Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Three Years and One Month

Wu Lan returned to the company in a daze, her heels clicking through the corridor like they belonged to someone else.

“What was her reaction?” Xu Zhong Qin asked.

Wu Lan replayed the scene in her head and still couldn’t quite believe it. “She was… calm.”

“Calm?” Xu Zhong Qin’s eyes narrowed slightly, a sharp glint cutting through the smooth surface.

Wu Lan nodded once. “Too calm.”

If it were before, Qiao Qing Yan would have already leapt up and begun planning. She would have dug through every luxury item in her apartment, laying them out one by one, desperate to assemble a look. After all, she’d had almost no exposure these past few years. Finally, an occasion with visibility—real visibility.

She would’ve dressed herself like a flamboyant peacock.

And that grand declaration about leaving the industry? Wu Lan had never taken it seriously. She didn’t believe someone that vain would truly quit.

Thinking of the nouveau-riche vibe Qiao Qing Yan carried every time she stepped out, Wu Lan wanted to bury her face in her hands. If it weren’t for that pretty face propping everything up, the company would have kicked her out long ago.

She snapped back to the present.

“President Xu, I keep feeling…” Wu Lan hesitated, then forced the words out. “Qiao Qing Yan is… different now.”

The last two times she’d seen her, it was like she was looking at someone else. Even that gaudy sheen was gone, scraped clean.

“Oh?” Xu Zhong Qin’s voice stayed even. “Tell me.”

Wu Lan thought about it and then dismissed it as paranoia. People didn’t change like that overnight. Not like this.

That night’s drinking-party setup—she had arranged it with her own hands. Back then, Qiao Qing Yan had been a chess piece anyone could move.

How could she become unrecognizable in a single night?

“Maybe I’m imagining it,” Wu Lan said finally. “Maybe she’s just forcing herself to hold on.”

In Wu Lan’s mind, someone who had fallen from heaven into hell and been suppressed for so long would have to crack somewhere. A flicker of resistance once in a while was normal.

Xu Zhong Qin didn’t press.

Whether it was true or not, tomorrow’s meeting would answer it.

As for the rumors online about Qiao Qing Yan marrying into a wealthy family, no one understood the truth better than he did. It was a common tactic in the circle; the only difference was that the Wang family was helping fan the flames.

After Wu Lan left, Xu Zhong Qin set down his pen and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the street boiled with headlights and bodies, an endless current of people who never paused.

He still remembered that night at an airport abroad, standing beneath cold fluorescents while the enormous screen flickered with an awards broadcast. On the podium, the star-bright beauty held her trophy like a blade.

“Starting today,” she had announced, voice clear and proud, “I, Qiao Qing Yan, will retire and leave the industry.”

She’d worn a strapless red gown. Under the stage lights, her fair skin glowed, dazzling. She looked like a queen returning from battle—sharp enough to cut and impossible not to submit to.

—

“President Xu,” his assistant said as he approached, “the women’s gown has arrived. Should we send it to Miss Xu’s studio first?”

The assistant had been following him long enough to know he took special care of Xu Shu Jing. For tomorrow’s charity gala, he had specifically chosen Xu Shu Jing as his female companion. Everyone could see what that meant.

It only made sense for Miss Xu to pick first.

Xu Zhong Qin didn’t even turn around. “Send it to Miss Qiao first.”

The assistant froze. “Miss Qiao…? You mean Qiao Qing Yan?”

“Yes.”

In truth, most people inside Ju Hui had celebrated when Qiao Qing Yan announced she was leaving the industry. They’d been cheering quietly in their offices, as if someone had finally lifted a curse.

They handled too much PR for her every month—so much that they wished those three words would never appear in front of them again.

She spent every day trying to ride other people’s popularity, and every time she tried, she got mocked. Worse, the company couldn’t control her. Even when they cut off her social activities, she still found ways to stir trouble.

No one knew how many messes they’d cleaned up behind her.

And yet the company never terminated her contract and let her go. Even Wu Lan didn’t understand it. Why keep someone with zero value?

“Little Zhang,” Xu Zhong Qin asked, voice faintly distant, “how much longer is Miss Qiao’s contract valid?”

Little Zhang blinked. “11 months.”

Luckily, he’d heard Wu Lan complain about it before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to answer at all.

As he left, he heard Xu Zhong Qin murmur from the office, so low it barely sounded like speech.

“So it’s already been three years and one month.”

A quiet sigh followed, heavy with regret and something harder to name.

When Little Zhang glanced back, Xu Zhong Qin was still standing at the window in the exact same posture—silent, unmoving—as if none of it had happened.