Chapter 72 Extra-Four

On a morning in early February, Wei Lai finished washing up and went to the wardrobe to find clothes. Zhou Sujin was buttoning his shirt, wearing a black shirt for the fourth consecutive day.

Wei Lai watched him thoughtfully and then smiled, saying, “Are you intentionally wearing black?”

Zhou Sujin finished buttoning up. “Yes.”

Wei Lai moved from his side to face him. “When did you discover my secret?” When he wore a black shirt, she would wear a black camisole.

Zhou Sujin replied, “After you wore it a few times.”

Wei Lai wrapped her arms around his neck. “From now on, I won’t buy camisoles anymore; I’ll just wear your clothes.”

Before she could ask for a kiss, Zhou Sujin lowered his head and kissed her.

He had to bend down, while she had to lift her foot to reach him.

With nothing to do that morning, the kisses seemed more leisurely than before.

Zhou Sujin picked her up, and Wei Lai met his tongue with hers.

After a night of indulgence, Wei Lai didn’t have the energy for another round that morning.

Zhou Sujin felt his abdomen tighten and gently let her go.

As Wei Lai pulled back from his tongue and he set her down, she leaned in for a kiss on his lips.

Her grip had wrinkled his shirt, and Zhou Sujin straightened it, asking, “Where are you eating hot pot? I’ll take you there.”

“No need, I’ll drive myself.”

The photographer who took her pictures last night had invited her for hot pot today at noon, bringing along Min Ting’s sister, Min Xi.

From now on, she wouldn’t need Zhou Sujin to accompany her; it was much more enjoyable to eat with those who loved hot pot.

At ten-thirty, Wei Lai drove out in a luxury SUV.

It was rare for the roads to be clear today; she arrived in half an hour. Min Xi and the others were still on their way. While waiting for them, she sat down and filtered through resumes for the librarian position.

Feeling someone watching her, Wei Lai looked up and locked eyes with a stranger. The woman wore a black dress and a light gray coat, simple yet elegant.

Although Wei Lai was sure she had never seen the woman nearby, she felt a vague familiarity.

Ji Mingyan told her friends that she had seen someone she recognized and asked them to order first.

Just as she was about to head toward the private room, she changed direction and walked toward Wei Lai’s table.

It seemed the other party recognized her. Wei Lai put away her phone, racking her brain but couldn’t recall anything about the woman in front of her.

Ji Mingyan approached, having thought about how to address Wei Lai appropriately. “Hello, Ms. Wei. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello.” Wei Lai stood up, waiting for her to introduce herself.

Ji Mingyan extended her hand. “My surname is Ji. Ji Mingyan.”

Then she mentioned her company’s name.

Finally, Wei Lai understood why she felt a sense of familiarity; she had seen Ji Mingyan’s photo before. Ji Mingyan was Zhou Sujin’s blind date. They had gone for hot pot together once, and someone had taken a picture that circulated in the Jiangcheng social circle. Yuan Hengrui had shown her the photo.

The picture did not do her justice; she was more graceful in person.

Wei Lai reached out for a polite handshake. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Ji Mingyan smiled faintly and asked, “Ms. Wei, do you have a moment to chat?”

Wei Lai generously replied, “Of course.” She gestured for her to sit.

Ji Mingyan didn’t waste time with small talk and got straight to the point: “I only went on one blind date with Zhou Sujin, but since then, Kuncheng has blacklisted me as a potential partner.”

Her biggest regret was going to Kuncheng Group to look for him after he and Wei Lai broke up. If it hadn’t been for that second encounter, perhaps there would have been room for cooperation.

Before meeting Wei Lai, she hadn’t planned to intrude, but now that they had crossed paths, she decided to give it a shot, especially since there was no need to harm mutual interests.

“Our company has ventured into several industries in the past two years, and Kuncheng was interested in investing. It was a great opportunity for collaboration, but Zhou Sujin keeps backing out at the last minute because of our blind date.”

“I got married to my husband before the new year; I just want to cooperate with Kuncheng. I even asked Min Ting for help, but Zhou Sujin wouldn’t budge.”

On the surface, Wei Lai remained calm, but her heart was already in turmoil. Zhou Sujin had done something for her, yet he never revealed a word about it.

She poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Ji Mingyan. “If you hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known about this.”

“Thank you.” Ji Mingyan accepted the cup. “I had a feeling you might not know, which is why I took the liberty to bother you today. Cooperation should benefit both parties, and there’s nothing harmful for Kuncheng.”

She stopped there, rising with the cup in hand. “You go ahead, Ms. Wei. I won’t interrupt; I’ll go find my friends.”

Back in the private room, her friends questioned her about whom she had encountered.

“Zhou Sujin’s wife.”

“…Are you close with her?”

Ji Mingyan thought about how to phrase her response. “I know her, so I’m familiar. She doesn’t know me, so we’re not close.”

In the main hall outside, Wei Lai went over the details of the situation in her mind and edited a long message to send to Zhou Sujin.

Zhou Sujin was at his aunt’s house, drinking tea with her husband when he saw the message and went out to return her call.

“You ran into Ji Mingyan?”

“Yeah, she came for hot pot with her friends. Honey, Kuncheng is collaborating with her company. I don’t mind…” Before she could finish, he interrupted, “This isn’t about whether you mind.”

For the first time, Zhou Sujin didn’t give her face. “I’m not taking that money.”

He then asked, “Is there anything else…” Any other matters? Realizing halfway through that she didn’t like him asking like that, he quickly changed the topic. “Did you want to go anywhere after eating?”

“You do your thing; I might go shopping.”

After ending the call, she received two messages from her mother.

“Mom found a café while shopping today; they have the coffee you and Sujin like.”

Attached is the specific location of the café.

Cheng Minzhi finished inspecting seventeen stores yesterday. Today, she rarely has the time to go out and stroll around; she has forgotten how many years it has been since she felt this relaxed during the Spring Festival.

Jiangcheng Ancient Street is the busiest during the Spring Festival, bustling with people. The café is located at the street corner of the ancient street and is likely a new store that opened in the last two years.

She ordered a cup of her favorite coffee and also got one for He Wancheng.

Sunlight fell on the coffee cup and cast a ray on the rose in the vase on the table.

Outside the window, waves of shoppers passed by.

Zhao Yihan paused slightly, the glass reflecting the light. After glancing twice, she confirmed who it was.

Cheng Minzhi was drinking coffee, and the person across from her reached out, probably wanting to taste her coffee.

Zhao Mei also saw the people inside the café and hurriedly withdrew her gaze.

Zhao Yihan linked her arm with her mother and felt her mother’s pace quicken noticeably.

As they walked past the café, Zhao Mei finally slowed down.

Zhao Yihan sensed that her mother wasn’t very happy this Spring Festival. “Mom, did you argue with Uncle Wei?”

“No.”

“Is it work-related?”

“No.”

Zhao Mei was worried her daughter would overthink and opened up.

That sweater dress was just the trigger for her emotional imbalance; there were too many trivial matters that she didn’t know how to bring up.

“Didn’t Uncle Wei used to be like this? You’ve not just started living with him.”

“Yeah.”

Thinking she had gotten used to his lack of concern, once she compared with friends around her, she suddenly felt her marriage quite meaningless.

Zhao Yihan wanted to say that Cheng Minzhi was Uncle Wei’s first love; they had been together since school. Even so, Cheng Minzhi couldn’t change Uncle Wei, so how could her mother?

She actually wanted to ask her mother, on the day of her wedding with Uncle Wei, when she cried on stage, who was she crying for? It certainly wasn’t tears of joy over getting married.

“Mom, you could learn from Wei Lai.”

Zhao Mei laughed angrily: “She’s the daughter of Wei Huatian, what can I learn from a child!”

“I mean you should learn how she manages her marriage. Didn’t Zhou Sujin also go to your place for dinner? Look at how he interacts with Wei Lai, everything they do together is so in sync.”

Zhao Mei fell silent.

As they passed a candied hawthorn stall, Zhao Yihan casually bought two skewers, giving her mother the sweet fruit one and keeping the hawthorn one for herself.

Both of her mother’s marriages made the same mistake, always thinking they could change the other.

Uncle Wei was a good father, but he was definitely not a qualified husband; he was strong-willed and self-centered. The hardest thing for a person to change is their own character.

Even someone like Zhou Sujin finds it hard to change his character and habits, let alone Uncle Wei.

“What do you plan to do with Uncle Wei?”

Zhao Mei sighed slightly: “What else can we do? Just keep going. He earns money and treats you well.”

The ancient street was long. Zhao Yihan and her mother strolled to the end and turned back, going into shops on both sides. When they passed the café again, it was over two hours later, and Cheng Minzhi and He Wancheng hadn’t left yet.

Cheng Minzhi propped her chin and seemed to be discussing something, while He Wancheng listened with great interest.

This was the kind of marriage Zhao Mei longed for.

Simple but not boring.

---

Today was overcast, and by five o’clock, the sky had darkened.

Zhou Sujin visited a few elders and returned to the villa, but Wei Lai’s car hadn’t come back yet. After having hot pot for lunch, they went shopping in the afternoon.

After parking and turning off the engine, Zhou Sujin sent a message: [Should I pick you up?]

Wei Lai: [No need, it’s still early. We are learning to make cakes at Min Xi’s house. Once I learn, I’ll make you a birthday cake.]

Now he had his own private space.

Zhou Sujin didn’t get out of the car; he started the engine again and turned around to leave the villa.

He had skipped the card games during both Spring Festival holidays, and they had already invented new ways to play.

Lu Yu bought a box of blank cards and made a deck himself, with each card bearing a name. Whether the opponent could beat the card depended on the strength of the person whose name was on it.

When it was Min Ting’s turn to play, he drew three “Zhao Lianshen” cards.

The boss of Lemon laughed, “I have a card to beat that.” He played two “Zhou Sujin” cards.

Lu Yu was left with only one card. It was basically impossible to beat two “Zhou Sujin” cards, and Min Ting advised Lu Yu: “Just give up.”

The loser had to pay the bill tonight.

Lu Yu calmly placed his card on the table; it was a “Wei Lai” card. “This can beat two ‘Zhou Sujin’ cards, right?”

The onlookers burst into laughter, “‘Wei Lai’ is a trump card; it can easily beat ten or eight Zhou Sujin cards.”

The boss of Lemon’s last card was Min Ting’s name, and Min Ting had the boss’s name in his hand.

The two agreed to a double win, making Lu Yu pay the bill.

When Zhou Sujin arrived at the private room in the club, he saw his name and Zhao Lianshen’s name on the cards at the table.

“Who wrote this?” He picked up a card; the handwriting was neat, and it was hard to tell whose it was at a glance.

Lu Yu thought he had misheard; he turned his head sharply, causing a piece of ash to fall to the ground.

The boss of Lemon said mysteriously, “Guess if it was written by Lu Yu.”

He was sold out in less than two seconds. Lu Yu laughed and threw the cigarette box on the table at him.

He exhaled smoke, “I’m just bored.” After a pause, “I won’t be bored tomorrow.”

Zhou Sujin glanced at him and put down the card. “Are you going to Jiangcheng tomorrow?”

Lu Yu: “No. I’m going on a blind date.”

This year, his mother didn’t urge him to go on blind dates. During dinner last night, she asked if he wanted to meet the person. If he really didn’t want to go, he didn’t have to.

He remained silent throughout the meal, and after putting down his chopsticks, he replied to his mother with one word: “Okay.”

He was inspired by Zhou Sujin to practice calligraphy. After seeing a love letter in the group chat, he specifically bought a fountain pen and practiced whenever he had free time.

There was a wish tree on Jiangcheng Ancient Street, and many people went to make wishes every year around the Spring Festival.

On the twenty-eighth day of the new year, before heading back to Beijing, he visited the ancient street.

May she be happy for a long time.

---

The card game ended only at dawn. When Zhou Sujin returned home, Tanyue was already in the parking space, and the lights in the second-floor bedroom were on.

Wei Lai had come back a long time ago. After taking a shower, she was in the walk-in closet, taking out a watch from the safe to admire. Several of the mechanical watches were not keeping time correctly, so she calibrated them one by one.

“Wei Lai?”

“Over here.”

Following the sound, Zhou Sujin found her. “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“Anyway, I don’t have to get up early for work tomorrow.” She carefully returned the diamond watch to its place.

Zhou Sujin closed the safe. “What did you buy while shopping today?”

Wei Lai opened her arms and hugged him. “I bought two silk scarves for Mom, new arrivals. I’m not sure if she’ll like that pattern.”

Zhou Sujin leaned down to kiss her. “Whatever you buy, my mom will like it.”

Wei Lai smiled. “You’re just saying that to make me happy.”

“I’m not. The things you brought when you pretended to meet my parents, my mom has been using them. You can give them to her yourself when we get home.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Sujin held her tightly in his arms.

“Zhou Sujin.”

“Hmm?”

“We’re almost out of sets at home.”

“I bought some.”

“…I meant, after using them, we don’t need to buy more.”