Chapter 3

After Zhou Sujin decided to take the watch, he suddenly remembered that the head of the region had only said half of the sentence earlier. He turned to the head of the region and asked, “Has this watch been sold?”

Originally, he was just going to wear it temporarily. If it had been sold, he wasn’t interested in competing for it.

“Not yet,” the head of the region couldn’t lie to Zhou Sujin, but he also couldn’t reveal the whole truth. He replied smoothly, “It was customized for one of our customers, who waited for more than seven months, but unfortunately, she encountered some problems before the arrival of the watch and had to give it up. It’s unexpected that this watch would be destined for you.”

As for what problem the customer encountered, the head of the region deliberately didn’t explain it in detail. Naturally, Zhou Sujin thought it might have been some temporary financial difficulty, otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited for so long in the queue. Besides, the strap was specially customized, so she wouldn’t easily give it up.

Zhou Sujin nodded and didn’t say anything more. He picked up the watch and tried it on his wrist.

Perhaps it was really meant to be, as the length of the strap was just right, requiring no adjustment.

There was a small rectangular gold card in the watch box. As he fastened the strap, Zhou Sujin casually picked up the card. In the middle of it was a neatly written message in blue-black ink:

“Wishing you all the best in the future, forever loving me.

— From the future :）”

Zhou Sujin mistakenly thought it was a blessing card provided by the brand with the watch. After reading it, he put the card back in the box.

Seeing that Zhou Sujin was reluctantly satisfied with the watch, Lu Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, the store manager also felt relieved. She had worried that it would be difficult to find a customer who would like a watch with such a color combination. She glanced at Zhou Sujin’s wrist again. It seemed that someone with a good-looking hand and a strong aura could handle any kind of watch.

As the group left the flagship store, Lu Yu suggested going for supper to calm Zhou Sujin’s nerves. He hadn’t been peaceful for the past few hours since he broke Zhou Sujin’s watch.

“I know a place where supper is delicious. Do you want to go?” he asked Zhou Sujin.

Zhou Sujin glanced at him from the passenger seat. “Are you eating eight meals a day?”

Lu Yu laughed and explained seriously, “This would only be my fifth meal today.” He fastened his seatbelt and asked again, “So, are we going?”

Zhou Sujin pulled the seatbelt over and didn’t say anything.

If there was no clear refusal, it meant agreement. Lu Yu glanced at the rearview mirror and said as he reversed the car, “I’ve ordered a car, which will arrive the day after tomorrow. You won’t need to drive your car anymore. I’ll have someone pick it up from my place when it arrives.”

Zhou Sujin just made a sound of acknowledgment. This Cullinan belonged to him. Lu Yu didn’t buy a car in Jiangcheng. Every time he came here on business, he borrowed a car from someone in Jiangcheng.

After seeing Zhou Sujin off, the store manager and the head of the region returned to the store. The store manager couldn’t wait to go to the VIP lounge on the first floor.

“She bought it! She bought it! I’m going to buy a few lottery tickets right away. What incredible luck! Thanks to Zhou Sujin for coming to Jiangcheng on a business trip.”

Wei Lai asked, “Zhou Sujin?”

“Yeah, that’s right, Zhou Sujin. He’s the big shot who our head of the region specially flew to Jiangcheng to receive. He’s the one who bought your watch.” The store manager took a sip of water and continued gossiping with great interest, “He’s the second young master of the Zhou family in Beijing, unmarried, and doesn’t have a girlfriend, but whether he’s single or not is hard to say.”

In their circle, not having a publicly known girlfriend didn’t necessarily mean being single.

The gossip she knew was limited to this. She had heard it all from the head of the region.

Wei Lai wasn’t interested in gossip about strangers. The watch had been perfectly resolved in such a short time, so she thanked the store manager again, “What time will you finish? I’ll treat you and your boss to supper.”

The store manager waved her hand, put down the water glass, and said, “Let’s do it another day.” She smiled and said, “If I don’t treat you, I’ll feel guilty. Unfortunately, we have an internal meeting tonight. It’s probably going to last until midnight.”

The meeting was her improvised excuse. Wei Lai had just gone through a breakup; who would have the mood to eat and drink?

While Wei Lai wasn’t paying attention, she exchanged a glance with Zhao Yihan.

Zhao Yihan understood immediately and stood up with her bag. “We’ll gather again when you’re free.”

Wei Lai suddenly remembered that she had left the birthday blessing card she wrote in the watch box. “There’s a card in the watch box. I forgot to take it out. Will it be okay?”

The store manager only found out about the blessing card when Zhou Sujin picked it up. She hadn’t read what was written on it clearly. She assured Wei Lai, “Zhou Sujin looked at it and put it back. He probably thought it was a card given with the watch.” She asked Wei Lai, “You didn’t sign it, did you?”

Wei Lai replied, “I did, but with homophones.”

Some memories always come unexpectedly. All the notes that Zhang Yanxin gave her were labeled as “future.” She also filled in “future” as the recipient when shopping online. So, when she wrote the blessing card for Zhang Yanxin, she casually wrote those two words.

At that time, she thought she and Zhang Yanxin had a future.

After finishing their coffee, Wei Lai and Zhao Yihan bid farewell.

From inside the flagship store to the car, Wei Lai was considering what gift to give to the store manager and the regional manager, to express her gratitude.

Her phone in the bag kept vibrating, but she didn’t hear it.

Walking beside her, Zhao Yihan glanced at her sideways, seeing her absent-mindedness, sighed helplessly, and said, “Your phone.”

Wei Lai was momentarily puzzled, then realized that Zhao Yihan was reminding her to check her phone.

She hadn’t looked at her messages all night. Her mother had asked her what time she would be home an hour ago, but she hadn’t replied, so her mother, worried, called her again.

“Mom, I’m still out. Having supper with Zhao Yihan.”

Cheng Minzhi seemed unsure, “With whom? Zhao Yihan?”

“Yeah. My dress arrived, and she brought it to me. We had dinner together.”

“Sounds good. Take your time eating.”

Just as Wei Lai was about to hang up, she heard the sound of her mother starting the car on the other end. She glanced at the time subconsciously, “Mom, it’s so late. Did you just get off work?”

Cheng Minzhi smiled and explained why she was out so late, “I suddenly felt like redecorating the supermarket branches in the afternoon and changing the operating model a bit. I planned it in the evening and cooled down completely.” She sighed, “If only I were ten years younger, I’d still have the energy to mess around.”

“Lai Lai, you chat with Yihan. Mom’s going home.”

“Okay. Mom, drive slowly and get back home early to rest.”

Her mother managed a chain of community supermarkets, plus a new one that opened this month, totaling fifteen stores, with the largest one being two thousand square meters and the smallest one having over two hundred square meters. Even with a management team, there were still many things her mother had to worry about.

The supermarket was the same age as her, now twenty-five years old, and shared her name, called Wei Lai Supermarket.

After hanging up the phone, Wei Lai took out the car keys from her bag to hand them to the designated driver.

The designated driver hadn’t been wandering around nearby; he had been leaning on the car door reading a book. When he saw Wei Lai coming out, he put the book away in his shoulder bag and took Wei Lai’s car keys.

He wasn’t talkative, quietly driving after confirming the destination.

Sitting in the car, Zhao Yihan slapped her forehead, “Look at my memory.”

Wei Lai asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I left my clothes at the Riverside Restaurant.”

That more expensive white shirt that Wei Lai had hung in the closet.

She forgot about it when they left after dinner, and Wei Lai’s mind was chaotic at the time, so she didn’t remember.

Zhao Yihan called the restaurant to ask them to keep the clothes for her, and she would pick them up immediately.

The designated driver made a left turn at the next intersection, heading towards the Riverside Restaurant.

The two sisters remained silent.

Wei Lai leaned against her forehead, looking at the constantly receding street scenes outside the window. Her phone in her bag vibrated again, three times in a row, indicating she had received a message.

She opened WeChat, and the groups she had pinned and not set to mute were all work-related groups, so she always checked messages from these groups immediately.

Her colleague Tang Yi sent three messages in a row:

[!! Reliable news, our boss is getting engaged to Zhang Yanxin!]

[Didn’t she say she saw through marriage?]

[Tsk, indeed, marriages in wealthy families are all about matching backgrounds.]

Wei Lai’s gaze fixed on the first message. This was their privately established work group. The boss wasn’t in this group.

Another colleague in the group @Tang Yi: [This is a work group. Quickly retract irrelevant messages!]

Tang Yi didn’t retract the messages; she sent them specifically for Wei Lai to see, so Wei Lai would know that her boyfriend had decided to get engaged. Even the engagement date was already set. She didn’t want Wei Lai to be the last to know.

Wei Lai turned her head and asked Zhao Yihan, “Do you know it’s my boss?”

It was a random statement, but Zhao Yihan understood and nodded, “I heard people saying so, not sure.” She tried to comfort Wei Lai, “You should confirm it yourself, maybe it’s not true.”

It probably wasn’t wrong. If Tang Yi wasn’t sure about this news, she wouldn’t openly send it to the work group. However, Wei Lai still personally confirmed it. It was crucial for her whether to resign or not.

She messaged Zhang Yanxin’s secretary: [Secretary Liu, is his fiancée my boss?]

Secretary Liu replied instantly: [Yes. It’s a marriage between families. They only knew each other before, without any connection.]

[Mr. Zhang said he owes you an apology.]

When Zhang Yanxin mentioned breaking up, she didn’t feel this much pain. Wei Lai didn’t reply to Secretary Liu anymore, instead, she straightforwardly edited a message to send to the workgroup: [No need to retract. Thanks for the reminder. We’ve broken up. Thanks to everyone for taking care of my work for the past two years. If we have the chance, let’s work together again in the future.]

Tang Yi only dared to privately message her now: [I’ve been uncomfortable all night, couldn’t hold it in anymore. You were the last one in our department to know. It’s not like I intentionally wanted to see you make a fool of yourself by not telling you. They were all struggling with how to tell you.]

Finally, unable to bear seeing Wei Lai kept in the dark, she awkwardly sent it to the small group.

She asked a pointless question: [How are you now?]

Wei Lai: [Neither good nor bad. Just fine.]

Tang Yi grumbled: [Are there no men left in the world? You had to snatch your subordinate’s boyfriend! Especially after you poured your heart out to her!] She knew Wei Lai had been celebrating Zhang Yanxin’s birthday tonight, [What about the watch you saved up for so long to buy?]

Wei Lai: [Sold the watch. No loss.]

Tang Yi: [But you bought matching items with it, those matching items, others definitely wouldn’t want them, isn’t that a loss!]

Wei Lai smiled: [Experience gained from a loss, it’s good. You should sleep soon, you still have work tomorrow.]

After saying goodnight to Tang Yi, she straightforwardly sent a message to her boss: [I resign. I’ll complete the procedures tomorrow.]

With things having come to this, there was no need to pretend not to understand anymore. The boss replied: [Okay. Hand over all the projects you have at hand in a way that’s convenient for you. You don’t need to come to the company, I’ll arrange for someone to come to you.]

Wei Lai: [I haven’t done anything wrong. There’s nothing inconvenient. Don’t worry, I won’t feel ashamed to face people. I’ll come to the company to hand it over tomorrow.] Then she deleted her boss’s contact information.

Looking out of the car window, she couldn’t see where the car had stopped.

Zhao Yihan wasn’t good at comforting people, and every minute she spent in the car was particularly agonizing.

The car stopped by the roadside of the Riverside Restaurant, and Wei Lai was still looking out the window.

“I’ll go get the clothes,” Zhao Yihan opened the car door.

Wei Lai snapped out of her thoughts, quickly regaining her composure, as if nothing had happened, “I’ll accompany you.”

“No need, you stay in the car,” Zhao Yihan closed the car door.

Wei Lai’s mind was in a mess now. She glanced out of the window and saw an SUV parked about two or three meters away. This was the first time she had seen this deep emerald-green color in real life.

Through the car window, she couldn’t see very clearly.

She lowered the car window to admire the car for a few more glances, using this to distract herself from her sadness.

In the car a few meters away, only Zhou Sujin was inside. He inadvertently turned his head, and their eyes met through the car window.

He could see her.

She couldn’t see him.