Chapter 240

Huang Shiyu hadn't prepared beforehand; making it to the Xu Clan Group in twenty minutes was enough to be brusque, and all the way she urged the taxi driver to go faster—she had an urgent matter.

As the party B, she couldn't be late and keep the party A boss waiting.

Even though the party A boss is her alumnus, that doesn't help.

In the Xu Clan CEO's office, Xu Yanfeng checked his watch every three minutes, lifting his wrist without tiring, while his other hand lightly tapped the desk.

When the hands reached ten o'clock sharp, his fingers stopped, Xu Yanfeng lifted his gaze and looked toward the door.

At the knock, he straightened his suit collar and cuffs, sat upright with his hands on the desk edge, and said, "Please come in."

The frosted glass door was pushed open from outside, and Guan He entered, clutching documents. Xu Yanfeng's gaze swept over him and went straight to look behind him—no one was there.

Guan He, puzzled, followed his gaze and glanced at his own back, seeing nothing amiss.

"Where is he?" Xu Yanfeng asked.

"What—"

"Person" hadn't left his lips when Guan He realized whom he meant, glanced at his wristwatch—ten o'clock, the time for his meeting with the Broad and Elegant person in charge had arrived. Guan He coughed: "Maybe he's downstairs."

Xu Yanfeng lifted his chin: "Go check."

Guan He hesitated not at all, set down the documents and turned to leave.

He wondered whether Xia Xi had driven herself or taken a taxi—if she'd driven, he'd have to wait at the underground parking lot; if she'd taken a taxi, at the company's main entrance.

While he was still wondering, the elevator reached the first floor, stopped, and someone entered.

A young woman in a dark blue overcoat, a brown satchel slung crosswise, panted anxiously, her face full of worry as she stared at the elevator's display, swallowing repeatedly.

Huang Shiyu panicked—whether she hurried or lingered, she was late!

Guan He tilted his head, glanced at her a few times, felt she looked familiar, and asked, "You are... Xia Gong's assistant?"

Huang Shiyu then turned to the other person in the elevator, widened her eyes, and nodded vigorously: "I am, Assistant Guan."

"Where is Xia Gong?" Guan He suddenly felt uneasy—the person the CEO's office was waiting for was Xia Xi—"How come it's just you?"

Huang Shiyu gave a polite smile: "Xia Gong has something come up and can't make it."

Guan He pressed his lips and gave her a look that said, "Good luck."

The elevator arrived; Guan He led her to outside Xu Yanfeng's office, knocked for her, then watched her go in and remained outside.

Xu Yanfeng had just finished signing the documents Guan He had delivered; hearing the knock, he feigned calm and restrained himself from looking up. As the person approached, he heard the footsteps were off, lifted his eyelids—surely not Xia Xi.

His brow furrowed slightly, then smoothed instantly; Xu Yanfeng asked the same question as Guan He: "How come it's just you, Xia Xi?"

Facing such a dignified superior, Huang Shiyu couldn't help but be nervous, but she thought she couldn't let Xia Xi lose face; she clenched her fist around the bag strap and said calmly: "Elder Sister Xi has a sudden matter and asked me to come in her place; if you have any issues, tell me and I'll relay them to her."

As a lowly assistant coming directly to see the party A boss, it indeed seemed insufficiently respectful, but there was a reason and nothing could be done; she added: "To show respect, Elder Sister Xi originally wanted Chairman Lu to come in person, but since there wasn't time, I took the liberty to come myself; please excuse me."

Xu Yanfeng lowered his eyes, holding the pen, inserted its cap into the desk's pen holder, stood the pen upright, and pressed it onto the desktop—with a "kakda" sound, the cap went on.

Huang Shiyu's heart tightened in waves, her palms sweating.

Xu Yanfeng, on one hand, thought that given Xia Xi's serious and responsible work attitude, this shouldn't be the case; on the other hand, he felt her finding excuses not to come was also reasonable. Unless absolutely necessary, she basically didn't want to see him—they had entanglements.

She wished to stay far away from him.

Xu Yanfeng lowered his eyes further, to hide the self-mockery in them.

He didn't make things difficult for Xia Xi's assistant, composed himself and spoke matter-of-factly about the design plan.

Huang Shiyu completed the task smoothly, exited the Xu Clan building, hugging her bag and stood at the roadside for a long while. Heaven knows, in just a few tens of minutes, she was almost suffocating and about to faint.

Taking the subway home, Huang Shiyu continued working, organizing Xu Yanfeng's suggestions item by item, breaking them down from small to large, and sent them to Xia Xi's email.

She messaged Xia Xi on WeChat: "Elder Sister Xi, I've sent Xu Zong's opinions to your email—please check."

Xia Xi didn't reply.

The next day, Xia Xi brought her grandmother's ashes back to Qianlin.

Although her grandmother never mentioned it, Xia Xi knew that compared to Nancheng, her grandmother preferred to stay in Qianlin. That was her homeland, leaves returning to their roots.

Also returning with her were Su Jinru and the two children, Xia Xuan and her husband.

The Xia family had few relatives; after the incident at home, they cut off contact. Xia Xi didn't notify them, only sending obituaries to some of her grandmother's old friends.

The house in Qianlin had been sold; Xia Xi placed her grandmother's ashes in the local funeral home, to be sent to the grave for burial tomorrow.

Initially she thought few would come to mourn, but the news of her grandmother's death spread tenfold, then a hundredfold, and the funeral home saw a steady stream of people, forming a long queue. Xia Xi presided over the proceedings, standing at one side of the memorial hall, bowing in thanks.

Those who came included old colleagues from the Peishan Grand Hotel—Cao Shu, Lin Auntie, etc. —longtime customers, and those who had once received favors from her grandmother.

As Lin Auntie passed by Xia Xi, she stopped, tears in her eyes, patted her shoulder: "You all out there must take good care of yourselves; the old lady in heaven will bless you."

Xia Xi, dressed in mourning, bowed to Lin Auntie: "Thank you for coming to see my grandmother off."

After a tiring day, by evening few people came; Xi knelt and sat, burning paper for her grandmother.

The outside sky had darkened; footsteps approached; Xia Xi turned her head—it was Zhou Du and Liang Yuan, dust-covered from rushing over.

Both had heard from family elders that calls to Xia Xi wouldn't go through, so they agreed: one would rush back from Nancheng, the other from Beicheng. Liang Yuan arrived first, waited at the high-speed rail station for Zhou Du for almost two hours, then came together with him.

Zhou Du offered incense to the grandmother, knelt and kowtowed, then walked to Xia Xi's side and poked her forehead: "Why didn't you tell me my grandmother passed away? I only heard it from my mother."

Liang Yuan: "Me too—I only found out when my mother called me."

Xia Xi's waist ached, back hurt, legs numb; being poked by Zhou Du, she wobbled like a roly‑poly toy to one side, and Zhou Du hurriedly pulled her back. She pressed her lips, her voice a little hoarse: "I forgot because I was busy."

Zhou Du wasn't really blaming her; he felt sorry for her. With so many things at the funeral, the Xia family had no man to help manage affairs, relying solely on her; if she had told him and Liang Yuan earlier, they could have helped.

Xia Xi's eyes turned red from the smoke of the burning paper money: "Aren't you going home?"

"Keeping vigil for the grandmother," Liang Yuan said, kneeling beside her, "Since childhood I've often mooched meals at your restaurant; staying a bit longer with the grandmother is only right."

Zhou Du, without hesitation, also stayed, sitting on the spot: "What about Auntie and Xiao Xuan?"

"The two kids came back with us; they can't stay up late, so I had my mother take them to a hotel." Xia Xi said, "Xiao Xuan only had surgery at the end of last September; she needs extra care for her health, so I let her rest as well."

After keeping vigil into the deep night, when all was quiet, Xia Xi stretched her stiff legs, pulled out her phone from her pocket, and messaged Lu Mingji to request leave.

Tomorrow is Monday; she can't go to the company.

For the next few days she might also be unable to go; she needs to make things clear to Lu Mingji.

Lu Mingji hadn't rested yet when he called; he had seen Xia Xi working abroad with a high fever of 39 degrees, still pulling an all‑night in the studio drawing pictures—if it weren't something especially important, she wouldn't take consecutive days off.

Are family matters still not settled?

Xia Xi walked out of the memorial hall; cold air flooded her nostrils, she pulled her clothes tighter, and said, "My grandmother has passed away; I'm going back to my hometown to handle the funeral."

Lu Mingji was shocked: "Why didn't you say earlier? I was going to come tomorrow…"

"No need." Xia Xi knew what he was going to say, she interrupted him: "At this critical juncture, the company needs someone to hold down the fort."

Lu Mingji remained silent for a long time, as if he sighed, his voice low: "My condolences."

"Mm."

Xia Xi took a breath outside, then turned back and went inside.

In another city, someone else was also still awake, smoking by the window.

When Guan He's call came through, Xu Yanfeng casually stubbed out his cigarette, narrowed his eyes, exhaled the smoke, and asked, "What's up?"

"General Manager Xu, sorry to bother you so late." Guan He's tone was somewhat heavy: "My father is keeping watch at the hospital tonight; I just called him, and he mentioned that the elderly lady in room 412 across the way has passed away."

The patient in room 412 was Xia Xi's grandmother.

Guan He had once asked his father to pay a little attention.