Chapter 764: Too Many Excuses (3)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The meeting went on for over an hour before it ended. Instead of calling it a planning meeting, you might as well have called it a special meeting that Qi Qiming requested to introduce Gu Lingsha.
As expected, at the meeting, Gu Lingsha was delegated to the South River Project as one of the Project Managers working on the same tasks as Qi Lei.
w.a.n.g Qin knew about Qi Qiming’s intentions very well. She made Gu Lingsha look bad many times, yet the latter silently endured it all.
After the meeting ended, the first to leave their seats were Qi Qiming, w.a.n.g Qin, Yue Hai, and the rest. Later, everyone else swiftly kept their things and left the meeting room too while Qi Lei was barely in a hurry. Many people probably knew that their Vice President Qi had fallen asleep for an hour at the meeting again, and they were quite afraid to see CEO Qi’s furious expression when he left earlier.
“Master Qi! Wake up. The meeting’s over!”
As the meeting room quickly emptied, Yang Sheng only felt even more pressure with Qi Qiming’s extremely enraged expression earlier and w.a.n.g Qin’s concerned yet disappointed gaze. He went up to shake Qi Lei who was still propping his head up with his eyes shut.
Qi Lei then opened his eyes in a daze. As he turned to look Yang Sheng grumpily, he looked around and saw that his surroundings had emptied. He then tossed the pen in his hand onto the table, and slowly stood up. “Tidy up and let’s go back to my office.”
Yang Sheng nodded and swiftly tidied things up. Qi Lei turned around and was about to walk to the door when that light purple figure entered his sight.
Qi Lei’s gaze was quiet as he watched her. Having done packing up, Yang Sheng looked back and forth between the two of them. After that, he quietly walked out of the meeting room and closed the door behind him.
“Lei, do you have to act like this?”
When she heard the sound of the door closing, Gu Lingsha spoke up first. She broke the stifling silence, her beautiful eyes containing an indescribable sadness as she fixed her eyes on Qi Lei.
Qi Lei looked away and scoffed calmly. “What did I do now?”
“I know you’re angry. You’re angry at me, but this is my duty. I don’t have a choice. My father wants me to be trained in Qi Kai, so Uncle Qi just agreed to my request. You don’t have to be unhappy with him. If you want to blame someone, then blame me. You know that publicly treating your father like this will only make Uncle Qi sad. You don’t have to direct all your anger toward Uncle Qi because of me. If you’re not happy about something, you can hit me or curse me. I just hope that you won’t have that att.i.tude with us, with everyone!” Gu Lingsha spilled all of her unhappiness at once. There was already a faint light in her eyes, reflecting endurance and persistence, unlike the old her at all.
Nevertheless, when Gu Lingsha said that, Qi Lei just laughed and said frankly, “Shasha, you’re wrong, or maybe I should say that you’ve overestimated yourself. I’ve always had this att.i.tude. Do you think my mood could be affected by one person? Whatever that’s between the old man and I has got nothing to do with you. Right now, I’m just doing as you asked and pretending like I don’t know you at the company. Am I doing it wrong?”
When she heard Qi Lei, Gu Lingsha’s expression instantly turned rigid and pale. Her gaze slowly turned bleak, and she could not help but laugh bitterly. “Lei, no matter what you think of me, I just wanted to say that I have my reasons. I’m helpless too. Do you think I want to live in hatred? You’ll never understand the pain I’ve suffered, and the pain Ah Feng had to suffer. Also, why can’t you just try to understand us?”
“Where’s Qi Feng? I know he’s not dead. All these years, he’s never turned up alive or as a corpse. With all this hiding, I know very well what your plans are.” Qi Lei looked up and stared at Gu Lingsha. “Shasha, tell me, where is Qi Feng?”
Meeting Qi Lei’s forceful gaze, Gu Lingsha could only shake her head as she gritted her teeth and sighed. “Lei, forgive me. I can’t tell you right now, but I have my reasons. I just don’t want them to be hurt anymore.”
When he heard this, Qi Lei’s handsome face immediately flashed with a cold smile and his tone was unfriendly. “Fine, Shasha, I know you don’t trust me. That’s why you always have so many excuses. All the so-called reasons you have are probably very far-fetched. Since you insist on being this way, I can’t stop you either, but I think I’ll do my best to stop some things from happening.”
“Are you saying that you must go against me?” Gu Lingsha clenched her fists, feeling a little shocked. There was disappointment in her eyes as she quietly looked at him. “You once said that you’d always protect me. You.. Are you saying that you want to break your promise?”
“I used to want to protect you because I thought you weren’t strong enough, and that you needed protection, but now you don’t need it anymore. You’re so strong that you can plot against other people, so why would you still need my protection? Besides, all these years, you didn’t seem to care about me. I’ve always been someone disposable.” Qi Lei forced a smile while he turned to look out the window. His expression turned chilly in an instant too.
“No, Qi Lei, you’re not. I’ve always treated you as my most treasured friend and even my own kin. You’re not someone disposable,” Gu Lingsha quickly explained impatiently.
Qi Lei just lifted a hand to stop her from continuing. He sighed softly and lamented, “Whether or not it is, you know it best yourself. I thought you died, and I was heartbroken for many years, I even hated Mu Yuchen, yet you were alive, and you didn’t send me a message at all. Even with Qi Feng’s news right now, you’re the same. You don’t have to explain. You know well enough for yourself whether you’ve really treated me as a good friend of yours. I’ve always had a soft spot for you, and even admired you. I really wish this feeling could have been preserved, but now it looks like that’s not quite possible anymore.”
“Lei, don’t be like this. I’m still me. It’s just that I…”
“Mu Yuchen’s not as easy to go against as you think. Even if you want to take revenge, please don’t use those sinister tricks on the innocent. My bottom line is simple. As long as you don’t hurt my people, I’ll maintain a neutral stance. I think you should be able to accept this stance.”
Qi Lei left these words with a lowered voice before he walked to the door and reached out to open it.
“Well, who’re your so-called people? Aunt w.a.n.g? Or Xi Xiaye? Tell me!”