Chapter 112: Chapter 112 Compensation for You Chapter 112: Chapter 112 Compensation for You Qiao En had not expected that the red booklet in the express delivery bag was the property deed to the apartment she had just sold.

Now, her name was the owner’s once again.

Qiao En’s head buzzed, and she immediately called the real estate agent.

“Manager Chen, what’s the situation with my apartment now?”

When she sold the property, she found it troublesome to deal with everything, so she left all matters to the agent.

“Miss Qiao, the previous buyer of your apartment backed out, but someone took over the deal last night. I was just about to call you!”

“What about the down payment?”

When selling the apartment, she had received a million in down payment from that couple, since they backed out, she should be refunding it to them now.

“You don’t have to worry about that. The new buyer paid an extra million. Miss Qiao, you’ve made a good deal with this sale. By the way, the buyer paid in full, I’ll transfer the balance to your account as soon as possible.”

“Who’s the new buyer?”

Qiao En asked doubtfully.

Actually, she already had an answer in her heart, but she needed confirmation.

“A gentleman, Mr. Cheng.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao En understood everything.

But she couldn’t understand why Zhou Jin’an had done this.

It wasn’t even fifteen minutes after hanging up the phone when Qiao En’s account swelled by three and a half million.

The property deed and this three and a half million felt like a hot potato to her.

Qiao En leaned against the headboard, her mind in complete disarray.

She dialed Cheng Lu’s number.

“Assistant Cheng, I need to see you now.”

Qiao En got straight to the point.

Zhou Jin’an was wealthy; to him, this amount of money was insignificant. But a gentleman’s love for wealth should be acquired in an upright way. Qiao En hadn’t been greedy for money while she was with him and was even less likely to be so now they were apart.

“Secretary Qiao, contact me later; I’m very busy today.”

Cheng Lu said and then hung up the phone.

Qiao En waited and waited but Cheng Lu’s call never came, even by nine in the evening.

As Cheng Lu was handling these things on behalf of Zhou Jin’an, Qiao En directly went to Chu Garden.

At midnight, the Maybach that Zhou Jin’an rode in appeared at the entrance of Chu Garden.

He emerged from the car in a black suit, his face showing fatigue. Qiao En noticed Cheng Lu following him with a sizable stack of documents in hand.

Having recently returned to Nanchen, he had fallen behind on much work and needed to work overtime to catch up.

“Director Zhou.”

Qiao En stood under the trees, where the dim lighting made her difficult to spot.

Zhou Jin’an turned his head at the sound and immediately saw Qiao En.

She was dressed in a beige blouse and a light blue denim skirt, with her hair casually tied into a low ponytail at the back of her head.

The weather was a bit chilly, and she had her arms wrapped around herself, hunched over, seemingly having waited for quite a while.

“Have you been waiting long?”

Zhou Jin’an asked.

He naturally began to remove his overcoat to drape it over Qiao En, but she waved her hand to refuse it.

“Let’s go inside first. I’ve been busy today, and I came back late.”

A spark of light appeared in Zhou Jin’an’s deep eyes, feeling somewhat relieved to see Qiao En there.

“No need,”

Qiao En refused. She took out the property deed and the Gold Card from her small bag and handed them all to Zhou Jin’an.

“I can’t accept the property deed, and as for the money, it’s already in this card. I’m giving it all back to you.”

Zhou Jin’an didn’t take it.

The light in his eyes had begun to fade once more.

“You deserve these. You’ve been with me for so many years; it’s only right that I compensate you somehow. I neglected to take care of this with everything that happened before.”

“You’ve already compensated me. I can’t take these,”

Qiao En insisted.

Accepting these would make her feel guilty. She didn’t want to torture herself in that way.

Zhou Jin’an suddenly cracked a smile at the corner of his mouth, then took a step back, putting some distance between himself and Qiao En.

“I might not attend your wedding, so consider this an advance gift from me. I wish you and Mr. Ding a lifetime of happiness. I have to go; I’m busy with work.”

After saying this, Zhou Jin’an strode into the courtyard.

Qiao En was momentarily stunned on the spot, having come to return things but not managing to do so, adding to the frustration in her heart.

The courtyard gate closed quickly, Zhou Jin’an entered the house, and headed straight for the study.

Cheng Lu followed him in, and as soon as he placed the documents down, Zhou Jin’an instructed: “It’s late, you should go home first.”

“Director Zhou, I’m not tired.”

“I am.”

Zhou Jin’an’s eyes, dark as ink, were deep like a pond, Cheng Lu couldn’t see clearly for a moment.

“Then… I…”

Cheng Lu’s mental gears were limited, turning rather slowly.

He clearly saw that Zhou Jin’an intended to pull an all-nighter, yet he didn’t want him to stay.

“Come to pick me up at six o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Having issued the command, Zhou Jin’an’s face was dark as he ripped off his necktie.

He seemed quite angry, grabbing the necktie and violently throwing it onto the desk.

“Yes.”

Cheng Lu responded and turned toward the door.

Just as he was about to exit the study, a light bulb went off in his head, and he paused to ask, “Director Zhou, it’s so late, it must be very dangerous for Secretary Qiao to go home alone. Should I give her a ride?”

The low air pressure in the study was suffocating.

Although Cheng Lu didn’t dare to claim he knew Zhou Jin’an as well as the worms in his stomach, he could tell that Zhou Jin’an was angry with Qiao En.

But anger aside, he still cared about Qiao En.

In the middle of the night, it was hard to get a ride around Chu Garden, and Qiao En, a single woman, could face any number of dangers on the road. Zhou Jin’an would definitely feel guilty if something happened.

As Zhou Jin’an’s most trusted subordinate, Cheng Lu felt that it was his duty to proactively take on Zhou Jin’an’s worries at this time.

“As you wish.”

Zhou Jin’an replied without any expression.

Qiao En walked along the street outside of Chu Garden. There wasn’t a single car in sight, and she attempted to hail a ride via ride-hailing apps. She had three apps running at once but couldn’t get a single driver to accept the job.

Chu Garden was very far from the Qiao family residence she was staying at now. At this hour, the subway and buses had stopped running. If she couldn’t get a cab, her only option to get home would be to walk.

As she walked forward with a look of despair on her face, Cheng Lu appeared in his car.

Lowering the window, he pulled up in front of Qiao En, “Secretary Qiao, get in.”

Qiao En was startled. Her eyes quickly darted inside the vehicle.

Zhou Jin’an was not in the car.

But she waved him off anyway, “Thank you, but my ride is nearly here.”

Cheng Lu didn’t say much more. If Qiao En stood still, he waited; if Qiao En started walking, he slowly followed behind her.

Until she finally compromised and got in the car.

The night was thick, the streets were empty of cars, and there was not a soul in sight—only the streetlights were lit.

Through the rearview mirror, Cheng Lu glanced at Qiao En. She was curled up in the seat, her eyes fixed outside the window.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

They say love is blind, but observers see everything. Zhou Jin’an and Qiao En were like players in a game of hide and seek—one chasing, one retreating, one silent, one unquestioning. Two people clearly in love with each other, choosing to live with regret instead.

Cheng Lu had never been in a relationship; he didn’t understand why they had to complicate something so simple.

“Secretary Qiao, have you really decided to marry Young Master Ding?”

Midway through the drive, Cheng Lu spoke up.

Because Qiao En helped Zhou Jin’an, his attitude toward her had changed significantly.

“Mm.”

Qiao En responded lightly.

She didn’t really want to talk about this topic.

She and Cheng Lu weren’t strangers, but they were merely colleagues. Personal matters weren’t suitable to discuss in such an acquaintance-like relationship.

“Secretary Qiao, you will definitely regret missing out on Director Zhou. He cares about you so much, treats you so well. You know, if you had trusted him and been willing to wait for him, maybe…”

Qiao En didn’t let Cheng Lu finish his sentence.

“Assistant Cheng, am I that bad?”

Her words left Cheng Lu at a loss for words.

Matters of the heart have nothing to do with right or wrong. Qiao En knew her own choices; she didn’t care about what others said.

Worth it or not? Should or shouldn’t? If you’re not the one involved, you have no right to speak.

The car conveniently approached the residential area where the Qiao family lived. Qiao En asked Cheng Lu to stop, “I’m going to buy some late-night snacks. Thank you for the ride.”

With that, she opened the door and got out.

Once she was far enough away, Cheng Lu realized that Qiao En had left the property deed and the Gold Card in the car.

He hurriedly called Qiao En, “Secretary Qiao, you left your things.”

“Those were never mine to begin with. Please return them to Director Zhou for me.”

Qiao En hung up immediately.

Cheng Lu was both angry and anxious. He was usually a man of few words, but lately, his mouth had been running wild. He was just mouthing off without considering that he might hit a nerve for Qiao En.

The gifts Zhou Jin’an sent out had been “brought” back by him. Now, what was he supposed to do?