Chapter 9: The Gentle Breeze Does Not Recognize Characters

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  Xiao Ziyuan continued slowly, "I heard colleagues in the department discussing us privately today, saying I didn't have Qiao Yu's elegance and refinement. I just want to try and see how pure-hearted and selfless Qiao Department is."

  I'm speechless now, men can be even more terrifying than women when they're being petty.

  After a while, Xiao Ziyuan saw Sui Yi looking worried and spoke again, "Just now, the demon girl said she came back for a project. The project sounds familiar to me. If I'm not mistaken, it should fall into Qiao Yu's hands. Those two, they won't have trouble meeting each other."

  As I recall, I had some misgivings. "I'm a bit worried," I said. "Today, when the female demon came to school looking for me and happened to run into Elder Qiao giving a report in the school auditorium, she didn't bat an eyelid when she heard the two words 'Qiao Yu', and even smiled and joked with me. You know how carefree and uninhibited the female demon is; I'm afraid...she really has let it go."

  "The calmer the surface, the deeper the water. The more you can't let go, the more you hide." Xiao Ziyuan pulled his wife into his arms and laughed heartily, "After she parted ways with Qiao Yu all those years ago, she never wanted to come back, intentionally or unintentionally avoiding him altogether. Someone who is so cruel to themselves, once they fall in love, how can they easily forget? It's just that her acting skills are good. Or else, let's make a bet?"

  Su Yi shook her head and rubbed her belly, "Forget it, I don't want to affect the baby."

  Xiao Ziyuan hugged her and laughed loudly.

  Ji Siyuan returned to the hotel and took a bath before lying down on the bed, but she couldn't sleep for a long time.

  After a while, he suddenly sat up, opened the computer and logged on to x's website, searching back and forth for Qiao Yu's interview news and videos.

  Found it but didn't go to look, directly clicked the download button, unexpectedly had to log in. Ji Siyuan's student ID number has been expired for who knows how many years. She hesitated for half a day and sent a WeChat message to Su Yi asking for her ID number.

  Finally settled down after shutting off the computer, I lay back again, but my mind was still on those few seconds of video I had inadvertently seen earlier. The man in the frame smiled faintly and said something, dressed neatly, elegant and refined, lingering for a long time.

  After sending her account password to Ji Si Xuan, she held her mobile phone with a puzzled face, "What does she want my account password for?"

  Xiao Ziyuan asked him if he wanted to have dinner together in the afternoon, Qiao Yu was answering Wen Shaoying's phone call, and then left work ahead of schedule. When he arrived at the hospital, he didn't let anyone follow him, and went upstairs by himself.

  Wen Shaqing, dressed in a white robe, walked out of the elevator and saw Qiao Yu standing in front of the radiology department, holding a CT scan, staring blankly.

  Wen Shaoqing and a few young doctors who looked like students behind him exchanged a few words, walked over and patted Qiao Yu's shoulder, "Don't be like this... your brother is still waiting for you."

  Qiao Yu raised his hand and pressed his brow, "Does he know himself?"

  Wen Shaoqing nodded, "I know. He even specifically instructed me to tell you slowly when the time comes, afraid that you can't accept it."

  Qiao Yu smiled wryly, his eyes slightly moist and irritated, "If he can accept it himself, what's there for me to not accept..."

  Qiao Yu's older brother Qiao Ye was diagnosed with early-stage cancer a few years ago, and the surgery was very successful. Everyone thought that was the end of it, but who knew that just a few years later, it would recur? This time, not even surgery was possible, only conservative treatment could be done. It's already a miracle that he's been able to hold on until today, but recently his condition has taken another turn for the worse. Everyone knows what this means.

  Wen Shaoqing also felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart, but having seen life and death parting ways every day in the hospital, there was no expression on his face, "Go take a look at him."

  Qiao Yu stood at the door of the ward and looked through the glass window for a long time before pushing the door open, softly calling out, "Ge..."

  Qiao Yan was reading the newspaper by the window, looking ill, and when he heard a noise, he turned his head to see Qiao Yu with a sorrowful expression, and knew that he had seen Wen Shaoqing. After thinking for a moment, he instructed, "Don't tell Dad about it."

  Qiao Yu nodded slightly and sat by the window, staring outside without saying another word.

  Qiao Yan looked at him for a while, "I have several books left at home, can you help me get them?"

  Qiao Yu's voice was calm and unruffled, "Alright."

  Qiao Yan smiled, "Don't be like this, Dad will notice when we get back."

  Qiao Yu forced a wry smile, which looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.

  Qiao Yan patted Qiao Yu's shoulder, just like when they were young. "I don't have many days left, you've known since childhood what it means to be kind and respectful, I'm very reassured about you. After I'm gone, take good care of yourself, eat well, pay attention to your health, smoke and drink less, Dad and your sister will rely on you for support. When you have time, go visit Grandma and Grandpa often. I just feel sorry for you, back then I dragged you into this mess, otherwise..."

  Qiao Yu suddenly felt his eyes sting, lowered his head and peeled an apple, "Brother, what are you talking about? What's right or wrong, the burden of the Qiao family shouldn't have been borne by you alone. It was my fault for being too selfish in the past."

  Qiao Yan is the eldest son of the Qiao family, and it was only natural that he was raised as the successor from birth. His younger brother and sister were carefree. The mistress of the Qiao family passed away early, and Qiao Le Xi always joked that her elder brother and father were one country, while she and her second brother were another country. However, the relationship between Qiao Yan and his younger brother Qiao Yu had always been very good.

  Qiao Yan asked cautiously, "Are you still in contact with that girl?"

  The apple skin snapped loudly, Qiao Yu was silent for a while, and shook his head.

  Qiao Yan sighed and didn't say another word.

  Qiao Yu came out of the hospital and went home to help Qiao Yan carry books, preparing to bring them to him next time he goes to the hospital. When she returned home, her father was not there, Yin Hechang answered the phone, Qiao Bo had gone to a distant place for a meeting and would return today, asking Qiao Yu to wait for him at home.

  He now lives in the house that was divided by the department, and he has not returned for half a year. The last time he came back, Qiao Yan's illness was not so serious, and he didn't need to stay in the hospital all day. His sister Qiao Le Xi had married out, but she often brought Jiang Sheng Zhuo back to accompany Qiao Father. At this moment, they are not there, and he stands on the stairs looking at the cold and empty home, feeling empty inside.

  He has been busy with work since graduation and rarely comes back. Every time he comes back, it's always in a hurry, and there are few times like this when he can be so calm and leisurely.

  The room was still decorated as it was when he was in school, simple and refreshing. The bookshelves were filled with thick professional books, his fingers slid over them one by one, finally sitting down at the desk, casually opening a drawer to flip through.

  In the bottom drawer, there was a piece of paper, a torn and reassembled paper. It was an offer from that renowned foreign university with the best architecture school. Not long after he received the offer, Qiao Bo yuan shattered his dream in the simplest way possible - by tearing it up and throwing it in the trash can. Qiao Le Xi cried as she picked up the pieces, gluing them back together, and rushed him to report for duty, crying so hard she couldn't catch her breath. She knew his dreams, but she didn't know about Qiao Yan's illness. He knew his sister was heartbroken for him, but he also clearly understood that the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the ultimate dream of all architects, was something he would never attain in this lifetime.

  The wind outside blew up a stack of drawings on the table, and after being left for a long time, the paper had turned slightly yellow. As one corner was lifted by the wind, the three characters "Ji Si Xuan" could be faintly seen. Those were all left here by Ji Si Xuan back then, and some were even drawn by him under her coercion. She would often sit on the ground and name an outrageous price, and after a long time of haggling, he would finally give in.

  He never knew he could be so... unprincipled.

  His sister Qiao Le Xi would often ask him to do her homework for her when she was younger, but he never agreed. Instead, as the older brother, he would watch her cry and pout until she finished it herself, and then lecture her for half a day.

  But when the girl named Ji Siyu leaned on the table with one hand supporting her chin, lazily looking at him with an obviously superior queen-like attitude, yet he detected a hint of coquettishness in her tone, "Qiao Yu, help me draw a few pictures."

  Not even wanting to be called "senior fellow apprentice", without a hint of begging, yet making him willingly surrender.

  "The gentle breeze knows no characters, why does it randomly turn the pages..."

  The turmoil in his heart was not just the Pritzker Architecture Prize, but a woman named Ji Siyu, who was the eternal pain in his heart, piercing through his heart and liver, and he couldn't escape, nor did he want to.

  Qiao Bo returned at dinner time, dusty and tired, with Qiao Le Xi following behind him with a cheerful face.

  Qiao Le Xi rushed into Qiao Yu's arms, hugging his arm and laughing, "Second Brother!"

  Jiang Shengzhuo's face was tense as he stared at Qiao Leixi, while Qiao Yu just found it amusing and patted her hand, his gaze sweeping over her swollen belly. "You're almost a mother now, yet you're still so restless."

  Qiao Le Xi didn't mind, "I see you're happy, it's been a long time since you came back!"

  Qiao Yu supported her in sitting down on the sofa, "Being happy is also being careful, hurry up and give birth?"

  Qiao Le Xi's hand gently rested on her belly, "Hmm, still a few months to go, the doctor said it's twins, how about you name them?"

  Jiang Shengzhuo's face changed upon hearing this, "Didn't we agree that I would come and get it?"

  Qiao Le Xi looked at him with disdain, "With you being illiterate, what good name can you come up with? How can it compare to my second brother's?"

  "I...” Jiang Sheng Zhuo just opened his mouth and reacted, Qiao Yu was very important in Qiao Le Xi's heart, he didn't want to offend him, so he lowered his head and muttered softly, "Whoever takes it doesn't matter, anyway, they'll have my surname."

  Jiang Shengzhuo and Qiao Le Xi have been childhood friends since they were young, and their bickering has never stopped. However, Jiang Shengzhuo seems to be giving in more and more to Qiao Le Xi. Qiao Yu smiled and didn't say yes or no.

  Qiao Le Xi scolded Jiang Sheng Zhuo and wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Qiao Bo Yuan, "Sheng Zhuo, take Le Xi out for a bite to eat. Qiao Yu, come with me to the study."

  Qiao Bo turned around, Qiao Le Xi made a face at his back, silently shouting "old antique", which made Jiang Sheng Zhuo tilt his head and smile.

  Qiao Yuban's face turned serious, and he glared at her with a warning look, but then couldn't help but laugh too. In his heart, however, he couldn't help but sigh - Secretary Qiao was going to lecture again.

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