Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

"Go." Su Qinghe gave a crisp and decisive answer after only two seconds of thought.

Xie Wang leaned against the wall and took the phone back from her, locking the screen.

"I can go by myself. Gu Nan is on the verge of doing something desperate right now. I'm afraid he might turn on you at the dinner table and cause some trouble that could hurt you."

Xie Wang stuffed his phone back into his pocket and looked into Su Qinghe's eyes.

Su Qinghe turned around to face him directly, her eyes leaving no room for negotiation.

"I'll go with you," Su Qinghe said firmly.

Xie Wang opened his mouth, trying to find a few suitable reasons to keep her at home.

"Xie Wang, remember this: I am not a weakling you need to shield, nor am I your safety net." Su Qinghe took a step forward, looking at him earnestly.

"I'm your wingman. If you're going into dangerous territory, I have to be there to watch over you."

Xie Wang's lips twitched, but he swallowed back all the words of dissuasion that were about to come out.

At 2:30 p.m., sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows on the twelfth floor of the Galaxy Science and Technology Park, spreading across the carpet of Xinghuo Network's newly built office area.

Su Qinghe sat in the boss's chair in the independent finance office, his fair fingers rapidly typing on the keyboard, intently checking the densely packed transaction records and expense details on the large screen.

Lu Wen walked in carrying two freshly made iced Americanos, placed one of them next to Su Qinghe, and his face was full of undisguised smugness.

"Su, our Xinghuo Network's cash flow turned positive last month." Lu Wen pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, patting his chest to assure him, "After the winter break, I have three big company deals in hand, and we can increase our profits several times over next year."

Su Qinghe picked up his iced Americano and took a sip, his gaze still fixed on the report data on the screen.

"The figures on paper do look much better than last month, but your spending on hardware procurement and server depreciation is too high. This will drag down our cash flow for handling emergencies." Su Qinghe opened another bar chart report.

"You need to keep at least 20% of the risk reserve in the account. The enemy won't just stand by and watch us lay a solid foundation."

Xie Wanggang had just finished explaining the firewall hardening to technical supervisor Zhou Zixu when he pushed open the glass door and walked in, just in time to overhear this conversation.

"Teacher Su is right, we have to listen to her about the reserve fund." Xie Wang casually picked up the Americano in front of Lu Wen and took a sip.

Looking at his empty hands, Lu Wen could only sigh and stand up.

Lu Wen walked to the door of the tea room, peeked out to make sure no one was watching, and then waved to Xie Wang in a low voice.

Xie Wang put down his coffee cup and followed Lu Wen into the soundproof area of ​​the tea room.

"Wangzi, I'll go with you tomorrow when you go to see that bastard Gu Nan." Lu Wen dropped his previous playful demeanor and became more serious than ever before.

Xie Wang shook his head, leaning against the ice machine and looking at his childhood friend.

"If you go, he'll think I'm insecure, that I need my brothers to back me up even for a meal." Xie Wang patted Lu Wen on the shoulder. "Su Qinghe and I are enough to handle him."

Lu Wen carefully considered Xie Wang's words and realized that they made sense.

"Okay, I'll be on standby at the company tomorrow. Let's keep communication open and be ready to help you if anything goes wrong." Lu Wen put his hand on Xie Wang's arm.

Just then, Lu Wen's phone, which was in his pocket, rang with a crisp WeChat video call notification.

When Lu Wen took out his phone and saw Lin Lu's name on the screen, he instantly switched from a serious and domineering company CEO to a love-struck idiot bubbling with pink bubbles.

He rushed out of the tea room with his phone in hand to make a call. Through the transparent glass door, you could clearly see him nodding and bowing to the screen while grinning foolishly.

Zhou Zixu walked by carrying a laptop covered in code and stared in disbelief at his boss's expression.

"Is this really our CEO who was so decisive and ruthless in the conference room just now?" Zhou Zixu pointed at Lu Wen outside, looking utterly shocked.

Su Qinghe calmly turned a page of financial statements behind his desk without even looking up.

"You'll get used to it; this is just an intermittent symptom." Su Qinghe signed his name in the lower right corner of the report.

In the evening, Uncle Chung picked up the two of them downstairs in his understated black Maybach at the science park.

The car drove smoothly on the elevated ring road of Jiangcheng, and the shadows of the streetlights outside the car window flashed alternately on the profiles of Xie Wang and Su Qinghe.

"Gu Nan chose Tingyuxuan as the meeting place." Su Qinghe looked at the traffic outside the car window. "That's where he used dirt on you to coerce Director Zhang Jianguo into illegally arresting you."

Xie Wang rested his elbow on the edge of the car window and turned to look at Su Qinghe.

"It could simply be because the tea there is better, or maybe he only knows that one upscale teahouse," Xie Wang joked, trying to liven up the atmosphere in the carriage.

Su Qinghe turned her head and glanced at him, her eyes clearly saying "Stop messing around."

Xie Wang immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay, Teacher Su's analysis is very correct. By choosing Tingyuxuan as the location, he is implying to us that he can control the whole situation." Xie Wang put away his joking attitude.

Back in room 1602 of the Cloud Top Piano Room, Fantuan was lying on the long-haired carpet in the living room playing with a ball of yarn.

The two took off their coats and sat side by side on the soft fabric sofa.

Su Qinghe took out a tablet computer from under the coffee table and used a stylus to draw a simple diagram of relationships and objectives centered on Gu Nan on a blank document.

"There are only three possibilities for why Gu Nan invited you to dinner," Su Qinghe wrote down three numbers on the screen.

"First, he has his eye on your skills and destructive power, and wants to use generous incentives to win you over to Tianlong Group."

Xie Wang sneered and reached out to pat the fluffy head of the rice ball that had come closer.

"Second, he will use the truth about your mother's car accident twelve years ago as emotional leverage to force you to choose between pursuing the truth and protecting your current life." Su Qinghe wrote the second point, tapping the screen twice with his pen. "Third, he will directly threaten you with violence or more sophisticated commercial framing."

Xie Wang leaned back on the sofa, recalling Zhang Jianguo's disheveled appearance at the police station last time.

"He would never dare to use the third method. The incident at the police station last time has already proven to him that he won't get any benefits from playing dirty tricks or resorting to force in Jiangcheng." Xie Wang looked at the note on the screen.

Su Qinghe closed the tablet and placed it on the coffee table between the two of them, his expression becoming extremely serious.

"The second scenario is actually the most dangerous. If he uses your mother's situation to make a big deal out of the dinner party, his purpose is definitely not to hurt you." Su Qinghe turned to face Xie Wang, analyzing his opponent's psychological mechanisms with earnestness.

"Gu Nan isn't afraid that you'll develop hatred towards him; what he fears most is that you possess your current calmness and rationality."

Xie Wang lowered his head, looking at the marks left by the rice ball on his palm, and the slightly dejected words his father Xie Zhengyang had said on the phone yesterday came to mind.

He had to admit that whenever his mother, Xie Wan, was involved, the violent tendencies within him would easily break through the defenses of reason.

"I understand, he wants to provoke me and make me make a mistake in anger." Xie Wang raised his head, his eyes regaining their clarity.

At 11:30 p.m., the night wind outside was rattling against the glass window.

He lay in bed, picked up his phone, tapped on the familiar profile picture pinned to the top of his screen, and his fingers tapped rapidly on the screen.

"Is Teacher Su asleep? What are you planning to wear to your date tomorrow? I'd like to help you put together an outfit." Xie Wang sent the message and stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

It took almost two minutes for the other end to show that it was typing.

"That's not a date, that's spying in enemy territory. Please correct your attitude, Xie." Su Qinghe's message quickly popped up.

Xie Wang couldn't help but laugh out loud and typed a reply with one hand.

"Any trip that involves going out with you is a date in my dictionary." Xie Wang pressed the send button.

This time, the other side didn't reply with any text, only sending a blatant eye-rolling emoji.

Xie Wang laughed so hard his shoulders shook at the emoji on the screen. He stuffed his phone under his pillow, eagerly anticipating the day he would fight alongside Su Qinghe tomorrow.