CH 7.1

Chapter 7 Part 1

Ning Qingqing held onto the phone number, only to feel like she was holding a hot potato.

And just when she was hesitating about whether she should just act dumb or something of the like, a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed her mind. Quickly, she copied the string of numbers, and Ning Qingqing searched directly in her added friends list on WeChat.

After a while, the search result appeared on her screen – Keith.

Ning Qingqing leaned back in her chair, her head buzzing.

At this moment, the sound of high-heeled shoes resounded in the office area. Ning Qingqing looked up and saw Kenny, Si Luoqing’s agent who was being led over by the marketing manager.

Manager Chen introduced: “Qingqing, this is Kenny. He came over to discuss Miss Si’s spokesperson contract with you.”

Ning Qingqing nodded: “Okay, Mr. Kenny, let’s go to the conference room.”

There were already a lot of people sitting in the conference room, including colleagues from the PR and marketing departments. These people were the ones in charge of talking while Ning Qingqing only needed to draw up a contract, so her role was more like a scribe.

When she had questions, she would speak up.

However, this time the colleagues from the marketing department, who are usually very difficult to deal with, almost always agreed as long as the other party’s demands weren’t outrageous. Fortunately, the final price resulting from the negotiations was reasonable, it fell under the market price range.

“If there are no more questions, we will prepare the contract as soon as possible,” said the head of the marketing department. He then addressed Ning Qingqing, “Qingqing, this contract is relatively urgent. Bite the bullet and aim to have the first draft ready today and send it to Kenny.”

Ning Qingqing nodded: “Got it.”

After the meeting ended and everyone left, Ning Qingqing took the documents and returned to her seat. She couldn’t tell if she was just being sensitive, but she felt her colleagues were looking at her, and there seemed to be pity in their eyes.

Ah, it’s only been half a day and word has already spread throughout the company.

That’s right, the whole company was eyeing the dynamics of the top-floor office. Surely, the front desk has already interpreted many versions of the matter concerning the Shen Zhiqian father and son duo who went downstairs together with Si Luoqing this afternoon!

In the following period, Ning Qingqing calmed down and concentrated on drawing up a contract per her job description. She would not allow her personal emotions to affect her work.

By the time she finished, the sky outside had already turned dark. Ning Qingqing picked up her phone and only then did she notice that there were two missed calls: both were from Shen Zhiqian.

She had muted her phone during the meeting and with how busy she was afterward, she forgot that her phone was on mute. She found out that Shen Zhiqian had sent her voice messages after she missed his calls.

None of Ning Qingqing’s colleagues were in the office anymore, so she simply played the message on speaker.

The sound of the airport intercom came from Shen Zhiqian’s end, and the man spoke as he walked, “Qingqing, something went wrong at the last minute with the Haiyuan project. I’m taking a business trip to deal with it. If all goes well, I will return the day after tomorrow.”

After that, he also added: “The temperature will cool down the next two days. Take care to not wear too little for work and bring a windbreaker to the company just in case.”

These two voice messages continued for more than ten minutes, Shen Zhiqian then said, “Are you busy right now? Don’t delay dinner. I’m boarding the plane now. I’ll contact you when I get there.”

After she replied to his messages, Ning Qingqing realized that she was really hungry. She only ate a bit of something simple at noon today, and now several hours have passed so her stomach had been emptied for some time.

Once she finished reviewing the contract, Ning Qingqing sent it to Kenny then turned off the computer and got up.

She seldom drives to work because the apartment she lives in is near a subway station, and the company is in the CBD business district which also has the subway next to it.

Ning Qingqing came out of the skyscraper. Just as she was passing the intersection on her way to the subway station, someone suddenly called out to her.

“Miss Ning.” Si Luoqing was wearing sunglasses and a mask, and next to her was Kenny.

Ning Qingqing stopped her footsteps and turned around: “Miss Si, what’s the matter?”

The corners of Si Luoqing’s lips were raised in a slight smile: “I’m sorry for making you work overtime today because of my affairs. I want to invite you to dinner to make amends.”

Ning Qingqing looked at the woman’s sunglasses. Since the surroundings were already very dark, she could only see the reflection of the city’s neon lights in her lenses and couldn’t see the expression in her eyes.

“There’s no need for you to apologize.” Ning Qingqing said lightly: “It’s only part of my responsibilities.”

“That’s true.” Si Luoqing raised her sunglasses and reached out her hand: “There will be many opportunities to cooperate in the future, please take care of me.”

Ning Qingqing didn’t extend her hand; she didn’t feel the need to deal with the emotions of unpleasant people when she was off work—

“If Miss Si wants to use a handshake as an excuse to have me help you keep balance, you don’t have to. You can ask your agent to help you up. After all, wearing sunglasses in such darkness really does obstruct one’s vision.”

Si Luoqing didn’t expect Ning Qingqing would snub her. She put away her smile and lowered her voice: “You should know the reason why our contract proceeded so smoothly, right?”

Ning Qingqing didn’t speak and immediately turned around.

Nonetheless, Kenny added behind her: “Miss Ning, in the future, just focus on doing your job well. For, what isn’t yours, no matter how hard you try, you can’t keep it!”