Don’t Walk So Fast, Wait For Me
Wen Changyun was stunned for a few seconds before suddenly realizing what was going on. It turned out that this Wei Lai was Zhou Sujin’s girlfriend.
What surprised him even more was that despite having a connection to Zhou Sujin, Wei Lai chose not to leverage it and came to him on her own to secure the supermarket’s operating rights.
“When you have time, bring Xiao Wei over for a drink too. We made some fruit wine this year, and you both should come and try it,” he said, then added, “I was just discussing a partnership with Xiao Wei, and it went well.”
Zhou Sujin, who had seen Wei Lai and Wen Changyun sitting together when he entered the venue, smiled. “She’s bold and full of ideas.”
Wen Changyun also smiled. “Xiao Wei is indeed bold and very smart.”
The shopping malls were non-core businesses under the Yunhui Group, something Wen Changyun never personally managed; it was overseen by a professional team.
It was rare for anyone to stop him just to discuss such a minor partnership.
By this time, Wei Lai had walked over to Zhou Sujin, the zipper of her purse brushing against the back of his hand.
Zhou Sujin took the wine glass from her hand, offering a third toast to Wen Changyun for the night, though this one was on Wei Lai’s behalf. “Sorry for the trouble tonight, Uncle Wen.”
He tilted his head back slightly and downed the glass.
Not a drop was left in the glass.
After downing the drink, Zhou Sujin grabbed Wei Lai’s hand and prepared to leave.
Wei Lai, however, slowed her pace and looked around, as if searching for someone.
Zhou Sujin tilted his head and asked quietly, “Who are you looking for?”
Wei Lai scanned the crowd but didn’t find the face she was looking for. “Why don’t I see Mu Di?”
Zhou Sujin: “…”
Everyone in the venue knew he had come specifically to pick her up and what their relationship was now, yet she still had to flaunt it in front of Mu Di.
“Let’s go,” he said as he walked away.
Wei Lai had no choice but to follow suit. “Don’t walk so fast, wait for me.” She quickly grabbed his arm, holding him back to keep him from walking too fast.
With everyone watching, Zhou Sujin couldn’t say much, so he slowed his pace to match her leisurely steps. This was the limit of his patience.
Instead of exiting through the main entrance of the venue, they took the hotel owner’s private elevator down from the back door.
“They say that Zhou Sujin came again? Why don’t I see him?” Blissful Garden Supermarkets’ owner had just stepped outside for a smoke, and on his way back in, everyone was talking about Zhou Sujin.
Mu Di replied to her uncle, “He left through the back door.”
Blissful Garden Supermarkets’ owner was bewildered, having only been outside for the duration of a cigarette. “He was only here for a few minutes?”
Mu Di: “He came to pick someone up, so naturally he wouldn’t stay long.”
Zhou Sujin was not only aloof and reticent but also very low-key. If it weren’t for catering to Wei Lai’s vanity, making sure everyone knew he came to pick her up, he wouldn’t have entered through the main entrance earlier, attracting everyone’s attention.
She told her uncle, “The person he came to pick up was Wei Lai, Cheng Minzhi’s daughter.”
Blissful Garden Supermarkets’ owner paused for half a second. “What’s their relationship?”
Mu Di shook her head. She didn’t know either. A friend had mentioned that Zhou Sujin had a marriage partner, but tonight, Zhou Sujin completely broke from his usual low profile by publicly acknowledging Wei Lai.
The only thing she was certain of now was, “We won’t be able to enter the mall.” Wen Changyun would definitely give the supermarket operating rights to Wei Lai.
As they exited the hotel lobby. Wei Lai was still holding onto Zhou Sujin’s arm.
As they passed by a black sedan, the person inside gripped the door handle tightly, wanting to open the door but resisting. Yuan Hengrui had heard that Wei Lai would be at the gala tonight, so he had been waiting here for her ever since.
The day before yesterday, he had gone to see the fortune teller again, not for himself this time, but to get a reading on Zhou Sujin and Wei Lai to see when they would break up.
The fortune teller said that instead of waiting for them to break up, he should strive to become one of the top three richest people in Jiang City.
To this moment, he still couldn’t understand what the fortune teller meant by that.
Previously, when he asked if he could become one of the top three richest, the fortune teller was silent. Now, he was advised to give it a try.
Since the fortune teller suggested he had a chance to become one of the top three richest, Yuan Hengrui decided to give it a try. He started by distancing himself from his hobbies, selling all his sports cars, and putting away his trendy clothes to wear suits and ties. He began clocking in at his family’s company every day right on time.
Today, he was waiting here for Wei Lai, hoping to let her see the him now that he had completely changed and was no longer spending the days eating, drinking, and having fun.
Watching her figure fade away in the rearview mirror, he saw a Bentley with a Beijing license plate just a few meters away. There was no doubt it was Zhou Sujin’s car.
He tugged at his tie, which was so tight he could barely breathe. He had put it on specifically to see Wei Lai, nearly strangling himself in the process.
No, he couldn’t let this effort go to waste.
Yuan Hengrui couldn’t care less anymore.
Yuan Hengrui released the door handle, opened the door, and hurriedly grabbed a pack of cigarettes as he got out of the car.
“Hey bro,” he called out, quickly catching up to them. “Sorry, can I borrow a light?”
That was the best he could come up with…
Zhou Sujin turned around, sizing up the man who was addressing him so familiarly. He said flatly, “I don’t smoke.”
Yuan Hengrui smiled. “All good. Sorry to bother you.”
Whether or not he got a light didn’t matter; he had already achieved his goal.
Wei Lai recognized him and was taken aback.
He had even changed his hairstyle, cutting it very short. He looked especially sharp and seemed to have matured overnight. At first glance, she had only found him familiar, not connecting him to Yuan Hengrui at all.
Once in the car, Uncle Yan raised the partition between the front and back seats.
Feeling more at ease to speak, Wei Lai said to Zhou Sujin, “That man just now was Yuan Hengrui. I almost didn’t recognize him.”
Zhou Sujin glanced out the window again and said nothing.
He was not interested in such matters.
“Our supermarket wants to enter Yunhui Group’s mall, so that’s why I approached Chairman Wen tonight,” Wei Lai explained, knowing he would never ask her about her conversation with Wen Changyun or its outcome.
Thus, she took the initiative to bring it up.
Zhou Sujin had drunk quite a bit tonight three glasses at the gala and two more at dinner. He leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest. “Why didn’t you use my connections? It would’ve taken just a word.”
Wei Lai: “I wanted to try it on my own first. If that didn’t work, I would’ve mentioned your name.” She turned to look at him. “Didn’t you say I lack ability? I want to improve.”
Zhou Sujin tried to recall and remembered that he had said that about her.
“Add this person.” He gave her Yang Ze’s phone number.
Wei Lai took out her phone to add the contact on WeChat and asked Zhou Sujin, “Who’s this?”
“Secretary Yang,” Zhou Sujin added, “In the future, if you need to use my connections, contact him directly.”
Wei Lai’s hand paused as she entered the phone number. Just at this moment, the stretch of road outside no longer had tall, lush trees, and the streetlights illuminated the interior of the car brightly. She could see him very clearly, his chiseled face devoid of any emotion.
When Zhang Yanxin was about to break up with her, he had also said similar things, telling her to contact Secretary Liu if she needed anything, and Secretary Liu would take care of it for her.
Having been abandoned once before, she didn’t expect to have such a PTSD reaction.
She particularly disliked this feeling.
Wei Lai deleted the phone number she had entered from the search bar. “I won’t add him. If I need anything, I’ll come to you.”
Zhou Sujin: “There will be times when I’m too busy to take your call.”
Wei Lai didn’t want to discuss her past relationship and feelings, as explaining her reluctance to add Secretary Yang’s contact would be difficult, and he might not understand anyway.
“If you’re too busy to answer, just get back to me when you can.”
Zhou Sujin was exasperated with her, not understanding her reasoning but didn’t press further. If she didn’t want to add Secretary Yang’s WeChat, then so be it. He then gave her another phone number, “This is my work number.”
When he was unavailable, Secretary Yang would handle and answer calls on his work phone.
Wei Lai promptly added his work WeChat account and labeled it as “President Zhou,” while his personal account was saved under his name.
Zhou Sujin hadn’t eaten much at dinner tonight. “Do you want to get late-night?” He asked, seeking her opinion.
When someone in a leadership position or a big boss asked this, it usually meant they wanted to eat themselves. Although Wei Lai wasn’t hungry, she went along with it. “En, I was just hungry.”
The problem was that they had different tastes, so finding a place to eat might be tricky.
Zhou Sujin instructed Uncle Yan, “Go to that restaurant we went to last time.”
Wei Lai turned to look at him. He still had his eyes closed. The car was dimly lit now, making it hard to see his expression.
“Didn’t you not like their food?”
Zhou Sujin: “There were two dishes that were pretty good.”
Wei Lai knew which two dishes he was referring to—they happened to be the ones she didn’t like.
The restaurant closed at midnight, and they were the last group of customers.
Downstairs was full, so they went upstairs and sat in almost the same spot as last time.
After ordering, both of their phones buzzed with messages almost simultaneously.
Wei Lai opened her phone. The message was from Wen Changyun’s secretary, reminding her to accept Lu Song’s friend request. Since Lu Song was in charge of all the shopping malls under Yunhui Group, him adding her meant that Wei Lai Supermarket’s entry was almost certain.
She accepted his friend request.
Wei Lai greeted him, “Hello, Director Lu.“
Lu Song replied with a handshake emoji. He dared not neglect a task personally assigned by the chairman, especially since Wei Lai was also Zhou Sujin’s girlfriend.
What troubled him, however, was that he had almost finalized negotiations with Blissful Garden Supermarket’s owner to give them the operating rights to the supermarket on the basement floor of their new shopping mall. However, Wei Lai Supermarket came into the picture halfway unexpectedly.
He had no choice but to “break the deal.”
Both Blissful Garden Supermarket’s owner and Mu Di understood; after all, who would dare to go against the chairman’s wishes?
The chairman’s secretary even told him that Wei Lai had made the chairman make an exception with her own abilities and that Wei Lai Supermarket obtaining the operating rights had nothing to do with Zhou Sujin.
He just smiled at this; such words sounded absolutely absurd.
Who would believe that?
He promised the owner of Blissful Garden Supermarkets that if Wei Lai and Zhou Sujin ever broke up and severed ties, the mall would replace Wei Lai Supermarket with Blissful Garden Supermarket, finding a reason to change tenants.
“We’ll need to trouble GM Wei to come by on Monday at 2:30 p.m. to discuss some details about the move-in.“
Wei Lai: “Sure, no problem. Director Lu, you can just call me Xiao Wei.“
Across from her, Zhou Sujin was replying to a message from his auntie.
Since the day Ning Rujiang saw her nephew at her sister’s house, she hadn’t seen him again. Every time she called him, he was either abroad or on a flight heading for a business trip.
In the past, her nephew had always been this busy, but now she couldn’t seem to meet him no matter how hard she tried. Subconsciously, she felt like he was avoiding her on purpose.
Not being able to see her nephew also meant not being able to see that watch.
She casually asked a few close friends of her nephew, but none of them could clearly confirm whether Zhou Sujin had a girlfriend since he had never brought her out.
It seemed they had all agreed in advance on how to handle her questions.
“Still on a business trip? Come over for dinner whenever you have time. Your uncle keeps asking about you all the time.“
Zhou Sujin replied, “I won’t be free until mid-October. I’m in Jiang City right now, and I have to go abroad in early October. I’ll come visit you and Uncle after my busy schedule.“
Ning Rujiang checked the calendar and sighed. She’d have to wait for over 20 days.
While she did push for marriage, she had boundaries and wouldn’t interfere with her nephew’s work.
“Ok, remember to tell me once you’re back.“
“Oh right, Sujin, is Jiang City fun? Your uncle has been talking about tea from Jiang City a lot lately. If it’s fun, I’ll accompany him to the tea plantations over there and buy some tea leaves back.“
Zhou Sujin: “Not bad.“
Ning Rujiang felt reassured; if her nephew said a place was not bad, it must be.
“Alright, I’ll make time to go with your uncle over there soon.“
Though Zhou Sujin didn’t want to listen to his aunt’s nagging, he never skimped on filial piety. “Jiang City is perfect for visiting right now, not too hot or cold. It might not be as good later.“
He added, “I’ve been staying in Jiang City lately. Do you and Uncle want to come now?“
Ning Rujiang hesitated, “Will it interfere with your work?“
Zhou Sujin: “It won’t. When I’m busy, I’ll have Uncle Yan take you around.“
Ning Rujiang was tempted. Decisive as always, she immediately went into her walk-in closet to start packing her luggage, planning to take the earliest high-speed train the next day.
“I wonder if Sujin is wearing that new watch on this business trip,” she casually mentioned to her husband.
Her husband asked puzzledly, “Why are you so fixated on Sujin’s watch? When it’s time to meet the family, he’ll naturally bring his girlfriend over. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Ning Rujiang took out her suitcase. “You don’t get it. I’m not in a rush, it’s just that these kids nowadays have all sorts of tricks to deal with family matchmaking. Take Lu An from the Lu family, for example. He had someone pretend to be his girlfriend to fool his family, making everyone happy for nothing. In the end, it was all for nothing. Sujin is close to Lu An, so who knows if he might get similar ideas.”
As she packed her clothes, she continued, “The brand of watch Sujin is wearing requires a long waiting list, and some models take years to get. If his girlfriend gave it to him, it means they’re serious. I just want to check the original order. It’s not like I’m doing a background check on the girl. Don’t worry, I won’t pry into her life any more than that.”
Zhou Sujin sent another message, “Auntie, you don’t need to bring any toiletries. My place has everything.“
Ning Rujiang: “You have a place in Jiang City?“
“En, just bought it.“
The next morning, Zhou Sujin had the concierge arrange for someone to clean and tidy up the condo, preparing a master bedroom for his aunt and uncle to stay in.
He informed Wei Lai, “My aunt and uncle are coming over in the next few days. They’ll be staying at my place.”
Wei Lai understood that it wasn’t time to meet the family yet, so she wouldn’t need to go to Jiang’an Cloud Residences for a while.
She asked, “So, we won’t be seeing each other for the next few days?”
Zhou Sujin: “En. Didn’t I just pick you up from the gala yesterday? Isn’t that enough for you to show off for a few days?”
Wei Lai murmured, “Not enough.”
