"Okay, wait for me, I'll be right there."
Song Qiao, feeling restless and with no one to confide in, readily accepted A Wei's invitation.
After hanging up the phone, he put on his jacket and hurried out of the house.
Half an hour later, he met A Wei at a roadside eatery in the southern part of the city.
A Wei was accompanied by several of his subordinates, who were now employees of Song Qiao's company.
"Boss, over here."
Before Song Qiao could even approach, A Wei stood up, waved his arm, and greeted his boss.
At the same time, a subordinate next to him quickly pulled out a chair for Song Qiao.
"A Wei, this is a good spot you picked. I'm a bit hungry anyway."
Song Qiao chuckled, nodded to greet his employees, and then sat down.
"Boss, we used to come to this place often. Their barbecue is really good. You have to try it today."
As A Wei spoke, he handed Song Qiao a full glass of draft beer.
"A Wei, I'll have some baijiu with you tonight."
Song Qiao glanced at the glass of beer with a hint of sadness on his face.
A Wei was taken aback. His boss had never been interested in alcohol, drinking whatever was available. Today, he directly asked for baijiu, which struck A Wei as odd.
However, being observant and good at reading people, he didn't pry.
He knew Song Qiao's personality well, and apart from family matters, there was likely nothing else that would trouble him so much.
He nodded gently and instructed a subordinate, "Go get the boss a couple of bottles of baijiu. We'll drink with the boss tonight until we can't anymore."
...
About ten minutes later, all sorts of grilled skewers were served. Under A Wei's lead, the subordinates took turns toasting Song Qiao, and they all drank with great enthusiasm.
Because Song Qiao was in a bad mood, he deliberately didn't resist the alcohol and accepted every drink offered to him.
Before long, even with his remarkable tolerance, he was starting to feel tipsy.
"A Wei, another one with me."
Song Qiao squinted, his hand holding the wine glass already trembling slightly.
"Boss, you really can't drink anymore. How about we call it a night? I'll spend more time with you another day."
A Wei looked at Song Qiao and said with concern.
The other subordinates had already been drunk under the table by Song Qiao. One of them had even passed out on the table, snoring.
He didn't know what trouble Song Qiao was going through tonight, so he had deliberately drunk less to be cautious.
"It's fine, how could I get drunk with my alcohol tolerance? It's just..."
Song Qiao said, then raised his glass and drained it in one go.
"Boss, you really shouldn't drink anymore. Where do you live? I'll take you home right now."
Seeing that Song Qiao wasn't listening to his advice at all, A Wei became anxious.
"A Wei, listen to me, your sister-in-law..."
Song Qiao ignored A Wei and poured himself another glass.
"You guys go home. I'll take the boss home."
A Wei turned and looked at his subordinates, giving them an order.
The boss clearly had something troubling him that he wanted to confide in him, and with so many people around, it was better for fewer people to know.
Upon hearing the instruction, the subordinates didn't dare to linger and quickly got up to bid farewell to Song Qiao.
"Your sister-in-law misunderstood me..."
"I'm really not that petty, I was just afraid she would be bullied at the time."
"In this life, I have no other desires, only that the two of them, mother and daughter, can live a happy life."
Song Qiao's words became more and more jumbled, and eventually, his speech became slurred.
A Wei shook his head helplessly, gently patted Song Qiao who had slumped onto the table, and found Song Qiao's phone in his pocket.
He called Xia Yuqing.
Although he was Song Qiao's trusted subordinate, he had never been to his boss's home before, so he had to call first to get the address.
However, it was already one or two in the morning, and Xia Yuqing was fast asleep. A Wei called several times, but the phone remained unanswered.
In desperation, A Wei had no choice but to support the staggering Song Qiao and take him to a nearby hotel, where he settled him for the night.
As the cool night breeze blew on the way, the effects of the alcohol fully took hold. Song Qiao's last remaining consciousness began to blur, and he completely passed out.
...
The next morning, as soon as Xia Yuqing walked out of her bedroom, her mother-in-law, with a look of concern, came to greet her.
"Yuqing, did you and Xiao Song have an argument yesterday?"
"Xiao Song told me everything. He was indeed a bit impulsive, but he was doing it for your own good."
Xia Yuqing, her mood much calmer that morning, shook her head and said, "Mom, we're fine."
Her mother-in-law knew her daughter's thoughts best. Seeing her like this, she knew she hadn't completely let go of the issue.
"Yuqing, Xiao Song realized his mistake last night and is willing to apologize. There's nothing that can't be resolved between a husband and wife."
Her mother-in-law said as she served her daughter rice.
"Mom, I know. Before yesterday's incident, I had also misunderstood Song Qiao. Let's just let this matter pass."
"I have things to do at the company later, so I'll be going now."
After eating a few bites, Xia Yuqing agreed to her mother's request and rushed to the company.
"Oh, isn't this our Director Xia? Why are you here so early today?"
As soon as she entered, her colleague Xue Mei walked up with a sarcastic tone.
"Director Xia is now successful in her career. But I wonder if President Song might have a new flame?"
Before Xia Yuqing could respond, Xue Mei continued with her snarky remark, her voice sharp and piercing, immediately drawing the attention of the surrounding colleagues.
Ever since Song Qiao assigned Xia Yuqing to the advertising department, Xue Mei had been resentful that Xia Yuqing had taken her position.
Normally, she wouldn't dare to be too presumptuous due to the boss's authority, only speaking ill of her behind her back in hushed tones. But this morning, for some reason, she seemed to have found courage and dared to openly mock Xia Yuqing.
Xia Yuqing, whose mood had just started to recover, trembled with anger upon hearing these words.
"Xue Mei, what do you mean by that?"
Xia Yuqing asked coldly.
"How dare I mean anything? I'm just happy that President Song is surrounded by so many beautiful women."
"I saw President Song with another woman early this morning. I wonder how you feel about that, Director Xia?"
Xue Mei said sinisterly.
As soon as these words were spoken, Xia Yuqing's already grim expression darkened further.
Yesterday, after her argument with Song Qiao, he hadn't returned home all night. Now, Xue Mei had come over with ill intentions to remind her.
Perhaps, what she was talking about wasn't just baseless gossip.