Chapter 38

Wei Lai squeezed out a handful of cool hand sanitizer, rubbing until her hands were covered in foam. She turned on the cold water tap, and due to the placebo effect, the palm of her right hand felt scorching hot, and each finger felt warm.

She hadn’t been able to see what Zhou Sujin looked like when he lost control just now.

At that moment, even the hormones hadn’t been able to completely overcome his powerful self-control.

Emotions like uncontrollable passion were probably impossible for him to experience.

Lying back in bed again felt even more unfamiliar than before. Awkwardness and ambiguity filled the dark and silent room.

Zhou Sujin wasn’t used to sleeping while embracing someone, and similarly, she wasn’t used to sleeping in his arms. That would definitely keep her awake. She tentatively reached under the blanket to explore, accidentally touching his fingers. She quickly withdrew her hand.

Zhou Sujin was lying flat on his back, looking at her. He had thought she was asleep because her breathing had seemed steady just now. He handed her the hem of his robe to hold onto.

“Thank you.”

Zhou Sujin didn’t say anything and closed his eyes to sleep.

Though her “thank you” sounded soft, it didn’t carry any hint of coyness. Half an hour ago, the playful whimper she had made in his arms had seemed like it belonged to a different person.

He had never seen that side of her before.

“Go to sleep.”

“Yeah, goodnight.”

Wei Lai was really tired. Her mind was still in a mess as she fell asleep.

The next morning, at five past ten, she woke up naturally.

She had slept for six and a half hours, and her spirits were barely restored.

Zhou Sujin wasn’t in the room. She deliberately avoided thinking about what had happened last night, got up, and went to wash up.

The clothes she had worn underneath were all washed and dried. Wei Lai went to the laundry room to fetch them. Passing by the study, she noticed the door was closed and faintly heard him speaking. She didn’t know if he was on the phone or in a video conference.

Not wanting to disturb him, Wei Lai put on her makeup and went downstairs to buy breakfast.

The sea salt croissants at the supermarket had just come out of the oven. She grabbed a few and also picked up several boxes of fresh milk.

After putting the milk in her shopping basket, she suddenly remembered that Zhou Sujin would be leaving for Beijing today, and she wouldn’t be staying here alone. The milk’s shelf life was too short, and it would expire before he came back next time.

So she went back and exchanged some of the milk boxes, leaving only two.

“Lai Lai, you haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Wei Lai turned around, smiling lightly as she greeted, “Manager Kang, good morning.”

Manager Kang stared into her eyes. “You worked until two or three in the morning again last night, right?”

“… Not that late.” Wei Lai smiled vaguely and evaded the question.

Manager Kang never stopped talking about work. “How’s the procurement channel for Geisha coffee beans going on your end?”

With recent engagements and wedding arrangements, Wei Lai had completely forgotten about it. “I’ll check and get back to you in an hour.”

After buying breakfast for both of them, Wei Lai paid and went back upstairs.

While in the elevator, she received a call from Zhou Sujin asking where she was.

“I’m almost home, just bought breakfast from the supermarket.”

“I’ve had the restaurant deliver breakfast.”

The breakfast was delivered while she was still shopping. It included a variety of dishes, both Western and Chinese.

Zhou Sujin heard the sound of the door opening in the hallway, so he got up from the sofa and went to wash his hands before sitting at the dining table.

“Wife.” She was still in the hallway and hadn’t come in yet.

“What’s up?”

“Could you do me a favor?”

“Hang up clothes?”

“Yeah.”

Zhou Sujin was portioning the food onto plates. “By the time I come over, you’ll have hung up as many clothes as you have.”

Saying that, he put down the plates and forks.

He quickly made his way from the dining room to where she was. Wei Lai looked over, and he was wearing a business suit: a white shirt and black trousers with no cufflinks, and he had rolled up the sleeves slightly.

Zhou Sujin grabbed a hanger from the closet and asked her, “What did you buy for breakfast?”

“Bread, milk, and some fruits.”

After hanging up the clothes, Zhou Sujin nodded to her. “Let’s eat.”

Wei Lai led the way to the dining room. On her way back from the supermarket, she had worried about whether it would be awkward when they faced each other. But she was being unnecessarily worried. With someone like him, their interaction wouldn’t become awkward.

She didn’t open the shopping bag and just placed it on the kitchen island.

Zhou Sujin glanced at the shopping bag. “Didn’t you say you bought bread?”

“It’s okay. I’ll take it to the office as a snack.”

Without responding to her, he asked, “Freshly baked bread?”

“Yeah.”

“Bring it over and let me taste it.”

“It’s sea salt flavor.”

“That’s fine.”

Wei Lai took one and gave it to him. He wasn’t particularly fond of croissants, but he probably wanted to respect her effort in going to buy breakfast.

Zhou Sujin continued to portion out the food, handing the first plate he had divided to her. “If it’s not enough, help yourself to more.”

“Thank you.”

Wei Lai picked up her fork and started eating breakfast. Occasionally, she would glance at him. His composure was probably something only those in higher positions possessed.

She had tried her best to gloss over everything that had happened last night, but she could only achieve half of his naturalness.

Halting her thoughts in time, she had important matters to discuss with him.

“Mr. Zhou.”

Since yesterday, she had been intermittently calling him “husband.” Zhou Sujin wasn’t quite used to hearing her address him as Mr. Zhou. “Is it about cooperation, or work-related?”

“It’s about my work.”

“Go ahead.”

“The Geisha coffee beans you gave me, I’ve brought them to the coffee corner at the Jiang’an Yunchen store. Customers love them and suggest we stock them in the supermarket.”

“You’re asking me for a channel?”

Wei Lai nodded. “Apart from stocking them for sale, we’ll also use them in the free coffee corner.”

She kept her eyes on him as she spoke, waiting for his response.

He was leisurely eating the sea salt croissant she had bought. His expression gave nothing away about whether he liked it or not.

Zhou Sujin said, “I don’t have a channel.” Not only did he not have one, he had never cared about it. “Ask Yang Ze. It was him who ordered the Geisha beans.”

He explained briefly, “At that time, we had a contractual relationship. I wouldn’t and didn’t need to personally buy gifts for you.”

Wei Lai wasn’t concerned about the past. She wanted to know about the future. “What about from now on? When you give me gifts, will you have your assistants or secretaries arrange them?”

Zhou Sujin looked at her. “Since you don’t want that, then I won’t have them arrange it.”

Wei Lai added another condition. “All gifts, regardless of size, whether they are valuable or just small tokens, even if it’s just a bouquet of flowers, I want you to buy them for me yourself.”

Zhou Sujin stared at her for a few seconds before agreeing, “…Fine.”

If he didn’t comply with her wishes, she would feel like she was being wronged.

Finally finishing the sea salt croissant, he wiped his hands with a towel and picked up his phone from the table to send a message to Yang Ze: [Wei Lai wants to order a batch of Geisha beans to be placed in all supermarket stores for sale. It’s likely to be a long-term order in the future. Contact the plantation for specifics.]

Yang Ze: [Got it, I’ll contact them now.]

Zhou Sujin: [I’ll attend the project meeting in the afternoon.]

Originally planning to return to Beijing at noon, Wei Lai had slept in so late that he had to postpone his departure time, changing his flight to the evening.

He informed Wei Lai, “I’m going back tonight.”

Wei Lai had already prepared herself mentally. “What time is your flight?”

“At eight. I won’t be able to pick you up after you finish work.”

Wei Lai replied, “Next time you come to see me, you can make it up to me then.”

After finishing their meal, Wei Lai picked up the shopping bag from the supermarket, ready to leave. She had a lot of work to do today, including an interview at two-thirty in the afternoon. She didn’t have time to continue their date.

Before parting, she reached out and hugged him. “See you next time.”

She wanted to ask him when he would come to Jiangcheng again, but she stopped herself.

Before they parted ways, she confirmed once again, “During our time apart, are we still going to interact according to the terms of our contract back then?”

Zhou Sujin nodded. “That way, we’ll both have space.”

—

In the afternoon, during the interview with Chen Qi, it didn’t feel like an interview. It was Chen Qi who chose their supermarket; they were the ones being chosen. Chen Qi was eloquent and steady. Wei Lai felt that she had seen him somewhere before, but she couldn’t remember where until the end of the interview.

When her mother asked Chen Qi why he had chosen to come to their supermarket, given his resume, he could have gone to a higher platform.

Chen Qi honestly said, one, the salary was good, not much worse than other big companies. Two, the free bookstore and study room attracted him. If their philosophies aligned, working together would be very pleasant. Three, since he could remember, there had been a store of Wei Lai Supermarket near his home. More than twenty years had passed, and that store was still there. He hoped it would continue to exist.

He chuckled lightly at the last point, saying it sounded a bit sentimental, but he really felt that way.

Chen Qi had worked in a large chain supermarket since graduating, rising to a senior management position with outstanding performance. According to her mother, even the boss of Fumanyuan had previously tried to poach him with a high salary but failed.

Who would have thought that he would send in his resume himself?

Everything was settled, and he would start after the New Year.

At the end of the meeting, Chen Qi said, “I often go to the free coffee corner at the Jiang’an Yunchen store. Geisha is excellent; it’s the best Geisha bean I’ve ever tasted.”

Wei Lai finally remembered where she had seen him – at the free coffee corner.

Perhaps today, dressed in formal attire for the interview, she hadn’t recognized him.

After seeing off Chen Qi, when Wei Lai returned to her office and sat down, an unexpected visitor arrived – her former colleague, Tang Yi.

She had invited Tang Yi to her engagement banquet, so they hadn’t seen each other for just a couple of days.

“Aren’t you working today?”

“No, the project is finally over, so I’m taking my annual leave.” She had leave until after the New Year, including the Spring Festival holiday. This was the longest holiday she had taken since starting work.

Tang Yi flopped down on the sofa. She had been exhausted lately.

After Wei Lai resigned, she had felt quite bored at the company. Her boss, Mu Di, had been in a constantly changing mood, and the days had become increasingly difficult to endure. It was mentally exhausting.

Wei Lai made Tang Yi a cup of coffee. “Are you free tonight? Let’s have dinner together.”

Tang Yi took the coffee. “Aren’t you with your husband?”

“He’s gone back.”

“You just got married yesterday.”

“Yesterday, he was still attending overseas video conferences until midnight.”

“…”

Tang Yi was speechless for a moment. “No wonder Zhou Sujin is so wealthy.”

Wei Lai laughed and returned to her computer.

Tang Yi sipped her coffee and asked Wei Lai when she wasn’t busy, suggesting they go somewhere for a few days.

Wei Lai said, “I’m busy before the New Year, and the day after tomorrow I have to go on a business trip. The last stop is Beijing.”

She told Tang Yi about her plans for the next ten days or so.

Tang Yi was shocked. “You’re driving to Beijing by yourself?”

“Yeah, taking it slow, not in a rush.”

“You won’t be able to drive in…”

Halfway through her sentence, Tang Yi remembered. The car was registered in Beijing, so it could directly enter the Inner Ring Elevated Road.

“I’ll come with you and take turns driving.”

“No need, you’re almost back for the New Year. You’ve finally got a break; rest at home.”

Tang Yi sighed inwardly. “Finally got a break” was indeed true. It seemed that Mu Di hadn’t been having an easy time since getting married. The other day, she had inadvertently overheard Mu Di questioning someone on the phone in a low voice: “Do you think you can get back that watch? Have you ever thought about my feelings?”

When the boss wasn’t in a good mood, naturally, the employees wouldn’t have a good time either.

“I might resign soon.”

She turned to look at Wei Lai. “When I resign, I’ll come to seek refuge with you.”

Wei Lai smiled. “If you don’t mind, you’re welcome to come.”

Tang Yi said, “Then it’s settled.”

The two of them had worked together seamlessly before, mainly because Wei Lai was emotionally stable, and working with her didn’t drain Tang Yi mentally.

The day after dinner with Tang Yi, Wei Lai set off.

She didn’t let the driver follow her; she drove alone.

The two fast-moving consumer goods companies she was visiting for her mother were in different provinces, somewhat in the direction of Beijing.

She visited these two companies first, conveying her mother’s wishes and blessings and negotiating next year’s cooperation.

By the time she left the second company, it was her fourth day since departing from Jiangcheng.

In recent days, there had been heavy snowfall in the north, and the temperature had dropped to minus seven or eight degrees Celsius.

Originally, she would have arrived in Beijing on the fifth day, but because of the heavy snow, the expressways were closed, and she only reached Beijing on the sixth night.

She had made an appointment to meet Qi Linsheng the next day and treat him to a meal at S.Z. Restaurant.

The snow on the roadside hadn’t melted yet, and snowflakes were falling sporadically from the sky.

In the past few days, she had only contacted Zhou Sujin once. He had told her who to contact for purchasing the Geisha beans. They only chatted for a few minutes on the phone before hanging up after discussing the business matters.

She didn’t know where he was now or what he was busy with.

When they were apart, they were busy with their respective careers. If there was anything important, they would call each other. When they were together, he accommodated her in everything. This mode of interaction might be the most suitable for them as a newly married couple who were not very familiar with each other.

The only discomfort was that on the day they separated, she suddenly had no contact at all, which felt a bit unusual.

Wei Lai found a parking space and parked her car. [Are you busy now?] she sent to Zhou Sujin.

Zhou Sujin had just left the company and was on his way to a friend’s dinner party. It was rush hour, and it was snowing, so the roads were congested.

He replied, [Not really, what’s up?]

Wei Lai asked, [We didn’t make any specific arrangements before. If I go to Beijing on a business trip, should I come find you or not?]

Zhou Sujin stared at the message thoughtfully before replying, [Are you in Beijing now?]