I’ll Agree To It Just Once, But No Next Time
Wei Lai’s phone battery was nearly depleted, not enough for further conversation.
“……My phone’s out of battery…” almost.
Before “almost” could be said, the phone shut down.
“Miss Wei, give me your phone, and I’ll help you charge it.”
“My phone is charged, do you need it?” Uncle Yan thoughtfully asked again.
“Thank you, Uncle Yan, but it’s okay,” she declined. It wasn’t convenient to talk to Zhou Sujin on the phone in the car, so she handed her phone to Uncle Yan for charging.
The unreal and absurd evening finally came to a close. Wei Lai evaluated her performance today, reluctantly giving herself a passing grade. Reluctantly because there had been a mishap in setting up the scene where she accidentally spilled too much lubricant onto his bed sheet while pouring it into her hand.
At that moment, she was anxious to clean it up, but then she thought, such a natural effect couldn’t even be replicated intentionally, so she decided to leave it be.
That’s why Zhou Sujin had asked her how he was supposed to sleep.
Although she had washed her hands, perhaps due to psychological effects, Wei Lai could still faintly smell the scent of strawberries on her fingertips.
Back home, Wei Lai washed her hands twice more with hand soap.
“President Zhou, I’ve arrived home.“
Zhou Sujin didn’t see the message as he was on the phone busy arranging matters with his secretary.
In the bedroom, the room attendant was replacing the old bedsheets and duvet covers with new ones, as the old sheets still smelled of strawberries.
The next day, with no need to meet Zhou Sujin, Wei Lai found herself consumed by work.
As the end of the workday neared, Zhao Yihan called her, asking if she was busy and if she wanted to join her for dinner at their parent’s new home if she wasn’t busy.
“Not busy,” Wei Lai glanced at the pile of sales reports from each store on her desk that she hadn’t had a chance to look at yet and said without hesitation.
After making plans with Zhao Yihan to go home together, she called her dad.
Upon hearing that they were coming home for dinner, her father and stepmom were overjoyed but also at a loss, immediately rushing to the supermarket to buy bags of groceries. Upon returning home, they thoroughly cleaned every nook and cranny of the house and prepared snacks and fruits that they knew the two of them liked.
It was even more grand than Chinese New Year.
Wei Lai arrived at her dad’s gated community entrance first, stopping to wait for Zhao Yihan.
Ten years ago, she didn’t feel like this new home was hers. And ten years later, she still felt like a guest.
“Wei Lai.”
It was Zhao Yihan’s voice.
Wei Lai snapped out of her thoughts and glanced out of the window. Zhao Yihan’s car window was down, and she was the only one inside, her brother-in-law didn’t come with her.
“Jiefu didn’t come?”
jiefu – literally means “brother-in-law”, but people also use it as a term to address one’s brother-in-law
“We rarely have meals together as a family, so I didn’t invite him.”
Zhao Yihan drove into the gated community, and Wei Lai followed behind.
There were two parking spaces at home, but her dad’s and stepmom’s cars were not there. Every time they came back for dinner, they always left the parking spaces empty, making it convenient for them sisters to park their cars.
She brought a gift for her stepmom, one that she had prepared long ago.
Zhao Yihan also brought a gift for her dad.
“Dear, why did you buy such an expensive dress? Don’t spend money recklessly next time,” Zhao Mei took the bag from Wei Lai, which contained a dress.
Meanwhile, Wei Huatian was saying the same thing to Zhao Yihan.
“You have a great figure, and you’ll look stunning in it, so it’s not considered reckless spending,” Wei Lai said with a smile to her stepmom.
Hearing Wei Lai’s sweet words, Zhao Mei burst with joy. “You’re such a sweet-talker,” she said, accepting the gift. “I’ll go try it on.”
Wei Huatian also took his gift back to his study.
The living room finally quieted down. Wei Lai and Zhao Yihan exchanged a knowing smile, accustomed to the recurring “family diplomacy” every time they came back for dinner.
There was an unspoken reservedness in Wei Lai’s interactions with her stepmom, and vice-versa.
Similarly, her dad and Zhao Yihan often found themselves being overly polite during their conversations, each trying to avoid any sense of awkwardness.
That’s why she and Zhao Yihan couldn’t find a sense of home here.
The slightly better part now was that she and this sister of hers were no longer complete strangers.
“By the way, why is your mom’s supermarket still out of stock?” Zhao Yihan tossed her a bag of Happy Lemon snacks that she liked.
“We’re still coordinating, but it should be resolved soon,” Wei Lai said.
The last time she went to Beijing to discuss their partnership with Happy Lemon’s East China Regional Manager, the discussion went fairly well. However, Qi Linsheng still hadn’t arranged shipments to their supermarket.
Pressing too hard would be annoying and wouldn’t solve the problem.
Zhao Yihan absentmindedly snacked on the snacks, unsure how to broach the subject.
Wei Lai sensed that Zhao Yihan seemed to have something on her mind. It was unusual for her to suggest going home for dinner today.
“Sis, what’s the matter?”
“Do you know about those rumors circulating about you lately?”
“I’m aware,” Wei Lai said indifferently.
“It’s been going on for so long. Zhou Sujin isn’t gonna do anything about it?”
“He doesn’t care about these things.”
Zhao Yihan didn’t say anything more. There wasn’t much she could do about such matters.
“What do you feel like eating? I’ll cook today,” Wei Lai said. She hadn’t found a chance to thank Zhao Yihan properly yet.
Zhao Yihan didn’t bother with formalities. She listed a few dishes she was craving. “Let’s cook dinner together tonight. I’ll be your assistant.”
“Sure,” Wei Lai held the open pack of snacks as she and Zhao Yihan walked into the kitchen.
Zhao Mei came out wearing the new dress and headed to the living room to ask Wei Huatian how it looked.
Wei Huatian had been watching his daughter busily washing and preparing ingredients in the kitchen. Glancing back at his wife, he said without even getting a clear view, “Looks good.”
Zhao Mei was accustomed to his predictable response; he always said this regardless of what she asked him.
“Where are they? Did they go out shopping?”
Wei Huatian said nothing, gesturing for her to look at the kitchen.
The kitchen door was made entirely of glass, allowing everything inside to be clearly visible.
Zhao Mei felt immensely happy with the scene before her. No matter what, they were family now. She hoped that her daughter and Wei Lai could get along well and take care of each other in the future.
Wei Huatian, on the other hand, felt a pang of bitterness as he looked at his daughter. He never imagined that he would get to eat a dinner prepared by his daughter, all thanks to his stepdaughter.
Wei Lai’s cooking was great and quick. In just over an hour, she prepared three meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and a soup, all smelled, looked, and tasted great.
Wei Huatian opened a bottle of low-alcohol liquor and poured four small glasses.
“Wishing you both happiness and good health. That’s all I wish for,” Zhao Mei raised her glass, clinking it with Wei Lai’s and then her daughter’s.
They all followed suit, offering their respective blessings.
Today was livelier than Chinese New Year.
Here is the rest of the content:
Oddly enough, the house was quieter during Chinese New Year. Wei Lai accompanied Cheng Minzhi for Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, while Zhao Yihan went back to accompany her dad. There were only Wei Huatian and Zhao Mei left at home, so they prepared a simple dinner with just a couple of dishes.
Zhao Mei took a bite of a dish and couldn’t stop praising Wei Lai’s cooking.
Wei Lai smiled but couldn’t fully enjoy herself. She thought of that restaurant, the days when her parents used to accompany her, the days when they would all eat together as a family – all of which were now just memories.
After dinner, she spent some more time with her dad and stepmother, and likewise for Zhao Yihan.
Jiefu called, wanting to pick her sister up.
“No need to pick me up, my mom will drive me back.”
Since they had all drunk, they couldn’t drive, so her stepmom walked Zhao Yihan home while her dad accompanied her on a stroll back to her condo.
As they exited the gated community, Zhao Mei and Zhao Yihan headed south, while Wei Lai and her dad walked north along the sidewalk. Wei Lai linked her arm with her dad’s, suddenly at a loss for words.
Wei Huatian gently patted his daughter’s hand. “You’re better at cooking than Dad.”
“I inherited it from you. It’s just that you don’t cook often,” Wei Lai said.
“That car you’re driving…” Wei Huatian pondered how to phrase it, afraid it might be the breakup fee from Zhang Yanxin.
Wei Lai had driven the Cullinan to her dad’s new house today, and the car was still parked in his parking spot. She had driven it over today precisely to have a heart-to-heart with her dad.
“It’s my boyfriend’s car.”
“……He… you two…” Wei Huatian stuttered, at a loss for words, chuckling. “His family must not be bad, yeah?” At least not worse off than Zhang Yanxin’s.
Wei Lai nodded, jokingly adding, “A tycoon from Beijing.”
“Stop fooling around,” Wei Huatian patted his daughter’s hand again.
“Have you heard of Kunchen Group’s Zhou Sujin?”
How could he not have heard of him?
After a few seconds, Wei Huatian snapped out of his shock. The difference between their families was too vast. “Lai Lai, how… do you feel about this relationship?”
“Not dwelling on the past, not worrying about the future, just cherishing the present.”
Wei Huatian remained silent for a moment. “That’s good.”
On the way back to the condo, it was silent between father and daughter half of the time.
But since Wei Lai kept holding onto his arm, Wei Huatian felt his daughter wasn’t so distant after all.
It was nearly 11 p.m. when they reached the entrance of the condominium. Wei Huatian escorted his daughter all the way upstairs.
“Dad, come in and rest for a bit, have some water. I’ll order a ride for you to go back later.”
“Sure,” Wei Huatian chuckled. “I can’t walk anymore anyway.”
Wei Lai pushed the door open and froze. The lights were on inside, and her mom’s purse and clothes were hanging by the door.
She didn’t know when her mom had arrived; she hadn’t told her.
“Mom.”
“Ah, you’re back?” Cheng Minzhi responded to her daughter while coming out of the bathroom holding a towel she just washed after tidying up her daughter’s room just now.
Seeing her ex-husband standing behind their daughter felt like a blast from the past. She nodded slightly.
Wei Huatian couldn’t remember the last time he saw his ex-wife, so long that he couldn’t recall it. Despite living in the same city, co-parenting, and calling each other in emergencies, they hadn’t encountered each other.
She hadn’t changed much.
“Lai Lai, I’ll head home then.” He patted his daughter’s shoulder. “Call me if you need anything.”
Wei Huatian closed the door behind him, suddenly craving a smoke. He reached into his pocket, but it was empty.
No cigarettes, no lighter. He had nothing.
Inside the condo, Wei Lai bent down to change her shoes, leaning forward deeply, and her long hair fell in front of her, almost brushing the floor.
She struggled to hold back her tears. After over a decade, their family of three had finally briefly reunited.
“I’ll go rinse the towel.” Cheng Minzhi turned to head back to the bathroom.
By the time she emerged from the bathroom again, her daughter had changed into her loungewear. There was no sign of anything amiss on her face as she sat on the sofa, munching on the snacks she had brought.
“Mom, where did you buy these snacks?” Wei Lai shook the bag of the Happy Lemon snack in her hand.
“From our own supermarket. We just got the entire range of Happy Lemon snacks, and their manufactured date is the latest,” Cheng Minzhi wiped her hands with a dry towel.
After the goods arrived at the warehouse, she couldn’t wait to pack a large bag and send it over to her daughter. She had originally planned to call and ask when she would be back, but then she remembered that it had been a long time since Wei Lai had a chance to have dinner with Wei Huatian, so she didn’t want to disturb their father-daughter time.
“Remember to thank Qi Linsheng.”
“I know,” Wei Lai said.
Her mom sat down beside her, and she stuffed a piece of snack into her mom’s mouth.
They chatted until almost midnight, neither mentioning the dinner at the new house tonight.
Watching as her mom’s car disappeared into the abyss from the balcony, Wei Lai felt incredibly sad. She opened her chat with Zhou Sujin.
Apart from playing a role of necessity, she wasn’t anything to him.
In the end, she didn’t send anything and closed her phone.
The next day at noon, Wei Lai asked Zhou Sujin if he was available, planning to go pick up her blazer.
Zhou Sujin quickly replied, “Don’t come over.”
Seeing that it wasn’t convenient, Wei Lai was about to end the conversation when he sent her an address. It was a high-end residential area called Jiang’an Cloud Residences in Jiang City. She had mentioned liking condos, so he bought one there.
His efficiency was unusually high. In just a day and a half, he had already completed all the paperwork.
“Still the same password,” he sent another message.
Wei Lai frowned; she didn’t know the door code for his other properties.
Could he have remembered wrong? Mistakenly remembered telling her when he had told someone else.
“President Zhou, which password?“
Zhou Sujin: “The same as the one for the Cullinan, what else?“
Wei Lai quickly replied, “I didn’t realize it was the car’s password just now.“
She remembered the code for the Cullinan’s safe box distinctly and still remembered it now.
Zhou Sujin: “I’ll pass by the supermarket in the evening and pick you up.“
He hadn’t planned to buy a condo in such a hurry, but after she flipped his hotel room upside down the night before yesterday, he immediately called his secretary, Yang Ze, to secure a condo to be bought and moved in within two days.
Yang Ze was always highly efficient. Within a day and a half, he had found a suitable condo according to Zhou Sujin’s requirements, negotiated the price, and signed the deal.
The condo had been vacant before, so it was ready to move in today after cleaning.
Some of his personal belongings had also been shipped from Beijing by air.
The plane had landed, so Uncle Yan went to pick them up.
With so much luggage, they used the company’s SUV to pick them up.
This time, Lu An came to Jiang City with him for a meeting. He was currently at the Jiang City branch office. When he heard that Zhou Sujin was using the company’s SUV to transport luggage, he found it amusing. “Did you really need to use a private plane to ship your luggage just for a business trip?” He joked, “Are you planning to settle down here?“
Zhou Sujin: “More or less.“
Lu An’s eyes nearly popped out. “What do you mean? You’re not actually into that Wei Lai, are you?“
Zhou Sujin didn’t respond further. He hadn’t intended to tell anyone around him about the contract.
In the evening, he went to pick up Wei Lai after finishing work.
“Come down,” he messaged Wei Lai when he arrived downstairs at the supermarket’s office.
Wei Lai shut down her laptop. “Coming.“
Before leaving, she informed her mom, “Mom, I won’t be working late with you tonight. I’m going out for dinner with a friend.”
Cheng Minzhi smiled. “Go ahead and have fun.”
She noticed that her daughter’s attire was different from usual today.
Unable to resist her curiosity, after her daughter went downstairs, she glanced out the window at the car waiting to pick her up. It was a Bentley with a Beijing license plate, differing from the Cullinan’s by only one digit.
It seemed the owner of the car was the same person.
She didn’t ask for much, just hoped that her daughter would meet a good person to grow old with.
But it was too difficult.
Without seeing which direction the Bentley was heading, Cheng Minzhi sat back in front of her laptop. She was planning to open the 16th store. Finding a partner to grow old with in life was too difficult, so it was more practical to earn and save more money for her daughter.
Downstairs, Wei Lai sat in the back seat of the Bentley.
Not having seen each other all day yesterday, she couldn’t quite tell whether time had passed quickly or slowly during the day.
Two unfamiliar people sitting together left them with nothing to say, especially since he was naturally taciturn.
Today, it wasn’t Uncle Yan driving; this chauffeur was younger.
“Where’s Uncle Yan?” She asked, trying to find a starting point for conversation.
Zhou Sujin: “He went to the airport.”
Wei Lai nodded, assuming he had a friend coming over. It wasn’t until they arrived at the new condo that she realized Uncle Yan had gone to pick up Zhou Sujin’s luggage.
There were a total of 11 suitcases, big and small, making it seem like he was moving homes.
Wei Lai helped push two medium-sized suitcases.
Once inside the condo, Zhou Sujin glanced at the two suitcases in her hands and pointed to the one in her left hand. “You can take that one back with you. It’s full of bags I prepared for you to use when you accompany me home.”
“Your family knows you have a girlfriend?” Wei Lai couldn’t help but feel nervous, despite being mentally prepared.
“Sort of,” Zhou Sujin said nonchalantly, “They’ll know sooner or later.”
“Have they asked how we got together?”
“Not at that stage yet.” Since he went home for afternoon tea last time, he hadn’t returned home as he was busy with projects.
After regaining her composure, Wei Lai asked him, “If someone asks, how do you plan to respond?” She needed to discuss this with him beforehand to avoid any mishaps in the future.
Zhou Sujin glanced up at her. “Just say you pursued me.”
“……” She had never pursued anyone before, and she couldn’t break that precedent even if they were just acting. If outsiders found out she had actively pursued him, how could she continue to mingle in the social circles here? “Can we say it was you who liked me first and pursued me, and it took a lot of effort to finally win me over?”
Zhou Sujin didn’t respond, instead opening a suitcase and taking out important documents.
Wei Lai went over to him, but Zhou Sujin’s aloof demeanor made her hesitate to act coquettishly with him. Summoning her courage, she spoke softly, “President Zhou, can you say something?”
Zhou Sujin remained impassive.
“President Zhou, you’re a really good person.”
“It’s not against your conscience to say that…?”
“It wouldn’t.”
But Zhou Sujin still didn’t relent or change his mind.
Wei Lai looked at him silently, not easily discouraged.
Her finger accidentally brushed against the hem of his suit jacket before gently pinching the corner of his jacket. “President Zhou.”
Zhou Sujin placed the documents he was holding on the desk before glancing at her and pausing. “I’ll agree to it just once, but no next time.”
