Chapter 1689: As If It Were Yesterday

Ever since that incident happened, Qiao En slowly handed over the company and went into seclusion. Xu Ke also wanted to learn more from Qiao En, so he moved in with him.

Actually, Xu Ke had his own little plan at the time. He was thinking of building his own influence in the United States.

Those few years he spent with Qiao En were the happiest period of Xu Ke’s life.

Even though that old man’s temper was downright rotten, the two of them got along extremely well.

Staying by his side, Xu Ke learned a lot, and Qiao En was very fond of this young man from the East.

The two became close friends despite the age gap, and during that time Xu Ke gradually came to understand many things about Qiao En.

At the same time, he was deeply impressed by Qiao En’s design methods and techniques.

In fact, even back then, Xu Ke’s design skills were already close to top-tier on the international level.

It’s just that he wasn’t really interested in this line of work, so after trying his hand at a few pieces, he stopped.

But what he absolutely hadn’t expected was that, for some inexplicable reason, Qiao En actually took the stuff he casually, out of boredom, had designed and showed it to other people.

And once people saw it, things blew up. Ever since Qiao En let all those people see the work, everyone fell in love with that style.

At the same time, all those so-called international masters started lining up in front of Xu Ke, wanting to collaborate with him or even become his disciples.

When Xu Ke heard what they were saying, he felt his entire worldview collapse.

You have to know, he’d still just been an apprentice before—how did it turn into these international masters wanting to take him as their teacher?

Anyway, that period was extremely distressing for Xu Ke. Because of this, he spent a lot of time dodging and hiding.

And for the sake of establishing his own power in the United States, Xu Ke was really wracking his brain and burning himself out at the time.

Yet even so, in the end the whole thing fizzled out.

Ultimately, he wasn’t American. The locals wouldn’t listen to him, so in the end he could only give up.

But in those years in the United States, Xu Ke did gain a lot. It laid a solid foundation for his later development back home.

He stayed on and off with Qiao En for another half year and then finally decided to return to China.

During his time in the United States, he actually had a lot of interesting experiences. But because of time, he didn’t go into detail about them to Xiao Keyi.

Looking back on all that, Xu Ke felt as if it had all happened just yesterday.

By his count, it had already been many years since he’d had any contact with Qiao En. He really had no idea how that old guy was doing now.

Xu Ke clearly remembered that when he was about to go back to China, Qiao En had looked all reluctant, saying things like, "You should come back with me."

But at the time even Xu Ke himself didn’t know what kind of situation he’d face in the future, so he didn’t let Qiao En come along with him.

After he returned, he changed his phone number. He did it because he was afraid his own troubles would drag Qiao En in. Better safe than sorry.

After listening to what Xu Ke said, Xiao Keyi’s mind was in a complete mess.

She had never imagined that this man had gone through something like that in the past. If she’d known beforehand, she definitely wouldn’t have asked.

Because she understood that this experience was, to a certain extent, extremely painful for him.

Especially given how many things happened back then and Xu Ke still managed to keep going.

Xiao Keyi thought that if it had been her instead, she probably wouldn’t have been able to hold on.

Let alone sit here now, chatting and laughing like nothing had ever happened.

Talking about this, Xu Ke actually seemed very natural.

Although some things did make him feel quite uncomfortable, they were, after all, in the past.

Now it feels like that whole episode happened just yesterday, as if it isn’t all that far removed from him.

But if you carefully do the math, it’s already been seven years since it all happened.

He didn’t know whether the version of himself seven years ago had ever imagined what he’d be like seven years later.

"Xu Ke, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d been through all that. I shouldn’t have asked."

Right now Xiao Keyi looked like a child who’d done something wrong, standing there at a total loss.

Seeing her like that, Xu Ke just smiled and shook his head.

Sometimes his girlfriend was incredibly smart, and other times she was just unbelievably silly.

"Alright, that’s all long over. There’s no need for me to keep brooding over it. Weren’t we out shopping today? Of course we should be enjoying ourselves."

Xu Ke didn’t want his own past to make Xiao Keyi unhappy. After all, it was rare for them to have a day out together, and he didn’t want that kind of thing to affect them.

Looking at her boyfriend, only then did Xiao Keyi carefully wipe away her tears.

"You’re really not mad?"

Xu Ke gently rubbed Xiao Keyi’s little head, then leaned in and softly kissed her on the cheek.

"Didn’t I already say I’m not mad? All that is over now. Besides, I haven’t been in touch with that old guy Qiao En for years. If it weren’t for this pair of shoes, I wouldn’t even have thought of him."

At the mention of the name Qiao En, Xiao Keyi immediately perked up.

"Then tell me what kind of person Qiao En is. I only know he’s a famous designer in the world, but I barely know anything about him beyond that."

Xiao Keyi really liked the things Qiao En designed, but unfortunately that designer was just too free-spirited. As a result, his works had become rarer and rarer on the market over the years.

And even the pieces that did exist were all basically impossible to buy, no matter the price.

The pair of shoes they bought today was practically a huge bargain.

Back then, Xiao Keyi had tried every possible way to get her hands on a piece of clothing designed by Qiao En, but even after using all of her family’s connections at the time, she still came up empty-handed.

That alone shows how high Qiao En’s status was in the international scene. His work was something you basically couldn’t buy with money.

Talking about Qiao En, a faint smile appeared on Xu Ke’s face.

That old guy had helped him a lot back then, and in those early years Xu Ke had also brought him quite a bit of trouble.

Logically speaking, anyone else would have found him incredibly annoying.

But Qiao En never played by the rules. Not only did he not find Xu Ke annoying, he took care of him in daily life and would often drag him out to go have fun and live it up.

You could say that in the darkest period of Dada’s life, it was Qiao En who brought him hope.

"Qiao En? He’s just a cranky old man. If we have the chance in the future, I can take you to meet him. Actually, I haven’t been in touch with him for a long time, either. I really should go see what that old guy looks like now."

Xu Ke decided that once he’d wrapped up the things he was dealing with, he would personally make a trip to see Qiao En.

After all, an old friend he hadn’t seen for so many years—thinking about it now, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of longing.