chapter 19 grateful

Gene Zhao had already beaten Otto Yu to a near-death state. He glanced sideways and noticed that Baldwin Qi, who had originally kept his left eye squinted, had now opened it. Gene felt a sigh of relief. He kicked Otto Yu aside and laughed at April Qiao, "Ms. Qiao, I apologize. As the company has grown, all sorts of people have joined. I'm deeply sorry for any discomfort this man has caused you!" Everyone was stunned at Gene Zhao's words. When did the always domineering Chairman Zhao become so "understanding"? April Qiao hesitated for a moment, then replied, "It's... it's okay, Chairman Zhao. You're too kind." Gene Zhao coughed, avoiding looking at Baldwin Qi's face and pretending not to know him. "Anyway, I'll have our company settle the 20 million owed to the Qiao Family soon!" "Moreover, since we've delayed this long, it's clearly a breach on our part. When the time comes, the penalty will be doubled!" "This is a small token from me. I hope you won’t refuse, Ms. Qiao." April Qiao responded, "Ah? Okay... Thank you, Chairman Zhao!" Gene Zhao nodded, commanded, "Tie this guy up! I'll deal with him personally later!" "Ms. Qiao, I have urgent matters to attend to. I'll be leaving first!" Gene Zhao quickly got into his Rolls-Royce and urged the driver to leave immediately. He was afraid of being stopped by the "demon" behind April Qiao if he lingered. If Baldwin Qi spoke up at that moment, should he pretend to recognize him or not? When his Rolls-Royce had gone a street's distance, Gene Zhao finally sighed in relief and cursed under his breath. He had thought he would never see Baldwin Qi again in his life. Who would have guessed he'd come to Zhonghai City and even married April Qiao from Qiao Group? A long while after Gene Zhao left, April Qiao finally came back to her senses. Just then, Egbert Zhang hurried over. "April, is everything okay? I heard there was some trouble here and ran right over!" Egbert Zhang asked loudly. "It's fine..." April Qiao replied, nodding at Egbert Zhang. Egbert Zhang's face turned cold, and he said, "If they dare to continue defaulting or trouble you, I won't let them go!" April Qiao's eyes lit up, "Did you call Chairman Zhao?" Egbert Zhang paused. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but since April Qiao asked, he silently nodded. "I knew it! I was wondering why Chairman Zhao's attitude changed so suddenly. It was because you called him!" April Qiao exclaimed. Gene Zhao's sudden change in attitude had seemed very odd and exaggerated to April Qiao. Now, seeing Egbert Zhang, everything clicked. Egbert Zhang chuckled, "Calling Chairman Zhao was a simple task. I just had a casual chat with him." April Qiao pondered, thinking that Zhang Group might not have much influence over Gene Zhao!? However, she then remembered that Egbert Zhang had told her about Zhang Group's upcoming IPO and realized the reason. "You must have paid a big price to persuade Gene Zhao... Did you tell him about the upcoming IPO and promise to sell him shares?" April Qiao asked hesitantly. Egbert Zhang was a bit confused, trying to piece together what had happened. April Qiao sighed, saying, "I owe you such a big favour, and you even sacrificed the interests of your own company for me. I really don't know how to repay you!" Egbert Zhang coughed and said with a smile, "April, you know how I feel about you. Don't be so distant! For me, it was just a small effort. If I can help you, even if it means going through hell and high water, I wouldn't frown." Baldwin Qi, who was standing by, couldn't help but laugh. He was speechless towards his wife in name, April Qiao, and Egbert Zhang. One had quite the imagination, and the other was really thick-skinned... Egbert Zhang raised an eyebrow, turned his head, and shouted, "What are you laughing at? You useless person. Not only did you fail to help April, but you also almost harmed her!" April Qiao also looked at Baldwin Qi with a gloomy face and said, "You have the nerve to laugh? If it wasn't for the trouble you caused, would I have had to beg just now?" "Egbert helped you out of such a big mess. If you're not thankful, that's one thing, but why are you here making sarcastic remarks and acting so jealous?" "You ungrateful wretch, I feel ashamed of you!" Baldwin Qi's lips twitched a little, and he waved his hand, saying, "It's okay now. I'll leave first." He didn't feel like explaining, nor did he deem it worth it. He simply went with the flow. April Qiao originally had a positive impression of Baldwin Qi because he had timely appeared and saved her from Otto Yu. But after seeing his attitude towards her "benefactor" Egbert Zhang, her good impression vanished. "Egbert, don't mind him. He's just a country bumpkin. He doesn't understand basic manners," April Qiao said with annoyance. "Of course, I won't stoop to his level!" Egbert Zhang said generously, "Let's go, April, I'll treat you to dinner!" "You've helped me so much, it should be me treating you," April Qiao replied. April Qiao was genuinely grateful to Egbert Zhang. After all, with Zhang Group about to go public, he was willing to share such confidential news about stock bonuses for employees. Now, he even sacrificed the company's interests to settle things with Gene Zhao, helping her recover the twenty million in debts! With that, she could secure her position as the CEO of Qiao Group. How could she not be grateful? At that moment, Polly Li put down her coffee cup, paid the bill, and walked out of the coffee shop. As Baldwin Qi was about to hail a cab, he received a call from Polly Li, saying, "I want to treat you to dinner today to thank you." "Why are you suddenly treating me to dinner? I won't go!" Baldwin Qi immediately declined. He planned to visit Fredric Huang's residence today. Since he had promised to help cure Huang's daughter, he had to keep his word. Polly Li chuckled, "Hey, do you still want information about April from me? If not, then forget what I said!" Baldwin Qi frowned. It seemed that April Qiao had quite a few problems. Having Polly Li as an "insider" meant he could always get timely news and help her. Reluctantly, Baldwin Qi agreed to dine with Polly Li. The first thing Polly Li did when she saw him was to say, "Thank you for telling me about the Zhang Group yesterday. I did some investigation and found out there were indeed problems within their company!"