Chapter 28

Wei Lai’s heart suddenly jumped, leaving her momentarily speechless.

The cool yet profound gaze from his eyes clouded her judgment, prompting her to look away.

Zhou Sujin gave her time to digest, knowing that even he took several days to make this decision, let alone her.

It took Wei Lai nearly half a minute to gather her thoughts and find her voice. “Marriage is a big deal.”

Zhou Sujin asked her, “Did you ever think about marriage before? Not with me, just marriage in general.”

Wei Lai nodded. Despite her parents’ divorce, she wasn’t as pessimistic about marriage.

Perhaps influenced by her grandparents, whose marriage was very happy even in their old age, if one went to the library, the other would surely accompany.

She wanted a marriage like her grandparents’, simple and companionable till old age.

After meeting Zhang Yanxin, she thought she could have such a marriage.

But it ended up being wishful thinking.

“I did think about marrying Zhang Yanxin.”

Zhou Sujin, who had been mostly glancing at her, suddenly turned to look at her directly.

He didn’t interrupt her, waiting for her to continue.

“I even picked out a ring.”

“I thought next year, after being together for three years and our relationship being so solid, we could get married.”

“But when I gave him a birthday gift, he brought up breaking up. He didn’t even look at the gift or touch his dinner.”

“A person I loved for two years, someone I wanted to marry, suddenly left me without any warning and got engaged to someone else. In the end, he gave me a villa to compensate, thinking he could buy off those feelings with money.”

“He hurt me so much, I had a reactive response.”

“Since then, I’ve felt that both marriage and relationships are meaningless. It’s better to focus on running the supermarket and making more money.”

Bringing up her past with Zhang Yanxin stirred emotions within her again.

After calming herself for a moment, she continued, “Although I find them meaningless, I never thought of marrying just anyone.”

Having shared her emotional experiences, she felt calmer now. Marriage involves two families; she couldn’t toy with her parents and grandparents.

When she took him home, her mother was so happy and busy, and she already felt guilty for it.

A contractual marriage, to be terminated after a period, would only bring joy to her grandparents temporarily.

She declined Zhou Sujin, “I’m sorry, Mr. Zhou, I won’t consider marrying you.”

Zhou Sujin’s response seemed a beat slower, “That’s okay.”

The carriage fell into silence suddenly.

Zhou Sujin checked his watch; it was already a quarter past twelve.

“It’s late, let’s go up.”

Almost simultaneously, they pushed open the car doors to get out.

Wei Lai handed him the car keys and said, “Mr. Zhou, I definitely won’t take the car.”

Zhou Sujin didn’t take the keys, “Let Lan drive tomorrow.”

He closed the car door and then reopened it. He had forgotten to take his suit jacket when he got out earlier.

“Is there anything else you wish for your birthday?”

Wei Lai shook her head. His gaze was always calm and inscrutable; even after her rejection, he didn’t show a hint of displeasure.

“Thank you for coming to celebrate my birthday.”

“Don’t mention it.” Zhou Sujin put on his suit jacket. “Since you just turned me down, it wouldn’t be comfortable to dine together. For tomorrow night’s birthday dinner, I’ll have Lan invite a few friends to celebrate with you.”

Wei Lai refused directly without hesitation, “No need, I promised my mom to have dinner at home.”

Zhou Sujin didn’t insist. Before leaving, he added, “Happy birthday.”

The Bentley, driven by Uncle Yan, had already left. “Mr. Zhou, how are you going back?”

“I have a car.”

After instructing her to go upstairs, Zhou Sujin walked towards a black sedan parked by the roadside.

Wei Lai saw the ordinary Jiang license plate on the car.

As he approached, someone from the car immediately got out to open the door for him. She realized it was his bodyguard.

After he got in, the car didn’t start right away.

He was probably waiting for her to go upstairs first. Wei Lai pointed to the Cullinan. “I’ll look at the starry sky for a while longer.”

The black car’s engine roared to life.

She watched him leave, then returned to Cullinan, locked the car, and the carriage became quiet again, with silent shooting stars occasionally streaking across the sky.

She couldn’t calm down for a whole hour.

After another half an hour of absent-mindedness in the car, she went upstairs with the car keys.

Early the next morning, before Wei Lai got up, she received a message from Zhou Sujin.

【There’s some business at the company, so I’m heading back first. Lan often comes to Jiangcheng; you can find him if you need anything in the future. I wish you all the best in the future.】

Her heart felt a pang of sourness. Unable to hold back, she grabbed a few tissues from the bedside table and wiped her tears.

At noon, she had arranged to have lunch with her father.

Her father had reserved a restaurant next to the law firm. Today, her father accompanied her to have Western food, and he had specially ordered a delicate jasmine green tea cake from the restaurant.

On the way to the restaurant, they passed by the entrance of her grandmother’s residential community and also passed by the doorstep of their once-broken and shattered home.

“You pulled an all-nighter again yesterday?” Wei Huatian stared at the dark circles under his daughter’s eyes. “You can’t stay up late often; it’s bad for your health.”

“I didn’t pull an all-nighter.”

Wei Huatian lit the candle and asked his daughter to make a wish.

She had already made a wish last night under the starry sky; she had two wishes: first, for Zhou Sujin’s safety at all times, and second, for Wei Lai Supermarket to make it onto the national top 100 chain supermarkets list. Even the 100th place would do.

Wei Huatian cut a large piece of cake for himself and left a small portion for his daughter. She didn’t particularly like desserts and hardly ate them throughout the year.

He picked out the green tea on his own cake and offered it to his daughter. When he looked up, he saw his daughter lost in thought.

“Lai Lai, what are you thinking about?”

Wei Lai picked up a green tea and ate it, lying, “Thinking about the new store of Jiang’an Yumchen.”

After finishing their meal and leaving the restaurant, the driver brought the car over, and Wei Huatian got in.

Wei Lai waved goodbye to her father and then noticed the style of her father’s windbreaker. He had several black windbreakers, and today he was wearing the one she had bought for him in Beijing.

As Wei Huatian got into the car, he took off his rimless glasses, and pressed his nose, feeling the strain from working until past midnight yesterday. He couldn’t understand how his daughter managed to stay up all night. After putting on his glasses, he instructed the driver to go to Jiang’an Group.

Yuan Hengrui personally received Wei Huatian and warmly invited him to his office from the reception room.

He wasn’t very skilled at making tea, but he insisted on doing it himself.

In his mind, Wei Huatian had always been like a father-in-law figure.

“Uncle,” he handed a teacup to Wei Huatian, “I won’t beat around the bush. The storefront over there will only be sold to Wei Lai. She needs to personally sign the purchase contract. I’ve promised her, and I can’t go back on my word.”

Wei Huatian smiled, “Whether I buy it or she buys it, it’s the same. If I buy it, it’s for her.”

“That’s not the same.” Yuan Hengrui sat down beside him, leaning slightly forward with his elbows on his knees, showing utmost respect to Wei Huatian.

“Uncle, I understand her. Whatever she wants, she’ll earn the money to buy it herself.”

Like the watch she gave to Zhang Yanxin, she had saved up for a long time to buy it. During that time, she took on two projects simultaneously, almost working herself to death in the office.

So, when he punched Zhang Yanxin, Zhang Yanxin wasn’t entirely blameless.

Wei Huatian tried to convince him, “You don’t understand the feelings of being a father…”

“Uncle, I do. My dad is just like that with me. He said he would cut off all father-son relationships with me and thought I needed money, so he secretly ordered a car for me. But I don’t need it now.”

It was the first time Wei Huatian had met Yuan Hengrui, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with him. Whenever there was the roar of modified sports cars on the streets of Jiangcheng, eight or nine times out of ten, it was him.

Today, after interacting with him, he found out that he wasn’t as extravagant as he appeared.

—

After separating from her father at the restaurant, Wei Lai went to Jiang’an Yunchen again.

The project managers from the decoration company all noticed the difference; they chuckled and said she seemed to be very concerned about the decoration of the seventeenth store.

She smiled without saying a word.

This day seemed unusually long.

She stayed at Jiang’an Yunchen for several hours and then toured six stores before finally reaching evening.

【Your dad came to our company at noon today and wanted to buy the storefront of Jiang’an Yunchen for you. It’s over 1,500 square meters, and he didn’t even blink when he said he’d buy it. He’s a real dad. But I didn’t sell it (seeking praise here).】

【Happy 26th birthday.】

Yuan Hengrui rambled on for a bit to find a reason to say the last sentence.

Wei Lai: 【Thank you.】

Suppressing the urge to say more to her, Yuan Hengrui realized that she now had a boyfriend after all and locked his phone and threw it away.

Wei Lai sat in front of the computer, the screen was off, and she didn’t know what to do.

It felt like she had just gone through a breakup.

Lost in thought, she received a call, and it was from He Wancheng’s number.

Wei Lai subconsciously sat up straight, and with a faint smile, she answered, “Uncle He, hello, what can I do for you?”

“The other day, didn’t I mention my old classmate who owns a supermarket? I bumped into him today, and he said he knows Wei Lai Supermarket. He specifically visited it when he was on a business trip to Jiangcheng. When will you and your mom be free? Let’s introduce you to each other.”

Wei Lai was initially grateful. She wasn’t naïve; she knew that He Wancheng was helping her so much not because she had a big face, but because of Zhou Sujin.

She confessed, “Uncle He, Zhou Sujin and I broke up. I’ve been busy handling the aftermath of the breakup recently.”

He Wancheng knew about their breakup; Zhou Sujin had told him, asking him to take care of Wei Lai Supermarket more in Jiangcheng in the future. He didn’t know the reason for the breakup, as Zhou Sujin hadn’t mentioned it. But he could probably guess; after all, the disparity between the two families was too great, and Zhou Sujin’s family wouldn’t agree.

“I won’t say much about your generation’s affairs since I don’t understand them. But Wei Lai, let me give you a word of advice: don’t let a breakup affect your ability to make money, okay?”

Wei Lai smiled, “Okay.”

“Then find some time to come to Sucity.”

“Sure, thank you, Uncle He.”

She couldn’t keep wallowing in the unclear sense of loss, so after hanging up the phone, she started planning when to go to Sucity.

Cheng Minzhi had noticed her daughter’s unusual behavior in the past few days, but she kept it to herself and didn’t ask too much.

On Friday, they set off for Sucity.

On the way, Wei Lai chatted with her mother about the chain supermarket in Sucity, which ranked 41st on the top 100 list and was very powerful.

While they were chatting, Wei Lai received a message on her phone. He Wancheng sent her a phone number.

【The driver is already at the station. Call him when you arrive.】

【It’s not a bother, Uncle He.】

He Wancheng: 【It’s not a bother. When you arrive in Sucheng, I’ll do my best to be a good host.】

Putting down her phone, she looked at Zhou Sujin, who was sitting on the sofa opposite.

Zhou Sujin came to Sucheng yesterday to attend a summit forum. Since he had no meetings this afternoon, he came to his office for a visit.

“Wei Lai and her mother are coming to Sucheng today. They should be here soon.”

Zhou Sujin, sitting with his legs crossed, leaned against the sofa while enjoying the tea He Wancheng had brewed for him. “Are they here for shopping?”

“I’ll introduce them to a colleague in the industry.”

Zhou Sujin nodded without saying much, took another sip of tea, and looked up at He Wancheng. “This is tea from Jiangcheng, right?”

He Wancheng was surprised and chuckled, “You can tell where the tea is from just by tasting it.”

Zhou Sujin casually replied, “I’ve had it before.”

It was the tea he had drunk on his uncle’s birthday.

He Wancheng couldn’t discern Zhou Sujin’s intention and asked, “I’ve booked a restaurant for Wei Lai and them tonight. Will you join us?”

“No,” Zhou Sujin set down his teacup. “I have another dinner appointment tonight.”