Chapter 6
Seeing no reaction from Qi Baizi, Gu Yuetong pressed her lips together and continued with the meeting.
After the meeting, Qi Baizi went up to her and asked, “Just now, you…”
Gu Yuetong said, “I wanted you to turn on the lights.”
Qi Baizi: I don’t understand. I really don’t understand.
Gu Yuetong rejected the suggestion of getting another suite because Gu Hezhu had also been on that video shareholder meeting.
Judging by the background in the video, Gu Hezhu was probably already at the airport. And just as she had expected, Gu Hezhu didn’t like to stay overnight in other cities.
Qi Baizi stood frozen. Gu Yuetong glanced back at her. “Don’t worry about it. She’s always appearing and disappearing mysteriously. It’s normal for the hotel not to have noticed.”
After walking a few steps, Gu Yuetong added, “I’m going for a walk by myself later. You can get off work early.”
Having been granted freedom, Qi Baizi felt deflated.
She returned to her bedroom alone and lay on the bed for a long time.
The fragmented memories from the morning until now converged into a ball of light in her mind, stinging her so much that she couldn’t think.
But she still forced herself to concentrate, trying to decipher the meaning behind each of Gu Yuetong’s sentences.
For example, that phrase, “Am I very fierce?” Was Gu Yuetong dissatisfied with her respectful and distant attitude?
But Gu Yuetong was the one who had established clear boundaries from the beginning. And as a subordinate, wasn’t it proper to maintain a distance from one’s superior?
What exactly did she have to do to win her approval?
Qi Baizi pounded her forehead in frustration when her phone suddenly vibrated. It was a voice message from Zheng Xiaoxiao. “Little Bai, do you have time to meet? About this morning, I want to apologize to you in person.”
Qi Baizi held up her phone, frowning slightly. After a few minutes of contemplation, she sat up and replied, “No need for an apology, but we can meet.”
The two arranged to meet at a rooftop tea room not far from the hotel.
“This is a famous influencer spot in Donglin. I only managed to book a table because I’m on good terms with the owner.” Zheng Xiaoxiao ordered six or seven types of pastries right away, and also two jasmine tea-flavored ice creams. “My treat today, as an apology. Eat as much as you want.”
Qi Baizi smiled at her and popped a piece of jujube paste cake into her mouth.
Zheng Xiaoxiao asked, “Is it good?”
“It’s good.” After swallowing the cake, Qi Baizi said, “Your mother, she’s not mad at me, is she?”
Zheng Xiaoxiao paused, her smile fading. She said in a low voice, “What right does she have to be mad at you?”
Qi Baizi said, “Don’t say that.”
Zheng Xiaoxiao let out a breath and began, “Actually, I tried to stop her this morning, but I couldn’t.”
“She’s always so domineering. It was the same when she divorced my dad. The word ‘lose’ doesn’t exist in her dictionary.”
“But things are different in the real world. You can’t fight against the powerful. Gu Corporation isn’t like her other competitors. She fought her way to the top in our area, becoming a model factory, but she took a hard hit when faced with the reality of Gu Corporation’s contract termination.”
“So I can understand her. I’m just angry that she went to find Gu Yuetong even though she knew you were my classmate. She didn’t care at all…”
Zheng Xiaoxiao’s eyelids drooped, and she shook her head deeply.
“She values profit more than anything else.”
“Perhaps this is what the adult world is like.” Qi Baizi smiled, comforting Zheng Xiaoxiao. “At least one of her reasons for fighting so hard is you.”
Zheng Xiaoxiao paused at her words and met Qi Baizi’s gaze.
A few seconds later, Zheng Xiaoxiao said, “Little Bai, you seem much more perceptive and hardworking than others your age.”
Qi Baizi focused on eating, occasionally glancing out the glass window.
At dusk, from the rooftop tea room, one could see the horizon. The pale yellow sun slowly sank behind the clouds, making the gloomy sky even darker.
Qi Baizi started working part-time at sixteen, which didn’t stop her from getting into a local university in Jingzhou. She had worked all the way until graduation, and now she was under pressure as Gu Yuetong’s personal assistant. Her life seemed to be a perpetual journey of hard work.
But she hadn’t always been so hardworking from the start.
Her uncle often said that while others were rebellious during their teenage years, she had been rebellious since she was a child.
The days before she turned sixteen had passed in the blink of an eye.
Until one night, when she opened her mother’s bedside drawer to get money to skip school and go to an internet cafe.
Wrapped in layers of red cloth was a stack of blood-stained hundred-yuan bills. Tucked among the bills was a folded piece of white paper.
With Qi Baizi’s mindset at the time, she couldn’t grasp the meaning of the money and the paper. To her, money was meant to be spent; hiding it turned it into waste paper. But the piece of white paper, which she would normally dismiss as trash at a glance, piqued her curiosity at that moment.
It was a handwritten adoption certificate. The decades-old handwriting was already a bit faded, but she could still make out the adoptee’s name, blood type, and the date of adoption.
Her mother, Qi Yue’s, name appeared at the beginning of the left side and at the bottom right of the adoption certificate, in the adopter’s section and on the signature line confirming the adoption.
Qi Baizi felt an unprecedented surge of excitement, a mix of emotions rushing to her brain.
Just the night before, she had felt resentful about her family not being wealthy enough, but after seeing the adoption certificate, that feeling vanished.
That day, she put everything back in the drawer as it was. She went to the kitchen and clumsily made a bowl of light vegetable congee, then rode her bicycle for three hours to the construction site where her mother was.
Her mother, Qi Yue, was washing clothes. She lived with her uncle and aunt in a shantytown near the construction site that was slated for demolition. She was surprised to see her daughter.
Her daughter said nothing, just ushered her mother back into the house to eat the congee, then sat down and scrubbed the faded, worn-out jeans. She didn’t ask Qi Yue about her biological family, not a single word. No matter who had abandoned her, her mother was her savior for having kept her alive and safe for sixteen years.
Qi Yue looked at her daughter’s back and quietly thought to herself that she had grown up.
Qi Baizi really had grown up.
Overnight.
From then on, she never skipped school again. Her grades soared, and during vacations, she would take on part-time jobs whenever she was free. Her uncle and aunt were amazed by her transformation, and their attitude towards her gradually improved.
The sun in the distance completely disappeared below the horizon. Zheng Xiaoxiao looked at Qi Baizi’s slender jawline and was about to say something when the tea room owner suddenly brought over two tall glasses. “Care to try? A new specialty matcha cocktail.”
“A new one?” Zheng Xiaoxiao took a sip and said in surprise, “This tastes great! Little Bai, you have to try it.”
Then she turned to the owner and joked, “It’s so good, is it on the house?”
The owner, Hao Zhi, looked to be in her early thirties. She was a woman with short hair, looking capable and humorous. She teased, “It’s on the house, and I’ll even throw in a hundred for each of you.”
“What can a hundred do? It should be at least a million, right?” Zheng Xiaoxiao had known Hao Zhi for a long time and was a regular customer; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them friends.
In previous years, she would come to her grandmother’s house during winter and summer vacations, and when she was bored, she would come here. When it was busy, she would even help Hao Zhi out, and Hao Zhi often didn’t charge her.
She was quiet with people she didn’t know well, but with friends, she could joke around endlessly. “Look at the apartments around here. Why don’t you throw in a couple of buildings for each of us too?”
“That’d be great. I’ll open my shop here, and you two can come over whenever… Xiaoxiao, what’s wrong with your friend?”
Hao Zhi’s voice suddenly stopped. Zheng Xiaoxiao looked over at Qi Baizi and saw that the girl who had been smiling and watching their banter just a moment ago was now bright red in the face and had collapsed onto the table, unconscious.
Hao Zhi realized, “Is she allergic to alcohol?”
Zheng Xiaoxiao shook her head stiffly. She really didn’t know!
She tentatively reached out to check Qi Baizi’s breathing, but Hao Zhi grabbed her hand. “Call 120 first!”
But Qi Baizi suddenly opened her eyes and said weakly, “Take me back to the hotel.” The upward lilt at the end of her words clearly indicated she was drunk.
Zheng Xiaoxiao let out a breath, then felt a little speechless.
That cocktail wasn’t even as strong as a can of beer, and Qi Baizi was already out?
Hao Zhi helped Zheng Xiaoxiao carry Qi Baizi downstairs. Fortunately, Qi Baizi still had a sliver of consciousness and could barely stand. Hao Zhi called a taxi for them and sent them to the hotel.
On the way, Zheng Xiaoxiao kept pinching the soft flesh between Qi Baizi’s thumb and forefinger, trying to keep her from falling asleep. “I can’t carry you by myself. You have to hold on.”
Then she added, “If you can hear me, remember, if your skin starts to itch or you have trouble breathing, tell me right away, and we’ll turn around and go to the hospital!”
“Driver, could you please hurry?” Zheng Xiaoxiao was on the verge of tears. She had ditched her mother and changed her flight just to stay and apologize to Qi Baizi, only to get her drunk.
If Qi Baizi was hospitalized for an alcohol allergy, wouldn’t she be even more at fault?
The driver sped to the hotel entrance. Zheng Xiaoxiao used all her strength to help Qi Baizi out of the car. Before she could even get her footing, a female voice came from behind.
Zheng Xiaoxiao found it familiar. She turned around and saw Gu Yuetong.
“What’s going on?”
Gu Yuetong was wearing a black trench coat, carrying a bag, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
She had just gotten out of her car when she saw the two staggering figures. Qi Baizi was completely slumped over Zheng Xiaoxiao’s shoulder, looking drunk.
Zheng Xiaoxiao became nervous. She used the hand trapped under Qi Baizi to pat her back hard. “Gu Yuetong is here! Your boss! Wake up!”
Qi Baizi didn’t react at all.
Gu Yuetong took two steps forward and asked, “Did she drink?”
“Not much…” Zheng Xiaoxiao whispered. “Just two sips.”
Gu Yuetong narrowed her eyes slightly. Drunk like this after just two sips?
Was Zheng Xiaoxiao trying to cover for Qi Baizi? Afraid she’d be fired?
“President Gu, may I ask which room she’s in? I’ll take her up.”
Gu Yuetong raised an eyebrow. “1206. You’re taking her by yourself?”
Zheng Xiaoxiao: “Uh… I’ll call a staff member. President Gu, you don’t need to worry about it.”
Gu Yuetong nodded at her words. “Alright.” Then she strode into the hotel, swiped her card to enter the elevator, and didn’t look back.
Zheng Xiaoxiao struggled to get Qi Baizi inside by herself, then called a receptionist to help them upstairs.
Standing at the door of the room, the receptionist supported Qi Baizi’s body to keep her from falling while Zheng Xiaoxiao fumbled in her pockets. She finally found the room card. The moment she swiped it to open the door, the door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.
Gu Yuetong stood in the doorway, her face dark, and took the room card from Zheng Xiaoxiao’s hand.
Zheng Xiaoxiao was stunned for a second and looked at the receptionist beside her.
The receptionist whispered, “This is a suite.”
Zheng Xiaoxiao instantly understood. So Gu Yuetong was staying here too…
After settling Qi Baizi on the living room sofa, Zheng Xiaoxiao quickly made her escape.
Before leaving, she even bowed towards the door from the hallway. “Good luck, Little Bai. Good luck.”