Chapter 10: The Little Assistant's Skillful Play

  After entering the study room, Qiao Yu briefly reported on his recent work. Qiao Bo Yuan occasionally nodded and didn't say much. He only spoke up after Qiao Yu finished speaking, "Have you gone to see your brother?"

  In the past, after Qiao Yu made his routine report, he would often be educated for a while. When Qiao Baiyan was in a bad mood, he would be scolded until he was covered in blood. However, in recent years, Qiao Baiyan has spoken less and mostly just listened to Qiao Yu, occasionally pointing out one or two things.

  The topic changed too quickly, Qiao Yu paused for a moment and then snapped back to attention, "I've read it."

  Qiao Bo's eyebrows were etched with fatigue, "I've been busy lately and haven't had time to visit your brother. How has he been recently?"

  Qiao Yu thought of Wen Shaoqing's words this afternoon, and suddenly furrowed his brow, then relaxed it, answering calmly, "Looks fine."

  After finishing speaking, he raised his eyes and looked at Qiao Bo Yuan, who was standing with his back to him in front of the window, gazing out at the night scene.

  One of the three sufferings in life is losing a child in middle age. Qiao Bo had been through ups and downs in politics for many years, and he had long learned to hide his emotions behind a calm face. All his feelings were locked deep within him. When he heard the news that Qiao Yan's cancer had relapsed, he only wavered for a moment before calmly accepting it, calmer than anyone else. But as father and son were connected at heart, Qiao Yu could feel the pain in this man's heart, and the more painful it was, the calmer he seemed.

  The study suddenly fell silent, and it wasn't until half a moment later that Qiao Bo yuan spoke up again, "Go visit your grandfather over the next few days."

  Qiao Yu stopped talking after he came down.

  Qiao Bo glanced at him, "Actually, letting you take over your brother's position was a helpless measure. Your brother's way of doing things is like mine, and yours... is like your mother's, also like your grandfather's. You've done very well these years, your grandfather was right, maybe you're not suited for this path, but that doesn't mean you can't walk it well."

  The successor of the Qiao family was originally Qiao Yan, and Qiao Yu was not interested in this either, and was happy to be idle. But who knew that Qiao Yan had an accident, so Qiao Yu had to take over halfway and reluctantly took on the responsibility.

  Qiao Bo Yuan put down his teacup and took out the chessboard, "Alright, now that you're back, take a rest first. Come on, let's play a game of chess."

  Qiao Yu heard this sentence and his legs went soft, almost kneeling down to Qiao Bo. In just a few minutes, he was scolded until he was covered in sweat and chased out of the study. He stood at the door of the study, rubbing his nose, with a bewildered expression that hadn't reacted yet.

  Jiang Shengzhuo and Qiao Lexi stood downstairs, looking up at him with their heads tilted back in unison, asking, "Second Brother, what's wrong?"

  Qiao Yu made a gesture and the two people downstairs started playing music in unison again.

  Qiao Bo Yuan has no other hobbies, usually just likes to play Go, but Qiao Le Xi can't sit still since childhood. Qiao Yu is okay playing against others, as long as the opponent sitting across from him isn't Qiao Bo Yuan. Only Qiao Yan could accompany Qiao Bo Yuan for a few rounds, but now that Qiao Yan is ill, Qiao Bo Yuan is even more lonely.

  The next morning, Qiao Yu delivered the book that Qiao Ye wanted to the hospital and then went to the office.

  The office layout remained unchanged, with a predominantly cold color scheme, which was Qiao Yan's style. On the desk were still the documents that Qiao Yan had reviewed before being hospitalized. Qiao Yu looked at them for a while and smiled slightly.

  Qiao Yan's calligraphy was personally taught by Qiao Bo, with bold and upright strokes, powerful and energetic, with a strong spirit.

  Qiao Yu's style, on the other hand, was learned from his maternal grandfather Le Zhun, and in comparison, it had less of a strong and imposing manner, but more of a carefree and elegant flair.

  As is often said, "A man's words reflect his character." Along the way, he heard most about the differences in the way the two brothers handled things.

  Qiao Yan is the elder brother in Qiao Yu's heart, an elder brother like a father. Their mother passed away early and their father was busy with official duties, so he was raised by Qiao Yan since childhood. Although Qiao Yan is only a few years older than him, he is quiet, has a strong character, but dotes on his younger siblings. They are close as they are born of the same mother. He never thought that the tall and majestic figure would fall one day.

  Soon after, Yin and Chang knocked on the door and came in, reminding Qiao Yu that the meeting time had arrived.

  Qiao Yu has recently taken over Qiao Ye's work, and the first project is crucial. It's said to be a new project, but it's not that new either.

  Not far from X city, there is a mountain village with clear water and beautiful scenery, which is the key development object of X city's economy this year. There was nothing special about that place, but after several rounds of investigation by a group of people, it was finally decided to develop tourism and build a resort.

  This project has been in preparation for half a year, and it is a joint project between Qiao Yan and Qiao Yu. Qiao Yan was responsible for contacting the architectural design firm, while Qiao Yu was responsible for finding investors. Just as they were about to start the project, Qiao Yan's body could no longer hold on.

  The architectural design firm in charge of this project was personally taken care of by Qiao Yan. Originally, he wanted to find a domestic one, but unexpectedly, everyone wanted a piece of the pie and kept coming to lobby for it. Qiao Yan got annoyed and decided to look abroad instead. It's said that they found one of the top ten architectural design firms, whose works have been repeatedly praised for their creativity, novelty, and quality. Qiao Yan was very satisfied.

  Qiao Yuguang stood still in front of the door of the conference room. The person in charge of this project at the law firm arrived, followed by the entire team.

  That man had a handsome face, with a calm and steady expression between his eyebrows. He extended his hand proactively, "Hello, Director Qiao, I am Xu Bingjun."

  Qiao Yu didn't expect that the other team were all Asian faces, and quickly stretched out his hand to shake hands with him, "Hello, go in and sit down to talk."

  Xu Bingjun took the initiative to explain in the conference room, "The headquarters attaches great importance to this project, so they specially adjusted the team and formed a new team with Chinese colleagues. It's just that the other two team leaders are not here yet, one is still on vacation and hasn't ended, and the other is still abroad wrapping up another project. They might arrive in a few days."

  Qiao Yu's side, led by Yin He and Chang, had already looked unpleasant, but Qiao Yu smiled, "It doesn't matter, we can talk first."

  This was their first meeting, yet only one person in charge came, which seemed to lack a bit of sincerity. Perhaps it was because the architect was an unattainable dream for Qiao Yu, so he added a few more points of tolerance.

  Xu Bingjun's thinking was very clear, and he had even surveyed the location, showing many situations around the mountain village. The slides were passing one by one when Qiao Yu suddenly saw a side face in a certain photo on a certain page. He suddenly opened his mouth, "Stop for a moment!"

  Xu Bingjun looked at Qiao Yu and asked, "Qiao Department, what's wrong?"

  Qiao Yu was silent for a moment, suppressing the urge to go back to the previous page. "Continue."

  After the meeting ended, Qiao Yu walked a few steps and stopped again, turning around, "Were those photos taken by you?"

  Xu Bingjun didn't know why Qiao Yu asked this, and replied matter-of-factly, "It was me and a colleague who went."

  Qiao Yu didn't ask any further and smiled, "Can you copy that slide for me later?"

  Xu Bingjun smiled and replied, "Of course."

  "Thank you."

  Qiao Yu left when Xu Bingjun answered a phone call, "You're making your move, it's not ordinary. By the way, when are you arriving?"

  "I don't know what he said over there," Xu Bingjun smiled and opened his mouth, "Alright, see you then."

  Qiao Yu sat at his desk in a daze after returning to the office.

  It's not like I've never misread before.

  That year on Christmas Eve, the municipal government set off fireworks in the largest square. Everyone in the square wore masks covering half of their faces. They invited Qiao Yu and Xiao Ziyuan, two new stars in politics, to light the first firework.

  Among the sky-high fireworks and ear-piercing screams, Qiao Yu stood on the high platform with his head down, and inadvertently seemed to have seen Ji Si Xue. Although more than half of her face was covered by a thin mask, that sweet smile, those enchanting eyes, and that small nose tip were unmistakably hers.

  In a flash, that figure had disappeared into the crowd. Qiao Yu stood on the podium and searched for half a day, but could no longer find that face.

  His heart was racing, and he turned around to go find her, but was pulled back by Xiao Ziyuan, "There are so many people watching downstairs, what are you doing?"

  Qiao Yu endured and asked anxiously the Su Yi standing beside Xiao Ziyuan, "Has she returned?"

  At first, Su Yi didn't quite catch it, so Qiao Yu repeated himself. After that, she shook her head.

  As soon as he remembered, he naturally knew who "she" was in Qiao Yu's mouth.

  Qiao Yu seemed not to believe the silence for half a day, frowning as if suppressing his sorrow. "I won't go disturb her, I just want to know if what I saw earlier was really her."

  Su Yi and Xiao Zi Yuan exchanged a glance, sticking to their previous response. "Qiao Shixiong, I really don't know if she's back or not. Given your relationship with Zi Yuan, if she didn't want to see you, she definitely wouldn't have contacted me."

  All those years after she went abroad, he had only seen her once, and wasn't even sure if it was really her, but the figure in that photo just now was unmistakably hers.

  Qiao Yu sat in front of the computer, the mouse clicked on that file, but it didn't open for a long time.

  Qiao Yu felt that something was off lately, a feeling he hadn't had in a long time. Maybe it was because the last time he went home, he saw too many things from his past and remembered too many old events, making him a bit sensitive, and this sensitivity made him irritable.

  Qiao Yu's irritability lasted until lunchtime, staring at the food with his eyes downcast, his face looking somewhat unpleasant.

  Yin Hechang looked for half a day and asked tentatively, "Qiao Bu, what's wrong?"

  Qiao Yu quickly regained his composure, expressionless, and picked up his chopsticks to point at a dish on the plate, skillfully changing the subject, "This dish is too hard to eat, don't make it again in the future."

  Yin Hechang felt inexplicable, but he quickly agreed, "Mm, I'll go talk to the person in charge of the cafeteria in a bit."

  That innocent dish has since disappeared from this cafeteria.

  In the afternoon, just before getting off work, Xiao Ziyuan appeared again in Qiao Yu's office, lightly knocking on the door of the office, standing at the door without coming in, "I have a surgery this afternoon and my meeting hasn't ended yet. If you're free, can you help pick up my son?"

  Qiao Yu's work was basically done, he picked up the car key and replied, "Alright, I'll go now. After picking him up, I'll take him out for dinner. Call me when you're done."

  Xiao Yun Xing and Qiao Yu are quite familiar with each other. Seeing that her dad and mom didn't come, she didn't throw a tantrum and obediently followed Qiao Yu.

  The delicate boy with a jade-like appearance stared at Qiao Yu after eating and drinking his fill.

  Qiao Yu handed him a tissue to wipe his mouth and asked with a smile, "What's on your face, Second Uncle?"

  Xiao Yun Xing furrowed his brow and shook his head vigorously, just like Xiao Zi Yuan.

  Qiao Yu didn't take it to heart and smiled, coaxing Xiao Yun awake to talk about something else.

  Until Xiao Ziyuan and his wife came to pick up their son, Xiao Yun Xing held her father's and mother's hands for a few steps before suddenly turning back with an excited face, shouting at Qiao Yu, "I remembered! That beautiful sister! Second uncle, I saw your... ...photo......"

  Xiao Ziyuan quickly covered his son's mouth with his hand, and the most critical words were swallowed back by Xiao Yun.

  Qiao Yu looked at him strangely, "What did Yun Xing say? Pretty sister?"

  Xiao Ziyuan carried his son on his shoulders, laughing lightly, "Nothing."

  Ke Qiao Yu soon found out who was the beautiful sister in Xiao Yun Xiang's mouth.