‘Does he think he can buy big sister’s love?’ Qiao Jie asked.
Qiao Jie wasn’t impressed by the shopping bags on the sofa, and glared at Gu Jiao Wu as Gu Jiao Wu walked to the front door.
Mrs Qiao sighed. If Gu Jiao Wu’s heart was in the right place, Qiao Tan Yuan would accept him again even without receiving a single gift. She picked up the shopping bags, and walked upstairs to the nursery.
In the nursery, Qiao Tan Yuan felt guilty Xiao Bao cried for her after sunset. Mrs Chu bottle fed Xiao Bao, and coaxed Xiao Bao to sleep. Her body was sweaty and itchy. She walked to her bedroom, and took off her clothes to shower. She was startled to see Gu Jiao Wu’s kiss marks on her neck to her legs.
‘AH!’ Qiao Tan Yuan cursed Gu Jiao Wu.
Qiao Tan Yuan blamed Gu Jiao Wu, it was his fault she didn’t hear her phone ring. Usually she had a lot of breast milk to feed Xiao Bao, but Gu Jiao Wu… she sighed, and walked to the bathroom. After a hot shower, she wore a night gown before walking to her bed because she didn’t want the AH to get another opportunity to see her naked. But he wasn’t in her bedroom, only her mum was waiting on her bed.
Qiao Tan Yuan sat on the bed next to Mrs Qiao.
‘Mum, Xiao Bao’s asleep,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘I know, I want to talk to you,’ Mrs Qiao said.
‘Yes?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Tan Yuan, you and Jiao Wu…’ Mrs Qiao said.
‘Mum, there’s nothing between him and I,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t want to hear Gu Jiao Wu’s name, she wanted to sleep and forget him.
‘Tan Yuan…’ Mrs Qiao said.
Mrs Qiao was unhappy Qiao Tan Yuan wanted to avoid Qiao Tan Yuan’s own heart. She saw Gu Jiao Wu’s kiss marks on Qiao Tan Yuan’s body, and it made her worry Gu Jiao Wu would break Qiao Tan Yuan’s heart again.
‘If Jiao Wu loves you, I’ll give my blessing to see you two back together,’ Mrs Qiao said. ‘But now I believe you, he wants to get back together with you for the wrong reason. He wants to give Xiao Bao a family. If this is what you want too, I’ll accept your decision. But if you’re waiting for him to…’
‘Mum… I’m tired,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I want to sleep. Can we talk about this tomorrow?’
‘Tan Yuan…’ Mrs Qiao said.
Mrs Qiao couldn’t force Qiao Tan Yuan to face Qiao Tan Yuan’s feelings toward Gu Jiao Wu. She stood and left Qiao Tan Yuan’s bedroom.
Qiao Tan Yuan pulled the bedsheet over her body to cover the kiss marks. She slept, but couldn’t avoid Gu Jiao Wu in her sleep…
‘Tan Yuan, I love you,’ the dream Gu Jiao Wu said.
Qiao Tan Yuan hugged the dream Gu Jiao Wu.
‘I love you too,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
The dream Gu Jiao Wu pushed Qiao Tan Yuan away, and s.n.a.t.c.hed Xiao Bao from the cot.
‘If you love me, you need to give me Xiao Bao,’ the dream Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘No, Xiao Bao is my daughter,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Didn’t you say you love me?’ the dream Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘If you love me, you need to give everything to me, including Xiao Bao.’
The dream Gu Jiao Wu laughed, ignored Qiao Tan Yuan’s pleas and carried Xiao Bao away.
‘No…’ Qiao Tan Yuan murmured.
Qiao Tan Yuan woke up. It was a dream, but her body aches weren’t a dream. Her dream felt like a premonition. Gu Jiao Wu was using her love to get Xiao Bao.
Qiao Tan Yuan rubbed her chest to calm her heart ache. In three days she could escape Gu Jiao Wu’s influence.
The oblivious Gu Jiao Wu arrived at the Gu Mansion. Everyone was asleep except Gu Jiao Wen and Tan Pan Ting were staying at the hospital with his twin nephews.
Gu Jiao Wu thought it was an eventful day. Meeting his twin nephews, helping Gu Jiao Mai face the ghost in her heart, and Qiao Tan Yuan… he lost his control with Qiao Tan Yuan. He walked to the bathroom, showered and noticed Qiao Tan Yuan’s scratch marks on his shoulders.
Gu Jiao Wu smiled. The sweet taste of Qiao Tan Yuan’s body exceeded his expectations. He didn’t know why he lost his control, but he was certain he had no regrets. He wasn’t going to let Qiao Tan Yuan leave him. Being with Qiao Tan Yuan put him in a good mood, he had let go of his resentments toward Qiao Tan Yuan. He thought their bodies were compatible, and he antic.i.p.ated reuniting with Qiao Tan Yuan and raising their daughter together. Their reunion would make Gu Tian Chu happy too.
In the morning, Gu Jiao Wu woke up early and drove to the Qiao Mansion.
Gu Jiao Wu visited Xiao Bao in the nursery first. Xiao Bao was fed, and Mrs Chu was playing with Xiao Bao. He couldn’t resist holding the adorable Xiao Bao, but she cried and Mrs Chu took her from his arms. He took his frustrations to Qiao Tan Yuan’s bedroom, but he was surprised he couldn’t see Qiao Tan Yuan so he returned to the nursery.
‘Where’s Tan Yuan?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked Mrs Chu.
‘I don’t know where Miss Qiao is,’ Mrs Chu said.
Gu Jiao Wu understood Qiao Tan Yuan was avoiding him, because she was still angry at him. He would wait for her to calm down, and give her time to think about what was best for Xiao Bao.
Qiao Tan Yuan saw Gu Jiao Wu’s car parked in front of the Qiao Mansion early in the morning. She hid in another room to avoid him, because she didn’t want to face the truth in her heart that being together with him last night gave her hope. But her dream reminded her not to let him hurt her again.
Gu Jiao Wu drove off, and Qiao Tan Yuan returned to her bedroom. She packed hers and Xiao Bao’s belongings to go to Denmark, and she won’t have to see Gu Jiao Wu again.
After work, Gu Jiao Wu returned to the Gu Mansion. Everyone was awake, Gu Jiao Wen and Tan Pan Ting arrived home from the hospital. His twin nephews were sleeping soundly in the new nursery built for them. Gu Jiao Wen hired two nursemaids to help take care of the baby boys.
Gu Jiao Wu noticed Tan Pan Ting gained weight on her skinny frame. Gu Jiao Wen was smiling at Tan Pan Ting and the baby boys. As a new father, he understood Gu Jiao Wen’s elation.
When the baby boys were awake, Gu Jiao Wu held them and played with them. They didn’t cry, and it made him think about Xiao Bao and Qiao Tan Yuan. Xiao Bao didn’t let him hold her, and Qiao Tan Yuan was avoiding him. He wanted to be with Qiao Tan Yuan and Xiao Bao like how Gu Jiao Wen had Tan Pan Ting and the boys in Gu Jiao Wen’s life.
Gu Jiao Wu returned to his bedroom. He was frustrated Qiao Tan Yuan was avoiding him. But he needed to be patient, and give Qiao Tan Yuan time to accept Qiao Tan Yuan and Xiao Bao belonged with him.
In the evening, during dinner at the Qiao Mansion, Qiao Tan Yuan sensed Mr Qiao and Qiao Jie were hiding a secret from her.
‘Dad, what’s wrong?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Mr Qiao didn’t want to worry Qiao Tan Yuan since she was going to Denmark with Xiao Bao soon.
‘Nothing, I’m going to miss you,’ Mr Qiao said.
‘Qiao Jie, tell me what happened,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Jie avoided eye contact with Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Nothing happened,’ Qiao Jie said.
‘Nothing?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. She knew Qiao Jie wouldn’t avoid eye contact with her unless something was wrong. ‘What did you do?’
‘Big sister, I didn’t do anything except work for the whole year,’ Qiao Jie said.
‘Are you sure?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Um, big sister, I swear I didn’t do anything,’ Qiao Jie said.
Qiao Tan Yuan sighed. ‘Dad, don’t you trust me?’
‘It’s only a small problem,’ Mr Qiao said. ‘Qiao Jie can handle it.’
‘What small problem?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Big sister, don’t worry, I’ll resolve it,’ Qiao Jie said.
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t believe it was a small problem. That night she couldn’t sleep worrying about Mr Qiao and Qiao Jie.
The following morning, Qiao Tan Yuan breast fed Xiao Bao and drove to Qiao’s company headquarters.
The secretary was surprised to see Qiao Tan Yuan came to work.
‘Miss Chen, give me the internal financial reports for the last two months,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Executive Qiao… you’re still on maternity leave,’ Miss Chen said.
‘It doesn’t matter if I’m on maternal leave, I’m still responsible for managing Qiao’s company,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Hurry and show me the financial reports. Also, let me review any new contracts in the last two months.’
‘Yes Executive Qiao,’ Miss Chen said.
Two hours later, Qiao Tan Yuan slammed the reports and contracts on her office desk. She pressed the internal intercom. ‘Miss Chen, come into my office.’
Miss Chen nervously entered Qiao Tan Yuan’s office.
‘Why didn’t you inform me about this?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Executive Qiao, Manager Qiao told me that he’ll be responsible for taking care of this situation,’ Miss Chen said.
Qiao Tan Yuan nodded, and walked upstairs to Qiao Jie’s office.
‘Big sister, why are you at work?’ Qiao Jie asked. ‘You’ll be leaving for Denmark soon.’
‘You made a mess at work,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Do you expect I can still go to Denmark?’
Qiao Tan Yuan put a contract on Qiao Jie’s desk.
‘Are you a child?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Were you drunk when you signed this contract?’
‘I…’ Qiao Jie said.
Qiao Jie remembered he was drunk at an informal business dinner last weekend. The s.e.xy hostess serving him gave him a lap dance, and he signed the contract while drunk.
‘One million!’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You made a loss of one million! How do you expect dad to clean up your mess?’
‘Big sister… I’m sorry,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘I made a mistake. I promise I’ll fix it.’
‘How are you going to fix it?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘I…’ Qiao Jie said. ‘I’m thinking about the solution.’
‘What solution?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Qiao Jie didn’t dare say he made a million dollar mistake not a billion dollar mistake.
‘Big sister, you’ll be going to Denmark tomorrow,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘You don’t have to worry about this. I’ll think of a solution.’
‘Does everyone at the company know about this yet?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Not yet,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘I only told dad yesterday.’
Qiao Jie was forced to tell Mr Qiao, because he had two days left to cough up one million dollars.
‘Good, keep this quiet for now,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I don’t want the news to adversely affect Qiao’s company shares.’
‘Big sister, what do you suggest I do?’ Qiao Jie asked.
‘I’m going to find an investor,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I want this resolved within two days.’
‘Big sister, you don’t have to get involved,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘I’ll get a loan.’
‘Qiao Jie, if you get a loan, you’ll be advertising there’s something wrong with Qiao’s company’s cash flows,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Do you think dad would worry about this if you can just get a loan?’
‘Big sister, what should I do?’ Qiao Jie asked. ‘Yesterday I looked for Tong Shang Wen and Hu Zui Ren. But they are on an overseas business trip.’
Qiao Jie didn’t dare to look for Shen Cheng, because he knew Qiao Tan Yuan would skin him if he involved Shen Cheng.
Qiao Tan Yuan was relieved at least Qiao Jie had half a brain, and didn’t involve Shen Cheng. She owed Shen Cheng too much, and didn’t want to trouble Shen Cheng anymore. Then she thought about Du Lei Xin.
‘Qiao Jie, next time use your brain,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘If you continue to be reckless, you’re not only harming yourself but you’ll be harming Qiao’s company’s reputation and the livelihoods of Qiao’s company’s employees. You need to take your managerial duties seriously.’
‘Big sister, I understand,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘I promise, next time I won’t make the same mistake.’
Qiao Tan Yuan was speechless. Did Qiao Jie plan to make a different big business mistake? She sighed, and walked to the door.
‘Big sister, who are you meeting?’ Qiao Jie asked.
‘You don’t need to worry,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Jie pressed Mr Qiao’s direct line on the intercom. ‘Dad, big sister knows.’
A while later, Qiao Tan Yuan entered Du Lei Xin’s office.
‘Are you meeting a client soon?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Du Lei Xin was surprised to see Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Welcome,’ Du Lei Xin said.
Du Lei Xin remembered Gu Jiao Wu mentioned Gu Jiao Wu didn’t let Qiao Tan Yuan drink coffee and tea. He called his secretary, and his secretary brought two gla.s.ses of water into his office and closed the door after leaving.
‘Tan Yuan, you should drink water,’ Du Lei Xin said. ‘I didn’t think you would want to drink coffee or tea.’
Qiao Tan Yuan sat in front of Du Lei Xin’s desk. She was impressed he paid attention to detail.
‘You know how to be attentive,’ Qiao Tan Yuan praised. ‘But I didn’t come to see you today to drink water with you.’
‘Um, I know,’ Du Lei Xin said and smiled. ‘Why are you here?’
‘A private loan,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Tong Shang Wen and Hu Zui Ren are overseas. You’re my last resort.’
‘Um,’ Du Lei Xin said. He didn’t need to ask why Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t ask Shen Cheng for a loan. ‘I heard you’re leaving for Denmark. Why are you still working?’
‘A small family situation,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘We’re friends. You can tell me directly what you want in return. I trust you won’t leak news about this. If you can’t help me, I’ll think of a different solution.’
‘How much do you need?’ Du Lei Xin asked.
‘One million,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Du Lei Xin coughed. ‘I thought Bai Hua Qiao franchise shops were thriving.’
‘Um, they are,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said proudly. ‘But sometimes there’s a small b.u.mp along the way.’
‘Um,’ Du Lei Xin said. He suspected Qiao Jie was the small b.u.mp. ‘Honestly loaning you one million usually isn’t a big deal. But I’ve committed five million to a new investment. It’ll be hard for me to take one million out of the new investment even if it’s short term.’
Qiao Tan Yuan believed Du Lei Xin was being honest, because Du Lei Xin had good work ethics.
‘I’m sorry for disturbing you,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’ll leave.’
‘Wait,’ Du Lei Xin said. ‘Why are you always in a rush?’
‘You know what I’m like,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’m the type that can’t sleep well at night if I can’t fix a problem.’
‘A few days ago, I met a client who was interested about my new investment,’ Du Lei Xin said. ‘I can meet my client again, and ask if my client is still interested. Then taking a million out short term wouldn’t be an issue.’
‘How long will your client take to make a decision?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘I’m having dinner with my client tonight,’ Du Lei Xin said. ‘Tomorrow I’ll let you know my client’s decision.’
End of Chapter Fifty-Five