Chapter 161: Continue Painting

Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Continue Painting

Giving a self-deprecating chuckle, he turned around, pushed through the glass doors of the lobby, and headed back out into the cool night air to complete his remaining deliveries.

Qiao Meixia carried the heavy paper bag back inside her apartment. Setting the parcel on the dining counter, she unboxed her late-night order, a simple, balanced meal consisting of fresh steamed rice, a savoury meat dish, and a warm bowl of vegetable soup.

She sat down and quietly ate her dinner. Within twenty minutes, she had finished every last bite. Without wasting a single second, she cleared the table, disposed of the empty food containers in the trash bin, and headed straight back to her workspace.

Stepping into her makeshift studio, Qiao Meixia picked up her palette and resumed working on her canvas. She dipped her fine-bristle brush into fresh paint and meticulously layered the rich pigments across the surface. The dull, white canvas was now over half-covered in vibrant hues, gradually taking on the precise form of the breathtaking landscape she had envisioned in her mind.

She continued painting uninterrupted until her eyelids grew impossibly heavy and she could no longer fight off the wave of sheer exhaustion. Realising her physical limits, she had no choice but to call it a night.

She did not even bother changing out of her paint-splattered loungewear. Too exhausted to make the trek to her bedroom, she dragged her feet out into the living room, collapsed onto the soft leather sofa, and fell asleep instantly. She slept straight through the night and into the late afternoon, only waking up when an aggressive rumble from her empty stomach forced her eyes open.

Qiao Meixia slowly sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes as she reached for her smartphone resting on the coffee table.

Checking the digital display, she saw that it was already past one o’clock in the afternoon. No wonder her stomach was growling so fiercely. She had slept for nearly fourteen hours straight without taking in a single calorie.

Pushing herself up from the sofa, she walked into her bedroom and headed straight into the master bathroom to take a quick, refreshing shower. Once clean, she threw on a fresh pair of casual clothes, ready to hop on her food app to order a late lunch.

However, the moment she unlocked her phone screen, she was greeted by a wall of missed call alerts and urgent text notifications. Most of them were sent directly from Jiang Suhan.

He had sent a long stream of messages anxiously inquiring whether she was alright, where she was staying, and if she had eaten anything yet. Judging by the sheer volume of missed calls, he was clearly hovering on the verge of a full-blown panic attack regarding her sudden disappearance.

Qiao Meixia typed out a brief reply, informing him that she was completely safe and was just about to order lunch.

The second she mentioned that she would be staying away from the Jiang estate for a while, Jiang Suhan immediately replied with a barrage of probing questions. She sent back a concise, dismissive text stating that she was staying at a close friend’s private residence and explicitly reassured him that he had zero reason to worry about her safety.

Scarcely a second after the text was delivered, her phone began vibrating violently in her hand. It was Jiang Suhan dialling her directly.

Qiao Meixia tapped the screen to accept the call.

"Hello?" Qiao Meixia said neutrally.

"Qiaoqiao! Are you actually okay?!" Jiang Suhan’s anxious voice blasted through the speaker the second the line connected.

"I am completely fine. What’s going on?" Qiao Meixia asked back, mildly bewildered by his intense level of frantic concern.

"I called and texted your phone dozens of times since last night without a single response! I was genuinely starting to panic and think something terrible happened to you!" Jiang Suhan confessed, letting out a long, heavy sigh of relief over the receiver.

"Oh... I stayed up super late working last night, so I just woke up a bit later than usual." Qiao Meixia explained nonchalantly.

"What on earth were you doing that kept you up until the break of dawn?" Jiang Suhan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"I was painting." Qiao Meixia answered simply.

Jiang Suhan suddenly recalled her briefly mentioning an interest in painting back when they visited the Ancestral Residence. He certainly had not anticipated that she would become so utterly consumed by the hobby that she would stay up grinding until morning light.

"Ah, I see... So, have you actually managed to eat anything yet today?" Jiang Suhan inquired softly.

"Not yet. I am waiting for my food delivery right now." Qiao Meixia replied flatly.

"Alright then... Take good care of yourself, okay? I have to jump into a corporate meeting now." Jiang Suhan said gently before preparing to hang up.

"Hmm." Qiao Meixia acknowledged.

The call disconnected.

Not long after, her phone vibrated with a second incoming call. This time, it was the delivery rider informing her that her lunch order had arrived at the front lobby and asking her to come down to collect the package.

Qiao Meixia slipped on her slides, stepped out of her apartment, and summoned the elevator.

The private lift descended several floors before coming to a smooth halt. When the stainless-steel doors slid open, a man standing outside on the floor landing prepared to step inside.

It was Yin Jiehao.

Yin Jiehao looked thoroughly shocked to see Qiao Meixia standing inside the lift. For a long, awkward moment, the two of them simply locked eyes in complete silence, neither having anticipated running into the other in this specific luxury residential tower.

"Are you coming in or what?" Qiao Meixia asked coolly, noticing that the man was staring at her as if she were a ghost.

Snapping out of his sudden daze, Yin Jiehao cleared his throat and stepped into the elevator cabin.

Even though he had not personally attended the high-profile acknowledgement banquet hosted by the Jiang Family over the weekend, he had naturally heard all about the grand event through the upper-crust social grapevine. His grandfather had even explicitly ordered Yin Jiuqi to attend the gala to represent the Yin family’s interests.

After all, the entire elaborate affair had been organised specifically to welcome this biological daughter back into the Jiang family fold.

So what on earth was she doing living alone in this private residential complex?

Shouldn’t a young girl who had just been returned to a prominent, wealthy family be staying at the main estate under strict supervision? Not to mention, he had caught wind of her wild appearance at an exclusive nightclub recently. What was the Jiang Family playing at? Why did it seem as though they were exerting zero control over their newly returned biological daughter?

Yin Jiehao had a dozen burning questions he wanted to demand answers to, but before he could open his mouth, a soft chime echoed through the speaker, signalling that the lift had arrived at the ground-floor lobby.

The doors slid open smoothly.

Qiao Meixia stepped out into the lobby, where the delivery rider was already waiting by the front desk. Coincidentally, it turned out to be the exact same driver who had delivered her late-night dinner the previous evening.

The rider recognised her instantly and handed over the warm paper bag with a polite smile.

Qiao Meixia accepted the parcel and offered a quiet word of thanks. Just as she turned on her heel to re-enter the elevator bank and head back upstairs, a sharp voice called out to her from behind.

"Miss Qiao."

Halting her steps, she turned around to find Yin Jiehao standing a few paces away. She tilted her head slightly, raising a single eyebrow in silent, cool expectation.

"You are a daughter of the Jiang Family? Why are you living in a place like this? Did the Jiang Family kick you out already?" Yin Jiehao asked bluntly, bypassing any polite pleasantries.

Hearing his direct question, Qiao Meixia instantly understood that this man was fully aware of her true identity as the Jiang family’s biological daughter.

"No. They have no idea I am residing here, and I strongly prefer to keep it that way." Qiao Meixia stated in a flat, perfectly composed tone.

Her final sentence carried an unmistakably sharp, icy warning.

She had zero desire for anyone in the Jiang household to discover that she owned a high-end luxury apartment in the heart of the city. This residence was her private sanctuary, and she had no intention of allowing the toxic Jiang family to intrude upon or interfere with her personal space.

Yin Jiehao was visibly caught off guard by her candid answer.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***