Chapter 9: Have You Had Enough of the Commotion?

As soon as he stepped outside, he couldn’t help but pull out a cigarette from his pocket and light it, forcing himself to suppress the anger ready to explode within him. If this collaboration weren’t so crucial to Xuxing, he would have smashed that pair of eyes glaring at her blind with a single punch.

Xu Sian was not only the executive president of Xuxing but also one of its shareholders—though hardly anyone knew about this.

“Sian, what are you doing here?” A familiar, gentle female voice stopped him.

“I have a dinner meeting with a client,” he replied.

“Did you come with my brother?” The woman shook her head. “I came with Mom to accompany a friend for dinner. Do you want to go say hello to her?”

“No, I’d just spoil the mood,” Xu Sian said.

As he tried to walk past her, the woman called out, “Sian, you haven’t been home in a long time.”

Qiao Xu happened to reach the corner and saw Xu Sian talking with a woman. She hesitated and stepped back, standing quietly out of sight.

That woman? The one who looked at wedding dresses with Xu Sian four years ago?

“Is she his wife?”

Hearing their conversation, the redness from Qiao Xu’s drunken face faded considerably.

Her fingers intertwined nervously, her right thumb pressed against the base of her left hand’s thumb, leaving faint nail marks on her pale skin.

“Did going home upset everyone?”

The woman circled in front of him, “Sian, it’s been four years. Mom was at fault, but...”

“Shen Zhiwei, who do you think you are? By what right do you control me?” Xu Sian strode past her. Qiao Xu quickly leaned against the wall.

Had they been arguing?

She returned to the private room dazed and, seeing the scene inside through the door, suddenly didn’t want to enter.

Leaning against the wall by the door, she instinctively reached for a cigarette in her pocket, only to remember it was in her suit jacket.

She hadn’t smoked before, but she didn’t know when it started—every night her mind was filled with the image of him smoking.

Later, she smoked whenever she missed him.

Then, when she was frustrated, she smoked again.

“What are you standing there for?”

Xu Sian suddenly appeared in front of her, his handsome face looming close.

She could smell the faint scent of tobacco on him, mingled with a subtle hint of vanilla.

He had switched cigarettes.

“There are some inconveniences going inside,” Xu Sian glanced aside. “I’ll get your bag. You go pay the bill and wait for me outside.” He pulled a card from his inner jacket pocket and handed it to her.

Qiao Xu didn’t take it.

“No need, Mr. Xu. The company can reimburse it.”

She headed toward the hotel cashier.

Xu Sian used the excuse of an urgent meeting and took her bag with him to leave.

---

After paying, Qiao Xu found a corner to sit and wait.

She saw a group of a dozen or so women walk out together.

She recognized the woman in the center—it was Xu Sian’s mother.

The woman holding her arm was the same one Qiao Xu had seen four years ago—Xu Sian’s fiancée.

Qiao Xu looked down at her phone, shrinking her presence.

Fortunately, her seat was in a blind spot; no one would notice if they weren’t paying attention.

When Xu Sian came out carrying her bag, he ran straight into his mother.

“Sian.”

Xu Sian stopped, hesitated, then said, “Mom.”

His mother’s face was full of displeasure. “You still remember I’m your mother? You come back to the country but don’t return home. How many years is this? Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

“Trouble?”

“Do you think I’ve only been causing trouble these years in your eyes?”

“Well, you’ve always been so domineering. Controlling brother isn’t enough—you want to control me too.”

His mother trembled with anger. “You bastard! Am I really your mother?”

“If you weren’t my mother, do you think I’d just refuse to go home?”

Xu Sian walked past them, and his mother saw the bag in his hand. “Stop right there.”

“Who are you messing around with now?”

“Didn’t you greet Zhiwei when you saw her? What about your manners, Xu Sian?”

He didn’t even turn his head. “None of your business.”

He left the hotel. Shen Zhiwei quickly tried to soothe his mother. “Mom, you know Sian’s temper. Don’t be angry with him.”

His mother patted Shen Zhiwei’s hand. “Zhiwei, not liking you is his loss. After all, you’re still my Xu family’s daughter-in-law.”

Only after they left did Qiao Xu get up from her corner and head out.

She kept her head down, pondering their conversation.

The hotel lobby was vast and echoing; she hadn’t meant to eavesdrop.

Xu Sian had been at odds with his family for years?

Why?

Because he was unhappy with the marriage arranged for him?

But if he was unhappy, why did he still marry her?

His mother had clearly said that Miss Shen was the daughter-in-law of their Xu family.

Her phone rang, showing a familiar number.

She answered.

“Where are you?”

“I’m coming right away.”

In the parking lot, Xu Sian held her bag in one hand, a gray cigarette between his fingers.

Indeed, it wasn’t Xuan Hemen anymore.

He had said that a man who smoked Xuan Hemen would love only one person for life.

---

He had said he would always smoke Xuan Hemen, always love only her.

But Qiao Xu—

You chose to let him go.

And yet—

He also chose someone else.

Seeing her, Xu Sian dropped his cigarette. “Where did you go? Didn’t I tell you to wait for me in the lobby?”

Qiao Xu made up an excuse. “I was on a call in the corner just now.”

Xu Sian didn’t think much of it. He only wanted to leave and hadn’t noticed if anyone was there.

“Want to get in the car?”

He leaned against the passenger door. Qiao Xu stood motionless.

“Not getting in? Want me to carry you?”

Qiao Xu: “......”

“Mr. Xu, you’re blocking the car door.”

Xu Sian’s face darkened slightly. “With such a big door to open, Assistant Qiao, you’re young but your eyesight isn’t good. This year’s company physical will add an eye exam.”

“Thanks, but no need.”

Qiao Xu got into the car and saw her bag placed on the seat inside.

She picked it up and sat down; Xu Sian got in.

“Drive.”

The car left the hotel and merged onto the road. Xiao Song asked, “Mr. Xu, are we heading back to the company?”

“Take her home.”

Xiao Song then asked Qiao Xu, “Xu Jie, where do you live?”

Xiao Song was twenty-five and found calling her Assistant Qiao a bit awkward.

Xu Sian’s face darkened further. “What did you just call her?”

“Huh?”

“Xu, Xu Jie.”

“Are you close?”

Caught off guard by the boss’s question, Xiao Song was at a loss. How had he offended Mr. Xu again?

Qiao Xu didn’t find the term problematic. “I live near the company, at Rosewood Residence. Do you know the way?”

Xiao Song nodded. “Yes.”

All the way, Xu Sian kept his eyes closed, silent.

He didn’t want to open them, fearing he might not be able to resist grabbing her by the neck.

Qiao Xu kept thinking about where she had lost her bracelet.

But the company was large, and she ran around every day. If it wasn’t lost in the office, it would be hard to find.

She sent a message to the head of the cleaning department.

The reply was that no cleaner had seen it.