Chapter 48 Inferiority Complex

  Qiao Yu sent Qiao Ye back to the ward and then lingered, refusing to leave. Later, Qiao Ye directly drove him out.

  "Aren't you busy? Why are you lingering around here, hurry up and leave!"

  Qiao Yuzai was driven out of the ward, and his mobile phone rang. He answered it and listened, his face suddenly sinking. The phone hadn't hung up yet, but he took big strides to walk outside.

  Ji Siyuan was busy for a whole morning and only finished when it was almost time for lunch. She glanced at her phone, but there were no notifications.

  Yin Hechang found a chef with excellent culinary skills. At lunchtime, a group of people surrounded the dinner table and praised the chef to the skies.

  A man in his forties with a rugged face turned red like an apple, scratching his head and looking at them awkwardly.

  Later, it was unclear who turned on the TV and randomly changed channels. After a few changes, it suddenly stopped, and everyone became quiet. Ji Siyuan didn't know what had happened and looked up to see.

  On the TV screen, Qiao Yu's suit jacket was draped over Bo Ji Shi's body, one hand pulling Bo Ji Shi forward in disarray, the other hand blocking the camera lens, and the cufflink on his shirt sleeve was particularly eye-catching.

  After everyone finished watching, they all looked at Ji Siyu in unison. Ji Siyu slowly lowered her head and continued eating, as if she hadn't heard or seen anything, everything was normal.

  Having been stared at for a long time, Ji Si Xuan also got annoyed, threw down her chopsticks and asked expressionlessly, "Are you all full? If you're full then go to work."

  ！”

  After finishing speaking, he stood up and returned to his office.

  Wei Xin looked at a certain figure who was furious and sneered, "Ah oh, the backyard is on fire."

  Xu Bingjun glared at him and then turned his head to look at the TV screen with some worry.

  The whole studio was shrouded in low pressure for the entire afternoon, and when it was almost time to get off work, someone carefully knocked on the door and came in, "Xuan Huang, let's go eat together!"

  Ji Siyuan didn't even lift her head, "You guys go ahead, I'll work a bit overtime tonight."

  A few people look at me, I look at you, with a strange expression, and leave quickly.

  Xu Bingjun and Wei Xin exchanged a glance and also left.

  Qiao Yu came back after nine o'clock. Originally, a group of people were watching TV and laughing on the first floor. When they saw Qiao Yu come in, their smiles froze on their faces, and it took them half a day to remember to greet him.

  Qiao Yu scanned the area and asked, "Where's your team leader?"

  Xuan Huang said she would stay in the studio to work overtime and wouldn't be back tonight.

  Qiao Yu ignored the abnormal gaze of the crowd, turned around and asked Yin Hechang for the key, "I'll go out for a trip, tomorrow morning I'll go there myself, you just send them."

  The two villas of the studio and accommodation are not close or far, driving for no more than five minutes, but Qiao Yu felt that the five-minute drive was several times longer than usual.

  Only a table lamp was left in the room, Ji Si Xuan held a cup of tea and stood leaning against the desk, staring straight out the window at the pitch blackness, lost in thought.

  Later, I got tired and went into the inner rest room and lay down.

  The entire studio was quiet and still, and it wasn't until the sound of footsteps suddenly echoed through the air that anyone stirred. The footsteps grew louder and closer, and Ji Siyu's first reaction was to pretend to be asleep.

  She recognized the footsteps as Qiao Yu's, always steady and never rushed or slow, always with a sense of confidence.

  Qiao Yu came in and didn't turn on the light, and under the dim glow of the wall lamp, he gently covered her with a quilt. As soon as he withdrew his hand, she suddenly opened her eyes and stared at him.

  。

  Qiao Yu was startled and quickly regained his composure, "Did I wake you up? Have you had dinner?"

  He hunched over with a somewhat strange posture, and she just quietly looked at him, her beautiful black eyes showing no emotion.

  No matter what Qiao Yu asked, she didn't respond, but instead stared at him, from his handsome and gentle eyebrows to his clear and beautiful jawline, then lowered her eyelids for a few seconds before looking at him again.

  In the warm orange glow, his eyes were still gentle and warm, but hers remained cold.

  Later, Qiao Yu sat down at the edge of the 'bed', sank into thought for a long time, and took the initiative to explain, "Bao Ji Shi and I were introduced by an elder from both families in the past. I didn't agree, and Bao Ji Shi also disagreed. It's just that because both families were pressing hard, they covered each other up. Moreover, she said at the time that she had no intention of being with me, so I didn't think much about it. At that time, I didn't expect you to come back, thinking that since it wasn't you, being with anyone else made no difference. She has always been oppressed in the Bao family, and today is also because of her brothers' words. When I was in the south, she helped me, so emotionally and rationally, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing today."

  Ji Siyun finally spoke up, her icy tone making Qiao Yu's heart skip a beat.

  "You didn't think I'd come back, so you also didn't think of going to look for me, did you?"

  She never cared about others, what she cared about was Qiao Yu's attitude.

  It was unclear whether it was a power outage or a blown fuse, but the table lamp suddenly went out and the room also cooled down.

  Qiao Yu couldn't see Ji Siyuan's expression, he could only hear her voice slowly rising without a hint of emotion, "Qiao Yu, I've been thinking, between us, from university till now, have I always been forcing you? Maybe you don't love me, and being with anyone is the same to you, including me."

  Ji Siyun waited for half a day, but there was still no movement. After a while, the people around her stood up, and then footsteps sounded.

  Qiao Yu left.

  Ji Siyun furrowed her brow and pounded the "bed" with a bit too much force. Was it not effective? No, that's not right, he hadn't been subdued back then either. Hadn't she made any progress in all these years, but instead regressed? Or was this move used too many times to be immune? But counting this time, she had only used it twice! And this time was clearly her true feelings "exposed"!

  She lay on the 'bed' for half a day, feeling unbearably hungry. Regretting it, she got up, vowing to eat her fill before fighting next time, otherwise the rising hunger value would affect her combat effectiveness too much.

  。

  Just as she moved, the bright emergency light came on, and the source of the light was in the man's hand. He leaned against the 'door' with a calm and collected expression, looking at her with one hand holding the emergency light, which he had thoughtfully adjusted to an angle that wouldn't dazzle her eyes, while his other hand held two lunchboxes.

  Ji Siyun sat up and looked at him for a while before speaking, "You... didn't you leave?"

  Qiao Yu put the emergency lamp and lunchbox on the table, "You must be hungry, get up and eat something."

  Ji Siyuan was a stubborn one, and when she set her mind on something, even Empress Shen couldn't persuade her. "I'm not hungry!"

  Qiao Yu slightly furrowed his brow, but the corners of his mouth were still curled up in a smile as he looked at her with some amusement and said, "I'm saying, Ji Siyu, are you jealous?"

  Ji Siyun was taken aback for a moment, and then a hint of indifference appeared in her eyes, trying to cover up the faint blush, and she sneered, "Because of you?"

  Qiao Yu didn't get annoyed, stretched out his hand to her and said softly, "Come on, let's eat."

  Ji Siyuan sat on the 'bed' without any intention of moving, not because of anything else, but because of his one sentence.

  The air was filled with the fragrance of food, and in the harsh white light, the man's eyebrows were calm, his tone gentle and soothing, with a hint of coaxing a child who was throwing a tantrum, making her instantly lose her ability to fight back. Even the cold indifference on her face couldn't hold up anymore.

  Ji Siyun covered her face and took a deep breath, resigned once again. She quickly got up and walked to the table, sat down, and started eating the food in the bowl.

  "Did you just go out and buy it?"

  "No, I ran into him on the way back and remembered you like to eat it, so I packed a portion and put it in the refrigerator of the villa when you weren't around. Just now, I heated it up with the microwave and brought it over."

  "Oh."

  Ji Siyuan was eating quietly, and Qiao Yu also didn't speak, as if waiting for something.

  Just as Ji Siyuan put down her chopsticks after finishing eating, Qiao Yu suddenly took a deep breath, as if mustering up great courage to make a decision.

  。

  As Ji Siyu was about to stand up, the chair made a slight creaking sound due to friction with the floor. At this moment, she finally heard Qiao Yu's voice and stiffened, then sat back down again.

  "Actually, I went to look for you that year, in the third year after you went abroad. That year happened to be an overseas visit, but not to the city where you were, however it wasn't far, just a few hours' drive. At first, I wasn't sure if I should go find you, didn't know if I could see you even if I went, and what I would say to you if I did see you. Despite all the uncertainty, when work ended a day early, I still went the next day."

  Qiao Yu sat quietly in the shadows, her eyes cast down, her tone as calm as if she were telling someone else's story. But when she got to this point, her voice suddenly dropped to a low, clear pitch, seemingly with an almost imperceptible tremble.

  "That school was just like the one I saw online, yet not quite. At that time, I didn't know where to go, and when I saw the library, I went in. Walking past row after row of bookshelves, I stopped in front of a row of books, casually pulled out a book, flipped through a few pages, and then saw your name on the borrowing card at the back of the book. The three Chinese characters 'Ji Si Xuan' stood out especially among the pile of English letters, it was your handwriting. In the next second, I threw down the book and fled in disarray, panicked and flustered."

  Qiao Yu let out a soft sigh, seemingly trapped in his memories, unable to extricate himself. After a long while, he composed himself and continued, "That school... was once my dream. From the moment I stepped onto that land, I felt a sense of trepidation, wanting to escape, yet forcing myself to go inside. But the appearance of those three words 'Ji Si Xuan' was like a fatal blow, causing me to completely collapse. I wandered around the school for a long time, feeling helpless about life, regretful about my dreams, and guilty towards you. In an instant, it all came flooding back, just like something I had been pursuing all along, but no longer had the qualifications to possess."

  Ji Siyuan's hands, placed beside her legs, trembled slightly and clenched into fists, not daring to look up at him.

  Qiao Yu finally looked up at her, his eyes complex with emotion, filled with so much uncertainty and confusion, asking softly, "I didn't not think of going to find you, but that thing made me feel... inferior. I didn't dare go find you, because I didn't know..."

  Qiao Yu paused for a moment, as if he had used up all his strength to say, "I don't know, do you still want someone like me?"

  This man, hailed by the outside world as the youngest and most promising newcomer to the political scene, this confident and elegant man who stood before everyone, now sat in front of himself, his eyes cast down, like a helpless child, digging out the deepest-seated inferiority and humility he had buried in his heart, one knife cut at a time, and presenting it to her for her to see.