“Of course,” Ning Ziqiang answered.
“Oh, then how is she?” Qiao Zhan asked again.
“She’s pretty good. She’s working as an actress,” Ning Ziqiang said.
It seemed that they understood her very well, as what he said was right.
“Why are you even mentioning her? You were nice to her, but how did she treat you?” Luo Yi chipped in abruptly.
Ning Ziqiang cooperatively sighed.
And that was how they worked together to deceive Ning Ran’s mother back then.
After so many years of acting, their acting skills had been brought to the point of perfection. A warrior like Qiao Zhan couldn’t see any flaws at all.
Engaging in conspiracy was not his forte.
“What is it?” Qiao Zhan looked at Luo Yi.
“Ning is too embarrassed to talk. After all, we can’t wash our dirty linen in public,” Luo Yi sighed.
“What exactly happened?”
“Actually…” Luo Yi looked hesitant.
“Just let it go. She’s just a child, so don’t blame her.” Ning Ziqiang pretended to stop Luo Yi from talking.
“It seems that you two are hiding something. If it’s inconvenient for you to say, then forget it.” Qiao Zhan tried to step back.
“It’s actually nothing much, it’s just that my health is not in good shape. I went to the hospital for a checkup a while ago, and the result was a little discouraging. The company is experiencing a downturn these few years and we’re not exactly living a comfortable life now, so medical visits have become a problem. Later, Luo Yi asked me to look for the child to see if she could find a way to help me borrow some money and help me get past this hurdle first.”
Qiao Zhan nodded. “Yeah, you should.”
“It took me a great deal of effort to find her. I told her about my situation and asked her to help borrow one hundred thousand, but… Let’s not go there,” Ning Ziqiang sighed and didn’t talk further.
Of course, Qiao Zhan wanted him to keep talking. How could he stop right at the key point?
“Ms. Ning didn’t agree afterwards?”
Luo Yi continued instead, “How could she agree? She said that Ning Ziqiang’s life and death were none of her business, and she wouldn’t give a single cent. It’s fine if she refused to give us the money, but she even spread rumors outside saying that we asked for a huge chunk of money and that we blackmailed her! Those old friends in the past are now calling us a beast. This girl is too cruel. So she doesn’t want to give us money, but how could she slander her father like this? I’m just her stepmother. She can say whatever she wants about me, but Ning is her biological father. How disappointing it is for her to spread rumors like this!”
At that, Luo Yi squeezed her eyes, forcing tears out of them.
Qiao Zhan pondered, This statement is exactly the same as what Feng Minsheng had said. Is Ning Ran really a cruel person? She doesn’t seem like one though.
“Didn’t you two communicate nicely with her?” Qiao Zhan asked.
“How are we supposed to communicate with her? She refused to help us and spread rumors about us. We can’t even bring ourselves to meet anyone now, but I don’t blame her. She had always misunderstood us, thinking that her mother’s death was related to us. But in all honesty, it’s really not our fault.”
Ning Ziqiang plastered on a sad face and wanted to squeeze out a few drops of tears, but failed to do so.
In terms of acting skills, he was a far cry from Luo Yi.
Qiao Zhan felt speechless. This result surprised him, as it wasn’t the result he wanted.
After entertaining them with few more words, Qiao Zhan paid the bill and left.
When he arrived at Nanshi Corporation, Nan Chen was in a meeting again.
In a year, Nan Chen probably spent more than ninety percent of his time in meetings.
Meetings seemed easy, but they were not.
Corporate meetings weren’t just a formality. Most of the meetings came with a concrete topic.
Nan Chen often had to make judgements and conclusion accordingly after a meeting and these conclusions determined the future of the company.
Especially for important meetings, Nan Chen had to make preparations himself and study the meeting materials handed over from the secretarial office. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to understand fully when someone spoke during the meeting.
Therefore, the influential Master Chen had been running at high speed and carrying many weights on his shoulders.
What other people saw was glamour, but only a few people knew his burden and pressure.
Qiao Zhan waited for an hour before Nan Chen finished the meeting.
Perhaps the meeting didn’t go well, as Nan Chen’s complexion didn’t look good.
This added to the pressure on Qiao Zhan because what he brought wasn’t good news in the first place either.
Will he be even angrier if I tell him about that?
Nan Chen habitually removed his outerwear and hung it on the side. He then picked up a glass of water and took a sip.
Thereafter, he walked to the side, picked up a golf club and swung a few strokes to move his muscles.
The meeting lasted for over two hours; it was really back-breaking.
When the office was renovated, Nan Xing had installed a mini-golf course here. At that time, Nan Chen thought it was useless, but now it seemed that it was actually necessary.
“Sir Chen.” Qiao Zhan stood aside, watching Nan Chen swinging his club.
“Shoot.”
“I met Ning Ziqiang.”
Nan Chen didn’t reply because he thought Qiao Zhan’s words were nonsense.
The fact that he would come to the office to see him naturally meant that he met Ning Ziqiang. Otherwise, why was he here?
“He said he’s seriously ill and needed one hundred thousand to pay the hospital first, so he asked Ms. Ding…”
Qiao Zhan told Nan Chen everything he had heard from Ning Ziqiang.
As expected, Nan Chen’s face grew uglier, and the cold air emitting from his body made Qiao Zhan feel a little flustered.
“Is there a possibility Ning Ziqiang lied to you because he found out about your identity?” Nan Chen questioned.
Qiao Zhan gave it a thought and felt that it was impossible.
“I don’t know.” He could only answer that.
Nan Chen was silent again.
“You can go now,” Nan Chen said brusquely after a long while.
Qiao Zhan felt relieved because the atmosphere was too tense; it was safer for him to leave early.
“Then what should I do next?” Qiao Zhan asked gingerly.
“No hurry for action,” Nan Chen replied.
“Yes, Sir Chen. I’ll go first then.”
Qiao Zhan exited the office with a long sigh of relief as he saw Jiang Zhe walking over.
They were both familiar with each other. One was the person Nan Chen trusted most in business matters, and one was the person Nan Chen trusted most in private matters.
One with the brains and one with the brawn, but they didn’t seem to acknowledge each other.
Jiang Zhe thought Qiao Zhan was just a warrior who only did menial work instead of accomplishing anything big. The only muscle he didn’t use was his brain.
Qiao Zhan, on the other hand, thought Jiang Zhe was like a eunuch who was defenseless and only knew how to butter up to Nan Chen to get a promotion.
They both believed that the role of the other party was very limited and the one who could really get things done was themselves.
“Well, isn’t it Captain Qiao? Isn’t Captain Qiao’s area of activities in the backyard? Why did you come to the company?” Jiang Zhe started.
Qiao Zhan immediately retaliated, “Oh, it’s Assistant Jiang. I’m not here to see you, Assistant Jiang. I’m here to report to Master Chen. I mean, seriously, he’s got you by his side, but he insisted on having me over. It seems that you’re not cut out for this task. Oh, forget it. Your task is to copy documents and pass messages. I know that. I’m off then, see ya.”
