Water and Fire~Chapter 39.1: The Final Blow

 

Chapter 39.1: The Final Blow

Ren Yan considerately closed the door for her as he left the study.

Hearing the voice, Tan Shen asked Chu Qianmiao through the screen, "Did someone come in?"

Chu Qianmiao: "Someone just left."

Tan Shen was stunned for a moment, his eyes wide open. "Was someone in the room just now?"

"Is someone listening to our video? Could it be?"

"Who is it? So ignorant? How did he grow up? Didn't he get beaten to death?"

Chu Qianmiao was afraid that if she didn't stop him, he would continue to rant and rave forever. She quickly called out Ren Yan's name.

"Stop! It's Ren Yan!"

Tan Shen's handsome face was once again in a daze. Then, he snapped his fingers in front of the screen in a show of coolness.

"It was Ren Yan?"

"Was he the one in the room just now?"

"Oh my god! So happy!"

Chu Qianmiao: "............?" What a sudden turn of events!

Tan Shen: "He heard me say, 'I'm your ex-boyfriend and he's not,' and gained a correct understanding of his own status. He took the initiative to leave to avoid suspicion. It seems the seniors educated by our school are still very sensible. This is very good, very good. This is heaven's will, and I'm very satisfied!"

Chu Qianmiao: "..............."

Brother, is being your ex-boyfriend something special? What kind of new overseas values ​​are these?

Tan Shen ruffled his hair again in front of the camera. Chu Qianmiao looked at his handsome face with rosy lips and white teeth and thought that if this brother would just shut up and stop being so noisy, he would be truly a rare talent. Unfortunately, he just wouldn't shut up. He kept on talking...

"Qian Miao, look, I'm calling you Qian Miao now. That shows how serious I am." Tan Shen stared intently at his phone screen. On his screen, Chu Qian Miao's charming, youthful face, with a sweet smile, was visible.

"Just listen to me. Move into my house. My house is just as good as your senior's. That big bookshelf behind you, if you like it, you can have mine, too!"

Chu Qian Miao pinched her nose and sighed. "Forget it, Shen. I don't want to bother with this anymore. So much has been going on lately, both at work and in life, I'm almost exhausted. Anyway, my childhood friend and I don't plan to live here permanently. Once her troubles are over, we'll go out and look for an apartment."

Tan Shen saw a hint of fatigue on her face and softened his heart. He couldn't bear to nag her about moving anymore.

He snapped his fingers again: "In that case, I'll help you move when I get back!"

Chu Qianmiao immediately chuckled and waved her hands: "Come on, Master Shen, I wouldn't dare ask you, a young man with such physical strength, to do any manual labor!"

Tan Shen, sitting in front of the screen, immediately became displeased. His brows furrowed, his face darkened, and he clenched his fist with the hand not holding the phone and pounded the table: "Can you, a straight-laced woman, have a little bit of a will to live?"

"???" Chu Qianmiao was bewildered.

Tan Shen: "Let me ask you, if I told you that I saw a girl who looked like you when I went to buy medicine today, and I felt that I missed you, how would you answer?"

Chu Qianmiao knew the answer to this routine question; she had seen a will to live test online.

"...I should ask you first, why did you go buy medicine? Are you sick?"

Tan Shen knocked on the table again: "Okay! Then let me ask you, if I say I'm going back to help you move, how should you answer?!"

Chu Qianmiao went over the sentence word by word in her mind, and finally, the answer came to her.

"Oh, oh, oh, you're almost back?"

"Yes!!!!" Tan Shen suddenly leaned forward, and Chu Qianmiao almost suspected he was going to crawl through his phone screen and out of hers. He stared closely at the screen and asked, "So, are you surprised to hear this news? Are you thrilled? Are you happy?" After a pause, he said harshly, "Think about it before you answer!"

Chu Qianmiao: "..............." She really wanted to ask, "Why can't you be more direct, returnee?! And what's so surprising about this? Didn't we already talk about this in the last video? How many more times do we need to lay the groundwork?!"

"Brother Tan, Brother Shen, Brother! Cut the crap, Beijing is still yours!"

After Chu Qianmiao ended her video call with Tan Shen, she left the study to find Ren Yan.

She saw Ren Yan sitting on the sofa in the living room, looking down at his phone. Across the room, Shao Yuan, Zhou Shuqi, and the others were still busy clarifying their statement. They hadn't noticed her presence.

She quietly walked over to the sofa, catching Ren Yan's attention. Then, she swung her arms, inviting him into the study.

Her movements were stealthy. As Ren Yan stood up, she held a finger to her lips, pursing her lips to produce a whispered "Shh." It looked a bit silly and naive.

Ren Yan's eyes immediately shifted from her lips. A brief glance was enough for him to see: she was afraid Zhou Shuqi would discover her presence and come after her like a fool.

He complied with her request, silently returning to the study.

Chu Qianmiao followed him on tiptoe. Once inside the study, she slowly and gently closed the door, as if afraid to disturb the air.

After she closed the door and turned back, she found Ren Yan already seated at his previous desk, typing away at the document.

It was as if he hadn't left in the first place.

She also walked back and sat down, hoping for a chance to talk to him, to thank him or apologize.

But Ren Yan never even raised an eyelid, refusing to meet her eager gaze.

Chu Qianmiao thought, since you won't look up, forget it. I'll openly study your appearance.

When she realized that the philtrum below his nose was so prominent that a thumb would pinch it easily if he were unconscious, Ren Yan called her name again.

"Junior Chu."

"Here!"

"Does my face look rich?" He finally lifted his eyelids to glance at her. "Do you think I'm a millionaire just by looking at my face?"

Haha.

Chu Qianmiao chuckled dryly. This guy's rhetorical questions were quite humorous sometimes.

She took advantage of his eyelids before they drooped and said, "Senior, I just wanted to thank you and apologize. Thank you for giving me and my friend space to video chat. Sorry, our video chat interrupted your work. Also, my ex-boyfriend was a bit out of his mind and called you by your name. If he offended you, I apologize for him."

Ren Yan raised an eyebrow and got to the point: "Why did he call me by my name so easily? Have you mentioned me to him?"

Chu Qianmiao smiled awkwardly and nodded.

The investment bank boss's mind was indeed sharp and agile.

"...Yes, I mentioned it to my friend while we were video chatting. He said he recognized you." After a pause, Chu Qianmiao clapped her hands and said, "Okay, I told him about you. To be fair, senior, I'll tell you about him too."

"His name is Tan Shen. He was a junior during my freshman year. He was in the same class as my three senior roommates, in the Finance Department. He was your direct junior, and Shao Yuan's senior." After a pause, she added, "He also said you took on a design for their class on behalf of your advisor!"

Chu Qianmiao saw that Ren Yan's brows were furrowed like a small hill.

"You don't have to tell me who he is or what his name is. Why are you saying so much?" Ren Yan's voice was cold and even, without any ups and downs. Chu Qianmiao sensed a strange impatience in his words. "I don't want to know."

...Oh.

After the Hanhai Home Textiles feedback was settled, Ren Yan rarely came to the apartment. He was busy preparing for the Hanhai Home Textiles meeting.

On Gu Miaoyu's side, the industry association, after an investigation, ruled that she had no fault or responsibility in Yueyue's home renovations. Shao Yuan, Zhou Shuqi, and others also explained the entire story online, clearly and logically presenting the truth to the public: Yueyue's parents had distorted the facts, played up their pity, and misled the public, manipulating public opinion.

Many chose to believe it, but many others remained skeptical, claiming that the industry association's investigation was rigged and that Shao Yuan and his team's statement was written by someone Gu Miaoyu paid for. They chose to open their eyes to "justice prevails" and turn a blind eye to "factual evidence."

Chu Qianmiao felt a deep sense of powerlessness at this moment. The internet had fostered some progress, but it had also given rise to these false guardians of morality, whose mouths could become lethal weapons.

Gu Miaoyu lost her job because of this incident. Chu Qianmiao consoled her, "Your company is such a jerk! When something goes wrong, they just throw their employees out without a second thought. You'd rather not stay in such a crappy place!"

Gu Miaoyu quickly cheered herself up with some cheering up. She calmed down, regrouped, and prepared to look for her next job.

Chu Qianmiao breathed a sigh of relief, seeing her smiling again.

Gu Miaoyu's situation was improving, and there was also good news from Hanhai Home Textiles.

Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO had successfully passed the IPO review committee.

When the news of the approval broke, the entire project team and everyone at Hanhai Home Textiles were overjoyed. Zhou Hanhai even treated all the intermediary agencies to a feast at a large restaurant to celebrate.

Everyone enjoyed the meal with great joy and excitement. All those days of working overtime until dawn, those late nights at Rongda, and those painstaking preparations for the meeting—they had finally paid off, bearing the fruit of victory.

Once Hanhai Home Textiles received its IPO approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, it would ring the bell at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, becoming a truly publicly listed company.

After a period of peace and quiet after all the ups and downs, Chu Qianmiao finally had the energy to think about her and Gu Miaoyu's future housing options.

Both she and Gu Miaoyu felt that living in Ren Yan's apartment for free wasn't a long-term solution. He wasn't their father, so why would he give them a house for free?

So, after discussing it with Gu Miaoyu, Chu Qianmiao decided to wait until Hanhai Home Textiles completed its IPO before discussing the move with Ren Yan. And before ringing the bell, she decided not to bother him with personal matters.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly at Hanhai Home Textiles, and they quickly received their IPO approval. Zhou Hanhai even bought a new suit to wear when he rang the bell at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The heads of various intermediaries and key project team members would all travel to Shenzhen for the ceremony. Following the ceremony, there would be a listing reception, and Zhang Teng specifically told Chu Qianmiao, "Get a nice, expensive dress—something nice and expensive—to make a good impression!"

Chu Qianmiao snapped up a few thousand yuan at the mall, her heart pounding, and she returned with a black evening gown.