Chapter 51

Once she had control over Wei Lai, when did it become Wei Lai giving orders to her?

Mu Di snorted coldly twice and hung up directly.

At that moment, her secretary knocked on the door and entered, “Ms. Mu…”

Mu Di wasn’t in the mood to deal with work-related matters at the moment. She interrupted her secretary and waved her hand, gesturing for her to leave.

If she didn’t report promptly, the secretary wouldn’t be able to fulfill her duties and would have to push through, “Ms. Mu wants you to go over.”

Mu Di pressed her eyebrows and sighed, “Okay, I got it.”

She sat on the sofa for a while, calming herself, before heading upstairs to her father’s office.

Since the first day of the Lunar New Year, her parents have been consumed with anger, followed by a cloud of worry looming over the house. Her father’s mood was not getting any better.

Her father pointed to the chair in front of the desk, gesturing for her to sit.

There was no need for any more beating around the bush between father and daughter. He went straight to the point, asking her, “Are you planning to continue with Zhang Yanxin or get a divorce?”

He added, “Daddy respects your decision.”

Mu Di didn’t hesitate, “I haven’t thought about divorce. Anyway, the joke’s already out there. It doesn’t make a difference whether we divorce or not.”

Mu Dong said, “As long as you can pass through the gate in your heart.” Then he continued, “Zhou Sujin is back in Jiangcheng, and this time, he means business.”

“Dad, are Zhou Sujin and Wei Lai really marrying for mutual benefit?” Mu Di had lost her judgment and could only seek help from her father.

If they were, then Wei Lai’s threat to her would be empty, just bluffing. She wouldn’t need to take it seriously.

She was just worried about misjudging the situation and making things worse for the company.

Mu Dong said, “That’s not important. What’s important is that Zhou Sujin will give her enough face. Can’t you see that from their engagement until now?”

Mu Di fell silent, torn inside.

—

After the call was disconnected, Wei Lai didn’t hurry back to the meeting room. She stood by the window, absentmindedly analyzing Mu Di.

She had deliberately let Lu Manyi insert someone into her supermarket. What about Mu Di herself? Had she ever thought about inserting her own person?

“Lai Lai?” Cheng Minzhi came out to find her daughter.

The meeting room was getting noisy, and her daughter hadn’t returned after a twenty-minute phone call.

Wei Lai came back to her senses and said, “I’m thinking about something.”

She asked her mother about the discussion on logistics and distribution.

Cheng Minzhi said, “They’re still arguing.”

“Chen Qi and Tang Yi are arguing?”

“Yeah.”

“Normal.” With such a big difference in opinion, everyone wanted to do things their own way, so arguments were inevitable.

Wei Lai pushed open the window, letting in the cold breeze along with the fresh air outside.

Cheng Minzhi sensed that her daughter was deeply troubled and worried that there might be a problem with her marriage.

“Is Sujin still in London?”

At the mention of Zhou Sujin, Wei Lai’s lips curled up, “He’s back. He returned last night.”

Cheng Minzhi followed her daughter’s joy, hoping that there were no problems with her emotions. She asked her daughter, “What’s your current opinion on logistics construction?”

“The same as before. We’ll cooperate strategically with logistics companies and build our own logistics chain.” Wei Lai closed the window and returned to the meeting room with her mother.

The argument abruptly stopped when they entered the room.

Today, there were nine attendees, and more than half of them disagreed with building their own logistics and delivery team.

Yu Younian put down his teacup and looked at Wei Lai, “What’s your opinion, Lai Lai?” He smiled helplessly, “Hasn’t it changed from before?”

Wei Lai smiled and said, “Young still understands me.”

As her voice fell, the meeting room fell silent again.

Tang Yi glanced lightly at Chen Qi. Chen Qi’s face remained calm, revealing nothing of what he was thinking. Today marked Tang Yi’s first argument with her colleagues, breaking her record.

But even after the argument, the outcome remained unchanged. The boss ultimately made the decision, so what more could she say? She couldn’t argue with the boss in front of so many people.

After the meeting dispersed, Tang Yi didn’t return to her own office. Instead, she went to Wei Lai’s office and casually closed the door.

“Do you know how much money needs to be invested in the early stages of building our own logistics team? The entire cold chain and ‘home delivery’ service…”

Wei Lai interrupted her, “Of course, I know.”

Tang Yi sat on the sofa, resting her hand against her forehead, sighing.

Wei Lai made coffee and handed a cup to Tang Yi.

Tang Yi couldn’t help but wonder, “We used to get along so well.” She began to doubt herself, “Am I being too conservative now?”

Wei Lai sat down opposite her, “It’s not that you’re conservative. Your position at Junyang Dirty Erqi Fog two bar chair chasing Wenwen determines that you won’t be as impulsive as before. You have responsibilities, so you naturally think about risks first and tend to imagine the worst possible outcomes. That’s why you appear to be ‘conservative.'”

Tang Yi sighed, “Will I become more and more disliked in future meetings?”

Wei Lai nodded with a smile, “Yes. You’ll also find yourself arguing more and more, feeling annoyed with everyone, and thinking that others are deliberately opposing you.”

Tang Yi: “…”

Just as she was about to sip her coffee, Wei Lai’s words made her laugh awkwardly, and she couldn’t drink it anymore.

Feeling both hungry and tired now, and having never argued with Chen Qi, Tang Yi had been holding her breath all along.

“If I knew we were going to argue, I should have bought more dumplings for breakfast.”

Wei Lai had some food, so she got up and took a few breakfast buns from the table for Tang Yi.

Tang Yi didn’t stand for the ceremony and tore open a bun, eating it with hot coffee.

Having offended Chen Qi today, the next time there was a major decision, she might offend Yu Younian.

The phone on the desk vibrated, it was Mu Di calling.

Wei Lai glanced at the time, it was 11:05, a minute late. If Mu Di still wanted this opportunity, she had missed it.

Wei Lai didn’t answer, and after Tang Yi wolfed down two breakfast croissants, Mu Di’s call came in again.

Wei Lai answered, “If you feel forced or wronged, you don’t have to come to me.”

Mu Di, for the sake of her family’s company’s overall situation, swallowed her pride.

Leaning against the corner of the desk, Wei Lai said calmly, “The conditions at eleven o’clock are different from those before ten-fifty. Besides making Fumanyuan’s losses double, also find out who he’s placed in our supermarket.”

Just as Tang Yi was about to tear open her third croissant, she suddenly widened her eyes at Wei Lai’s words.

“Sorry, I can’t do that. I’ve asked my uncle before, and if I ask again, he’ll get suspicious.”

Wei Lai pondered for a moment and said into the phone, “You’ve also arranged someone in my place.”

Mu Di smiled and said, “YYes. Kang, the store manager at Jiang’an Yunchen, is mine. So are Yu Younian, and your procurement manager. I’ve also arranged for Tang Yi and Chen Qi.”

At this moment, Mu Di’s answer was impeccable in confusing the situation.

Wei Lai didn’t respond. Mu Di not only knew everything about their supermarket’s old employees but also had a clear understanding of the new ones.

Mu Di quickly adjusted her mentality and calmly dealt with Wei Lai’s suspicions, “To frame someone like this, even if you make our company go bankrupt, I won’t admit it. I can’t just casually frame someone. You tell me, am I framing Tang Yi or Chen Qi, or Yu Younian, who has a family to support?”

She couldn’t continue this conversation any further; too many words would lead to mistakes. “Double the losses, deal done, please remember what you said.”

She hung up the phone again.

Wei Lai locked her phone and threw it on the table, carefully reviewing the conversation she had just had with Mu Di.

“Who were you talking to on the phone?” Tang Yi couldn’t care less about eating croissants now. “Is there a mole in our supermarket?”

“Yeah. Arranged by Lu Manyi, don’t know who.” Wei Lai didn’t hide anything from her. “Mu Di’s call.”

“…” Tang Yi was shocked. Compared to Lu Manyi’s infiltration into their supermarket, she was even more surprised that someone as proud as Mu Di would actually bow down to Wei Lai.

It should be because Mu Di was afraid of Zhou Sujin and had to lower her head under his roof.

“Now what?” Tang Yi asked. “Lu Manyi’s people are sneaky.”

Wei Lai had been working overtime these days and hadn’t thought of a better solution yet.

“I’ll go back and think of a way to find out who this person is for you.”

She comforted Wei Lai, saying that being a boss was like this every day, with something unpleasant happening. She couldn’t expect to have a comfortable day.

Mu Di had indeed snatched Zhang Yanxin away. Even though Tang Yi was curious about the content of Mu Di’s call, she didn’t ask again.

—

At eleven thirty in the afternoon, Zhou Sujin left the office and went to Riverview Restaurant. He had been invited to lunch there by He Wancheng.

When he was still in London, He Wancheng called him and made it clear that if he was speaking for Zhang Yanxin, he didn’t have time for this meal.

“It’s unrelated to Zhang Yanxin.”

Only then did he find time to meet.

Without the need for pleasantries, Zhou Sujin took off his coat and sat down.

He Wancheng signaled to the waiter that they didn’t need to be in the private room. After the door was closed, he smiled and said, “Who would have thought that last year’s dinner not only brought about your and Wei Lai’s marriage but also the possibility of my own.”

Zhou Sujin smiled but remained silent.

He Wancheng talked about the cooperation between Wei Lai’s supermarket and Xinwang supermarket, and the conversation was almost done.

“Xinwang Supermarket?”

“Yeah, it’s our Sucheng community chain supermarket. Didn’t Wei Lai tell you?” 

Zhou Sujin replied, “No. We rarely talk about work.”

He Wancheng briefly explained the cooperation matters and casually asked, “So you haven’t paid attention to her dealings with Fumanyuan?”

“No.” Zhou Sujin added, “But I can guess some.”

Hearing that he hadn’t paid attention, He Wancheng was somewhat surprised, “I thought you might arrange someone to help Wei Lai secretly.”

“No.” Zhou Sujin continued, “The scale of the supermarket is just right for her to exercise. It’s better to give her one of my mature enterprises directly than to help her directly.”

He Wancheng didn’t say anything more and raised his glass to him.

After a meal, eight out of ten sentences were related to Wei Lai.

From discussing Fuman Garden to his prenuptial agreement with Wei Lai.

He Wancheng had heard about the agreement from the younger generation at home, and he was curious about how Zhou Sujin, with so much wealth, would arrange the property in the prenuptial agreement.

“Did you really sign the agreement?”

Zhou Sujin nodded, confirming the rumors.

As an elder, He Wancheng naturally wouldn’t gossip about what was in the agreement.

After the fruit plate was served, Zhou Sujin only tasted one green grape.

He Wancheng didn’t invite him to dinner just to catch up; there were some things that only Zhou Sujin could help with, so he had to talk about other things during dinner.

After the meal, when the fruits had been served, He Wancheng said, “Could you help me indirectly find out what impression Wei Lai has of me, not in a business context?”

The person Cheng Minzhi cared most about was her daughter, and Wei Lai’s attitude toward him determined whether he had any hope. He said it with some embarrassment, as he had never cared so much about how others saw him in his life.

Zhou Sujin didn’t joke at all and replied, “Sure, I’ll ask her for you.”

After bidding farewell to He Wancheng downstairs at the restaurant and getting into the Bentley, Zhou Sujin leaned back in his seat to rest. After thinking for a while, he opened his eyes, picked up his phone, and dialed the number of his personal legal advisor, Lawyer Xing.

The phone rang.

He glanced out the window at the continuously receding street scene. Coincidentally, there was a store at Wei Lai Supermarket, and the newly made storefront was very eye-catching.

Lawyer Xing answered, “Mr. Zhou, what can I do for you?”

Zhou Sujin said, “You’ll need to come to Jiangcheng tomorrow or the day after.”

The Bentley smoothly drove off. Uncle Yan didn’t understand to whom this call was made and why he was coming to Jiangcheng.

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped in the parking lot of the supermarket’s headquarters.

Before getting out of the car, Zhou Sujin told Uncle Yan to pick him up at half past five.

On the second floor, Wei Lai was busy analyzing the data she had just received ten minutes ago. Since Lu Manyi had arranged people in her own supermarket, she had informed her mother truthfully. After all, her mother knew more about Lu Manyi and their employees than she did.

How could she quickly and accurately identify them? She needed her mother’s help.

After three hours, her mother sent her some useful information.

She hardly ever closed her office door, so she could see the corridor at a glance.

“Mr. Zhou, good afternoon.”

Suddenly, Tang Yi’s voice sounded from the corridor, greeting someone who didn’t respond.

There was more than one Zhou surname among suppliers, but for some reason, when Wei Lai heard the words “Mr. Zhou,” she instinctively looked towards the door.

She felt it couldn’t be Zhou Sujin, but she hoped it was him anyway.

The footsteps drew closer, and a tall, cool figure appeared in her sight.

“How come you’re here?” Wei Lai’s voice was naturally soft, with a hint of tenderness.

She instinctively started collecting the scattered reports on her desk.

“I don’t need to collect them.” Zhou Sujin walked over, took off his suit jacket, and draped it over the back of her chair.

Wei Lai asked again, “Why did you come?”

Zhou Sujin sat down opposite her and said, “I promised you before that if you had any uncertainties in your operations, you could ask me. I’m free this afternoon, so I’ll help you with risk assessment.”

The memory was suddenly brought back by his words, pulling her back to the time when they were under contract together. He had said his network of contacts was at her disposal, and that night she had asked him over the phone, “Do you count as part of your own network?” He had said no.

Wei Lai looked straight at him. “I have another question I want to ask.”

Zhou Sujin didn’t go to pour another glass of water but took her glass instead. “Go ahead.”

“Mr. Zhou, does your network of contacts include yourself?”

Zhou Sujin looked at her. “I’ve come to your office voluntarily. Do you think I’m part of it?” He paused and added, “Do you still remember that I didn’t agree to be your risk control advisor back then? I’ve kept it in mind.”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Wei Lai stood up, wanting to lean across the table to kiss him. The office door wasn’t closed, so she gestured for him to close it.

Zhou Sujin understood what she wanted to do. “This is a workplace.”

Wei Lai looked at him insistently.

After a few seconds of stalemate, Zhou Sujin stood up. “It can’t last more than half a minute.”

Wei Lai reluctantly agreed. “Okay.”

Zhou Sujin closed and locked the door, then turned around. By the time he approached, Wei Lai had already walked over. She grabbed his neck with both hands, and he leaned down to kiss her. They didn’t time it, but half a minute wasn’t long.

She responded eagerly to the kiss. When she felt like she couldn’t breathe because he was kissing her so passionately, she grabbed his collar with one hand and tentatively reached for his Adam’s apple with the other.

As soon as her fingertips touched the sharpest part of his Adam’s apple, Zhou Sujin grabbed her fingertips, not allowing her to touch it randomly.

As soon as the kiss left her lips for a moment, it deepened again.

While kissing her, his right hand held her left fingertips, and his thumb couldn’t help but lightly rub against them.

Wei Lai’s breathing hitched. She hadn’t expected her fingertips to be so sensitive in his hands. She quickly stepped back, ending the kiss.

Zhou Sujin let go of her hand, tidied her hair, and went to open the office door. Glancing at his watch, three minutes had already passed.

Wei Lai pressed her hand against her cheek, unsure if her face was too hot or if her hand was too cold.

With her other hand, she flipped through the documents she had only glanced at. “I still have some documents to study.”

Zhou Sujin crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair. “Continue. I’ll be here this afternoon and won’t leave. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.” He paused for a moment. “Try to figure it out yourself as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

Wei Lai nodded. With him sitting opposite her, a few arm lengths away, her heart felt much calmer.

She finished reviewing all the documents, making her judgments and analyses on her own without asking him a single word. Similar situations would occur frequently in the future, and she had to learn to accumulate experience.

For the first half of the afternoon, Zhou Sujin handled emails on his phone. Then, he spent over an hour learning about the development history of all the branches of Wei Lai Supermarket.

At half past five, Wei Lai left work on time.

“We’re eating at home today. I mentioned last time that I wanted to make dumplings for you. Today, I’ll make them for you.”

Zhou Sujin asked, “Is it troublesome?”

“Not at all.” Wei Lai shut down her computer. “The dumpling filling was prepared by my grandmother a long time ago. It’ll only take half an hour at most with glutinous rice flour.”

When Zhou Sujin heard it would only take half an hour, he agreed to go along with it.

There were no bowls for kneading dough at home, so Wei Lai bought one from the supermarket downstairs.

Back home, she got busy in the kitchen.

Zhou Sujin opened the wine cabinet and put several bottles of wine he had brought back from London into it.

“Have you identified the people arranged by Fumanyuan?” Zhou Sujin asked as he put away all the wine bottles and closed the cabinet door.

Wei Lai took out the dumpling filling and glutinous rice flour from the refrigerator and organized her thoughts before answering, “A few people have been ruled out, and a few people have been identified. I have a feeling that Mu Di might have arranged someone around me too.”

Zhou Sujin walked over from the wine cabinet. “When you suspect something, there’s usually something to it.”

Wei Lai suddenly turned her head.

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Sujin asked.

Wei Lai gathered her courage and said, “I now suspect that you like me.” After saying it, she met his calm eyes. “Am I right to suspect that?”

Zhou Sujin said, “No need to suspect. If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t do so much for you.”

Wei Lai’s heart pounded, and she held the glutinous rice flour in her hand but suddenly didn’t know what to do with it.

Zhou Sujin took a transparent glass bowl used for kneading dough from beside him and gently placed it on the glass table in front of her.

Wei Lai poured the glutinous rice flour into the glass bowl. After being together with him for so long, she always quickly calmed down and regained her composure, or at least appeared calm on the surface. She broke the silence with a meaningless remark, “It seems my intuition is quite accurate.”

Eyeballing the glutinous rice flour to see if there was enough, she closed the bag and set it aside before picking up the water ready and pouring it in.

She added water as she spoke, “I hope your affection grows a little more, so my New Year’s Eve wish can come true sooner.” Her wish at midnight on New Year’s Eve was that one day he would love her deeply.

Zhou Sujin responded with a barely audible “Hmm.”

Lost in thought, Wei Lai added too much water, and the water level in the glass bowl submerged the glutinous rice flour…

“It’s okay,” Zhou Sujin said.

He opened the glutinous rice flour and continued pouring it into the bowl until the excess water was absorbed, forming a soft and sticky dough.

The strap of Wei Lai’s apron loosened, and Zhou Sujin raised his hand to re-tie the apron behind her.

After a few minutes of ambiguous atmosphere in the kitchen, they returned to the main topic.

Wei Lai said, “Then I’ll talk to that person tomorrow.” There’s no more efficient way than directly asking the person involved.