Coveted for a Long Time 19

Chapter 19

After seeing off the Liang family, Liang Yuzhi returned to the villa first, but Fu Bei didn’t go in.

Not long after, Zhuang Qiyang came out slowly with a cigarette in his mouth. The wind on the mountain was strong, blowing in gusts, making the embers burn quickly. By the time he walked over, half the cigarette was gone. He looked around, then walked and chatted with Fu Bei, eventually sitting in the car. The two talked in the car for about ten minutes.

Zhuang Qiyang handed over a document, asking puzzledly, “Why are you investigating this?”

Opening the document, Fu Bei didn’t answer immediately. Only after roughly reading through it did she say, “Just to understand.”

Zhuang Qiyang took a drag of his cigarette and smiled disbelievingly. “Digging up old scores from years ago, and even investigating your own family—that’s treasonous of you.”

Fu Bei lifted her eyes but ignored the remark.

Zhuang Qiyang waited for her to finish reading, then pointed to the end of the last page. After pondering for a moment, he said, “This project was transferred to your uncle’s hands last year. You should know that three years ago, it passed through the Zhou family’s hands. Counting back further, the Qiao family was doing it.”

It was a real estate project located in the New District, one of Jiang City’s development focuses. Because it was connected to the government and the New District was vigorously attracting investment at the time, it was almost a guaranteed profit, a highly sought-after deal five or six years ago. The Qiao family were nouveau riche, but after so many years, they hadn’t made any substantial achievements. Their business was miscellaneous, stuck in mediocrity. Back then, Qiao Jianliang wanted to use the real estate project in the New District to transform his business, gearing up for a big score. Who knew that instead of making money, he would get most of his fortune stuck in it? He barely escaped by the skin of his teeth; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Only a few people knew about this; even Qiao Xi didn’t know. Now Qiao Jianliang was fairly dutiful, running his business honestly and never taking risky investments again.

Some things weren’t easy to investigate. The more public something was, the more hidden twists and turns lay inside. Zhuang Qiyang didn’t speak too clearly, adding, “Your uncle has been doing well in recent years. Even without your family’s support, he could have made a career. He eats the meat while others drink the soup; who knows, maybe in the future he can reach your father’s level. After all, you’re relatives. Joining forces later would be a good thing.”

At twenty-six, she was no longer an impulsive youngster. Every sentence Zhuang Qiyang said had a deeper meaning. Bluntly put, he was advising Fu Bei to turn the page and stop investigating, as it didn’t concern the Fu family much anyway. Although he wasn’t clear on what exactly Fu Bei wanted to do, Zhuang Qiyang knew the relationship between the families wasn’t ordinary, and digging deeper would be meaningless. Business is about interests, not sentiment. Peel back a few more layers, and you’d find everyone is dirty; there isn’t a single good person.

Stuffing the document into the compartment and opening the window for air, Fu Bei was silent for a moment.

Zhuang Qiyang smoked silently, letting her weigh things herself.

After a while, Fu Bei whispered, “Don’t let anyone else know.”

Zhuang Qiyang smiled. “Am I that kind of person?”

More people came out of the villa. Fu Bei’s phone rang; it was Liang Yuzhi calling, urging her to go in quickly as there were still important guests.

**

On the other side, due to the dark night and limited visibility, the driver drove relatively slowly. Qiao Xi and Zhao Shihuan sat in the back seat, chatting occasionally.

Having not seen each other for years and barely contacting in between, their reunion wasn’t as intimate as before; instead, it was somewhat distant. Qiao Xi tried to find topics to keep the conversation going, just asking random questions to avoid awkward silence.

Whatever she asked, Zhao Shihuan would answer truthfully and throw a question back, keeping the exchange going.

“I didn’t know when you changed your number. I could only call Uncle Qiao, and he said you moved out long ago and opened a shop on Qijing Street.”

These words served to ease the atmosphere and explain the package sent earlier without explicitly stating it, avoiding embarrassment for both parties.

“Just finding something to do,” Qiao Xi said as usual, pursing her lips before asking, “What about you? What business are you doing?”

Zhao Shihuan said, “A lot. Doing everything. Was making games six months ago.”

Qiao Xi didn’t ask further. Some things were too private, and business was like a battlefield. Since she wasn’t walking that path anyway, asking too much was useless, so she switched to other topics.

After entering the city, the car went to Qijing Street first, then back to the compound. The two chatted easily and happily along the way. Zhao Shihuan was very adept at social interactions. Only when Qiao Xi got out of the car did she say, “Let’s have a meal together when you have time. Came back in a hurry, didn’t have time to find you guys first.”

“You guys,” not “you.” She didn’t make promises too absolute, making it hard for Qiao Xi to refuse. Qiao Xi agreed and watched the car leave.

Adult interactions were like this, always leaving room for maneuver, speaking three parts while doing seven. Looking at the pitch-black night, she suddenly felt emotional but didn’t know what for.

Returning home, she showered, tidied up, and curled up on the sofa to watch TV as usual.

Around the early hours of the morning, an uninvited guest arrived.

She hadn’t expected it to be Fu Bei. The moment Qiao Xi opened the door and saw her, she wished she could slam it shut immediately. But the person held it open with her hand and entered effortlessly.

Reeking of alcohol, she must have drunk quite a bit.

Qiao Xi didn’t want to deal with her, but still asked grumpily, “Did you drive here?”

“Didn’t drive after drinking. Took Zhuang Qiyang’s car.” Her voice was normal, not sounding drunk at all.

“What do you want?” Qiao Xi asked stiffly.

Closing and locking the door, Fu Bei didn’t answer. After a long time, she said lightly, “Just to see you.”

Every time it was this sentence, as if she couldn’t find any other excuse. Perhaps because she had drunk alcohol and taken a bath, her head was dizzy and unclear. Qiao Xi wasn’t as aggressive as the previous days. Turning off the TV, she turned back to look at the person, torn about whether to make her leave.

Qiao Xi’s personality was a bit extreme. In relationships, if she wasn’t happy, she wouldn’t let the other person be happy either, often damaging herself to hurt the enemy. She didn’t care about that much, which was why she had slept with this person before, happy to torment, seemingly unscrupulous. But she still held a grudge, leaving things hanging in a stalemate, her temper unpredictable.

She didn’t have the energy to deal with this person tonight, exhausted from the day. Showing a rare gentleness, she asked, “On such an important day, why aren’t you staying at home? Won’t Grandpa Fu and the others look for you?”

“They won’t,” Fu Bei said.

Qiao Xi naturally didn’t believe it, thinking Liang Yuzhi must be furious right now. If she knew Fu Bei had come here, she would probably be angry enough to suffer internal injuries.

In the transition from summer to autumn, there was a vague restlessness in the air. The usually calm and self-possessed Fu Bei was a bit unsettled tonight. Pouring herself a glass of water, she asked steadily, “Have you been in contact with Shihuan these past few years?”

Thinking she was going to ask something else, Qiao Xi didn’t think much and replied, “Mmh.”

Actually, contact had been sparse—a few times, then it stopped. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so distant in the car tonight.

Fu Bei didn’t ask further, and Qiao Xi didn’t explain much.

After that, drowsiness swept over her like a tide. She went back to her room to sleep first, having no energy to attend to Fu Bei. Fu Bei sat in the living room for a long time, long enough for the surrounding lights to go out. She took a couple of puffs of a cigarette, her heart no longer calm. Leaning her straight back against the side of the sofa, she took the cigarette between her fingers and looked thoughtfully at the bedroom.

Feelings were truly elusive things.

Sleeping groggily into the latter half of the night, Qiao Xi was half-awake when she vaguely heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. Knowing who was inside, she went back to sleep without caring.

The other party had been drinking, and the streets weren’t safe at night. Not chasing her away counted as a good deed.

Before long, the water stopped, the door opened, and then the light was turned off. One side of the bed sank, and a wave of coolness wrapped around her.

Gradually, a soft touch came from behind. There was a wet sensation on the back of her neck, and the cool touch moved slowly to her smooth shoulder. A hand hooked around her firm, slender waist, the movement presumptuous yet gentle.

The faint smell of tobacco was aggressive, moving from her neck to her chin. Qiao Xi dodged uncomfortably, her body lazily sticking to the bed, and pulled the hand on her waist away, somewhat impatient.

“Don’t push your luck,” she said sleepily, her voice very light and low. “Either go sleep on the sofa outside…”

Fu Bei knew she wasn’t asleep, and this confirmed it.

It had already happened twice; hiding or avoiding it would seem strange. Qiao Xi had no interest in playing hard to get. Pulling a corner of the thin quilt over her waist, she wasn’t even willing to give a response.

The weather was hot these days, especially tonight. With the air conditioner on, it was barely cool. The cold breeze blew onto her fair, long legs, making her shrink back subconsciously.

“What did she want with you tonight?” Fu Bei asked suddenly, inexplicably.

Qiao Xi kept her eyelids closed and remained motionless. After a good while, she bent her legs, shrinking into the thin quilt, not intending to reply.

The person behind her pressed up seamlessly, breath slightly scorching and laced with alcohol, refusing to let it go.