QTMWSFC Chapter 25

After the secretary’s office had received over a dozen phone calls in a row, they were finally annoyed beyond endurance.

Chen Yao, the chairman’s assistant, steeled herself as if facing death and dialed the office phone of Xu Xinghe.

“Hello?” The voice that answered was a woman’s, not Xu Xinghe himself.

But Chen Yao remained very calm. She recognized the boss’s wife’s voice immediately. “I apologize for bothering you. Could you please pass a message to Chairman Xu? There’s a lady named Yin Xinya at the front desk who has already called more than ten times. She says she has something extremely urgent and won’t leave until she sees Chairman Xu.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll let him know.” Xia Qingmeng hung up the phone and stood up to go find Xu Xinghe.

She had barely risen from her seat when the office door was pushed open.

“What’s wrong? Did you miss me?” Xu Xinghe saw her halfway up from a bent position. He walked over and pinched her cheek.

Xia Qingmeng patted his hand. “Oh, be serious.”

Xu Xinghe let go of her cheek and switched to putting his arm around her waist. “I just finished a meeting. How am I not being serious?”

Xia Qingmeng didn’t forget to pass on the message. “Assistant Chen just called. She said Yin Xinya is waiting for you downstairs. It seems that there is something very urgent. She has already called the secretary’s office more than ten times.”

Xu Xinghe’s face immediately darkened. “It’s nothing urgent. I’m not seeing her. Next time you get a call like that, just tell them I’m not here.”

Xia Qingmeng covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Be honest with me. Did you have something with her before? Why else would your face be so dark? Where there is a love, there is a hate.”

Xu Xinghe tightened his grip on her waist, kissed her hard, and silenced her nonsense. “What are you rambling about? Can’t I just simply dislike her?”

Xia Qingmeng’s breathing quickened from his kiss. “My lipstick has been eaten by you… Hurry up and go see what’s going on. She wouldn’t come looking for you for no reason.”

Xu Xinghe’s face was cold, refusing to move. “There are plenty of people who come looking for me for no reason.”

Others might not know why Yin Xinya was looking for him, but how could he not know? Her career must have hit a dead end, and she wanted to use him as a fool to fund her.

Was he going to put up with that?

Xia Qingmeng coaxed him, “She’s a girl, and she’s being so persistent about seeing you. That means it must be something important. If you don’t see her now, she will definitely come looking for you again later, right? So why not take advantage of your free time now and have a proper chat? Wouldn’t that be better?”

Xu Xinghe stared into Xia Qingmeng’s eyes and asked, “You’re pushing me towards another woman? Aren’t you jealous?”

Xia Qingmeng lowered her head in embarrassment, tracing patterns on the desk with her finger, and muttered softly, “Well… actually, I’m not that magnanimous either…”

If it were any other woman, she might not care at all. But Yin Xinya still had some kind of lingering connection with Xu Xinghe. She wasn’t a saint. It was impossible for her to have zero reservations. But she wasn’t brainless either. Reason told her that she should trust Xu Xinghe and not delay important matters.

Xu Xinghe took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his embrace, his tone firm: “It has always been just you.”

Xia Qingmeng was momentarily stunned and then broke into a smile. “Okay, okay, I understand. Don’t keep her waiting too long.”

Xu Xinghe’s hand began to slide dishonestly into her sweater. “Let her wait.”

Xia Qingmeng laughed angrily and kept dodging away. “That’s not right.”

Xu Xinghe wrapped his arms around her, not giving her a chance to escape. “I saw this in your TV dramas.”

Xia Qingmeng covered her face, feeling both shy and annoyed. “That’s just a TV drama! You… don’t forget about work!”

How could he watch her TV dramas too? This was too embarrassing!

“Work is already done ahead of time.” Xu Xinghe gave her no reason to argue and pulled her down onto the sofa.

Xia Qingmeng was pressed down by his weight and suddenly thought of something. She held Xu Xinghe’s face in her hands and asked, “Are you jealous? Is that why you were always so cold to me before? Why you always bullied me on purpose?”

Xu Xinghe’s eyes darted away.

How should he explain this? Although he had transmigrated here, he had also inherited all of the original owner’s memories and merged with his entire personality. He was both the original owner and not the original owner. It was hard to put into just a few words.

“Fine… I suppose so…” Having said that, Xu Xinghe sealed Xia Qingmeng’s lips with a kiss.

Xia Qingmeng did not refuse this time. Instead, she responded to him actively.

When the kiss ended, Xia Qingmeng panted slightly and explained, “That was just acting. I only like you. So from now on, if you’re jealous, you need to tell me. Don’t just bully me randomly, okay?”

Xu Xinghe said “okay” and leaned in to kiss her again.

Xia Qingmeng raised her hand to cover his mouth. “No, we have to pinky swear on it.”

Xu Xinghe frowned. “That’s so childish.”

But he couldn’t resist Xia Qingmeng’s request and solemnly locked pinkies with her in a vow.

Only then did Xia Qingmeng happily wrap her arms around Xu Xinghe’s neck. “I’m really happy. I’ll make an exception and give you a reward.”

Xu Xinghe curled his lips smugly. “Even without a reward, I can still take what I want.”

…

Meanwhile.

Yin Xinya waited at the front desk for a very long time, and her calves were aching from waiting.

To see Xu Xinghe today, she deliberately wore a pair of killer heels. Now, she was the one suffering for it.

After waiting for what felt like ages, she finally saw a man come down to escort her inside. But then she was told that Xu Xinghe was busy and that she would have to wait a while longer in the reception area.

At first, Yin Xinya tried hard to maintain an elegant sitting posture. But by mealtime, no one came to get her. Her feet were exhausted, and those sky-high heels had long been kicked aside.

She was nearly dozing off when someone finally came to call her. “Hello, are you Miss Yin? Chairman Xu asked me to take you to his office. Please follow me.”

Yin Xinya immediately perked up, stepped back into her heels, smoothed her hair in front of a mirror, reapplied her lipstick, and then confidently unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse before following him to the office door.

Yin Xinya lightly cleared her throat, then knocked gently on the door. “Brother Xu, are you inside?”

A deep, pure male voice came from the office: “Come in.”

Yin Xinya adjusted her facial expression, put on a standard radiant smile, and pushed the door open.

As soon as she entered, she could see a massive desk by the huge floor-to-ceiling windows. Seated at the desk was a handsome man. His eyes were as dark as ink, his brow sharp as a blade, his features deeply chiseled, and his thin lips slightly pursed. He looked cold and indifferent.

The casually undone buttons at his collar and his long, slender fingers resting on the armrest added a touch of languid elegance to his cold demeanor.

The atmosphere was even colder than expected.

Yin Xinya’s smile stiffened for a moment, but she continued to smile. Her tone was coquettish as she said, “Brother Xinghe, we haven’t seen each other in so many years. You have become even more handsome. We didn’t get to talk at the banquet last time. I’m only coming to see you now. You’re not upset with me, are you?”

Xu Xinghe raised an eyebrow slightly.

He couldn’t help but start to wonder what exactly Chu Xiuwen saw in Yin Xinya.

“What do you want to see me about?” Xu Xinghe had no intention of indulging her roundabout small talk and chose to get straight to the point.

Yin Xinya found Xu Xinghe’s attitude unbelievable.

He had never been like this before! He used to be so considerate of her!

“Brother Xinghe, what’s wrong with you? Did I do something to upset you? Why are you being so cold to me…” Yin Xinya put on a hurt expression.

Xu Xinghe: …

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll have someone escort you back.” Xu Xinghe stood up to leave.

It was almost mealtime. He would rather go have a meal with Xia Qingmeng than dawdle here.

Yin Xinya panicked. She hurried forward, but because her heels were so high, she accidentally tripped and fell to the floor.

“Ouch!” A pained cry full of grievance.

“I’d better have someone take you home.” Xu Xinghe pulled out his phone and was about to open his contacts.

“Wait!” Yin Xinya held onto the desk and stood up slowly, her expression even more aggrieved. “Brother Xinghe, I want to talk about something with you.”

“Say what you need to say quickly. My time is rather valuable.” Xu Xinghe glanced at his watch as he spoke.

Yin Xinya finally realized he was being serious. She began to get to the point. “Brother Xinghe, it’s just that I’ve recently returned to China and want to start my own business. This is my business plan. I already have a basic framework, and I’ve found a partner. I was really hoping you could join us. I believe our project has great potential and a lot of room for growth.”

Xu Xinghe took Yin Xinya’s document and patiently read through it. But halfway through, his sharp brows furrowed slightly.

Yin Xinya caught this change and her heart skipped a beat.

The truth was, she didn’t write this document at all. She had only provided the general ideas. It was actually written by her subordinates. She had no idea if Xu Xinghe noticed it.

Not that Xu Xinghe cared who wrote it. That wasn’t important. After finishing his review, Xu Xinghe closed the folder directly and returned it to Yin Xinya. “I refuse to join.”

Yin Xinya was astonished. She asked anxiously, “Why? Our project has great development potential. Brother Xu, joining us won’t be a loss for you!”

Xu Xinghe sneered. “Potential? On what basis do you say there is potential? Then let me ask you, how much do you know about smart home technology? Have you done any market research? You’re planning to start from scratch, but do you know that there are already very mature applications on the market? Or have you looked into the products under the Xu Group? Go ahead, randomly introduce two of my company’s products to me.”

Yin Xinya was speechless.

She wasn’t a marketing major. And as for market research, why would that be her job? As for Xu Group’s products? She knew them but didn’t understand them. But did that even matter? The key point was, if she already knew about Xu Group’s products, would she have swallowed her pride to come find Xu Xinghe?

Xu Xinghe knew all too well that the male lead and female lead these days loved painting rosy pictures. They could gather a full team of talent with just smooth talk. Not only could they gather them, but they could also make them work willingly. It was really ridiculous.

Xu Xinghe didn’t hold back at all. He continued his soul-searching interrogation. “Miss Yin, let me ask you sincerely. By the word potential, do you mean your R&D team is in place? Your management team is in place? Or your funding is in place?”

Yin Xinya was left completely without a retort.

She was just getting started. Where would she get such a perfect team? Just gathering the first wave of people had been hard enough. But those things would come later! Besides, if Xu Xinghe joined, wouldn’t that solve everything? That was exactly why she had come today!

But she didn’t dare say that to Xu Xinghe’s face. Instead, she said with disappointment and grievance, “Brother Xinghe, I thought that with all the years of friendship between us, you would help me…”

Xu Xinghe looked at her coldly, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Miss Yin, why would you think I would help you? Don’t forget, I’m a businessman. I never do unprofitable deals. Or to be more precise, we are competitors.”

Yin Xinya stared blankly at the man before her, feeling that he was strangely unfamiliar.

No… or rather, this was his usual self. The care he had shown her back in their school days was the exception.

A look of desolation crossed Yin Xinya’s face. “Brother Xinghe, I thought we were more than just ordinary classmates.”

Xu Xinghe’s eyes were cold, and his words were even more distant. “Miss Yin, I hope you won’t forget that back then, I was only looking after you as a favor to our fathers’ generation. I hope you don’t think too much about it.”

Yin Xinya forced a smile that didn’t look very good.

Xu Xinghe continued, “Also, I’m sorry for having caused this misunderstanding. I already have a girlfriend now. She will also be my wife in the future. I hope you will respect us and stop saying things that could easily lead to misunderstandings.”

With things said to this extent, there was nothing left to misunderstand. Yin Xinya gathered her documents, her face pale, and left in her high heels.

She had already embarrassed herself enough today. She could hardly stand to stay any longer.

She thought this would be an easy collaboration, but it turned out to be such a slap in the face.

The more Yin Xinya thought about it, the angrier she became. As she left the Xu Group building, she looked up at the very top floor of the towering commercial skyscraper and said through gritted teeth, “Hmph! Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west side of the river¹times change, and tables will turn. Just you wait and see!”