The Young Miss Refuse To Love-Chapter 126: An old friend of mine

"What’s wrong? Do you know him?" Qi Jianyi asked as she glanced at He Zeqing, her tone tinged with curiosity. It was unusual for her to see such a bewildered expression on her cousin’s otherwise composed face. The sight piqued her interest even more.

He Zeqing hesitated for a moment before taking a deliberate, lingering look at her. His lips pressed into a thin line as he finally replied, "He’s an old friend of mine."

There was something in his voice—an undertone of estrangement, as if the bond he once shared with Su Yunfei had long since dissolved. It wasn’t just the words he used but the emotions behind them that made the distance between him and his old friend unmistakable.

Before Qi Jianyi could probe further, He Zeqing swiftly interrupted her, his tone shifting to one of reassurance.

"Don’t worry about Wen Renyue. I’ll look into the matter and let you know the results as soon as I can." His sudden redirection was meant to close the topic, but it only served to deepen Qi Jianyi’s curiosity.

Observing how her cousin seemed intent on evading the subject of his relationship with Su Yunfei, Qi Jianyi’s determination to uncover the truth grew stronger.

She leaned forward slightly and asked, her voice measured and deliberate, "Are you no longer friends with him?" Her words carried a subtle persistence, a quiet yet firm attempt to pry open the doors to his secret.

He Zeqing remained silent for a while, his eyes clouded with a mixture of emotions that were difficult to decipher. Finally, he spoke, his voice subdued and tinged with melancholy.

"It’s a long story," he muttered, his tone heavy with the weight of memories he’d rather leave untouched. His demeanor suggested he was wrestling with feelings too complicated to articulate.

Qi Jianyi noticed the conflicted expression on his face and decided against pushing him further. She understood that everyone carried fragments of their past that they wished to bury forever, hidden from the probing eyes of others. She had no intention of forcing him to unveil those fragments if he wasn’t ready.

"Alright then, I’ll leave this matter to you. I have to get going now," she said gently, her words cutting through the heavy silence.

She saw how He Zeqing seemed to teeter on the edge of contemplation, as if debating whether to share more with her. Her firm yet casual departure saved him from making that decision.

Relieved by her apparent disinterest in his past, He Zeqing let out an inaudible sigh. He shifted the conversation, his tone returning to its usual steadiness.

"Will Chengfeng be coming to pick you up?" he asked, as if eager to steer their interaction toward lighter topics.

Qi Jianyi shook her head as she reached for her handbag and gracefully rose from the couch. "That guy’s been incredibly busy lately," she replied with a small sigh. "I’m heading out to pick up the twins from their basketball practice, so I drove myself here."

He Zeqing frowned slightly, his concern evident. "Be careful on the road. If you’re feeling even the slightest bit unwell, don’t drive. Call the driver immediately, okay?" he instructed her, his tone taking on a nagging quality that only close family could manage.

Qi Jianyi smiled faintly, her tone teasing yet affectionate. "I understand, cousin. You don’t need to walk me downstairs."She placed a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back into his seat to stop him from standing up. "Goodbye," she said simply before turning on her heel and walking away, her departure as composed as her presence.

As Qi Jianyi disappeared from view, the sound of the door clicking shut echoed softly in the quiet office. He Zeqing let out a small sigh, his breath carrying a mix of emotions he couldn’t quite put into words. Leaning back against the plush cushions of the couch, he tilted his head until it rested against the backrest.

His gaze drifted upward, settling on the pristine white ceiling above him. A complicated expression crossed his face, one that hinted at an internal struggle no one else could see, let alone understand. His thoughts, tangled and elusive, remained locked within him, guarded from the world.

For nearly ten minutes, he stayed motionless in that position, as if frozen in time. The only sound in the room was the faint hum of the air conditioning.

It wasn’t until the sharp sound of knuckles rapping against his door broke the silence that he finally stirred. His eyelids fluttered briefly before he straightened his posture, a mask of composure slipping effortlessly back into place.

"Come in," he commanded in a steady voice, his eyes fixing on the door as it swung open to reveal his assistant. The young man stepped inside with measured confidence, a stack of documents cradled carefully in his hands.

"President He," the assistant greeted politely, bowing slightly before stepping closer to the desk. He extended a neatly prepared folder toward his boss.

"These are the documents that require your signature," he began to explain.

However, before he could delve into further details, He Zeqing interrupted him with an unexpected question.

"Assistant Li," he began, his voice tinged with a strange hesitancy, "that Su Yunfei... how has he been doing?"

The abruptness of the inquiry caused a brief, palpable tension in the room. Assistant Li, however, was not easily flustered. Having served by He Zeqing’s side for many years, he had grown adept at handling his boss’s sudden and often cryptic remarks. Though caught off guard, he quickly composed himself, his expression returning to its usual calm.

"Actor Su Yunfei recently completed filming for his latest movie," Assistant Li replied smoothly. "He’s currently on a short break, but I’ve heard he’s planning to join a new reality show to promote his latest work. It seems the project is generating a lot of buzz."

Assistant Li’s tone was measured, but inwardly he felt a flicker of satisfaction. His habit of staying informed about Su Yunfei, had finally proven useful.

He Zeqing remained silent for a moment, processing the information. His expression was unreadable, but his fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of the couch, betraying his inner conflict.

After a pause, he asked another question, this time with an edge of deliberation in his voice. "Where is he now?"

Assistant Li hesitated briefly before replying, sensing the significance of the inquiry. "According to the latest reports, he’s in the city, staying at his usual residence."

He Zeqing’s gaze drifted toward the window, his thoughts seemingly elsewhere. It took him a moment to speak again, his words slow and deliberate.

"Seven years..." he murmured, almost to himself. His voice carried a weight of unresolved emotions. "It’s been seven years since that incident."

Though he didn’t elaborate, the assistant understood the meaning behind it. After all, he was there when that incident happened and watched how his boss and that actor surname Su fought and fell out. Assistant Li didn’t say anything and he just stood quietly, waiting for further instructions.

It had been seven long years since that incident, a time span that felt like both an eternity and the blink of an eye. The unresolved past between them had always loomed in the background, a silent specter that neither could fully escape.

Their paths, once intertwined, had diverged sharply, but deep down, He Zeqing knew that their eventual reunion was inevitable. Fate had a way of circling back, drawing together those with unfinished business.

Qi Jianyi’s favor, though seemingly innocent, had served as the spark to reignite what had been buried for years. It was a catalyst that hastened the inevitable, forcing him to confront a Chapter he had tried to leave behind. Now, there was no turning back.

With those words, a faint shadow of determination crossed his face, and for the first time that day, his complicated emotions gave way to clarity.

...

He Zeqing stood motionless outside a modest yet elegant house, the weight of his thoughts bearing down heavily on his shoulders. It had taken an extraordinary amount of courage just to make the journey to this place.

But now that he was here, standing mere steps away from the person he had been avoiding for years, all that courage seemed to evaporate like mist under the morning sun.

For thirty long minutes, he remained rooted to the spot, unable to take the final step forward. His hand hovered near the doorbell, trembling slightly, yet no sound came from the chime.

He was paralyzed by a swirl of emotion—hesitation. Behind him, Assistant Li shifted uneasily, glancing nervously between his boss and the door in front of them.

Assistant Li’s anxiety grew with each passing second. When He Zeqing had first mentioned Su Yunfei, he had thought it was nothing more than a fleeting curiosity.

He had never imagined that his calm, always-rational boss would take such a bold and impulsive step as showing up unannounced at the home of a famous celebrity. The entire situation felt surreal, as though he were caught in someone else’s drama.

The longer he thought about it, the more apprehensive Assistant Li became. His mind raced with the memory of their past—the explosive confrontation he had witnessed between the two men years ago.

It was an incident etched vividly in his mind, one that still made his stomach churn with unease.

The last time He Zeqing and Su Yunfei had crossed paths, it had ended in violence. Su Yunfei, consumed by anger, had thrown a punch with all the force of his fury. What shocked Assistant Li the most wasn’t the punch itself but He Zeqing’s reaction—or rather, his lack of one.

He hadn’t dodged, hadn’t raised a hand to defend himself. Instead, he had stood there, silent and unflinching, taking the blow as if it were his penance.

The confrontation had escalated quickly, and Assistant Li had been helpless to intervene. It was only the sudden arrival of Su Yunfei’s parents that had brought the chaos to a halt. If they hadn’t stepped in, Assistant Li was certain that He Zeqing would have let himself be beaten into the ground.

The memory of his boss’s battered face and defeated expression haunted him even now.

And here they were again, on the verge of another encounter that could very well spiral into chaos. Assistant Li clenched his fists, trying to suppress the rising tide of anxiety. He stole another glance at He Zeqing, who remained silent and still, his gaze fixed on the door.

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