  Gao Fei was shocked. Was this the same Mr. Jiang who treated women indifferently?

When Jiang Jingchu opened the security footage, Qin Huan was sitting quietly on the sofa, working on her laptop, sometimes typing, sometimes lost in thought. She didn’t seem anxious at all.

Jiang Jingchu scoffed.  She was treating his company as a free lounge?

Despite his thoughts, his eyes couldn’t leave her. He hadn’t seen her so openly in a long time.  Even sitting still, he could watch her all day.

This masochistic thought made him laugh at himself. Remembering her calm demeanor while designing his and Ji Jingya’s wedding house, he felt suffocated.

Five years had passed. She had moved on, but he was still stuck in the past.

He took a deep breath, noticing Qin Huan sneeze twice on screen.

He frowned, texting Gao Fei again.

“Is the lobby air conditioning too cold?”

Gao Fei: ??

Jiang Jingchu: Give her a blanket.

Jiang Jingchu: A new one.  And don’t be too obvious.

Gao Fei: …

“Yes, sir.”

Qin Huan hadn’t worn a coat when she left, and after several hours in the lobby, she felt cold. She was considering getting a hot drink when several receptionists approached with unopened blankets, giving one to each person in the lobby.

She was suspicious but assumed it was a company perk, thanking them and feeling warmer. An hour remained until closing time, and Jiang Jingchu still hadn’t appeared. She thought she might have to come back tomorrow.

Then, Zhou Tiantian texted:

Zhou Tiantian: Any luck contacting Brother Jing?

Qin Huan: I contacted him, but he won’t see me.

Zhou Tiantian: ??

Qin Huan: His assistant answered several calls, saying he was busy, without giving a timeframe.

Zhou Tiantian sent a sympathetic emoji.

“Huá’er, Brother Jing is deliberately ignoring you.”

Qin Huan: Don’t be too obvious.

Zhou Tiantian: What should you do?

Qin Huan sent a voice message.

“I’m in the Jiang Corporation lobby, preparing for a long wait.”

Zhou Tiantian blinked.

“What if Brother Jing isn’t at the company? How long will you wait?”

Qin Huan: “If I don’t see him today, I’ll come back tomorrow, until I do.”

Zhou Tiantian felt this was pointless if Jiang Jingchu didn’t want to see her.  Then, she had an idea.

“I forgot about Han Xian!  Let me ask him where Brother Jing is.”

She texted Han Xian and called him immediately.

Han Xian was still in bed after a late night of drinking. Hearing Zhou Tiantian wanted to find Jiang Jingchu, he called him without asking why.

“Brother Jing, where are you?”

Jiang Jingchu was smoking.  “Yangmingshan Resort Hotel. Anything?”

Han Xian: “Nothing.  Are you coming back tonight?  Drinks at Shangye?”

Jiang Jingchu: “No. Business.”

Han Xian: “Okay.  See you later.”

He was about to hang up when Jiang Jingchu said,

“There’s a meteor shower at Yangmingshan tonight. You and Tiantian might be interested.”

Han Xian was excited. He and Zhou Tiantian had been arguing, and this was a good opportunity.

He hung up and called Zhou Tiantian.

“Brother Jing is at the Yangmingshan Resort for business. He won’t be back tonight.  You need him?”

Zhou Tiantian: “Not me. Someone else does.  Okay, bye.”

Han Xian yelled before she hung up,

“Brother Jing said there’s a meteor shower at Yangmingshan tonight. Want to go?”

Zhou Tiantian almost said no, but then she changed her mind.

“Yes.  Pick me up at the company.”

Qin Huan hadn’t expected Zhou Tiantian to be so efficient. She’d waited for almost five hours in the lobby, barely seeing Jiang Jingchu. Zhou Tiantian not only found out he wasn’t at the company but also his location.

Zhou Tiantian said Jiang Jingchu was at Yangmingshan for business and volunteered to take Qin Huan there. Qin Huan just wanted to resolve the issue quickly.

She left the company, passing other people waiting in the lobby. She heard someone say, “Big companies are thoughtful.

They gave us blankets because we were waiting.”

Another person said,

“They don’t always do this. I’ve been waiting for days, and they never gave blankets before.”

Qin Huan’s mind raced. She remembered Jiang Jingchu lending her a shawl in the car.  Could this be…?

She dismissed the thought. Jiang Jingchu wasn’t at the company, so how would he know she was cold? And he was angry; he wouldn’t do this.

Leaving the building, she saw an Aston Martin. Zhou Tiantian rolled down the window.

“Huá’er, get in.”

Qin Huan saw a man in sunglasses in the driver’s seat. She smiled.

“Han Xian.”

Zhou Tiantian hadn’t told Han Xian that Qin Huan would be going to Yangmingshan. Seeing her, he blurted out, “Sister in law.”

It was awkward. Even Qin Huan was stunned, as if back to when she was with Jiang Jingchu.