Honey
Zhou Sujin opened his laptop and dove straight into work. Registering their marriage and seeing his family off at the airport had taken up two hours from his work, and he still hadn’t caught up with the work that had piled up after yesterday’s engagement.
After replying to an email from his secretary, Yang Ze, he took a sip of water and called Zhou Jiaye, planning to convene an impromptu board meeting before the end of the year. His motive was to reduce their stake in Xinming Semiconductor and increase their investment in Jiang’an Group.
“Aren’t you supposed to be registering your marriage today? And you’re still working?”
“Is there a clash between the two?”
Zhou Sujin shifted back to the topic at hand. “Try to schedule the meeting for this Thursday or Friday. Inform everyone now.”
It was Monday, and since his lil’ bro had just gotten married to Wei Lai, it made sense to give him a few more days off.
Zhou Jiaye asked, “Aren’t you staying in Jiang City for a few more days? There’s no rush for the meeting, we could do it next Monday.”
“No need,” Zhou Sujin replied as he placed his cup back into the holder. “Hanging up now.”
Before Zhou Jiaye could say anything else, the call was hung up.
They just landed in Beijing, and he rode back to the city with their mom and aunt.
Ning Rujiang knew a bit about Xinming Semiconductor—it was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xinming Group, a company with considerable influence in Jiang City, second only to Yunhui Group owned by the wealthiest man in the area, Wen Changyun.
She shared her thoughts with her eldest nephew, “Whether it’s reducing shares or canceling the investment plan, you guys need to tread carefully. So much money has already been poured in; you guys might not even get the capital back.”
“You don’t know him well enough. He won’t make money that leaves him feeling unsatisfied.”
Ning Rujiang knew exactly who controlled Xinming Semiconductor, but Ning Ruzhen wasn’t as informed. She pulled out her phone, did a quick search, and when she saw that the chairman’s surname was Zhang, it all clicked.
Wei Lai’s ex-boyfriend was Zhang Yanxin—the one who almost became the owner of that watch. Chairman Zhang must be his father.
She exited the search page. “Jiaye, does your brother’s new watch have any collectible value? I see him wearing it often.”
“There’s no collectible value.”
Ning Ruzhen smiled and didn’t press further.
She exchanged a glance with her sister. See? No collectible value.
Ning Rujiang sent her sister a message, “Sujin is gracious and composed. By continuing to wear that watch, he’s telling Wei Lai that even though it was a gift for her ex, he doesn’t mind.“
Ning Ruzhen: “…”
Meanwhile, in Jiang City—
Zhang Yanxin had taken the day off and was in his study, waiting for a call from Secretary Liu.
He couldn’t suppress his burning curiosity any longer. An hour ago, he’d asked Secretary Liu to investigate the watch Wei Lai had gifted him—what it looked like and whose hands it was in now.
Knowing Wei Lai’s personality, there was no way she would’ve kept the watch after they broke up. He wanted to buy it back.
He had heard that she registered for marriage today.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed on the desk. Zhang Yanxin quickly picked it up.
“President Zhang, that particular watch had a seven-month waiting list. It was a one-to-one purchase*.“
* – usually for luxury items, such as Hermes, you need to buy an item’s worth of amount in SLGs (small leather goods) to even be qualified for a Birkin or Kelly
Secretary Liu added cautiously, “It’s currently in Zhou Sujin’s hands.“
He opened the image of the watch. It was the exact one Zhou Sujin often wore.
Zhang Yanxin clutched his phone tightly, unable to regain his composure for a long while.
Wei Lai sat down in front of her computer and immediately got to work. By the time she looked up again, two hours had already passed.
Her mom walked past her office door, then paused and retraced her steps.
“Lai Lai, why are you at the office? Honestly, you…”
Cheng Minzhi stepped inside and scolded her helplessly.
“We just registered our marriage, that’s all. I’ll have dinner with Zhou Sujin tonight to celebrate—that’ll be enough.” Wei Lai’s eyes were dry from staring at the screen, so she tilted her head back and applied a few drops of eye drops.
The company’s management team was understaffed, and everyone had been working overtime. She couldn’t justify taking time off for leisure in the middle of it all.
“Mom, how’s the hiring process on your end? Have you found anyone suitable?”
“There are two potential candidates. One of them has a particularly impressive resume—his name is Chen Qi.”
Wei Lai made a mental note of the name as she twisted the cap back onto the eye drop bottle. She quickly grabbed a tissue to dab away the excess drops that had trailed down her eyes.
“Have you scheduled the interviews yet?”
“Tomorrow afternoon at 2:30.”
“I’ll be there too.”
Wei Lai’s desk was piled high with various reports, including her keyboard. She dug her phone out from beneath a stack of files.
“I’m heading out to have dinner with Zhou Sujin.”
She stood up, grabbed her coat from the back of her chair, and slipped it on as she walked.
Cheng Minzhi glanced at her daughter’s desk—her computer was still on, the reports and documents were left untouched, and she was only taking her phone with her, not even bothering to grab her bag.
“You’re coming back to work after dinner?”
“En, I still have to handle things for tomorrow.”
Cheng Minzhi followed her daughter out of the office, feeling helpless. “You just got married today.”
“Zhou Sujin’s working overtime too.”
Wei Lai turned around with a smile and gave her mom a quick hug. “Mom, I’m heading down now.”
Cheng Minzhi locked up the office behind her daughter, then turned to see Wei Lai, hands tucked into her coat pockets, already halfway to the stairwell. She moved quickly, disappearing behind the wall in just a few strides.
Then came the sound of her footsteps, quick and light, echoing down the stairwell.
Zhou Sujin was in the car, in the middle of a meeting. Uncle Yan had gone inside the supermarket to wander around, enjoying the festive music playing on repeat—songs celebrating the New Year, which he loved at his age.
Wei Lai walked straight to the back of the Bentley, bent over, and peered through the window. She could barely make out his silhouette inside. She gently tapped twice on the glass with her finger.
Hearing the sound, Zhou Sujin turned around sharply. She smiled at him, her eyelashes glistening slightly as if wet, sparkling under the light. She was still wearing the same camel-colored cashmere coat, but her shirt had changed; this morning, for their marriage certificate, she had worn a white blouse. Now, she had swapped it for a caramel-colored turtleneck that matched the coat.
He muted the mic and rolled down the window. “I’m in a meeting.”
Wei Lai pointed toward the supermarket. “I’ll go browse inside. Call me when you’re done.”
She figured she’d take this chance to do a store inspection, something she hadn’t had time for lately due to her busy schedule.
Just as she stepped through the supermarket doors, the sound of lively drums blared from the speakers, filling the air with festive cheer.
Wei Lai moved from the bakery section to the snack aisle, where she ran into Uncle Yan.
Uncle Yan had been wandering the supermarket for nearly two hours, with nothing much to do, examining each shelf one by one. He was holding a package of a new Happy Lemon snack, studying the ingredient list.
“Uncle Yan.”
Uncle Yan turned around and smiled when he saw her, holding up the snack in his hand. “I haven’t seen this snack in other supermarkets yet. You’ve got it on the shelves early.”
He spent his free time wandering through other supermarket chains in Jiang City, treating it as a way to know the competition.
Wei Lai had been too busy with her engagement and registering her marriage over the past few days to pay attention to the supermarket. It turned out that the new Happy Lemon snacks had already arrived at the warehouse.
She replied to Uncle Yan, “Yes, the manufacturer prioritized us with the first batch of orders.”
Blissful Garden Supermarkets would probably have to wait another three or four days. This small window would be enough to draw a good number of customers to their store to stock up on New Year’s goods.
They were able to get the order first thanks to some help from Happy Lemon’s regional manager, Qi Linsheng.
“Mr. Qi, do you have any time to visit Jiang City and check out the market soon?“
Qi Linsheng had just finished a meeting and was on his way back to his hotel. “Not until after the New Year. I’m tied up in Beijing until then.“
Wei Lai decided she’d go to Beijing to treat him to dinner. “I’ll head to Beijing in a few days. I’d love to meet in person to discuss some things with you. Looking forward to working more closely next year.“
This trip wouldn’t be just for Beijing; she also had meetings lined up with two other manufacturers’ bosses.
Both manufacturers were now well-known publicly traded FMCG* enterprises, but back then, they were relatively unknown. The owners themselves used to travel around the country with their sales teams to find markets.
FMCG – fast-moving consumer goods
When her mom’s supermarket had just started, cash flow was tight. Those manufacturers gave her a lot of support. Every year since, during the Spring Festival, her mom made a point of visiting them personally.
Now that the supermarket was fully handed to her, she would be the one making the visits this year.
With the addition of seeing Qi Linsheng, she had three cities to visit. Since it was difficult to get train tickets close to Chinese New Year, she planned to drive herself. By the time she finished her visits and returned to Jiang City, it would be almost time for Chinese New Year’s Eve.
“Uncle Yan, let me treat you to some of the new snacks.”
She smiled and picked up a holiday gift pack from the shelf.
Uncle Yan chuckled, “You and President Zhou should enjoy them. I’m too old for snacks.”
As they chatted, Wei Lai and Uncle Yan made their way toward the checkout area. All the cash registers, including the self-checkout lanes, were lined with customers. Uncle Yan checked his watch and said to her, “I’ll head outside and wait for President Zhou to give instructions.”
Wei Lai waved goodbye and joined the end of one of the long lines.
The cashier was used to seeing her come downstairs to buy snacks and smiled, asking if she needed a bag.
“No thanks.”
After paying for the snack, Wei Lai tore open the outer packaging. Inside were three small bags. Her coat pockets were large enough, so she slipped one into each pocket, then opened the nori* and cheese-flavored one to try.
nori – seaweed in Japanese
Tasting snacks was part of her work routine. As she snacked, she provided feedback to her mom about the texture and flavor of the new products. “Mom, we should order more of the nori and cheese-flavored one. It’s definitely going to sell out before Chinese New Year.”
Cheng Minzhi had the same thought. She had already sampled all the new flavors and agreed that the nori and cheese-flavored one was the standout. “I’ll have the finance team place an order tomorrow. Weren’t you going to dinner?”
“Zhou Sujin’s still in a meeting, so I’m just browsing the supermarket.”
It was cold outside, so Wei Lai sat in the supermarket’s free book bar, waiting for Zhou Sujin to finish his meeting.
Twenty minutes later, he finally called her.
Wei Lai suggested going to a nearby buffet to celebrate their marriage registration and asked what Zhou Sujin thought.
“I’m fine with whatever.”
He got out of the car with his coat in hand.
Wei Lai’s coat pockets were stuffed full of snacks, so she pulled them out and left them in the car for now.
Zhou Sujin glanced at the two bags of snacks. Most of the items in his car were related to work; at most, he’d keep a few bottles of sparkling water in the car’s mini-fridge.
Respecting his habits, Wei Lai never ate snacks in his car. “I’ll take them with me later.”
Zhou Sujin didn’t respond, only giving a slight nod.
The two of them walked toward the buffet restaurant, with Wei Lai’s hands tucked into her coat pockets as she walked beside him.
Turning slightly, she asked when he would be heading back.
“Tomorrow in the afternoon or evening.”
Wei Lai nodded, unsurprised by his predictable style.
After two busy hours of work, both of them had gradually calmed down from the excitement and bustle of the past few days.
Zhou Sujin looked at her and asked, “Any chance you could join me in Beijing before Chinese New Year?”
“No chance; the supermarket will be open until 6 p.m. on Chinese New Year’s Eve, so I’ll be busy right up until then.” It looked like they wouldn’t meet again until after Chinese New Year.
The buffet restaurant was just across the street from the supermarket, diagonally opposite. All they had to do was cross the road.
They arrived early, so most of the tables were still empty. Wei Lai chose a seat by the window and draped her coat over the chair before casually pulling her long hair into a bun.
“Honey, could you help me grab some food in a bit? Thanks.”
Zhou Sujin was in the middle of taking off his coat, and his movements paused briefly as he looked up at her.
Not meeting his gaze, Wei Lai focused on fixing her hair, realizing she’d missed a strand and had to undo the bun to redo it. The word “honey” had taken all her courage. It was her first time calling him that, and it wasn’t easy to say.
But she’d ultimately said it.
Not only did she need to get used to it, he also needed to as well.
For the next few moments, neither of them spoke.
Zhou Sujin looked away and took out his phone, opening the PowerPoint she had sent him long ago. It detailed her likes—eight slides about her favorite foods, complete with pictures.
He brought her two plates of food, all things she liked.
As they ate, Wei Lai mentioned she still had to return to the office to finish her work as there were three days’ worth of work piled up, becoming a mountain.
Zhou Sujin: “I’ll head back to the company. Call me when you’re about to finish.”
Wei Lai didn’t stand on ceremony. “Okay.”
Kunchen Group’s branch office in Jiang City wasn’t far from the supermarket. Without traffic, it was about a 15-minute drive at night.
After their buffet dinner, Wei Lai went straight back to work, staying busy until almost 11 p.m.
As she shut down her computer, her mind was still filled with thoughts of reports and inventory transfers needed across different stores. At that moment, she suddenly felt the exhaustion her mom must’ve experienced in the past.
The supermarket had long since closed. The headlights of the Bentley were on.
Seeing her emerge, Zhou Sujin said to Uncle Yan, “Let’s drive her Cullinan.”
Bringing the Cullinan home would make it easier for her to get to work in the morning. Both of them had a little red wine earlier, so the Bentley would be driven by the bodyguards, following them.
The Cullinan pulled out of the supermarket garage and headed toward Wei Lai’s condo.
Wei Lai leaned back in her seat, utterly exhausted, but the Starlight Headliner of the car eased some of her fatigue.
That night, Zhou Sujin received a call from his aunt. She mentioned that she had just realized they hadn’t taken any wedding photos. She suggested that he ask Wei Lai if she wanted to do a photoshoot during the upcoming holiday while they had the time.
He asked Wei Lai, “Do you want to take wedding photos?”
Wei Lai was still gazing up at the Starlight Headliner, shaking her head.
Influenced by her parents, she had no strong feelings toward wedding photos or family portraits.
When her parents divorced, there were several thick, heavy wedding albums they didn’t know what to do with. Her mom wanted to throw them away, but Wei Lai had quietly asked if she could keep them instead.
Her mom had held her and cried for a long time that day.
After a brief silence, Wei Lai said, “Let’s talk about wedding photos another time.”
She was exhausted and closed her eyes to rest.
The warmth inside the car was comfortable, and she quickly drifted off to sleep.
At some point, she woke up suddenly, realizing that she had leaned against Zhou Sujin’s shoulder. Jolting upright, her mind cleared as she remembered that they had registered their marriage today.
Zhou Sujin glanced at her. “What’s wrong? Did you remember there’s more work left to do?”
“No…”
How did he even guess that?
Wei Lai met his gaze, though neither could see the other’s expression clearly in the dimly lit car.
“I’m gonna sleep a bit more. Wake me up when we arrive,” she said, this time resting her head openly on his shoulder.
She hadn’t slept well for several nights, an inexplicable excitement kept her up. It didn’t take long before she fell asleep again.
As Wei Lai slept, her entire weight leaned against him. Her hand, seemingly unconsciously, clutched his shirt around his waist, gripping it tightly.
Zhou Sujin glanced down at her. She was holding on so tightly—she must’ve dreamt that he didn’t give in to her in her dream again.
Looking up, he instructed Uncle Yan, “Go back to Jiang’an Cloud Residences.”
