Chapter 50

Wei Lai only met his gaze for a moment, her heart fluttering, prompting her to subconsciously avert her eyes and look out of the window beside him. She felt quite embarrassed, then pretended as if nothing had happened and looked back at him.

Those two cufflinks were at her fingertips, and her fingers tightly pinched them.

Zhou Sujin looked at her. “Do you want to tell me something?”

Wei Lai replied, “Then you shouldn’t be so understanding with others.”

Her words were just to let him understand her current mood, but she didn’t expect him to respond with a simple “Hmm”. It was such a straightforward response that she didn’t know how to reply.

Back at Jiang’an Yunchen’s home, a large bouquet of roses leaned against the sofa, half of Zhou Sujin’s suit was off, and Wei Lai hugged him, leaning into his embrace.

He had developed a habit; whenever she leaned on him, he would reach out to encircle her.

After embracing her with one arm, he struggled a bit to take off his clothes with one hand.

Wei Lai didn’t kiss him or ask for a kiss; she just quietly stuck to him in his arms.

Zhou Sujin couldn’t hang his suit back in the entrance closet, so he casually tossed it onto the side cabinet.

He lightly stroked her back with his palm. “Do you want to see the gift now, or wait a bit?”

Wei Lai couldn’t hide her joy in her eyes. “Didn’t you already give me flowers? Did you buy me another gift?”

“Flowers don’t count as gifts.” He asked again, “Do you want to see it now?”

“Yes.” Wei Lai got up from his embrace.

Zhou Sujin opened one of the boxes. He didn’t like excessive packaging for gifts, so there was only a dustproof bag. He took out a watch box from the dustproof bag.

It was an exquisite manual mechanical women’s watch, encrusted with a circle of diamonds, with a star and moon design on the dial, paired with a white strap, delicate, elegant, and yet distinctive.

“It suits your temperament, so I bought it.”

Wei Lai didn’t recognize this series, but she could tell it wasn’t cheap at a glance. “Didn’t you already give me a fully diamond watch?”

Zhou Sujin said, “That fully diamond watch wasn’t bought by me; it was a wedding gift from my grandfather.”

Wei Lai understood what he meant. This white strap watch was personally selected by him, so it could be considered as a gift from him.

She handed her hand over, letting him help her put it on.

Suddenly, she also wanted to give him a watch but was worried he might mind.

In the end, she hesitated.

“Do you have something to say?” Zhou Sujin saw her hesitation.

Wei Lai met his calm gaze. “I want to give you a watch. Would you mind?”

Zhou Sujin’s responses were always straightforward, without asking why she would mind. He said, “No, I don’t mind.” Then he asked, “Do you have the money now?”

He was asking seriously, not joking.

Wei Lai smiled. “The money for buying you a watch is enough, and I received a bit of a bonus at the end of the year.”

Zhou Sujin closed the suitcase, zipped it up, and placed it on the side of the sofa. “When do you plan to go buy it? I’ll clear my schedule.”

Choosing a date was not as good as hitting the date. Wei Lai decided, “Right now. I’ll give you the Valentine’s Day gift I got for you.”

They postponed their Valentine’s Day dinner and put on their coats to go out.

The Bentley drove out of the underground garage of Jiang’an Yunchan, and Yan Shu asked them where they were going.

Zhou Sujin looked at her, and Wei Lai suddenly hesitated. Should she choose the same brand? But if she chose a different brand, it would be slightly lower in grade.

She had never been so conflicted and anxious as she was tonight.

Uncle Yan drove very slowly, waiting for them to make a decision.

Zhou Sujin directly ordered to go to the flagship store of a certain watch brand. Uncle Yan had been there once; last year, Zhou Sujin and Lu Yu bought watches there, and he drove along with them.

After instructing Uncle Yan, Zhou Sujin lowered the partition and turned to Wei Lai. “The watch I just gave you is also from this brand. If I minded, I wouldn’t have bought the same brand, and I wouldn’t have kept that watch in my watch cabinet.”

Thinking of that watch, Wei Lai always felt indebted to him.

“Wei Lai,” Zhou Sujin said solemnly again, “that matter is in the past, don’t treat it as a psychological burden.” There was a long silence in between.

He had never regretted any of his decisions, except for that one time.

“I apologize to you, I shouldn’t have been emotional that day and stopped you from being coquettish.”

Wei Lai placed her hand in his. She liked the feeling of her fingertips being wrapped in his palm, a sense of security she had never experienced before.

She shook her head. “It’s okay, I understand.”

Zhou Sujin said, “I might wear that watch again in the future.”

With that, he gently grasped her fingertips.

Wei Lai suddenly sat up halfway, leaning on the armrest box in the middle, and kissed him on the lips. If she had known he wouldn’t mind, she would have gone to the flagship store earlier to see which watch would be suitable for him.

Tonight, the store manager was also in the store, and meeting again was nerve-wracking and awkward.

In order to sell that watch, she and the regional manager hadn’t initially told the truth. Who would have known that Zhou Sujin and Wei Lai would become husband and wife? Zhang Yanxin even came specially to check the whereabouts of that watch. On the day of the check, she wasn’t in the store, and by the time she found out about it, it was too late.

“Hello, Mr. Zhou.”

The store manager gave a glance to Wei Lai.

Wei Lai smiled, “I’m buying a watch for my husband.”

The store manager: “…”

She quickly adjusted to her best smile and said, “Please follow me upstairs.”

She thought to herself, Mr. Zhou had already looked at all the mid- to high-end watches in the store back then, but none of them caught his eye. Could another visit really result in a purchase?

In the VIP room, Zhou Sujin lets Wei Lai choose.

Throughout the process, Wei Lai didn’t ask for his opinion again. She first selected three watches from the many options, then let him try each one on, finally settling on a mechanical watch with a black dial, subtle and elegant.

“This one.” she said to the store manager.

This was the most expensive watch in the store; it was not available in stock. If Wei Lai queued using her VIP status, it would probably take so long that she might even forget she had ordered the watch herself.

Wei Lai wore the selected watch on her left wrist, next to her own watch. One black and one white dial, with no shared design elements, yet they complemented each other exceptionally.

“How long do you think it’ll take to queue with my husband’s VIP status?” she asked the store manager.

“At least three years. This watch is made by our top master craftsmen.” As far as she knew, no customer had received the watch within three years.

Wei Lai decided, “Then we’ll wait in line.”

She turned to Zhou Sujin again and asked, “Do you think it’s too long?”

Zhou Sujin: “It’s fine.”

Leaving the flagship store, Wei Lai felt like Valentine’s Day was complete.

The only imperfection was waiting for three years, maybe even longer.

In three years, would they still be together?

Once experienced, some unpleasant things were particularly prone to leaving lasting effects.

During dinner, she inexplicably thought of three years and seven months.

In bed, these two numbers popped back into her mind.

When Zhou Sujin kissed her, he noticed she was distracted.

Instead of deepening the kiss, he gently touched her lips and patiently asked, “What’s wrong?”

Wei Lai: “Do you think we’ll still be together in three years?”

Zhou Sujin turned on the light, looking into her eyes, “I won’t divorce you. I don’t know about you.”

Wei Lai kissed him softly, her voice low, “I won’t either. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

Zhou Sujin gazed at her for a moment, then kissed her deeply, holding her lips and not letting go.

While kissing, he gently moved her hand away from his neck.

The kiss traveled downward from her lips.

The cold breath from his body dispersed as his kiss moved down, away from her nose.

Before Wei Lai could react, her legs bent involuntarily.

She instinctively reached to turn off the light, but before her hand reached the floor lamp switch, Zhou Sujin buried his head and kissed her.

Wei Lai’s stomach tightened, and his tongue was unusually gentle, instantly overwhelming her.

Zhou Sujin raised his head and kissed her again.

After getting up, he held her in his arms and asked, “Now, are you still worried about whether we’ll be together in three years?”

Thinking of their intimacy just now, Wei Lai’s heart pounded like a drum. She didn’t look at him and shook her head only after calming down.

That night, she slept soundly until dawn.

The next morning, Wei Lai lay in bed for a moment.

Zhou Sujin was accustomed to getting up early, even though he had slept late last night.

Wei Lai washed up and went to the living room outside, but he wasn’t home.

[Husband, did you go to the company?]

Zhou Sujin: [Yeah, I just arrived downstairs. There’s a note on the dining table for you, didn’t you see it?]

Wei Lai hurried over, the note was pressed down by her car keys, and she picked up the note:

Your car is in the garage. I’ve gone to the company.

-Zhou Sujin

Thinking that he wouldn’t leave love notes for her, Wei Lai read his message again, caught the point that he was still in the garage, and immediately called him, “Honey, haven’t you left yet?”

Zhou Sujin had just closed the car door. “Do you want to come to work with me?”

“Yeah.”

“Finish your meal first, no rush, I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Wei Lai hastily took a few bites, worried about getting hungry later, packed a sandwich and a box of milk into her bag, put on her coat, and hurried out.

Uncle Yan parked the car in the closest spot to the elevator door, and she stepped into the car. Today, Zhou Sujin was still wearing a white shirt and black trousers, neatly dressed, with his suit jacket draped over the center armrest.

The buttons of the shirt were fastened all the way to the top, and there was a kiss mark on his neck.

When they kissed yesterday, he had moved to stop her, but he hadn’t said anything aloud to stop her, and she inadvertently left a mark.

Zhou Sujin asked Uncle Yan to take Wei Lai to the office first, then to the Kunchen branch.

He glanced at her bag and asked, “Is breakfast in the bag?”

It was impossible to hide, especially with the distinctive scent of sandwiches.

“Yeah, I’ll eat it at the office.” Wei Lai explained deliberately, “I’m not hungry right now.”

Zhou Sujin said, “Just eat. It’ll get cold if you don’t.”

“We have a microwave in the office, I’ll heat it up when I eat.” Wei Lai still remembered when she had put several bags of snacks in his car before, he had looked at her a few more times. Not to mention eating in his car.

“You probably don’t like people eating in your car, right?”

“Yeah.” Zhou Sujin was checking his emails and didn’t look up. He said, “You’re an exception.”

Being unconditionally favored by him made eating or not eating less important.

Just having him say that was enough.

She wanted to ride to work with him this morning because she had something to ask him.

Zhou Sujin asked her to speak directly without affecting his reply to emails.

Wei Lai drafted her thoughts before speaking, “If you suddenly found out that Kunchen Group’s management had placed someone from your competitor, but you didn’t know who, what would you do?”

Zhou Sujin didn’t answer directly, instead, he asked, “Did Fumanyuan place someone in your supermarket?”

“Yeah.”

Wei Lai suddenly felt a special desire for a working partner like him, she didn’t need to say the second sentence, and he understood what trouble she had encountered.

It was probably the most efficient communication ever.

Zhou Sujin continued, “Kunchen has more than one competitor who has placed people inside.”

“…,” Wei Lai stared at him, he always replied to emails calmly, as if he were discussing other companies’ affairs.

“This kind of thing is unavoidable.” Zhou Sujin finally turned to look at her. “As long as we don’t give them the opportunity to make major decisions, it won’t cause much trouble.”

Wei Lai nodded. So she needed to have the ability to make independent decisions and the courage to accept failures, just like him.

“Do you remember the advice I gave you yesterday?”

Wei Lai smiled, “How could I forget.”

Zhou Sujin said, “Kunchen has too many competitors, from all over the world, I can’t pinpoint them, but you’re different, you can pinpoint Fumanyuan.”

She was so smart that he didn’t need to say more.

Finally, he added, “You can borrow my momentum anytime.”

Wei Lai wouldn’t pretend to be polite with him anymore. When she needed it, she would definitely use it.

The time passed quickly on the way, and feeling like they hadn’t talked much, Uncle Yan parked the car in the usual spot.

Before getting out of the car, Wei Lai looked at him several times. How could Zhou Sujin not sense her intention? He put his notebook on the armrest and got out of the car too.

Wei Lai went around to his side, and hugged her.

She nestled in his arms and said, “I wanted to see you earlier today.”

Zhou Sujin coaxed her, “I’m not leaving, just staying in the car. If you want to find me, just come downstairs.”

Wei Lai was taken aback, “Aren’t you going to the office?”

“It’s just a temporary office, I can work in the car. I won’t be able to have lunch with you at noon, I have an appointment.”

How could she let him stay in the car for so long? Although his car was spacious and comfortable, it couldn’t compare to the comfort of the office.

“I’m busy, no time to come downstairs. You go back to the office, and come to pick me up earlier tonight.”

Zhou Sujin nodded, letting her go upstairs to eat breakfast.

Wei Lai waved and watched the Bentley leave before going upstairs.

Once in the office, she got busy, eating breakfast while looking at yesterday’s reports.

Just as she had barely read a couple of lines, her phone rang, the number wasn’t saved, but she remembered the call from a few days ago, it was from the previous procurement.

The procurement hadn’t expected her to keep her word, canceling a deal.

Originally, she had done it because she needed money urgently, ignoring her conscience. “By the way, Mr. Wei, be cautious of the niece of your competitor, it’s all her idea.”

So it turned out that Mu Di was involved too.

“Thank you.”

“Apologize to Mr. Cheng for me.”

Just as she hung up the phone, Tang Yi knocked on the door, “I knew you hadn’t eaten, so I bought a few more dumplings.” She handed half of the steamed dumplings to Wei Lai.

Wei Lai hadn’t eaten these steamed dumplings from this place for a long time. Tang Yi used to bring them to her often when they worked together.

“We still have a meeting at ten?”

Wei Lai nodded, “We didn’t reach a conclusion yesterday, so we’re continuing today.”

Tang Yi said, “I’m still sticking to my idea.”

There was a big difference of opinion about whether the supermarket should build its own logistics or strategically cooperate with a logistics company.

At five minutes to ten, all the attendees were present.

Wei Lai asked them to each express their opinions. Despite having cooled down overnight, they still stuck to their own viewpoints from yesterday.

Chen Qi suggested building their own logistics. He acknowledged that there would definitely be losses in the early stages, but they would gain core competitiveness later. Having their own delivery team would give them control and convenience in management, ensuring a better shopping experience with “home delivery” services.

Tang Yi disagreed, stating that building their own logistics would be too costly. The initial losses would drag down the company, and Wei Lai’s supermarket only focused on local markets, especially community stores. For at least the next ten years, offline shopping will remain the primary focus. Furthermore, it was impossible to predict how the logistics industry would be reshuffled in ten years’ time.

By then, so-called core competitiveness might be worthless.

The two couldn’t reach a consensus.

Yu Younian said, “Having our own delivery team can indeed ensure a better shopping experience, but where will we get so much money to invest? We should consider Tang Yi’s concerns more seriously.”

At that moment, Wei Lai’s phone rang, it was from the finance department.

“You guys continue, I’ll take this call.” She picked up her phone and went outside, closing the meeting room door behind her.

The CFO said they had sent the calculated losses to her email, with details attached.

“Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

Wei Lai hung up, logged into her email, and checked. It was the losses caused by Lu Manyi to their supermarket. She forwarded it directly to Mu Di.

As she expected, within two minutes, Mu Di called.

Wei Lai answered without waiting for Mu Di to speak, “No mistake, it’s sent to you.”

Mu Di was puzzled, but she had a bad feeling, “What do you mean by sending it to me?”

“The amount stated is the losses caused by your uncle to me. There’s no need for compensation. I’m not asking for much. You make your uncle suffer double the losses, and we’ll be done with this matter.”

Mu Di found it ridiculous, “Wei Lai, do you even know what you’re saying?”

“Zhou Sujin wants to acquire Xinming. You know very well that your family will be affected. Losing a few billion won’t be enough to save you. Your family may go downhill from here, and it’s almost impossible to climb back up the ranks of Jiangcheng’s rich list. As long as you personally cause losses to your uncle’s Fumanyuan, I’ll consider letting Zhou Sujin go easy on your family. This is such a lucrative deal that you might not even be able to beg for it. I’m giving you this opportunity, you handle it yourself.”

Wei Lai emphasized, “It must be you personally. If you want to mess with Fumanyuan, your uncle won’t easily notice.”

Mu Di almost gritted her teeth, “Wei Lai, you’re going too far.”

“Who’s going too far? You know better than anyone.” Wei Lai glanced at her watch, “You have half an hour to consider. If you don’t respond by ten-fifty, I’ll take it as you’ve given up.”