Xie Qian’s thinking was perfectly normal. Who doesn’t have a bit of possessiveness? Everyone wants the things they wear or use to be one-of-a-kind.
The difference is that ordinary people can only dream about it, whilst overbearing CEOs dare to think it and dare to make it happen. That is exactly why haute couture will always have a market. The brand manager had seen plenty of CEOs, just never one this young and this handsome.
Alas, human joys and sorrows are not always shared. The person who could make a young CEO fuss over a gift for half a year could not possibly be ordinary either!
Xie Qian had no intention of explaining himself further to the brand manager. To a perfectionist like Xie Qian, this gift had only just scraped the acceptable standard.
From design to production, the whole process had taken more than six months before it finally met Xie Qian’s exacting requirements.
Today Jiang Youjia had come along to collect it with him. Jiang Youjia came from a well-off family and had studied abroad; he had seen his share of fine things. When the brand manager gingerly opened the box, even Jiang Youjia sucked in a breath.
“It’s blinding!”
Who on earth was Xie Qian giving this to?
It was clearly a style for young girls, so definitely not for Zou Weijun.
Which meant it was for that certain someone.
Do kids these days really spend this lavishly when they’re dating?
Jiang Youjia lowered his voice to remind him, “Something this expensive, are you sure she’ll dare accept it?”
Xie Qian didn’t seem bothered. “Her thinking has always been very simple. If I tell her it’s synthetic she’ll believe me. Expensive or cheap, she never cares much about that.”
When it came to gifts, Xie Qian had already tested the recipient’s attitude long ago.
A certain silly little mouse was still hung up on the “wishing stars” business. She said she had performed above her level in the gaokao, so could Xie Qian make up the five wishing stars all at once? Xie Qian was actually quite curious what wish the silly mouse would make once she collected five ☆. However, to make each wishing star feel more significant, after much deliberation he had only agreed to give her the fourth ☆.
One star short, it dangled like a carrot in front of the silly mouse, tempting her to keep working hard.
…Fine, Xie Qian admitted he was being a tiny bit wicked.
There was no fifth wishing star for now. He would use this custom-made gift to placate her instead.
Xie Qian was actually quite conflicted.
Two little people were fighting inside his head.
One little person carried his mother Zou Weijun’s warning: until you have the ability to protect her, better keep your distance.
The other little person carried Peng Guoqing’s gossip: that Mu Fan is awfully attentive to Wen Ying, he definitely has ulterior motives!
Whether to make the relationship official, and when to do it, this question was far too hard. No wonder Wen Ying always adopted an ostrich mentality. Being an ostrich couldn’t solve problems, but it did let you avoid facing them!
Jiang Youjia understood neither Xie Qian’s inner turmoil nor his reverse romanticism.
Normally when boys gave girls presents, they wanted a 100-yuan item to look worth a million. Was Xie Qian planning the opposite, to pass off something priceless as market-stall tat?
After collecting the gift, Jiang Youjia asked where Xie Qian wanted to go next. Xie Qian asked him to take the gift back to the office first.
“I’ve still got something to do. I’ll head back to the company afterwards.”
“Alright then!”
Jiang Youjia dangled the bag. “I’ll put it in the company safe. You know the code. Grab it yourself when you’re back.”
Xie Qian hailed a random taxi by the roadside.
Halfway there he switched to a bus.
After several changes, he arrived at a certain park in Shanghai.
The park was in an excellent location, close to several luxury hotels. It was shaded by large trees, and even in summer many people came here to enjoy the cool.
There was a small fountain at the entrance, and in the little square plenty of parents with children were feeding the pigeons.
Xie Qian stood watching for a while, then went to the park gate, bought some corn kernels, and started feeding the pigeons too.
The old man selling bird food stared at him for a moment, then pulled out a huge bag from under the counter. “Small business, hard to make a living. Could you buy a bit more?”
Xie Qian smiled good-naturedly. “Sure, I’ll take the whole big bag.”
With that much food, if Xie Qian fed the pigeons alone he would be there until the end of time. He divided it among several children, who excitedly charged towards the flock.
The pigeons flapped into the air and settled again, pecking at the feed the children scattered on the ground.
Xie Qian packed the remaining food into his backpack, clapped his hands, and left the square.
Of course he hadn’t come all this way just to feed pigeons. Pigeon feathers flying everywhere, plus the occasional droppings, were torture for anyone with even mild mysophobia.
Yet this was already his third visit in a single week.
The previous two times, he really had been feeding pigeons.
Today, Xie Qian was here to collect DNA samples from the Zhuo siblings.
This time, Xie Qian no longer trusted even Detective Luo. He had found new people to obtain the samples.
Last time Peng Guoqing had acquired the glass Zhang Zhijun had used, but Xie Qian had already sent it for testing and the sample had been contaminated. No useful DNA could be extracted. With no other choice, Xie Qian had actively socialised with Boss Ran, attended several dinners through him, and eaten with Zhang Zhijun again.
If Zhang Zhijun didn’t touch his chopsticks once or twice, he could claim he wasn’t hungry.
He couldn’t possibly avoid eating at every single dinner, could he?
Persistence paid off. Finally Xie Qian had seized the chance to obtain a water glass Zhang Zhijun had used!
DNA had been successfully extracted from the glass. Now all that remained was to compare it with samples from the Zhuo siblings. Since Xie Qian no longer knew whether Detective Luo could be trusted, he simply bypassed him entirely.
Sara Zhuo and the siblings were staying long-term in a hotel suite complete with butler service and daily housekeeping.
Xie Qian now held two sets of samples from the Zhuo siblings. One had been supplied by the suite butler, the other by housekeeping. The two parties were unaware of each other. If one person botched the job, the chances of both failing were tiny.
Xie Qian placed high hopes on this paternity test.
If Zhang Zhijun had no biological relationship with Zhuo Chen and Zhuo Yue, Xie Qian would drop this line of inquiry for good. He would go back to minding his own business and never again worry about the colour of the hat on his scumbag father’s head!
The moment Xie Qian returned to the office, his phone rang.
It was Ran Keqing calling.
Ran Keqing was in Shanghai on business and claimed she was unfamiliar with the city. She asked if Xie Qian would be willing to show her around.
In order to obtain Zhang Zhijun’s DNA, Xie Qian had grown closer to Boss Ran than before.
Every time he dined with Boss Ran, the young Miss Ran was present too.
After a few meals, Ran Keqing decided she and Xie Qian were friends and could make small requests without ceremony.
Xie Qian, on the other hand, felt he and Miss Ran truly had nothing in common and rejected her without hesitation. “What a pity. I have to return to Beijing. I’ve already booked an evening flight.”
If Miss Ran needed a guide in Shanghai, Xie Qian could arrange for someone from the company to help.
Miss Ran was not the least bit discouraged. She giggled over the phone. “That really is unfortunate. But I’m already downstairs at your company. As friends, you can at least buy me dinner, right?”
“Of course.”
Before Ran Keqing could refuse, Xie Qian added that he would invite the senior executives from Jiaxin to join them and meet Miss Ran.
Jiaxin was still a small company. Boss Ran was a big shot in the film and television industry. It would be an honour for Jiaxin’s executives to dine with Miss Ran.
At the entrance of the office building, Ran Keqing looked up at the “Jiaxin Film & TV” sign and revealed a playful smile.
Young Mr Xie probably had no idea. The colder he acted, the more he piqued a woman’s interest!
“Fine, let’s all eat together then.”
Besides Jiang Youjia being roped in as extra manpower, Xu Mei, who happened to be at the company on business, also received an invitation.
By the end of the meal, Jiang Youjia was clutching his head in despair. “Xie Qian’s love luck is too strong.”
Unless someone was blind, anyone could see Ran Keqing was interested in Xie Qian.
Girls these days were so bold. They didn’t bother hiding their feelings at all and didn’t care about a four- or five-year age gap.
The killer was that this Miss Ran was the only daughter of a major film-industry tycoon.
Xu Mei took out her compact mirror to touch up her makeup. “It’s only normal for the boss to have strong love luck. Put the boss on the street for a stroll and nine out of ten girls would fall for him. The key isn’t who likes the boss, it’s who the boss likes, right?”
Who did Xie Qian like?
Did that even need asking!
Anyone whose eyes worked could see it.
With Xie Qian’s ice-king personality, he would never go to a TV station to watch a talent show.
The person who could make Xie Qian break his rules was obviously the one in his heart~
It definitely wasn’t that airhead Li Mengjiao.
Jiang Youjia looked at the company’s current top star and suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Xu Mei finished her makeup and returned to the dinner table.
She claimed not to care, yet she had already sent Yuan Fenghui a text.
Yuan Fenghui had done her a big favour once, and Xu Mei hadn’t forgotten.
Anyone signed by Yuan Fenghui could, by extension, be considered someone Xu Mei ought to look out for. When you put Wen Ying and Ran Keqing side by side, Wen Ying was clearly much cuter. Miss Ran hadn’t spared Xu Mei a proper glance the entire time.
Well, given Boss Ran’s status, the people Miss Ran dealt with were all queens of song or film empresses. Xu Mei really wasn’t in their league.
Xu Mei didn’t mind whether Ran Keqing liked her or not, but she definitely didn’t want a boss’s wife who looked down her nose at everyone~
