Beautiful Woman, You Have Another Express Delivery! (GL) - Chapter 24
Qin Jiang arranged two adjacent guest rooms for Cheng Qiuyi and Liu Shuhan. After going upstairs, Liu Shuhan didn’t go to her own room but entered Cheng Qiuyi’s bedroom with her.
“Talk,” Liu Shuhan said, sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded across her chest, her face stern, looking quite imposing.
“Talk about what?” Cheng Qiuyi sat down naturally next to Liu Shuhan, placing her hand around her waist.
“Talk about your secrets. Cheng Qiuyi, how many things are there that I don’t know about you? Why is your relationship with Teacher Qin so good? Why do you call him Master? And who is that Ye Jing?” Liu Shuhan pushed Cheng Qiuyi away, firing off a series of questions like a machine gun.
Cheng Qiuyi leaned against the headboard and thought for a long time before speaking slowly, “Qin Jiang is the Master who taught me since I was a child.”
“Master is profoundly learned. If my mother hadn’t saved his life, he wouldn’t have agreed to personally teach me. Later, when the Cheng family’s rivals sought revenge, my mother feared for my safety. City Z was her maternal family’s territory, so she sent me here to take refuge. To be safe, Master also came along, ostensibly as a teacher, but actually to protect me in secret.”
“I just didn’t expect him to be a teacher for all these years. With his intellect, he’s truly overqualified.”
“What about Ye Jing?”
“Ye Jing…” Cheng Qiuyi’s eyes darkened slightly. “Ye Jing’s mother and my mother were very close friends. My mother treated her like her own daughter, so she had her study with me under Master. She is two months older than me, so she became my Senior Sister.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all.”
Liu Shuhan didn’t believe Cheng Qiuyi’s half-truths. Did she think Liu Shuhan was blind all night? With the way Ye Jing was so attentive to Cheng Qiuyi, only a fool would believe she had no ulterior motives.
“Cheng Qiuyi, don’t try to fool me. That Ye Jing clearly has dishonest intentions toward you! And what about the ‘five years ago’ she mentioned? What exactly is the unspeakable past between you two? You need to tell me clearly today. If you miss one thing, I will hold you accountable!”
Liu Shuhan was rarely so assertive in front of Cheng Qiuyi. She stood up, looked down at Cheng Qiuyi, and brandished her arms, feigning ferocity.
Cheng Qiuyi wrapped her arms around Liu Shuhan’s waist, pulling her down to sit on her lap. “Shuhan, Ye Jing and I do have a disagreement.”
Liu Shuhan turned around, hooked her arm around Cheng Qiuyi’s neck, and raised an eyebrow, wearing an ‘I knew it’ expression.
“Shuhan, even if you haven’t heard of the Cheng family in City C, you must have heard of the Ye family, or as it’s called now, Ye Corporation. Ye Jing is the chairperson of the Ye Corporation.”
Liu Shuhan had heard the name Ye Corporation a few times, usually when chatting with colleagues. She only knew that the company was very large, but as an ordinary person, she had only a superficial understanding and just echoed what others said about its exact size.
“Are you talking about… that Ye Corporation?” Liu Shuhan swallowed. That woman, Ye Jing, clearly looked like trouble, and Liu Shuhan hadn’t expected her to be so capable.
“Yes, that Ye Corporation,” Cheng Qiuyi nodded. “Although outsiders see the Ye Corporation as big, the power is actually distributed among several old-timers. When Ye Jing first took over the Ye Corporation five years ago, she was just a puppet. At that time, she wanted to join forces with me to centralize the real power of the Ye Corporation in her hands, but I refused, and she’s held a grudge until today.”
Liu Shuhan was puzzled. “Why did she have to find you?”
“She was just starting out then, and she was a woman. Besides me, there didn’t seem to be anyone else who could help her.”
After Cheng Qiuyi explained this, Liu Shuhan was still confused. She had only thought of Cheng Qiuyi as a wealthy person and had never considered the depth of the complexities among the rich. Cheng Qiuyi made her relationship with Ye Jing sound profound and unpredictable, but Liu Shuhan felt it wasn’t that complicated. However, she also felt that perhaps her mind wasn’t sharp enough to untangle the intrigue, so she didn’t know what to say and just sighed, “You are all smart people. I’m slow, and I don’t understand.”
Cheng Qiuyi laughed and leaned back, falling onto the large bed, taking Liu Shuhan with her. She flipped over, pinning Liu Shuhan beneath her, and kissed her nose. “People like us think we are smart, but you’re different, Shuhan. You are wise in a subtle way.”
Liu Shuhan got angry and pushed Cheng Qiuyi. “Get lost! You’re the slow one!”
Cheng Qiuyi smiled and caught Liu Shuhan’s hands. “However, none of this is important right now. Master’s bed is very soft. We should try it first…”
Just as Cheng Qiuyi’s interest in “trying the bed” was piqued, the housekeeper knocked on the door. “Miss Qiuyi, the Master requests your presence. He has important matters to discuss.”
Both Liu Shuhan and Cheng Qiuyi were disappointed. Cheng Qiuyi buried her face in Liu Shuhan’s neck and sighed in frustration. “Master is truly a killjoy. Doesn’t he know that a moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold?”
“Alright, Teacher Qin must have something important to discuss. You should go quickly,” Liu Shuhan comforted her.
Cheng Qiuyi deliberately licked the back of Liu Shuhan’s neck and whispered in her ear, “I’ll deal with you tonight when I get back.”
After Cheng Qiuyi left, a worried look appeared on Liu Shuhan’s face. Cheng Qiuyi was hiding too much from Liu Shuhan, but since she wasn’t willing to talk, Liu Shuhan didn’t dare to ask. Liu Shuhan felt a little guilty. If Cheng Qiuyi had fallen in love with someone with equal abilities, they could face more things together, instead of Liu Shuhan having to be sheltered under Cheng Qiuyi’s wing as she was now.
Qin Jiang was waiting for Cheng Qiuyi in the study. When Cheng Qiuyi entered, he was looking at a photo album. It was too far for Cheng Qiuyi to see the pictures clearly, but she could tell they were old, yellowed photos.
“Master, you called for me?”
Qin Jiang closed the photo album and nodded. “Sit.”
Cheng Qiuyi sat down. Qin Jiang was a severe man, and Cheng Qiuyi didn’t dare to be casual in front of him. She sat up straight, her hands clasped loosely on the table.
Qin Jiang scrutinized Cheng Qiuyi for a while before saying, “You don’t look like your mother at all, but your personality is exactly the same.
“It’s a pity she passed away too soon to see your current achievements.”
Cheng Qiuyi chuckled self-mockingly. “Master, you jest. What achievements do I have now? If Mother were still alive and saw me indulging in this kind of romantic entanglement, she would probably break my legs.”
“She devoted herself to nurturing you, intending for you to expand the Cheng Corporation, but later, that beast Cheng Tianhong was ungrateful and didn’t know what was good for him. If you had taken over the Cheng Corporation initially, it would still be able to compete with the Ye Corporation now. Cheng Tianhong single-handedly ruined the Cheng Corporation, which is his retribution.”
“Those are old stories now. Why bring him up, Master? Please speak your mind directly. With the master-student relationship we’ve had for over twenty years, do we need to be so polite?”
Qin Jiang tapped the desktop with four fingers and thoughtfully said after a while, “Qiuyi, now that both you and A Jing can stand on your own, I am very happy. We have a master-student bond for over twenty years, and you and A Jing share a twenty-year camaraderie as fellow disciples. I don’t understand how the conflict between you two has escalated to such an unmanageable point.”
Cheng Qiuyi had anticipated that Qin Jiang’s reason for seeking her out was most likely Ye Jing. The conflict between her and Ye Jing couldn’t possibly be hidden from her sharp-eyed Master. “People change.”
“During the years you were away, A Jing often came to visit me. The person she spoke of most was you. What exactly happened between you two that makes you hate her so much?”
Cheng Qiuyi sneered, “She’s good at making accusations first.”
Qin Jiang sighed, “You both practiced under me since childhood. I know A Jing’s personality. She is ruthless and leaves no room for retreat in her actions, sometimes even a little impulsive, but she is fundamentally not bad… Qiuyi, I am getting old. I won’t be able to look after you for many more years. You and A Jing grew up together after all. If you two could support each other, I could close my eyes in the coffin contentedly in the future.”
Cheng Qiuyi was silent for a long time. She finally said, “Master, I came to see you this time to ask you not to interfere in the conflict between her and me.” Cheng Qiuyi privately thought Ye Jing was truly shameless. It was clearly her who was relentlessly pushing, yet now she acted like the victim who had endured endless grievances. She was the CEO of the Ye Corporation, after all. Didn’t she find such an act embarrassing?
Ye Jing must have calculated that Cheng Qiuyi would find it difficult to discuss the old, trivial matters, which is why she was acting so brazenly.
“Has the situation truly reached a point of no return?” Qin Jiang asked tentatively.
Cheng Qiuyi remained silent. Qin Jiang understood.
“Very well.” Qin Jiang took a sip of tea. “Let’s not talk about this for now. But what’s going on with you and that Liu Shuhan?”
“I already told you, she is my lover.”
“Qiuyi,” Qin Jiang said seriously, “I know what happened with Cheng Tianhong had a significant impact on you, but you shouldn’t rashly decide to spend your life with a woman out of spite.”
Cheng Qiuyi laughed. “Master, do I look like someone who is so reckless?
“I liked Shuhan even before Cheng Tianhong’s incident. I’ve been rational for all these years, and I still like her. Tell me, what can be done about it?”
“Nonsense!” Qin Jiang forcefully put down his teacup, his fingers trembling with anger. “You… you two are going against the natural order!”
Cheng Qiuyi’s face darkened, and she said with displeasure, “What is the natural order? And who dictates it? Master, I brought Shuhan to see you this time to ask you to bear witness. If you disapprove of us, then I will leave.”
Qin Jiang picked up and set down the teacup in front of him, finally unable to contain his anger, and smashed it onto the floor. Shards of the teacup scattered everywhere. The servant cleaning outside heard the noise and immediately called out through the door, “Master, what happened?”
“Get out!” Qin Jiang yelled toward the door, then pointed a finger at Cheng Qiuyi. “You… good, very good… You’ve been abroad for a few years, and you don’t even respect me, your teacher… If you have the guts, get out! Walk out that door, and I will never have you as a disciple!”
Cheng Qiuyi stood with her hands in her pockets, meeting Qin Jiang’s gaze without fear. “Master, I thought you would bless me when I found someone to spend my life with.”