Song Qingchun nodded as her gaze unconsciously fell on the document Su Zhinian was reading. The words that she wanted to say stopped before they left her lips.
The document was about Song Empire. The page was filled with notes written with red ink. She could recognize the notes as his handwriting.
Furthermore, the document seemed well read. The edges of the pages were dog-eared, and the color of the notes varied in terms of intensity, some heavy, others light. He had probably added more notes each time he picked up the document to read it again.
After Su Zhinian had taken over as Song Empire's CEO, Song Qingchun had given her sister-in-law, Fang Rou, several calls to enquire about Song Empire's situation. Her sister-in-law had told her that everything was going better than expected. She had even praised Su Zhinian, saying the man really lived up to his name. He had only taken charge of Song Empire for two weeks before the company's losses stopped.
A lot of the time, people only looked at the result and would ignore the process.
Therefore, when Song Qingchun heard the good news from Fang Rou, she was also happy to realize how Su Zhinian had managed that miracle. It wasn't until she saw the document he was studying that she managed to appreciate the energy and effort Su Zhinian had committed to saving Song Empire.
He had his own company, and now he had to take care of Song Empire as well; the workload must have been incredibly heavy.
She remembered how, when she went downstairs to fetch water whenever she was tired, the lights in the study would still be on.
Song Qingchun raised her head to look at Su Zhinian. The man was sipping coffee with his eyes lowered, and she spotted the faint shadow under his eyes.
During the year Su Zhinian had spent at her house, they were in third year of high school, and both of them would stay up deep into the night to study or do revision. The next day, she would have some faint dark circles, but it never happened to him. At the time, she even remembered complaining to God for being overly partial toward him.
Therefore, it came as a surprise to her that she would one day see the trace of dark circles on his face…
He had his own company and many top companies were desperate to hire him; he did not need a cent from Song Empire. Even though there was that unsavory contract between him and her, she had stayed at his place for about twenty days, and he had not laid a finger on her…
Even though she did serve him like a servile maid, her contribution was grossly disproportionate to the repayment he was giving her.
Song Qingchun looked at Su Zhinian massage the space between his brows before continuing to study the document. At that moment, her eyes felt prickly with tears.
All her life, even as a child, she had rarely cried. Five years ago, when she had been raped by him, she had cried. When Song Cheng committed suicide and her father was rushed to hospital, she had cried. The other times she had cried were all due to Qin Yinan.
Even for the night that happened five years ago, she did not cry because of him; she cried for herself, for her bad luck and fear.
She did not expect… she really did not expect that, one day, she would want to shed tears for Su Zhinian.
Was it because she was made vulnerable due to the changes in her family?
Regardless, no matter the reason, she was truly touched.
Song Qingchun opened her lips to speak before she could even realize what she was doing. "I… How about, I…
"Treat you to a meal?"
Su Zhinian, who was reaching for his pen to jot down another note, suddenly stopped moving.
He did not raise his head to look at her because he thought he had misheard her.