Chapter Ninety: The Obsession of These Many Years

Rong Jiaoyi’s face had gone pale. She looked at Xie Jinchuan with embarrassment and menace in her eyes.

“Jinchuan, what are you saying? Have you forgotten how close we are? Or are you—”

Xie Jinchuan cast a small spell on her, and the rest of her words vanished on the spot.

The people around them were all waiting for her to speak, eager to know what she might reveal. They waited and waited, only to see her opening and closing her mouth furiously, cursing under her breath, yet not a sound came out.

A faint smile touched Xie Jinchuan’s lips, though his eyes were cold.

“Miss Rong, if there’s nothing else, perhaps you shouldn’t keep entertaining everyone.”

“You!”

Rong Jiaoyi pointed at him, opening and closing her mouth in silence.

She would have loved to hurl abuse at him, but her mouth simply would not obey her.

Xie Jinchuan rose, no longer in the mood to continue eating.

The atmosphere between him and Shen Qingli had been rather good a moment ago; he had even thought he might be able to ask her out again. Yet Rong Jiaoyi had suddenly jumped out to stir trouble, ruining his chance to be alone with Shen Qingli.

“Miss Rong, if you’re ill, you should go see a doctor.”

With that, Xie Jinchuan turned to Shen Qingli. His expression softened at once, the stern chill he had worn toward Rong Jiaoyi gone without a trace.

“Let’s eat somewhere else.”

Shen Qingli did not mind slapping Rong Jiaoyi in the face, so she did not refuse. She nodded at once, meeting Rong Jiaoyi’s gaze with open provocation as she agreed.

“Sure.”

Xie Jinchuan took Shen Qingli’s hand and led her out of the restaurant. The moment they were outside, Shen Qingli shook his hand off and said, “Let’s arrange another time. I’m not in the mood today.”

Xie Jinchuan was not surprised by her words. As they were leaving, he had already guessed she would go.

Agreeing to eat with him just now had only been to make Rong Jiaoyi look foolish. Now that Rong Jiaoyi was gone, of course Shen Qingli would leave as well.

“All right. Let me see you off.”

“No need. I drove myself. If President Xie has any matters in the future, you can make an appointment with my company. It’s best that you don’t meet me so casually again. Today it was Rong Jiaoyi; next time, who knows, it might be Ye Qingqing.”

The mockery in her tone was plain enough for Xie Jinchuan to hear.

He pressed his lips together. For one instant, he almost wanted to tell Shen Qingli everything, all the truth and all his concerns.

But he knew very clearly that he could not.

If Shen Qingli learned the truth, there would be no end of it afterward.

Seeing him like this, Shen Qingli ultimately said nothing. She turned and left.

Where neither of them noticed, Gu Qingming sat in a car nearby, watching them speak with an expressionless face. Only after Shen Qingli had gone did his features ease slightly.

Pang Lang’s voice still chattered in his ear.

“You know full well that President Xie and President Shen loved each other before. I don’t know exactly what happened, but you also know their feelings for each other are not something you can interfere with. Qingming, maybe you should just let it go.”

Pang Lang’s reasoning all made sense to him. But in his entire life, he had never been attached to anything except Shen Qingli.

The only thing he could never give up was her.

“Brother Lang, I know you mean well. Let’s wait and see a little longer. If Sister Shen really has no feelings for me, then I’ll let go.”

Seeing the look on Gu Qingming’s face, Pang Lang swallowed back everything else he had meant to say.

He had watched Gu Qingming grow up over the years, and he knew what was in his heart.

While abroad, all sorts of girls had pursued him, but Gu Qingming had rejected every single one of them, and made it clear that there was a girl back home he liked.

When someone asked whether the feeling was mutual, Gu Qingming answered very frankly that it was one-sided.

The girl had found that rather unbelievable. After all, someone like Gu Qingming, with both looks and talent, was rare enough already, and he was loyal and deeply affectionate besides. If it had been them, they would have agreed long ago.

Unfortunately, Shen Qingli was no ordinary woman, and neither was Xie Jinchuan.

“Fine, then. As long as you know what you’re doing, I won’t say any more.”

“Thank you, Brother Lang.”

Gu Qingming smiled as he answered.

After returning home, Shen Qingli received a call from Dong Yang, who reported on everything that had happened at the company that day. Shen Qingli listened in a daze and then gave a vague reply.

Recently, an advertiser had hosted a banquet and wanted Gu Qingming to attend, but since he had just returned to the country, going would inevitably mean facing media interviews.

Whether to let him go would require careful consideration.

As Shen Qingli thought this over, she drifted into sleep.

Hearing the sound of her breathing on the other end, Dong Yang felt somewhat helpless. His boss truly paid no attention to business at all and did not put making money first in the slightest.

It was as if the company were merely her side job.

Meanwhile, while Shen Qingli was asleep, Green Cilantro rushed to Xie Jinchuan’s side and told him everything that had happened that day.

When he heard that Ye Qingqing had run into Shen Qingli, Xie Jinchuan frowned. Although Rong Jiaoyi had told him where Ye Qingqing came from, he still felt that she had not been telling the truth.

This matter still needed investigation.

“Immortal, why don’t you just tell your host everything? Otherwise, if she really loses her temper someday, then—”

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Xie Jinchuan looked up at the glowing orb and answered a different question altogether.

“You staying inside her body all the time is not a solution. I’ll think of a way to get you out in these next few days.”

The orb froze for a moment, then looked at Xie Jinchuan and cried out in delight.

Could it finally have a body of its own? Yes!

“Immortal, I knew you were the best to me!”

For a ball of light to say such words was honestly rather hard to bear.

Xie Jinchuan rubbed his temples, then transferred a trace of his spiritual power to it.

“Go back. If anything seems off, remember to tell me.”

“Yes, sir. Mission guaranteed!”

After Green Cilantro left, Xie Jinchuan leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, feeling a little dizzy.

If he could tell Shen Qingli all of this, he would already have done so.

But if Shen Qingli learned the truth, he had no idea what the consequences would be. He could not take that risk.

Especially not with Rong Jiaoyi as a potential hazard.

He had to help Shen Qingli root out every one of these risks.

The next day.

As soon as Shen Qingli got up, she hurried to the company. On the way, she heard several employees discussing something, and vaguely caught the words Rong Jiaoyi.

Shen Qingli quietly moved closer. Fortunately, the employees were busy gossiping and did not notice her arrival.

“Exactly. That Rong Jiaoyi seems to be the other woman. President Shen must have divorced because of this. Sigh, poor President Shen.”

“I saw that video. If I had been there, I would have walked right up and slapped Rong Jiaoyi twice. How can anyone speak so disgustingly?”

“Isn’t it because President Shen is kind-hearted? If I were her, I’d have made that woman lose face in public!”

Shen Qingli never expected that someone would actually post this to a social platform.

And almost everyone was taking her side. That was truly not easy.

A warmth spread through her heart, but she still put on her full executive bearing and raised a hand to her lips.

“Ahem.”