Chapter 19

Qi Yan argued confidently, "How is that disturbing them? We're all friends. We can just have a casual chat."

Pei Sheng looked at him and let go. "Then go by yourself."

"...What?"

Qi Yan let go too, his tone sheepish. "That's a little unfair of you..."

Pei Sheng had already turned away.

The meeting an hour ago, which had been filled with game sound effects almost from start to finish, was enough to show how special Qin You was to Tingshen.

By comparison, this casual chat had given him a clearer picture of how the two of them behaved around each other.

It was just as he had expected.

They were both very relaxed.

The difference in how they treated other people was even clearer, too.

"Hey..."

Qi Yan raised a hand, but when he saw Pei Sheng's determined retreating figure, he could only sigh and close the door again.

Go bother Yan Tingshen alone?

On second thought, forget it. He hadn't had enough of his peaceful life yet.

Hearing the noise, Qin You looked behind him.

The doors of every hospital room they passed were shut, and the two of them were still the only people in the corridor.

He looked away, his gaze sweeping over the cloudless sky outside before falling on the elevator nearby. A thought occurred to him, and he turned to Yan Tingshen. "The weather's nice today. Want to take a walk in the garden downstairs?"

Yan Tingshen looked out the window too. "Sure."

Qin You was pressing the elevator button when he met Yan Tingshen's gaze. He couldn't help raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Your coat," Yan Tingshen said mildly.

Qin You looked down at himself and smiled. "Wait for me, then. I'll be right back."

"Mm," Yan Tingshen said.

As Qin You turned away, he turned and walked over to the window.

In the cold weather, there weren't many flowers to admire in the garden, but it was neatly maintained and fairly quiet.

Before long, Yan Tingshen heard familiar footsteps, followed by a familiar voice.

"Let's go."

Yan Tingshen turned around and saw Qin You walking toward him with a smile. His coat was as casual as he was: it fit well, but it wasn't quite tidy.

Qin You had already reached the elevator.

As Yan Tingshen approached, the phone in Qin You's pocket rang.

It was Cui Ling.

Qin You pressed the down button and answered the call. "What is it?"

Cui Ling said, "Young Mr. Qin, the Chairman asks that you come to the company immediately."

Before Qin You could speak again, he suddenly raised a hand and caught the hand reaching toward his neck.

He turned and saw Yan Tingshen, then chuckled and let go. "What is it?"

Yan Tingshen glanced at him, used two fingers to pull out a corner of his collar that had folded inward, then withdrew his hand.

Qin You looked down as Cui Ling's voice came through the phone. "There's a problem with Kaiqiang. The Chairman wants to discuss it with you in person at the company."

Kaiqiang?

Remembering that it was a company they had acquired not long ago, Qin You said, "I'll be there in an hour and a half."

Cui Ling reminded him tactfully, "Young Mr. Qin, the Chairman just got back from the hospital. It only took him half an hour."

Qin You frowned.

Cui Ling said, "The meeting starts in half an hour."

"Have the driver wait for me downstairs," Qin You said.

"All right," Cui Ling said.

Qin You hung up and turned back to Yan Tingshen, looking helpless. "It'll have to wait until next time. Something came up at the company, and I have to go over there."

Yan Tingshen's tone remained unchanged. "Mm."

The elevator doors opened just then, and Qin You turned and stepped inside. "You should go back and rest too."

Yan Tingshen said, "If you run into any difficulties, you can come to me."

"I will," Qin You said with a smile.

The target was also one of the protagonists. In the original story, he had done an excellent job both helping the protagonist manage the company and investigating the truth behind the Pei Family's bankruptcy. Helping Qin You solve a small problem would naturally be easy for him.

As the two spoke, the elevator doors slowly closed, and it began to descend.

Yan Tingshen glanced at the changing numbers, then turned and headed back.

The sunlight from earlier still fell on him, illuminating the corridor. He didn't look out the window again, but noticed something on the way and glanced at a closed door beside him.

"..."

Behind the door.

In his panic, Qi Yan pressed his back against the part of the door that hadn't been replaced with glass and held a hand over his pounding heart. He looked at Pei Sheng. "He didn't notice me, did he?"

Earlier, he had stared at the two of them for so long, and neither of them had seen him.

Just now, he had only happened to come over and hadn't even gotten a clear look at Yan Tingshen's shadow. Had he been spotted already? That couldn't be, could it?

Pei Sheng: "..."

Qi Yan could tell everything from his expression. Reluctantly, he turned to open the door.

Seeing the figure outside through the crack, he took a deep breath and braced himself.

Whether or not Yan Tingshen would hold his spying against him—no, whether or not he would hold his secret observations against him—he had come here today, so he had to at least discuss the business at hand. Otherwise, wouldn't the trip have been for nothing?

With that thought, Qi Yan pulled the door open and said with a smile:

"Tingshen—"

Yan Tingshen looked at him impassively. "Why are you still here?"

"I—" Qi Yan began.

Yan Tingshen's gaze passed over Pei Sheng behind him, then returned to him. "Help me find out what happened in the Qin Household today."

Qi Yan: "..."

Help me?

It sounded polite.

But knowing Yan Tingshen, Qi Yan knew those words were simply an order delivered politely.

It should have been, Find out for me.

Even that wasn't enough; it was missing a deadline.

So the full sentence should have been—

Find out for me immediately what happened in the Qin Household today.

But why should he?

He was the dignified President Qi. Was it appropriate for him to be ordered around like this all the time?

Even if Pei Sheng was injured and couldn't conveniently do it, what were Yan Tingshen's other subordinates there for? All it would take was a phone call, no more than a tiny bit of trouble.

Qi Yan felt aggrieved.

Having him do such a minor task was a waste of his talents.

Yan Tingshen glanced at him. "Is there a problem?"

"..." Qi Yan shook his head with difficulty. "No problem. I'll look into it for you right away."

"Sorry for the trouble."

Watching Yan Tingshen offer that perfunctory remark and walk away without another word, he silently found a suitable justification.

They were friends, after all.

Friends were supposed to help each other.

Chapter 19

"Chairman, Young Mr. Qin was the one who signed the final contract for Kaiqiang, after all. Everyone in the company knows that. Now that something has happened to Kaiqiang, letting Young Mr. Qin handle it would give everyone in the company another chance to see what he's capable of."

"That's right, Chairman. To be frank, Young Mr. Qin has been with the company for half a month now. It's not right for him to keep staying away. Most of our employees probably don't even know what our general manager looks like. This is a perfect opportunity!"

"That's right..."

"Exactly. It's time Young Mr. Qin came to the company..."

Voices of agreement rose and fell around the meeting room.

The first few people to speak exchanged glances, then looked at Qin Hengzhong at the head of the table.

Qin Hengzhong was looking through the documents in his hands. After a while, when the discussion had briefly died down, he asked Cui Ling, who was seated below him, "Where is Young Mr. Qin?"

"Chairman, Young Mr. Qin is on his way. He'll be here shortly."

Cui Ling spoke at just the right volume to be heard throughout the meeting room. "His arm hasn't healed yet, and he was caught up in an incident at Tongsheng Hotel last night. He hasn't been discharged from the hospital, but as soon as he heard me say something had happened to Kaiqiang, he came right over."

"Mm," Qin Hengzhong said.

The meeting room fell silent at once.

Anyone could hear that it wasn't as simple as a question and answer on the surface. They were telling the room why Qin You had been absent from the company for half a month.

After a while, someone finally spoke again.

"I heard about what happened at Tongsheng Hotel last night too. I didn't realize Young Mr. Qin was there. Cui, was he badly hurt?"

Qin Hengzhong frowned. "Is the meeting room a place to discuss these private matters?"

The other person hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry, Chairman. I was out of line..."

Just then, Cui Ling glanced at his phone and leaned over to say something to Qin Hengzhong. Only after receiving his approval did he get up and leave the meeting room.

He closed the door and called Qin You.

The call was answered quickly, and the familiar, unhurried, lazy voice came through the phone.

"Go ahead."

Cui Ling said, "Young Mr. Qin, there are only five minutes until the meeting starts. Have you arrived?"

"The parking garage," Qin You said.

Cui Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll come down and meet you right away."

After hanging up, he took the elevator down to the parking garage and waited at Qin You's parking space.

Before long, he watched the car come to a stop, then walked to the back and opened the door for Qin You before the driver could. "Young Mr. Qin."

Qin You got out and glanced at him. "What happened to Kaiqiang?"

"It's not too serious," Cui Ling explained, "but from what the Chairman said, he wants you to handle it independently."

He had seen the second-generation heir's spending records from abroad and knew that he had neglected any serious pursuits every day while he was there. After saying this, he thought Qin You would be a little worried.

To have someone who had never truly entered the business world suddenly handle a crisis on his own—Cui Ling had experienced a little of that helpless bewilderment himself.

The tension, the anxiety—

"You can't handle it?"

"..." Cui Ling's expression stiffened as he emphasized again, "The Chairman wants you to personally take charge and handle it independently."

"The whole time?" Qin You asked.

"Yes," Cui Ling said.

"Why?" Qin You asked.

Cui Ling hadn't expected him to be so perceptive, or to sniff out the heart of the issue so quickly. "Young Mr. Qin, you've hardly come to the company since you joined. Some people may have taken issue with that."

Qin You understood.

There were factions all over the Qin Group. He had been general manager for half a month without dealing with a single one of them. It seemed some people had already run out of patience.

The sides had already been drawn, so sometimes, not taking a side was a mistake too.

Seeing his calm reaction, Cui Ling added a reminder. "The two Vice Presidents Qin from the board are also attending today's meeting."