Chapter 5: Owe More

As the memory reached this point, Jiang Jingchu’s car pulled up to the restaurant.

Both of them looked grim.

Jiang Jingchu, in particular, had intended to humiliate Qin Huan, but seeing her pale face and vacant eyes, he didn’t feel any better; instead, a strange irritation welled up inside him.

With a click, he unbuckled his seatbelt, got out first, then went around to open her door, leaning against the car, and said calmly,

“Aren’t you getting out? Changed your mind?”

Qin Huan thought that after their conversation, they should part ways. She hadn’t expected Jiang Jingchu to still be in the mood for dinner.

She took a deep breath, her teeth marks slowly fading from her lower lip.

Jiang Jingchu saw this, his brow involuntarily furrowing. He licked his teeth before moving his gaze from her lips.

Jiang Jingchu was always picky about food.

When Qin Huan was with him, she had seen many high end places.

So, upon entering this upscale restaurant, she felt like she was hearing the sound of money flowing out.

Sure enough, when master Jiang scanned the menu without even glancing at the prices, ordering wildly as if venting his anger.

Qin Huan tried several times to remind him that they couldn’t finish so much food, but remembering she was repaying him, she held her tongue.

While waiting for the food, Qin Huan excused herself to call Yi Yi.

Yi Yi’s soft voice was low, asking why Qin Huan couldn’t video call.

Qin Huan felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, Mommy had something urgent today.  We’ll video call tomorrow, okay?”

After much coaxing, Yi Yi’s mood improved.

Qin Huan breathed a sigh of relief, planning to visit England after Zhou Tiantian’s wedding.

Lost in thought, she bumped into someone as she came out.

Qin Huan covered her forehead, apologizing profusely. Looking up, she realized it was Jiang Jingchu.

She was stunned. How long had he been here? Had he heard her phone call?

Jiang Jingchu hadn’t heard anything.

Seeing Qin Huan hadn’t come out of the restroom for a long time, he came to check on her, only to see her distraught and bumping into his chest.

Thinking she was still upset about his words in the car, he didn’t ask.

Each lost in their thoughts, they ate in silence.

Only at the counter did they learn that the restaurant was members-only, and the bill had been automatically charged to Jiang Jingchu’s card.

Qin Huan looked at Jiang Jingchu questioningly. He scratched his brow, nonchalant.

“Sorry, I forgot I’m a member. If you really mind, treat me twice more.”

She didn’t want to owe him, yet she kept owing him more.

Qin Huan disliked this feeling, as if an invisible thread was binding her, pulling her towards an unknown destination.

Jiang Jingchu hadn’t had this nightmare in a long time.  He was drowning in a sea of blood.

He was terrified, desperately calling out to Qin Huan for help, but she only stared at him with disgust. Before he could drown, she walked away with another man.

A clap of thunder jolted Jiang Jingchu awake. He sat up, his back soaked in sweat. After a long time, he took some medicine from his bedside table and swallowed them.

The bitterness in his heart was gradually suppressed by the taste of the medicine. Jiang Jingchu let out a long sigh, lying flat on his back, unable to sleep.

Gao Fei didn’t understand why his boss suddenly canceled the cooperation with Zou Corporation, nor why he wanted to investigate Zou Shikai’s private life.

He didn’t remember any interaction between them.

Looking at the photos of Zou Shikai with various women, something clicked in his memory.

No wonder he found him familiar. Wasn’t Zou Shikai the man he’d met in the elevator at Hengfeng Jiayuan?

And the woman with him? Wasn’t she the one the Boss had made him turn around to pick up?

Connecting the dots, Gao Fei’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses, as if he had discovered a significant secret.

Without time to think, he knocked on the general manager’s office with the photos.

Jiang Jingchu was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window on a call. Hearing the knock, he said, “Come in,” and continued talking.

“Mm.”

“Okay.”

“You decide.”

Gao Fei looked at the man silhouetted against the light, his figure heroic and upright.

Few people could make Jiang Jingchu so patient. In Gao Fei’s mind, there was only one woman who could do that in recent years.

Ji Jingya, the daughter of the Ji family, the future Mrs. Jiang.

Gao Fei silently stepped forward, presenting the photos to Jiang Jingchu, then stood quietly by the desk.

Jiang Jingchu glanced at the photos, listening to the phone call while flipping through them.

The more he looked, the deeper his frown became. He thought, Is Qin Huan dead?

Her boyfriend was openly cheating on her, and she didn’t even notice?

“Jingchu? Are you still there?”

Ji Jingya checked her phone. The call was still connected, but there had been no sound for a while.

Jiang Jingchu finally hummed.

“Tomorrow at noon? See what you want to eat, and I’ll have Gao Fei arrange it.”

“Mm, okay.”

After Ji Jingya finished, she gave a few more instructions about not overworking, then hung up.

Jiang Jingchu tossed his phone onto the desk, licked his lips, and tapped his knuckles on the desk.

“Find a way to get these to Qin Huan.”

Gao Fei’s eyes twinkled. Although he had a pretty good idea, he still asked cautiously.

“Mr. Jiang, which Qin Huan are you referring to?”

Jiang Jingchu clicked his tongue.

“The woman who rode in my car, the one who lives in the apartment building I took her to. I don’t know her exact address. Find a way to find out.”

Qin Huan was at the office when she received a call from a same-city courier.  She was confused; she hadn’t been there long enough to expect a package.

She politely asked the courier to leave it at the front desk and planned to pick it up later.

Zou Shikai had been very busy lately. Qin Huan had contacted him several times, but he’d refused.

To avoid delaying the project, Qin Huan decided to message him.  Her slender fingers tapped out a message:

“Mr. Zou, are you free today? I’d like to show you the design.”

She added another message:

“It won’t take long, just an hour.”

After a long wait, Zou Shikai finally replied.

Zou Shikai: Sorry, I’m really busy recently. I have a business dinner at Jinyun Pavilion tomorrow, but I can spare an hour. If you don’t mind, you can come here.

Finally getting a concrete time, Qin Huan breathed a sigh of relief and tidied her desk.

As she left, she overheard some colleagues whispering.

Qin Huan didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the words “Miss Ji,” and “Mr. Jiang” caught her attention.  She paused.

One of the colleagues noticed her and winked.

“Team Leader Qin, we have a Large client.”

Qin Huan looked at her questioningly. The colleague pointed towards the general manager’s office and whispered,

“Do you know Ji Jingya, the daughter of the Ji family? She’s here to consult about wedding house design.”