She arrived at her best friend's apartment in the second ring of the city forty-five minutes later. Her former roommate and best friend Tang Yun stood in front of her apartment building.
She ran forward as the car stopped, Tang Yun helped her get her bags out of the booth. The driver left after he was paid.
Tang Yun led her up to her apartment on the third floor of the Building. Tang Yun lived in an old-republican era style apartment building,
Unlike the more modern buildings, the building had no elevator. They had to go through three flights of stairs to get to Tang Yun's apartment.
Not that Song Ruoxin minded, she was used to climbing stairs. Her mother's apartment building was a lot older and also lacked an elevator.
Apart from the absence of a working elevator, everything else in Tang Yun apartment building was modern.
Including the security system, Song Ruoxin stood back and watched Tan Yu as she punched in the security pin.
Ruoxin let out a heavy breath as they rolled the bags into her room. She fell on the bed, "thanks for taking me in, Yun'er".
"There is no need to thank me, you are also helping me," she sat cross-legged beside Ruoxin, "my roommate left so suddenly and without even paying her half of the rent!"
She shook her head, "I never should have let someone like her move in with me".
Ruoxin turned her head sideways to face her friend, "have you heard from her since that day?"
"No, she even disconnected her line. You have no idea how much pressure I was under these last few weeks.
"Although my Landlady has been very patient with me, I still felt horrible. Thanks for bailing me out, Xin Xin".
Song Ruoxin sighed, "between the two of us. I don't know who exactly bailed who out".
"Then don't think about that," Tang Yun pulled Ruoxin close and placed her head on her shoulder, "So what happened? What made you finally leave home? Weren't you saving to get your own place?"
Ruoxin bit her lip before answering, "I was.... I already had the money ready but then I get home after this shitty day and find my entire room ransacked. My brother took my money".
"Again! Why don't your mother ever call him out?"
Ruoxin sighed, "how could she possibly scold her golden boy".
Tang Yun shook her head, "I don't know why we have to deal with families that prefer male children".
Ruoxin pulled back slightly, "did you fight with your mother again?"
"When do we not fight? She found out about the breakup and as you can guess. She did not take it very well".
Ruoxin groaned, "maybe you should inform her of the reason behind the breakup".
Tang Yun scoffed, "like that would make a difference, you know how she is".
"How could I forget... I guess we both had a shitty day. Augh! I need to start looking for a job tomorrow!"
"My company hires part-timers often, how about I ask around and find out if there are any openings"
"You are Godsent, please do".
"I will".
******
HOURS LATER, QIN GROUP, THE CEO'S OFFICE.
A gentle knock on the door made Qin Shoiming pause his reading and looked away from the document speed out in front of him.
He blinked away the tears that pooled at the edge of his twitching eyes. His eyes felt a lot heavier than usual, his brow knitted as he glanced at the floor-to-ceiling window to his left.
It had gotten too late. Qin Shoiming brought his handkerchief to his eyes and dabbed gently. He leaned his head back and shut his eyes for a few seconds.
Once the twitching reduced he cleared his throat and instructed the staff to come in.
Hus assistant a tall lanky man in his forties walked in with a white tablet, "It is nearly 10 pm, Sir. Mrs Ma just called, Young master Tao is requesting to see you before he sleeps".
Qin Shoiming glanced at the digital clock, "did you send over the birthday cake?"
"Yes, Sir. Young master Tao must be missing Madam An. She usually arranged hus birthday parties".
His lips trembled and his eyes went to the picture on his table. He blinked away the tears that threatened to fall and looked away.
Assistant Jin bit his cheek at the CEO's vacant gaze. He felt like slapping his lips for bringing her up during such a special day. His head snapped up as Qin Shoiming spoke,
"Call Mr Feng to turn the car around".
"Yes, Sir," Assistant Jin said and walked out of the room
Qin Shoiming picked up the forgotten pen and resumed his work, a few minutes later there was another knock on the door.
Qin Shoiming paused and glanced at the door, "Come in".
He set down the pen and clamped both hands together, "What is it?"
"We have a situation, Sir. You are involved in a dating scandal with Shu Feifei".
"The actress?"
"Yes, Sir. Miss Shu was just signed as the brand ambassador for our new flagship phone. She was at a press conference last week".
His brow drew together, "We only met once, how come there is now a scandal? This might be someone's doing, look into this before."
Assistant Jin frowned and looked down at the picture on his tablet, after some thought he opened the article and walked closer.
"You need to see this Video, Sir. This was sent by the PR department," he folded the tablet case and handed it over to Qin Shoiming.
Qin Shoiming's face darkened as he played the clip, which showed the actress in question giving the host of the live stream an ambiguous response when asked about their relationship.
"When was this released!"
"The live stream ended thirty minutes ago but the news broke much earlier."
"If so, why am I just hearing of this now? Doesn't the PR department understand the full scope of their Job? Have them issue a statement immediately!"
"Yes, Sir," Assistant Jin collected the tablet and rushed out of the room.
Qin Shoiming clenched and unclenched his
Fist silently, the actress's smug smile and the photoshopped photos placed in the articles irritated him.
There was no way he could continue working, he shut the document and put them in the brown briefcase beside his desk.
His phone rang as he push back his seat, he paused and picked up the phone. He frown as he saw the caller ID.