Seventh Year Of Separation chapter 27
He Has Always Been Working Hard
In the following days, Gu Jiahe managed to get the repairman to fix the pipes at home as he wished. He quickly moved back in, and everything seemed to return to normal.
Preparations for the promotion review that Wu Mou instructed him to get ready for were also about to begin. Although Gu Jiahe’s enthusiasm was not high, and there was nothing else important to do, he threw himself into the preparations wholeheartedly.
Soon, the IPO project also entered a stable period, and the initial drafts from various institutions had been confirmed without errors. They were just waiting to move on to the next stage. Even the auditing wasn’t as busy as it was at the beginning.
Li Zhao’s visits to the office became less and less frequent, and most of the time, he only left two interns stationed there. Occasionally, when he did come, it was for a meeting with everyone.
Li Zhao no longer had any separate contact with Gu Jiahe. Even during meetings, he sat diagonally opposite, farthest from Gu Jiahe.
This summer seemed to pass by especially quickly. As soon as September arrived, the temperature in North City dropped significantly, with several days below 20 degrees Celsius. Gu Jiahe felt fortunate that his dysfunctional air conditioner wasn’t worth spending money on to fix anymore.
At the end of September, he received an email with the results of his promotion. He successfully officially rose to the rank of manager. Wu Mou also rose higher and became a director.
However, as he expected, his salary remained unchanged.
The people in the office were happier than him; they all suggested having dinner together. Gu Jiahe didn’t need to treat them; they agreed to split the bill.
The HR supervisor from the next department happened to overhear and said, “It’s just in time for Manager Gu’s birthday in three days! Why not celebrate together? Manager Gu~”
Everyone followed suit with cheers. Gu Jiahe didn’t have the chance to refuse and could only smile and promise to treat everyone that evening.
Li Zhao, who rarely came to the company, was present today. He stood at the edge of the crowd, listening to the lively atmosphere and glanced over.
Seeing this, He Xiao turned around and walked over with a smile. “Lawyer Li, come join us for dinner tonight.”
Following her voice, Gu Jiahe looked over, and Li Zhao at the other end of the crowd waved his hand, seeming to say: “No.”
Then he saw Li Zhao turn his back to everyone and leave the office alone.
He Xiao didn’t chase after him to ask again. The group continued chatting around Gu Jiahe.
“What should we eat tonight?”
“How about a seafood buffet? There’s a lobster place in the CBD mall that’s really good!”
“Are you stupid? Manager Gu, no, Manager Gu is allergic to seafood!”
“Then let’s have hot pot~ Let’s book a private room.”
“Okay, okay.” The group finally reached a consensus.
Li Zhao really didn’t come for dinner that night.
Gu Jiahe was pushed to sit in the central seat. As the protagonist of the day, he stood up and poured drinks for everyone.
After a hearty meal, the ceiling lights in the private room suddenly went out. The room became pitch black.
In no time, the waiters sang the birthday song and pushed in a small cart.
Gu Jiahe looked up, and they had prepared a big cake.
“Hurry, hurry! Light the candles!” He Xiao shouted, and colleagues outside passed the candles to her.
After some thought, He Xiao inserted two numbers on the cake: 18.
“No matter how old Manager Gu is this year, today he is eighteen!”
Everyone laughed and wished Gu Jiahe a happy 18th birthday.
“Come on, make a wish.” Colleagues pushed Gu Jiahe to the front of the cake.
Gu Jiahe clasped his hands together and closed his eyes. Three seconds later, he opened his eyes and blew out the candles.
The colleagues nearby immediately started gossiping, “What did you wish for? Come on, tell us, tell us.”
Gu Jiahe smiled and remained silent.
But everyone got excited, “Then reveal half of it! It won’t work if you say nothing!”
Gu Jiahe no longer refused and said, “I hope time can stop.”
The colleagues nearby were a little puzzled, “What does that mean?”
“Yeah, why would you want time to stop?”
“If it were me, I would wish for time to rewind, or for time travel!”
Gu Jiahe didn’t continue. What he thought was that he wished time could stop at a certain moment. He wouldn’t have to move forward or look back.
They ate until late that night before dispersing.
The next morning, Gu Jiahe almost arrived late. However, when he returned to the office, he found that Li Zhao’s workstation had been cleared. The laptop was gone, and his usual water cup was nowhere to be found.
After a while, He Xiao sat down next to him.
Gu Jiahe thought for a moment and asked He Xiao, “Where did Lawyer Li’s things go?”
“Oh, he withdrew from our project.”
“Withdrew? Why?”
He Xiao wrinkled her nose, “He didn’t explain to us in detail, just said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to take some time off. But things here are already on the right track, and the company approved his leave.”
Gu Jiahe sat down slowly, his eyes somewhat blank.
In the afternoon, after the IPO project organized a stage meeting, representatives from several institutions attended. Gu Jiahe was preparing to listen on the sidelines.
Just before the meeting started, someone pushed open the door and walked in, nodding to the people inside.
He Xiao raised her hand to greet the person. “Par Qin! Over here!”
Gu Jiahe looked up and saw a woman in a suit, with chin-length short hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses. She looked very capable.
The woman soon took off her sunglasses and sat down next to He Xiao. Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but glance at her again. He Xiao generously introduced her to Gu Jiahe, “This is the legal liaison person from the issuing party, Manager Gu.”
The woman smiled and nodded at him. The meeting began shortly after.
Gu Jiahe endured until the intermission of the meeting. When the woman went to the tea room, he whispered to He Xiao beside him, “Who is this lady?”
“Oh, you mean Par Qin? She’s a partner in our law firm, her name is Qin Yi. Yes, she’s Lawyer Li’s direct superior. You know, she’s the one who negotiated this deal for your company. She’s amazing.”
“Li Zhao… Lawyer Li’s superior?” Gu Jiahe repeated quietly.
“Yes. Lawyer Li joined the law firm under her guidance. You see how well she maintains herself? Her child is already seven years old.”
Gu Jiahe was stunned. Seeing him somewhat dazed, He Xiao asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.” Gu Jiahe shook his head.
After the meeting, Qin Yi stayed in the conference room and didn’t leave. She turned around and greeted Gu Jiahe, wanting to ask him about some project-related matters.
Gu Jiahe quickly took out a business card from his pocket and handed it over, “Gu Jiahe. Here’s my card.”
“Hmm, Li Zhao mentioned you before,” Qin Yi took his card and then handed him hers.
Gu Jiahe’s Adam’s apple moved, and he subconsciously wanted to ask how Li Zhao mentioned him, but hesitated and decided against it. Li Zhao probably only said they were work partners.
The two discussed some project progress and minor issues at the current stage. Qin Yi was indeed very capable, addressing issues directly and succinctly.
They walked out of the meeting room one after the other, with Gu Jiahe following behind her.
When they reached a fork in the office area, Gu Jiahe couldn’t help but speak up, “Um, Qin Par…”
Qin Yi immediately stopped and turned back, looking at him, “Manager Gu, do you have something to ask?”
Gu Jiahe took a deep breath and then asked, “I wonder if you could disclose why Lawyer Li withdrew from this project?”
Qin Yi smiled, “Are you friends with him?”
Gu Jiahe thought for a moment and nodded, “Yes.”
Qin Yi asked him back, “Why don’t you ask him?”
Gu Jiahe was choked by this question, unsure how to respond. After a while, he said, “We… had some conflicts.”
“It’s okay, young people, it’s normal to have some friction when working together,” Qin Yi comforted him, “Li Zhao is fine, just wants to take a break. He’s always been working hard since he joined the firm these years, taking on every case and not giving himself a break.”
“Oh, I see,” Gu Jiahe nodded.
Seeing him relax a bit, Qin Yi didn’t hesitate to chat with him a little more, “He used to work on litigation cases. But a couple of years ago, there was an accident, and I persuaded him to switch to non-litigation.”
Gu Jiahe raised his eyebrows, “What accident?”
“The year before last, he handled a divorce case as the attorney, representing the woman who had been suffering from domestic violence for years and wanted to divorce. The case went smoothly, winning in both the first and second trials. After the court verdict was issued, the defendant intercepted our client at an intersection, pulled out a small knife, and Li Zhao shielded our client. As a result, he injured his left hand, and the tendons in his fingers were severed,” Qin Yi finished, shaking her head.
She saw Gu Jiahe listening attentively and added, “This incident was also captured by a journalist from the newspaper. You could probably still find the report.”
Gu Jiahe’s mind suddenly buzzed. His lips parted, and then he asked softly, “His left hand, was it the tendons of the middle finger?”
“Hmm? How did you know?” Qin Yi was somewhat surprised and asked him.
Gu Jiahe didn’t answer, “Sorry, I have something else to attend to. Let’s have coffee next time.” Then he turned and hurried back to his workstation.
He opened his computer browser and searched on the search engine. After trying several keywords, he finally found the news from the North City Evening News.
Gu Jiahe clicked on the news picture. The image was somewhat blurry, but he could see a man standing on the roadside on the right side of the picture, with his left hand wrapped in a cloth strip. Vaguely, the cloth strip was stained bright red with blood.
So, the mark on Li Zhao’s left middle finger wasn’t from a ring. It was from a knife wound.