Coveted for a Long Time 23p1

Chapter 23 p1

After the rain, the world emitted a fresh and natural scent. Everything looked brand new after the wash. The wind blew, carrying tiny, almost invisible raindrops, cool and comfortable.

Qiao Xi was a bit surprised by Zhao Shihuan’s arrival, as she hadn’t been informed in advance.

Having just returned to Jiang City, there were many things to deal with. The series of tasks were indeed tedious, leaving little free time.

“What brings you here?” Qiao Xi asked, brushing the water off her clothes. She found a dry towel and handed it to Zhao Shihuan, pointing diagonally to the left. “The restroom is over there; there’s hot water inside.”

Zhao Shihuan took the towel, wiping her slender, well-defined hands. “Went to the western suburbs for some business. Passed by on the way back to the city, so I thought I’d drop by.”

This was her first time here; she had only known the address before.

There was a refrigerator in the break room. Qiao Xi went in to get drinks. Few acquaintances visited the shop, so she didn’t have much to offer. Fortunately, Zhao Shihuan didn’t mind, casually accepting the cold drink and taking a sip.

Going to the western suburbs was most likely for the land they had bid on earlier. For Zhao Shihuan to make a special trip, it probably wasn’t a small matter. However, Qiao Xi didn’t ask further. Looking at the waterlogged road and the gloomy sky, she said, “It was sunny and bright this morning, then suddenly it rained. The weather forecast even said no rain this week. The weather changes just like that.”

As she spoke, Qiao Xi smiled. She was just making conversation, not knowing what else to say.

On the reception desk sat a small glass jar filled to the brim with candy—the same ones Zhao Shihuan had given her. A huge box was too much to finish, so she put some everywhere for customers to enjoy freely.

The colorful candy wrappers were particularly eye-catching in the glass jar.

Zhao Shihuan seemed quite satisfied with this, taking a couple of extra looks at the jar before continuing, “I also checked the weather forecast before going out. Who knew it would rain halfway back?”

There were design drafts on the table, sketching out rough shapes. Qiao Xi was quite talented in this area; otherwise, her master wouldn’t have taken her in. From the shape of the pattern, one could vaguely see it was a kapok flower, representing passion and resilience.

“Drawing this all day?”

Qiao Xi moved the drafts to the side to avoid any spills—a habit most people who draw have, regardless of what they’re drawing.

“Mmh, designing patterns takes time. This is just the prototype.”

“Busy lately?”

“It’s alright.”

A smile suddenly touched Zhao Shihuan’s eyes, but she didn’t speak. Scanning the shop, her gaze returned to the drafts.

Qiao Xi racked her brains but couldn’t find anything to talk about, so she opened the draft for her to see fully, saying, “A girl came to book this. Plans to tattoo it on her back. Changed it twice already. First wanted azaleas, felt they weren’t vibrant enough, switched to begonias. The design was finalized, but yesterday she decided to change again to kapok flowers.”

“Quite troublesome,” Zhao Shihuan remarked.

“A bit, but it’s good to be cautious. After all, it’s tattooed on the body; not easy to remove. Plus, changing the design costs extra.”

Changing tattoo designs wasn’t uncommon. Many customers would change their minds at the last minute and decide not to do it, even coming to the shop to make a scene and demand their deposit back. Principled or impatient tattoo artists usually wouldn’t take such orders. Considering the girl’s attitude was good and she paid generously, Qiao Xi accepted it since she had time.

Zhao Shihuan moved her cold drink further away and stood closer, asking softly in confusion, “Why kapok flowers?”

Tattoos usually had specific meanings behind the chosen patterns. Qiao Xi thought for a moment and said, “Vibrant, and never fades.”

Speaking of this, she remembered the hibiscus flower on her lower back, also a passionate and beautiful fiery red. When choosing a tattoo back then, her master gave her many designs, advising her to pick a smaller one. Beginners usually didn’t choose large designs to avoid regret later, as small ones were easier to modify or cover.

Qiao Xi picked for a few days and finally settled on the hibiscus flower design.

Her master was a woman with personality, actually not much older than Qiao Xi. This design was the first one she created after completing her apprenticeship. She had kept it and never tattooed it on anyone else. Seeing Qiao Xi insist on the hibiscus flower, she frowned and drawled, “Tattooing such a large pattern, aren’t you afraid of regretting it?”

Qiao Xi was absolutely certain: “No regrets.”

Her master’s gaze became meaningful, scrutinizing her for a while before dropping a sentence: “Not tattooing it. Pick another one.”

But later, she tattooed it anyway, doing it personally.

The hibiscus flower represented a passionate appearance and pure love—contradictory, yet fitting.

Zhao Shihuan nodded upon hearing this. They chatted about irrelevant things, and as they talked, she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion, “I remember you studied materials science. Thought you’d join a company or something. Didn’t expect you to be in this line of work.”

Back then, Fu Bei had applied for mathematics, while Qiao Xi was naturally insensitive to numbers, performing worst in math among all subjects. When she first started high school, she dreamed of getting into Jiang City University. By her senior year, she finally accepted the fact that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get in, shifting her goal to the neighboring University of Science and Technology. Fu Bei had helped choose her major, one relatively suitable for her.

However, her four years of university weren’t satisfactory. Qiao Xi had no objections to the major, but she really wasn’t good at it. She barely scraped by until graduation—fortunately, never failing a course, with average grades.

Recalling her school days, she said helplessly, “I didn’t study my major well, and I’m not cut out for business. Can only do this.”

Zhao Shihuan said, “As long as you like it yourself.”

Qiao Xi smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

The dark clouds in the sky scattered, revealing the original clear and bright appearance. Shops along the road were dripping water, trees were dripping water—everything was wet.

The car under the banyan tree had driven away at some point. It should have stayed, but it didn’t.

Zhao Shihuan didn’t leave, and Qiao Xi couldn’t rush her. Seeing the sky gradually darken completely, she offered to treat her to dinner, which Zhao Shihuan readily accepted.

The dining place was in the middle section of Qijing Street, a French restaurant with exceptionally atmospheric decor. Qiao Xi wasn’t used to Western food, preferring Chinese cuisine, especially Cantonese, but considering Zhao Shihuan’s taste, she chose this place. French cuisine featured semi-cooked tenderness and emphasized seasoning. She ordered a few dishes randomly, eating mostly the Bouillabaisse.

It was around ten o’clock when they finished eating and came out. Zhao Shihuan didn’t linger, driving Qiao Xi back to her residential complex. Before parting, she said, “It should have been my treat. Next time then.”

Qiao Xi didn’t think much of it and replied, “Sure, let’s meet again when we have time.”

Zhao Shihuan had been very nice to her when she was a child. Not seeing each other for a few years, they should keep in touch more often now.

In interpersonal relationships, Qiao Xi had always been clear-headed. As long as someone was genuinely good to her, she would reciprocate peacefully.

“Rest early.” Zhao Shihuan bent over to get back into the car.

Qiao Xi waved her hand and turned to walk into the complex.

Only when she walked through the gate and her figure receded into the distance did the car start and leave.

**

Qijing Street was far from the compound, free from disturbances, and life was quiet.

Fu Bei disappeared for a few days; something happened in the Fu family.

To be precise, the Liang family.

Uncle Liang Jincheng caused trouble. Ambitious but incapable, he wanted to make a huge profit through the real estate project but fell into a trap instead, offending someone he shouldn’t have. The person’s surname was Tan, with a background in officialdom, known in the circle as Second Master Tan. He usually loved doing charity and appeared honest and magnanimous, but this time he was extremely dissatisfied with Liang Jincheng.

Liang Jincheng was ambitious, always speaking more than he did. Over the years, he had been making moves both openly and secretly, wanting to turn things around and do something big. Father Fu had always turned a blind eye to this, but Liang Yuzhi was most sentimental and deeply attached to this younger brother, always wanting to help. This time, she was the one who called Fu Bei to go.

Second Master Tan’s niece had applied to the Mathematics Department of Jiang City University this year. Although she didn’t need help, Fu Bei going there made things easier to discuss, and Second Master Tan liked communicating with intellectuals.

At first, Qiao Xi knew nothing about it. Hearing Qiao Jianliang mention it accidentally, she was stunned.

She was no stranger to Liang Jincheng. This person had never been well-behaved. He had collaborated with the Qiao family in business back then and had a decent relationship with Qiao Jianliang. However, she completely disliked Liang Jincheng, feeling he was too profit-oriented—a typical mercenary businessman.

Qiao Xi scoffed with disdain but wouldn’t say much in front of Qiao Jianliang. Privately, she asked Tang Yi, “Can professors just let students in through the back door?”

Tang Yi said righteously, “Definitely not. That’s exploiting loopholes in authority, dereliction of duty.”

“What about looking out for someone a bit?”

“That’s possible, but if it’s too obvious, it’s easy to get caught. Although nothing serious will happen, people will gossip eventually.”

Schools emphasized fair competition, with grades usually coming first. But absolute fairness in everything was impossible; many factors had to be considered. Generally speaking, as long as a student was willing to work hard, teachers would help if they could. There were cases of special treatment, but it couldn’t be too blatant or excessive.

Her school days had been peaceful, so Qiao Xi hadn’t seen the dark side of the education industry and didn’t understand these things well.

Tang Yi asked, “Why ask this? Does your family have a relative going to university?”

Qiao Xi shook her head. “Just asking.”

The business world had always been wary of nepotism, which was messy and hard to manage. Since that day, Liang Jincheng rarely appeared in the Fu family’s company, living in seclusion, probably lying low to avoid the storm.

Acquaintances in the compound secretly discussed it in private, happy to watch the drama. Seeing the matter finally let off lightly, they sighed with emotion, “That daughter of the Fu family is quite capable; she can even handle Second Master Tan.”

“That’s also out of respect for Elder Fu. Given a way out, one has to take it; no need to tear up faces completely.”

…

Qiao Jianliang came over once, still bringing food.

Qiao Xi sounded a warning to him: “Don’t touch real estate. Focus on running the family business.”

She only knew Qiao Jianliang had stumbled badly in real estate once but didn’t know the specifics. The bigger the cake, the more people want a slice. Swallowing someone else’s benefits without the ability to hold them meant paying a price. Ordinary people didn’t understand the tricks; they only saw soaring housing prices, unaware of the bloodshed and dirty schemes behind the profits. Moreover, the real estate industry had been volatile in the past two years; a moment of carelessness meant huge losses.

Qiao Jianliang promised, “I won’t. Too busy right now anyway.”

Because of the unpleasantness of the last meal at home, Qiao Xi didn’t want to say much to him. Qiao Jianliang realized he had been biased, so he thickened his skin and pretended nothing had happened, treating Qiao Xi like he was coaxing a child.

Everyone had their difficulties, but ultimately, things were clear.

“I promised Zhou Lin a reward before, to buy a car,” Qiao Jianliang said carefully, glancing at Qiao Xi’s expression. Qiao Xi didn’t react. He paused for a long while, then added, “He won an award, so I can’t go back on my word, right? Took him to choose a Range Rover a few days ago.”

Qiao Xi stopped what she was doing. Her face didn’t change, only pursing her lips.

Qiao Jianliang was very long-winded, finding a stool to sit on by himself. “He’s still young, and he’s going abroad to study later. Buying a car is a waste; it’ll just gather dust at home, useless. Just for the novelty.”

A Range Rover wasn’t cheap, but generally, the quoted price was less than a tenth of that Bugatti Veyron at home.

Qiao Xi had no objection to buying a car as a reward; it was Qiao Jianliang’s money, and he was free to use it however he wanted. It was just that she inevitably felt a disparity in her heart that night. The Zhou mother and son were practically wagging their tails in triumph; it was a credit to her that she could endure it. Qiao Jianliang knew he was wrong to favor one over the other. He was still clear on who was his own flesh and blood. Once the heat in his head dissipated, he sobered up, knowing who to be good to.

He bought Qiao Xi a new Jeep Wrangler. The price wasn’t high, but the thought counted; it was personally chosen according to his daughter’s preference. Zhou Meihe had quite a few complaints, her face almost falling.

After listening to his rambling for a long time, Qiao Xi finally kept him for dinner at the apartment.

Qiao Jianliang had been like this for so many years—bowing his head and acting small when he did wrong, always making one feel like punching cotton. She only had one closest relative left; she truly couldn’t cut ties completely.

Qiao Xi saw him downstairs.

Qiao Jianliang actually stuffed a card into her hand. “Take it. Withdraw money to use if you’re short. The password is your birthday.”

Qiao Xi replied, “I’m not short of money.”

“Then save it. You’ll need it someday.”

She accepted it but didn’t care how much money was inside at first. It wasn’t until she checked casually once that she discovered the amount was surprisingly high. Qiao Jianliang had always been generous to her, never shortchanging her, but he had never been this lavish.

Qiao Xi wouldn’t change her view of him because of a bank card. Human nature is complex, with good sides and bad sides. Qiao Xi had seen too much of his bad side; no amount of tenderness and care was just for this moment.

**