111: Chapter 111 Return from the Research Trip

At 4:50 PM, Qiao Yichen returned to the business van.

Liu Li and Lin Xuan were already seated in the vehicle, while Zhou Ye leaned against the back of his seat, scrolling through his phone. Qiao Yichen opened the door, sat inside, and gave them a nod.

"How did it go?" Liu Li asked.

"It was alright, I made some gains," Qiao Yichen replied casually without going into detail.

Before long, General Manager Zhao Qiming and Chen Mochi arrived as well. General Manager Zhao Qiming opened the door and sat in the front passenger seat, glancing back. "Is everyone here? Let's go."

The driver started the car and drove out of the Liquan parking lot.

It was already 5:30 PM by the time they returned to the company.

Once the car came to a steady stop, General Manager Zhao Qiming stood up and spoke to those in the back. "Take an hour to organize the materials you photographed today and the information you gathered. Compile it into an investigation report. We meet in A3 at 6:30 PM. Everyone, move fast."

The group nodded and went their separate ways.

Qiao Yichen returned to his workstation in the Planning Department, imported the photos from his phone to his computer, and briefly listed a few keywords—product lines, R&D investment, marketing department structure.

At 6:30 PM, he walked into the A3 Conference Room carrying his laptop.

The others had already arrived, and colleagues from the project team were also putting down their work one after another to sit around the table.

Liu Yanran stood in front of the display screen. Once everyone was present, she spoke directly.

"Those who went to Liquan for the investigation today, present what you photographed. We'll go through it together. If you have any thoughts, speak up on the spot."

Liu Li was the first to go up. She connected her phone to the screen and explained as she flipped through photos. "This is their first-floor exhibition hall. There are eight major product lines. The qingyun series is their flagship product, accounting for over sixty percent..."

Next, Chen Mochi, Lin Xuan, and Zhou Ye all went up and presented in turn.

Qiao Yichen was the last to go up, casting the photos from his computer onto the screen. "The qingyun series was launched in 2016; it's been nine years now. The new products pushed since then have all been lukewarm..."

As the photos flipped by one by one, someone would occasionally ask a question, while others took notes in their notebooks.

At 7:00 PM, the boxed lunches arrived. The group chatted while they ate; neither their mouths nor their hands stopped moving.

By the time everyone finished their presentations, it was nearly 8:30 PM.

Liu Yanran checked the time and stood up. "That's all for today. Tomorrow, everyone should organize your materials further. Next week, we'll meet to discuss the direction of the proposal."

The people gradually dispersed.

Qiao Yichen packed his things and went downstairs with Liu Yanran.

Driving home, the two of them didn't talk much on the road. After running around all day and then having a meeting for over two hours in the evening, they were both a bit tired.

It was already 9:00 PM when they reached home.

Liu Yanran kicked off her high heels and slumped onto the sofa. Qiao Yichen put down his bag and went to the kitchen to pour two glasses of water.

"Going to shower?" He handed her a glass.

"In a bit." Liu Yanran took the water, leaning against the sofa, not wanting to move.

Qiao Yichen sat down beside her and pulled out his phone.

He opened the WeChat accounts he had just added today and sent a photo of the meeting in the conference room to both Zhou Qian and Yu Peishan, attaching a message: "I went to your place for an investigation today, and I've been working overtime until now since I got back."

Yu Peishan replied very quickly: "Then have you made it home yet?"

Qiao Yichen typed: "Just drove back."

The two of them started chatting back and forth about this and that. Yu Peishan was talkative and sent messages quickly; Qiao Yichen replied every now and then.

Liu Yanran rested on the sofa for a while, then stood up and walked toward the bedroom. "I'm going to shower."

Qiao Yichen gave an "mm" in response, his eyes never leaving his phone and his fingers still typing.

Liu Yanran's footsteps paused slightly. She glanced at him but said nothing, entering the bedroom to get her clothes.

Zhou Qian's message also came back, with only one sentence: "Then you guys are working quite hard."

Her tone was lukewarm, clearly much less talkative than Yu Peishan. Qiao Yichen still tried his best to find topics to chat more.

When Liu Yanran finished her shower and came out, she found that Qiao Yichen hadn't entered the bedroom yet. She poked her head toward the living room and called out, "Time to shower."

Qiao Yichen responded, put down his phone, and came in.

Liu Yanran sat on the edge of the bed drying her hair, then lay down, staring at the ceiling and quietly waiting for him to come out.

After a while, Qiao Yichen finished his shower and lay down beside her. He picked up his phone and, without hiding it from her, sent a message to both Zhou Qian and Yu Peishan: "Just went to wash up."

After sending them, he casually opened their Moments and scrolled through them one by one—selfies, group dinners, travel check-ins. He was scrolling quite earnestly.

Liu Yanran turned her head and saw a selfie of Zhou Qian on his screen.

Her tone was indifferent. "And where did these 'good sisters' Zhou Qian and Yu Peishan come from?"

Qiao Yichen's movements paused. He turned his head to look at her—there was no expression on her face, but those words were clearly not right.

He put down his phone, rolled over to get close, and directly gave her a heavy kiss on the mouth.

Liu Yanran turned her head to dodge and reached out to push him, her tone hardening. "Explain clearly. Don't think you can just muddle through."

Qiao Yichen didn't move. He looked at her, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. "Jealous?"

Liu Yanran looked away. "What reason would I have to be jealous?"

Qiao Yichen gave a small laugh and stopped beating around the bush. He set his phone aside and looked into her eyes.

"I added these two at Liquan Group today."

Liu Yanran was stunned for a moment, then turned back to look at him. "Why did you add them?"

"To fish for some internal information."

Liu Yanran's brow furrowed as she pressed further. "Why? What are you trying to fish for?"

Qiao Yichen put away his smile, his expression becoming a bit more serious as he lowered his voice.

"On Monday when we went to Liquan for the pitch, while you were inside for the meeting, I was in the rest area outside having a smoke. Guess who I saw?"

Liu Yanran looked at him and didn't speak.

"Director." Qiao Yichen paused. "He and Li Fan—that Vice President you told me about that day—the two of them were acting suspiciously, heading to a corner to talk. I hid and overheard a few things."

He looked into her eyes and said word by word:

"I vaguely heard 'three hundred thousand,' 'loosening up the later review,' and 'their first draft's direction is good, we can lean toward that for our second draft.'"

Liu Yanran's brow furrowed. She fell silent for a few seconds as if digesting the weight of those words. Then she spoke, her tone already serious.

"You're saying Director wants to follow our line of thinking for the second draft, and he's giving Li Fan money so he'll go easy during the review?"

Qiao Yichen nodded. "That's exactly what I mean."

He paused and then continued.

"So when I went to Liquan today, I deliberately added these two people. One is from HR and the other is a Receptionist—they know best who has conflicts with whom in the company, who wants to climb the ladder, and who doesn't get along with whom."

Liu Yanran's mind worked quickly, and she had already followed his train of thought. "You want to fish for Li Fan's rivals from them?"

Qiao Yichen nodded, reaching out to pull her closer into his arms.

"Find Li Fan's opponents in the company—ideally the type who wants to take his position. We won't do the dirty work ourselves; we'll just pass the information over and let them fight it out."

Liu Yanran leaned against his chest and didn't speak, seemingly thinking about something.

After a few seconds, she suddenly looked up at him, her tone softer than before.

"Couldn't you have just said this earlier? Did you have to let me misunderstand?"

Qiao Yichen lowered his head to kiss her forehead, his voice softening. "I didn't have time just now."

Liu Yanran glared at him, but the anger in her eyes had mostly dissipated. She leaned back into his arms and muttered gloomily:

"Next time something like this happens... tell me in advance."

"Understood," Qiao Yichen responded, his hand gently patting her back.

As he patted, for some reason, his hand became restless, quietly slipping into her pajamas.

She was wearing nothing underneath.

Liu Yanran's body stiffened slightly, then immediately softened as her breathing skipped a beat.

His hand stroked her back, slowly sliding forward from her waist.

She bit her lip, wanting to say something, but the words turned into thin gasps as they reached her mouth.

Qiao Yichen looked down at her. Her face was already flushed, her eyelashes were trembling slightly, and her hand was pressed against his chest, but she had no strength to push him away.

He leaned in and asked in a low voice by her ear, "Still angry?"

Liu Yanran turned her head away and didn't speak, but her breathing grew a bit heavier.

Seeing her like this, Qiao Yichen knew it was about time. He rolled over and pressed her beneath him.

A night of lingering passion followed.