Chapter 24

Engagement is not something he needs, nor is it necessary.

Zhou Sujin used the excuse of knowing each other for a short time and not rushing into an engagement, saying, “We’ve only known each other for three months, no rush.”

Ning Ruzhen looked at her son in confusion, then glanced at his watch. He was still wearing the one Wei Lai gave him today, the one he had to wait in line for seven months just to order. Now he’s saying they’ve only known each other for three months?

There’s a contradiction in the timeline.

She remained composed. “You bought a house in Jiangcheng, I thought you two have been together for quite a while.”

Zhou Sujin picked up the cup of tea prepared for Wei Lai on the table. She didn’t drink it, so he took a sip. “Not that long.” It’s only been three months since they broke up. They certainly haven’t been together longer than she’s been single. For the sake of integrity, he could only tell his mother the truth.

Ning Ruzhen picked up a piece of pastry, and elegantly took a bite, but her gaze remained fixed on her son’s face. It’s better to confront directly than to beat around the bush.

“Did you buy a house in Jiangcheng just because of a whim after three months?”

“I pursued her.”

Seemingly off-topic, but indirectly answered her question.

Why did he buy a house so quickly? Because he fell in love with Wei Lai at first sight.

Ning Ruzhen objectively described her first impression of Wei Lai: “This girl not only looks good but also has a good personality.”

Zhou Sujin replied, “That’s just a facade. She’s not that great, she’s got flaws all over.”

It seemed like a complaint, but it was actually spoiling.

Ning Ruzhen smiled faintly. “Who doesn’t put on a facade in front of outsiders? It’s normal. It’s also normal to have flaws in front of you.”

Zhou Sujin took another sip of tea. His mother’s indifferent tone made it difficult for him to gauge her true attitude towards Wei Lai.

While they were talking, Zhou Jiaye entered the courtyard.

He took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of the chair, then sat down on the other side of his mother.

“I thought you were bringing your girlfriend home?” Ning Ruzhen asked.

“I did, she’s learning flower arranging with your sister.”

She looked at her eldest son. “What about you? When are you bringing your girlfriend home?”

“I don’t have one.”

“If you don’t have one, find one.”

Zhou Jiaye chuckled. “If it were as easy as you say, would there still be so many single people out there?” There was a cup of tea on the table; he picked it up and drank it as if it were water, without any interest in savoring it.

“Mom, don’t rush us. If you push too hard, I can’t guarantee I won’t end up like Lu Yu.”

Because Lu Yu’s family pressured him to marry, he directly found someone to pretend to be his girlfriend, but his poor acting skills gave him away, and his family easily saw through it.

Zhou Jiaye looked at his mother. “I just don’t want to get your hopes up for nothing. If I find someone to pretend to be my girlfriend and bring her back in three months, I can guarantee you won’t be able to tell the difference between truth and lies.”

Zhou Sujin: “…”

The three-month timeframe was a bit sensitive.

Ning Ruzhen subconsciously glanced at her younger son, who was calmly sipping his tea, as if it had nothing to do with him.

She subtly withdrew her gaze and continued to scold her eldest son, “It’s not that I want to rush you, it’s your attitude that’s the problem.”

Continuing would be tiresome and meaningless.

Zhou Jiaye didn’t defend himself but turned to his younger brother. “Your Auntie is turning fifty, not your Auntie turning fifty. Why did you think of giving her a vase?”

The two vases Zhou Sujin brought back from London were bought at a high price with the help of Min Ting from a collector. He couldn’t understand why Zhou Sujin would give this gift to his Auntie.

Zhou Sujin put down the tea he had only taken a few sips of and said, “The vase is for Auntie Cheng, Wei Lai’s mother.”

“You’ve been to Wei Lai’s house?”

“Yes.”

“At this rate, you’re even faster than Lu Yu with his fake girlfriend.”

“…”

Ning Ruzhen smiled and said calmly, “Lu Yu introduced his fake girlfriend to his parents after four and a half months.”

Zhou Jiaye looked at his younger brother. “How did you meet Wei Lai?”

“At a dinner party hosted by He Wancheng.”

“He Wancheng? The richest man in Sucheng, right?”

“Yes.”

Zhou Sujin took out his phone and chatted with his older brother while sending a message to Wei Lai: [Be careful when chatting with Auntie, my mom is getting suspicious.]

Wei Lai quickly replied: [I haven’t said much to Auntie yet, I shouldn’t have given it away.]

Zhou Sujin: [Not sure where it went wrong. It’s okay, she’s just suspicious.]

Wei Laipin recalled every detail from getting out of the car to entering the house, and was quite sure there was no mistake. The only possibility was: [Auntie is experienced and has been in love before, maybe I’m not natural enough between you and me, not as relaxed as real couples.]

“I’ll join Auntie for flower arranging.”

“Jiaye is here.”

A few minutes later, Ning Rujing and Wei Lai finished arranging the flowers and came out of the living room. Wei Lai was still holding a vase, intending to place it on the tea table in the courtyard.

“Lai Lai, this is Brother Sujin.”

She introduced the two children to each other.

Wei Lai looked at the person in front of her, whose cold and calm demeanor was just like Zhou Sujin’s. She smiled and greeted, “Big Brother.”

Zhou Jiaye had seen Wei Lai in the car before, so he wasn’t a stranger. He nodded, “Hello, sit down, there’s no need to be formal in your own home.”

Wei Lai sat down next to Zhou Sujin, stealing a few glances at his cold profile. Despite his aloofness, she unexpectedly felt a warmth, as if he were a close relative. Being next to him inexplicably calmed her nerves.

Zhou Sujin leaned slightly toward her, silently asking what was wrong.

Wei Lai shook her head, casually picked up the teacup in front of her, and said, “I’ll try the tea Uncle made.”

Zhou Sujin quickly intervened, “I just had a few sips.”

This reminder gave her the right to know.

Putting down the teacup abruptly would be too obvious.

Zhou Sujin’s mother already had suspicions. Once someone becomes suspicious, they tend to magnify every detail with a microscope, doubting everything, even things that seem not intimate enough to them.

Couples don’t necessarily have to drink from the same cup of tea, but if she were to put down the cup now, it would be like confirming to Zhou Sujin’s mother that she was fake.

Wei Lai turned her head slightly and naturally took over the conversation, “How does it taste after you tried it? Auntie said this tea was bought by Uncle in Jiangcheng, brewed specially for us today.”

Zhou Sujin added, “It’s not bad.”

“Then I’ll try it.” It’s not easy to act, but under his gaze, Wei Lai took a sip from the tea he had drunk.

Zhou Sujin looked at her, then at the teacup.

Auntie smiled and asked her, “Does it remind you of home?”

They had already reached the stage of meeting each other’s parents, so it seemed normal for them to share a cup of tea. Wei Lai nodded, “There’s a slight sweetness in the bitterness, just like home.”

“Come, have some snacks, it’s still early for dinner.” Ning Rujing enthusiastically placed two plates of snacks in front of Wei Lai, letting her pick whatever flavor she liked.

This was Wei Lai’s chance to put down the tea she had been holding, which she drank after Zhou Sujin. It was a bit awkward, but it was okay. After all, he had once used a wine glass she drank from to shield her from drinking alcohol, and he had also toasted for her.

She rarely ate snacks. She picked a piece with cherry flavor. The texture of the snacks was not as soft as those from cake shops. There were several well-known traditional tea shops in Jiangcheng, but she never bought from them.

Zhou Jiaye gestured to his brother, “Help me move the tea set for Auntie.”

The tea set was wrapped in several layers, too heavy for one person to lift.

Zhou Sujin stood up, and the two brothers walked towards the courtyard gate.

Ning Rujing considerately said, “Lai Lai, you should go too, see if there’s anything you can help with.”

“Okay.” Wei Lai thanked her. It was stressful to be with Zhou Sujin’s mother.

But she hadn’t finished her snacks yet.

Ning Rujing waved her hand, “It’s okay, eat while you walk. There aren’t so many rules at home.”

Their personalities were completely different, one was warm and the other was cold, so the children were always closer to her.

Wei Lai quickened her pace and caught up with Zhou Sujin before they crossed the threshold.

Zhou Sujin glanced at the snacks in Wei Lai’s hand. She was eating very slowly, and it seemed like they didn’t suit her taste. He reached out, “Give it to me.”

Wei Lai turned to look at him, and he took the remaining half of the snack from her hand, seemingly contradictory for a moment, then put it in his mouth.

After that, he looked at her and said, “Now we’re even.”

Wei Lai understood his meaning. Earlier, she drank from the tea he had tasted, and now he ate the snack she had left. 

She smiled, “Now we’re even.”

As they said this, they stepped over the threshold.

Wei Lai tugged at his suit and whispered, “What should we do about Auntie? I’m not sure what she’s suspicious about.” Acting in front of others’ suspicions was too difficult; it required strong mental fortitude.

“It’s okay.”

Zhou Sujin walked to his older brother’s car and didn’t rush to help with the luggage. “Do me a favor.”

“Speak.”

“My mom suspects that Wei Lai and I are pretending. Go to Mom and probe a bit, see what she’s suspicious about.”

“She suspects her, but you two aren’t pretending. There’s no need to worry about it.”

“It is pretending.”

Zhou Jiaye almost dropped the tea tray box in his hands, but he managed to support it with his knee. After scrutinizing Zhou Sujin for a while, he suddenly burst into laughter.

He really got inspired by Lu Yu.

He had actually considered using the trick of pretending, but finding a suitable partner for this scheme was even harder than finding a real girlfriend. Later, he simply gave up on the idea.

He pushed the tea tray back into the trunk and took out a cigarette.

Wei Lai was still nearby, so he didn’t ask too much.

He agreed, “Alright. I’ll find an opportunity to extract the information for you.”

Zhou Jiaye treated this matter as important. As soon as the birthday banquet for his uncle ended, he would find a chance to subtly inquire from his mother. The information he extracted might not be much, but it could be useful.

On the way home, Zhou Sujin received a message from his older brother: **”Your intuition was correct, Mom really suspects something.”**

**”Suspects what?”**

**”Mom said she doesn’t object to your engagement with Wei Lai, but you didn’t react much.”**

Considering Wei Lai’s family background, it was impossible for their family to agree to this marriage. After his mother expressed her attitude, instead of showing much happiness, Zhou Sujin showed some reluctance to engage, which didn’t make sense.

Zhou Jiaye added, **”There should be more than one reason. Mom obviously doesn’t want to elaborate, and I can’t keep pressing her. You should be clearer than anyone else about what went wrong.”**

Zhou Sujin replied, **”I’m not sure. If I were clear, would I ask you to inquire?”**

Zhou Jiaye pondered for a moment and said, **”It’s also possible that Mom didn’t discover anything specific. After Lu Yu’s incident of finding someone to pretend to be his girlfriend and the fact that you are close to him, her thoughts might have unconsciously wandered.”**

Zhou Sujin agreed, **”Perhaps.”**

His mother only had suspicions for now, so there was no need to be overly alarmed.

“What did Big Brother say?” Wei Lai asked, her heart unsettled all evening.

Zhou Sujin replied casually, “No issues.”

But Wei Lai couldn’t calm down. There was trouble at their first meeting with the parents. If she wanted to gain 100% trust in the future, it would be too difficult.

She reviewed her side of the situation and couldn’t find any mistakes. The problem must lie with Zhou Sujin. After all, his family knew him too well, and sometimes even a subtle reaction from him could expose their fake relationship.

From the moment she landed in Beijing last night to the birthday banquet tonight, she had been under intense stress for over twenty hours. She had never been this exhausted, even during all-nighters for projects in the past.

She closed her eyes, leaned back in her chair, and dozed off for a while.

The Bentley’s backseat was like an airline seat, so she didn’t have to worry about falling asleep and leaning on him.

In the short twenty-minute drive, she fell asleep and even had a dream. She dreamed that Zhou Sujin’s older brother came to find them and said that their family wanted them to get married as soon as possible. Zhou Sujin’s older brother looked at Zhou Sujin and asked, “What are your plans?”

“Lai Lai.”

The car had already entered the villa’s courtyard, and Zhou Sujin called her, breaking her dreamlike state. 

Wei Lai didn’t wait to see how the dream version of Zhou Sujin would respond to his older brother and family. Instead, she opened her eyes, dazed for a few seconds.

“We’ve arrived?”

“Yeah.”

Zhou Sujin spoke as he got out of the car.

How could she have dreamed such an absurd dream of marrying Zhou Sujin? 

Perhaps it was because, at the dinner table tonight, Auntie mentioned that the tea plantation scenery in Jiangcheng was nice, and she said that they could choose a tea plantation for their wedding in Jiangcheng in the future. Then she probably dreamt about it.

Wei Lai slowly calmed her mind, picked up her clothes and bag, and got out of the car.

All her clothes and toiletries were in the master bedroom. Following Zhou Sujin upstairs, they reached the bedroom door. “Mr. Zhou,” she stopped at the doorway.

Zhou Sujin turned to look at her.

“I’m going in to get my stuff, or you could bring it to me.”

“Go ahead.”

After they left in the afternoon, the housekeeper cleaned the upstairs, made the bed, and replaced the toiletries with new ones.

Before Wei Lai reached the bed, she saw her pajamas placed next to Zhou Sujin’s pajamas. Her pajamas even overlapped with the edge of his.

It seemed like it wasn’t just clothes being pressed together, but something more intimate.

She pretended to be calm, but only she knew how awkward and embarrassed she felt at that moment.

Wei Lai picked up her pajamas, trying to divert attention to cover up the awkwardness. “Mr. Zhou, we haven’t talked in detail before. In case our act fails and your mother and aunt find out it’s fake, will the contract be terminated prematurely?”

Zhou Sujin walked straight to the watch cabinet in the cloakroom and called her over.

Wei Lai didn’t understand why he asked her to come over, but she walked over to the cloakroom.

Zhou Sujin continued the previous topic, saying, “Without any unforeseen circumstances, just focus on your performance for these two years. The rest, that’s my concern.”

Wei Lai looked at him, always straightforward in expressing her thoughts: “It’s best if I can finish the two years. As you know, I don’t want it to end prematurely.”

Zhou Sujin glanced at her, then lowered his head to undo the buckle of his wristwatch, retorting, “Ending prematurely might not necessarily be a bad thing. Without the influence, there’s no need for comparison. Maybe you could be more at ease.”

Wei Lai replied firmly, “I don’t want to be at ease.”

Zhou Sujin took off his watch and gestured towards a few watch safes with his chin, “If you don’t want to be at ease, then take a good look at these watches. You might not even know about them if they ever mention my collection of watches.”