If You Could Hear My Heart-Chapter 1627: Spring Breeze and Fluttering Cherry Blossoms (4)

Chapter 1627: Chapter 1627: Spring Breeze and Fluttering Cherry Blossoms (4)

On the third day after Xiao Mo’s accident, Xia Chuqing returned to Shen Group, returned to the office in a daze.

Everything on the desk remained as it was before. She had inadvertently gone over ten days without seeing him.

On his desk was even the bouquet of silk flowers, bought on New Year’s Eve, still as beautiful.

She sat in his office chair, her mind in a fog, and opened his folder.

Inside were comments in his handwriting, his marks, as if even the folder still carried his presence, that faint lavender scent.

"President Xiao..." Xia Chuqing murmured, her gaze unfocused.

As she looked, she began to cry again.

After crying, she wrote a resignation letter, wanting to leave Shen Group.

Every corner here was infused with his essence; she truly feared the sadness from the memories. After leaving, she planned to return to A City.

She was the one who had gotten him killed. Without her, he surely would still be that dynamic President Xiao, commanding the world with flair.

Absent-mindedly, she worked; absent-mindedly, she wrote the resignation letter, intending to hand it to the secretary general tomorrow.

She continued wearing the ring. She thought, she would never take it off for the rest of her life, as a punishment for herself.

Yet, when she touched Xiao Mo’s computer, curiosity led her to click on a folder named "QING".

Just like her name...

As soon as she opened it, the screen was filled with memories...

It turned out they were all photos of her, in the lavender field.

Expanses of lavender, beautiful purple, complementing her dress.

Photos of her smiling, of her silently pondering, and of her walking with her head down; in short, all just her.

She had never seen these photos before.

She recalled, he did bring a camera at that time. So, had he taken these photos back then and kept them on the computer?

Fool, this fool!

"Xiao Mo..." she covered her face and cried once more, unable to hold back the sobs.

She endured until almost the end of the workday, feeling as if she was sitting on pins and needles, entirely distracted.

Her phone rang, an unfamiliar number.

"Miss Xia, do you have time?" It was Yao Hongming.

Xia Chuqing was stunned: "Mr. Yao?"

"It’s me, I haven’t reached out to you for several days. About what you asked me last time, I’ve investigated. Do you have time for dinner tonight?"

Yao Hongming was unaware of Xiao Mo’s situation; he merely noticed something was off in Xia Chuqing’s voice.

"Does it still hold any meaning..." Xia Chuqing murmured, her gaze distant.

"What?" Yao Hongming was puzzled.

"Well... at the café downstairs from the Group, I can come down now..." Xia Chuqing’s voice was filled with sorrow.

Yao Hongming, surprised at her words, quickly asked, "Miss Xia, have you been crying?"

"No." Xia Chuqing wiped her face.

"Alright, see you shortly."

Ending the call, Xia Chuqing wiped tears away in the mirror, but no matter how she tried, her eyes remained red.

At the café, when Yao Hongming saw Xia Chuqing, he froze.

Xia Chuqing’s expression was dazed, her eyes devoid of life.

The last time she saw Yao Hongming was on a rainy day. She truly didn’t know Xiao Mo had returned early from Germany. Had she known, she definitely wouldn’t have met Yao Hongming.

That day, he must have planned to surprise her.

He had said he had already reserved a place at a restaurant—was he planning to propose to her?

"Miss Xia, what’s wrong? Your eyes are so red, have you been crying?" Yao Hongming asked with concern.

Xia Chuqing saw Yao Hongming still didn’t know about Xiao Mo’s situation. She didn’t say much, only forced a smile: "I got scolded by a boss."

"Was it President Xiao?" Yao Hongming laughed, "I have seen him rebuke people before; he’s much fiercer than I am."

"I wish it were him..." Xia Chuqing said quietly, her gaze falling on a wall.

She truly wished he could come before her, scold her, or even hit her...

Seeing Xia Chuqing’s unusual emotions, Yao Hongming said no more, thinking perhaps there was some discord between Xia Chuqing and Xiao Mo.

"Miss Xia, I have investigated what you asked me to look into." Yao Hongming cut to the chase, "Yes, indeed, President Xiao has visited the prison, many times."

Xia Chuqing said nothing, her eyes resting on Yao Hongming’s face, silently waiting for his further explanation.

Yao Hongming straightforwardly said it all in one breath: "However, President Xiao was not doing anything bad. After your father was reported, the Commission for Discipline Inspection went to A City for a covert investigation. During that time, President Xiao made numerous trips to A City. Of course, that was all three years ago."

"Your father’s offenses warranted at least a ten-year sentence, but because President Xiao made many trips to the city government and pulled numerous strings, it was reduced to four years instead," Yao Hongming continued, "I really admire President Xiao. If he hadn’t taken care to handle your father’s case as if it were his own, it probably wouldn’t have been so easy. Even if given to me, I doubt I could have managed it."

"Yet President Xiao did it. He even specifically arranged for your father to be incarcerated in a prison here in C City, allowing him to frequently check the prison’s conditions, seeking any opportunity to reduce your father’s sentence," Yao Hongming said.

Xia Chuqing froze again, unable to accept this reality all at once. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

So this was the truth?

She had always thought, given her father’s former friends, who dared not approach Xia Family, how was it that her father only received a four-year sentence?

She didn’t think much of it then, rationalizing it as legal leniency.

Even her mother obviously didn’t know about this.

So it was him...

"Over these years, indeed, President Xiao ran many errands to A City and put in significant effort, though to him it probably seemed worthwhile," Yao Hongming said. "Oh, right, when your father’s incident initially happened, no media reported it, and you were kept in the dark for over two years. Actually, this was all orchestrated by President Xiao."

"You mean Xiao Mo intentionally sealed the news?" Xia Chuqing’s emotions became agitated.

"Yes, I asked someone who knew, not anyone else but your former neighbor Song Heng," Yao Hongming replied. "President Xiao completely blocked the news back then to allow you to study peacefully without disturbance. Knowing your character, if you had known about it then, you definitely wouldn’t have gone to France."

So Brother Heng had known for a long time too.

Bitterness flooded Xia Chuqing’s heart, more intense than lotus seeds.

Thinking it over, during those two years, whenever she wanted to return home for New Year’s and couldn’t get a ticket, it was Song Heng pulling her into projects, assuredly preventing her from returning.

Not a coincidence, but deliberate.

And those calls her father made from prison; likely, Xiao Mo had coordinated with him to ensure her comfort abroad.

His painstaking intentions, she realized only today.

But truth is always late in coming.