Han Yanyan was in her office when this happened. Even Eldest Miss Han had to work. After all, she was the woman who would inherit the entire Han Group.
All of a sudden she felt like something was off. She rose and dashed out of the office, only to see her secretaries outside sitting at their desks, looking at her in amazement.
"Chief Han, what's the matter?" they asked.
"Wasn't there an earthquake?" Han Yanyan asked, surprised. "It felt like an earthquake to me just now. Didn't you all feel anything?"
Everyone else shook their heads in unison. Han Yanyan couldn't believe it. She had felt it very clearly, and she was very sure she hadn't made a mistake. She called in the janitor, who also shook their head, saying that they hadn't felt anything.
Full of doubt, Han Yanyan returned to his office and called Qiao Chengyu. "Did you feel that earthquake just now?"
"Earthquake?" Qiao Chengyu asked, puzzled. "Um, no."
Han Yanyan heard him leaving his office to ask someone else. A little while later, he returned and seemed quiet for a little bit before he said with a smile, "Are you hallucinating because you slept too late last night? I won't bother you tonight so you can catch up on sleep."
She made a spitting sound at him. Then suddenly he added, "He came back last night."
Han Yanyan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I didn't get the news. Why all of a sudden? "
"I didn't get the news either," Qiao Chengyu replied, "My father told me to go home tonight to meet him. He probably came back on a whim."
"And no wonder." Han Yanyan understood. After all, yesterday was the day that the news that Qiao Chengyu was taking over as group president was officially released to the public.
"The Emperor's eldest son has returned. Are you afraid, Your Royal Highness?" she teased.
Across the line, she heard Qiao Chengyu's low laughter. "There are some things that you don't win by being born first."
The man was now in high spirits and in his prime, all confident charm. Han Yanyan liked him like this, so such so that she felt like she didn't need to catch up on sleep. She was young and in good health, and could take a little torment.
Not long after hanging up the call with Qiao Chengyu, she received a phone call from M City. It was an urgent report from the man she had placed next to Brother Bai.
"What, Bai Yue?" Han Yanyan hadn't expected something like this to happen and was very surprised. "How is she now? In no danger? How did it happen?"
"I don't know either. But Brother Bai said that his brother-in-law has disappeared, and they don't dare contact him," said the man on the other side.
Oho, how interesting. These people hadn't yet found out that Qiao Wenxing had gone home.
"In that case, leave them alone," she told him. "Let's see how long they can hide what happened from Qiao Wenxing."
In his father's study that evening, Qiao Wenxing finally met the half-brother he had always known existed. From Qiao Chengyu's photos in the news, he knew that they looked similar.
Before, he had exuded a gentler temperament while his younger brother had felt a little colder, but they had been more or less equal otherwise. Now, however, even freshly bathed and shaved he was visibly fat and flabby, his mind shaken. Next to dashing, sharp-edged Qiao Chengyu, the difference between them was visible at a glance. Qiao Wenxing felt unspeakably frustrated and discouraged.
"Elder brother," Qiao Chengyu greeted called him
Qiao Wenxing reluctantly smiled. "Second brother."
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"Assist your younger brother well in the future," in these few words, Father Qiao made clear who would be the monarch, and who the minister.
"Auntie is in poor health," said Qiao Chengyu. "Elder brother, there's no hurry. First take care of Auntie, and we can talk about things once she's better."
Father Qiao simply nodded. He had already handed over the power decision-making to Qiao Chengyu.
It was all over but the shouting. In the future, he would be at the mercy of this man. Qiao Wenxing felt dazed and powerless.
Fortunately, he had to go to the hospital to visit his mother, and Father Qiao didn't insist on the three of them having dinner together.
When they emerged from the study, all Qiao Wenxing wanted was to get out quickly. Qiao Chengyu stopped him. "Elder Brother."
Catching up in two steps, he said, "Yanyan has been very worried about you. Once Auntie gets better, bring sister-in-law home, and four of us can go out to eat something simple together."
Qiao Wenxing thought of Han Yanyan, his former fiancee, and Bai Yue, his current wife. A little embarrassed, he nodded in agreement. He has been wandering in the world for over a year, and his former pride was now worn away. Before his aggressive half-brother, he was now firmly suppressed.
On the way to the hospital, he finally remembered Bai Yue. A night and a day and passed and he hadn't come home, yet Bai Yue hadn't even called? It felt odd. He pulled up her phone number on his screen, then hesitated, and finally turned off the phone. Just for a little bit... he wanted some peace and quiet.
Mother and son didn't hold grudges. Though Mother Qiao was disappointed and angry with Qiao Wenxing, upon seeing his depressed appearance, her heart felt distressed for him. Crying bitterly, she forgave him. All she could do was blame Bai Yue, that little fox, for having stolen away her excellent son and made him lose his qualifications to be heir.
As he listened to her curse Bai Yue non-stop, Qiao Wenxing did not dare tell her that not only had he had married Bai Yue, but she was pregnant with a child. He thought that he would wait for a while, and when his mother calmed down, then he would tell her.
Since he had gone missing for a full day, Assistant Feng called. But now that Qiao Wenxing had gone home, he no longer cared about his small, barely-surviving company. He decided that he would close it down.
He asked her casually how Bai Yue was doing. Assistant Feng said that Bai Yue hadn't called the company to find him. Though there was unease in his heart, Qiao Wenxing didn't want to face her, not when he had suddenly run away. He convinced himself not to call.
It was only three days after Bai Yue lost her child and almost bled to death when he found out what happened. The person who called him in the end was his brother-in-law, who asked him angrily where he had gone. Where was he fooling around while Brother Bai's sister was lying in the hospital?
At this time, Qiao Wenxing had just picked up his mother and taken her home. He was shocked to hear the news.
He told his mother that he had to go back to M City to take care of something, but noticing something off, Mother Qiao forced the entire sordid story of his marriage to Bai Yue, her pregnancy, and miscarriage out of him. Mother Qiao turned pale with anger. But her son had already been seduced, and by the anxious look on his face she didn't think she could stop him. Throwing up her hands and letting him go in the wrong direction he had chosen, Mother Qiao simply turned away from Qiao Wenxing, furious.
However, he was still her son. As Qiao Wenxing was about to leave, his mother called to him, "Take some people with you."
Qiao Wenxing returned to M City no longer as the owner of a small, struggling business, but as the young master of the Qiao Family. Even if he was no longer heir, such an identity was unattainable for an ordinary person.
When he saw Bai Yue again, though she was out of physical danger, her face was white and bloodless, her eyes blank and distant, and as weak as though she had lost her soul. She lay there dully as he approached. It took a little while for her to understand that he was there, then tears rolled down from her eyes.
He had left her selfishly just when something like this happened. Guilty and distressed, Qiao Wenxing took her in his arms and repeatedly apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
Bai Yue was out of breath from crying, but she kept shaking her head.
"What happened?"
She looked down and said through her tears, "I slipped and fell."
Qiao Wenxing frowned, looked up, and saw the Bai parents standing to the side looking strange, their eyes flashing.