Water and Fire~Chapter 82.2: That Good Girl

 

Chapter 82.2: That Good Girl

After leaving Wu Jin's office, Ren Yan asked Qin Qianyu to get some coffee. Qin Qianyu went to the tea room, and Liu Lifeng skipped the meeting room and went straight back to his workstation.

Chu Qianmiao followed Ren Yan and stopped in the small, semi-open reception room.

Chu Qianmiao called out to Ren Yan.

"Mr. Ren."

Ren Yan turned to look at her.

Chu Qianmiao raised a question, "I find this a bit odd. If even I could see the point of the question I asked earlier, surely Mr. Wu could as well?"

Ren Yan raised an eyebrow at her, then suddenly smiled at her. "You're smarter than I thought."

With that smile, Chu Qianmiao's suspicions were confirmed.

This mutual nitpicking was a deliberate collaboration between Ren Yan and Wu Jin.

Ren Yan had deliberately used this tactic to trick Wu Jin into revealing the problems with Kan Qingzhou's project. The advantage of this approach was that, on the one hand, Wu Jin didn't directly address Kan Qingzhou, thus avoiding a potential conflict and personal rift before his retirement. Kan Qingzhou must have had some connections to thrive, and she had only been a minor figurehead in exposing Kan Qingzhou's project problems. Even if Kan Qingzhou was targeting her, he still had to consider Ren Yan. On the other hand, Wu Jin used her as a tool to urge Kan Qingzhou to address the issue of profiteering. After all, anyone with a sharp eye would know there was something fishy going on.

Wu Jin must have considered how to confront Kan Qingzhou without directly confronting him. He likely asked Ren Yan a question or two, and Ren Yan, taking advantage of this opportunity, accomplished three things today. First, he restored her reputation by earning her an apology from Xia Fengyong. Second, he made her famous in front of his superiors, perhaps even recommending her for a promotion and a raise before his retirement. Third, he helped Wu Jin resolve the problem without leaving any trace.

It truly killed three birds with one stone.

Chu Qianmiao felt she still had much to learn from Ren Yan.

After figuring it all out, Chu Qianmiao clasped her fists in front of Ren Yan.

Ren Yan raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"

Chu Qianmiao replied, "I'm convinced." "I'm convinced, you're like a thousand-year-old fox playing Liao Zhai."

Ren Yan raised the corner of his mouth and smiled briefly.

Then he suddenly changed the subject, lowering his voice, barely loud enough for the nearby receptionist to hear, and asked Chu Qianmiao, "Why did you suddenly throw Xia Fengyong coffee? Why are you suddenly so upset? That's not your style." His gaze was fixed.

Under his gaze, Chu Qianmiao replied, "He was swearing."

"What swearing did he say?" Ren Yan pressed.

"He said you were impotent." How could he relay that to her face?

"He said I have a physical defect," Ren Yan said first.

Chu Qianmiao: "She truly admired Ren Yan's ability to transform."

"Almost."

"You can't stand him slandering me like that," Ren Yan asked again, his voice and tone perfectly normal, a very flat and formulaic tone.

She quickly emphasized, "No, no, President Ren, don't overthink it. Even if it was Xia Fengyong who was talking about Brother Qin or Liu Lifeng, I would have thrown coffee at him. Our department's reputation can't be tarnished by him just by opening his mouth."

She slapped her hand on her lips. What nonsense! The last sentence was superfluous.

"Hmm," Ren Yan said flatly.

Chu Qianmiao rubbed her hands. "President Ren, nothing else. I'll be leaving now."

She stood up and left, returning to her workstation.

Ren Yan sat in the reception area, waiting for Qin Qianyu's coffee.

After a while, Qin Qianyu finished making his coffee and brought it to him. He also made a cup for himself. The two of them sat in the reception area, chatting casually over their coffee.

A moving, noisy sound came from a distance, getting closer.

Then Liu Lifeng emerged from the office, a look of disdain and displeasure on his face, muttering, "Don't give it to me. I won't put a Band-Aid on it. Who's going to put a Band-Aid on a cut?"

"Isn't the tape a bitch? It's a bitch, okay?"

Chu Qianmiao followed him, pleading with him, "Liu Lifeng, if the wind gets to your wound, you'll probably have to have your limb amputated. By then, you won't be a bitch, you'll be a cripple."

But Liu Lifeng refused to apply the tape, so Chu Qianmiao insisted. Liu Lifeng dodged and dodged, his words becoming increasingly irritating, and he even threatened to use force to control the annoying Chu Qianmiao. But Chu Qianmiao wasn't afraid of him. He said firmly, "Try it!" Afterward, she reminded him to treat the wound quickly, "Don't make a 3-limb thing."

Qin Qianyu watched them from the open lounge area, laughing. He turned and told Ren Yan, "When Liu Lifeng rushed to confront Xia Fengyong, his hand caught Xia Fengyong's tie clip, leaving a large cut. Sun Yi had also emerged from the conference room, yawning. Seeing Qin Qianyu and Ren Yan, he quickly walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down to join them in watching the fight between Liu Lifeng and Chu Qianmiao.

Qin Qianyu briefly recounted the entire incident, then said, "Old Liu is a real jerk. He was the first to rush to Qianmiao's defense during the fight, and now he's fighting her again after the fight. I was thinking he could use this external conflict to unite with Qianmiao and turn hostility into friendship."

Sun Yi suddenly chuckled and said, "Old Qin, you're just too strict with your wife, which has made you blind to sexual matters. Can't you see that Liu Lifeng has a bit of a blossoming boyish heart?"

They chatted away, their minds occupied. No one noticed that Ren Yan's hand, holding his coffee cup, trembled slightly, nearly spilling the coffee.

Qin Qianyu poked Sun Yi, "Don't be ridiculous! That's impossible. Old Liu and Qianmiao are sworn enemies." Besides, Qian Miao has a boyfriend—tall, rich, and handsome. "Hey, boss," he said, turning to Ren Yan. "We've only met Tan Shen at Liya, and he calls you 'senior.'"

Ren Yan glanced at him briefly, but said nothing.

The glance seemed meaningless, but Qin Qianyu felt uncomfortable being stared at, and he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Sun Yi sighed, "That's not right. I just asked Qian Miao about this yesterday, and she clearly said she was single."

Qin Qianyu sighed, scratching his head. Puzzled, he said, "So that tall, rich, and handsome guy is pursuing Qian Miao, and he hasn't caught up with her yet." "

He looked at Liu Lifeng, dodging Band-Aids and adhesive tape not far away, and at Chu Qianmiao, who, holding up Band-Aids and adhesive tape, chased Liu Lifeng and asked, "Do you want to have your leg amputated?" He suddenly chuckled. "Oh, if that's the case, that little Tan needs to work harder. Good girls are popular. If he just stays put, Qianmiao will be loved away."

Ren Yan put down his coffee cup, stood up, and returned to his office.

He sat down in his leather chair, turned around, and looked out the window.

Outside the window was the sky above the Financial District. The sky was blue, and clouds drifted like white fluff. The sky was high and the clouds were light, and it made people feel good for no reason. It made people understand things for no reason.

He wondered if there was anyone else who would defend him at all costs like that silly girl. No one. Only her.

She could endure any insults, but she couldn't stand even the slightest profanity or profanity from him.

Did he think anyone else would make him throw himself into a reckless frenzy upon hearing she was in danger? No one. Only her.

After rejecting her confession, he wondered how he had gotten through this period. He endured, restrained himself, and suffered. He tried to stand aside, watching her and Tan Shen get along, trying to convince himself that they were the perfect match. He tried to force himself to distance himself from her, trying to regain his composure.

But in the end, each of these attempts was shattered. He couldn't be composure, he couldn't stay away from her. Seeing her being bullied by Qiao Zhixin, he wished he could kill him. To help her develop a better future, he even brought her to his presence. He couldn't just stand aside and watch her and Tan Shen's relationship deepen.

This wasn't going to work.

All his perseverance and principles were being shattered one by one by her. All his composure and self-control were silently shattered by her. All his composure and self-control failed when he met her.

So, what was he still fighting for?

The clouds drifted outside the window, and his thoughts followed them.

He thought of Li Tang's words: She had to fight for the person she wanted, because there was no time to waste.

And what had Qin Qianyu said just now?

Good girls are popular. If he stood still, he'd be swept away by someone else.

If he kept wasting time struggling to control himself, she might actually be pursued by someone else. Then he'd never have the chance to know what it felt like to kiss her again.

It was a taste you'd never know again, a taste you couldn't stop after once.

These days, he'd been deceiving himself, telling himself he'd forgotten that night. But the feeling of that night seemed to have etched itself from his lips into his bones, indelible. The proof was that these past few days, he'd often lose control and, in the space-time void created by his daze, he'd unconsciously lick his lips, savoring the taste of that stolen kiss.

He raised his hand and touched his lips with his fingertips, suddenly chuckling to himself.

A resolution gradually crystallized, took shape, and solidified within him.

No more hiding.

Hiding from her was excruciating, more excruciating than anything he'd endured before.

He'd thought pushing her away wouldn't be so painful. But when suppressing his feelings for her became a pain that surpassed all other pain combined, why would he reject her just for that? He had to live his life for himself.

The clouds drifted away outside the window. He turned around, picked up the phone, and called Qin Qianyu on the internal line, asking, "When are you going on a business trip to the Liya site?"

Qin Qianyu replied, "We'll go there early tomorrow morning. What instructions and instructions does the leadership have?"

He told him calmly, "It's okay, keep working hard." After a pause, he added, "Bring me one when you book your tickets."