Chapter 73
Xu Chun instinctively looked at Qin Yao, her eyes carrying no small amount of suspicion. During these days when she’d been shut away filming, just what had Qin Yao quietly taught Jiang Zhaolie? Enough to make the other woman’s attitude reverse so dramatically.
When Xu Chun shot her a questioning look, Qin Yao flicked a faint glance at Jiang Zhaolie.
Jiang Zhaolie instantly snapped back from her excitement. She wiped the delight from her face and returned to a calm, composed demeanor. Clearing her throat, she took the luggage from Xu Chun’s hands with considerate, gentlemanly care. Turning to Xu Chun’s assistants, she said, “We’ll take her from here. You should head back first.”
The assistants immediately looked toward Xu Chun. After she nodded, one of them said, “Then let me have two bodyguards go with Sister Xu Chun—”
Jiang Zhaolie opened her mouth again, but this time Qin Yao spoke first, cutting her off with a polite refusal: “No need. I’ll be responsible for her safety.”
Since Qin Yao had put it that way, the assistant had no choice but to nod in agreement, uneasy as she was—especially since Xu Chun consented as well. As the bodyguards and assistants departed one after another, the space around Xu Chun quickly emptied. Jiang Zhaolie eagerly took the initiative with the suitcases, staring at Xu Chun without blinking, looking for all the world like she was begging for praise.
Xu Chun had been in the mood to talk with Qin Yao for a while, and Jiang Zhaolie interrupted her before she could even start. For a long moment, Xu Chun was at a loss for words, genuinely baffled. What was with this person?
It had only been a few months since they’d last seen each other. How had she turned into such a sycophant?
Xu Chun didn’t much want to meet Jiang Zhaolie’s sparkling eyes. She picked up the remaining suitcase, about to step forward, when her hand suddenly came up empty. A second glance showed the suitcase had ended up in Qin Yao’s slender fingers and jade-white palm. Xu Chun looked up; Qin Yao’s expression was unchanged, everything so natural it was as if she’d done this countless times before. “Let’s go.”
At the sound of Qin Yao’s voice, Xu Chun snapped back to attention and hurried after her. Making idle conversation, she asked, “It’s the middle of nowhere out here. Was it a lot of trouble for you and Sister Qin to come all this way?”
“Not at all.” Before Qin Yao could answer, Jiang Zhaolie jumped in. “We’ve actually been nearby on business these past few days.”
Seeing Xu Chun’s attention finally fall on her, Jiang Zhaolie couldn’t help letting a broad smile spread across her face. “It was on the way, nothing more. No need to be so polite with us.”
Xu Chun eyed her and said bluntly, “I wasn’t asking you.”
The smile on Jiang Zhaolie’s face froze instantly, then slowly vanished without a trace. Her lips pressed tightly into a straight line; she looked like an eggplant wilted by frost, her whole demeanor deflating on the spot.
Her emotions shifting so obviously drew Qin Yao’s subtle gaze back onto her. The air hung still for two seconds, and finally Qin Yao sent her off with cool efficiency. “Go bring the car around.”
Qin Yao stayed where she was and watched Jiang Zhaolie calmly. Jiang Zhaolie blankly lifted her head and blinked, wanting to refuse, but under the weight of Qin Yao’s undeniable aura, her chest tightened. In the end, she slowly lowered her head and obediently replied, “Okay.”
She felt rather disappointed. It had been several months since she’d last seen Xu Chun, and she’d originally wanted to spend more time with her, but... Jiang Zhaolie looked at Qin Yao’s imposing face and finally had no choice but to let go of the suitcases in her hands, shuffling her feet reluctantly toward the parking lot.
Jiang Zhaolie consoled herself inwardly: Xu Chun had finished filming now anyway, so there’d be plenty of time and chances to see her in the future. She refused to believe the other woman would avoid even Qin Yao just to dodge her.
In that moment, Jiang Zhaolie suddenly felt incredibly fortunate that Qin Yao had kept her close and personally taught her all this time, rather than letting other matters drive a wedge between them.
Otherwise, she really would have nowhere to cry.
After Jiang Zhaolie left, Xu Chun finally turned her joyful gaze to Qin Yao’s deep-set eyes and casually asked the question that had puzzled her earlier. “Sister Qin, where are we going to eat? Your place?”
Since Qin Yao had proposed the meal, Xu Chun guessed they might be gathering at Qin Yao’s home. Jiang Zhaolie had come along today too and said they’d been on business nearby. Xu Chun figured Qin Yao had settled her own schedule, learned that Xu Chun was also filming nearby, and kindly decided to give her a ride on the way back. After all, one more person or one fewer made little difference to her.
Little did Xu Chun know that after she’d reasoned through the whole thing in her head, Qin Yao looked into her eyes and seriously shook her head. “No.” A faint curve lifted her red lips. “We’re going to your place.”
Xu Chun’s face practically sprouted a row of question marks. “???” Huh?
“My place?” She was shocked and instinctively wanted to ask why, but then a flash of insight struck her: maybe her mom and Qin Yao had arranged this in advance. After all, her parents and Qin Yao were business partners now, so with all their back-and-forth, their relationship had deepened. Politely inviting her over for a meal didn’t seem strange or abrupt at all.
Xu Chun nodded to herself. Right, that must be it.
Qin Yao took in her shifting expressions without explaining. “Mm, I’ve already spoken with Mrs. Xu.”
Hearing that, Xu Chun instantly gave herself a mental thumbs-up. Just as I thought. She smiled radiantly. “That’s wonderful. Sister Qin, you’ve helped me so much before and I never got the chance to properly thank you. The auntie at home happens to be a fantastic cook; tonight I’ll have her make several of her best dishes to host you.”
Qin Yao nodded, and there seemed to be a touch of warmth in her eyes. “Alright.”
Jiang Zhaolie, still fixated on Xu Chun, brought the car around at the fastest speed of her life. After parking, she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and got out, loading Xu Chun’s and Qin Yao’s suitcases into the trunk one by one. Watching her work so diligently, Xu Chun nodded to herself. Although this kid had been annoying before, at least now she was passably sensible. She could read the room.
Lost in thought, Xu Chun stared unblinking at Jiang Zhaolie. Jiang Zhaolie suddenly sensed it and lifted her face, immediately catching the inexplicably incongruous kindly expression on Xu Chun’s face. She hesitated a moment, her hands pausing: “...?”
Why was the other woman looking at her with the benevolent expression of an elder?
But before she could think further, Qin Yao pulled open the rear door and gestured for Xu Chun to get in. Seeing this, Xu Chun immediately looked away and, without a backward glance, climbed in under Qin Yao’s watchful gaze.
Jiang Zhaolie froze mid-luggage-haul, and a sudden, inexplicable bitterness welled up inside her.
So today she was just an emotionless porter?
She was taking too long. Qin Yao glanced at her, then strode over and quickly stowed the luggage in the car, one piece in each hand. She fixed her gaze on Jiang Zhaolie. “Get in.”
Jiang Zhaolie snapped out of it and nodded, but just as she was about to get in, she stopped short.
...Was she driving?
She looked at Qin Yao, who had naturally settled into the back seat, then at the empty driver’s seat, and could only grit her teeth and climb in. As she buckled her seatbelt, she mentally hypnotized herself: I need to get used to this. This is only the beginning; there’ll be plenty more scenes like this in the future. So I have to adjust my mindset as soon as possible, or I’ll ruin the family’s harmony and mood.
Under this self-hypnosis, Jiang Zhaolie quickly convinced herself to dutifully play driver for the two of them.
Because the circumstances of the return to the company were unusual this time, Qin Yao didn’t plan to fly and instead intended to make the drive back, which would take more than ten hours. At first, while Jiang Zhaolie drove, Xu Chun and Qin Yao sat together in the back. Later, when Qin Yao took over for Jiang Zhaolie, Xu Chun squeezed Jiang Zhaolie out and sat in the front passenger seat beside Qin Yao. Jiang Zhaolie was left alone in the back, ignored, unasked after, and unnoticed.
Then when it was Xu Chun’s turn to drive, Qin Yao sat in the front passenger seat Xu Chun had previously occupied. The two stayed inseparable, not giving Jiang Zhaolie the slightest opening.
Listening to the music in the car and watching the two in front chat happily despite the long, hard road, Jiang Zhaolie gained a clearer, more precise understanding of the saying that human joys and sorrows are not interconnected.
She shouldn’t be in here; she should be under the car.
Xu Chun had no objection to Qin Yao’s decision to drive back. She was on vacation anyway; delaying a day or two was no big deal, and getting to use this time to learn more about Qin Yao suited her perfectly.
They hadn’t seen each other in a long time. Although she could find some news about Qin Yao online, the parts not reported in the news made her all the more curious. The music in the car was soft and gentle, Qin Yao’s voice magnetic and pleasing; every minute and second with her was, to Xu Chun, immense enjoyment.
The atmosphere in the car was wonderful—so wonderful that Xu Chun, focused entirely on gazing at Qin Yao’s deep, cool, gorgeous face, let Qin Yao’s words go in one ear and out the other without even noticing.
What a pity there was still such a nuisance in the back seat.
Xu Chun glanced at the rearview mirror. If not for Jiang Zhaolie, the emotions that had built up over their long separation would surely have erupted into something worth looking forward to.
Jiang Zhaolie of course noticed the other’s disdain for her. She lowered her head, aggrieved, her heart sour and bitter, cut to pieces, her whole body cold. Yet once that strange emotion rose again, Jiang Zhaolie quickly sobered and hurriedly hypnotized herself: No, I can’t. Jealousy makes a woman lose her reason.
Qin Yao wasn’t as soft-handed as Jiang Banxia. Jiang Banxia was young, after all, unable to bring herself to be ruthless. But Qin Yao was different. Jiang Zhaolie had seen with her own eyes how Qin Yao dealt with people, even her own flesh and blood.
Jiang Zhaolie told herself silently that she’d better behave. Sure, only being able to look but not touch would hurt for a while, but in daily life she could still see Xu Chun and interact with her normally.
Most importantly, she would soon be family with Xu Chun, something Yu Sui’an could only envy from afar. Her current good fortune was something Yu Sui’an wouldn’t even dare envy in her next life.