I Told You, This Isn’t A Marriage Of Convenience
It took half an hour to drive from the condo to Jiang’an Cloud Residences, even with no traffic. Wei Lai napped for a long time, but it was a restless sleep. Her grip on Zhou Sujin’s shirt gradually loosened, leaving creases on the fabric.
Uncle Yan stopped the car at the entrance of the elevators in the garage.
“Wei Lai, wake up.” Zhou Sujin’s arm, which she had been leaning on, had gone numb.
His flat voice sounded from above, startling her awake. For a moment, Wei Lai forgot that before falling asleep, she had confirmed that this man was her husband. She jolted upright.
Assuming they had arrived at her condo, she quickly smoothed out her messy hair from sleeping and said groggily, “Goodnight. You should get some rest too.”
With that, she opened the car door and stepped out.
Zhou Sujin merely glanced at her and said nothing before getting out from the other side of the car.
It wasn’t until she got out of the car that Wei Lai fully woke up. It turned out that they had changed routes midway and came back to Jiang’an Cloud Residences instead.
She quietly shut the car door without asking Zhou Sujin why he hadn’t dropped her off at her condo.
After all, they were married now.
It wasn’t as chilly inside the elevator, so she didn’t bother putting her coat back on.
Zhou Sujin reached out his long arm and pressed the button for the floor. Turning slightly to her, he said, “The house is stocked with your daily essentials, but there aren’t any of your clothes.”
“It’s fine.” Wei Lai met his gaze with an air of confidence. “I’ll head back in the morning to change. It’s not like I have to clock in for work.”
Only she knew how much effort it took to maintain that outward appearance of nonchalance.
Once inside, Wei Lai handed him her coat. “Honey.”
She debated whether she should thank him. They weren’t that familiar with each other yet, so a little politeness seemed appropriate. “Thank you.”
Here at Jiang City, Zhou Sujin had to do everything himself. Back at his home in Beijing, he rarely even hung up his own coat, let alone someone else’s.
Taking her coat, his gaze lingered on her face as he instinctively hung it in the closet. “What will you do when I’m not home?”
Wei Lai understood what he was implying. If he wasn’t home, she wouldn’t hang up her own clothes?
She played along with his words, “Then I guess you’ll have to stay home more often.”
Zhou Sujin suddenly fell silent for a few seconds, his eyes shifting away from her. As he rolled up his shirt sleeves, he walked through the long hallway toward the bedroom.
Wei Lai didn’t follow him. Instead, she stood by the living room window, using the view to ease the tension she felt inside. She reminded herself that this was now her home and that he was the one who she would spend the rest of her life with.
All the lights in the living room were on and vague shadows outside. She could only see her own reflection in the glass.
She found the remote and turned off most of the lights, leaving only the floor lamp beside the sofa.
Looking outside again, the distant mountains and nearby lake came into soft, blurry focus.
“Wei Lai?”
“In the living room.”
“Come here and choose.”
“Choose what?”
As she spoke, Wei Lai made her way toward the bedroom.
She still hadn’t decided whether to sleep in the master bedroom with him or in the guest room by herself tonight.
“Choose what?” she asked again, stopping at the doorway.
His shirt was untucked from his pants, the hem wrinkled. This was the first time she had ever seen him look so unkempt something she would’ve never imagined before.
Zhou Sujin pointed to the bed. “Pick a side left or right.”
Wei Lai: “The right…”
In that moment, whether she wanted to admit it or not, Wei Lai lost the ability to think. The two words she uttered didn’t even feel like they came from her own mouth.
As soon as she said that, she saw Zhou Sujin move the pillow from the right side to the left, swapping the two pillows. It suddenly dawned on her he had always slept on the right.
After switching the pillows, Zhou Sujin looked up at her. “What about the comforter? Should I get you a new one or share with me?”
“This is fine…”
Since they had already decided to share a bed, adding more boundaries would only make things feel even more awkward.
Zhou Sujin: “You can use the bathroom first.”
Wei Lai, trying to keep her composure, nodded. “Okay.”
In reality, her heart was racing.
Zhou Sujin headed to the study next door but paused when he walked past her.
Wei Lai had assumed he would just walk by without stopping, so she didn’t look at him, trying to steady her breath. She hadn’t expected him to halt so suddenly.
She looked up, hoping to catch a trace of nervousness on his face or in his eyes, but there was nothing. His expression, as always, revealed nothing, making him impossible to read.
Regarding his decision to have her sleep in the master bedroom tonight, Zhou Sujin offered a simple explanation, “We’re apart more than we’re together. Better to start getting used to having someone beside you.”
Before she could respond, he closed the bedroom door.
Wei Lai took a moment to steady herself, then went to check the bathroom and walk-in closet to see what items were there she could use. She found PJs, a robe, and even cosmetics everything she needed to freshen up and get ready for bed.
The bathroom carried a faint, cool scent the same as the one on him.
Turning on the shower, the steady stream of warm water washed over her face.
She forced herself to calm down.
In the study, Zhou Sujin wasn’t on a break. As soon as he left the master bedroom, he joined an overseas meeting.
The executives in the meeting were aware of their boss’ recent marriage and saw the wedding ring on his ring finger. At the end of the meeting, everyone offered their congratulations.
“Thank you,” Zhou Sujin responded before exiting the meeting.
At 1:09 a.m., he closed his laptop.
He sat in the study for a few more minutes, allowing his mind to go blank before getting up and heading back to the bedroom.
Opening the door, the room was still lit. The nightstand lamp was also on. She had already showered and changed into a robe, sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking down intently at what appeared to be a document.
Zhou Sujin looked at her. “Still working?”
“No.” Wei Lai looked up from the document. “I’m reading our prenup.” Since she couldn’t sleep anyway and lying down would just be pretending to sleep, it just so happened that she had a copy of their prenup in her purse, so she pulled it out to pass the time.
Zhou Sujin: “You’ll only need that if we divorce. No need to read it.”
“It’s not the original agreement. I’m reading the addendum.” She wasn’t interested in the original; all the clauses regarding assets had been decided by her dad.
Wei Lai put away the addendum on the nightstand and casually asked, “It’s two pages. How much of it do you remember?”
Zhou Sujin walked over to the nightstand and charged his phone, saying, “I didn’t read it closely.”
“… You signed without reading it?”
“No matter what you wrote in it, I’d probably agree in the end.”
She didn’t respond, and the room fell into an abrupt silence.
Zhou Sujin slowly began unbuttoning his shirt, but paused at the third button, looking at her. “Do you want to continue this conversation? If not, I’m going to take a shower.”
Wei Lai: “Let’s continue.”
“Why did you stop talking then?” Zhou Sujin’s hands dropped from his shirt, leaving the rest of the buttons untouched.
Meeting his cold gaze, Wei Lai said, “I was just thinking that my addendum is incomplete. I need to add more.”
A brief silence followed.
“Why didn’t you think of it before?”
“No one’s perfect. Even I can overlook things.”
Zhou Sujin looked at her for a moment. “You can’t keep adding things whenever you think of them. I’ll allow you to make changes three times. After that, no more.”
With that, he turned to leave the bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“To get a pen.”
Zhou Sujin returned from the study with a black pen, handing it to her. “Write down what you want to add in the blank spaces, and I’ll sign it for you.”
Wei Lai took the pen and quickly scribbled down her addition. “No need for your signature. I’ll sign it myself. This is a commitment to myself.”
Zhou Sujin didn’t quite understand, standing beside her as she wrote: Henceforth, I will carefully listen to every word Zhou Sujin says and read every message he sends me.
She signed her name, then checked the time on her phone, marking the exact hour and minute alongside her signature.
It dawned on him slowly this was her subtle way of reminding him to take her two-page addendum seriously.
After signing, Wei Lai handed the pen back to him.
Taking the pen, Zhou Sujin said, “Go to bed early.”
He turned off the nightstand lamp for her.
He went to take a shower. Wei Lai didn’t lie down to sleep. Instead, she leaned against the headboard and continued reading her addendum.
It wasn’t until the sound of the shower stopped that she finally pulled back the covers and settled into bed.
Zhou Sujin emerged, wearing a matching robe to hers except that his was black.
“Weren’t you sleepy in the car? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
Wei Lai answered truthfully, “I’m not sleepy.” With someone else next to her, she couldn’t quite calm her mind. After hesitating for a moment, she suggested, “Maybe we should sleep separately tonight. That way, we can both get a good night’s rest.”
“Just sleep. You’ll have to get used to it eventually,” Zhou Sujin said as he turned off the light.
Even in the darkness, neither of them felt sleepy.
They were both pretending to be calm, trying their best to keep the atmosphere not awkward nor intimate.
Wei Lai could sense that he wasn’t asleep either. She turned around slightly to look at him. There was an arm’s length of space between them not intentionally far apart, but not purposefully close, either.
“Zhou Sujin?” Her voice was soft.
“What’s wrong?” He then asked, “Having trouble sleeping? Want to grab onto my shirt again?”
“No…” She informed him, “I tend to hog the blankets when I sleep. If I end up wrapping myself in all of it, just pull it back. It won’t wake me up.”
“It’s fine.”
Zhou Sujin asked her again, “So, do you want to hold onto my shirt or not? If you want to, just come closer.”
“If I grab onto your shirt, you won’t be able to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep anyways.”
His husky voice carried a faint, barely noticeable rasp.
Zhou Sujin said, “Come here.”
It’s better for two people to be unable to sleep than just one.
Wei Lai didn’t give herself time to hesitate. She moved closer, reaching under the comforter until her hand found the hem of his robe.
The room fell silent again.
About half an hour passed. Wei Lai remained quiet, no longer moving around.
Zhou Sujin had overestimated his self-control, it was now like a taut string about to snap.
In fact, before bed, he had taken a cold shower.
It had long since lost its effect. He would need another.
Her hand was still clutching his robe. He touched the back of her hand, trying to remove it.
There was no protection at home, and he hadn’t planned on anything more tonight anyway.
Wei Lai was a light sleeper. As soon as she felt someone touching her hand, she awoke suddenly, instantly aware of where she was and who was beside her.
The room was dark. She opened her eyes, but couldn’t see anything. “What’s wrong?”
“Did I wake you?”
“No, I wasn’t really asleep.” Wei Lai was groggy.
Zhou Sujin was silent for a few seconds before saying, “I told you, this isn’t a marriage of convenience.”
Wei Lai: “En.”
From the moment she walked through the door, she had been forcing herself to adjust to everything this house, this bedroom, and him.
Her hand was still gripping his robe. Zhou Sujin lifted his arm and pulled her into his embrace.
Looking at the woman in his arms, he said, “The three times to amend the addendum… tonight doesn’t count.”
Wei Lai, trying to ease her nerves, quipped, “Add two more times.”
“You’re pushing your limits again.”
His lips, along with his cool, domineering presence, descended on hers.
Wei Lai’s breath stopped, and after a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around his neck, responding to his kiss.
It was all unfamiliar.
Zhou Sujin deepened the kiss, and Wei Lai was on the verge of being breathless.
A gust of air from the shifting comforter swept the two-page addendum off the nightstand, sending it fluttering to the floor.
That black pen rolled off as well.
The watch’s longhand silently ticked past more than twenty rotations.
Zhou Sujin released her, reaching for the cherry blossom-scented wipes on the nightstand. He pulled out two, wiping his palms and fingers.
Wei Lai hadn’t fully recovered. She glanced at his hands, and recalling how she had been in his arms, quickly averted her gaze.
Zhou Sujin suddenly turned to her and asked, “Can you help me?”
The shower in the bathroom was already running. Zhou Sujin adjusted the spray nozzle to the side to avoid wetting his clothes.
He took her hand in his.
With the lights from the bedroom lit, they could see each other clearly.
Wei Lai could feel the heat radiating from her palm, and sensing that her grip wasn’t firm enough, he once again tightened his hold on her hand.
She looked up, his prominent nose and sharp features right in front of her. Even under the sway of hormones, he still appeared calm and composed.
She wanted to see what he would look like if he lost control.
But Zhou Sujin didn’t give her that satisfaction. He gently pressed her head against his chest.
