Chapter 56 Master Jue’s Solo Reconciliation Drama

Chapter 56: Master Jue's One-Man Show of Reconciliation

After hanging up Xie Muchen's call, a thought briefly flashed through Ling Jue's mind.

Should he explain the news to Qin Shuyi?

But he quickly dismissed it.

As the constantly scrutinized leader of the Ling Financial Group, gossip and hearsay were inevitable. There had been many such rumors in the past, and he had paid them no mind. Explaining each one would be too troublesome.

After all, whether he had a fiancée or not, Qin Shuyi would know.

Cutting it off at the source was enough.

He rubbed his temples and dialed the internal line. "Special Assistant Li, delete all news about my private life. Also," his tone turned cold, "announce publicly that Ling Mufeng will be stepping down from all positions within the Ling Financial Group."

Special Assistant Li's heart skipped a beat. Having just cleared out the old guard, now he was directly targeting the man himself. This was about forcing Old Mr. Ling into full retirement.

After giving these instructions, Ling Jue paused for a moment.

"Help me pick out a gift to send to Miss Qin... Never mind, have someone bring me the catalog from that jewelry store she likes. I'll choose myself."

Generally speaking, gifts for Qin Shuyi were always chosen by him personally.

However, because he had been busy with Qi Wanting's affairs recently, and after that ended, he was locked in a power struggle with Ling Mufeng, he had been swamped these past few days, burning the midnight oil every day.

By the time he had a moment to spare, it was already Qin Shuyi's rest time.

Ling Jue rubbed the milk candy in his pocket, thinking perhaps he should send a gift to comfort her.

She must be thinking of him too.

There was another meeting later, but he could pick out some jewelry during lunch.

Special Assistant Li quickly brought the catalog, sighing inwardly; only Miss Qin was accorded such treatment.

Before, Master Jue couldn't even remember the names of those other women. When he was done with them, Special Assistant Li would send subordinates to casually buy some seasonal items from major brands.

It was nothing like with Miss Qin. Every time Ling Jue told him to take care of it, in the end, Master Jue would still take matters into his own hands.

Ling Jue quickly chose a simply designed sapphire necklace and smiled. "It would look perfect on her."

"Deliver it tonight. I want you to go personally."

After being busy these past couple of days, it was time to make some time to go and hold her himself.

Special Assistant Li nodded respectfully. "Yes."

Even before she had this on-and-off relationship with Master Jue, he had attended to her needs impeccably.

Now, after all this turmoil, her standing with Master Jue seemed even more secure. He definitely had to stay on her good side.

...

However, Special Assistant Li, who thought he had just been given the easy task of running an errand for the young couple, was soon in for a shock.

In the stairwell just outside Qin Shuyi's apartment.

In disbelief, he asked again, "You don't want it?!"

Qin Shuyi made a "shh" gesture.

Luckily, she still had Special Assistant Li on WeChat from when she'd dealt with Ling Jue's leftover things, so he'd texted her before coming up.

Otherwise, he would have run into Qin Yuan and Zhou Yunhe.

Burying his shock, Special Assistant Li's expression turned troubled. "Why? Don't you like the gift?"

Master Jue's taste wasn't the problem.

The price tag was nothing to scoff at either.

Qin Shuyi was also at a loss for words. She could only express it tactfully, "We've already broken up. It's not appropriate for me to accept such an expensive gift."

"Broken up?!"

Special Assistant Li felt like he had turned into a screaming chicken tonight.

He panicked. "No, didn't you and Master Jue get back together?! When did you break up again?!"

Otherwise, why was Master Jue looking so gentle and tender while picking out gifts during lunch today? And these past few days, why was he clutching those ordinary White Rabbit milk candies, rubbing them like treasures?

He said it so decisively that Qin Shuyi was also a bit confused. "No, we didn't."

She even mentally reviewed their recent interactions and was certain Ling Jue hadn't proposed getting back together, nor had she expressed any intention of it herself.

So she nodded again, reiterating, "We are not back together. Also, isn't Ling Jue about to have a fiancée soon?"

She pointed at the box. "Perhaps you heard the wrong recipient."

Special Assistant Li felt like the sky was falling.

So the so-called on-and-off relationship was just Master Jue's one-man show all along?

Miss Qin had been coolly and breezily broken up and done with it from start to finish.

His heart sank. He didn't even dare think about how to go back and tell Master Jue the news that he had unilaterally reconciled and was now being unilaterally announced as broken up with.

...

A similar conversation was happening on Xie Muchen's side.

Hearing Xie Muchen volunteer the information about placing Ling Jue and Qin Shuyi's seats together, Zhao Jinyu looked suspicious. "Did Ling Jue personally tell you he got back together with Qin Shuyi?"

Xie Muchen nodded. "Of course. This is the first time Ling Jue has ever gone back to an ex."

Zhao Jinyu always felt something was off. "And this ex, Qin Shuyi, took him back too?"

She didn't think Qin Shuyi was that kind of person.

Xie Muchen flicked her forehead. "What are you saying? Ling Jue personally went to S City. What woman could possibly refuse?"

Zhao Jinyu thought about Ling Jue's face, and mainly the wealth behind him, and twitched the corner of her mouth.

Alright, fine. Guess the guy's just lucky.

Thinking this inwardly, she moved the two people originally arranged diagonally across from each other at the engagement banquet two weeks later to sit side by side.

...

At Ling Corp headquarters, Ling Jue, having just finished an international meeting, sank back wearily into his chair and closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, he saw the last piece of milk candy on the desk.

Lately, he'd been using candy as a substitute for cigarettes.

Thinking about how Qi Wanting had done everything he could to stay an extra thirty hours for his lover, quitting smoking for Qin Shuyi didn't seem like such a big deal. He might as well quit for good.

Now, he could finally be honest with himself about his feelings. Over and over, he had said it was over, only to find himself unable to stay away—all because he liked her.

However, this bit of soul-searching wasn't enough for him to say the word 'love' out loud.

Even after chasing her to S City, keeping an eye on her all night, and impulsively expressing his desire to start over when he learned she was on a blind date, saying they should give it another serious shot, Ling Jue had never once directly said he liked her.

After all, in his understanding, people who surrender in love usually get hurt.

Perhaps he and Qin Shuyi could skip the 'love' talk entirely.

It was already very late. He took out his phone, hesitating over whether to contact her.

They'd never been big on WeChat chats before, mostly setting up meet-ups directly. Sharing trivial details of daily life seemed distant from their relationship.

Ling Jue thought for a moment. Maybe this was something they could change?

He tapped on the pinned WeChat chat. The page was still stuck on the message from when he suddenly learned she had left the capital and wanted to ask if she would ever return.

The bright red exclamation mark seemed like a bad omen.

Ling Jue frowned.

He deleted the unsent message.

Then, he started typing again, trying to sound casual.

"Did you like the necklace?"

Tap.

Send.

"! You are not a friend of the recipient."

The familiar, glaring exclamation mark popped up again.

Ling Jue froze completely, his eyes fixed intently on that notification.

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