Chapter 28 Recorder

  Qiao Secretary found Qiao Yu for a talk on the same night, and besides the two parties, Qiao Lexi and Jiang Shengzhuo were also present.

  Qiao Secretary is not very good at dealing with the marriage problems of his children. Qiao Ye doesn't have this problem so he doesn't need to worry, Qiao Le Xi and Jiang Sheng Zhuo are childhood sweethearts so he also doesn't need to worry. As a parent facing this issue for the first time, he is completely at a loss.

  Qiao Bo Yan fell silent for a while before speaking, "Actually, finding a life partner doesn't necessarily mean choosing the most beautiful one, beauty only accounts for a very small aspect."

  Qiao Yu roughly guessed how Song Cheng'an had spoken to Qiao Bo Yuan, and looked at him with a confused expression, "What's the main thing?"

  Qiao Secretary was very satisfied with Qiao Yu's cooperation and gradually relaxed, "You like it, this factor accounts for a large part. Look at your sister and Sheng Zhuo, they are an example, you must find someone you like."

  Jiang Shengzhuo and Qiao Lexi nodded vigorously beside him, while Qiao Yu glanced at them before lowering his eyes, opening his mouth calmly, "Oh."

  Qiao Secretary had an innocent look on his face, "Tell me, what kind of (girl) do you like?"

  Qiao Yu spoke very seriously, "I like pretty things."

  Qiao Bo Yuan was left speechless for the first time in years by his sensible and polite second son, unable to utter a word. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, "You... since when did you become so superficial?"

  Qiao Yu's sincere self-analysis: "I've always been so superficial, probably since I was in my teens, that summer of the second semester of high school."

  Qiao Yu was finally driven out of the study by Qiao Shuji with a gloomy face, but Qiao Le Xi was excitedly pulling Qiao Yu to ask him questions.

  "Second brother, who is the person you like? What does she look like? Do you have a photo, let me take a look. How did you two meet? Is she really pretty? Can I go see her?"

  Qiao Yu was asked by her a string of questions, "It's not the time yet, it's just that I've taken a liking to someone, but they may not necessarily like me back, let's talk about it later."

  Qiao Le Xi was unhappy and hugged Qiao Yu's arm, pouting, "My second brother is so good, how can someone not like him!"

  Qiao Yu smiled slightly, "Alright, it's getting late, we've seen enough excitement for tonight, let's head back and get some rest."

  That night, Qiao Bo sat in the study for a long time, worried about Qiao Yu's unusual strong momentum. He keenly sensed that this matter might just be the beginning, and suddenly remembered Le Zhun's words.

  At that time, he was afraid that Qiao Yu's personality was not suitable for entering the political arena, and had a long conversation with Le Zhun. Le Zhun only spoke after listening to him finish speaking.

  "Qiao Yu, being low-key has become a habit, not willing to compete with others, otherwise... Some people are low-key because they can be high-key at any time, some people are humble because they can be proud at any time. To sum up, Qiao Yu belongs to the most proud type of person, so proud that others can't even detect his pride. All these years, your mind has been focused on Qiao Yan alone, and you don't understand your own son."

  Qiao Bo turned his head to glance at the family photo on the desk, and the young man standing behind him had a clear and elegant appearance, smiling slightly in front of the camera with a warm and composed demeanor. He let out a soft sigh, did he really not understand this little son of his?

  Ji Siyuan felt a little guilty and waited until everyone had left after work before going to find Yin Hechang.

  Yin Hechang's face changed as soon as he heard her intention. "Meeting minutes... haven't been sorted out yet, I think there's no need to sort them out either."

  Ji Siyun didn't know what he meant and didn't care. "If there's nothing, then just give me that recording of the meeting, I'll go back and listen to it myself."

  Yin Hechang's face looked even more unsightly, stuttering for half a day, "The meeting was very short, it ended soon after you left."

  Ji Siyuan's face was puzzled, "Can't it be any shorter? I need to understand what was said at the meeting, right?"

  Yin He frowned and vowed to maintain Qiao Yu's image, "You'd better not listen."

  "Hmm..." Ji Siyuan stared at Yin Hechang, "Assistant Yin, have I offended you? It's just a meeting recording, is it that difficult?"

  Yin Hechang gritted his teeth, took out the recorder that hadn't been destroyed from the drawer and handed it to her, "Only Qiao's voice is recorded, take it back and listen slowly!"

  He then whispered another sentence, "Don't let others hear it, affecting the image of the Qiao department."

  Ji Siyuan felt more and more that Yin Hechang was strange, so she put away her recorder and left.

  Qiao Yu didn't go home when he left, but instead went to the building where Ji Si Xuan lived. Actually, Qiao Yu couldn't quite remember which household it was, and could only vaguely recall finding the building by relying on his hazy memory. The car stopped in front of the building, and he sat inside, looking up at the windows that were lighting up one by one.

  It wasn't until a while later that he came to his senses, one hand reaching into the storage compartment for cigarettes and a lighter, the other rolling down the window. Unintentionally, his gaze swept outside, where he was startled to see someone standing there.

  Ji Siyuan bent down to look at him, a cat's head poking out of the bag she was holding in front of her chest. "What are you doing here?"

  Qiao Yu had just taken out his cigarette and lighter, but his hand hovered in mid-air, unable to bring himself to put it back or light up, his whole body stiff with tension as he stared at her.

  Ji Siyun looked at him for half a day without reacting, poked her head in, and soon saw the situation in the car, with an expression of being caught red-handed, "Didn't Qiao say he had already quit smoking?"

  Qiao Yu felt a bit embarrassed, threw the cigarette back into the storage compartment, opened the car door and got out, "I only smoke occasionally, haven't touched it for a long time, just lit one up and you bumped into me."

  Ji Siyun wasn't heartless, and Qiao Yubrow's eyes showed a hint of fatigue. She spoke seriously, "Did I cause you trouble?"

  Qiao Yu smiled with a relieved expression, "No, how could it be?"

  After finishing speaking, she lowered her eyes and stroked the big cat's head gently.

  Ji Siyuan bit her lip, "I heard... Bao Jishi..."

  Qiao Yu raised his eyes and looked at her, smiling slightly, "It's nothing serious, I'm here."

  Ji Siyuan looked into his eyes, and after a while, asked, "Is it that this matter is not a big deal, or is it that Bao Jishi is not a big deal, or perhaps... I am not a big deal?"

  Qiao Yu suddenly and unexpectedly stepped forward, gently embracing her, one hand on the back of her head, the other on her waist.

  Ji Siyun suddenly stopped in her tracks and didn't dare move anymore, nor could she utter a single word.

  He was just pretending to hold her, and with Da Miao in between, she could easily break free.

  Qiao Yu waited for her to get used to it, and when she didn't resist, he gently patted her back, tilted his head and lightly rubbed against her cheek, quickly letting go, raised his head and smoothed out her long hair that was blown up by the night wind. The warm smile in his eyebrows and eyes shone even brighter under the dim light, "How can you be so nonchalant about it."

  The skin that had been touched by him quickly turned red, Ji Si Xuan's face turned red, and she lowered her eyes for a long time before reacting, her eyes flashing with anger as she glared at him, "You just touched Da Miao, don't touch me again!"

  Qiao Yu lowered his head and chuckled, his laughter carrying far away in the night wind. He then retracted his smile under her angry and embarrassed gaze, "Why did you come back so late?"

  Ji Siyuan lowered her head and searched for a moment, then held up the recorder pen to show him. "I went to find Yin Hechuan for the meeting recording, but he hesitated for half a day and refused to give it to me."

  Qiao Yu was stunned again, instinctively wanting to grab that recorder pen, but was dodged by Ji Si Xuan.

  Ji Siyuan felt that it wasn't just Yin and Chang, even Qiao Yu's expression was strange when he heard a few words from the conference recording, "What are you doing?"

  Qiao Yu pretended to be calm and began to coax, "The meeting didn't say anything, you still don't listen, give it to me."

  Ji Siyun became even more curious about the recording and stuffed it deep into her bag, "No way, you can leave now. I'm going to go listen to the recording."

  Qiao Yu pulled her back, seemingly anxious, and said in a negotiating tone, "Really, there's nothing good to hear, give it to me?"

  Ji Siyuan patted his hand open and smiled warmly, "Be careful on the way back to Qiao's place, okay?"

  He walked away without looking back.

  Qiao Yu leaned against the door frame and let out a sigh, standing there for a long time before getting in the car to head home.

  On his way back, he was already distracted and received a call from Bo Ji Shi.

  Baoji Shi's attitude was so good that it made people speechless. "The thing during the day was really embarrassing, I originally wanted to apologize in person, but you seemed to be busy all the time. My younger cousin is young and doesn't understand things, I have already scolded her, hope you don't mind."

  Originally, Qiao Yu was going to break the deadlock, but now Bao Jishi took the initiative to show kindness, which made him a little embarrassed. "Forget it, just be more careful next time, this matter was an accident anyway."

  "Otherwise, I'll invite you and Ji Siyu to dinner tomorrow as an apology?"

  Qiao Yu thought for a moment, "Slow down, she's different from you, always proud and stubborn, won't calm down that quickly."

  She is different from you.

  Bao Ji Shi didn't know whether Qiao Yu was praising or belittling her.

  "It's only natural for someone with talent and insight to be proud." Bo Ji Shi quickly regained his composure and suddenly changed the subject, "The girlfriend you mentioned earlier... was it Ji Si Xuan?"

  Qiao Yu was somewhat surprised, after all, he had never mentioned any specific information about Ji Siyu to her, "How did you guess?"

  Baoji smiled and said, "A woman's sixth sense."

  Qiao Yu didn't plan to deceive her either, "It's her, what's wrong?"

  "Hmm..." Bo Ji Shi paused for a moment, "How should I put it, it's not quite what I expected. I remember you saying before that you liked gentle and quiet virtuous wives and good mothers."

  Qiao Yu turned on the turn signal and pulled over to the side of the road, "I also thought I would like a gentle and quiet good wife and mother, but in fact the type I like is called 'Ji Si Xuan'."

  Bo Qi was silent for a moment before suddenly reacting, "You didn't reject me at first because my name has the same pronunciation as 'season', right?"

  Qiao Yu suddenly fell silent.

  Baoji Shi knew that Qiao Yu was evading the topic, he had always been gentle and considerate of others' feelings, never refusing to answer questions he didn't want to answer, but would remain silent.

  "Tsk tsk tsk, it's really... no wonder you were so angry today. Ning Chun is also asking for it. I was originally going to help her plead her case, but it seems there's no need now."

  Facing Qiao Yu's probing, Qiao Yu did not take the bait and only let out a light laugh.

  "My cousin has been spoiled by her parents since she was a child, and my father also likes her very much, otherwise he wouldn't let her follow me. In the future, we will cooperate for a long time, and some things are not done properly, just give me some face and be more tolerant."

  The Bao family's face is still to be given, even if he was so strong in front of his superiors and his own father. He didn't want to see Qiao Yan's previous efforts go down the drain. Taking a deep breath, "You're a smart person, you can guess my bottom line. As long as you don't touch my bottom line, I think I'm still a very tolerant person."

  After finishing the proper business, Qiao Yu became somewhat absent-minded, and Bao Ji Shi hung up the phone very quickly.

  The phone screen went black quickly, but Qiao Yu didn't rush to start again. He stared at the phone and suddenly felt a little tense, not knowing how Ji Si Xuan would react after hearing those words.

  Even if he didn't want to admit it, he had to admit that they had been apart for six years, without meeting or contacting each other, and even the little information he got was from others' mouths, with no way to verify its authenticity.

  Six years... may not be long, but he felt like it was dragging on for an eternity, just going through the motions of living. Yet, it's also not short, enough to change a person.

  In their struggle against time, are they all unwilling to compromise and change, just like they were at the beginning?

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