Chapter 69 Extra One: Zhou Suji’s Perspective (1)

Once the New Year’s holiday passed, the 100th store of Wei Lai began its interior renovation. The milestone of reaching 100 stores carried special significance, so the designer intentionally added extra design elements.

Before the design of the free book corner began, he asked Wei Lai if she had any personal elements she wanted to include.

Wei Lai: “Can we add some calligraphy?”

“No problem, write it out and scan it to me.”

The slogan “Wei Lai Baiduo, with over ten thousand stores” had already gained widespread promotion and was printed on supermarket shopping bags.

She wanted Zhou Sujin to feel a bit more involved as well, so she decided to add his calligraphy to the wall of the free book corner in the 100th store.

[Husband, are you busy?]

Zhou Sujin: [Just finished a meeting. I’m free for the next half hour.]

Wei Lai explained her idea and asked if she could arrange for a piece of his calligraphy.

[Send me the text you want, and I’ll write it for you next week.]

It had been almost two months since he last used that fountain pen, and it now felt unfamiliar in his hand.

That night, when he returned to the villa, he took out the pen his grandfather had given him. Just after practicing one line, a call came in on his business phone. The caller ID read “Ji Mingyan,” a former blind date.

Zhou Sujin put down the pen and picked up the phone, sliding to answer.

“Mr. Zhou, I’m sorry to bother you.” Ji Mingyan’s tone was very polite.

It was only 7:30, and she wasn’t sure if Zhou Sujin had finished work, but it would be inconvenient to call any later.

“I heard from Min Ting that you decided not to invest in the Sucheng project and passed it on to Lu Yu. I’m calling to let you know that I’m engaged now. Things are going well with my fiancé, and we’ve set a wedding date. If there’s an opportunity to collaborate, I still hope our families can work together, as it’s a win-win situation.”

Zhou Sujin: “Congratulations.”

“…Thank you.” She had said so much, but it seemed he remained indifferent.

Regarding collaboration, Zhou Sujin was straightforward: “Since it’s already given to Lu Yu, I won’t reconsider.”

Ji Mingyan knew she didn’t have the influence to change his mind. She smiled, “I won’t disturb you any longer then.”

The call ended.

Zhou Sujin set his phone to silent, picked up the pen, and continued practicing his calligraphy.

He often ran into Ji Mingyan at various parties. They weren’t close, but they weren’t strangers either. They had only been alone twice: once for the blind date, and once when Ji Mingyan came to his office after his contract with Wei Lai had ended.

That blind date two years ago felt as clear as if it had happened yesterday.

That evening, Ji Mingyan arrived at the hot pot restaurant ten minutes early. As she parked, she saw Zhou Sujin’s Bentley and hurriedly locked her car and went inside.

There was no one at the reserved table, so she asked the waiter if a man had arrived earlier.

The waiter was certain that no one had come.

But his car was clearly parked outside in the lot.

It was well-known that he didn’t like hot pot; there was no way she hadn’t heard about it. She had deliberately chosen the hot pot restaurant because she knew one thing even better: he would reject her. She might as well use the hot pot as an excuse to let people think she wasn’t too invested in the date either.

In truth, she had hoped for an alliance through marriage.

Beyond benefits, she admired his methods and abilities. His presence and charm went without saying.

After waiting for five minutes and still not seeing him, Ji Mingyan sent a message: [I saw your car.]

Zhou Sujin, in his car replying to work emails, felt his phone vibrate. He glanced at it, thinking it was a message from his personal number, but it was from Ji Mingyan.

He replied: [I’m coming.]

He closed his laptop and put it in the armrest compartment, then checked his personal phone again. Wei Lai hadn’t replied to him. Grabbing his suit, he opened the door and got out of the car.

They exchanged a few polite greetings when they met, and he handed her the menu, “You order. I don’t eat hot pot.”

Ji Mingyan smiled, “You really don’t eat hot pot, huh? I thought they were joking when they said that.” She ordered what she liked, then asked, “Want to try some?”

“No, thank you.” Zhou Sujin ordered a seafood fried rice, with a few scattered bits of seafood in it.

They didn’t talk much during the meal, and the conversation was quite intermittent.

Ji Mingyan received a message from a friend gossiping, asking how the blind date with Zhou Sujin was going.

How did it feel?

It felt like infatuation.

But she replied insincerely: [I don’t like him, so it doesn’t feel like anything.]

She was Zhou Sujin’s first blind date. Since he had agreed to the date, her friends thought there was a chance. But she instinctively felt otherwise.

“Do you want to cover for each other?” She explained, “We can pretend that our blind date was a success to get our families off our backs. My mom introduces me to someone every few weeks, and I can’t keep rejecting them. You probably find blind dates annoying too. What do you think about covering for each other?”

Zhou Sujin didn’t hesitate: “Not interested.”

Ji Mingyan nodded and regretted being so forward.

It was the first time she had been rejected like that in her life.

Eating hot pot alone was rather boring, so the meal ended quickly.

He wasn’t the type to leave people with any false hope. After paying the bill, he directly told her they weren’t compatible.

After the blind date, they went their separate ways.

Just as Zhou Sujin stood up, a message came from Wei Lai: [Mr. Zhou, I’ve decided to accept your contract.]

He nodded politely to Ji Mingyan, “Excuse me, I need to return a call.”

Ji Mingyan hesitated but left first.

Zhou Sujin immediately dialed Wei Lai’s number and told her he had just been on a blind date.

There was a pause on the other end of the line for several seconds. “Is it too late now?”

Sensing her disappointment and regret, he replied: “It’s not too late.”

—

The next time he saw Ji Mingyan was months later, not long after he had returned from Sucheng and had his last meal with Wei Lai. She had complained that he had never taken the initiative, not even once.

After that, she remained silent. By the end of the meal, she hadn’t said much more.

His secretary knocked on the door: “Mr. Zhou, it’s me.”

Zhou Sujin snapped out of his thoughts. “Come in.”

The secretary stood at the door and reported, “Ms. Ji Mingyan is downstairs. She has an appointment with you.” She didn’t dare reject it on her own, as there were rumors that Ji Mingyan was the boss’s potential marriage partner.

Zhou Sujin considered for a few seconds: “Let her come up.”

Ji Mingyan hadn’t expected to come looking for him a second time, especially after being directly rejected the first time.

His affair with that girlfriend from Jiangcheng had caused quite a stir, and the Cullinan drove back to Beijing.

They all guessed that Wei Lai was just a fake girlfriend, brought in to deal with his family, much like when Lu Yu once had a classmate pretend to be his.

In the past few months, she had gone on another blind date, which she found extremely tiresome.

Zhou Sujin greeted her, “Have a seat.”

The secretary brought tea and closed the office door.

Having been rejected before, she wasn’t bothered by the possibility of it happening again.

Ji Mingyan stated her purpose: “I used to think you didn’t care about how your family was pressuring you.” After a pause, she asked, “Have you considered a marriage of convenience?”

As soon as she spoke, her heart started pounding as if it would jump out of her chest the next second.

Her mind was in a mess, and she couldn’t help but grip the water cup tighter.

“I spend more than half the year abroad. After marriage, we wouldn’t interfere with each other; you’d have your space, and I’d have my freedom. During the holidays, we’d only deal with family together. If it’s a union, it would maximize the benefits.”

Zhou Sujin looked at her and said, “Even if it’s a marriage of convenience, you’ll still be facing decades together.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Is there anything else?”

Being rejected didn’t surprise her, and she kept her smile, “I came just for this.”

Zhou Sujin motioned for her to try the tea, “New tea from Jiangcheng.”

Ji Mingyan took a sip. Mentioning Jiangcheng naturally brought Wei Lai to mind, “There are rumors that your girlfriend in Jiangcheng is just pretending.”

After saying this, her eyes never left him, trying to gauge his reaction.

Zhou Sujin only said one sentence: “I pursued her.”

Ji Mingyan was visibly startled.

She wasn’t someone who overstepped boundaries, so even though she was curious, she wouldn’t pry into matters that might be annoying.

After finishing a cup of tea with a bitter fragrance, she excused herself and left.

…

Zhou Sujin was practicing writing the characters for “Wei Lai” on paper. As soon as he finished the last stroke, a message from Min Ting came in: 【I know Ji Mingyan’s boyfriend. Their relationship is indeed quite good. She came to me earlier, asking me to help her negotiate. She approached you purely for the benefits.】

Min Ting only passed along the message. As for how Zhou Sujin would decide, he wouldn’t interfere.

Zhou Sujin replied: 【I’ve already told her over the phone that the project will go to Lu Yu.】

Just after putting down his phone, another call came in. He thought it was from Min Ting.

Glancing at the caller ID, he picked up, “Finished with dinner?”

“Mm.” Wei Lai was quietly climbing the stairs, “Guess where I am?”

Zhou Sujin capped his pen with one hand, “At home.”

“… How do you always guess right?”

“I don’t know.”

Zhou Sujin hung up and walked to the study door as she was already upstairs.

He wrapped one arm around her, freeing his other hand to remove her scarf.

Wei Lai had been on a business trip to the Beijing branch for the past few weeks, always returning home first. Tonight, the company had a dinner to celebrate Wei Lai Baiduo’s sales ranking in the top 36 last year, which was why she returned later than him.

It had been cold lately, with the temperature dropping to ten degrees below zero.

The short walk from the car to the house was freezing, and she leaned into his arms, breathing in the warmth.

After a few minutes of warming up in his embrace, Wei Lai stood up straight, “Go ahead and get busy. I’m going to take a bath.”

Zhou Sujin said, “I’m not busy. I was practicing calligraphy before you came.”

Wei Lai rubbed her chin against his chest a few times, “I’ll take a bath first, then I’ll practice calligraphy with you.”

“Sure,” Zhou Sujin said, letting her go.

They had hotpot for dinner, and the smell lingered on their clothes.

She turned off the bathroom’s floor lamp and leaned in the bathtub, looking out the window at the backyard. The heavy snow from a few days ago had almost melted, leaving just a few icy patches of her footprints on the lawn.

She had seen all the seasons in the backyard and liked winter the best.

She picked up her phone and sent a message to Zhou Sujin: 【Husband, when it warms up, I want to take wedding photos.】

Zhou Sujin replied shortly after: 【Alright. Do you have a specific place in mind?】

Wei Lai stood up from the bathtub and went to the study to tell him in person.

She had just put on her bathrobe and was sitting at the vanity, about to blow-dry her hair when Zhou Sujin entered the bathroom.

“Do you want me to blow-dry your hair for you?”

When she was a child, her father had once tangled her hair in a blow dryer, leaving her with a nightmarish memory. Since then, except for the hairdresser, she didn’t let anyone in the house blow-dry her hair. If she could handle something herself, why take the risk?

Wei Lai couldn’t remember how many times he had asked her this question, but this time, she swallowed the “No” that was on the tip of her tongue and handed him the blow dryer.

Zhou Sujin rolled up his shirt sleeves and took the dryer.

Wei Lai turned around to face him, resting her forehead against his firm abdomen.

He first combed her hair, then put the comb down, running his fingers through her long locks. Holding the dryer at a safe distance, he slowly dried her hair bit by bit.

At first, she was nervous, but gradually she relaxed.

He only dried her hair halfway before putting the blow dryer away, allowing her hair to dry naturally.

“Now we can practice calligraphy.” Wei Lai stood up, but suddenly sat down again, “My legs went numb.”

Zhou Sujin looked at her, knowing she didn’t want to walk, so he bent down to carry her.

Wei Lai pressed down on his arm, “Husband, you’ve never given me a piggyback ride before.”

Even so, Zhou Sujin lifted her in a princess carry and sat her on the vanity. He then turned around.

Wei Lai wrapped her arms around his neck, and he reached back to support her. She comfortably leaned against his back.