Chapter 35.2

“Yeah.”

“Want to celebrate?” Chen Zhiqian said. “There’s this Minnan restaurant in North Point run by an old guy—pretty authentic. Want to try it tonight?”

Hearing Minnan cuisine, Fan Qi instantly thought of pork knuckle noodles and oyster omelets. “Yes, definitely!”

“I’ll come pick you up later.”

“Okay.”

She hung up the phone and headed upstairs for her exam.

The Hong Kong stock market was already fairly developed, but the futures market was still small. Only about ten people showed up for the exam. Maybe because of the small size, the test was relatively simple. Fan Qi finished quickly and handed in her paper early.

Remembering the coffee that Liao Yazhe had brought her last time, and seeing that there was still time, she went downstairs to buy three cups. As she was about to return, she ran into Xu Miao’er at the door—her eyes were red.

Xu Miao’er snapped coldly, “Keep pretending. Someone’s going to expose you sooner or later.”

Fan Qi was baffled but quickly thought: now that she had her license and Yaohua and Changxing were rivals, maybe…

She turned to Xu Miao’er with a smile. “I passed the exam. Yaohua is already processing my license, and I’ll be competing in the Who’s the Stock God contest. Are you joining?”

Xu Miao’er gritted her teeth. “You just wait.”

“Gladly. Let’s let results and ability do the talking,” Fan Qi replied with a cheerful grin.

Back upstairs, she walked into the main office and saw a large, eye-catching bouquet of red roses on her desk. She blinked. “Whose flowers are these?”

Just then, the door to Liao Yazhe’s office opened and Feng Xueming walked out, smiling broadly. “Yazhe told me you passed all three subjects in one go. I happened to be in the area and bought a bouquet to congratulate you.”

No wonder Xu Miao’er had looked like that earlier—she must’ve seen him bring the flowers in. Great. Yet another mess for her to deal with.

“Fan Qi.” A familiar voice called her name.

She turned and saw Chen Zhiqian, along with Tang Yuanchao, Yuan Hai, and another man she vaguely recognized as a director.

Chen Zhiqian walked up to her, eyeing the bouquet. Fan Qi quickly explained, “Mr. Feng heard I passed the exams and sent these flowers.”

“They’re beautiful,” Chen Zhiqian said. “But your desk is a bit small for such a big bouquet. Why not place them at the front desk so everyone can enjoy them?”

“Great idea,” Fan Qi agreed. She picked up the roses and handed them to the receptionist.

When she returned, Chen Zhiqian asked, “What about the coffee on your desk? Don’t tell me you’re planning to drink all three?”

“Nope,” she said. “One’s for me, the others are for Sister Xiang and Liao Yazhe.”

She handed the coffee to Sister Xiang, then gave one to Liao Yazhe as well.

Sister Xiang took it and thanked her.

Liao Yazhe reached out, then hesitated. “Why don’t you give this one to your husband?”

“I bought it for you. Just take it,” Fan Qi said as she pushed the cup into his hand.

“Thanks!” As he said it, Liao Yazhe seemed to let out a discreet sigh of relief.

Chen Zhiqian smiled faintly. “Look how polite everyone is. Mr. Feng brought you a gift, but I didn’t see you thank him.”

Fan Qi turned to Feng Xueming and said, “Thank you, Mr. Feng.”

Though in her mind, she wanted to thank him and his whole family! Pulling a stunt like that—before the workday’s even over—would have the whole company gossiping. Forget Yaohua; even the cleaning lady at Changxing would be whispering about it.

“I’m heading to Mr. Liao’s office first,” Chen Zhiqian said to her.

“Oh.”

Chen Zhiqian followed Tang Yuanchao toward Liao Jiqing’s office. As he passed Feng Xueming, he gave him a glance.

Feng Xueming’s face stiffened completely. Liao Yazhe, coffee in hand, patted him on the back. “Let’s go inside and finish our talk.”

Once they left, Sister Xiang let out a breath. “Fan Qi, standing that close to your husband, I didn’t even dare to breathe.”

“Is it really that exaggerated?” Fan Qi thought about it—Chen Zhiqian seemed pretty laid-back just now.

“You didn’t see how he looked at Feng Xueming. It was kind of scary,” Baomei chimed in. “He probably got mad seeing Feng Xueming give you flowers.”

“Exactly. What man would be okay with another guy putting the moves on his wife?”

“And it’s not just any guy—it’s his cousin! That’s really crossing the line!”

“Who said he’s his cousin? Don’t go spreading nonsense,” Fan Qi quickly clarified.

Her desk phone rang. She answered it—it was Liao Jiqing’s secretary. “Miss Fan, there’s a meeting in the main conference room at three.”

“Got it.”

About ten minutes later, Fan Qi was the first to enter the conference room. Soon after, Liao Yazhe and Feng Xueming walked in.

Feng Xueming sat next to her and handed her a bag. “The commercial you shot is done.”

Fan Qi opened the bag and pulled out the contents to look. As she flipped through the photos, she heard Feng Xueming say, “The ones behind those are men’s fashion posters with Zhang Jing. They turned out great too.”

Fan Qi nodded. Zhang Jing was a top actor, now in his thirties—right in his prime with a charismatic, mature appeal.

“When we shot yours, the male model hadn’t been confirmed yet. Now we’d like to pair you with Zhang Jing for a joint shoot. Would that be okay?”

As he was asking, Chen Zhiqian walked in behind Tang Yuanchao. Fan Qi was seated at the far end of the table, with Feng Xueming beside her, the two of them looking at photos together. Chen Zhiqian sat across from them and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“The WO posters are out,” Fan Qi replied, handing the photos over.

Chen Zhiqian flipped through them. Yuanhai, seated next to him, leaned in to look too. “Xiao Qi has great screen presence—unique style, and real impact.”

“Didn’t expect it. At home, she’s always a bit absent-minded, but in these photos, she’s full of charisma.”

“These really are excellent shots.” Tang Yuanchao took the photos from Chen Zhiqian and flipped through them. Then he turned to Feng Xueming. “I spoke to Changxing. Mr. Xu declined, so only Yaohua will wear WO clothes in the shoot. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course. That’s what I was just discussing with Yazhe. Actually, the best news today is that Miss Fan will be participating in the competition. With these posters, the publicity will be even better.” Feng Xueming smiled. From his perspective, not having Changxing involved was a win. Xu Miao’er wore high-end international brands, while Fan Qi would wear his WO. If Fan Qi could outshine Xu Miao’er in those photos, the results would speak for themselves.

Liao Jiqing had suggested to Tang Yuanchao that they offer Yaohua as the shooting location—it was meant to promote Yaohua. But midway, Xu Xia intercepted through Yuan Hai, turning Liao Jiqing’s favor into a free ride for Changxing, which left him quite bitter.

Tang Yuanchao also felt bad for his old friend, but what could he do? The decision came from Yuan Hai, and he had to respect it.

He hadn’t expected things to turn around yesterday afternoon. The big boss met with Chen Zhiqian and Fan Qi—and rumor had it the boss even made Wang Shaoyang kneel before Fan Qi to apologize.

Tang Yuanchao didn’t know the exact details, but Yuan Hai later told him to replace Wang Shaoyang as the director and go back to the original plan. That’s when he realized something had changed.

He tentatively asked if Yaohua could get more screen time, and if Fan Qi could appear on camera. Yuan Hai agreed to everything.

Tang Yuanchao immediately called Liao Jiqing to share the good news and also informed Xu Xia. Xu Xia was reluctant and wanted to speak to Yuan Hai directly. No one knows what Yuan Hai told him, but Xu Xia eventually agreed.

However, Xu Xia did refuse to let anyone from Changxing wear Feng Xueming’s clothes on camera—which Tang Yuanchao didn’t press further.

Aside from WO’s sponsorship of the show, that afternoon Tang Yuanchao also learned from Yuan Hai that Chen Zhiqian’s company, Tianyao, would be another sponsor—promoting their simulation game Super Tycoon. That’s what brought about today’s visit.

Tang Yuanchao felt Liao Jiqing was the easier one to work with, so he came first to discuss the filming details.

“Never expected Miss Fan to pass the exam in such a short time. Now, with Xu Miao’er from Changxing and you from Yaohua, the two of you appearing together will really elevate the show.”

Fan Qi looked up. “That depends on whether Xu Miao’er’s willing.”

“As long as you’re on board, I’ll talk to her.”

“I’m good!” Fan Qi replied.

They went over the details in the meeting. Liao Jiqing, in truth, was quite easygoing. Everything Tang Yuanchao asked him to compromise on, he agreed to. “No problem. Fan Qi is Yaohua’s biggest highlight.”

“Exactly. I’m the most talented actress among stockbrokers, and the best trader among actors.”

By the time they finished, it was past six. As the host, Liao Jiqing suggested dinner for everyone.

Chen Zhiqian stood up. “Sorry, we already had plans to celebrate Fan Qi passing her exam, so we’ll skip the dinner.”

He declined the invitation and went to the restroom. After finishing, as he was washing his hands, he looked up into the mirror—and saw Feng Xueming standing silently behind him.

“Zhiqian, grandfather did it all for you. Why can’t you try to see things from his perspective?” Feng Xueming asked.

Chen Zhiqian dried his hands with a paper towel, tossed it into the bin, and turned to face Feng Xueming. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

“Grandfather only acquired Ailai Electronics for your sake. He just wanted to make your entrepreneurial journey a little easier and help you out of your current predicament.” Feng Xueming explained.

Chen Zhiqian replied coldly, “Did you not know my wife is already married? And yet you still sent her red roses? What exactly were you trying to do? What your grandfather did is no different—treating a living person like an object to be fought over. And you expect me to show you respect in this situation? The fact that I didn’t tell Fan Qi to throw the roses straight into the trash is already me being overly polite.”

After saying that, Chen Zhiqian walked over to Fan Qi’s desk, took her handbag from her, and led her out of the Yaohua office hand in hand.

Yuan Hai, who was waiting by the elevator, saw them and quipped, “Zhiqian, you’re even carrying Xiao Qi’s handbag for her?”

Chen Zhiqian looked down at the bag in his hand. “Back in school, she always made me carry her backpack.”

“Oh?” The comment sparked everyone’s curiosity.

Chen Zhiqian reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind Fan Qi’s ear and said, “My parents were both sent away—my dad to the Northwest, my mom to the Southwest. I was raised by my father-in-law’s family until I was fourteen. Grew up with Xiao Qi. Her older brother was the eldest of us all. At first, he carried both our schoolbags. When he went to middle school, it became my job to carry hers.”

He made it sound like they’d been childhood sweethearts with a deep bond. But in the original version of events, Fan Qi had actually disliked and resented him. The only one allowed to carry her bag was Ah Xun, her brother. Even when he offered, she never let him.

“What are you spacing out for?” Chen Zhiqian pulled her into the elevator as he spoke.

Fan Qi quickly slipped into character and played along: “What do you mean carrying my bag? You’d grab it and run off ahead, making me chase you! And now you have the nerve to talk about it like it was something nice?”

The two exchanged flirtatious looks, full of affection. Their interaction made Feng Xueming, who had sent Fan Qi a bouquet of roses earlier, seem awkward and out of place. Even if he believed that chasing a woman was all about effort and skill, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed in this moment.