Chapter 14 No Way Out

Jiang Ni changed her clothes and returned to the living room, Qin Jijing was no longer there.

Turning her head, she noticed the butler Xu coming out of another elevator, so she raised her voice to ask, "Butler Xu, has Mr. Qin gone out?"

"No," said Butler Xu, "President Qin is in the study, he has a video conference soon, and it's expected to end very late, you can go back to your room to rest first."

During work hours, Qin Jijing did not like to be disturbed.

"Then I'll wait for him in the living room."

Butler Xu agreed and then instructed the maid to prepare coffee to be delivered within ten minutes.

"You don't need to knock when entering the door, just be gentle in your movements so as not to disturb President Qin on the phone."

Jiang Ni sat on the sofa, flipping through the financial magazine in her hand, subtly eavesdropping on their conversation.

The most prominent headline on the magazine was about Qin Jijing from LX Capital.

She casually flipped through a few pages to find his interview.

Unfortunately, it was just a few lines of mundane text.

But when she thought about it, he indeed rarely accepted media interviews, and even such hastily written words were rare. The outside world's last glimpse of his true face was from several years ago when he had just taken over the company.

The photo of him that appeared under public scrutiny was taken with his permission, legitimately by the media.

It was still in her phone's photo album.

Back then he was only twenty-three, assumed to have taken over his father's position right after finishing his master's degree.

According to Bai Shu, Qin Jijing had been outstanding since he was young and was the only son in the family, the destined heir to the family business. So when he took over the family enterprise there was no skepticism or defamation from the outside world, including within the company, which had always had high hopes for him.

The conflicts of interest involved in wealthy families are too great, and there are more than enough unworthy heirs. In the Beijing Circle, cases like Qin Jijing are truly rare.

As Bai Shu put it, "If my brother like him didn't come back to take over the family business, the internal group wouldn't agree. Those old men would probably take turns visiting him to persuade him."

Hearing movement behind her, Jiang Ni closed the magazine and looked back, "Is that for Mr. Qin to be taken up? Can I take it for you?"

Upon hearing this, the maid looked embarrassed.

She had a difficult decision to make. Generally speaking, President Qin did not like people visiting his study, but now she found it hard to refuse Miss Jiang here. Although Butler Xu did not explicitly state the other party's identity, he had repeatedly stressed that Miss Jiang was a very important guest to President Qin.

From their interactions over the past two days, Miss Jiang appeared to have no airs about her, being approachable, gentle, and adorable, and she treated them all courteously. Of course, they liked her. Privately, they had also speculated whether she might become the lady of the house.

In any case, they could not afford to offend her.

Butler Xu was not here right now, and the maid was troubled.

"Didn't Butler Xu say it needs to be sent up within ten minutes? I won't disturb Mr. Qin, and I will explain to Butler Xu later that it's not your fault."

"Yes Miss Jiang," the maid handed over the tray, "but your leg... is it okay?"

"It's fine," Jiang Ni said with a slight smile.

The maid told her the exact location.

After sending her to the elevator, the servant turned around and saw Butler Xu coming out of the storage room and hurriedly explained, "Butler Xu, just now Miss Jiang..."

Surprisingly, Butler Xu didn't seem taken aback and waved his hand to signal her to get back to her duties.

——

Jiang Ni learned that the main bedroom and study where Qin Jijing lived were both on the top floor. Having stayed here for four or five days, she hadn't had the chance to come upstairs. At first, because of her leg injury, she could only stay in her room, but she was able to move around in the living room and garden in her wheelchair during the last two days.

When Butler Xu gave her a tour, he also deliberately ignored the top floor where Qin Jijing resided.

Following directions, she stopped in front of a door on the top floor.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.

Outside, a light rain was drizzling, and the sky was overcast. The room was dark without any lights on. As soon as she entered, Jiang Ni felt a draft—it seemed a window was open, carrying the fragrance of damp earth and a hint of chill in the air.

She tread lightly, looking up to see the mist on the window.

She wasn't very familiar with the layout here; there was a small corridor upon entering, with the main entrance of the study on the left—a hidden door that was currently open for ventilation, which was how she knew where she was.

Bearing the pain in her leg, Jiang Ni steadied her steps and walked in.

Right in front of the door was a desk, roughly two to three meters long, backed by a row of bookcases against the wall.

Both computers on the desk were on, the flickering lights from the screens dancing on its surface. But Qin Jijing was not behind the desk.

She looked around and finally saw a figure making a phone call by the window.

He had changed out of his formal attire, wearing a black shirt with the collar slightly open in a lazy pose. At that moment, he was holding a document in one hand and looking down at it sideways towards the direction of the door, as if he hadn't yet noticed her intrusion.

Jiang Ni took a step forward, but then she heard the voice from the speakerphone on the windowsill mention the recent troubles of the Jiang Family.

Qin Jijing spoke as usual, "Don't bother me with the Jiang Family's affairs. Do you think their youngest son can stir up any real trouble?"

"That's true, ha ha ha ha. You never saw Jiang Cheng as a threat to begin with, let alone this little waste who's mastered eating, drinking, and whoring. Jiang Songhai really messed up a good hand. I'll bet that once this little waste takes over the company, the Jiang Family won't last a year. There are already many people eyeing up the Jiang Family's big pie; when that time comes, Brother Qin, remember to let me in on the fun if you're interested."

Jiang Ni stood still, momentarily hesitant to step forward.

The topic turned to Jiang Cheng, and the person on the phone spoke in a hushed voice, "Jiang Cheng is basically down for the count this time. I was dining with the guys from the police department the other day, and they said it'll be at least five years for him to start. Unless someone finds that Mr. Wan, but that's too bad, no one except you knows where he's run off to."

With his gaze falling on the blurry shadow reflected on the floor, Qin Jijing seemed to sense something and lifted his eyes towards the door.

The man's gaze was cold, filled with a strong warning to drive away the trespasser encroaching on his territory.

Jiang Ni seemed startled by his look, her shoulders trembling slightly. Then she smiled at him and raised the tray in her hands a bit higher, indicating her purpose.

Qin Jijing's gaze swept over her for a few seconds before he leisurely conveyed with his eyes for her to lay it on the table.

Jiang Ni did as instructed and, under that intense gaze, she walked stiffly to the desk and set down the coffee without looking anywhere else.

The phone call hadn't ended yet, and it sounded like the person was a local Beijinger, speaking in an authentic Beijing dialect—a bit muddier than Qin Jijing's daily Beijing accent—some words were even hard for Jiang Ni to understand.

The person's tone was carefree as if he was chatting with Qin Jijing about the weather that day:

"The results will be out soon. I heard that someone has been causing you trouble recently from the Jiang side? You need to hold steady. As long as you stay out of it this time, Jiang Cheng won't have a 'way out.'"