The chairman of the Qin Group, Qin Hanyue, has not appeared in the company for more than half a year since disappearing at the end of last year.
Although the employees cannot help but privately discuss this, they dare not be too curious, let alone make random guesses about Qin Hanyue's whereabouts.
It was thought that they were insignificant, but they heard that the big shots in the Beijing circle were just like them, none of them had seen Qin Hanyue at any occasion.
Who doesn't know that Qin Hanyue is strict with himself, with only work in his eyes. Since he took over the company, this is the first time this has happened. In the past, he was away on business trips for three to five months at most, and during that time one could still hear a little about his whereabouts, but this time he just disappeared completely.
There are two most prevalent speculations: Qin Hanyue is managing overseas enterprises abroad, and is temporarily unable to get away; Qin Hanyue is sick at home recuperating.
These are the two most widely spread opinions.
Why would there be talks of Qin Hanyue, young and strong, being critically ill? That's because many big shots in Beijing circles have also heard the wind—that the Qin family is sparing no expense seeking medical treatment everywhere.
In fact, two months ago, an extremely outrageous incident was spread: The Qin family, unable to find medical treatment, superstitiously found a Taoist priest and invited him home to perform rituals and summon spirits.
No one knows how this information leaked out, but some people believed it. Those at odds with the Qins even secretly looked into its authenticity, hoping to hear the good news of Qin Hanyue's critical illness and the Qin family losing its person in power.
Originally everyone thought it was Old Master Qin who had reached old age, and Qin Hanyue, being a filial son, was running around seeking medical treatment for his father, and had no time to attend to the company.
But after the incident of summoning spirits with a Taoist priest came out, everyone unanimously rejected it, because it was absolutely impossible for Qin Hanyue, a well-educated normal person, to do such superstitious things.
So everyone became more convinced that Qin Hanyue himself was ill, and the Qin family, unable to find medical treatment, finally went down this crooked path for Qin Hanyue.
Exactly what was going on and where Qin Hanyue went, only the Qin family themselves knew.
The curtains were completely drawn open by someone, and sunshine poured in, shining brightly beside the bed.
The girl lying in bed looked increasingly emaciated. She lay there quietly, making everyone dare not speak loudly, for fear of startling her away.
"Morning," Qin Hanyue leaned down and kissed the girl's forehead.
"I have things to attend at the company today, I need to chair two meetings there. I'll handle them as quickly as possible and come back to accompany you."
He spoke gently, reporting to the girl.
Qin Hanyue lingered by the bedside for a good half day, wasting away the breakfast time, before finally leaving with an empty stomach.
Before leaving, he looked at her worriedly, pulled out one of her hands from under the quilt, kissed it, and only then left.
A gust of wind blew in from the balcony, and a talisman pasted on the door frame fluttered silently in the wind.
Those rumors about Qin Hanyue outside were not unfounded. Those outrageous rumors were actually even more outrageous in reality.
The most outrageous one—inviting a Taoist priest to perform rituals and summon spirits—was true. And not only did this outrageous thing happen at the hands of Qin Hanyue, this well-educated person, he even did more than just this one thing. He not only invited a Taoist priest, but also invited high monks from Thailand.
When Qin Hanyue invited the Taoist priest home and set up an altar in front of the villa to summon spirits, with Qiao Ying placed in front of the ritual array, Old Master Qin almost gave him a slap to make him come to his senses.
The person was perfectly fine, yet he was summoning her soul.
After that night, everyone in the Qin family felt that Qin Hanyue had mental problems. Even gentle Qin's Mother and Qin Hanyue's aunt thought he was crazy, scaring everyone in the Qin household for days, unable to sleep well.
A few days later, Qin Hanyue brought several high monks from Thailand who chanted scriptures at the Qin residence for several days and pasted many talismans.
It made everyone feel uneasy.
Although Qin's Mother was in awe of ghosts and gods, she had never seen such a scene before either. She worried about Qin Hanyue so much that she washed her face in tears for two days straight.
Old Master Qin didn't stop him either, letting Qin Hanyue make a mess as he pleased, thinking that he would settle down after tiring himself out in a few days.
But after sending off the monks, Qin Hanyue brought in a bunch of strange instruments and some experts, researching things like magnetic fields, also to summon spirits.
He had employed both mysticism and science.
Old Master Qin had comforted himself that Qin Hanyue was just desperately seeking any possible treatment, but after Qin Hanyue's repeated actions, Old Master Qin also believed his mind was starting to go after being unable to take the blow.
However, Qin Hanyue was very clear-headed.
He wasn't desperately seeking any possible treatment either.
After hearing about his outrageous actions, Cheng Jinyan and Ye Si only scolded him for being insane, but didn't stop him.
Because only they knew that Qiao Ying's soul had been reborn.
Seeing Qiao Ying’s condition, Qin Hanyue couldn’t help but speculate wildly: Was it because her soul was no longer compatible with this body? Or was this heavily injured body already unable to sustain her soul...
It was difficult for the mature-minded Qin Hanyue to force himself to give free rein to his imagination regarding the topic of soul rebirth.
But once the imagination started, it became uncontrollable.
He even had the most fearful speculation: could it be that the soul in this body now was no longer hers?
This thought made Qin Hanyue panic. He immediately called Cheng Jinyan.
Fortunately Cheng Jinyan reminded him, and spoke reasonably.
The real Qiao Ying was already dead. If the soul left this body, then this body should have already lost all signs of life, and not be in a coma like now.
Just as he felt relieved, Qin Hanyue thought again, if Qiao Ying's soul could inhabit this body, perhaps others' could as well.
What if when she woke up, her soul had already been replaced by someone else's?
Maybe, maybe, maybe the soul in this body now was no longer hers.
This thought of Qin Hanyue's not only frightened himself, but even frightened Cheng Jinyan, because it was indeed possible in principle.
And so Qin Hanyue frightened himself for two months, wearing himself out, and only now finally calmed down somewhat.
Qin Hanyue, who hadn't been to the company for several months, went today and chaired two meetings nonstop in the conference room. In order to finish work as quickly as possible, he didn't stop for breaks and left immediately after the meetings ended without giving further instructions.
Even during the meetings, Qin Hanyue's phone was connected to the room monitoring the whole time. He still couldn't stop worrying.
He rushed back home after 6pm in the evening.
Only after seeing Qiao Ying did the uneasiness in his heart disappear.
After listening to the doctor, nurses and servants report on Qiao Ying's condition throughout the day, Qin Hanyue went to eat dinner.
At night,
Qin Hanyue finished up the remaining work in the study, took a shower, and after grooming himself, came to the bedside again.
Seeing Qiao Ying's fingernails had grown long, he took nail clippers and carefully trimmed them for her.
He lowered his head, extremely attentive with each fingernail, and after clipping them he even rubbed them with his fingertips to ensure they were smooth without sharp edges.
It was obvious he had done this many times, very skilled.
After trimming her fingernails, he also trimmed her toenails.
As he did this, he kept talking to her.
