Sure enough.
When An Nuan opened her eyes, Ye Jinghuai was gone.
There was still a note left in the room.
It read, "Take good care of yourself, I'll be back. - Love, your Ahuai."
Every time with these notes, An Nuan would look at them for a long time.
She couldn't bear to put them down.
She told herself.
Ye Jinghuai would be back in 2 more months.
Then they wouldn't have to endure the heartache of being apart anymore.
She got out of bed, washed up and put on makeup.
Downstairs, Zhong Uncle had already prepared breakfast, which had been especially abundant recently, and today was particularly lavish.
An Nuan was almost overwhelmed by it all.
She ate thoughtfully, suspecting that if this kept up, she might get too fat to be seen in public before she even got pregnant.
As she ate, she casually turned on her phone to check the news headlines.
Her eyes suddenly tightened.
The news that Xia Qiqi and Xiao Nanchen were getting divorced was the top headline.
The two had married and divorced very discreetly.
Why would it suddenly get so much attention now?!
After finishing breakfast, An Nuan called Xiao Nanchen while heading out the door, "Nanchen, do you know your divorce news with Qiqi is spreading online now?"
"I just saw it," Xiao Nanchen sounded very calm. "Sooner or later people would find out anyway."
"With the timing, the exposure could negatively impact you," An Nuan said. "You just started at Xia Bank, sitting in your position as Uncle Xia's son-in-law, the other directors and executives dare not say anything, but now that you and Qiqi are divorced, it's inevitable people will gossip."
"Don't worry," Xiao Nanchen reassured An Nuan instead. "I can handle it."
"Alright, I just wanted to give you a heads up," An Nuan said.
"Mm," Xiao Nanchen nodded.
They hung up.
Xiao Nanchen had just arrived at the company then.
He would come half an hour early.
Because of his leg issues, he didn't want any unnecessary trouble.
It was the same today.
Leaning on a cane, he walked into his office.
Sitting in his office chair, he looked at the news.
The content was not overly aggressive.
Just a matter-of-fact account that he and Qiqi were divorced.
He stared at it for a while.
His secretary knocked and entered, "Mr. Xiao."
"Mm,"
"The executive meeting is in the conference room in ten minutes, you need to attend."
"Alright." Xiao Nanchen nodded.
Leaning on his cane, he went to the conference room.
All the executives were there, including Qiqi.
Qiqi wasn't exactly an executive, but because of her special connection, she attended every important meeting.
He sat in his seat.
Xia Zheng Hai sat in the middle position.
There was a weekly executive meeting.
To report on the previous week's work and next week's plans.
Xiao Nanchen spoke on behalf of the business development department, "Of the thirteen projects my department is working on this week, seven have made significant progress. Four have no substantial breakthrough yet. The remaining two are quite tricky. I will report on each situation in detail."
He spoke neither arrogantly nor humbly, neither fast nor slow.
Qiqi had always thought Xiao Nanchen was shy and introverted, possibly unable to speak clearly in front of an audience, but surprisingly, in these two meetings, his work reports were fluent and focused, highlighting key points without boasting or false modesty. For problems he couldn't resolve, he acknowledged the difficulties directly and offered his own suggestions. In fact, many executives were quite satisfied with Xiao Nanchen's work attitude.
After finishing his report, Xiao Nanchen returned to his seat leaning on his cane.
Just as he was about to move on to the next item, a director suddenly spoke up, "Chairman Xia, I heard Mr. Xiao is divorced from your daughter now."
It was rare to discuss private matters in such a big meeting, clearly deliberately provocative.
Xiao Nanchen's eyes flickered slightly.
Xia Zheng Hai said, "Incompatible personalities, divorce is normal. Let's avoid private topics during meetings, don't waste everyone's time."
"I'm not trying to waste anyone's time, I just feel it's a bit inappropriate for the Chairman to arbitrarily appoint someone to such an important role," the director said. "I thought he was your son-in-law before, Xia Group is your family's business, of course it's normal to appoint your own people, but now that he's no longer related, isn't this abrupt appointment of a newcomer improper?"
"There's nothing improper about it," Xia Zheng Hai's expression darkened. "Xiao Nanchen is capable for this position."
"As far as I know, he has no business experience. Chairman, how did you assess his capabilities?"
Just as Xia Zheng Hai was about to speak.
"You can see my capabilities through my work going forward," Xiao Nanchen said. "Now is not the time to discuss whether I'm qualified for this position. No one can judge capability without results. I will speak with my performance."
The director was silenced by Xiao Nanchen's words.
Xiao Nanchen usually didn't talk much.
During work reports, he was extremely succinct, never wasting words. The director didn't expect him to speak so eloquently now.
Feeling rather embarrassed instead.
He said sarcastically, "I'm just making a suggestion. Since the Chairman feels it's unnecessary, I won't say more. After all, results speak for themselves, some people will be slapped in the face in the end."
Xia Zheng Hai's expression was clearly ugly.
Xiao Nanchen remained calm and said, "Give me six months. If I don't produce results, I'll resign on my own initiative."
The director was surprised Xiao Nanchen would make such a promise suddenly.
He had thought it would just blow over.
"The results I mean are increasing the group's financing loans by 50%. If I don't achieve that, I'll voluntarily resign."
"Are you sure?" the director asked.
"Certain."
"Do you know how much market share Xia Bank has right now?! Among the top 5 banks, Xia Bank already has 60% market share. You want to increase by 50%, are you trying to monopolize the entire banking market?"
"Let's wait till the results in six months to judge my capabilities, Director Yuan!" Xiao Nanchen had no desire to waste words.
The director suppressed his anger.
Xiao Nanchen's response made him feel like he was being unreasonable.
He said, "I do want to see what great abilities you have."
Xiao Nanchen did not respond further.
The director also stopped talking.
The meeting continued.
Afterward, Xia Zheng Hai asked Xiao Nanchen to his office.
He said straightforwardly, "Nanchen, your target is too high."
"It's not too high," Xiao Nanchen said. "What I want to do now is not just compete with other banks for market share, but also deeply develop many financial businesses within the group. The market will only get bigger, increasing sales by 50% is not difficult."
Besides, if there were really problems, he could transfer his own assets over.
