Chapter 98
The morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the conference room, casting neat patches of light on the long table.
Chu Xinrou sat upright in the main seat, the fountain pen in her hand drawing a few sharp lines on the document. Usually, at this time, she could instantly grasp the key data from the lengthy reports, and any small tricks to muddle through would not escape her sharp eyes. The group’s executives would privately say that the eldest Miss Chu’s brain was like a quantum computer, able to pick out errors down to the third decimal place even when multitasking.
But today—
“The market share in the third quarter has decreased by 0.8%, the main reason is…” the voice of the marketing director grew softer and softer. He peeked at the eldest Miss Chu in the main seat, whose jaw had suddenly tensed, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The pressure in the entire conference room was decreasing at a visible speed.
Chu Xinrou’s long fingers tapped lightly on the solid wood table. Her slightly lowered eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyes, and the sharp aura she exuded made the temperature in the entire conference room drop a few degrees.
The Second Miss was on pins and needles in the deputy seat. She had never seen her sister like this, as if she were about to flip the conference table in the next second. The financial director had finally finished his report. Before he could even catch his breath, Chu Xinrou suddenly closed the folder with a smack, and everyone shivered in unison.
“Meeting adjourned!”
…
The Second Miss had chased her sister all the way to the office.
Chu Xinrou took her third cup of Americano. The cold liquid slid down her throat, but it couldn’t extinguish the unknown fire in her heart. She placed the cup heavily on the desk and looked up at her sister. “Is there anything else?” Her voice clearly carried an order to leave.
The Second Miss tilted her head and sized up her sister. Who else but that little bastard Qiao Xiaoxiao could make the eldest Miss Chu, who would not change her expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before her, lose her composure like this?
“Did Xiaoxiao make you angry?” she asked with feigned innocence.
Smack! The fountain pen was slapped on the solid wood table. Chu Xinrou’s eyes were as sharp as a knife. “What does it have to do with her?”
The Second Miss nodded obediently on the surface, but her heart was as clear as a mirror. She slowly took out a gilded envelope from the drawer and hesitated as she handed it over. “This… take a look?”
Chu Xinrou frowned and took it. The moment she saw the contents of the document, her fingertips suddenly tightened.
“The group’s latest seedling cultivation plan,” the Second Miss twirled her pen, smiling like a fox. “They’re all fresh seedlings of eighteen or nineteen.” She specially flipped to an inner page and pointed at a girl in a white shirt. “This one is particularly popular recently. The fans all call her ‘Human Peach.'”
The air suddenly dropped to freezing point.
Seeing that her sister was unmoved, the Second Miss simply stood up and walked to her side, then took out another photo and waved it in front of Chu Xinrou’s eyes. “Here, this one is a sporty little wolf dog.” In the photo, the girl was wearing a cropped sports vest, her boxing gloves against her abs, her sweaty hair shining in the sun.
“The scent of youth~” the Second Miss dragged out her voice and took out another photo with her fingertips. “And this intellectual older sister type.” In the picture, the young girl was holding a book and sitting under a cherry blossom tree, her eyes behind her gold-rimmed glasses as calm as water. “She’s only nineteen, and she’s already the main dancer of a girl group.”
To this day, she still felt that her sister was so mesmerized by Qiao Xiaoxiao, and it was partly because she had taken a liking to her face and her small body.
Chu Xinrou’s gaze finally moved from the document to her sister’s face, a dangerous undercurrent surging in her dark pupils.
A chill ran down the Second Miss’s back, but she still braced herself and took out another photo. “This is…”
“Fengyi.”
Chu Xinrou interrupted her. The Second Miss nodded, her eyes shining as she looked at her sister. “I’m here.”
Is she moved?
She was her own sister. If there was anything, just say it, and she would satisfy her sister!
Chu Xinrou’s brows were furrowed, as if she were very puzzled. She slowly asked, “When did you become so lecherous?”
The Second Miss’s eyes widened, and the photo in her hand fell to the table with a clatter.
What???
Chu Xinrou’s brows were as if covered in frost, and her voice was still a little angry. “Is it that no matter how young a person is, they will still like a young skin?”
Just like Qiao Xiaoxiao, who usually pretended to be so cold, but in front of her junior sister, she would smile so gently.
The Second Miss: ???
What is this???
After speaking, Chu Xinrou stared at her phone, her gaze as if she wanted to swallow someone whole through the screen.
If Qiao Xiaoxiao dares… she can try!
The Second Miss understood a little now, her tone tinged with a hint of excitement. “Jie, are you going back for a few days? Do you need me to book a plane ticket for you?”
Chu Xinrou looked at her, her gaze calm. “Thank you.”
The Second Miss: …
“Thank you” was not necessary. It was a little sarcastic.
The Second Miss was very enthusiastic and booked a ticket for her sister. She also helped her pack her luggage before and after. Finally, she didn’t forget to put the stack of photos she had prepared in the side pocket of her sister’s bag, thinking that she could look at them if she was bored on the plane.
…
Qiao Xiaoxiao had been busy these past few days and had no idea that “danger was approaching.”
During her lunch break, she had sent a message to her sister, but her sister hadn’t replied. She was a little worried and sent a WeChat message to the Second Miss.
—Is my sister still busy?
The Second Miss was so bad. She knew that the two of them must have had a conflict, and her sister was going back to deal with the demon. She replied, fearing that the world would not be in chaos.
—Yes, yes, yes. She’s still in a meeting.
It was only by giving her a head-on blow so unexpectedly that the effect would be obvious!
The secretary looked at the Second Miss’s face, which was smiling like a shoehorn, and was a little happy for her.
Everyone in the group felt that ever since the eldest miss had returned, the Second Miss’s entire mental state had changed. She had become lively and happy.
How could the Second Miss not be happy?
Her sister had promised her that she would not leave her for so long in the future. After this was all stable, as long as she needed her, it would be no problem for her to come back for a few days every year to “support” her.
This was probably the best choice.
The Second Miss was already very content. She also knew that her sister’s change had a lot to do with Qiao Xiaoxiao.
But she just couldn’t think of the girl who was a few years younger than her as her “brother-in-law.” Not to mention that she couldn’t complete the role change for a while, she would also be “jealous.” Why was such a good sister of hers taken by her? She was not convinced.
Sometimes, the Second Miss would also feel that her sister was… quite good… to find someone ten years younger than her… and, whether it was in terms of looks, figure, education, or ability, Qiao Xiaoxiao was flawless. She was simply a perfect lover…
Moreover, people say that a woman at thirty is like a wolf. Her sister was almost thirty. From the looks of Qiao Xiaoxiao, she should be very energetic and could make her sister very “happy”…
The Second Miss was young after all, and her thoughts were lively. She would easily get carried away.
But in the end, the most important point was that in the future, she and that little girl Nuonuo, whom she had held in her heart since she was a child, would have another connection.
They had really become a family, hadn’t they?
The Second Miss was smugly calculating Qiao Xiaoxiao’s dejected look when the sound of slow footsteps came from the end of the corridor.
Chu Yunji’s thin figure after his illness appeared at the junction of light and shadow. The once-crisp suit was now hanging loosely on his shoulders. Ever since he had been angered into the hospital by Xu Keqing, this former business tycoon was as if his spine had been pulled out, and even his shadow was a few shades more hunched than before.
He looked at his second daughter, not knowing what she was thinking, just pondering and smiling foolishly to herself. She was very cute.
Once upon a time, he had thought that money and power were everything. Now he understood that family happiness was a priceless treasure. It was a pity that his two daughters were no longer the little girls who would tug at his shirt and act cute.
Chu Yunji stood in front of his second daughter for a long time but couldn’t find anything to talk to her about. In the end, he said, not very wisely, “You’ve been performing well recently. I see you’re quite happy.”
The Second Miss closed her phone, a standard business smile on her lips. “Dad, do you want me to report my work to you?”
Chu Yunji shook his head helplessly. The Second Miss smiled at him. “Dad, I see that your health has recovered quite well recently. You can go out for a walk appropriately.”
She saw that ever since Xu Keqing had left, many aunties and little sisters had been eyeing the position of Mrs. Chu.
Chu Yunji knew what she was talking about and immediately said, “Dad only has you and your sister, these two daughters.”
He thought that if he made his determination clear like this, his younger daughter would happily hug him and act cute.
But to his surprise, the Second Miss was clearly very surprised. Then, her gaze fell on her father’s lower abdomen. She glanced at it, as if she had discovered some incredible secret, and immediately looked away.
This one glance almost made the old man so angry he fainted. He was almost furious. “There’s nothing wrong with my reproductive ability!”
After roaring, he realized his gaffe and froze on the spot, his face flushed.
But the Second Miss had already walked away gracefully, leaving only a string of hearty laughter echoing in the corridor. This was the “calm in the face of praise or blame” method she had learned from her sister during this period. In the past, she had also seen how her sister had managed the company, but at that time, the Second Miss was still young, and her mind was not on it. Now, it was a proper study.
Compared to Chu Yunji’s high-pressure policy, she preferred her sister’s calm and composed feeling of turning fortresses to ashes in the midst of conversation. It was also pressure. Chu Yunji had a kind of “if you don’t work with me, you’re waiting to die” oppressive feeling, while her sister was “those who follow me will prosper, those who oppose me will perish,” a silent and majestic feeling. This was the direction she was striving for.
Chu Yunji sighed heavily. Once upon a time, he had thought that severity and harshness were the right way to cultivate an heir. Now, watching Fengyi handle the group’s affairs with ease under her sister’s guidance, and making those old fox shareholders convinced in the midst of conversation, he finally understood how wrong he had been.
He finally had to admit that his second daughter, who would always put up her thorns in front of him, would only be like now, both maintaining her sharp edge and knowing the wisdom of retracting and extending freely, when she was by her sister’s side.
…
When the plane landed.
The oblivious Qiao Xiaoxiao was still enthusiastically discussing the design details with Hui Ying. These few days of being together day and night had already turned her from a novice who knew nothing about games to a semi-expert who could accurately point out the problems with the character’s action frames.
Hui Ying was holding a stack of design drafts and sitting beside her, her eyes behind her glasses shining astonishingly. She had never seen anyone who could digest the obscure professional terms so thoroughly in just a few days like her senior sister. At the same time, she was amazed by her senior sister’s intelligence and wealth. They had worked overtime with the team members, gradually refining all sorts of details, and were doing the final debugging, thinking of putting it on the shelves to test the waters during the summer vacation.
But Hui Ying was also nervous. “Senior sister, if…” she clutched the proposal in her hand, her voice trembling slightly. “If the market response is not good, we…”
Part of her anxiety was because of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s “hands-on” approach. She didn’t know where she got so much energy. After finishing Qingxin’s business, she would switch to their group. She could still maintain a high degree of mental clarity every day, with superhuman energy.
Qiao Xiaoxiao chuckled lightly without looking up, her fingertips tapping a crisp rhythm on the keyboard. “If we lose, we lose.”
Her tone was as relaxed as if she were discussing the weather today. Having experienced being chased by the city management while setting up a stall on the street and sleeping in the office in the early days of her business, this little investment was just a necessary tuition fee on her path of growth.
Moreover, she was very optimistic about the mobile game market. What she was aiming for was not this one product, but their future.
She had just talked to Wang Ying on the phone and had planned to have Hui Ying’s team connect with Auntie Wang’s daughter’s education APP team. When the four words “learning through entertainment” were spoken, Wang Ying on the other end of the phone had been stunned for a long time and had quickly handed the phone to her daughter.
That’s right. CEO Qiao had also anchored the future development trend of education. In her dense notes, keywords like “reducing the burden of education” and “online transformation” were repeatedly circled. Qiao Xiaoxiao stroked her chin. She had a premonition that the storm of this education reform was coming.
At that time, the one who could make arrangements in advance would be the real winner.
At noon, to reward everyone for their days of working overtime.
Qiao Xiaoxiao had specially ordered crayfish, which these young people loved to eat.
The aroma of spicy crayfish filled the entire office area, but Qiao Xiaoxiao was completely oblivious. She was engrossed in the jumping code on the screen and didn’t even notice when Hui Ying had come up to her. It wasn’t until a bowl of crystal-clear peeled shrimp was handed to her that she came back to her senses a little.
“Senior sister, have something to eat,” Hui Ying pushed up her glasses, her voice soft.
Qiao Xiaoxiao subconsciously wanted to refuse. Besides the food handled by Chu Xinrou and Yang Feitang, she never touched the meals prepared by others. But looking at her junior sister’s expectant gaze, in the end, she just smiled politely. “Thank you. You eat first.”
She didn’t move the bowl of shrimp, just let it sit by the keyboard.
When Chu Xinrou was standing outside the door with her suitcase, through the glass, she saw Qiao Xiaoxiao almost pressed against the screen, and that girl with glasses was intimately close to her, their hair almost intertwined.
Qiao Xiaoxiao suddenly chuckled softly, her profile plated in a soft light in the sun. She turned to the girl and showed an encouraging smile, exactly the kind that Chu Xinrou was most familiar with, with three parts doting and seven parts indulgence, which had made her soften and compromise countless times in the past.
Her fists were already clenched.
And beside them was a bowl of peeled crayfish.
With Qiao Xiaoxiao’s personality, she was not so meticulous as to be able to peel the shrimp and even remove the shrimp line.
After collecting all the details and evidence, Chu Xinrou squinted slightly. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Everyone followed the sound of the knocking and looked out.
When they saw Chu Xinrou, Hui Ying, who had not shown any emotional fluctuations these past few days, jumped up as if she had been electrocuted. The chair made a harsh sound on the floor, and her voice changed. “Jiejie???!!!”
