Chapter 6

Before Zhou Sujin could speak, she wanted to bury all the emotions she had on the spot. The thought of being exposed in public, and unable to face Zhang Yanxin and Mu Di again, made her want to undergo plastic surgery immediately, change her name, and completely cut ties with “Wei Lai.”

Just when she thought she was about to fall off the cliff and be shattered to pieces, Zhou Sujin reached out and pulled her back.

The twists and turns of fate, even though Wei Lai was adept at socializing, her reaction at this moment was slow by half a beat.

Various complex gazes focused on Wei Lai. Zhao Yihan picked up Wei Lai’s wine glass and handed it to her, saying naturally, “Come, take a seat.”

Between her and Zhou Sujin was an improvised performance without a script. She couldn’t predict the outcome. At this point, she could only grit her teeth and continue acting.

Wei Lai tightly held the wine glass, grabbed her handbag, and changed seats under everyone’s gaze.

Zhang Yanxin watched her move from beside Zhao Yihan to sit next to Zhou Sujin. Just two minutes ago, he congratulated her on her new relationship. At that time, he didn’t have a specific face in mind, so he could remain calm and offer his blessings.

But now, she was next to that man.

Wei Lai put her handbag on her lap, feeling confused about how to proceed next. Fortunately, He Wancheng saved her and started drinking with Zhou Sujin again.

“I was wondering why you kept glancing in Wei Lai’s direction.” He Wancheng smiled and clinked glasses with him.

Zhou Sujin: “…”

That was a pure lie.

He never stared at any woman, especially not at a dinner table. Until the woman beside him, who claimed to be his girlfriend, said his name, he hadn’t even paid attention to what she looked like. It was only when she mentioned the name Zhou Sujin that he looked over, feeling familiar but unable to recall where he had seen her.

After a round of drinks, the gossip about Wei Lai’s relationship with a big shot in the capital finally subsided.

Zhou Sujin kept talking to He Wancheng, ignoring the woman beside him. In his peripheral vision, she sat almost motionless, with her back straight.

Glancing sideways, he saw her staring at his watch.

“Did Lu Yu come to Jiangcheng with you?” He Wancheng picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and then put them down again, not enjoying the food.

“He’s overseas.” Zhou Sujin noticed Wei Lai still looking at his watch. He unfastened the buckle, took off the watch, and handed it to her to take a closer look.

Wei Lai hesitated as she looked at the watch he handed her. She was pretty sure he didn’t know she had sold this watch. So what did it mean for him to suddenly give it to her?

Their eyes met for a moment.

Zhou Sujin: “Take a look.”

She must have been caught looking at his wrist earlier, so he thought she was interested in this watch.

Wei Lai reached out and took it. He turned back to continue chatting with He Wancheng.

The watchband still held his body temperature. A month later, this watch would still be in her hands. The feeling was quite strange.

Wei Lai couldn’t understand Zhou Sujin. He didn’t need a watch, and this watch, which was so ordinary to him, actually had the chance to be worn by him at a social gathering.

There were occasional gossiping glances directed at her at the table. She imagined that if it were her real boyfriend who took off his watch and handed it to her to play with, what would she do?

She would wear it without hesitation.

So she directly slid Zhou Sujin’s watch onto her wrist and gently fastened the buckle.

The watchband was too long, swaying on her wrist.

She raised her arm, and the watch slid down to the middle of her forearm, against her skin.

“Congratulations.” Mu Di toasted her for the second time tonight.

Wei Lai didn’t want to look at Mu Di anymore, let alone drink with her, but she couldn’t be reckless at the table, especially now that she was wearing the title of Zhou Sujin’s girlfriend.

Seeing her unwillingness to pick up the wine glass, her porcelain-white arm adorned with his watch, Zhou Sujin spoke up: “If you don’t want to drink, you don’t have to.” With that, he took the wine glass from her hand, looked across the table, and tilted the glass slightly, responding to Mu Di’s toast. He drank the wine in one gulp on behalf of Wei Lai.

Wei Lai looked at Zhou Sujin incredulously, feeling a sense of illusion, as if she was really his girlfriend and he was covering for her. His sharp, sexy Adam’s apple rolled once as he swallowed the wine.

The empty wine glass was not given back to her; it was placed on his side.

Suddenly, her field of vision was blocked, and a black cellphone appeared. Zhou Sujin turned towards her, and his cold, imposing aura swept over her, too aggressive.

Zhou Sujin remained silent, gesturing with his chin for her to look at his phone.

“What’s your name?” he typed three words in the memo app.

Wei Lai: “…”

Apparently, he didn’t know her name yet.

When Mu Di had invited her for a drink earlier, she had been addressed by her full name, indicating that he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Being so close, Wei Lai could clearly see the tiny patterns on the cufflinks of his shirt. Holding her breath, she typed “Wei Lai” on his phone’s memo.

Taking this opportunity, she continued typing, explaining why she had lied about being his girlfriend.

“I didn’t mean to deceive you using your name. Zhang Yanxin is my ex-boyfriend, and his fiancée next to him is my former boss. When they decided to get engaged, Zhang Yanxin was still my boyfriend, and Mu Di was still my boss. I was dumped and lost my job overnight. I couldn’t stand it and blurted out your name without thinking. I hope you can be generous about it.”

She typed all these words in one go, accidentally brushing against Zhou Sujin’s fingers three times with her wrist.

Zhou Sujin glanced at her, seeing her eyes full of sincerity amidst her shrewdness. He didn’t say anything, just deleted all the text, locked the screen of his phone, and placed it face down on the table.

Wei Lai let out a slight sigh of relief, but wasn’t sure if he would let her off the hook so easily.

“When are you going back?” He Wancheng asked casually.

Zhou Sujin was non-committal. “We’ll see.”

He Wancheng chuckled. “True, you should spend more time with little Wei when you’re here.”

Wei Lai felt guilty. Deep down, she hoped Zhou Sujin would take the flight back to Beijing tonight and never see him again.

For the rest of the evening, she relaxed, no longer needing to entertain anyone because Zhou Sujin had confiscated her wine glass and forbade her from drinking. Everyone at the table could see the silent agreement, so naturally, no one bothered to come and toast her again.

The dinner ended before ten o’clock. As they left the private room, Mu Di naturally moved closer to Zhang Yanxin and handed her hand to him.

Zhang Yanxin glanced at her silently for a moment. In his mind, a voice reminded him that she was the woman he was going to marry.

In the end, he took Mu Di’s hand and held it.

Wei Lai walked behind them, unable to avoid seeing this scene.

Just a month ago, Zhang Yanxin had been holding her hand to dinner with friends. But in just a month, everything had changed.

Wei Lai’s desire for victory and revenge tonight was unprecedentedly strong. She just wanted Zhang Yanxin to feel uncomfortable.

She took a deep breath and grabbed Zhou Sujin’s hand.

Zhou Sujin was leaning over to discuss the Jiangcheng project with He Wancheng when he suddenly felt his hand being grabbed by a soft and delicate one.

Without thinking, he knew it was Wei Lai taking advantage of him, becoming more and more audacious.

Holding Zhou Sujin’s warm hand, Wei Lai’s heart pounded. Zhou Sujin gave her some face and continued to play along with the fake lover act. He didn’t turn to look at her, letting her hold his fingers as if nothing had happened, while he continued chatting with He Wancheng.

Soon, she accompanied Zhou Sujin and passed by Zhang Yanxin’s side, walking ahead of them.

Zhang Yanxin’s gaze was fixed on Wei Lai’s hand. Now they both had someone else by their side: Mu Di by his side and Zhou Sujin by hers.

Jealousy churned in his chest.

There was no such thing as being well on their own in this world.

As they entered the elevator, Wei Lai’s palm felt sweaty. Holding hands like this wasn’t a solution, but Mu Di was still holding onto Zhang Yanxin.

Knowing that this kind of secret competition and comparison was meaningless, even revenge seemed ridiculous, but she couldn’t control herself.

Her palms were sweaty, so she let go of Zhou Sujin’s hand and took out a hair tie from her bag, then directly stuffed the bag into Zhou Sujin’s hands. “Hold this for me.”

There was a slightly coquettish tone in her command.

Zhou Sujin looked at the women’s bag in his hand, then glanced at Wei Lai. She was the first person to dare to command him like this.

Pretending that her long hair was in the way, Wei Lai quickly tied her hair into a bun with the hair tie. Once she was done, she calmly took her bag back from Zhou Sujin’s hands.

As the elevator reached the ground floor, the play was about to come to an end, and finally, they could all go their separate ways.

After bidding farewell to He Wancheng and the others, a black Bentley pulled up.

Zhou Sujin only drove his Lamborghini when he went out with friends. For business dinners, he mostly used a Bentley.

Playing the whole scene, Wei Lai conscientiously sat in the back of the Bentley. At this moment, her phone vibrated, and Zhao Yihan seemed urgent, sending three voice messages in a row.

Zhou Sujin’s driver was in the car, making it inconvenient to listen to voice messages, so she converted them into text:

“Wei Lai, take it easy and think of a way to make Zhou Sujin forgive you.”

“I asked Lu Yu on the side. He’s known him since childhood but still fears him, never daring to joke with him.”

“Don’t be fooled by how smoothly everything went with him just now. It seems like he’s protecting you, but what if he holds a grudge later? He’s not easy to deal with. He’s ruthless in business, and those who offend him end up bankrupt in the end. That’s what our boss said.”

Wei Lai: “…”

Zhao Yihan’s messages suddenly made her feel uneasy, and lacking confidence.

Before she could digest these messages, the other side of the car door opened, and Zhou Sujin got in. The atmosphere in the car suddenly seemed to freeze, and Wei Lai’s heart instantly jumped to her throat.

“Knock, knock,” came a very light tapping on the car window.

Zhao Yihan couldn’t see what was happening inside the car, but Zhou Sujin could see everything outside clearly. He lowered the window, his gaze questioning what the matter was.

Zhao Yihan, tall as she was, slightly bent her waist as she spoke. She was usually used to having a serious expression because of her strong business abilities. She didn’t even need to look at her superiors’ expressions, they would just accommodate her. But now, she had come to ask for forgiveness, so she couldn’t keep that serious face anymore. She had practiced several times how to speak softly and with a smile: “Mr. Zhou, hello, I’m Wei Lai’s sister.”

Whatever kind of relationship it was between them, she knew Zhou Sujin wouldn’t be interested, so she didn’t say much.

“Today, I brought Wei Lai here for dinner. Because of some reason, she wants to change her work environment. I suggested she go to Sucheng, so I brought her here to meet Mr. He. Who knew we would coincidentally run into her ex-boyfriend Zhang Yanxin. You also saw what happened at the dinner table. She was dumped and then rumored to be with a big shot in Beijing. She felt wronged and was driven by words at the time, which is why she used you as a shield. She didn’t mean to offend you.”

“I am Lu Yu’s alumna. You can ask Lu Yu about me. My character is still decent.”

Zhou Sujin remembered. Lu Yu had mentioned meeting a classmate at Jiangjing Restaurant that night, saying, “She doesn’t even remember my name.”

“I know she’s from Jiangcheng.”

Zhao Yihan: “I vouch for her character. Wei Lai has no ulterior motives. She has never pretended to be your girlfriend before, causing damage to your reputation and interests. I guarantee she won’t do it again. I hope you won’t be angry and forgive her impulsiveness.”

“Sis,” Wei Lai called Zhao Yihan for the first time in ten years. Seeing Zhao Yihan put down her pride to plead for her, she felt an indescribable sadness. “It’s okay, I’ve already explained everything to Mr. Zhou. You go back quickly, don’t make your boss wait.”

Zhao Yihan said everything she needed to say, but she still guessed that Wei Lai would definitely explain herself. Yet, she couldn’t help worrying, so she came in person to feel reassured.

“Mr. Zhou, I won’t disturb you anymore.”

She slightly bowed and gestured to Wei Lai that she would call her later, then turned and left.

During their conversation, He Wancheng and Zhang Yanxin’s car left the restaurant one after the other.

Zhou Sujin didn’t intend to pursue it any further. Seeing that Wei Lai hadn’t shown any intention of getting out of the car yet, he asked, “What? Do you want to come back to the hotel with me?”

Wei Lai awkwardly smiled, “Mr. Zhou, I’m very sorry for causing you trouble tonight.” She got out of the car and said, “Thank you” before closing the door.

Zhou Sujin didn’t respond at all. The black Bentley slowly drove away.

Tonight felt like a big dream. Wei Lai sobbed up on the roadside for a moment, took out her phone to call a car, and then noticed the watch on her left wrist. After a meal, both she and Zhou Sujin had forgotten that the watch was still on her wrist.