Eating Her Leftovers
Getting engaged was neither necessary nor needed.
Zhou Sujin declined the engagement proposal, citing they had only known each other briefly. “We’ve only known each other for three months; there’s no rush.”
Ning Ruzhen looked at her son in confusion, then glanced at his watch. He was still wearing the one Wei Lai had given him, which had a seven-month waitlist just to be ordered. And now he was saying they’d only known each other for three months?
The timeline didn’t add up.
She remained calm and composed. “You even bought a condo in Jiang City. I thought you two had been together for quite a while.”
Zhou Sujin picked up the cup of tea that had been prepared for Wei Lai, taking a sip since she hadn’t touched it. “Not that long.” It had only been three months since Wei Lai broke up, so their relationship couldn’t be longer than that. To cover all bases, he told the truth as it was to his mom.
Ning Ruzhen picked up a piece of pastry, elegantly taking a bite while keeping her gaze fixed on her son’s face. Since subtle probing was useless, she switched to direct confrontation.
“I’m just being nosy, but you bought a condo in Jiang City after only three months? You’re not one to make impulsive decisions.”
“I pursued her.”
It seemed like he was dodging the question, but it was an indirect answer.
Why did he buy a condo so quickly? Because he fell in love with Wei Lai at first sight.
Ning Ruzhen objectively shared her first impression of Wei Lai, “This girl is not only beautiful but also has a nice personality.”
Zhou Sujin: “That’s just an act. She’s not that great; she’s full of flaws.”
Though it sounded like a complaint, it was clear he was spoiling her.
Ning Ruzhen smiled. “Who doesn’t have a facade in front of others? It’s normal. It’s also normal to show all of her flaws in front of you.”
Zhou Sujin took another sip of tea, unable to gauge his mom’s true feelings about Wei Lai from her neutral tone.
Just as they were chatting, Zhou Jiaye entered the courtyard.
He took off his suit jacket and draped it over the back of a chair before sitting down in the empty seat next to their mom.
“Didn’t you say you were bringing your girlfriend home?”
Ning Ruzhen: “He did. She’s with your aunt learning flower arranging.”
She glanced at her eldest son. “And you? When are you bringing a girlfriend home?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Then find one.”
Zhou Jiaye laughed out loud. “If it were really that easy, why are so many people still single?” He picked up a cup of tea from the table and drank it like water, not bothering to taste it.
“Mom, stop rushing me. If you do, I can’t promise I won’t be like Lu An.”
Pressured by his family to get married, Lu An had hired someone to act as his girlfriend. Unfortunately, his poor acting skills gave him away, and his family saw through the ruse easily.
Zhou Jiaye looked at his mom. “I just don’t want to get your hopes up. If I were to find someone to pretend to be my girlfriend, I would bring her home in three months, and you’d never be able to tell she wasn’t real.”
Zhou Sujin: “…”
The three-month timeframe was a bit sensitive.
Ning Ruzhen instinctively glanced at her youngest son, who was calmly sipping his tea, seemingly unaffected by the conversation.
She discreetly shifted her gaze back and continued to scold her eldest son, “It’s not that I want to rush you; it’s your attitude that’s the problem.”
Any further discussion would just go in circles, serving no purpose.
Zhou Jiaye didn’t argue, instead turning to his lil’ bro, “It’s our uncle turning fifty, not our aunt. What made you think of gifting a vase?”
Zhou Sujin had brought back two vases from London with the help of Min Ting, purchased at a high price from a collector. He couldn’t understand why Zhou Sujin would give such a gift to Uncle.
Setting down the tea he had only taken a few sips of, Zhou Sujin explained, “The vases are for Auntie Cheng, Wei Lai’s mom.”
“You’ve been to Wei Lai’s home?”
“En.”
“This speed of yours is even faster than when Lu An had a fake girlfriend.”
Ning Ruzhen smiled and said nonchalantly, “Lu An introduced his fake girlfriend to his parents at the four-and-a-half-month mark.”
Zhou Jiaye looked at his lil’ bro, “How did you and Wei Lai meet?”
“At a dinner hosted by He Wancheng.”
“He Wancheng? The richest man in Su City, right?”
“En.”
Zhou Sujin took out his phone, chatting intermittently with his brother while sending a message to Wei Lai, “Be careful when talking with my aunt. My mom is already suspicious.“
Wei Lai quickly replied, “I haven’t spoken much to your mom; I shouldn’t have given anything away.“
Zhou Sujin: “Not sure where we slipped up, but it’s fine. She’s just suspicious.“
Wei Lai replayed every detail from the moment she got out of the car to entering the house, feeling confident she hadn’t made any mistakes. The only possibility she considered was, “Your mom’s experienced; she also fell in love and dated when she was young. Maybe the way we interact isn’t natural enough, not as relaxed as a real couple.“
“Let’s talk later. I’m arranging flowers with your aunt.“
“Jiaye, you’re here!”
A few minutes later, Ning Rujiang and Wei Lai finished arranging the flowers and came out of the living room, with Wei Lai holding a vase, planning to place it on the tea table in the courtyard.
“Lai Lai, this is Sujin’s big brother.”
She introduced the two to each other.
Looking at the person in front of her, whose cool demeanor was just like Zhou Sujin’s, Wei Lai greeted him with a smile, “Dage.“
dage – literally means “big brother,” used as a term for addressment
Zhou Jiaye had already seen Wei Lai in the car before, so she wasn’t a stranger to him. He nodded, “Hi, make yourself at home. No need to be formal.”
Wei Lai sat down next to Zhou Sujin, glancing at his stern profile. Despite his cold demeanor, he suddenly seemed as familiar as family to her. Sitting beside him, she felt an inexplicable sense of calm.
Zhou Sujin turned slightly, his eyes asking her what was wrong.
Wei Lai shook her head and picked up the teacup in front of her. “I’ll try the tea Uncle made.”
Zhou Sujin promptly said, “I just had a couple of sips.”
The teacup was almost at her lips, and putting it down abruptly would seem particularly weird.
His mom was already suspicious. Once suspicion takes hold, every detail gets scrutinized under a microscope, leading to doubts about authenticity and doubting anything that doesn’t seem intimate enough.
Couples didn’t necessarily have to drink from the same cup of tea, but if she put the teacup down now, it would only confirm Zhou Sujin’s mom’s suspicion that their relationship was fake.
Wei Lai tilted her head and naturally continued the conversation, “What did you think? Auntie said Uncle bought the tea leaves from Jiang City and specially brewed it for us today.”
Zhou Sujin: “Not bad.”
“I’ll give it a try then.” Acting wasn’t easy. Under his gaze, Wei Lai took a sip from the cup he had already drunk from.
Zhou Sujin looked at her, then at the teacup.
Auntie asked her with a smile, “Does it taste like home?”
Since she and Zhou Sujin had already reached the stage of meeting each other’s families, sharing a cup of tea seemed perfectly normal to outsiders. Wei Lai nodded, “It’s a bit bitter with a hint of sweetness.”
“Here, have a snack. It’s still early for dinner.” Ning Rujiang warmly placed two plates of tea snacks in front of Wei Lai, inviting her to pick any flavors she liked.
This gave Wei Lai a chance to put down the teacup. Drinking the tea he drank from was a bit awkward, but not too bad. After all, he had once drunk her drink in place of her and toasted for her.
She rarely ate tea snacks, but she picked a cherry blossom-flavored one. These tea snacks weren’t soft like the cakes from a bakery. There were several old tea snack shops in Jiang City, but she had never bought from them.
Zhou Jiaye signaled to his lil’ bro, “Help me carry the tea set I got for Uncle.”
The tea set was wrapped in multiple layers, and the packaging box was too heavy for one person to lift.
Zhou Sujin got up, and the two brothers walked one behind the other towards the entrance.
Ning Rujiang thoughtfully suggested, “Lai Lai, you go too and see if there’s anything you can help with.”
“Okay,” Wei Lai replied gratefully, feeling the pressure of staying with Zhou Sujin’s mom.
However, she still hadn’t finished the tea snack in her hand yet.
Ning Rujiang waved her hand. “It’s fine, you can eat while you walk. We don’t have so many rules at home.”
Her personality was completely different from her sister’s—one warm, one cold; one lively, one quiet, so the children had always been closer to her since they were young.
Wei Lai quickened her pace and caught up with Zhou Sujin before they exited the siheyuan.
Zhou Sujin glanced at the tea snack in her hand. She was eating it slowly; it seemed like it didn’t quite suit her taste. He reached out, “Give it to me.”
Wei Lai turned to look at him, and he took the remaining half of the tea snack, seemingly hesitating for a moment before putting it in his mouth.
Then, he looked at her and said, “Feeling better now?”
Wei Lai understood what he meant. She had drunk the tea he had sipped, and now he ate the tea snack she had left.
She smiled. “Yeah.”
As they chatted, they stepped over the doorstep.
Wei Lai tugged at his suit and lowered her voice, “What do we do about your mom? I don’t even know what she’s suspicious of.” Acting under someone’s suspicious gaze was too difficult and required a strong mental fortitude.
“Don’t worry.”
Zhou Sujin walked over to his brother’s car, not in a hurry to help move the item. “I need a favor.”
“What?”
“Mom suspects that Wei Lai and I are pretending to be a couple. Can you try to find out what she’s suspicious about?”
“Let her suspect whatever she wants. You two aren’t pretending, so there’s no need to worry.”
“We are pretending.”
The tea set box in Zhou Jiaye’s hands almost slipped, using his knee to prop it up. He stared at Zhou Sujin for a moment before suddenly laughing.
Looks like he was inspired by Lu An after all.
He had also considered using this ruse, but finding a suitable partner for it was harder than finding a real girlfriend, so he gave up on the idea.
Pushing the tea set back into the trunk, he took out a cigarette and lit it.
With Wei Lai nearby, it wasn’t convenient for him to ask questions.
“Alright,” he agreed. “I’ll find a chance to get the information out of her.”
Zhou Jiaye took this task seriously. After their uncle’s birthday banquet, he found an opportunity to probe their mom subtly. He didn’t get much information, but what he did find out was somewhat useful.
On the way home, Zhou Sujin received a message from his brother: “Your intuition was right, Mom is suspicious.“
“Suspicious about what?“
“Mom said she doesn’t oppose you and Wei Lai getting engaged, yet you didn’t react much.“
Given Wei Lai’s family background, their family would never agree to the marriage. Yet, when their mom expressed her stance, not only did Zhou Sujin not show much excitement, he seemed somewhat resistant to the idea of getting engaged, which didn’t make sense.
Zhou Jiaye continued, “That’s probably not the only reason. Mom clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and I couldn’t press further. You should know better than anyone where things went wrong.“
Zhou Sujin: “I don’t know. If I did, why would I have you find out?“
Zhou Jiaye pondered for a moment. “It could also be that Mom hasn’t really discovered anything. With Lu An’s stunt of hiring a fake girlfriend, and you being so close to him, she can’t help but overthink.“
Zhou Sujin: “Maybe.“
Since his mom was only suspicious for now, there was no need to overreact.
“What did your brother say?” Wei Lai asked, feeling anxious all evening.
Zhou Sujin downplayed the situation, “Nothing to worry about.”
But Wei Lai still couldn’t calm down. Having a problem during her first meeting with his parents meant gaining their complete trust in the future would be very difficult.
She reviewed her actions and didn’t think she had made any mistakes, which meant the issue might be with Zhou Sujin. His family knew him too well, and sometimes, even his slightest reaction could expose their fake relationship.
From landing in Beijing last night to tonight’s birthday banquet, it had been over twenty hours of high tension. It had been more exhausting than staying up all night working on deliverables before.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat for a brief rest.
The Bentley’s rear had Captain seats, so she wasn’t concerned about falling asleep and inadvertently leaning on him.
In the short twenty-minute car ride, she drifted off and even dreamt that Zhou Jiaye’s elder brother came to find them, mentioning that their family wanted them to marry soon. Looking at Zhou Sujin, his brother asked, “What are your plans?”
“Wei Lai.”
The car had already entered the mansion’s courtyard when Zhou Sujin called out to her.
Wei Lai had been waiting to see how the Zhou Sujin from her dream would respond to his elder brother and their family, knowing they were in a fake relationship. In reality, Zhou Sujin’s deep voice called out to her again, “Wei Lai, we’re home.”
In the end, Wei Lai didn’t get to see how the dream would conclude. She opened her eyes and was dazed for a few seconds.
“We’re home?”
“En.”
Zhou Sujin had already gotten out of the car as he spoke.
How could she dream about something as absurd as marrying Zhou Sujin?
Perhaps it was because his aunt had mentioned how beautiful the tea plantations in Jiang City were at dinner, suggesting they could choose a tea plantation for the wedding ceremony Zhou Sujin and her would have in Jiang City in the future. That must’ve slipped into her dream.
Wei Lai calmed herself and grabbed her clothes and purse before getting out of the car.
All her clothes and toiletries were in the master bedroom. Following Zhou Sujin upstairs to the second floor, she stopped at the bedroom door. “President Zhou,” she said, standing at the door.
Zhou Sujin turned back to look at her.
“I need to go inside to grab my things, or you could get them for me.”
“Go ahead.”
After they went out in the afternoon, the maid cleaned the upstairs. The bed was made, and the linens were changed.
Before Wei Lai even reached the bed, she noticed that her PJs were placed right next to Zhou Sujin’s, with hers slightly overlapping the edge of his.
It wasn’t just the clothes that were overlapping, but also a hint of intimacy.
She tried to remain calm, but only she knew how awkward she felt at that moment.
Wei Lai instantly picked up her PJs, and to cover the awkwardness, she tried to change the subject. “President Zhou, we haven’t really discussed this in detail. If we mess up and your mom or aunt finds out we’re fake, does the contract end early?”
Zhou Sujin walked straight to the watch cabinet in the walk-in closet and called her over.
Not understanding why he wanted her to come over, Wei Lai still walked over to the walk-in closet.
Continuing the conversation, Zhou Sujin said, “There’s no ‘if.’ Just play your role well for these two years, and I’ll handle the rest.”
Wei Lai looked at her, and as always, spoke her mind, “It would be best if we can maintain this for the full two years. You know I don’t want it to end early.”
Zhou Sujin glanced at her, then lowered his gaze to unfasten the clasp of his watch. “Ending early might not be a bad thing. With no power, there’d be no comparison, and you might actually ease a little in your ways.”
Wei Lai: “I don’t want to.”
Taking off his watch, Zhou Sujin slightly nodded toward the watch safes. “If you don’t want to ease in your ways, then make sure you familiarize yourself with these watches. You don’t want to be caught off guard if they bring up my collection, and you have no idea what they’re talking about.”
This appears to be the end of the provided text. The scene concludes with Zhou Sujin advising Wei Lai to familiarize herself with his watch collection to maintain their facade as a couple. He seems to be taking steps to ensure their pretend relationship remains convincing to his family, particularly his suspicious mother. Meanwhile, Wei Lai is adamant about not wanting their arrangement to end early, despite Zhou Sujin’s suggestion that it might be beneficial for her.
