Chapter 37

From the apartment to Jiang’an Yunchen, even without traffic, it took half an hour to drive. Wei Lai had slept long enough during this nap, but she felt very tired. Zhou Sujin’s shirt was wrinkled from her grip, and her strength gradually diminished.

Uncle Yan parked the car at the entrance of the underground garage.

“Wei Lai, wake up.” Zhou Sujin’s arm had gone numb from her pressure.

A cold voice sounded from above, and Wei Lai had forgotten that she had confirmed him as her husband before falling asleep. She abruptly sat up.

Thinking she had arrived at her apartment building, she gathered her tousled hair from sleeping, still not fully awake. “Goodnight. You should go back and get some sleep too.”

With that, she pushed the door and got out of the car.

Zhou Sujin just glanced at her and didn’t say anything, getting out of the car from the other side.

Wei Lai only fully woke up after getting out of the car, realizing they had changed course back to Jiang’an Yunchen midway.

She closed the car door lightly without asking Zhou Sujin why he didn’t drop her at her apartment. After all, they were husband and wife now.

It wasn’t as cold in the elevator, so she didn’t bother putting on her coat again.

Zhou Sujin extended his long arm to press the floor button and said to her side, “We only have your daily necessities at home; there are no clothes.”

“It’s okay.” Wei Lai’s expression was calm when she met his deep gaze. “I’ll go back and change tomorrow. It’s not like I have to punch in for work.”

Only she knew how hard she had to work to manage the appearance of being carefree.

Entering the apartment, Wei Lai handed him her coat. “Husband.”

She wondered whether she should add a “thank you” but decided against it. They weren’t that familiar yet; she had to be polite. “Thanks.”

In the home in Jiangcheng, Zhou Sujin did everything himself. In the home in Beijing, he rarely even hung up his own coat, let alone those of others.

He took her coat and kept his gaze on her face, hanging it in the closet by feel. “What will you do when I’m not home?”

Wei Lai understood what he meant. When he wasn’t home, was she going to leave clothes hanging around?

Following his lead, she said, “Then you’ll just have to stay home longer.”

Suddenly, Zhou Sujin fell silent for a few seconds, then diverted his gaze from her face and began rolling up his shirt sleeves as he walked through the long hallway to the bedroom.

Wei Lai didn’t follow him but stood by the living room window, soothing the tension in her heart by looking at the scenery outside, trying to adapt to the fact that this was her home, the place where she would spend the rest of her life with him, as soon as possible.

All the lights in the living room were on, and the outside was dimly visible, with only her silhouette visible on the glass.

She found the remote to turn off the lights, leaving only the floor lamp next to the sofa on.

Looking outside again, the distant mountains and the nearby lake were faintly visible.

“Wei Lai?”

“I’m in the living room.”

“Come and choose.”

“Choose what?”

As they spoke, Wei Lai walked towards the bedroom.

She hadn’t decided yet whether she wanted to share the master bedroom tonight or stay in the guest room alone.

“Choose what?” she asked again, stopping at the doorway without entering.

He pulled his shirt out from his pants, wrinkling the hem. This was the first time she had seen him look so “casual,” which was something she had never seen before.

Zhou Sujin pointed to the bed. “Choose whether to sleep on the left side or the right side.”

“… The right side.”

In that moment, whether she admitted it or not, she lost her ability to think. Those two words seemed to have come out of her mouth without her intending them to.

As she finished speaking, she saw Zhou Sujin take the pillow that was originally on the right side and move it to the left. She suddenly realized that he had always slept on the right side before.

After swapping the pillows, Zhou Sujin looked up at the doorway. “Where are the blankets? Should I get you a new one, or do you want to share mine?”

“… Let’s just keep it like this.”

She had already decided to share the same bed, and too many boundaries would only make things more complicated.

Zhou Sujin said, “You can use the bathroom first.”

Wei Lai pretended to be calm and nodded. “Okay.”

But in reality, her heart was in her throat.

Zhou Sujin went to the study next door first, then paused when he reached her side.

Wei Lai thought he would just walk past her, so she didn’t look at him, quietly adjusting her breathing. She never expected him to suddenly stop.

She looked up, hoping to find some traces of nervousness on his face or in his eyes, but she didn’t capture anything. He never revealed his emotions, making him difficult to figure out.

Regarding the decision for her to sleep in the master bedroom tonight, Zhou Sujin gave a simple explanation: “Since we’re often apart, let’s get used to having someone next to us first.”

Without waiting for her to respond, he closed the bedroom door.

Wei Lai stood still for a moment, then went to the bathroom and the cloakroom to see what she could use. There were bathrobes and sleepwear, as well as cosmetics, enough for her to take a bath and go to bed.

The bathroom was filled with a faintly chilly fragrance, much like the scent on him.

The shower was on, and the temperature-controlled water cascaded over his face.

She forced herself to calm down.

—

In the study, Zhou Sujin was busy the whole time. As soon as he came out of the master bedroom, he joined an overseas video conference.

The executives attending the meeting today knew about the boss’s recent marriage, and they all saw the wedding ring on the boss’s ring finger. When the meeting ended, they congratulated him one after another.

“Thank you.” Zhou Sujin withdrew.

At one minute past one in the morning, he shut down his computer.

He sat in the study for a moment longer, completely emptying his mind, before getting up to return to the bedroom.

Pushing the door open, the room lights were on, and the bedside lamp was also lit. She had taken a shower and changed into a robe, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

She seemed to be holding documents, concentrating on reading with her head bowed.

Zhou Sujin looked at her. “Still working overtime?”

“Not working overtime.” Wei Lai raised her eyes from the agreement. “Reading the prenuptial agreement.” Since she couldn’t sleep anyway and lying down would be futile, she took out a copy of the prenuptial agreement from her bag for pastime.

Zhou Sujin said, “It’s only useful in case of divorce. No need to read it.”

“It’s not the original agreement, I’m reading the supplementary agreement.” She wasn’t interested in the original agreement; all the clauses regarding property were decided by her father.

Wei Lai closed the agreement, put it away on the bedside table, and casually said, “It’s only two pages. How many clauses can you remember?”

Zhou Sujin walked to the bedside to charge his phone and said, “I didn’t read it in detail.”

“…You signed it without reading?”

“No matter what demands you make, I will probably agree in the end.”

She didn’t respond, and the room suddenly fell silent.

Zhou Sujin calmly undid his shirt buttons, pausing his hand on the third button and looking at her. “Are we not continuing the previous conversation? If not, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Let’s continue.”

“Why did you suddenly stop talking?” Zhou Sujin’s hand left the button, not continuing downward.

Wei Lai met his cold gaze. “I was thinking just now that my supplementary agreement isn’t complete; it needs to be amended.”

A moment of silence passed.

“Why didn’t you think it through before?”

“No plan is perfect.”

Zhou Sujin looked at her. “You can’t just add whatever you think of later. You’re allowed three amendments, and once you’ve used them up, that’s it.”

With that, he left the bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

“To get a pen.”

Zhou Sujin went to the study and brought back a black pen, handing it to her. “Write down what you want to add in the blank space, and I’ll sign it for you.”

Wei Lai took the pen and briskly added to the agreement: “You don’t need to sign; I’ll sign it myself. These are my own requirements.”

Zhou Sujin didn’t understand and stood beside her as she wrote: “In the future, for every sentence of communication between Zhou Sujin and me, and for every message I receive from him, I will listen carefully and read attentively.”

She signed her full name and glanced at the time on her phone, specifying the signing date down to the minute.

Realizing later, he understood that she was subtly reminding him to take her two-page supplementary agreement seriously.

After Wei Lai finished signing, she handed him the pen back.

Zhou Sujin put away the pen. “Get some sleep.”

He turned off the bedside lamp for her.

Even in the darkness of the room, there was no drowsiness.

Both of them pretended to be calm, trying to keep the atmosphere in the room neither awkward nor intimate.

Wei Lai felt that he wasn’t asleep either, so she turned to look at him. There was about an arm’s length between them; they hadn’t deliberately kept their distance, but they hadn’t drawn closer either.

“Zhou Sujin?” Her voice was very soft.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, then added, “Can’t sleep and want to cling to my clothes while sleeping?”

“…No.” She reminded him, “If I fall asleep and end up wrapping myself in the blanket, if you need it, you can just take it without waking me up.”

“No problem.”

Zhou Sujin asked again, “Do you want to cling to my clothes while sleeping? If you want to, you can come closer.”

“I won’t be able to sleep if I hold onto your clothes.”

“I wasn’t going to sleep anyway.”

His clear and magnetic voice carried a hint of huskiness that wasn’t quite noticeable.

Zhou Sujin said, “Come over.”

It’s better for one person to be unable to sleep than both.

Wei Lai didn’t give herself any more time to hesitate. She moved closer to him, reaching under the blanket to find the hem of his robe.

The room fell silent once again.

After about half an hour, Wei Lai didn’t speak again, nor did she move around.

Zhou Sujin had overestimated himself; his patience was nearing its breaking point.

In fact, he had taken a cold shower before bed.

It had already lost its effect, and he needed to take another one.

His clothes were being held by Wei Lai. He touched the back of her hand, intending to take her hand away.

There were no tools at home, and there weren’t any other plans for tonight anyway.

Wei Lai was sleeping lightly. When someone touched her hand, she suddenly woke up, remembering where she was and who was beside her.

The room was dark, and she couldn’t see anything when she opened her eyes. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Did I wake you up?”

“No, I haven’t been able to sleep all along.” She was still half-asleep.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhou Sujin said, “I said we wouldn’t formally marry.”

“Yeah.”

From the moment she entered, she had been trying to adapt to everything here: this house, this bedroom, and him.

She was still holding onto his clothes. Zhou Sujin lifted his hand and pulled her into his arms.

He looked at the person in his arms and said, “The three chances for supplementary agreements don’t count for tonight.”

Wei Lai diverted her nervousness. “Add two more.”

“You’re pushing it.”

His lips, along with his crisp and domineering breath, descended upon hers.

Wei Lai’s breath hitched, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

Everything felt unfamiliar.

As Zhou Sujin deepened the kiss, Wei Lai was almost breathless.

A gust of wind stirred up by the corner of the bedcovers revealed the two pages of supplementary agreements on the bedside table, and the black pen rolled to the floor.

The hands of the clock silently circled more than twenty times.

Zhou Sujin released her, and there were cherry-scented wet wipes on the bedside table. He took two wipes and wiped his palms and fingers.

Wei Lai hadn’t quite recovered yet. She glanced at his hands, thinking about the time she had spent in his embrace just now, and quickly averted her gaze.

Suddenly, Zhou Sujin turned to her and asked, “Are you willing to help me?”

The showerhead in the bathroom turned on. Zhou Sujin turned it to the other side to avoid getting his clothes wet.

He took her hand.

The lights outside the room were on, allowing them to see each other clearly inside.

Wei Lai felt the warmth of his palm in hers. Feeling like she wasn’t gripping his hand firmly enough, he held her hand again.

She looked up, and his high nose and distinct features were right in front of her. Even under the influence of hormones, he still looked calm and composed.

She wanted to see what he looked like when he lost control.

But Zhou Sujin didn’t fulfill her wish. He simply pressed her head against his chest again.