Qiao Jing slightly squinted her phoenix eyes, sizing up the staff member with a scrutinizing gaze before slowly speaking.
"What does Zhan Kaiyang want by coming here?"
She found it strange when she saw Zhan Kaiyang appearing near the research institute. It grew stranger still when she later observed the briefcase in his hands.
In fact, she hadn’t given much thought to the briefcase. To be exact, if it were just an ordinary briefcase, she wouldn’t have thought twice about it. The problem was the staff member...
Instinct told her that something was about to happen.
Already feeling a bit guilty, the staff member swallowed when he met Qiao Jing’s scrutinizing eyes. His brain whirred to fabricate an excuse on the spot.
"He didn’t say much. Didn’t we announce this morning that our research institute achieved some phased successes? I had some interactions with Mr. Zhan before, and since he happened to pass by the institute today, he called me out to say a few words of congratulations," said the staff member nervously.
He paused, before continuing:
"He wished for Professor Qiao’s Research Institute’s future work to go smoothly and to make greater contributions to the empire, hoping I would pass on the message."
After listening to the staff member, Qiao Jing nodded thoughtfully, pondering for a moment.
The congratulatory message was quite formal, and moreover, Zhan Kaiyang didn’t know she was Professor Qiao. It was normal for such words to come from him.
In the end, Qiao Jing had no suspicions and waved the staff member away.
When she arrived at her own lab, she discovered Chi Yuhang standing at the door, unsure how long he had been waiting.
She approached with a hint of curiosity.
"Are you here looking for Nanqing?"
Zhan Nanqing, who was in the lab, turned to look at the door instantly after hearing her name.
Seeing Qiao Jing and Chi Yuhang at the door, she approached with a face full of nosiness.
"What’s the matter? Why are you calling me?" she asked.
Qiao Jing looked helplessly at Zhan Nanqing’s nosy face and asked:
"How can your ears be so sharp?"
Zhan Nanqing let out a "hehe" and laughed twice.
"Well, I heard you call my name, so I came over. What’s going on?" she inquired.
Chi Yuhang looked cautiously toward Qiao Jing, tentatively asking:
"Professor Qiao, I... I have a question for you."
Qiao Jing nodded slightly and responded with a faint "hmm," waiting for Chi Yuhang to continue.
Chi Yuhang scratched his head somewhat sheepishly and stammered:
"It’s just, tonight we have the celebration banquet, right? My grandfather... he..."
Seeing Chi Yuhang’s hesitance, Zhan Nanqing frowned, filled with curiosity.
But judging by Chi Yuhang’s demeanor, it seemed he would stutter for half a day without getting to the point.
Impatient, Zhan Nanqing urged him, "Just say whatever it is, why all the hemming and hawing?"
A moment of hesitation passed before Chi Yuhang finally plucked up the courage to speak.
"Is it possible for me to bring my grandfather to the banquet tonight? He was very happy to learn about the success of the research and has some congratulatory words he would like to say to you in person. It’s just... I’ve heard that our research institute’s celebration banquets are not open to outsiders... My grandfather is advanced in age, and he really wants to personally congratulate you. I know it’s not an easy request to make, but... but..."
Before Chi Yuhang could finish speaking, Qiao Jing agreed without hesitation.
"It’s possible," she said.
She had thought he had some important matter that he was struggling to speak about; it turned out to be such a trivial issue.
It was just an additional guest for the banquet, which wasn’t a problem.
Zhan Nanqing frowned at Qiao Jing’s quick agreement and covertly pulled her to one side, lowering her voice.
"But we don’t have such a precedent in our research institute. Only our own people can attend the institute’s banquets," she said.
After a pause, she sneaked a glance at Chi Yuhang, her frown deepening.
"It’s not that I’m targeting Chi Yuhang, but if we allow Chi Yuhang’s family to come, what about the others? What if other people want to bring family members too? Opening such a door might not be a good idea, right?"
Qiao Jing lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment, but couldn’t think of a solution.
She had already promised Chi Yuhang that he could bring Old Master Chi, and it would not be good to go back on her word now, yet the issue raised by Zhan Nanqing was indeed a problem.
Before she could come up with a solution, Elder Xu’s voice suddenly came from behind.
"What’s so troublesome about that? Why not let everyone bring one or two direct relatives and stipulate that the staff cannot reveal Xiao Jing’s identity? Wouldn’t that solve the problem?" he suggested.
Zhan Nanqing was startled by the sudden sound of Xu Hongzu’s voice and stepped back a few paces, lightly patting her chest.
"Elder Xu, why are you suddenly here?"
"I was tired from work and took a casual stroll. As soon as I stepped out, I saw you two standing here fretting over this matter, and I offered a solution."
After hearing the solution proposed by Xu Hongzu, Qiao Jing’s phoenix eyes slightly brightened.
It was only then that Zhan Nanqing remembered Xu Hongzu’s words. Her eyes instantly brightened as well, and she grabbed Qiao Jing’s arm,
"This is indeed a good idea. Qiao Jing, what do you think?"
Qiao Jing pondered for a moment, then nodded her head.
"That would work, as long as my identity is not revealed."
Having the staff bring their family members to celebrate together, even just enjoying a meal, would make everyone happy.
In any case, as long as her condition of not revealing her identity was met, any arrangement would be fine.
As soon as Zhan Kaiyang returned home, he saw Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei eagerly waiting for him.
Upon seeing Zhan Kaiyang’s return, their eyes immediately began to sparkle with anticipation, and they bombarded him with questions.
"Grandpa, how did it go?"
"Did you give Qiao Jing a severe lesson?"
Zhan Kaiyang shook his head.
His visit was for a more important matter. A direct confrontation with Qiao Jing was not the solution, especially since Zhan Qipei’s family stood in the way.
Hearing that Zhan Kaiyang hadn’t disciplined Qiao Jing, Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei’s eyes dimmed in disappointment.
"So, are we genuinely going to suffer a defeat?"
Zhan Bei looked at the injuries he had nursed for several days, his hands and legs that had only just healed.
"I was beaten up for nothing..."
Zhan Kaiyang looked at the two brothers sighing and complaining, and scolded them.
"Useless! Who said you two were beaten for nothing?"
With those words, the brothers’ spirits lifted, and they suddenly looked up.
Zhan Nan looked at Zhan Yuanshan with a puzzled face.
"But Grandpa, didn’t you just say that you went out to discipline Qiao Jing? Now you come back and say you haven’t disciplined Qiao Jing, what’s going on?"
Zhan Bei anxiously asked:
"Grandpa, what do you mean by that? Did you think of another way to deal with Qiao Jing?"
Zhan Yuanshan sneered, took a document bag from his bag, and placed it on the table.
"Take a look, what is this?"
Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei leaned over the table, picked up the document bag, and began to study it.
On the outside of the document bag were the words "Professor Qiao’s Research Institute Research Report."
Zhan Bei eagerly opened it up and examined its contents.
"Isn’t this Professor Qiao’s research report and some important documents?"
Zhan Nan also flipped through it several times, still unable to grasp the meaning of this folder.
"Grandpa, didn’t you say you were going to discipline Qiao Jing? Why bring this home?"
"Don’t flip through it randomly. I promised someone not to open it privately."
As he spoke, Zhan Kaiyang took the documents back and sealed them again.
After exchanging a glance with each other, Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei simultaneously shrugged their shoulders.
"With something this specialized, even if we took our time, we wouldn’t be able to understand it anyway!"