Chapter 70 Extra-Two: Zhou Sujin Perspective (2)

Last time, Wei Lai sat in his lap while writing a love letter, completely following his writing rhythm without having to think much. This time, she jokingly told herself to be a bit more mindful.

She picked up the fountain pen, not letting him guide her hand this time.

“I practiced fountain pen calligraphy for three or four years in elementary school.”

Zhou Sujin: “I can tell.”

Wei Lai was writing the character “Zhou” on the paper, but after finishing two strokes, she paused when she heard his words.

He had seen the birthday card she wrote for Zhang Yanxin, with every stroke meticulously written by her.

As Zhou Sujin watched her continue to write his surname, he asked, “Where do you want to take wedding photos?”

“In my aunt’s courtyard house, a few sets.”

“Anywhere else you’d like to shoot?”

Wei Lai thought for a moment, “Let’s also take a set of photos on the coastal highway.”

Zhou Sujin picked up his phone to start making arrangements and sent the shooting plan to Yang Ze, synchronizing it with his work schedule during the shoot.

After giving instructions to Yang Ze, a message from a women’s clothing flagship store came in on his phone. The store manager specifically informed him that all the spring season items he selected had arrived and would be delivered to his home tomorrow.

This year’s new coffee and brown color tones were exactly to Wei Lai’s liking. He glanced up at the strap she was wearing; usually, she wore colors like mauve. Whenever he wore a black shirt, she would choose a black strap to match.

He lowered his head and kissed her on the back.

Wei Lai shuddered all over, her hand trembling slightly, causing the last character she was writing to end messily.

After finishing the sentence she wanted to write, she handed the pen to him and leaned back into his arms.

Zhou Sujin sat upright and looked at the words she had written on the paper: “After the contract ended, Zhou, did you ever think about me?”

She had given him the pen, asking him to write his answer below.

Zhou Sujin held the pen and wrote three words: “Thought of you.”

Wei Lai drew a long deletion line over the word “of,” the tail of the line stretching on for a long time.

After the contract was terminated, the Cullinan was driven back to Beijing by Lu Yu.

Lu Yu had gotten used to commuting between the two cities. It took him 14 hours to drive home from Jiangcheng. He arrived home after 8 PM and slept until noon the next day to recover.

He contacted Zhou Sujin to return the car, and today, Zhou Sujin was resting and hadn’t gone to Kunchen.

Lu Yu drove the Cullinan to Zhou’s villa and left the key on his desk.

He glanced at Zhou Sujin in front of the computer, still typing away on the keyboard. He was likely replying to emails. “What’s the difference between you resting and not resting?”

Zhou Sujin didn’t answer, instead saying, “From now on, if Wei Lai needs anything, you help her with it. I’ll repay the favor.”

“Why would you still…?” Lu Yu realized belatedly that Wei Lai wasn’t just an ordinary friend of Zhou’s, and he shouldn’t be overstepping. “Alright, the favor’s yours to repay.”

He sat down in front of the sofa and brewed tea himself. There were two cans of tea on the table, and he casually picked the one on the left, too lazy to rinse the tea leaves, just pouring boiling water into the cup.

It was psychological, but he felt like the tea tasted like it was from Jiangcheng.

The tea canister was custom-made, and there were no original tea leaf boxes on the table. He tested, “Where did you get the tea? It tastes good.”

Zhou Sujin looked over and asked, “Which can?”

Lu Yu pointed to the can on the left.

“Wei Lai put that there. It’s probably tea from Jiangcheng.”

On the day of her uncle’s birthday banquet, she was nervous about meeting his family in the evening. To distract herself, she had taken every book off his bookshelf, looked at the cover, and put it back.

After looking through all the book covers, she paced to the tea cabinet and asked, “Zhou, why do you have such nice tea canisters but no tea in them?”

“You can put some in.”

That day, he had been working late in his study, and she had stayed there with him the whole time.

After finishing the tea, Lu Yu asked, “There’s a game in the afternoon. Are you going?”

Zhou Sujin was still replying to emails and didn’t look up. “I have something this afternoon.”

Lu Yu took his leave, and Zhou busied himself for another hour before grabbing the Cullinan’s keys and heading out.

He didn’t bring Uncle Yan with him and drove himself.

Min Ting was in the restaurant, waiting for his sister’s cake to be ready. It was rare for her to have the day off and come home, so he didn’t go to the office that afternoon.

Min Xi had received three limited-edition bracelets from her brother two months ago. She had been busy with a project and only had time today to make a fruit cake to show her appreciation.

Hearing a car outside, she turned to look out the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling window and saw that it was Zhou Sujin’s car.

“Is that Zhou Sujin?” Min Ting asked.

“Yes. Did you guys plan this?”

“Yeah, we’re discussing a project.”

Soon, Zhou entered the villa.

“Second Brother, how are you? Long time no see.” Min Xi greeted him.

Zhou Sujin replied, “I’ve been a bit busy lately.”

Min Ting pointed to the cake that was about to come out of the oven, “Let me have some cake before we talk.”

Zhou Sujin also sat down at the dining table, “No rush.”

Min Xi brought over the leftover fruit from the island counter to the table. She and Zhou Sujin were always casual with each other, jokingly saying, “Whatever’s left, feel free to eat it, Second Brother.”

“Did you just come home to make a cake for your brother?”

“Yes.” Min Xi shook the bracelets on her wrist. Today, she was wearing two of them stacked together. “My brother’s taste is getting better and better.”

“From the flagship store in Jiangcheng?”

Min Xi was surprised. She knew that Zhou had helped bring the bracelets back from Jiangcheng, but from what she knew of him, he usually wouldn’t care about such things.

“You actually remember, Second Brother?”

Zhou Sujin nodded. “I remember.”

He didn’t explain anything more.

Min Ting helped clear up the mystery for his sister, “The bracelets were brought over by Wei Lai.”

Min Xi smiled. “That makes sense.” Then, turning the topic, she asked, “When will you introduce us to your future wife?”

Zhou Sujin swallowed the grape in his mouth and replied, “We broke up.”

Min Xi opened her mouth, feeling like nothing she could say would be appropriate. She glanced at her brother.

Min Ting was also a bit surprised. He had specifically traveled to Jiangcheng for Wei Lai’s birthday.

“Second Brother, it’s normal for couples to fight and talk about breaking up. If there’s a misunderstanding, clear it up.”

“There’s no misunderstanding.”

Min Xi understood the boundaries and didn’t press further.

Noticing that Zhou had only eaten a few grapes from the platter, she rotated the fruit plate, moving the remaining grapes to the side closest to him.

Zhou didn’t eat anymore. He carefully wiped his hands with a wet napkin and said, “There are many reasons for the breakup. The timing and circumstances weren’t right.”

Min Xi didn’t know much about his and Wei Lai’s relationship, and her brother never talked about these things with her. “What were the circumstances when you met?”

“A dinner party.”

Min Xi couldn’t wrap her head around how a dinner party could have “wrong circumstances.”

—

The following week, at a private banquet in Shanghai, Zhou Sujin ran into He Wancheng.

Their most frequent topic of conversation was Jiangcheng. He Wancheng had investments in a park in Jiangcheng and frequently traveled there for business trips. Disliking restaurant food, he had purchased a villa in Jiangcheng.

Previously, when having dinner with Zhou Sujin, they talked about the house in Jiangcheng, and Zhou Sujin also showed interest in buying.

“I asked around, and there’s a new unit available. Do you want to consider it?”

“I’m not considering it,” Zhou Sujin said. “I bought a flat on the twenty-sixth floor.”

“…Aren’t you not fond of high floors?” The privacy is incomparable to that of a villa area.

Zhou Sujin took a sip of red wine, feeling disinterested. “I don’t like them.”

He Wanchen understood; it meant Wei Lai liked high floors.

He had just heard that the two of them had broken up and felt it inappropriate to mention it again.

Zhou Sujin turned to toast with He Wanchen, downing the wine in his glass in one go. “Wei Lai is determined to expand the supermarket. It’ll be difficult for her on her own; competitors won’t accommodate her.”

He Wanchen had invested in supermarkets and had some resources in this area. “In the future, Wei Lai may need your help.”

“Of course,” He Wanchen replied.

Zhou Sujin placed his empty glass back on the tray of the waiter and chatted briefly with the host of the banquet before leaving early.

He Wanchen was suddenly enlightened; Zhou Sujin had come to the banquet specifically to ask him to take care of Wei Lai.

They had already broken up, yet he still arranged everything for Wei Lai’s future.

…

“May everything be well in the future.”

Wei Lai practiced this sentence on paper. It was a wish he had given her on the day they separated.

She replaced the words “the future” with her own name, “Wei Lai.”

Wei Lai turned to him and asked, “Did I modify it correctly?”

Zhou Sujin replied, “Both versions are correct.”

Wei Lai put down her pen, turned around, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Zhou, have you ever been inconsistent in your words and actions?”

Zhou Sujin candidly said, “Yes, but not often.”

His hands went around her back as he picked up the fountain pen, his left hand pressing down on the edge of the paper, blocked from seeing the paper and pen, unsure if there were already words written where he was putting the pen, and he wrote based on his feelings.

“Are you still practicing?”

Wei Lai nodded and turned back to sit properly.

He held her hand and wrote the words “Kunchen Group.”

—

During her business trip to Beijing, Wei Lai took the time to visit two old supplier friends of her mother and also treated Qi Linsheng to a meal. These two activities had become annual pre-Spring Festival traditions.

This year, she invited Qi Linsheng to the S.Z. restaurant, which reserved Table 9 for her.

Table 9 was not available for external reservations; Qi Linsheng had only dined at this table twice, both times hosted by Wei Lai.

He joked, “I’m like a rabbit following the moon, benefiting from your light.”

Wei Lai laughed, “Speaking of benefiting from your light, our supermarket is benefiting from yours.” As she spoke, she raised her wine glass to toast him. “Congratulations on your promotion, Mr. Qi.”

Qi Linsheng was promoted this year to Sales Director at Lemon Food, and he mentioned that he wouldn’t have much time to visit Jiangcheng for market visits in the future. He was glad that Wei Lai’s “Baiduo” had opened a store in Beijing, where he could always enjoy delicious bread.

He wasn’t fond of desserts, but his daughter loved them.

On weekends, when he took his daughter shopping at the mall, they would always check in at Wei Lai’s “Baiduo” store. If his daughter bought desserts and couldn’t wait to get home, she would sit in the free reading area, eating while reading.

One time, he also put down his phone and took a serious look at the books piled on the table. There were books suitable for all ages, including picture books that his daughter loved at her age.

After finishing the dessert, his daughter went to other tables to find the rest of the picture book series to read.

He went to the free tea area to get water, and when he returned, he saw someone standing at the adjacent table who looked particularly familiar. Later he recalled he had seen him at the wedding of the big boss of Lemon, the largest shareholder of Wei Lai’s “Baiduo,” Zhao Lianshen.

Zhao Lianshen didn’t recognize him and picked up a book from the table to flip through.

The picture book wasn’t thick, and his daughter quickly enjoyed reading it.

When he left with his daughter, Zhao Lianshen had already sat down in a booth. It was only then that he saw the cover of the book—it was a collection of essays. He had casually flipped through it at the school library back in college, opening a few pages and not being able to stop reading.

The concise language and straightforward emotions resonated with the hurried days of childhood, allowing one to calm down amidst the chaos.

Qi Linsheng finished the toast Wei Lai offered in one go and returned the gesture. “I hope ‘Baiduo’ can break into the top twenty next year.”

After a small gathering with Qi Linsheng, Wei Lai returned to Jiangcheng the next day, with only four days until New Year’s Eve.

On the high-speed train back to Jiangcheng, she started arranging her work plan for the next few days, clearing half a day to visit the flower market.

She arrived in Jiangcheng around nine in the evening, once again welcomed by her father, who took her all the way to the door of Jiang’an Yuncheng.

Since it was late, Wei Huatian didn’t plan to go in. “You should sleep early; I’ll come over when you have a break.”

Wei Lai insisted, pushing her father inside. “We’re already at the door; you have to come in for a glass of water.”

Unable to resist his daughter, Wei Huatian finally went in.

Wei Lai turned on the lights, walked into the living room with her suitcase, and couldn’t help but be stunned. In front of the floor-to-ceiling window were various colored orchids, and next to the sofa were two vases of silver willow.