Epiphanies of Rebirth Chapter 48 (Part 2)
Translated by Pure
Edited by Qing
Chapter 48.2 Lin Jingzhe was still in shock. In a daze, he looked back at him, only to see a pair of shining sharp eyes in the darkness.
Dai Gaofeng had managed to snag one of the two plots situated north of the city. Four of the remaining six plots also fell into the hands of the members of Yan City’s Real Estate Alliance (where Qi Kai was also a member). It was a beautifully fought battle, so after leaving, the members of the alliance came to congratulate each other regardless of whether the transaction was made or not.
In the backstage of the Auction Hall, Dai Gaofeng left his secretary to complete the rest of the handovers and happily suggested to the members who were also at the scene, " Today was a successful day, why don't we all go have a drink together?"
Everyone agreed, and Lin Jingzhe had no objection. Everyone then turned their attention to Xiao Chi, who was standing beside Lin Jingzhe. Although he had acquired a new plot of land, no one couldn't see any joy on his face. Xiao Chi turned his head to look into Lin Jingzhe’s playful eyes. Under the watchful eyes of the public, they could not be so intimate, thus he could only pinch the naughty little face with his eyes.
He calmly said, "Yes."
He usually wouldn’t participate in these kinds of activities, so Dai Gaofeng immediately becomes happier after getting a positive response. He immediately asked his assistant to arrange a reservation. Coincidentally, Qi Kai, who had gone through the formalities for a long time without seeing anyone, finally came backstage. Without much thought, Dai Gaofeng also called to him.
Qi Kai completely ignored Dai Gaofeng and locked eyes on Lin Jingzhe. He walked towards Lin Jingzhe with a gloomy expression. With a false smile on his face that didn't match his eyes, he said, "Mr. Lin, apologies if I had offended you just now. Our company had already planned a detailed follow-up project for the development of No. 2 Land. If it weren't for this, since we meet so often, I definitely wouldn't have fought for something you wanted."
He smiled apologetically while Lin Jingzhe also expressed some embarrassment. "Mr. Qi, what are you saying? Private matters and friendships are separate from business and work. Your apology makes me embarrassed. It was my negligence, I should have asked your opinion before the auction started. Also, why didn’t you communicate with us earlier? New Beginnings wasn’t completely dead set on Plot No. 2. Had we known your intention earlier, I wouldn’t have raised the price so high, and let you win the land for around 63 million."
Qi Kai stared at his expression, and suppressed the urge to punch his face out of anger. He couldn't find any clues from Lin Jingzhe's sincere expression. The corners of Qi Kai’s smile twitched. "I've been very busy these days. Mr. Lin, and you didn't say you were going to participate in the auction, so how could I have known you were coming? In addition, I heard that your company was busy recruiting employees, so I didn't visit. "
"Mr. Qi, you are too polite. What's the big deal about recruiting employees? Not many people came anyways. I was idle in the company and thought about going to the auction, so the application was handed over a little late." Lin Jingzhe waved his hands nonchalantly. He then suddenly looked at Qi Kai with a smile in his eyes. "But when I entered the arena just now, Mr. Qi, you said you had waited for me for a long time. I thought you already were informed of my arrival, so were you only making a joke then?"
Qi Kai was almost choked to death. He could only laugh and turned to Dai Gaofeng who hadn't received a response after making the invitation. "Mr. Dai, congratulations. I really should toast you in person for something so happy. But the formalities haven't been completed yet, and I don't know how long I'll have to wait..."
There was no visible displeasure on Dai Gaofeng’s face. He just smiled and said, "Of course, you are busy with your work. It’s okay, it is only a meal."
When he exchanged greetings with Qi Kai, Lin Jingzhe's eyes fixed on Qi Qing and Jiang Qiaqia who were following him. The smile on his face remained unchanged, "Mr. Qi? You’re here too? Have you been doing well recently?"
Because of all the previous entanglements from the office space to the recruitment of personnel, Qi Qing looked very meek in front of him. He stretched out his hand awkwardly: "Thank you for your kind regards, everything has been okay."
As if he didn’t see Qi Qing’s hand, Lin Jingzhe only smiled and turned to introduce the couple to the acquaintances around him, "Everyone, let me introduce you, this is the legendary Mr. Qi from Qiqing Real Estate. A considerably able individual, everyone should be familiar with him, right?"
The high salary offered by Qiqing Real Estate recently was indeed a sensation. Neither gratitude nor grudges could be concealed in the real estate business, so everyone had more or less heard of his company. Curious, the listeners all looked over.
Although everyone was from the same alliance, the relationship between allies did not mean that they stood on the same side. Everyone was an independent business owner outside of their alliance. Even if a friend of an alliance member had a grievance with an ally, everyone would remain relatively polite and harmonious. But just when everyone wanted to get acquainted with Qi Qing, Xiao Chi, who had been quietly standing beside Lin Jingzhe suddenly made a move——
Facing Qi Qing's friendly eyes, he squeezed the beads, frowned slightly, and turned his head away; he completely disregarded his very existence.
The people who initially wanted to speak immediately closed their mouths.
Xiao Chi was different from Lin Jingzhe, and his status in this small league had always been special. Even the current leader, the representative of the largest company, Gaofeng, had to be extra polite to him, so other members of the alliance followed suit. For example, he hated the smell of cigarettes, so during normal activities of the alliance, no one would randomly smoke unless absolutely necessary. Once Xiao Chi clearly showed his dislike for someone, then that person would be publicly alienated by the rest of the members in the alliance. Of course, this did not include the people who bore deep grudges against Xiao Chi, such as Qi Kai.
In fact, Qi Kai didn't blend in very well with them. Although Qi Kai had his own reasons, Qi Qing was obviously only Qi Kai's small lackey and so was not worth mentioning.
After Lin Jingzhe's introduction, the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence. Qi Qing initially wanted to say hello, but he quickly felt uneasy. He silently withdrew the hand that Lin Jingzhe had neglected. Coincidentally, Qi Kai had just finished bidding goodbye to Dai Gaofeng. Qi Qing followed Qi Kai’s departure, along with Jiang Qiaqia, who also shared his pale complexion.
Feeling extremely crestfallen from being ostracized, he tried hard to swallow the suffocation that almost rolled into his throat. Once he forced it back into his stomach again, Qi Qing began to speak, "Mr. Qi..."
Qi Kai had fallen short in their battle of wits during his confrontation with Lin Jingzhe just now. And because of the ambiguous attitude of his words, Qi Kai became more and more uncertain whether he had made the correct choice. He was enraged. Moreover, because it was Jiang Qiaqia who had held and called his bid, the sight of the couple caused him to become even more irritable. So Qi Qing's voice made him erupt in fury, "Get lost!"
Qi Qing was taken aback. His steps halted as he stood there and watched Qi Kai’s back fade further and further away.
Jiang Qiaqia had originally followed Qi Kai for a while, but when she saw that he hadn’t followed, she immediately ran back. She pulled his sleeve anxiously, "What are you doing? Mr. Qi is going to leave!"
The countless grievances he had suffered these days came out in an instant. Qi Qing’s vision blurred as he was dragged forward a few steps by his wife. He opened his mouth and retched twice but nothing came out.
Jiang Qiaqia was startled, she rushed to support his body, "Are you okay?!"
There was a sudden sharp pain in his heart. It was so intense that Qi Qing couldn't speak, he could only raise his hand to tightly hold the clothes on his chest.
Everything in front of him became dark for a few seconds before the pain gradually dissipated. As if participating in a strenuous exercise, his forehead was already covered with beads of sweat.
Jiang Qiaqia wiped his sweat for him. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Qi Qing! Don't scare me!"
It took Qi Qing a long time to catch his breath. He wanted to revisit the pain, but it was like a fleeting illusion, and he had no clue what had just happened.
Helpless and without any clues, Qi Qing concluded it was very likely because of his repressed anger. However, because he could do nothing about it, he could only sigh. Qi Qing patted his wife and reassured her, "It's okay, maybe I'm just a little tired."
******
It was almost summer, but the hottest days in Yan City had not yet come. In the middle of late May, the temperature was just right. Lin Jingzhe even felt a chill when he got out of the car.
The sky was getting darker, and the bustle of Yan City at night had also kicked off. The city held more excitement than Changqing City. Dai Gaofeng was well versed in the essence and since he was happy to have won the auction, he said he would broaden everyone's horizons and take them somewhere new.
Lin Jingzhe rarely attended any of their social activities, and he had never been to the area Dai Gaofeng brought them to. Looking at the signboard that was no different from the flashing neon lights of ordinary nightclubs, he quickly lost interest.
This group of middle-aged men, apart from eating and drinking all day long, only did boring things.
Feeling someone standing close behind him, Lin Jingzhe turned his head and met Xiao Chi's gaze. His expression soon softened.
Dai Gaofeng arranged for them to take two separate cars. He still couldn’t understand why he was so sure that the two of them would fight. Lin Jingzhe himself was quite helpless. He actually explained to the outsiders a few times that his relationship with Xiao Chi was not that tense, but no one believed him. They all only showed an understanding smile and said, “Of course, of course.”
Dai Gaofeng led the way with a mysterious smile on his face. "You must have never been to this place, right?"
Everyone agreed, but they obviously didn't see anything unusual. Even walking all the way from the lobby to their private room, they didn't find that the magnificent decoration around them to be any different compared to other nightclubs.
Translated by pure, hosted on puretl.com / do not repost!