A year ago, when the Old Woman from the Qin Family met him in H City, all the things she said to him were still fresh in his ears.
Xian Zihao's eyebrows furrowed slightly. This matter was more troublesome than the problem between him and Jiang Ruolan.
As Xian Zihao was about to leave, a text suddenly came from his phone. He took his phone and looked down at the screen. The text was from Wei Zhengsheng.
It was a screenshot from a commercial newspaper from the United States. The photo in the newspaper was of the Qin Corporation Building, with a link to the electronic newspaper attached below.
Opening the link, he immediately saw that Qin Corporation was facing a crisis of failure and the news that their CEO had not been seen for many days was also being speculated on.
Xian Zihao looked at the contents of the electronic newspaper on his phone. Then he put down his phone and went to the nearby supermarket to buy goods.
While he was driving, he wore a Bluetooth headset and dialed Qin Gengxin's number. However, his private number couldn't be contacted.
He called his company's office, but it was busy. In the end, he just called Huang Jingguo. After all, he had been in the United States for years, so he knew Qin Gengxin's assistant.
Once the call was connected, Xian Zihao immediately asked Huang Jingguo to tell Qin Gengxin to call him back.
Huang Jingguo went to the CEO's office. Today was the fourth day after Qin Gengxin rushed back to the company. He had stayed at the bar for three nights in a row. He had often accompanied their partners and drank together, but not a single project was discussed in the end.
It was noon now. Huang Jingguo opened the door of private bedroom in his office and saw that Qin Gengxin was not sleeping on the bed but was standing in front of the window, looking outside. No one knows what he was thinking.
"President Qin." Huang Jingguo said softly. "Mr. Xian asked you to call him back."
Qin Gengxin didn't answer, so Huang Jingguo could only enter. "President Qin ..."
"Mr. Xian? Which one?" Qin Gengxin asked indifferently.
"Xian Zihao."
Qin Gengxin looked at him over his shoulder, his eyes were cold. "He's well-informed. Tell him I don't have time."
Huang Jingguo didn't leave and instead looked at him intently. "President Qin, Xian Zihao is the boss of Xian Enterprise, and you are good brothers with him. Since he took the initiative to call you, he must be here to help you. Now you and Xian Guiying are already divorced, in Xian Enterprise, only Xian Zihao can help--"
"There's no need." Qin Gengxin returned his gaze to the window and said quietly, "From now on, whether it's Xian Zihao or Xian Guiying, don't take calls from anyone named Xian or related to the Xian Family."
Huang Jingguo looked at him with a troubled expression. "President Qin."
"Alright, you can go now." Qin Gengxin didn't look back.
Huang Jingguo sighed. He walked to the door and glanced at Qin Gengxin before closing it. He then looked at the pile of documents on the office desk and the rows of board member numbers on the computer screen. He left the office in silence.
• • • •
"Mommy, what are you looking at?" Qin Wenqian opened the door to the study room and grinned as she looked at Xian Guiying, who was sitting at the desk and looking at her laptop.
Xian Guiying's hand was clicking on the mouse. On the screen, it showed news about Qin Corporation. All the news on the internet was associated with "bankruptcy", "failure" and "crisis".
Qin Wenqian's voice caught her attention. She looked up and saw the little girl walking barefoot. Xian Guiying immediately stood up and walked over to pick up the girl. "Why aren't you wearing slippers? Have you forgotten that you've had a stomach ache for two days since the last time you caught a cold?"
Qin Wenqian frowned and gave her a big kiss on the cheek before hugging her neck and saying sweetly, "Mommy, are you unhappy?"
"No."
"Then why haven't you laughed in a few days?" Qin Wenqian blinked her eyes curiously. "Uncle Wei said yesterday that he would return to America in the next few days. He wants us to come back with him. Mommy, are we really going to go with Uncle Wei?"
Xian Guiying patted her daughter's head and asked, "Do you want to go with Uncle Wei?"
Qin Wenqian looked at her mother, but she did not reply. She just looked into her eyes. Xian Guiying smiled as she looked at her daughter. "Qianqian, mommy wants to know your opinion. Do you want to go with Uncle Wei? Tell mommy."
Qin Wenqian remained silent and bit her lip. She simply looked at Xian Guiying before asking softly, "Mommy, why doesn't Grandma Yuan send me some delicious food anymore?"
Although Xian Guiying would not let her eat all the food that had been sent to her before, Qin Wenqian remembered that Nanny Yuan would still bring them to her every day.
But these days, she hasn't seen Nanny Yuan for a few days.
Xian Guiying's smile slowly faded as she led her daughter into the living room. After putting her down, she took out her cute slippers and put them on her feet.
Crouching in front of Qin Wenqian, Xian Guiying held her shoulder gently and looked at her. "Qianqian, you must always remember, you can't eat things given by strangers and don't talk to strangers. No matter how good Grandma Yuan is to you, she is still a stranger, unless the two of you have known each other for years and are old neighbors."
"But ..." Qin Wenqian at first wanted to say something, but when she looked into her mother's eyes, she bit her lips and stopped.
"But what?" Xian Guiying smiled.
Qin Wenqian shook her head and didn't say anything else.
Xian Guiying gently rubbed her head. "Not even if Grandma Yuan is his housekeeper."
Qin Wenqian understood this "his" and lowered her head. "I know, mommy"
After saying that, she picked up the doll on the couch before quietly entering the bedroom.
Watching her retreating figure, Xian Guiying sighed. Although she didn't know what happened to her daughter on the night she (Qin Wenqian) stayed with Qin Gengxin or Mrs. Qin, or what Qin Gengxin told her, Xian Guiying had to remember something. That blood was thicker than water.
"Qianqian, since today is the weekend and the kindergarten is off, mommy can only accompany you in the morning. Nanny Zhang will accompany you later, so remember to stay at home obediently. Mommy will return before dark."
Xian Guiying tidied up her stuff as she spoke. After she heard her daughter's response, she put on her coat and left the house.
As she opened the door, her gaze swept across the closed anti-theft door on the other side.
Her hand stopped on the doorknob.
It's been days since anyone came in or out of the door, and even the middle-aged woman named Yuan hadn't returned for a long time. The house was quiet again, as if no one had lived there.
This place was still the same as last year, when she had just arrived.
Nothing had changed.