Chapter 52

A new day began, and Wei Lai was awakened by the flood of messages in her group chat with her girlfriends.

She had been thinking all night about how to talk to the person she had in mind today, but she overthought it to the point where even her dreams were about finding a traitor.

The messages in the group chat kept coming. Wei Lai glanced at her phone; it was only 6:25 AM, five minutes before her alarm was set to ring.

Qiao Sitian was on vacation in the southern hemisphere, and Yin Le had just landed in London. The two of them were chatting happily. If they were in China, they wouldn’t even be awake for another two hours.

Qiao Sitian eagerly tagged her: “Baby, wake up! It’s already late, and you’re still sleeping!”

Yin Le added: “Zhang Yanxin has arrived in London, on the same flight as me!”

Wei Lai replied to both of them: “Don’t you know it’s only a little past six in China?”

Qiao Sitian laughed and teased: “Huh? Isn’t it 8:26? Maybe my math isn’t good, I didn’t calculate the time difference correctly, don’t blame me, baby.”

Yin Le added: “Zhang Yanxin’s coming to London must be to meet Xiao Donghan. Xiao Donghan’s methods are just as ruthless as your husband’s.”

Lately, there had been discussions in their circle about how Zhang Yanxin would respond, but nobody expected him to approach Xiao Donghan.

Wei Lai finally understood who the person Zhou Sujin had mentioned, the one who understood him, was.

Qiao Sitian was enjoying breakfast on a yacht, with the sun becoming increasingly glaring by nine o’clock. She put on her sunglasses and sent a voice message directly: “Baby, when they start fighting, make sure to stay away. Don’t get hurt, or else who will eat hotpot with us?”

Wei Lai: “…”

Yin Le finally emerged from customs, got into her own car, and began chatting through voice messages for convenience. She said to Qiao Sitian, “Where can she hide? Under the bed?”

Qiao Sitian laughed, “Hide in her husband’s arms. Isn’t she a baby?”

After another round of laughter, Yin Le returned to the topic, reminding Wei Lai affectionately that Zhou Sujin could be truly ruthless when provoked, disregarding anyone’s face. When Zhao Lianshen offended him in the past, several companies under Zhao’s name were bankrupted by Zhou Sujin.

“My dad told me about it; he witnessed that business battle.”

Wei Lai suddenly remembered a dinner party last year when she openly mentioned that the big shot she was dating was Zhou Sujin. At the time, Zhao Yihan sent her a message:

“He’s not easy to mess with. He’s ruthless in business, and those who offend him usually end up bankrupt. That’s what our boss said.”

It turns out it wasn’t just empty talk.

No wonder when she said he was a good person, he chuckled.

The name Zhao Lianshen was unfamiliar to Wei Lai, so she asked Yin Le who he was.

“He’s also from the Beijing circle. It’s normal if you haven’t heard of him; their circle consists of behind-the-scenes bosses whose names don’t appear on shareholder lists.”

Yin Le shared everything she knew: Zhao Lianshen’s grandmother used to work with Zhou Sujin’s grandmother and often collaborated on projects when they were young.

If it weren’t for this connection, Zhou Sujin wouldn’t have let him off so easily.

At first, Zhou Sujin didn’t give his grandmother a face either. It took her grandmother two visits to persuade him.

“So, baby, do you understand now?” Qiao Sitian translated, “It means don’t meddle.”

She and Yin Le understood Wei Lai’s feelings towards Zhang Yanxin the most. Last year, when she went to buy a new bracelet at a jewelry store, Wei Lai accompanied her. A person who was hesitant to enter into marriage was looking at engagement rings in a jewelry store.

There were engagement rings and expensive watches. If it weren’t for love, how could Wei Lai, with her personality, actively and passionately express her love?

She cautioned Wei Lai, “Even if you want to intercede for Zhang Yanxin, starting now, give up this idea.”

The last voice message automatically played, just as Zhou Sujin pushed the door into the bedroom.

Wei Lai looked up and glanced over.

There was no need to close it; after all, the words “Zhang Yanxin” had already reached his ears.

Wei Lai didn’t reply to the group chat anymore, thinking he had already gone to the company.

The words just now were easy to misunderstand, so it was necessary to explain: “Yin Le went to London on the same flight as Zhang Yanxin, guessed that he went to find Xiao Donghan, and told me. She also mentioned Zhao Lianshen…” She faltered, unsure of what word to use to describe her husband.

“Anyway, she meant that I shouldn’t interfere between you and Zhang Yanxin. I’m not trying to intercede.”

She stared at his deep profile, calm and distant as usual, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Zhou Sujin nodded, indicating he understood.

He entered the bedroom to get his suit from the wardrobe. As he passed the foot of the bed, he stopped and met her gaze for a moment before saying, “I’ll always give you face, including this matter with Zhang Yanxin.”

She couldn’t possibly plead with him for an ex. Her attitude was firm: “This matter doesn’t need to be addressed.” She changed the subject and asked if his back was still hurting. “I’m getting my nails done today.”

Last night, when he lingered at her deepest, she couldn’t bear it and scratched him on his back, leaving a deep mark.

Having confirmed his affection, she began to feel fearless in his arms subconsciously.

Zhou Sujin replied, “It’s fine.”

Not only did she scratch him, but she also insisted on kissing his neck a few times, unable to stop herself.

“Honey, are you still going to drive me to work today?”

“I have something to do in the morning. I’ll come to your office later.”

“Will you accompany me all afternoon?”

“Mmm.”

Then she didn’t need him to drive her.

Zhou Sujin went to the wardrobe, and Wei Lai got out of bed.

She was repeatedly tagged in the group chat by her girlfriends: “Baby, where are you?”

Wei Lai quickly typed: “I’ve been taken away by my husband.”

Yin Le: “…What the hell, are you okay?”

Qiao Sitian: “Can’t you see she’s showing off her love? Like, who cares!”

Wei Lai threw her phone onto the bed and went to pick out the clothes she would wear today. She was curious about Zhao Lianshen. Instead of asking others about him, she figured getting information directly from Zhou Sujin would be more accurate.

Zhou Sujin had already taken out a suit from the wardrobe and was about to put it on.

Wei Lai asked first, “Honey, are you going to the office now?”

Lawyer Xing, who had received his call last night, had come from Beijing, and they had arranged to meet at the office at 7:30.

Zhou Sujin answered a question with another, “Are you asking about Zhao Lianshen?”

“Yes. Do you have time?”

“I have twenty minutes.”

That was enough.

Wei Lai wanted to confirm whether the rumors about him bankrupting Zhao Lianshen’s company were true or whether Zhao Lianshen’s company was already failing and just happened to go bankrupt at the critical moment of the business war, causing people to speculate.

Zhou Sujin said straightforwardly, “His company was fine. I intervened.”

He didn’t hide anything, but Wei Lai was a bit slow to react. “There must be a reason for that.”

Zhou Sujin took a watch from the counter and put it on his wrist. He said, “He cut off one of my projects and hindered another behind my back. There’s no other reason.”

He looked up at her. “Is there anything else you want to know?”

“How many of his companies went bankrupt?”

“Three.” If it weren’t for his grandmother and grandfather coming to plead on his behalf, Zhao Lianshen’s losses would have been even greater. His grandfather believed that if he hurt Zhao Lianshen by a thousand, he would lose eight hundred, which wasn’t worth it, so he told Zhou Sujin to stop.

Wei Lai wrapped her arms around his waist. “No wonder they say you’re not easy to mess with. Actually, I’m afraid of you too, especially when I pretended to be your girlfriend for the contract.”

Zhou Sujin glanced at her, then wrapped his hands around her and pulled her into his embrace. The clasp of the watch was still undone, and his fingers fumbled to fasten it.

“That’s not fear.”

Wei Lai tilted her head. “Then what is it?”

“It’s you feeling guilty after pushing boundaries, worrying that I won’t be satisfied with you.”

“…,” Wei Lai smiled, unwilling to admit it.

Zhou Sujin analyzed her state of mind at that time, “You know you’re special to me, but you don’t know how special. So you subconsciously test where my bottom line is with you.”

After he pointed it out, Wei Lai finally faced her inner thoughts.

Before, she had been avoiding them to some extent.

She hugged him tighter. “I haven’t tested your bottom line yet.”

Zhou Sujin said, “Because there’s no bottom line for you to test.”

Wei Lai’s heart was pounding, her heartbeat was faster than yesterday when she was with the glutinous rice flour.

No kissing, her breath was her own, but she felt her chest tighten as if she were lacking air.

“I don’t have any other questions. You should go to the office now.”

Her heart didn’t calm down until Zhou Sujin left home.

—

Today, Cheng Minzhi arrived at the company earlier than her daughter. Her daughter had decided to confront a few people she had in mind in the morning. Worried that her daughter might be conflicted and upset, Cheng Minzhi came early to comfort her.

However, she didn’t expect someone to arrive even earlier than her. A Bentley with a Sucheng license plate was parked downstairs, a different color from Zhou Sujin’s.

Yesterday, He Wancheng called her and said he would come to the company this morning to discuss cooperation with New Hope Supermarket.

After being reminded by the driver, He Wancheng got out of the car.

Cheng Minzhi maintained a calm smile. “Director He, so early.”

He Wancheng smiled and said, “Getting older, I can’t sleep.” He woke up half an hour earlier than usual today and came directly after his morning jog.

As she walked beside him, heading upstairs side by side, she asked, “Have you had breakfast?”

Cheng Minzhi didn’t glance at the steps, keeping her eyes straight ahead. “I’ve had breakfast.”

They chatted along the way, mostly about trivialities.

It felt like the time when one asks their crush on the way to school, “Did you finish your homework?”

Cheng Minzhi invited He Wancheng to her office, personally brewed tea, and, upon hearing the noise from the neighboring office, apologized to He Wancheng, placed the brewed tea on the coffee table, and went to find her daughter.

Her daughter seemed to be in a good mood, brewing coffee.

“Mom, would you like a cup?”

“You have it. I can’t get used to Guixia’s.”

Wei Lai took a sip of coffee. The lack of boundaries from Zhou Sujin’s statement in the morning kept her in a good mood until now.

Cheng Minzhi couldn’t always see through her daughter, such as now. She couldn’t determine whether her daughter was truly unburdened or using coffee to soothe herself.

“Lai Lai, should I talk to them instead?”

“No need. We agreed I would handle these matters, and you’re responsible for the cooperation with New Hope.”

Cheng Minzhi comforted her daughter, “Everyone has their constraints. If you see betrayal from this perspective, it won’t be as hard on you.”

Wei Lai wanted to comfort her mother, but her mother said it first. She smiled, “Great minds think alike.”

Even after numerous psychological preparations, the real moment of confrontation brought a myriad of emotions.

Being let down by someone you trust feels the same as being betrayed by someone you love.

At eight twenty-five, there was a knock on the office door.

Wei Lai looked up from the report. She hadn’t absorbed a single number since she sat down.

“Mr. Yu, Manager Kang is here.”

Yu Younian and Manager Kang received a call from Wei Lai an hour ago, asking them to come to her office at eight-thirty for an important discussion.

Manager Kang rushed over from the Jiang’an Yunchen store. “Is there another problem with the fresh goods today?”

“Today’s goods are fine. I’ve checked,” said Yu Younian.

Wei Lai said, “It’s about something else. Please, have a seat.”

She brewed two cups of tea and closed the office door. The most valuable thing in her office was the soundproof door, which blocked out all sounds when closed.

Yu Younian could only think of self-built logistics. He had been thinking about it until late last night and finally convinced himself. He said to Wei Lai, “If you want to build it, go ahead. We might have a tough time for a few years, but we’ll get through it. We’ll all support you through it.”

Wei Lai happened to come over with the brewed tea, and she squeezed the teacup handle slightly and put two cups of tea in front of them, “Thank you, Mr. Yu, for your support.”

Other than Manager Kang, Yu Younian had been with Wei Lai Supermarket the longest.

Manager Kang also expressed her support, saying, “No matter how tough it gets, it won’t be as tough as when we first opened the store.”

Wei Lai smiled and said, “Thank you, Manager Kang.”

Getting to the point, the words were on the tip of her tongue, but saying them was a struggle: “Lu manyi has placed someone in our supermarket, in the management.”

They were all drinking tea. At the words, Yu Younian was startled, and Manager Kang paused in her tea-drinking motion, both looking at her.

Wei Lai continued, “I don’t know who it is, I haven’t found out yet, only Lu manyi knows. Of course, if we investigate one by one carefully, we’ll eventually find something, but it’s too time-consuming and exhausting. I don’t have that much time. If we spend time on it, it’s exactly what they want. My mom trusts you two the most,” she looked at Yu Younian, “With the company having a mole, finding the mole falls within your job scope, so I’ll leave this matter to you and Manager Kang.”

Yu Younian reflected, “I’ve been negligent in my duties. I never thought about this before.” After a pause, he added, “Aren’t you worried that either Manager Kang or I might be the mole?”

Wei Lai smiled, “To be honest, I’ve suspected. But if it’s really one of you, then I’ll accept it.”

Everyone held their breath as they spoke.

Manager Kang slowly put down her tea cup, “Lai Lai, I don’t think there’s someone like that in our team. Everyone has families to take care of, and kids to look after. Could it be that Fulmanyuan is throwing a smokescreen at us, causing internal chaos first?”

Wei Lai nodded, “That’s entirely possible.”

Yu Younian continued, “It’s best if it’s just a smokescreen.” He took a few sips of tea. “If it’s not, and we find out who it is, how do you plan to deal with it?”

Wei Lai said, “You’re the general manager, you call the shots. It’s not a decision I need to make.” 

Yu Younian told her to focus on her own tasks; this matter was up to him.

After finishing their tea, they left to attend to their tasks. Wei Lai sat on the sofa for a while, and her assistant came in to clear the tea cups, saying something to her that she didn’t catch.

Cheng Minzhi came over again, sitting on the armrest of the sofa and ruffling her daughter’s hair.

From her daughter’s expression, it was clear who the mole was.

“Is it Yu Younian or Manager Kang?” Cheng Minzhi asked.

Wei Lai snapped out of her thoughts. “It should be Yu Younian.”

When she mentioned Lu Manyi’s name, Yu Younian’s reaction was noticeably different from Manager Kang’s.

Unless someone was as internally strong as Zhou Sujin, doing something wrong would show some signs of unnaturalness, no matter how composed they appeared.

Cheng Minzhi asked her daughter, “What are you going to do about it?”

“Let him deal with it himself. If he resigns on his own accord, considering his years of service, I won’t pursue the losses anymore. If he makes amends, I’ll give him a chance.”

Wei Lai stood up and hugged her mother. “Maybe he had his reasons, Mom, don’t be upset.”

Cheng Minzhi smiled faintly. “Mom is fine.”

After working together for fifteen years, saying it wasn’t painful was impossible.

Wei Lai understood her mother too well. She was too emotional; it was just a facade of indifference and forced smiles.

Just as her mother left, Chen Qi knocked on the door and entered to get her to sign a document.

Wei Lai sat at her desk, gesturing for him to sit.

Chen Qi noticed her mood wasn’t great. “Is Mr. Yu still opposed to building our own logistics?”

Just now, Yu Younian and Manager Kang had passed by his office, both looking serious. It seemed they didn’t agree with Wei Lai’s decision, leaving on a bad note.

“They’re on board now,” Wei Lai said absentmindedly, signing her name with flourish, closing the folder, and handing it to him.

Chen Qi took the folder and noticed she was staring at him thoughtfully.

He asked, “Is there something on your mind?”

Wei Lai smiled, “Actually, there is something I’d like to ask you.”

“You’re overrating me,” Chen Qi said sincerely. “Just give me your orders directly.”

“Did you encounter a situation where a competitor planted someone in your management team while you were at your previous company?”

Chen Qi unconsciously flipped the folder open and shut. “I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t encountered it myself. It’s also possible that it’s company confidential information. They would just dismiss the person without revealing the reason. The company is so big, with people leaving and joining every week, it’s normal for there to be some mistakes in decision-making.”

He asked Wei Lai, “Why the sudden question? Do we have a mole in our supermarket?”

Wei Lai nodded.

Chen Qi showed surprise but then said, “That’s normal. Our supermarket started to make moves at the end of last year. Competitors definitely wouldn’t want us to grow.”

After a pause, he asked, “Did you find out who it is?”

“Yeah.”

Chen Qi suddenly smiled, “Are you suspecting me by any chance?”

“Yes.”

Her expression was cold, not joking at all.

Chen Qi’s hand paused as he was flipping the folder.

Wei Lai looked straight at him. “Who sent you?”

For a moment, the air in the office seemed to freeze.

Chen Qi closed the half-open folder, his tongue touching his teeth.

He was curious, “How did you figure it out?”

Wei Lai said, “Intuition.”

There was also some data analysis, but she didn’t mention that.

Chen Qi sighed, put the folder aside, and clasped his hands in front of him. “If I don’t confess, you’ll never trust me again. It was Mr. He.”

Wei Lai was surprised, “Mr. He?”

“Yes. The terms he offered me were unexpected. He had only one request for me, to help Mr. Cheng grow the supermarket. He said Mr. Cheng had been working too hard these years.”

Chen Qi stood up. “Mr. He is here today. Let’s clear up this misunderstanding face-to-face. Otherwise, if you put me on the blacklist of moles, I won’t be able to clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River.”

He Wancheng was still in Cheng Minzhi’s office. The two of them were discussing cooperation matters when Wei Lai knocked and entered, followed by Chen Qi.

Chen Qi saw He Wancheng first and immediately admitted to his lack of deception, saying he wasn’t able to conceal it well and was detected by Wei Lai.

He Wancheng gestured for them to sit and laughed, “I don’t blame you.”

Cheng Minzhi and He Wancheng exchanged a glance, then looked away.

As they talked, only Wei Lai was caught up in self-doubt. How could her intuition be wrong?

Until the afternoon, she still felt something was off.

Could she be suffering from paranoid delusions?

She opened the window for some fresh air, which cooled her face a bit.

If Mu Di planted someone near her, they wouldn’t be a store manager or a business unit manager. Mu Di would use a longer-term strategy.

Tang Yi was out of the question; she had no decision-making power.

The prime suspect, Chen Qi, has now surprisingly been ruled out.

As she was lost in thought, a knock came at the door.

“Feeling cold?”

A magnetic voice came from behind.

Wei Lai abruptly turned around, smiling, “Not at all.”

Concerned about Zhou Sujin feeling cold, she closed the window.

Just as she was about to throw herself into his arms, another person entered behind him. She had seen him the night before getting their marriage certificate at her father’s law firm; he was Zhou Sujin’s personal legal advisor, Lawyer Xing.

“Hello, Lawyer Xing, please have a seat.”

She looked at Zhou Sujin and asked, “Is there something important?”

Zhou Sujin got straight to the point, “They’re all discussing our prenuptial agreement, speculating that my wealth has nothing to do with you.”

Wei Lai didn’t mind, “It’s fine, let them speculate.” But she was still curious, “What are you planning to do?”

Zhou Sujin replied, “Transfer some shares of my Kunchen Group to you.”