QTIMP -Chapter 179 Character Persona – Overachiever (Part 11)

Gu Qu had an unlit cigarette between his lips and an attractive girl draped around his arm. He glanced back at Tang Chaoyun.

“Brother Tang, I really didn’t expect this! Si Qiu actually has this kind of talent. In less than a week, she’s pulled in a hundred million—better than a money-printing machine!”

The others chimed in approvingly. “Yeah, I heard the investment was less than a million.”

Tang Chaoyun leaned back against the sofa and took a small sip of his drink, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips. He clearly enjoyed their flattery.

“So? Brother Tang, why don’t you make some introductions and let my sister-in-law give our brothers a hand? With her talent and my platform, making money is just a matter of words, isn’t it?”

Hearing this, the others perked up. Any opportunity to make money—who wouldn’t want a piece of it?

Tang Chaoyun glanced at him sidelong. “Your sister-in-law doesn’t listen to me right now. If you want to cooperate, go ask her yourself.”

Qian Ruifeng wrapped an arm around Gu Qu. “Haha, if you don’t mention Brother Tang in front of your sister-in-law, you might have a chance. But if you do… you probably won’t even get through the door of her company.”

Tao Yi leaned over and kissed the woman beside him on the cheek. “Has it really come to this?”

Qian Ruifeng laughed even louder. “Your sister-in-law has already kicked Brother Tang out of the villa. How serious do you think that is?”

Tang Chaoyun gave a sidelong glance, and Qian Ruifeng immediately made a zipper motion with his hand.

At that moment, Gu Qu stood up, saying he needed some air, and stepped into the corridor to smoke. That’s when he caught sight of the scene here.

Refusing to believe his eyes, he rubbed them and took a couple of steps forward to confirm the situation at this private booth. Then, with a flourish, he spun back into the room.

He flung open the door. Inside the booth, Tang Chaoyun, Tian Ruifeng, and Tao Yi all looked over.

All of them had girls sitting beside them. Qian Ruifeng’s was his childhood fiancée, Tao Yi’s was his current girlfriend, and Gu Qu’s was a rising young star.

Tang Chaoyun had sitting beside him… none other than the previous scandalous female lead, Qiao Nana.

Gu Qu immediately grabbed Tang Chaoyun’s arm. “Brother Tang, come with me!”

Tang Chaoyun stood when Gu Qu tugged at him, but he didn’t follow. Instead, he shrugged off the hand and sat back down.

“What are you doing, acting crazy?”

Gu Qu froze for a moment, then teasingly said, “Gu Ge saw that woman. She and Dong Xinyuan called several male models to their private booth on the second floor.”

Tang Chaoyun furrowed his brow and straightened his suit. “I’ll go take a look.”

When he arrived, he saw a neat-looking young man in a sheer shirt leaning slightly toward Si Qiu, holding a piece of fruit to her lips.

Si Qiu wore a champagne-colored one-shoulder gown, the soft fabric hugging her curvaceous figure. Her striking, alluring features were lit with a smile she had never shown before.

Looking up, she saw his dark expression. She only suppressed the smile slightly and patted the young man’s hand.

Their arrival made everyone accompanying her fall silent, freezing their movements.

“Well, looks like sister-in-law’s out showing off,” Gu Qu said, an arm slung over Tao Yi’s shoulder as his gaze flicked over the table and the companions.

Si Qiu rested her hand lightly against her temple, nodding slightly in casual dismissal. “It’s just socializing. Don’t make such a big deal out of it. You know how it is in business.”

These words were all originally spoken to the former owner—one after another, everyone chiming in.

Hearing those familiar words spill out naturally, a few people’s expressions inevitably darkened.

At this moment, Qiao Nana stepped forward. “Miss Si, what you’re doing is completely shaming the Tang family. As the young mistress of the Tang family, you should consider the family more.”

Si Qiu’s gaze shifted to her. Though she was sitting and Qiao Nana was standing, there was a sense of authority in her presence, as if looking down from above.

Then she sneered. “The Tang family thinks it’s shameful? Tang Chaoyun can divorce me if he wants. Otherwise, given my current earning ability, pay me a salary that treats me like a CEO in the company, so I can stay at home peacefully as Mrs. Tang. There’s no logic in wanting both at the same time.”

Si Qiu gave a subtle glance to the young handsome man beside her. Quick-witted, he immediately picked up a glass of wine and brought it to her lips; she drank while holding his hand.

The atmosphere here was somewhat tense and confrontational, but no one noticed that Qian Ruifeng had sneaked up behind Dong Xinyuan.

With a slightly mischievous tone, he called out, “Sister.”

Dong Xinyuan, enjoying the scene, turned around—and her eyes met that face: handsome, yet tinged with shyness.

“You…”

Qian Ruifeng felt a little disappointed but quickly regained his composure. “Sister, I’m Qian Ruifeng. Do you remember once, during a heavy rain, you were crying at the gate of our university?”

Dong Xinyuan’s mind was instantly drawn back to that rainy day. How old was she then? Twenty-two, just graduated, and had met a boy two years younger than her.

Naturally, they fell in love, but before he graduated, he suddenly said he had to study abroad and broke up with her.

She had been shamelessly begging to go with him, hoping they wouldn’t separate.

Rain or tears—she couldn’t tell—washed away the makeup on her face, but he had simply let go of her hand and said he was leaving under the sponsorship of the principal’s niece.

What was there left to understand? Watching him leave, she cried aloud, crying for her own unworthiness and for the genuine heart he had truly given.

She knew his love for her had been real, and his change of heart was real too. No one had changed—it was only the circumstances that had.

Oh, right—back then it was this boy, wasn’t it, who had held an umbrella for her, taken the feverish and fainted her to the hospital, and after she regained consciousness, she received the news that her mother was seriously ill.

She had never looked up any information about him and had just rushed back.

Dong Xinyuan took a sip of wine. “You were the one who took me to the hospital, weren’t you?”

Hearing her slightly husky voice, Qian Ruifeng lowered his head, ears reddening. “Y-Yes, Sister.”

At that time, he had accompanied her for injections, silently watching her pale face, his heart beating uncontrollably.

He had just finished giving her the medicine, thinking she would wake soon, and wanted to go buy some porridge. But when he returned, she was gone.

He had searched for a long time before discovering her true identity—but by then, she had already gone abroad to be with her mother for treatment.

He had wanted to go with her, but his grandfather had been hospitalized for hypertension. All these years, he had assumed it was all in the past.

Yet, who would have thought, the moment he saw her now, his heart felt like it had finally found its true owner, beating in perfect rhythm with hers, ignoring the state of his own body.