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◎ Your clothes will get wet too ◎
Quan Junchi was stunned by Cheng Jinghe’s actions. Why had he been so nervous just now again? Oh, right — it was because the boss had instructed him not to sign any contract with Mingchen.
So why did Cheng Jinghe just go ahead and sign it the moment he arrived? Then what was all that stress for?!
Quan Junchi felt bitter but couldn’t say anything. He could only swallow it all.
With the cooperation successfully finalized, Lu Shiyin signed her name too. She shook hands with Cheng Jinghe and exchanged the usual polite words like, “Looking forward to working with you,” and “Pleasure doing business.”
She got up, ready to leave with her team, but Cheng Jinghe called out,
“President Lu, may I have a quick word with you?”
Lu Shiyin paused, bid farewell to her team, and sat back down.
Among those present, Quan Junchi was the most shocked, his eyes darting between the two of them.
Cheng Jinghe glanced at Quan Junchi:
“You too. Out.”
Quan Junchi quickly left on the surface, but inside he was cursing him for being led astray by beauty.
Now only three people remained in the meeting room. Cheng Jinghe then said to Qian Mu in a calm voice:
“Uncle Qian, could you please give us a moment too?”
Lu Shiyin interjected, “That won’t be necessary. Uncle Qian is my assistant. What could you possibly want to say that even Uncle Qian can’t hear?”
Cheng Jinghe took a quiet breath, walked over to sit beside her, and said,
“I’m sorry.”
Qian Mu felt that staying any longer would be inappropriate, so he coughed lightly while pointing at his phone:
“I’ll step out to take a call.”
After Qian Mu left, the room fell silent.
Lu Shiyin smiled politely.
“I don’t understand why President Cheng is apologizing.”
Cheng Jinghe softened his tone:
“I truly didn’t know it was you handling the cooperation. If I had known, I think things would’ve gone more smoothly.”
Lu Shiyin looked at the man in front of her and nodded.
“I see. Anything else?”
She was all business, clearly uninterested in rekindling any past connection.
Cheng Jinghe, seeing her so detached, pressed his lips together and said:
“Yes. I was originally going to contact you by phone, but didn’t expect to meet you here. My grandfather said since tomorrow is the weekend, he’d like to invite you over for dinner — as a formal introduction to the family.”
Lu Shiyin was momentarily stunned, then recalled they had previously agreed to this arrangement.
“Okay.”
He had thought that after today, she’d most likely decline. Turns out he had underestimated her.
“Then I’ll pick you up tomorrow?”
Lu Shiyin nodded again.
“Okay.”
And just like that, both the business and personal matters were settled. Cheng Jinghe stood up and said seriously:
“Thanks for your hard work.”
Despite wearing high heels, Lu Shiyin still wasn’t as tall as him. Standing next to him, she felt a little overwhelmed by his height and found his formal tone amusing. She joked:
“Not hard at all — just serving the people.”
Cheng Jinghe hadn’t expected that. He asked,
“Are you still mad?”
Lu Shiyin wasn’t really angry anymore. He didn’t know she was now Mingchen’s general manager, and she hadn’t known he was the boss of Jinghuai — they were even.
She shook her head:
“No. We’re even. Don’t worry — I’ll behave properly tomorrow and won’t embarrass you. But… could you not tell anyone yet about our cooperation today?”
Cheng Jinghe was a little surprised and asked why. She tilted her head slightly and said:
“Maybe because I’m still just a figurehead without much real power. I don’t want too many people to know about this project in case it falls through.”
He replied:
“Alright. I won’t say anything.”
“Great, then I’ll get going.” Lu Shiyin waved at him.
The Jinghuai parking lot was outdoors. They had to walk to it, and the rain was pouring. Cheng Jinghe insisted on seeing them off. He handed the umbrella to Qian Mu so he could bring the car around, while Lu Shiyin waited at the building entrance.
The two stood under the eaves, silent for a moment. The wind was strong, and raindrops blew in, hitting her clothes. She stepped back a little.
Seeing her stepping back like that, Cheng Jinghe said,
“Go wait inside.”
Lu Shiyin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and replied,
“No need.” She saw Qian Mu almost at the car, ready to drive it over. “Uncle Qian will be here soon.”
Cheng Jinghe wore a platinum ring with an emerald on his left ring finger. Ever since putting it on, he’d developed the habit of rubbing it with his thumb.
He noticed the woman beside him, stubborn as always — her blouse was getting soaked, but she still refused to go inside, as if stepping into his building would somehow eat her alive. Even in the pouring rain, she wouldn’t come in to wait.
He noticed her bare legs turning pale in the breeze. Without a word, he took off his suit jacket and held it in front of her.
Startled, Lu Shiyin asked,
“What are you doing?”
Cheng Jinghe didn’t look at her, only at the falling rain:
“Your clothes are getting wet.”
Lu Shiyin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Cheng Jinghe, your clothes will get wet too.”
“It’s fine.” He still didn’t look at her.
He kept holding the jacket out in front of her, shielding her from the rain, even as his own white shirt was slowly soaked through.
She wanted to laugh and looked toward the white Bentley that had just started up. Qian Mu drove over, got out with an umbrella, and opened the door for her.
Seeing the scene, Qian Mu couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, though he held it in.
Lu Shiyin waved at Cheng Jinghe before getting into the car.
“See you tomorrow.”
He nodded, standing at the entrance watching the car drive off.
What he didn’t know was that inside the car, Qian Mu was laughing out loud.
While driving, he said,
“Yinyin, your husband’s kinda funny.”
Lu Shiyin laughed from the backseat. Not for any particular reason — she just found him a bit goofy.
Qian Mu continued:
“Putting feelings aside, even though you two didn’t start with love, he’s taking pretty good care of you. I think that’s not so bad.”
Lu Shiyin replied:
“I also just realized today he’s kind of funny.”
Qian Mu added:
“I used to think, he’s four years younger than you — probably not very good at looking after people. But I guess I was wrong. He treated you like that right at his own company’s entrance, not even afraid of office gossip.”
Lu Shiyin smiled, lowered her head, and touched the part of her clothes that had been wet by the rain.
—
At this moment, Cheng Jinghe had returned inside. His expression had shifted back to his default poker face.
The receptionist had watched everything with great interest. It was the first time she’d seen the boss take off his jacket to shield a woman from the rain. In that moment, she thought he looked incredibly charming.
Quan Junchi had also witnessed the whole thing. He followed Cheng Jinghe downstairs to send them off and nearly had his jaw fall off.
In the elevator, he asked,
“You’re into President Lu, huh?”
Cheng Jinghe glanced at him without answering and pressed the button for his floor.
But Quan Junchi wasn’t about to let it go. His curiosity was on fire. He leaned in again:
“I’m asking you.”
Cheng Jinghe raised his hand and proudly showed off the ring on his left ring finger.
Quan Junchi pushed it away:
“I’ve seen your wedding ring already. Why are you showing it to me again?”
Then he added,
“If your wife saw how well you treat another woman, she’d definitely be angry. Don’t be improper—this isn’t like you.”
Cheng Jinghe glanced at his ring, withdrew his hand, and replied slowly,
“The other one’s with her.”
As soon as he said that, the elevator reached his office floor. He left Quan Junchi, who was still stunned, behind and stepped out of the elevator. Realizing Quan Junchi didn’t work on this floor, he pressed the button for his floor before saying goodbye.
As the elevator doors slowly closed, Quan Junchi cursed under his breath.
So all along… he’d just been part of their married couple’s act?!
Cheng Jinghe walked into his office, hung his suit jacket on the rack, walked over to the window, leaned against the edge of his desk, grabbed the cigarette box, expertly took one out, and was just about to light it when—
Knock knock.
He paused and held the cigarette between his fingers.
“Come in.”
It was his assistant, Yuan Hang. As he lit his cigarette naturally, he asked,
“What is it?”
“Zheng Yu has been sent to Malaysia. I watched him board the plane.”
Cheng Jinghe frowned.
“Just Malaysia?”
“Old Master Zheng pleaded for mercy. Said he couldn’t bear to send him too far.”
Cheng Jinghe shook his head, clearly dissatisfied.
“Too close,” he said as smoke swirled around him. His gaze darkened.
“Do we have someone watching him over there?”
“Yes, there’s someone on the ground waiting.”
After a moment of silence, he instructed:
“Keep a close eye on him. Don’t let him come back.”
“Understood.”
Cheng Jinghe took a couple more drags from his cigarette, then suddenly recalled something from ten minutes ago and questioned,
“My wife is now Mingchen’s general manager—why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Yuan Hang looked awkward.
“I thought you knew… so I didn’t mention it.”
“You thought? Since when did your assumptions become acceptable justification?” Cheng Jinghe chuckled coldly, stubbed out the cigarette, and sat behind his desk.
Yuan Hang kept his head down, realizing he hadn’t done his job well.
He remembered when he first became Cheng Jinghe’s assistant—he was 24, and Cheng was just 18. Even then, Cheng had shown a level of maturity far beyond his age. After taking over Baozhen Winery last year, his competence only became more apparent. A true heir of a wealthy family—raised with access to things most couldn’t imagine.
Cheng didn’t intend to be too harsh—this wasn’t Yuan Hang’s fault. After all, his marriage with Lu Shiyin existed only in the form of two red marriage certificates. Anyone would assume that a couple would communicate about these things.
But in the four days since he and Lu Shiyin last met, they hadn’t even exchanged more than a few texts.
Cheng waved his hand.
“From now on, anything related to my wife—report to me immediately. Whether I know about it or not.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You can go now.”
After sitting quietly for a while, he took out the contract signed earlier that day, read through it once, and finally got up to attend his dinner appointment.
When Cheng Jinghe arrived at Yinquan Garden, there were already three people seated in the private room of Pingshan Hall. Yan Qianzhe sat at the head of the table, while the other two—Chu Yi and Lu Jingfan—sat more casually.
Years ago, Sirun Group faced a crisis. Yan Qianzhe seized the chance to clean house. Chu Yi and Lu Jingfan invested at the right time and became the largest shareholders.
Cheng Jinghe was the youngest in the room. He’d co-founded Jinghuai Tech during college, which later became partially owned by Sirun. So strictly speaking, Jinghuai was also backed by Sirun.
He walked in, nodded briefly to the others, and casually took a seat.
Yan Qianzhe called for food to be served and asked,
“How’s married life?”
Cheng Jinghe responded nonchalantly,
“It’s fine.”
Not much different from being single, really.
“If you plan on holding a wedding later, let me know if you need help,” Yan offered.
A wedding? Cheng hadn’t even considered it. Lu Shiyin had been keeping her distance from him. If people knew they’d only seen each other three times before and after marriage, they’d probably laugh.
He thanked Yan but replied,
“We’ll see.”
Lu Jingfan, clearly in a teasing mood, patted his shoulder:
“Didn’t expect the youngest among us to get married first. Looks like we’ll need your advice when our time comes.”
Cheng Jinghe sipped his tea and said calmly:
“Happy to help if I can.”
Though young, his demeanor was steady—something everyone in the room was used to. Chu Yi, unusually quiet that evening, suddenly asked:
“Did you know your wife has taken over Mingchen?”
Cheng Jinghe nodded:
“Just found out.”
Then asked,
“You all knew already?”
The three exchanged glances.
“You didn’t?”
Yan Qianzhe added:
“She started Monday. Her reputation in the company isn’t great, and the rumors aren’t kind. Looks like you forgot you were married—don’t even know what your wife is doing.”
Cheng Jinghe gave a faint smile.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know—he had been busy. And when they got their marriage certificate, Lu Shiyin had clearly said: keep their distance, offer help only when necessary.
Thinking back, he realized things weren’t really even between them. It was his lack of attention that led to today’s situation.
He should be the one apologizing.