Chapter 67 Unconditional Gift
Following the river current for half a month of searching, Xu Si'an remained missing, and so did Chang Yi.
Qiao Xu's expectations were dashed anew every day.
Each evening after work, she would avoid the rush hour and walk down to the riverbank to sit for a while.
Though it was the height of summer, the evening breeze by the river still carried a slight chill.
She sat on the rock closest to the water, the hem of her long white dress dampened by the ripples.
Draped over her shoulders was his black suit jacket.
"Xu Si'an, you're so childish, playing hide-and-seek for this long."
Her hollow gaze stared into the distance as she took out from her bag the phone sent by He Yanxun today.
Qiao Xu opened WeChat and saw only two pinned chats, both belonging to her.
Seeing that the chat history for [Baby Qiaoqiao] stopped on the day of Xu Si'an's accident, Qiao Xu's fingers trembled. She pulled her own phone from her bag and switched to her secondary WeChat account.
There were two message notifications displayed on it.
Without even needing to open the chat box, the moment she saw those words, tears dropped onto the phone screen.
[Love yourself well.]
Qiao Xu touched the chat box, revealing the message just above it: [Wife, I love you, be a good girl, don't wait for me.]
A broken sob escaped her throat, gradually turning into a hoarse cry.
The further up she scrolled, the more Qiao Xu fell apart, weeping bitterly.
There was the day he asked her to return the dog, and the unsent apology.
Over four years, Xu Si'an had sent her thousands of messages.
The morning greetings of [Good morning, baby] and the evening ones of [Good night, wife] were a routine he maintained through more than fourteen hundred days and nights.
Birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Days.
What shattered Qiao Xu completely was what he said on every anniversary of their breakup...
[The fourth year since our breakup, and I still cannot help loving you. Qiaoqiao, do you still love me?]
[The third year since our breakup, I have no way not to miss you. Qiaoqiao, can you love me just a little bit, just a tiny bit?]
[The second year since our breakup, Qiao Xu, I want so much to hate you, but I cannot do it. This name took root in my heart long ago.]
[The first year since our breakup, Qiaoqiao, how could you be so cruel? A year has passed, are you still angry with me?]
[Baby, I no longer dare to fall asleep. The moment I close my eyes, my mind is filled entirely with you—]
On the day Xu Si'an returned to the country, he had said: [Baby, I'm back. I couldn't forget you in four years, and I don't plan to forget you now. Hate me if you like; this time, even if I have to use chains, I will lock you by my side.]
Qiao Xu flipped back to the second month after Xu Si'an went abroad, where there was a video. She tapped to play it.
A static buzzing sound rang out, and Xu Si'an was seen lowering his head, tattooing himself.
The person filming him bantered, "I told you I'd tattoo it for you. It's just a sheep, what's so hard about it?"
Qiao Xu recognized Chang Yi's voice.
The man tattooing himself did not even lift his head: "What do you know? This sheep belongs to me alone, and no one else is allowed to touch it."
"Phht, she doesn't even want you anymore. You've broken up."
"Do I need to remind you that you were the one who got dumped?"
With a loud thud, it sounded like a phone had been dropped, and then the video cut out.
All the emotions accumulated over a dozen days burst forth completely. Qiao Xu clutched his phone tightly in both hands against her heart.
Passersby walking along the river saw Qiao Xu crying by the water, her dress and feet soaked, and assuming she was going to do something desperate, they called the police.
When the police arrived, Qiao Xu was sitting calmly on a rock, staring blankly ahead.
She acknowledged and apologized, explaining that she merely had a heavy heart, and then left the riverbank under the watchful eyes of the officers.
Instead of going home, Qiao Xu went to a studio.
She stayed inside for nearly three hours before driving back to her apartment.
Out of concern for Qiao Xu, Si Shen had kept people following her during this period, only leaving once she had safely arrived home.
Si Shen had known long ago about her sitting by the river; seeing that she had no intention of jumping, his men had not shown themselves.
Back home, Qiao Xu looked at the tattoo on the inner side of her left arm.
It was the design she had pestered Xu Si'an to draw for her that day.
It had been altered slightly: the violets that originally surrounded the little sheep and the lion had been transformed into the pattern of "XU".
It was the Xu of Xu Si'an, and also the Xu of Qiao Xu.
Early the next morning, the Xu Group announced on its official website that Xu Si'an, the second young master of the Xu family, had died in an accidental drowning, and his estate would be inherited by his mother, Ms. Fang Yiqiu.
Less than half an hour after the news release, Song Jia arrived at the CEO's office with a lawyer to find Qiao Xu.
"Ms. Qiao, I am Mr. Xu's personal lawyer. My surname is Zhong."
Qiao Xu nodded in greeting, "Hello, Lawyer Zhong."
In the small meeting room of the secretary's office, Qiao Xu looked stunned. "What did you say?"
She glanced at Song Jia, whose face showed not a trace of surprise.
"Assistant Song, aren't you surprised?"
Song Jia replied, "Sister Xu, President Xu drew up a will every year. The contents varied each year, but the sole beneficiary of his assets remained unchanged."
Qiao Xu looked at the notarized certificate and the will laid out before her, bearing his own handwritten signature.
[If I, Xu Si'an, should meet with an accidental disappearance or death, all properties under my name shall be unconditionally bequeathed to Ms. Qiao Xu.]
Attached below were dozens of pages of asset inventories, which included a thirty percent stake in the Xu Group held by Xu Si'an.
Lawyer Zhong placed all the equity authorization documents before Qiao Xu. "Ms. Qiao, this will was notarized after President Xu returned to the country."