Chapter 37: Probing

When Xu Wu went to work the next day, she met with the client for this project. However, her attention wasn’t fully on her work. Several times, while jotting down the client’s requirements, she found herself lost in thought.

Fortunately, Shu Ke was there with her.

In the past few months, Shu Ke had been working under Xu Wu and gradually learned from her. Xu Wu’s actions subtly influenced her, and Shu Ke had also prepared a small notebook to record the client’s requests.

While Shu Ke listened to the client, Xu Wu struggled to respond several times. Noticing Xu Wu’s distracted state, after the client left, Shu Ke came over to ask, “Xu Wu, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Xu Wu replied. She had only written down a few of the client’s earlier points in her notebook and decided to close it. Looking at Shu Ke, she asked, “Can I borrow yours? I’ll organize based on the client’s list.”

Hearing this, Shu Ke handed over her notebook. “Here, take it.”

Xu Wu took it. Shu Ke’s notes were very detailed, and Xu Wu felt reassured. Softly, she said, “Thank you.”

Her mind wasn’t fully on work. After leaving the client’s company, she bought a bottle of mineral water nearby.

Last night, she had asked Zhou Jinye how he planned to deal with Qin Shili, but he hadn’t answered that question, seemingly not wanting to involve her.

But who knew what terrible things Qin Shili might do? After all, he had coldly disregarded Zhou Jinye when he was in the emergency room.

The thought made Xu Wu shudder. Zhou Jinye always shielded her, so she felt she needed to do something.

She suddenly remembered the message she had sent on Weibo and wondered if there had been a reply. She took out her phone.

The charm on her phone case swung back and forth, and the small framed photo attached to it swayed in the air.

Opening her phone, she ignored the messages in the company group chat and went straight to Weibo.

Her message had been replied to.

Xu Wu wasn’t sure if the person commenting truly knew what she was referring to or if they were just guessing and steering the focus. Tentatively, she sent another message: [Who did you hear that from? Can you tell me?]

Not receiving a response, Xu Wu closed her phone.

Shu Ke noticed the pendant on her phone.

She hadn’t looked closely before, thinking it was just an ordinary phone charm. But now, standing beside Xu Wu, she clearly saw the framed photo hanging below the charm. In the picture, a little girl was being held in a man’s arms.

Shu Ke couldn’t help but ask, “Is that a photo of you as a child?”

The framed photo swayed due to the chain. Xu Wu touched the photo on the back of her phone case.

It was a photo she had always loved as a child and the only one she still had. Back then, she didn’t have a phone, so a friend of her father’s had taken a photo of her and her father and printed it out.

She had carried it with her ever since. The original photo’s waterproof coating had started to peel, so she had it framed.

Gently stroking the smiling face in the photo, she replied, “Yes.”

Seeing Xu Wu’s expression, Shu Ke didn’t press further and changed the subject: “By the way, Xu Wu, I heard that Xu Tianya hasn’t been busy with projects recently. She’s taken several days off from the director. I don’t know what she’s doing.”

Thinking about her encounter with Xu Tianya yesterday, Xu Wu assumed she was probably taking care of her family.

“In a few months, it’ll be promotion time. You can’t let her become your superior—that would be unbearable,” Shu Ke said as they walked back to the company before noon. “Xu Wu, we’ve worked so hard. I believe in you.”

Xu Wu didn’t respond. She thought about her encounter with Xu Tianya yesterday. Before, she had only seen her as flashy and ambitious. Though Xu Tianya often spoke with a tone of dissatisfaction, Xu Wu had given appropriate counterattacks. Lately, Xu Tianya had spent most of her time caring for her sick family members. Xu Wu was aware of her capabilities. Among the regular employees, the projects secured by Lingmei’s PR department were handled by her and Xu Tianya.

Even if she won against Xu Tianya, though no one could make things difficult for her at work, she would still have to work for the company.

However, getting promoted and earning more money wasn’t a bad thing. Thinking about it, Xu Wu consoled herself.

________________________________________

Just after finishing lunch, on their way back to the company, they ran into Chen Haili stepping out of a luxury car.

Chen Haili was dressed formally, as if he had just come from a banquet. His usually smooth face was flushed.

The car windows were tinted, and the door was half-open. Through the small gap between Chen Haili’s body and the car, Xu Wu could see someone sitting inside.

Her eyes always carried a hint of menace. From a distance, Xu Wu recognized Qin Shili, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Suddenly, the autumn wind seemed to crawl onto her body, bringing with it a sense of coldness and fear.

Xu Wu didn’t know why Qin Shili would drop Chen Haili off at the company. She figured he wouldn’t come here to do anything good.

Chen Haili exchanged some polite pleasantries with the person in the car, while Qin Shili’s attention was on Xu Wu behind him.

Since receiving that unfamiliar call, the number had shown to be from Linjing. He had investigated the caller and recently heard through the grapevine that Xu Wu and Zhou Jinye had been together for a while. Busy dealing with past grievances with the Qin family and attending events, he unexpectedly ran into Chen Haili today.

His assistant had mentioned that Chen Haili was the director of Lingmei’s PR department.

During Xu Tianya’s collaboration with Yangkang, he had heard Chen Haili’s name. Since he had come to greet him, Qin Shili thought of that silent call from Xu Wu and realized it had been a long time since he’d seen them.

“Isn’t that Qin Shili?” Shu Ke also glimpsed the person sitting inside through the gap. “Why would he drop Chen Haili off here?”

Xu Wu didn’t know either and remained silent.

As Chen Haili was about to close the door, she clearly saw the person behind him make a gesture.

Not too far away, Xu Wu could see Qin Shili’s face.

His lips moved, seemingly speaking to Chen Haili but also as if addressing Xu Wu behind him: “Goodbye.”

The moment the car door closed, the wind blew across Xu Wu’s skin, raising goosebumps.

Chen Haili watched the car disappear—a vehicle worth more than what he could earn in a year or two. Turning around, he was about to head back to the company when he saw Xu Wu and Shu Ke walking past him.

“Xu Wu!”

He called out to her.

The two people about to step into the business building had no choice but to stop.

He came over and handed Xu Wu a business card. “Lately, Xu Tianya has been on leave. This is Qin Shili’s business card. The companies he invests in are all well-known in the industry. Follow up on this.”

Silently, Xu Wu stared at the business card in her hand. She couldn’t handle anything involving this person. Forget about their private relationship—just the incident with Yangkang alone made her unwilling to take the risk. She preferred to build a reliable client relationship with integrity.

Shu Ke sucked in a breath beside her. They deliberately walked behind Chen Haili. When the elevator was full and they couldn’t squeeze in, they waited for the next one. “This old fox is plotting again. That car exhibition was a hot topic on Weibo. He even called you into his office. He must know about your history with Qin Shili.”

Xu Wu knew Chen Haili. As long as it benefited the company, he likely wouldn’t care about anything else.

As the elevator descended, she threw Qin Shili’s business card into the trash can beside her.

________________________________________

While replying to the message on Weibo, Xu Wu was on the phone with the client, discussing the overall project, which was expected to exceed their initial estimates.

After finishing the call, she checked the Weibo notification that had popped up.

To further engage in conversation with the other party, she had set up a Weibo message reminder a few hours earlier.

[What’s wrong with what I saw myself?]

Seeing the message, Xu Wu felt a glimmer of hope.

[If what you’re saying is true, would it be convenient for us to meet? This matter involves my boyfriend.]

The other party stopped responding, and the chat box went silent.

One minute…

Five minutes later, the message wasn’t from Weibo anymore but from Zhou Jinye on WeChat.

[What are you doing right now?]

This sudden question confused Xu Wu, but she replied honestly: [Working.]

[Then why are you still holding your phone waiting?]

When this message came through, Xu Wu’s hand paused over the chat box.

After being together for so many days, Zhou Jinye usually messaged her in advance when he was coming to pick her up. But she typically only checked her phone after work.

During working hours, they rarely exchanged messages, both silently agreeing on this point.

Xu Wu didn’t know how he had deduced that she was waiting for a message. Her mind raced as she thought about how to respond. He had said he would handle it and didn’t want her involved, but Xu Wu couldn’t stay uninvolved and let him take the risk alone.

After pondering for a moment, she typed: [I’m handling work-related matters on my phone.]

After a brief pause, Zhou Jinye replied: [Alright, then focus on your work.]

He didn’t say anything more.

Xu Wu didn’t receive any more messages from Weibo and returned to her workstation to continue working.

After reading the information Xu Wu had sent, Zhou Jinye replied to Uncle Xu’s message.

Just as he came out of a meeting, he saw a message from Uncle Xu on his phone. Clicking on it, he found a screenshot from Weibo.

[Is this the girlfriend you dated while abroad? She’s still waiting for me to reply.]

The content of the screenshot explained everything. Last night, he had explicitly told her not to get involved in these matters, yet today, Uncle Xu had sent these screenshots, prompting him to ask Xu Wu about it.

Looking back at the screenshots Uncle Xu had sent, Zhou Jinye realized he hadn’t paid attention to Xu Wu’s Weibo profile picture.

He still doubted Xu Wu’s earlier statement. Yesterday, he had made his stance clear, but he wasn’t sure if Xu Wu had truly understood.

To confirm whether the person messaging Uncle Xu was indeed Xu Wu, he asked Uncle Xu to reply to her questions about him.