C11

Qiao Zi'an replied without lifting his head, "I don't need you to say anything. I know very well what I can do myself. You came to find me because of two things, either you want to be my subordinate or you want to be my customer. Obviously, you belong to the latter and you don't quite meet my standards."

"Why?" Yan Zirong couldn't understand why Qiao Zi'an would directly sentence her to death like that, even when she had her own recommendation letter from her teacher.

Then, he raised his head and looked at Yan Zirong seriously, saying, "You are too weak, not suitable for this profession. In my law of survival, weakness will only be eaten up by other stronger people without even a bone remaining. I don't want to be implicated by you."

Yan Zirong never expected Qiao Zi'an to say such words and not leave her any face at all. It was just that Qiao Zi'an's words shocked her and also made her hesitate.

Every word that Qiao Zi'an said directly stabbed into Yan Zirong's heart. That's right, she was a weak person, if she wasn't weak, how could she have married into Liu Family without being willing, and how could she not have been able to defend herself when her own little brother was beaten to death?

She really wished that she could angrily and full of fighting spirit to refute Qiao Zi'an's words, but she couldn't. She didn't even have the courage to reply.

Silence reigned in the room. Only the occasional sound of Qiao Zi'an tapping on the keyboard could be heard. Yan Zirong stood there in a daze, at a loss of what to do.

Go or stay? She didn't want to leave, but there was no better reason to stay.

"My job requires a quiet environment, thank you." Qiao Zi'an quickly typed on the keyboard as he sent out the order for the guests to leave without raising his head.

Yan Zirong was taken aback for a moment. Then, she walked towards the door with heavy steps.

When Ning Xia saw the depressed Yan Zirong walking out of Qiao Zi'an's office, she was slightly surprised.

She never would have thought that this person would come out after only staying in for such a short period of time, and from the looks of it, Qiao Zi'an didn't seem to be in a good mood.

In fact, Ning Xia could more or less guess the outcome. However, the determination in Yan Zirong's eyes had left a deep impression on her. She subconsciously believed that Yan Zirong would be able to convince Qiao Zi'an.

"You … Are you alright? " This was the first time Ning Xia had encountered such a situation. Although she had seen beauties with worse fates in the past, it was only because this was her first time doing business.

Yan Zirong forced out a smile and gently shook her head, "It's alright. Thank you for making the appointment for me and Qiao Zi'an."

Even though she was rejected by Qiao Zi'an, Yan Zirong didn't forget to thank Ning Xia. This made Ning Xia have a good impression of him.

"That... This is what we, Mr. Qiao, do. For a while, Ning Xia didn't know how to comfort Yan Zirong. In just two short times, she felt that Yan Zirong was a good girl and couldn't help but want to help her more.

Yan Zirong forced a smile but didn't reply. She didn't know what to say to Ning Xia. Qiao Zi'an's words still echoed in her ears. Yan Zirong suddenly lost all her courage and started to ask herself incessantly, "Can I really do it?" Could he really do it now if he couldn't do it in the past?

She asked over and over again, but she still couldn't get the answer in her heart. Just the thought of giving up made Yan Zirong incredibly resistant. She was very clear that she could only move forward bravely, otherwise her life would lose its meaning.

Resisting the slight tremble in her body, Yan Zirong forced a smile on her face and walked out of the Economic Research Unit of the Internal Affairs Bureau with her head held high. She wanted to protect her last shred of dignity and give herself a solid geographical explanation.

"Why didn't you agree to her request? Is her request too harsh?" Ning Xia aggressively rushed into Qiao Zi'an's office.

However, the moment Qiao Zi'an raised his head and looked at her coldly, the expression on Ning Xia's face immediately softened, and even her eyes inexplicably turned pitiful. The aura from before instantly disappeared without a trace, and it even made people suspect that all of Ning Xia's actions were just an illusion created by everyone.

"You're going too far." His voice was light, but it carried a coldness that had never been there before.

Ning Xia was stunned for a moment. Her expression slowly turned stiff, until it finally turned into a very serious expression. "So, why?"

Qiao Zi'an stared fixedly at Ning Xia for a full five seconds. "No reason."

Seeing Qiao Zi'an's cold and indifferent expression, Ning Xia was very clear that Qiao Zi'an was really angry. Normally, even if he was cold, he would be able to tolerate her nonsense. But now, Ning Xia was sure that if she asked one more question, this person would immediately get angry, but …

"So you still haven't told me why." Ning Xia ignored the cold aura coming from Qiao Zi'an's body and stood stiffly. She forced herself to remain unwavering towards Qiao Zi'an.

The moment all the violent emotions were released from Qiao Zi'an's body, Ning Xia suddenly felt somewhat regretful. However, when she thought of Yan Zirong's lonely back, she felt that she should give an answer to that person. It was a strange feeling that she had never had before.

"Ning Xia, you don't want to work anymore, do you?" Qiao Zi'an asked Ning Xia word for word with a low and threatening voice.

With a solemn expression, Ning Xia calmly shook her head. "I just want to know the reason. I think I can see some useful things from her."

This time, the one who quieted down was Qiao Zi'an. At the same time, there were some subtle changes to his aura. Although it was not very obvious, Ning Xia still noticed it.

"I feel that this person is not as inappropriate as he looks on the surface, that's why I asked you for a reason." Now that she could relax a little, Ning Xia felt a lot more comfortable and felt a bit more confident.

Qiao Zi'an frowned, "What use do you think she has?"

No matter how he recalled it, Yan Zirong had only left Qiao Zi'an with her weakness. Weak to the point of being bullied by her in-laws, weak to the point that she couldn't even resist when being bullied like this …

Ning Xia earnestly recalled the impression Yan Zirong had left for her. In the end, she only shook her head and said, "I can't explain it clearly. I just feel that her eyes are very special."

"Eyes?" Qiao Zi'an thought about it carefully, but he still couldn't remember the look in her eyes when he first saw Yan Zirong.