Chapter 16: Tangled Breath

Chapter 16 Rose No. 16: Tangled Breath.

Fu Chaoying slept as though she had been out for a very long time, dreaming through the entire night.

In her dream, she was running. A beast chased her from behind, while everything around her was empty.

Then she came upon a few women: her mother, her grandmother, and... Ye Jiayuan.

She reached out to Ye Jiayuan, but the other woman looked back at her with the indifference of a bystander.

Boundless fear and loneliness swallowed her whole.

It was as if no one in this world would ever take her hand again, as if there would never be any warmth to pull her into an embrace and comfort her.

She woke in tears, her pillow already soaked. Once she returned to reality, all that fear vanished.

It was already seven in the morning, so Fu Chaoying got up to wash and brush her teeth.

When she left the room, Ye Jiayuan was already seated on the balcony, reading in the morning light.

Perhaps hearing her movement, Ye Jiayuan turned around. “Morning.”

A hint of a smile curved Fu Chaoying’s lips. “Morning, sis.”

The two of them went to the restaurant together for breakfast.

Ye Jiayuan looked at the faint shadows under her eyes. “Didn’t sleep well last night?”

Fu Chaoying smiled and shook her head. “It’s fine. I just dreamed a lot.”

“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.” Ye Jiayuan’s concern was gentle, like that of an ordinary older sister next door.

Fu Chaoying smoothly changed the subject and told her about the morning’s schedule. First, she would go sign the contract with Yunji, then pay a visit to a Chinese female painter who had settled in Singapore many years ago.

In the afternoon, of course, she would head to Xingye for the shareholders’ meeting. Ye Jiayuan had already arranged everything for her; when the time came, she only needed to contact the assistant, Liu Xin.

After they had talked about ordinary matters, Fu Chaoying brought it up as if casually: “Is Sister Jingyuan doing okay?”

Ye Jiayuan shook her head. “The housekeeper had someone take her home last night.”

The person Ye Jiayuan had gone out to see yesterday probably hadn’t been Qu Jingyuan, then. Who could it have been? Was there really urgent company business in the middle of the night?

Fu Chaoying’s eyes dimmed slightly.

Fu Chaoying finished signing the contract with Yunji in the morning, reposted the official announcement on Weibo, and immediately went to visit the Chinese woman painter her older aunt had introduced to her: the elderly Bai Youqing.

Bai Youqing was an old acquaintance of her grandmother’s and kept her chatting for a long time. Their conversation revolved around everything related to Fu Li while she was alive, and not a single word was mentioned about cooperation.

Fu Chaoying didn’t get a chance to bring it up either, so she simply treated it as a chat with an elder in the family.

Bai Youqing kept her for lunch. Afterward, Fu Chaoying used an excuse to take her leave.

“You’re going to Xingye? That’s perfect.” Bai Youqing hurriedly asked the maid to fetch a tin of tea leaves. “Take this to Xiaoyuan for me. It’s her favorite.”

She hadn’t expected Bai Youqing to know Ye Jiayuan as well. Fu Chaoying smiled. “Okay, thank you, Grandma Bai.”

Bai Youqing saw her to the door. Fu Chaoying’s eyes curved again as she got straight to the point. “Actually, I came today hoping to ask you...”

The old lady spotted the figure of Ye Jiayuan’s assistant not far away and said with a warm smile, “I’ll give you a contact. You can talk to her.”

Fu Chaoying quickly thanked her, then heard the other woman add, “I’ve already spoken to her.”

So that was it.

Fu Chaoying waved goodbye and got into the car headed for Xingye.

She stared at the tin of tea in her hands, then suddenly thought of something and asked casually, “Assistant Liu, do you usually work overtime?”

Liu Xin nodded. “We do. Usually to accompany Ms. Ye to banquets.”

Then she smiled. “The kind that comes with overtime pay, too.”

Fu Chaoying gave a slight nod. “How late do you usually stay?”

“Never past nine.”

Then Ye Jiayuan hadn’t gone out last night for work?

Fu Chaoying set aside the doubt in her heart and followed Liu Xin’s lead, sighing, “Then you all must have it so hard.”

Liu Xin shook her head lightly. “Ms. Ye has it even harder. I heard she rushed back to the company overnight to work overtime yesterday.”

Ye Jiayuan really had gone to work.

Fu Chaoying couldn’t help letting out a quiet breath of relief. “That busy?”

Liu Xin nodded emphatically, then turned to smile at her. “So busy she doesn’t have time to date. So many people want to introduce someone to Ms. Ye.”

Fu Chaoying curved her lips into a smile but didn’t answer. Her thoughts had already drifted far away.

*

The Xingye International building was imposing. Fu Chaoying had visited it before in college, together with members of the Ye family.

Liu Xin took her straight up in the executive elevator.

“The shareholders’ meeting doesn’t start until three-thirty. Ms. Ye told me to bring you up to rest first.”

Under the sideways glances of the others, Fu Chaoying followed Liu Xin straight to the president’s office and arrived at the door.

“Ms. Ye is still in a meeting right now. Please come in and sit for a while.” Liu Xin opened the door for her. The first thing Fu Chaoying saw was a painting.

It was the ink-wash painting she had given Ye Jiayuan.

Fu Chaoying was stunned for a moment, only to hear Liu Xin laugh. “You paint really well.”

Fu Chaoying’s gaze fixed on the signature in the corner. Even though she couldn’t see it clearly, she remembered signing her name in vermilion ink: Fu Chaoying.

Ye Jiayuan had hung it up openly in her office just like that.

If an oil painting was for adding color, then what about this ink painting? Was it meant to complement the minimalist, dignified style of her office?

Fu Chaoying’s heart gave a sudden jolt. “When did she hang this up?”

Liu Xin thought seriously for a moment, then answered, “The last time she came back.”

“I’d never seen Ms. Ye like a painting this much before.”

Fu Chaoying paused slightly, then heard Liu Xin ask, “What would you like to drink? Tea or coffee?”

Fu Chaoying held the tin of tea leaves in her hands. “Just warm water is fine, thank you.”

Ye Jiayuan still hadn’t come back, but Fu Chaoying kept staring at the painting on the wall, her thoughts drifting.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door handle turning. Fu Chaoying looked up in a daze, only to see that the person who had appeared was Qu Jingyuan—

“You’re here, little sister.”

Fu Chaoying responded politely with a nod. “Hello, Ms. Qu.”

A trace of interest flashed through Qu Jingyuan’s eyes as she walked toward her. “Why don’t you call me Sister Jingyuan?”

Fu Chaoying smiled faintly. “We’re at the company.”

The answer was airtight.

Qu Jingyuan didn’t press further; she only sat down on the single sofa opposite Fu Chaoying.

Fu Chaoying no longer looked at the painting, but from the corner of her eye, she could see Qu Jingyuan gazing at it with rapt attention.

“This painting is a little different from you, though,” Qu Jingyuan said casually.

Fu Chaoying ignored the implication in her words and simply said, “Inspiration always brings surprises.”

They chatted idly back and forth.

Qu Jingyuan teased, “This painting is pretty understated; it fits perfectly hanging here.”

It was a veiled jab, implying her painting wasn’t worth much.

Fu Chaoying’s smile didn’t waver. She was just about to fire back when a cool voice came from the doorway—

“Why are you here?”

Fu Chaoying turned at the sound and saw Ye Jiayuan standing at the door in a dark blue suit, her gaze fixed on Qu Jingyuan.

“I came to wait for you so we could go to the meeting together.” Qu Jingyuan smiled lazily.

Ye Jiayuan didn’t look at her again, only lifted a hand slightly toward Fu Chaoying. “Come on.”

Fu Chaoying took three quick steps to her side, while Qu Jingyuan walked on the other side.

Qu Jingyuan and Ye Jiayuan really did seem familiar; their relationship was good, and their body language was natural as well—as if nothing had happened last night.

Fu Chaoying’s gaze dimmed.

When they reached the conference room, Fu Chaoying sat down beside Ye Jiayuan, yet was overwhelmed by her powerful presence.

There were many people in the conference room, most of them shareholders older than Ye Jiayuan, yet when Ye Jiayuan spoke, they listened with complete attention and nodded from time to time.

Sitting beside her, Fu Chaoying suddenly felt small.

Ye Jiayuan introduced her. “This is our new shareholder, Fu Chaoying.”

Fu Chaoying stood and bowed to everyone, then heard a round of enthusiastic applause.

With a faint smile on her lips, Fu Chaoying spent the entire meeting watching Ye Jiayuan’s profile.

Yet in her mind, there were suddenly flashes of the two paintings hanging in Ye Jiayuan’s study and office, as well as those fine, dense moments of their time together.

For no reason at all, she was certain that Ye Jiayuan treated her specially; specially in a way that had never happened before.

But was that love? If it really was love, how could she be so restrained?

The meeting lasted two hours and finally ended just as the sun was about to set.

Ye Jiayuan led her away in full view of everyone, occasionally lowering her head to listen to her speak.

Everyone could see that Ye Jiayuan’s feelings toward this new shareholder were very unusual; some even wondered, “Isn’t this the former girlfriend of Ms. Ye’s sister...?”

Qu Jingyuan watched the two of them walking side by side, the light in her eyes gradually darkening.

Fu Chaoying followed Ye Jiayuan back to the office and stared at the painting, asking offhandedly, “Sis really likes this painting, doesn’t she?”

Ye Jiayuan’s gaze followed hers, and she gave a slight nod. “It has the backbone of your grandmother.”

Fu Chaoying suddenly remembered that line: I didn’t give you “Jade Magnolia” only for your grandmother. But she didn’t want to dig to the bottom of it. It wasn’t the right time.

There were no activities or banquets tonight, and Liu Xin left work on time.

Fu Chaoying and Ye Jiayuan got into the car together, but just as the door was closing, a familiar female voice rang out—

“Yuan, want to have dinner together tonight?”

It was Qu Jingyuan.

Fu Chaoying made up her mind at once; she leaned slightly forward and said with a light smile, “Sorry, Jiayuan-jie already has plans.”

After speaking, Fu Chaoying tilted her head toward Ye Jiayuan. “Right?”

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16 bags randomly distributed~