Water and Fire~Chapter 14.2: Buy Me a Book

 

Chapter 14.2: Buy Me a Book

As she turned the corner, her strength felt drained from her... but before she could muster it, she was startled by the two men standing there, motionless.

"Hang!" She jumped back, realizing that the people eavesdropping were Ren Yan and Qin Qianyu.

Qin Qianyu gave her a thumbs-up. "Qianmiao, I thought you were just good at flattering people, but I didn't expect you'd be even better at snarking people, even without using a single curse word! And there's a book called 'Speak Well, Live Well'—what a brilliant satire! By the way, is there really such a thing?"

Chu Qianmiao patted her chest to calm herself and nodded. "Yes, by Liang Shiqiu."

"Cultured! Really cultured!" Qin Qianyu boasted, waving his thumbs-up in front of her again.

Ren Yan raised his lip and asked, "You still have illusions about human nature, so you wanted to come and see if Di Chong is short of money?"

Chu Qianmiao didn't expect to be so easily seen through.

"I don't have any illusions anymore."

The three of them left the company. Chu Qianmiao was about to take the subway, but Ren Yan stopped her.

"Wait a minute."

After stopping her, Ren Yan instructed Qin Qianyu, "Go to the Starbucks across the street and buy three coffees."

Qin Qianyu happily left.

"Let's chat for a minute," Ren Yan said to Chu Qianmiao.

Hanhai Home Textiles has a nice environment. There's an open space between the company's main entrance and the office building, where Zhou Hanhai had a rockery pavilion built.

Ren Yan led Chu Qianmiao into the pavilion, and they sat down around a stone table.

"Are you feeling a little sad?" Ren Yan asked bluntly.

Chu Qianmiao nodded. She recalled Di Chong's shy smile as he pressed a handful of hazelnuts into her hands. He had seemed so kind then. But then, he'd become so ugly. Greed, she thought, was the root of all evil.

"Mr. Ren, what do you think will become of Di Chong in the future? He gained nothing from this incident, and even lost his job. Do you think it was worth it?" Chu Qianmiao asked with a sigh.

"You don't need to feel sorry for others. If Di Chong dared to do this, he must have a way out. And that way out must have offered him better compensation, even better than the shares promised by Mr. Zhou. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resigned so decisively." Ren Yan's tone was calm.

"But he signed a non-compete agreement when he joined. He can't work for another company that competes with his current one for three years after leaving." She had just finished editing the draft and remembered this part clearly.

Ren Yan: "There are many ways to circumvent this problem."

Chu Qianmiao sighed. She studied law, so of course she knew that where there are laws, there are always those who exploit them.

"Actually, the company's shares sold to Di Chong weren't small. Why did he have to go to such lengths?"

Ren Yan smiled sarcastically, "When you know you could get more money, you won't be satisfied with the current amount. Ultimately, you prioritized profit too much, and slowly, money became all you cared about."

"Then, trust and morality between people aren't important anymore? Are human touches no longer important? Wouldn't life be dull and miserable with only money and no friends?"

On their birthdays, other people have their friends sing happy birthday to them, but he's asking for money to sing for them? That money would have to pay for it, too.

Ren Yan shook his head and smiled, his smile brimming with sarcasm.

"Chu Qianmiao, you've been out of college for a year, haven't you? You're still so naive. Let me tell you again: today's situation is child's play. You'll encounter more tragic and unexpected things on future projects, and they all boil down to money. This is the adult world, where the game of human nature prevails, not the exchange of sincerity. Because I'm your senior, I'm giving you some advice today to avoid you making a fuss like today. When working on projects in the future, temper your human touch, or else it could easily make you look like a joke."

Chu Qianmiao's head shot up at the last part. She wanted to say something in defense, but nothing came out. Words were stuck in her throat, choking her.

Qin Qianyu returned with three cups of coffee, giving one to Chu Qianmiao and one to Ren Yan.

Chu Qianmiao took the coffee and tested the temperature; it wasn't too hot. "I specifically told you not to make it too hot, but drink it straight away!" Qin Qianyu took credit.

"Qianmiao, I think you're quite gifted. It's all because you're so good at flattering people. Our President Ren, seeing your little heart being struck by the ugly world, actually had the sympathy to talk with you. You should cherish this cup of coffee. Our President Ren never has a heart-to-heart with us, his closest subordinates!" Qin Qianyu continued to ramble.

Chu Qianmiao picked up the coffee cup and drank it all in one gulp.

Qin Qianyu: "..." "Cherish this cup of coffee" turned into a slap in the face...

Chu Qianmiao used the coffee to clear the blockage in her throat. She could finally breathe.

She placed the empty paper coffee cup on the stone table in the pavilion, wiped her mouth, and stood up.

Two voices rang out simultaneously.

Chu Qianmiao knew one of the voices was her own. She said, "I'm going to the subway!"

The other one seemed to be Ren Yan's. After removing her voice, she thought she heard him say, "I'll treat you to dinner."

Qin Qianyu stiffened his neck. "What? What did you just say, Boss? Qianmiao's voice was so loud, it drowned you out. I didn't hear you clearly! Say it again!"

Chu Qianmiao suspected she had misheard. Aside from his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth, all his facial features belonged to the expressionless Ren Yan. Why would he ask for a treat? It was unlikely.

"I say," Ren Yan looked from Chu Qianmiao to Qin Qianyu, "It's getting late. Let's go."

Chu Qianmiao bowed to Qin Qianyu. "Thank you, Brother Qin, for the coffee! Goodbye!" She turned to Ren Yan and said, "Thank you, General Ren, for the cross-departmental chat. Goodbye!" She admitted she had probably misheard.

She turned and left.

Ren Yan also stood up, took out his car keys, and headed for the parking lot.

Qin Qianyu peppered him with questions.

"Boss, why do I feel like you're not talking about disbanding? I thought I heard you say you were going to treat us to dinner?!"

"You've never offered to treat us to dinner! We've been having dinner together and wanted to invite you out, but you've only paid for it, never showing up! So, I suspect I misheard you! I'm asking again!"

"But why did you change the words later? Was it because Qian Miao said she was leaving? You didn't want to treat me anymore after she left, so you changed the words at the last minute, right? Boss, am I still your most beloved and valued subordinate?!"

The answer was the defiant "beep" of the Mercedes-Benz, followed by the four exhaust pipes that vanished after it had driven him away from the front of the car.

At 10:30 pm, Qin Qianyu received a message. Seeing that the sender was Ren Yan, he shuddered.

He's not going to start working overtime at this hour, is he?

Trembling, he clicked on the message and saw Ren Yan had sent him: "Do you have an online shopping account? Please buy me a copy of 'Speak Well, Live Well.' Send it to the office."

Five seconds later, another message appeared: "Our company, Litong."

Qin Qianyu was stunned.