Xia Qiqi first went over and greeted An Yanyuan and Li YaJu, before pushing Xiao Nanchen around the lobby.
She stopped at the dessert area.
"Is there anything you want to eat?" Xia Qiqi asked Xiao Nanchen while selecting pastries.
She didn't actually want to be nice to Xiao Nanchen.
She was just afraid that others would say she was abusing him.
After all, Xiao Nanchen was sitting in a wheelchair and couldn't easily reach for the buffet desserts himself.
"Anything creamy is fine," Xiao Nanchen said.
"Do you want the chocolate flavor?"
"No, I don't like eating chocolate. It's too bitter," Xiao Nanchen explained.
"Chocolate is bitter?" Xia Qiqi started doubting her own sense of taste.
"Yes," Xiao Nanchen nodded.
Xia Qiqi was too lazy to debate taste with Xiao Nanchen. She asked, "More cream or less?"
"More," he replied.
"You like eating creamy stuff?" A grown man enjoying creamy desserts.
"I prefer sweet things," Xiao Nanchen said.
Just right for being a cute bottom.
Xia Qiqi selected a creamy cake and handed it to Xiao Nanchen.
"Thank you."
"Don't overthink it. I just don't want people to misunderstand that I'm abusing a disabled person," Xia Qiqi said bluntly.
Xiao Nanchen nodded.
He understood.
It was just...
The word "disabled" was a little hard to digest.
Xiao Nanchen sat very properly in his wheelchair, eating the creamy cake in front of him.
Xia Qiqi truly felt that Xiao Nanchen's refined and unparalleled fairy-like temperament did not belong in the mortal realm.
"Qiqi," a male voice suddenly sounded next to the two.
Xia Qiqi jerked her head around violently.
At that moment, Xiao Nanchen also glanced over briefly.
Then he slowly put his gaze back onto the cream cake in front of him.
"Ziming," there was clear emotion in Xia Qiqi's voice.
Probably excitement.
Xiao Nanchen put the creamy cake back on the buffet table and wheeled his chair away.
Sometimes.
It was better to choose not to watch.
That way, he could fool himself into thinking life was still good.
"How have you been recently?" Xia Qiqi asked him.
Looking at him, she suddenly became nervous.
And a little flustered.
The two of them seemed to have become strangers.
They were originally about to get married.
The more Xia Qiqi thought about it, the more upset she felt.
"I've been alright. And you?" Nie Ziming gently asked her.
"Not good," Xia Qiqi said bluntly.
Nie Ziming seemed to open his mouth, but didn't seem to know what to say.
"If I say I'm not good, will you take me away with you?" Xia Qiqi demanded.
Nie Ziming chose to remain silent.
So.
Nie Ziming giving her up and watching her marry Xiao Nanchen was not a rash decision.
He had truly pushed her to Xiao Nanchen.
Xia Qiqi laughed mockingly. She said, "Since you won't, don't ask me if I'm doing well in the future. It will make me think you want to start over with me."
After saying that.
Xia Qiqi left.
Even though her eyes were a little red.
But she felt that she was much stronger than she had expected.
She had even thought she would break down in tears at the sight of Nie Ziming.
Yet she hadn't shed a single tear.
Nie Ziming watched Xia Qiqi's back as she walked away gallantly. Watched her leave with the air of someone who had already moved on...
His eyes suddenly tightened.
After all these years of devotion to Xia Qiqi, he would absolutely not let it go to waste.
He endured the emotions in his heart and turned to leave.
"Nie Ziming," a woman called him from behind.
Nie Ziming frowned and looked back at... Gu Yanxuan.
Gu Yanxuan stood neither too close nor too far from him. She said, "Are you willing to give up like this?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Nie Ziming was a cautious man. He was very guarded towards ordinary people.
"You were supposed to marry Xia Qiqi. Xia Hui Bank was supposed to be yours. Now it's all gone and you're fine with it?"
"That's my business and has nothing to do with you," Nie Ziming rejected her very clearly.
"It does concern me," Gu Yanxuan said. "If you hadn't suddenly been dumped by Xia Qiqi, I might be the one married to Xiao Nanchen now! In a way, it was your incompetence that broke Xiao Nanchen and me apart."
Nie Ziming's expression was a little ugly.
Gu Yanxuan was clearly mocking him with her words.
This woman seemed used to looking down on others from on high.
"What's done is done. Complaining to you won't change anything! We might as well cooperate, as fellow victims," Gu Yanxuan took the initiative to extend an olive branch.
"Cooperate?" Nie Ziming was clearly interested.
Even though his expression still looked indifferent.
"Break up the marriage between Xia Qiqi and Xiao Nanchen," she proposed.
"I've never thought of that," Nie Ziming rejected her directly.
Gu Yanxuan's expression tightened.
As expected.
Her brother was right to warn her not to underestimate Nie Ziming.
For a man with nothing who worked his way up to his status today, no matter how he did it, he was definitely not simple.
His immediate rejection without hesitation was clearly extreme caution.
"Cooperating with me has only advantages for you and no downsides," Gu Yanxuan continued persuading. "Firstly, I'm the precious daughter of one of the four big aristocratic families. You'll definitely find my business connections useful. Secondly, my brother is currently expanding his connections among the prestigious families. If you cooperate with me now, I can introduce you to my brother. Once my brother has a foothold among those families, with his help, it wouldn't be impossible for you to gain direct control of Xia Hui Bank! Finally, you like Xia Qiqi and I like Xiao Nanchen. We get together with the ones we love, why not do it?!"
Gu Yanxuan had said so much.
Yet Nie Ziming was still guarded against her. Although he didn't reject her outright, he didn't agree either.
"Don't worry, I won't betray you! With your status, you're not even worth me lowering myself to plot against you!" Gu Yanxuan acted high and mighty as usual. "I approached you only because I feel we have potential for cooperation. Otherwise I wouldn't even look directly at someone like you."
Nie Ziming still felt some damage to his pride from Gu Yanxuan's words.
But it was also because of these words that he lowered his guard against Gu Yanxuan.
It had to be said, from Gu Yanxuan's perspective, she really had no need to plot against him. Harming him would not benefit her at all.
She was taking the initiative to approach him purely because of mutually beneficial interests.
For him, it was actually a good thing.
Without Xia Qiqi now, if he wanted to establish himself in business or even gain control of Xia Hui Bank, it would be wishful thinking. If someone were willing to support him...
Although Gu Yanxuan's brother Gu Yansheng's reputation wasn't good lately, beggars can't be choosers. He was still much stronger than Nie Ziming.
And if Gu Yansheng really gained a foothold among the prestigious families...
Cooperating with Gu Yanxuan did seem to have only advantages and no downsides.
"But," Nie Ziming remained extremely cautious, "you like Xiao Nanchen so much. If the two of you get together, how can I be sure you won't help Xiao Nanchen obtain Xia Hui Bank instead of helping me?!"
