This Damned Sweetness

When I heard that Xu Qiao was in school, Cheng Lang was being trained in his home study.

The incident in the restaurant last night has been properly handled, and the incident has not spread in the form of any video news, but it is inevitable that the Cheng family will still be alarmed.

Cheng Zongyue called his grandson to the study early in the morning and taught him how to act recklessly for a long time. Of course, Xu Qiao was inevitably mentioned.

"I heard that you came out for the girl from the Xu family?" Cheng Zongyue sat on a wicker chair with Huanghuali, and touched the ground with his crutches. "The family does not interfere with your freedom of love, but since you choose to be high-profile and open , It should be the result."

Cheng Lang accepted the temptation without denying it.

Cheng Zongyue nodded: "If this is the case, grandpa would still remind you that your marriage partner should not be tainted if not to add color to you. This girl’s family background, I have already understood that she and Xiao Ye I know the relationship. You don’t need to explain to me. This is a prejudice that is false. I have such a prejudice, and of course others will have it. Then this is an unavoidable problem. So I don’t agree. She is your ideal development target. It happened that I heard your mother say that you were a little awkward, and I thought it was good to cut it off."

Cheng Lang smiled: "Grandpa, are you suggesting or asking me now?"

Cheng Zongyue raised his eyebrows: "What about the suggestion and the request?"

"If you are suggesting me, then I think I will not accept your suggestion."

"What if I am asking you?" Cheng Zongyue murmured.

"Grandpa," Cheng Lang said sternly, "You asked me to be a gentleman, so I had never done anything with anyone before yesterday."

Cheng Zongyue turned his head away with anger.

His good grandson was saying that he had been asked to be a gentleman since he was a child, but he broke the rules for Xu Qiao, so he would not obey any request regarding Xu Qiao.

Whether it is a suggestion or a request, his answer is the same.

Cheng Lang winked at Cai An.

Cai An came up with the tablet and turned to an electronic contract.

Cheng Zongyue said with a sullen face that he didn't want to see it.

Cheng Lang lost the old man's smile, and took the tablet personally: "This is the merger and acquisition that I finalized with Long An a year ago. Have you ever seen it?"

Cheng Zongyue looked at him unexpectedly, and barely gave him a good face: "You kid, have eaten half of the old He's family quietly?"

"The signing ceremony is already in preparation, probably scheduled for the middle of next month."

Seeing Cheng Zongyue picking up the tablet with reading glasses, Cheng Lang continued to talk about the topic just now: "Grandpa, I understand your expectations, but I don't need anyone to help me. If I have to rely on marriage to achieve my career, I don't think so. Since I have the ability to inherit Lan Chen, then I might as well be like Xiao Ye and idle the clouds and wild cranes from now on."

Cheng Zongyue stared at him: "I taught you how to negotiate with others in a soft and hard way, so that you can challenge me one day?"

Cheng Lang smiled and spread his hands: "It's really true."

At this time, Cai An received news from Xu Qiao, risking his death and quietly attached it to Cheng Lang's ear and said something.

Cheng Lang frowned, dropped the sentence "Grandpa, I'll be back later to listen to your training" and hurried to school.

——

But Cheng Lang was a step late to get the news, and he was delayed a lot of time on the way. When he arrived at the coffee shop, the incident had already come to an end.

The moment I opened the store door, a sentence came from inside: "My hands are darker and more ruthless than our Mr. Cheng."

Cheng Lang suddenly stopped at the door.

Immediately afterwards, the second half of Xu Qiao's sentence rang loudly: "If you continue to disturb our lives, the law cannot rule you, I will rule you."

Cheng Lang kept the posture of pushing the door halfway, staying still for a long time without moving.

He didn't know how to describe the feeling at this moment.

Thinking that he rushed all the way to save the field, he hadn't expected this result at all.

He has been independent since he was a child, and has always lived above others. He has never had the need and expectation of being protected.

But now, there is a girl who has no power, no power, no help, she has suffered so much, even deceived by him for so long, but today, when she should hate him, she stands in front of him and holds him up. Up the weapon.

For a moment, Cheng Lang felt that he was really not good enough.

She has nothing, but still so vivid and bright. And after he faded away the aura attached to money, status, and status, what was left?

Grandpa's words just now seem to have reversed black and white, because he is not worthy of Xu Qiao's good.

A "MayIhelpyousir" interrupted his stillness, and also caused Xu Qiao to divert her attention from the confrontation.

Xu Qiao turned her head and met Cheng Lang's complicated eyes.

It was a look that seemed to look at rare treasures that could not be bought.

Cheng Lang regained his composure when he met her gaze. He pushed the door to the end and walked in. He lightly buttoned the suit buttons, folds the placket and ironed it, came to her and held her hand, tilted her head slightly, smiling. Say: "Baby, although I trust your abilities very much, I still leave the dirty hands to me." Then he glanced at the opposite person, "Of course I think he shouldn't disturb our lives anymore."

There was a gentle statement on his lips, but a warning without temperature in his eyes, like a clear ultimatum.

The face of the opposite person was livid, as if remembering Cheng Lang's ruthless hand last night, he got up with a cold back bag.

"Before leaving," Cheng Lang called to him, "please apologize for the unpleasantness caused to my girlfriend last night, including just now."

The opposite person gritted his teeth and hurriedly bowed to Xu Qiao: "Yes... I'm sorry." After speaking, he walked out of the coffee shop quickly.

"Did he bully you just now?" Cheng Lang asked after the others left.

"No." She just came to give the other party a warning, and had no intention of fighting. The other party's unwavering and strong attitude towards her was unexpected. Even if Cheng Lang did not show up, she should have fled.

"This level can't bully me." Xu Qiao exerted a little force and pulled her hand.

Cheng Lang immediately released her hand.

Xu Qiao paused and added an explanation: "What I just said has nothing to do with you. What we have is just acting."

Cheng Lang nodded after a moment of stagnation, "Well, then you can treat me as just acting."

It's awkward to be so obedient. Xu Qiao glanced at him: "Then can you stop staring at me?"

"I try not to disturb you, okay? I don't mean anything else, just don't worry about you being in a foreign country."

"Oh, then from this afternoon, you don't have to look at me."

Cheng Lang narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are you planning to return to China?"

"Yes." She replied looking out the window.

Cheng Lang was silent for a moment and nodded: "Assistant Lin called me yesterday afternoon, saying that the studio mailbox has received ten or so emails for cooperation invitations in the past few days. I screened and filtered them according to your current situation. You can pick one of the two more suitable items to try. In addition, there are some private orders, mostly from the wives and young ladies of the wealthy circle. You can choose freely according to your own preferences."

Xu Qiao withdrew her gaze and looked at him a little bored.

Cheng Lang guessed her thoughts: "After you return to China, I will not interfere with the decisions in life, but I hope you will not have trouble with your own business because of me. The studio shareholder is not only me, but also Miss Yu's share. The working conditions, including the allocation of employees’ apartments, and no additional resources due to personal feelings, are legitimate and you deserve benefits."

"If you really want to leave the studio one day, it should be because you have a higher pursuit in your career, rather than just considering the change in your relationship with me like now. I am sorry for you, and you still Isn’t it a loss to leave a wasteful business?"

Xu Qiao narrowed her mouth and let out an "Oh".

Cheng Lang smiled and looked down at her eyes: "That's right. Such an excellent girl, even without me, will shine."

——

Back in China, Xu Qiao moved away from Lishan Mansion and re-lived in the staff apartment. After the Spring Festival holiday, he began to work step by step. Combined with Cheng Lang’s judgment, he selected from a dozen cooperation invitations received. The two partners contacted and finally selected one of them.

The other party is a fashion designer with an independent brand. He plans to hold a fashion show with the theme of "deepsea" this year. Recently, he is looking for a jewelry designer who is inspired by this theme to create jewelry accessories for the fashion show. .

After communicating with Xu Qiao through emails for several rounds, the British Chinese asked her that he hoped to have an interview with her when he came to China next month.

Xu Qiao had been very fond of Mr. Pan’s unconstrained design style and had many interesting ideas about the theme of this fashion show. Therefore, before the interview, he temporarily delayed all private orders and concentrated on drafting creative ideas.

It was not until mid-February that Pan De officially received an invitation to meet.

The meeting place was about a tea room near the North City Central Business District, not far from the Lanchen Group. Xu Qiao is no stranger to this area. After getting off the car, she brought Lin Bai to the tea room intimately.

Pan Debbie arrived five minutes earlier than her, and also brought an accompanying assistant.

Both sides greeted and said two scenes, Pan De went straight to the subject in straight-mouthed Mandarin: "First of all, to be honest, Miss Yu Li, you are the third jewelry designer I came into contact with for this fashion show. After that, I do not guarantee whether I will continue to contact the fifth and sixth. If you mind because of this, please ask me."

Perhaps Cheng Lang had already filtered out unreliable objects for her in advance when selecting partners. This fashion designer was straightforward and did not hide his work attitude, which made Xu Qiao feel very comfortable.

She nodded and lowered her posture in terms of speaking skills: "It is already my honour that you choose to consider me as a new designer designer, I don't mind."

"Miss Yuli doesn't need to be overly humble. After all, the term'qualification' is not worth mentioning in the art field." Pan De laughed, "I can just say that you are currently my first choice for the time being."

Xu Qiao was slightly surprised: "Because of my work at the London exhibition?"

"That is indeed the opportunity for me to get to know you, but it is not the key factor." Pan De took the tablet from the assistant and handed it to the other side. "The key is these works. I want to confirm with you the jewelry design drawings of this shell series. , Including the creative story behind it, is it your own original?"

Xu Qiao was taken aback and looked at the tablet.

An electronic scan of a set of jewelry design drawings was displayed on the screen. Each design drawing was signed with the words "Xu Qiao" written by dragons and phoenixes.

This is not a work she created as Hanachi Toshi, but a sketch she drew in college two years earlier.

At that time, I didn't plan to work seriously, but occasionally there was some creative passion, and I also accumulated a lot of drawings.

But these design drawings are immature, they are just drafts that vent their creativity, and the fineness does not meet the drawing standards at all. Moreover, they are all works that she has never published publicly.

She was surprised: "Where did you get these scans? My manuscript should be in..."

It should be in the villa of Xujia Xijiang Mansion.

Cheng Lang originally photographed her entire cloakroom luxury goods, but did not waste that money to photograph the villa-perhaps he had planned to coax her back home, of course he would not give her a second gorgeous golden house.

In short, she didn't know who the owner of the villa was, including the whereabouts of the used items in the villa.

Pan De watched her expression change: "So they are indeed your works?"

"It's my early works, but the manuscripts are no longer in my hands. I don't know who published them." Xu Qiao looked incredible.

"Don't worry," Pan De made a gesture. "They weren't published publicly, but came to me through a jewelry merchant. The other party asked me if I was interested in buying. I noticed something unusual, so I came to you. I confirm."

Xu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief and was even more confused: "Who is this jeweller and where did he obtain these scans?"

"The scanned copy may have been changed hands several times. Until I find out the situation, I cannot disclose the identity of the jewelry dealer to you for the time being, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstanding. But now that you have obtained your permission, I will proceed to investigate this matter. I will give you an answer at that time."

Xu Qiao nodded: "Excuse me."

"Close to the subject," Pan De laughed, "I really like this series of works you created earlier. Although there are some shortcomings in painting skills, its creativity is very suitable for the theme of my fashion show. Of course, because of the source of these scans. Unknown, considering the hidden dangers of disputes, I don’t plan to use them directly. I think it’s not wrong to look for you as a designer."

Xu Qiao also smiled: "I think I will create works that are more mature than this series and more in line with the theme of your fashion show."

——

It was already lunch time to end the conversation with Pan De, and it would take at least an hour and a half to drive back to the studio, so Lin Bai arranged for Xu Qiao to have a meal nearby.

Xu Qiao was a little bit unruly because of the leak of the design drawings. He had been thinking about the possibilities along the way. When he walked into a nearby tea restaurant and passed the seat by the window, he suddenly heard a familiar male voice: "Xu Qiao?"

The other party's voice and tone were very gentle, but Xu Qiao was wandering away from the sky and was startled. After looking back, she realized that it was Song Mian.

"Sorry, I scared you." Song Mian apologized and got up.

"No, no, I was thinking about things." Xu Qiao waved her hand, watching him dressed in casual clothes, "Are you not in the community hospital today?"

"I'm on vacation today, just to..." Considering that there are people in the restaurant, Song Mian did not directly name him, "My employer has finished the inspection and came to have a meal nearby."

Xu Qiao grasped the identity of his employer for the first time, and the expression on his face was slightly unnatural.

These days, Cheng Langxin kept the promise of giving her time to organize and consider, and never bothered her. Of course, the "Good Morning" and "Good Night" on WeChat still persisted every day, and meals urged her to remember to eat on time.

She is not sure whether Song Mian knows her current relationship with Cheng Lang.

"What are you?" Song Mian asked.

"I also just finished work, come here for a casual meal."

"Would you like to be together?" Song Mian smiled and made a "please" gesture.

Xu Qiao glanced at Lin Bai behind him.

Lin Bai said in a busy manner that he would go to the next door to have a light meal.

Xu Qiao sat down opposite Song Mian, took the menu he handed over, and after ordering, looked at him wantingly.

"If you want to ask about'him', you don't need to shy away from it," Song Mian took the initiative to untie her. "There shouldn't be much to say now."

Hearing what he said, Xu Qiao was sure that Song Mian was very clear about her recent situation with Cheng Lang.

After all, when she contacted him last time in London, his answer was "I can't disclose any private information about my patients, sorry".

"It's not an important thing either," Xu Qiao smiled awkwardly, "Just say you just finished his check up..."

"It's just a routine check of heart rate, blood pressure and blood sugar, no problem. He has not been exposed to allergens recently, and his condition is temporarily stable."

Allergens... mean women?

What's the matter, is the private doctor still responsible for explaining this to the employer and ex-girlfriend?

"Oh." Xu Qiao nodded and took a sip of the warm water in front of him.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you the truth on the phone last time." Song Mian apologized.

"Oh, don't say that. You are the doctor first and then my friend in this matter. You should observe professional ethics and line spacing. This is originally a matter between me and him."

"Then how do you think about this now?"

Xu Qiao looked at him warily: "He didn't send you to spy on the military situation, right?"

Song Mian smiled and shook his head: "As far as I know, he is not such a person."

Oh, yes.

How could Cheng Lang ask her male friend for help?

"I just think that this matter is also part of my responsibility," Song Mian looked at her, "If you need to find someone to talk to, I am very happy to be an audience."

Xu Qiao was really stunned.

Considering Cheng Lang's hidden illness, she couldn't really talk about it to any friends around her. Indeed, only Song Mian, who knew everything, could be her audience.

"I'm a bit annoying lately..." She lowered her head and sighed.

"The source of your troubles lies in not knowing what you think of him?"

Xu Qiao vaguely understood that Song Mian was asking her implicitly whether she liked Cheng Lang or not.

"No," Xu Qiao shook her head dullly, and replied implicitly-she thought she still liked Cheng Lang, "I just don't know if I should forgive him."

Song Mian pondered for a moment and said, "I have no love experience, and I am not suitable for giving you advice on this issue, but I don't think your choice should or shouldn't."

"Huh?" Xu Qiao raised his head.

"Whether to forgive a person's mistakes is not because he should or shouldn't, but because he believes or doesn't believe it." Song Mian picked up the condiment bottle at hand and poured a drop of soy sauce into the glass filled with water.

The thick black ink slowly fainted in the water.

"The occurrence of the error is an established fact, just like the ink in this glass of water. You can no longer completely peel and remove it. Even if you give it time to fade and dissolve, this glass of water may not return to transparency. But if you add it to the glass What about more clarified water? Until the water in the container overflows and fresh water is constantly being replaced, how many traces of ink will remain?"

"If you believe that the new water in the future will be clarified, give this cup a chance. Otherwise, throw it away. The past cannot be changed. I think the key to the question is whether you believe in the future." Song Mian concluded. .

Xu Qiao nodded dreamily, and after a while, as if to recover, he nodded again.

The waiter who served the food interrupted the conversation between the two.

The two turned their eyes and stared at the birthday cake on the waiter's cart.

"We didn't ask for a cake." Song Mian said.

"The cake is a gift, Mr. Song, I wish you a happy birthday."

Xu Qiao was taken aback: "Is today your birthday?"

Song Mian nodded, then turned to ask the waiter: "Who told you that today is my birthday?"

"You registered your birthday in the restaurant before."

Song Mian frowned, as if he didn't remember it very much, but he still said "thank you" to the waiter.

Xu Qiao immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I don't know that today is your birthday. I didn't prepare a gift. I will make it up later."

"It's okay, don't talk about you, I forgot it myself." Song Mian smiled and glanced at the pattern of the cake on the table, as if not quite right, looked out the window as if consciously, and saw the one across the road. A little girl hid behind the street tree, only showing half of her head to this side.

Seeing him looking over, the opposite person ran away hurriedly, unexpectedly tripping on the steps.

Song Mian straightened up and saw the little girl standing still holding the tree, turning around and leaving.

Xu Qiao looked in the direction he was looking, "What's the matter?"

Song Mian slowly retracted his gaze and shook his head: "It's nothing." It's just this meal that was a little absent-minded.

——

Both of them are busy with work, and they partake in the restaurant after lunch.

Back at the studio, Xu Qiao thought about the leaked design drawings, hesitated to contact Cheng Lang to inquire about the situation.

But I opened WeChat and found that he didn't remind her to eat at noon today, and the news became a bit difficult to send. After thinking about it, I decided to wait until he reminded her to have dinner.

As a result, he waited until dark, and he didn't even remind her to eat dinner.

This is the first time Cheng Lang has lost her two meals after returning from London.

Xu Qiao was angry and felt that the glass of water she and Cheng Lang might not be good. She took a few mouthfuls of work meals and turned her grief and anger into inspiration. She worked overtime in the studio until ten o'clock in the evening, and then she yawned and sat back in the apartment. Car.

Walking into the elevator of the apartment building, she took out her mobile phone again to confirm WeChat.

No arrears, no disconnection, but no news about Cheng Lang.

Usually this time, he should come to say goodnight to her.

This dog man, did he find that he couldn't advance by retreating, and he played the routine of retreat?

The elevator went up to the sixteenth floor. Xu Qiao sighed and threw the phone into his bag and walked out.

The voice-activated light came on the moment the elevator door opened. She walked around the corner and staggered to support the wall: "Oh mom!"

Xu Qiao gasped, because she saw a man standing in front of her house silently.

The man heard the sound and turned around.

Of course, without him looking back, Xu Qiao also recognized his back after her darling trembled.

"What are you doing? The silence scared me to death!" She patted her chest in shock, and at the same time, she smelled a strong alcohol.

Cheng Lang watched her not speaking from a distance, not knowing if it was because of the effect of alcohol, she seemed to be a little slow in her reaction, and she was not very smart.

Xu Qiao stepped forward, approached him and sniffed: "Wow, how much wine did you drink?"

He seemed to finally realize that she was back, and raised his hand to take her into his arms.

Before Xu Qiao could react, she heard a very hurtful sentence above her head: "Did you go to celebrate Song Mian's birthday today?" Even after asking, his chin was still rubbing pitifully on her shoulder. Crushing, it made her heart tremble again.

This time I was not scared, it was for crisp.

"..." What's going on, is this man so drunk?