Chapter 56

Speaking of going upstairs, Wei Lai still lingered under the starry sky.

Zhou Sujin asked her when she would have time for a long vacation, “I’ll take you to see the real thing.” Then he asked her, “Where do you most want to go?”

Wei Lai shook her head. “I’m not interested in anywhere else. I just like looking at the starry sky in Cullinan.”

She had seen all kinds of starry skies on the grasslands, on the snow-capped mountains, in the polar regions, and under the vast sky. But none of them belonged to her.

Only this small piece in the car was given to her by him.

She hugged him tightly.

Zhou Sujin asked, “Do you want to go upstairs with me?”

Wei Lai responded with a light “Hmm” and let him go.

Her apartment was not as spacious as Jiang’an Yunchen’s living room. She could see all the layout at a glance from the doorway.

She had tidied up before Zhou Sujin arrived, making it neat and warm.

The entrance cabinet was not spacious enough to hang clothes, so Zhou Sujin placed his suit jacket on the back of the sofa. The colors of various pieces of furniture were similar to her favorite clothes. The sofa was milky coffee-colored, and the carpet was vintage caramel-colored.

There were dark floor lamps, and there were books on the sofa armrests and coffee table.

Wei Lai took off her long skirt and changed into a comfortable nightgown.

Without wasting time to make coffee, she poured a glass of warm water for him and sat down next to him.

“When are you leaving?” Even though he had just arrived, she was already counting down the time until he left.

Except for the weekends, Zhou Sujin could only spend one night with her.

“I’ll send you to the office tomorrow morning and then head to the airport.”

Wei Lai was already very satisfied. She could still see him the next morning when she woke up. He often left after coaxing her to sleep in the early hours of the morning.

She suddenly tugged at his black shirt. “Mr. Zhou.”

But there was no follow-up.

Zhou Sujin couldn’t always accurately figure out when she was being coquettish. He thought she wanted to drink the water from his glass and handed it to her.

Wei Lai didn’t take the glass or drink from it.

Zhou Sujin met her gaze for a moment. “Do you want to sit in my lap?”

“Yeah.”

Zhou Sujin originally had his legs crossed on the sofa, but he uncrossed them.

Wei Lai sat on his lap for the first time, and her heart was pounding.

While she was in his arms, Zhou Sujin couldn’t easily reach for the water glass. He stretched his long arm to place the glass on the side table.

Wei Lai hadn’t noticed before, but she happened to catch sight of the watch he was wearing today. She grabbed his wrist. She hadn’t mistaken it; it was the one she had given him.

Zhou Sujin looked at her with a face of disbelief. “Didn’t I say I would wear it again in the future?”

Wei Lai didn’t say anything, she just kissed his lips.

Zhou Sujin hugged her, stood up from the sofa, and placed her on her desk. “Do you have any here?”

“Yes.” She kissed him. “I bought a few boxes when I went to the supermarket to buy slippers.”

She sat there, making their height difference even more pronounced.

Zhou Sujin leaned on the edge of the desk with both hands. Whenever she wanted to kiss him, he lowered his head to meet her.

Wei Lai pulled out his black shirt haphazardly from his trousers and touched his buttons with her fingertips.

The floor lamp was not turned off but adjusted to a dim, warm yellow.

The gentle light fell on the black collar of the shirt, shining on his stern profile.

Zhou Sujin kissed her lips, his hand gripping her waist.

In the depths of the kiss, Wei Lai couldn’t help but let out a whimper in his arms. “Mr. Zhou.”

Zhou Sujin paused his movements.

She left his lips and kissed his Adam’s apple.

At that moment, the documents on the table fell to the ground.

They were picked up two hours later.

The house was small, and the sound of running water in the bathroom could be heard in the living room.

Wei Lai was showering, and Zhou Su Jin picked up the scattered documents one by one and sorted them according to the page numbers.

Among them were invalidated documents, with “Zhou Sujin” written repeatedly in the numbers. It seemed she had unconsciously written his name several times while daydreaming.

Zhou Sujin arranged all the documents neatly and sat back on the sofa, carefully observing the place where she usually stayed. There wasn’t a single photo frame.

“Don’t you like taking photos?” When Wei Lai came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, Zhou Sujin finally asked her why she didn’t want to take wedding photos.

Wei Lai thought for a moment about how to respond. “It’s not that I don’t like it. Sometimes I feel like it doesn’t have much meaning.” She pointed to the drawer of the low cabinet by the desk. “There are photos inside. My family photos before I was ten years old. We used to take a set every year, but my parents never displayed them again after their divorce.”

She draped the towel over her shoulders and took out her parents’ wedding photos from the bedroom closet.

“I’ll show you my parents when they were young. At that time, they had a very good relationship. They took a set of wedding photos in Jiangcheng and another set overseas.” Wei Lai placed the thick wedding photo albums on the sofa.

She didn’t dare look at them herself and went to the dressing table to blow dry her hair.

Her father and mother probably couldn’t remember their wedding photos and family portraits anymore. They were both moving forward, but she couldn’t let go.

Zhou Sujin didn’t open the wedding photos, just asked where she got them from and put them back where they were without flipping through them.

Wei Lai only wrapped herself in a towel, with her arms, legs, and most of her back exposed.

Coming out of the bedroom, Zhou Sujin handed her his suit. “Don’t catch a cold.”

Wei Lai put on his suit and continued to blow dry her hair. Zhou Sujin reached out and helped her button up the suit, not mentioning the wedding photos again.

—

Near the end of June, Wei Lai received a call from Mu Di.

“The losses are more than four times, I managed to buy off several members of the procurement team and store managers, just as you said.”

Mu Di had to apologize to her uncle for her own interests.

“What are your feelings for Zhang Yanxin now?” Before hanging up, Mu Di suddenly asked.

“I like Zhou Sujin now. What about your feelings for your husband?”

The phrase “your husband” sounded particularly harsh. Mu Di hung up.

Wei Lai then dialed Lu Manyi’s number. It had been over two months, but there was still no progress on his side. She gave him an ultimatum.

Lu Manyi wasn’t just fooling around; he really didn’t know where to start investigating. His niece was naturally vigilant, and he couldn’t be too obvious, otherwise, his actions might be counterproductive.

The risks outweighed the benefits.

He rubbed his temples. “I’m sure it’s Chen Qi, but I have no evidence.”

Wei Lai remained calm. “Without evidence, how can you be sure, Mr. Lu?”

Lu Manyi swallowed his anger. “Isn’t it still within the three-month deadline?”

Recently, several stores had made him furious, and there were frequent mistakes in procurement. He intended to hang up but couldn’t resist wanting to clarify the truth. “Wei Lai, did you tamper with some of the stores on my side?”

Wei Lai smiled. “Why don’t you guess who did it?”

Lu Manyi wouldn’t connect the mole to his niece. Wei Lai was vague in her response, neither confirming nor denying it directly, so he took it as her tacit approval.

“What are you trying to do?”

“An eye for an eye, isn’t it?”

Wei Lai told him, “Not everyone in your procurement team and store managers is loyal to you. Be careful.”

Lu Manyi felt his blood boiling but dared not explode on the spot.

With over a hundred people on the procurement team, how could he investigate them all?

After hanging up on Lu Manyi, Wei Lai fell into contemplation. Her intuition was correct; it was indeed Chen Qi.

It wasn’t until the end of January next year, nearing the Lunar New Year, that she finally obtained evidence.

After more than half a year, the merger of thirty-six supermarkets was successfully completed.

On an auspicious day, the entire Baiduo team moved to an office building in Jiang’an, where Wei Lai was also allocated an office on the thirty-second floor, overlooking the urban area of Jiangcheng.

With the new stores opened in the latter half of the year, Baiduo now owned fifty-six stores, and the procurement team numbered more than that of Fumanyuan.

That day, while Wei Lai was inspecting the Jiang’an Yunchen store, she received a call from an unfamiliar Beijing number, claiming to be Zhao Lianshen’s secretary.

Even though she was mentally prepared, when the other party mentioned Zhao Lianshen’s name, Wei Lai’s heart skipped a beat unconsciously, because she hadn’t expected him to come knocking so soon.

She had estimated that it would be after Baiduo went public, but it came earlier.

Wei Lai calmed herself down. “What can I do for you?”

“No instructions. Mr. Zhao is having a meeting in Shanghai and will come to Jiangcheng to see how Baiduo is doing,” the secretary said. “Mr. Zhao is the actual controller of Baiduo Industrial. Ms. Wei, are you available to meet?”

The other party’s approach caught her off guard.

Wei Lai said, “I’m available, but I’m still outside.”

“We’ll meet in the Baiduo reception room in an hour.”

Wei Lai sat in the coffee corner, digesting the news of Zhao Lianshen’s visit to Jiangcheng bit by bit.

Confronting him face-to-face, she would definitely not be able to suppress Zhao Lianshen in terms of momentum. But once she lost her momentum, it would be difficult to turn the tables later.

【Zhao Lianshen is in Jiangcheng. He’ll arrive at the office in an hour.】

Tang Yi responded immediately: “I’m shocked!”

She dropped the work she was holding and headed out of the office. There were new colleagues in the office, so she grabbed her coat and left.

“What should I do?” She sent a voice message to Wei Lai as she headed to the elevator.

The office area had open-plan workstations, making it inconvenient to talk anywhere. The only safe place was downstairs in the office building.

Wei Lai replied: “Since he’s revealed his identity, he must be planning to reveal everything. I still can’t guess what his intentions are.”

Tang Yi was in a panic too and couldn’t give good advice: “Shouldn’t you inform Mr. Zhou first? He understands Zhao Lianshen’s methods the best.”

“I’ll make contact first. We haven’t even met yet.”

Tang Yi wanted to say more, but a car with a Beijing license plate drove into the entrance and headed straight for the underground parking lot.

“I think that’s Zhao Lianshen’s car.” It was evident from the license plate.

“That shouldn’t be. His secretary said he’d arrive in an hour.”

“I’ll confirm and call you.”

Tang Yi hurried back into the office building. An elevator came up from the basement and stopped on the ground floor. The elevator door slowly opened, revealing four people inside, all dressed in business attire. The man standing in the middle, with a slender figure and a commanding presence, was talking on the phone.

She hadn’t seen Zhao Lianshen before, and there were no relevant photos online, but she had a gut feeling that the man in the middle was him.

Tang Yi stepped into the elevator and saw that they had pressed the “32” button. She didn’t need to press anything else; she just pressed the close door button.

It was certain that the person behind her was Zhao Lianshen.

“It’s him, he’s already here.”

After exiting the elevator, Tang Yi quickly reported to Wei Lai.

Wei Lai started the car, planning how to confront him after the meeting as she drove.

It took thirty-four minutes from the Jiang’an Yunchen store to the Jiang’an office building.

Zhao Lianshen never waited for anyone, but today was an exception.

Yu Younian and Chen Qi accompanied him for a while, but he had nothing to say to them and gestured for them to leave.

In the meeting room, Wei Lai walked in directly. “Mr. Zhao, welcome.”

Zhao Lianshen stood up and smiled. “Didn’t you expect me to come today, did you?”

The direct opening caught her off guard, but Wei Lai smiled and said, “I can never predict when Mr. Zhou will come, let alone you, Mr. Zhao.”

She extended her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Zhao Lianshen shook her hand. “Likewise.”

After the pleasantries, both of them sat down.

Wei Lai smiled faintly. “I heard Mr. Zhao is concerned about the operation of Baiduo. Would you like to visit the stores with me?”

Zhao Lianshen said, “… No need to visit the stores. I’m more concerned about the management team of Baiduo.”

He picked up the coffee, using it as an excuse to take a longer look at Wei Lai, seeming gentle but hiding his intentions in every word.

Wei Lai, adept at Tai Chi, was quick to adjust her state within half a minute. Facing someone as inscrutable as Zhao Lianshen, she had to take control of the situation and catch him off guard. “Mr. Zhao has been looking forward to this day for a long time, hasn’t he?”

Zhao Lianshen responded, “Aren’t you also waiting for me to come?”

Setting down his coffee, he skipped the pleasantries. “You thought I would come after Baiduo went public, but I decided to come earlier.”

He had originally planned to come after the IPO but changed his mind at the last minute.

Wei Lai suspected he was Baiduo’s major shareholder.

He also knew about her suspicions.

She wanted to use his funds to expand the supermarket, and he wanted to use her team to lay out the fresh supermarket industry, so they were helping each other.

“Just merged thirty-six stores, there’s chaos in the transition between old and new, and if I withdraw the team at this time, how much damage do you think Baiduo Supermarket’s reputation will suffer?”

Industry insiders could distinguish between the two companies, but to the general public, they were both Baiduo supermarkets.

“Of course,” Zhao Lianshen shifted the topic, “I still have sincere cooperation intentions, but Zhou Sujin won’t tolerate me holding shares in your supermarket for long. He’s been waiting for this day too.”

Wei Lai caught the key point in his words. “What do you mean he’s been waiting for this day?”

Zhao Lianshen smiled and said, “Why don’t you guess? Zhou Sujin has known that I’m the actual controller of Baiduo for a long time, so why has he been inactive?”

Wei Lai’s heart skipped a beat.

From Wei Lai’s reaction, Zhou Sujin hadn’t told her either.

Zhao Lianshen said, “He has a strong bias against me, waiting for the day when Baiduo has no way out, and then he’ll come out in the open to deal with me. Your supermarket is just one of his pawns.” He smiled, “He can go ahead and deal with my company however he wants, his losses won’t be any less than mine.”

Wei Lai stared at him. “Are you helping Zhang Yanxin?”

Zhao Lianshen scoffed, “You think too highly of Zhang Yanxin. Do you think he can boss me around?” He was just taking a stand for himself and laying out the groundwork for his fresh supermarket chain, starting with Wei Lai’s supermarket in Jiangcheng.

“If you don’t want your seventeen stores to be implicated, there’s a way out for you. You withdraw from Baiduo entirely and transfer all your shares to me.”

“You want to use the reputation of Wei Lai Supermarket in Jiangcheng and monopolize Baiduo entirely.” Wei Lai found it amusing. “Mr. Zhao, do you really think such a good thing is possible?”

“Also,” she didn’t give Zhao Lianshen a chance to interrupt, “if Zhou Sujin wants to use the supermarket as a pawn to deal with you, I’m willing to lend it to him, even if the losses to the supermarket are irreversible.”

Zhao Lianshen was momentarily taken aback, then smiled, “Wei Lai Supermarket is your and your mother’s hard work.”

Wei Lai replied, “It’s nothing. Even if the supermarket fails, I can start over.”

She stood up. “You also have shares in the company. Do as you please. I have something to attend to.”

Wei Lai had just finished the merger with Baiduo, and the internal situation was chaotic. Zhao Lianshen was trying to take advantage of the situation. If he withdrew at this critical moment and caused some trouble, even if the reputation of Wei Lai Supermarket didn’t completely collapse, it would be badly damaged.

Back in her own office, Wei Lai stood by the window, calm.

There were some things she still wanted to ask clearly.

“Mr. Zhou, are you busy? I have some things to ask you.”

She wanted to ask him if he had known all along that Zhao Lianshen was the actual controller of Baiduo.

No matter the reason for not telling her, she wanted to hear it from his own mouth.

When Zhou Sujin called back, she took a deep breath before answering. “Hello.”

“Are you asking about work?” Her previous message was sent to his business WeChat account.

Wei Lai made a sound of acknowledgment and got straight to the point. “Do you know that Zhao Lianshen is the actual controller of Baiduo Industrial?”

Zhou Sujin responded, “I do.”

He was quick to pick up on it. “Did Zhao Lianshen come to see you?”

“Yes.” Wei Lai paused before continuing, “Zhao Lianshen has already made his move. How do you plan to handle it?”