Chapter 28
She raised her head and met eyes with Li Yan. Qiao Mu smiled. “It’s just spam calls. How annoying!”
Li Yan did not say anything, and Qiao Mu breathed an internal sigh of relief.
Li Yan stopped the car outside the hostel building of T University. Qiao Mu got out of the car and waved at Li Yan. “Uncle, I’ll see you on Monday.”
Li Yan watched as the petite figure disappeared into the night. He then averted his gaze and switched on the ignition.
His cell phone started ringing. Li Yan answered the call, and a magnetic male voice rang out from the other end of the line. “Big brother, we are all here already. Why aren’t you showing up yet?”
“I’m at the south end of the city. I won’t be able to head over.”
The person at the other end of the line sounded stunned. “It takes two hours by car to come here from the south end of the city. Big brother, what are you doing there?”
Li Yan’s voice was icy. “Do I need to report my schedule to you?”
He was the one who asked them to come out to talk about business matters, okay? But in the end, he did not show up, and he refused to offer an explanation for his absence. How absurd!
…..
Qiao Mu returned to her dorm and saw that Chi Xia was the only one there. Qiao Mu asked, “Xia Xia, why are you alone? Where’s Yao Shu?”
“I have no idea. She didn’t come back at night for the past two days.” Chi Xia looked at Qiao Mu. “Weren’t you planning to stay the night at home? Why did you come back so late at night?”
“My father is out for a business trip. Of course I’m back here. Why would I want to stay home and look at my stepmother as well as my stepsister?”
“Mu Mu, nothing bad happened to you, right?” Chi Xia was referring to Qiao Mu’s time at “Shades of Darkness”.
Qiao Mu smiled. “Of course not. What could have happened to me? Alright, hurry up and go to sleep!”
Chi Xia was exasperated, but she did not press on. To Qiao Mu, nothing was a big deal. She had faced plenty of hardships ever since she was young, and she was always able to solve them by herself. What could be too difficult for her?”
Qiao Mu got changed and climbed onto her bed. She then switched on her cell phone.
The one who called her when she was in the car was Zhou Jieru. It was no rocket science that she was rushing her daughter for the money. Qiao Mu could not let Li Yan know that she was still in touch with her birth mother as the Qiao family did not allow it.
There were four missed calls and a very long text message on her phone. Qiao Mu did not bother to read it. Her mother must be either complaining about how tough life was or insulting and accusing her.
Qiao Mu sent a short reply. [I’m trying to get the money. There’s no use rushing me.]
Zhou Jieru had asked Qiao Mu for money again and again, and she was already numb to it. But Zhou Jieru was going too far this time by asking for 300,00 RMB. What if she asked for 1,000,000 RMB next time?
Qiao Mu clenched her fists. She told herself that this would be her last time helping her birth mother out!
…..
Monday, the headquarters of LSA Group.
The skyscraper that housed the headquarters of LSA Group was a majestic building, with a golden and shiny exterior.
The headquarters of LSA Group was located at a bustling business district at the capital of the country, and its many subsidiary branches could be found all over the country. They were practically in control of the economy of the country, and they were a force to be reckoned with indeed.
Qiao Mu only realized as she stood before the skyscraper that even though Li Yan asked her to look for him here, he did not tell her which part of the building she should go to.
Before she made the trip, she even went online to read up about LSA Group. She was stunned that Li Yan was such a legendary man in the business world.
Compared to LSA Group, Qiao Group was really nothing. No wonder her father addressed Li Yan as “Young Master Li”.
Qiao Mu was standing at the majestic main hall on the ground floor in a daze when a man walked toward her.
The man stood before Qiao Mu, and even though he was handsome, he was expressionless. “Nice to meet you, Miss Qiao. I’m Lei Yi, Young Master Li’s personal assistant. The young master asked me to come and get you.”
Qiao Mu nodded. She thought about how Li Yan actually put quite a lot of thought into things. But why did he have to make it so troublesome? He was just giving her money, was he not? He could have just asked his personal assistant to transfer the money to her.
…..
On the top floor, outside Li Yan’s office.
Lei Yi opened the door and gestured for Qiao Mu to go in. “Miss Qiao, the CEO is having a meeting right now. He’ll be done with it soon. Please wait in the office for a short while.”