Chu Da?
Qiao Tan Yuan couldn’t see Gu Jiao Wu’s face, but she could see Chu Da smiling and waving bye to Gu Jiao Wu. Gu Jiao Wu nodded his head at Chu Da and drove off.
The cars behind Qiao Tan Yuan honked. She drove on auto pilot to her office while she processed what she witnessed a moment ago. Gu Jiao Wu and Chu Da? After Xiao Bao was born, she forgot she saw Chu Da together with Gu Jiao Wu at the cafe. She laughed at her naivety. Gu Jiao Wu loved Chu Da deeply. Why would Gu Jiao Wu let go of Chu Da?
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t know why Gu Jiao Wu would toy with her if Gu Jiao Wu was together with Chu Da unless… she remembered Chu Da had ovarian cancer. Even if Chu Da was in remission, Chu Da couldn’t have children. Gu Jiao Wu was too cruel. Gu Jiao Wu would resort to seducing a woman he hated to give anything to the woman he loved. Gu Jiao Wu wanted to give Xiao Bao to Chu Da.
Qiao Tan Yuan braked suddenly. The car behind her swerved to the side of the road to avoid hitting her car.
‘You MF, are you blind?’ the driver next to Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘Do you know how to f’g drive? You could have killed someone!’
Qiao Tan Yuan didn’t know how she managed to park at her VIP parking or how long she sat in the car. She thought about how Gu Jiao Wu kissed her, and his insistence for them to get back together. It all made sense. Chu Da was back, and Gu Jiao Wu wanted to make Chu Da happy by giving Chu Da the opportunity to raise Xiao Bao, and having Xiao Bao call Chu Da mum.
Qiao Tan Yuan’s body was shaking, and the familiar cold feeling in her heart stirred, and slowly cracked again. Gu Jiao Wu’s cruelness crumbled her heart to dust. Did Gu Jiao Wu hate her that much? Hate her enough to use her body, and steal Xiao Bao to make another woman happy.
Hopelessness washed over Qiao Tan Yuan’s broken heart. Her eyes and nose stung, but she suppressed her tears. She took a deep breath, and chanted at her reflection in the rear mirror… ‘Qiao Tan Yuan, don’t degrade yourself any lower…’
Qiao Tan Yuan was done with degrading herself. Whatever happened less than a day ago was dead to her. She was going to seize the start of a new day, and Gu Jiao Wu would never have another chance to hurt her again.
Qiao Tan Yuan’s first priority for the new day was to resolve Qiao’s company immediate problems. She opened the car door, walked into the headquarters building and took the elevator to her office.
Quan Zheng Hao was on his way out of Qiao’s company’s headquarters. He was surprised to see Qiao Tan Yuan blindly walk past him. For a brief moment there was pain and despair in her eyes, but a second later her eyes looked cold and determined. He realised Qiao Tan Yuan was an intriguing woman, and was happy he would have opportunities in the future to spend time with Qiao Tan Yuan.
Late in the afternoon, Qiao Tan Yuan was finalising her plan of attack to secure Qiao’s company’s future. If she wasn’t worried about how Xiao Bao was at home, she would have stayed back at work even later.
When Qiao Tan Yuan arrived home, Mr Qiao felt guilty he off loaded Qiao Jie’s mess to Qiao Tan Yuan.
‘Tan Yuan, you don’t need to worry about Qiao’s company anymore,’ Mr Qiao said. ‘Let me deal with the consequences.’
‘Dad, if you and Qiao Jie told me earlier than it would have given me more time to figure out a plan to salvage the situation,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Why did Qiao Jie leave it to the last minute to find a solution?’
‘Yes, yes, yes,’ Qiao Jie said. ‘Big sister is right. It’s all my fault. You can lecture me all you want later. Have you come up with a solution?’
‘I’ve locked in five hundred thousand dollars,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Tomorrow I’ll get a loan.’
‘A loan?’ Qiao Jie asked.
‘Getting a loan won’t be a problem now,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘Big sister, didn’t you advise me not to get a loan yesterday?’ Qiao Jie asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan was confident even if news of what the loan was for was leaked, Qiao’s company would still thrive after the public found out who Quan Zheng Hao’s father was.
‘Qiao Jie, you don’t have to worry,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I know what I’m doing.’
Mr Qiao and Qiao Jie trusted Qiao Tan Yuan’s decision.
The following morning, Qiao Tan Yuan went to the city’s largest bank and applied for a five hundred thousand dollar loan. She used ten percent of Qiao’s company’s shares as a guarantee. After negotiating with the bank, the bank approved the loan.
Qiao Tan Yuan returned to her office where Qiao Jie was waiting to suck up to her.
‘Big sister, you’re a genius,’ Qiao Jie praised.
‘Qiao Jie, you better monitor Zheng Quan’s company’s progress closely,’ Qiao Tan Yuan warned. ‘You’ve risked one million of the Qiao’s company’s money not one hundred thousand dollars.’
‘Yes, yes,’ Qiao Jie said. He was still in awe of Qiao Tan Yuan. ‘Yesterday the uncles lectured me too. Today uncle Chu praised big sister in front of dad. Uncle Chu said big sister’s problem solving skills are impressive.’
‘Qiao Jie, don’t leave anything to the last minute again,’ Qiao Tan Yuan warned. ‘Prepare yourself for tomorrow’s press conference I asked Miss Chen to setup for Qiao’s company.’
‘Press conference?’ Qiao Jie asked. ‘What for?’
‘What else?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘By tomorrow the public will find out Qiao’s company is diversifying their products, and invested a million dollars in Zheng Quan’s company. Afterward Qiao’s company shares will boom.’
‘Big sister is indeed impressive,’ Qiao Jie praised.
‘You can save your kiss a.s.s words,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Go notify Zheng Quan’s company to prepare product samples for tomorrow’s press conference.’
‘Um, I’ll call Quan Zheng Hao,’ Qiao Jie said.
‘How did you meet him?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘Through a mutual friend,’ Qiao Jie. ‘I’ve known him for two months, he’s alright. A week ago he treated me to dinner, and I agreed to invest in his company.’
‘Um, you better pray he can make money for Qiao’s company,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘If not, I’ll sell you to repay the bank loan.’
‘Big sister, am I only worth five hundred thousand dollars?’ Qiao Jie protested.
‘Um, I don’t know if you’re even worth that much,’ Qiao Tan Yuan teased. ‘You’re such a trouble maker. Even I wouldn’t want to buy you.’
‘Big sister…’ Qiao Jie said. ‘Alright, I’ll get back to work. If I stand here all day with you, you won’t stop goading me.’
Qiao Tan Yuan patted Qiao Jie’s shoulder affectionately, and walked into her office. She didn’t expect Gu Jiao Wu to be waiting for her in her office. But she didn’t let Gu Jiao Wu see how much he hurt her. She composed herself, and turned around to leave her office.
Gu Jiao Wu captured Qiao Tan Yuan’s arm.
End of Chapter Fifty-Eight