“What is it at this hour?”
Wang Ziyue repeated, her slightly raised voice barely covering the embarrassment on her face.
“Oh, President Wang, Director Ye just notified me a moment ago. She wants me to hand over a theater sponsorship project to you. The timeline isn’t too tight—probably mid-July.”
“Me?” Wang Ziyue glanced at her schedule. Things really had calmed down compared to before.
Wang Zhen’s health had improved considerably.
Ye Lan no longer needed to watch over him every day.
Last time she went home, Wang Ziyue had told her mother to stop staying cooped up and go out more.
But Ye Lan was still worried and refused to leave the house.
Several sponsorship deals that originally needed her attention had been put on hold.
Working for her own mother still counted as work. Deep down, Wang Ziyue was a little reluctant.
She hadn’t even won the little girl over yet—she truly didn’t want to spend more energy on anything else right now.
“Send the proposal to my email first.”
Wang Ziyue took a sip of water and waved her hand.
Secretary Fang understood: the president would look at it later.
After reporting the progress on the Nancheng Real Estate project, she left the office.
Most people in the company building had already gone home.
Only a few scattered offices on the lower floors still had lights on.
Because of this, several old shareholders on the board had complained repeatedly, reminiscing about their own hard-working youth and criticizing the new generation of employees for lacking ambition.
Wang Ziyue accepted all the criticism without protest and quietly raised overtime pay.
After that, the old men never mentioned it again.
She replied to a few unread messages, sat quietly for a while, then stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed at the city lit up by gorgeous lights.
Everything seemed to be flourishing.
After admiring the night view, she took out her phone and called her personal financial assistant.
“Hey, President Wang.”
“How much was the return on that fund that matured a month ago?”
The assistant quoted a number.
Unlike Secretary Fang, she mainly managed Wang Ziyue’s personal assets and acted as a bridge to other investors.
“Leave that money untouched for now. Oh, and get in touch with the people at Jianling Capital. Mm, set up dinner with them tonight. Same place as last time.”
Wang Ziyue hung up, tossed the phone into her bag, grabbed her car keys, and walked out of the office.
Today she was driving a white Cayenne.
The car headed in the opposite direction from her usual route home.
About an hour later, it stopped right at the entrance to Binhe Community on Old Factory Street.
She got out—just in time to see a woman holding a kraft paper bag standing under the sign across the street, staring at her.
Jiang Xiaoyue narrowed her eyes at the motionless blonde woman.
The woman was still wearing her office skirt suit; she must have just gotten back not long ago.
Since her daughter wasn’t coming home for dinner, Jiang Xiaoyue couldn’t be bothered to cook. She ate out instead.
On the way back she spotted a cream puff shop and thought she’d buy some for Jiang Cheng as a late-night snack.
The queue ended up taking nearly an hour.
Now the warning she had once given Wang Ziyue floated through her mind.
【If you suddenly “ran into” her on the street like this, you’d think it was unreasonable too, wouldn’t you?】
Wang Ziyue’s entire body stiffened.
She really hadn’t come here hoping to bump into Jiang Cheng by chance.
She had simply been passing by and decided to take a look.
But now that she’d run into Jiang Xiaoyue, there was no way she could let her suspect anything.
“Aunt… what a coincidence. You’re here too.”
“I’m going home. What’s coincidental about that?”
Even without heels, Wang Ziyue was still half a head taller than her—yet right now she looked especially small and pitiful in front of Jiang Xiaoyue.
“Haha, I’m meeting someone for dinner and happened to pass by.”
Wang Ziyue already regretted parking and getting out. If she’d stayed in the car, this awkward scene would never have happened.
“Mm, there doesn’t seem to be anything around here worth President Wang making a detour for.”
The distance from group headquarters to the old district wasn’t short.
“There’s a private kitchen in front of the old experimental middle school, tucked in an alley.”
Wang Ziyue suppressed the faint fear in her heart.
She really had no more excuses—anything she said now would make Jiang Xiaoyue think she had ulterior motives.
“Mm… the one opened by that retired master chef?”
Jiang Xiaoyue had never eaten there, but the chef was quite famous on Old Factory Street—practically a neighborhood celebrity.
“Yes, yes. I’m meeting someone there to talk business.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Jiang Xiaoyue looked at her quietly. She didn’t say much, but Wang Ziyue grew even more nervous.
“Well, Aunt… I’m almost late for my appointment, so I’ll head off.”
“You go ahead.”
Just as Wang Ziyue unlocked the car door, Jiang Xiaoyue added, “Did Xiao Cheng say anything to you today?”
“Just… some stuff about school.”
“Nothing else?”
“Nothing else.”
“And you didn’t say anything to her either?”
“I just chatted with her for a bit. Later it seemed her classmate called her away.”
Wang Ziyue’s palm holding the phone was slightly sweaty.
Jiang Cheng’s voice message was still saved in her favorites.
Guilty, so guilty.
“Mm… alright then. Go do your thing.” Jiang Xiaoyue glanced at her again but didn’t press further.
“Okay, goodbye, Aunt.”
Jiang Xiaoyue didn’t reply.
She turned and walked into the complex.
Wang Ziyue watched Jiang Xiaoyue’s retreating back, letting out a long breath.
“Why didn’t I run into her…” she muttered to herself.
Jiang Cheng followed Chen Ting, watching her swipe her card to open the building’s entrance.
They passed through the property management lobby on the first floor, went through a second security door, and finally entered the residential area.
Chen Ting and Zhou Qingying’s homes were visible the moment they looked up.
“That one, the building on the left.”
A 29-story high-end apartment with European-style facades.
Occasionally people hurried in or out, faces blank, no interaction with each other.
A huge carved wall on the ground floor divided the space into two paths leading to elevators on either side.
Jiang Cheng followed Chen Ting into the left one.
“It’s one unit per elevator. The access card only works for your own floor. I’ll have Yingying call the elevator for us.”
Chen Ting typed on her phone.
Soon the elevator rose.
With a ding, Jiang Cheng saw Zhou Qingying waiting at the door.
Her complexion was much better now, but her whole face was shrouded in melancholy.
When she looked at Jiang Cheng, her eyes held a dazed… longing?
Longing?
Jiang Cheng rubbed her eyes. The dim yellow hallway light made her think she’d seen wrong.
But Zhou Qingying had already turned to pull the door wider.
She pointed at two pairs of slippers by the entrance. “Both brand new.”
“Hey, the moment Chengcheng arrives, the treatment is different.”
Chen Ting teased while changing shoes.
Seeing Zhou Qingying, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and handed over the ice cream.
“Bought at the school gate. There’s dry ice at the bottom. Hold it here.”
Jiang Cheng also passed over the fruit she’d bought.
“Chengcheng… I’m so touched.”
“Alright, I know you want oranges. Should I peel one for you?”
Chen Ting broke the teary, sentimental atmosphere.
Jiang Cheng followed behind, giggling as she changed into slippers.
“Your dad went back to the company?”
“Mm… he still has to revise the script he was working on. I’m fine now anyway, so I told him to go.”
Zhou Qingying sounded completely indifferent, which surprised Jiang Cheng.
From the bits and pieces in their conversation, Jiang Cheng felt she might have stumbled upon something.
Zhou Qingying’s home was a duplex.
The living room and dining room were on the same side, with a spiral staircase in the corner leading to the upstairs bedrooms.
“This ice cream was actually bought to apologize to Chengcheng. You’re just benefiting from her.”
Chen Ting casually walked into the kitchen and took out three spoons. Zhou Qingying opened the insulated bag.
The three sat side by side on the sofa and began eating.
The air-conditioning in the living room was turned up high, perfectly chasing away the summer heat Jiang Cheng had carried in from outside.
“Apologize? You made Chengcheng upset?”
“Well…”
Chen Ting instinctively glanced at Jiang Cheng.
“Because I was jealous of you two.”