Summer Light Gatherings

Chapter 7

While waiting for the elevator, Zhao Yino still had doubts, "Is this trick really going to work?"

"Just follow me!" He Xiaoxiao glanced at him lightly, "If someone gives you a dirty look later, don't be timid, stand tall with confidence!"

Zhao Yino immediately rubbed his hands together, "Alright, big sister, just watch me!"

They first took the elevator to the 25th floor, where there was a beauty salon. He Xiaoxiao had registered as a member online a couple of days ago and received two free vouchers for a spa experience. When they entered Yunhui Building, she showed the vouchers to the security guard, and they smoothly cleared the entrance.

The receptionist at the beauty salon's entrance immediately greeted them with a smile when she saw the visitors. Suddenly, He Xiaoxiao furrowed her brows, "Oops, I forgot my phone in the car— Xiao Zhao, quickly lend me your phone."

Zhao Yino hurriedly took out his phone and handed it to He Xiaoxiao. As she pretended to make a call, she walked towards the emergency staircase, leaving the bewildered receptionist behind. They moved so fast that the receptionist couldn't even strike up a conversation before they vanished, prompting her to retreat back behind the counter.

He Xiaoxiao and Zhao Yino climbed one floor up through the emergency staircase to the 26th floor and appeared mysteriously at the entrance of SHE's office. There was another person stationed at the entrance, a young girl in her early twenties, sitting behind the counter and engrossed in her phone. She was startled when she suddenly noticed the two people emerging seemingly out of nowhere.

"Who are you looking for?"

He Xiaoxiao asked with a smile, "Is Mr. Qiao here? We're from the Yamei Cosmetics Company, here to see Mr. Qiao."

The girl calmed down, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, we do."

The girl raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Why didn't Lin Mi tell me?"

As she dialed the internal extension, He Xiaoxiao leaned against the edge of the counter and waited confidently. Seeing her like this, Zhao Yino relaxed as well, pacing around her in a small area, intending to whistle a few times, but he was stopped by He Xiaoxiao's hand gesture.

"Lin Mi said there's no appointment from Yamei Cosmetics," she stated firmly.

"What?!" He Xiaoxiao looked surprised. "Can I speak with Lin Mi for a moment?"

"She hung up."

"Then could you please call her back?"

The girl looked suspicious. "Who did you make the appointment with? How come you don't have Lin Mi's phone number?"

"I directly contacted Mr. Qiao. He specifically asked me to come at this time! If you don't believe me, just get Mr. Qiao out here."

Zhao Yino sighed inwardly. He Xiaoxiao was indeed impressive, not even flinching while lying. He walked over and chimed in, "Yeah, that's right! We agreed on two-thirty, and it's already quarter past."

The girl moved her mouth, probably wanting to say, "Then you should call Mr. Qiao!" But in the end, she didn't dare. What if He Xiaoxiao was telling the truth? She might offend a bunch of people.

"Well, let me ask Lin Mi again." She picked up the phone again, looking displeased.

Lin Mi soon came out, asking about the situation with caution. He Xiaoxiao insisted that it was Mr. Qiao who had arranged the meeting with her and added, "Mr. Qiao is too busy. He might have forgotten to inform you."

Zhao Yino also chimed in, backing up He Xiaoxiao's statement. As they spoke, Lin Mi became increasingly flustered. "But Mr. Qiao isn't here at the moment. He's out for a meeting..."

He Xiaoxiao and Zhao Yino both spoke at the same time, one saying, "Then we'll wait for him!" and the other asking, "When will he be back?"

"He didn't say. He's meeting with a very important client today and told us not to call him if possible."

He Xiaoxiao immediately acted as if she understood, "No wonder he didn't answer my calls!"

Lin Mi suggested, "Why don't you two go back first, and I'll call you when I've arranged something with Mr. Qiao."

"No need, no need! We'll wait outside for a while. Maybe Mr. Qiao will come back soon. Secretary Lin, you go ahead, we won't take up any more of your time."

Next to the reception desk was a pair of combined sofas for temporary seating. He Xiaoxiao didn't wait for Lin Mi's response and pulled Zhao Yino to sit down. Lin Mi saw her determination and since they were outside the company anyway, she didn't object and went back inside.

Zhao Yino leaned in closer to He Xiaoxiao and whispered, "Are we really going to wait? How long will it take?"

"When he shows up," He Xiaoxiao said calmly, taking out her makeup mirror from her bag and quickly touching up her makeup.

She was incredibly lucky. After less than half an hour of waiting, Qiao Dong returned to the company. He was tall and sturdy, carrying a briefcase under his armpit, swinging his hand as he exited the elevator.

Neither He Xiaoxiao nor Zhao Yino knew Qiao Dong. It was the receptionist's reminder that alerted them to Qiao's return. He Xiaoxiao stood up immediately and rushed to Qiao Dong's side, startling both Zhao Yino and Qiao Dong.

Zhao Yino was truly worried that He Xiaoxiao would confront Qiao Dong about forgetting the appointment, which might embarrass him and potentially get them kicked out. Thankfully, that didn't happen. In the blink of an eye, He Xiaoxiao's demeanor changed back to a sweet smile, and she handed him her prepared business card, saying, "Mr. Qiao, I'm Xiaoxiao from Yamei. I've called you several times and have been wanting to arrange a meeting with you."

"Yamei?" Qiao Dong took the card and glanced at it, seeming to recall something unpleasant. He frowned and asked the receptionist, "How did they get up here?"

The receptionist, with widened eyes, couldn't provide an answer. She knew she had been deceived by He Xiaoxiao but couldn't bring herself to expose it. In just over twenty minutes, He Xiaoxiao had gifted her with a pricey Armani tomato red lipstick. Even the handsome young man with proper looks who was charmingly chatting her up turned out to be just a junior high school student, two grades below her. With this newfound alumni connection, their friendship quickly heated up.

He Xiaoxiao hurriedly explained, "It has nothing to do with Miss Li. We came here on our own."

Qiao Dong's expression turned even worse. "What's wrong with the security in this building? Anyone can just come in..."

Feeling offended, Zhao Yino couldn't bear it and retorted, "What do you mean? Do you think we're thieves? Let me tell you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, He Xiaoxiao forcefully elbowed him in the back, hitting him right in the waist. He winced in pain and looked at He Xiaoxiao in surprise. However, He Xiaoxiao swiftly turned around, smoothly pushing him back onto the sofa with such force that everyone present was astonished. Zhao Yino stumbled and sat down on the sofa, his face turning red. But He Xiaoxiao paid him no attention and focused on apologizing to Qiao Dong earnestly, "He's new here, young and inexperienced. He doesn't know how to speak properly. Mr. Qiao, please don't be angry..."

Zhao Yino endured the humiliation and refrained from getting up again.

He Xiaoxiao continued quickly, "Mr. Qiao, let me be honest. Visiting you today was my idea alone. I haven't slept well for days, trying every method I could think of to meet with you. My mind is all over the place. Can you give me just half an hour, or even ten minutes, to talk to you? Please?"

Although Qiao Dong was displeased, he couldn't bring himself to chase them away when he saw He Xiaoxiao's delicate face smiling at him. So, with a reluctant tone, he said, "Come inside, then."

He Xiaoxiao was overjoyed, but Qiao Dong glanced at Zhao Yino and said, "He can't come in!"

Zhao Yino felt like bursting out, but He Xiaoxiao beat him to it, instructing him, "Wait for me here, I'll be out soon!"

After saying this, she glared at him fiercely, reminding him of the smoking He Xiaoxiao from before, with a demeanor that said, "Challenge me and you'll regret it." Zhao Yino didn't think it was worth confronting her, so he just waved his hand at her and sat still.

In Qiao Dong's office, He Xiaoxiao delivered her rehearsed pitch to him, but no matter how elaborate she made it sound, it was just like selling watermelons to a farmer. Qiao Dong listened with complete indifference, sipping his tea as she went on. When He Xiaoxiao finished her spiel, he nodded and briskly said, "Alright, I got it. You can go back now. We need to look into it."

He Xiaoxiao respectfully handed over the file she had been holding onto, and Qiao Dong reluctantly took it, stuffing it into the basket on his desk. He then got up to see her out, a process that took only seven or eight minutes.

Zhao Yino rode the elevator down with her and asked about what happened inside. He Xiaoxiao shook her head with frustration.

Zhao Yino chuckled, "Have you given up now?"

He Xiaoxiao quickly adjusted her mindset. "This is just the beginning! Let's get acquainted first! Hey, sorry about earlier, putting on a show in front of him. I hope it didn't hurt your pride?"

Zhao Yino was naturally easy-going and had already let it go. He wiped his face and said, "No problem, I know you. Besides, I have a bad temper. I might have dragged you down."

"If you find it troublesome, I'll come alone next time."

"Don't! What if someone harasses you? It's better if I come along. I won't say a word next time, I'll just be your door god."

He Xiaoxiao laughed and gave him an affectionate glance.

Zhao Yino sighed, "Ah, it's not easy working! Everywhere you go, you have to cater to someone's mood."

"If you don't work, what else would you do?"

"Travel the world! At least I want to explore all the beauty of our country! If my girlfriend didn't always complain about me being lazy, I would have just taken off!"

He Xiaoxiao remarked, "That's quite romantic. You're almost as romantic as my sister."

Zhao Yino became interested. "You have a sister?"

"A cousin. Like you, she doesn't want to work honestly. She's full of romantic notions. Too bad you have a girlfriend, otherwise, I'd introduce you two. You might hit it off."

Zhao Yino chuckled, "I'm glad you have such good intentions! I always thought you looked down on me!"

He Xiaoxiao was surprised, "Me? Look down on anyone?"

Zhao Yino laughed, "I'm just telling the truth. You seem to look down on everyone in the office, including my uncle."

He Xiaoxiao's expression changed slightly, "Don't talk nonsense! I have no right to look down on anyone."

"Why so serious then? I wouldn't just say things randomly—Anyway, I'm tired today, I'm not going back to the office."

He had come in He Xiaoxiao's car, so she asked, "Where to? I'll drop you off."

"Thanks! But it's not on your way, I'll go by myself!"

As they walked to the intersection together, Zhao Yino asked again, "So, what's the plan after meeting Qiao Dong?"

He Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, "Judging by his demeanor earlier, he seemed completely uninterested. Our documents might already be in the trash by now... I plan to take an alternative route, follow him for a while, see if we can find any loopholes, and then proceed slowly."

"Isn't following someone illegal?"

"I'll do it alone."

"I didn't say I won't do it! The thought of it is thrilling, I'll be all fired up, I promise not even a hint of drowsiness!"