Come In, No Need to Close The Door
Wei Lai didn’t have Zhou Sujin’s contact information and wasn’t sure which hotel he was staying at, so she could only ask Zhao Yihan for help in finding a way to reach him.
For someone of his caliber, it’s difficult to obtain personal contact information, and she didn’t want to make things difficult for her sister.
“His chauffeur or secretary’s number will do.“
Zhao Yihan replied, asking her to wait a moment.
Wei Lai stood by the roadside, lost in thought.
“Wei Lai, what are you doing here?”
Wei Lai turned at the sound of the voice, and a navy sports car pulled over.
This car hadn’t appeared in front of her for two years.
In the sports car, Yuan Hengrui gripped the steering wheel with both hands. “I told you I would wait for you. You probably didn’t believe me back then,” he said self-deprecatingly. “At that time, you only had eyes for him. Who else could get into your eye?”
Two years ago, Yuan Hengrui was one of her suitors, but she rejected him. Later, when she got together with Zhang Yanxin, Yuan Hengrui told her, “I’ll wait for you two to break up.” He couldn’t help but resentfully add, “I was the one who pursued you first. Zhang Yanxin shamelessly interjected!”
At that time, they almost came to blows because of her.
If Zhang Yanxin’s family background hadn’t been much better than Yuan Hengrui’s, causing him to have reservations, he would’ve wanted to teach Zhang Yanxin a lesson long ago.
Yuan Hengrui was still just as nonchalant as before, and as his friend would say, he only had his face and a rich dad left.
He looked at Wei Lai. “It’s been a month since your breakup. I can finally pursue you now. I’m not dressed formally today, so I’ll come find you another day.”
Wei Lai: “…….”
Wei Lai ignored him.
The person Yuan Hengrui feared the most wasn’t his dad; he wasn’t afraid even if his dad froze his credit cards. It was Wei Lai whom he was particularly afraid of, fearing her anger.
Seeing that she didn’t seem to be in a good mood, he wisely kept his mouth shut and reversed the car a little.
Guessing that she was either waiting for a ride or someone to pick her up, he decided to keep her company.
Just at this moment, Zhao Yihan sent her Zhou Sujin’s phone number along with the name of the hotel he was staying at.
Wei Lai hailed a taxi and left. It was only then did Yuan Hengrui turned his car around and headed home.
Once seated inside the taxi, Wei Lai provided the address.
Halfway there, she entered Zhou Sujin’s number and pressed the call button.
Zhou Sujin was just about to go take a shower when his phone rang. It was his personal number receiving a call.
Picking up his phone, he saw an unfamiliar number from Jiang City.
Few people knew his personal number. He answered, “Who is this?”
“It’s me,” Wei Lai explained why she was bothering him again. “I forgot to return your watch. I’ll send it over immediately. When is convenient for you?”
“Leave it at the front desk.”
“Um, President Zhou, could you wait a moment and not hang up? Can I return it to you in person? There’s something else I’d like to discuss with you; it won’t take up too much of your time.”
She asked softly, “Is that okay?”
Zhou Sujin’s tone was flat. “Quite a lot going on.”
Wei Lai could only pretend not to understand his cold remark. “En, I do have a lot of things going on recently, especially a string of misfortunes, one after another.”
Zhou Sujin remained silent.
Wei Lai: “Then, I’ll see you in about 15 minutes.”
He didn’t confirm or deny, which probably meant he didn’t refuse.
However, she didn’t have a room card, so she couldn’t take the elevator to the floor where the presidential suite was located.
“President Zhou, should I go to the front desk when I arrive at the hotel?”
He responded with a simple “en” before hanging up.
Wei Lai breathed a sigh of relief, but the thought of seeing him again soon only eased half of the tension in her heart as it was quickly replaced by anxiety.
For the first time, she felt such fear toward someone, seemingly understanding why someone like Lu An would be afraid of him.
Upon arriving at the hotel, she headed straight to the front desk.
When the receptionist asked her what she needed, she mentioned she was looking for Zhou Sujin in the presidential suite. Without any further questions, the receptionist directly escorted her to the top floor.
Wei Lai stood outside the suite, mentally preparing herself before knocking on the door.
After the first knock went unanswered, she waited for two minutes before knocking again.
The door opened from the inside, and Zhou Sujin appeared before her. He was still wearing the white button-up he wore at dinner, with the collar unbuttoned and slightly open, revealing his attractive Adam’s apple.
He towered over her, making her tilt her head back to look at him.
“Sorry, I took your watch with me,” she said, taking it out of her purse. He didn’t know the original owner of the watch was her, nor did she feel the need to tell him.
Zhou Sujin took the watch and turned around to head back to the living room.
Wei Lai stood at the door without entering, avoiding any unnecessary misunderstandings.
“What is it?”
Zhou Sujin grabbed a bottle of water from the bar and twisted it open before sitting down on the sofa to drink.
She didn’t step inside, and he didn’t invite her in.
There was a distance of about four or five meters between them, which was comfortable for Wei Lai.
She sought him out to discuss and confirm something. “If someone gossips tomorrow and asks if I’m really dating you, can I still play along?”
Zhou Sujin squeezed the sparkling water bottle in his hand and turned to look at her. “What do you think?”
Following his intention, Wei Lai replied, “No.”
Zhou Sujin: “Good that you know.”
Wei Lai tried to make him understand that she didn’t want to continue bearing the title of his girlfriend indefinitely, but rather, she felt compelled to. “We just ‘went public’ tonight, and if we break up tomorrow, wouldn’t that be too hasty? It doesn’t fit my loyal and devoted image.”
Zhou Sujin: “…….”
He chuckled.
Wei Lai understood his attitude.
It was just that breaking up immediately after going public would be like announcing to everyone that Zhou Sujin didn’t take her seriously at all. She would be seen as the one who rashly went public with their relationship and then got dumped again cause she angered him.
People in Zhang Yanxin’s circle would mock her endlessly for it.
Wei Lai composed herself and smiled. “President Zhou, I won’t disturb you any longer.” She thanked him once again. “Thank you for helping me at dinner tonight.”
She gently closed the door and left.
Lost in thought, she reached the lobby where the elevator stopped.
As she stepped out of the elevator, someone called out to her.
“Hello, Miss Wei.” A man in his 50s approached her. “I’m President Zhou’s chauffeur.”
“Hello.”
The chauffeur handed her a car key. “President Zhou’s Cullinan is parked in spot A028 in the hotel’s garage. You can drive it away tomorrow. You can borrow it for three days, and afterward, please return it to the original spot. You can leave the key with the front desk.”
With that, he gave her the key and nodded to her before heading upstairs.
Wei Lai gently grasped the car key. In the end, he couldn’t bear to see her being mocked, so he gave her the car. For the next three days, she could drive it wherever she wanted, flaunt it however she pleased, let others know that they were dating, and that their relationship was good.
“I owe you a lot of favors. If there’s anything I can help you with in the future, don’t hesitate to reach out.” She didn’t have his WeChat, so she could only send a text message. She didn’t know if he would read it, though.
“Hey, isn’t this Xiao Wei?” A somewhat unfamiliar voice sounded. As they had just parted ways an hour ago, the voice didn’t sound entirely unfamiliar either.
Wei Lai quickly turned around, her smile just right. “Hello, President He.”
Han Wancheng nodded and gestured to his assistant beside him to hand the two packed late-night meals to Wei Lai. “What a coincidence to run into you. I won’t disturb you two then. You can take these upstairs. Sujin said you’re not picky, so I took the liberty of ordering a seafood paella for you.”
Wei Lai wasn’t sure what was going on but accepted the late-night meals. “Thank you, President He, for personally bringing us food so late.”
“No trouble at all; it was on the way. Besides, I had to eat also.”
He Wancheng always found himself hungry after social gatherings, and the hotel food rarely suited his taste. Every time he finished a social event, he would go eat late-night.
Tonight at the dinner table, He Wancheng noticed that Zhou Sujin only drank and barely touched the food, so he called him to ask if he wanted a serving of Jiang City-style seafood paella. Zhou Sujin didn’t refuse.
Thinking of Wei Lai, he decided to pack an extra portion.
Since Wei Lai didn’t have a room card and couldn’t access the top floor, she made up an excuse. “President He, you go ahead. I need to go to the front desk to pick something up.”
He Wancheng waved his hand, indicating that she could go before entering the elevator with his assistant.
It turned out that He Wancheng was also staying at this hotel.
Carrying the late-night takeout, Wei Lai went to the front desk to explain that she had forgotten to bring her room card when she came down and asked if they could help swipe the elevator for her again.
The receptionist glanced at the servings of late-night takeout in her hand, along with the Rolls-Royce logo car key in her other hand. Without saying anything, they swiped the elevator for her to access the top floor directly.
After going back and forth, seeing her face again, Zhou Sujin probably felt speechless as well.
Wei Lai mustered up the courage and knocked on the door. “It’s me.”
Zhou Sujin opened the door and looked her over.
Wei Lai handed him the late-night. “Met President He downstairs.”
Afraid of being misunderstood, she emphasized, “President He asked me to bring them up,” to assure him that she wasn’t presumptuous or harboring any other intentions toward him.
Zhou Sujin didn’t take his own late-night meal and just said, “Come in, no need to close the door.”
Wei Lai: “Will I disturb you?”
It was a useless question, and Zhou Sujin didn’t even bother to respond.
Wei Lai wanted to thank him in person for lending her the Cullinan, so she confidently entered, placing the two portions of food on the table before washing her hands and sitting across from Zhou Sujin.
Zhou Sujin glanced up and noticed her scrutinizing him with a pensive expression. “What do you want to say?”
Wei Lai asked, “Did you see my text message?”
Zhou Sujin: “No.”
Not having seen it was fine; expressing gratitude face-to-face was more sincere.
Wei Lai: “Thank you for helping me once again.” He had helped her repeatedly tonight, without any prior connection between them, and she felt indebted. A mere verbal thank you couldn’t convey her sincerity.
“I used to work at a venture capital firm. If you or Mr. Lu An needs investment assistance in Jiang City in the future, just let me know.”
Zhou Sujin bluntly stated, “With your current capabilities, you can’t help me.”
Wei Lai was struck speechless by his words, and after a moment, she curiously asked, “You already knew what my job was?”
Zhou Sujin gestured his chin toward the coffee table next to him. Wei Lai looked over and saw a few papers on the tea-colored glass, presumably her background check.
“If I didn’t know who you were, would I have let you up here or lent you the car?”
Good point.
Wei Lai momentarily didn’t know how to respond to that and quietly focused on eating.
In her peripheral vision, there he was, along with the car key to the Cullinan.
Wei Lai’s former colleague Tang Zhi’s family was in the second-hand car business, and they were quite successful at it. There was a time when Tang Zhi’s brother got his hands on an old model Cullinan, and Tang Zhi took Wei Lai out for a spin. She had driven it a few times, so she was familiar with the operating system.
The silence in the room made her feel oppressed. Bringing up his car, she said, “I’ve test-driven a Cullinan before, so I’m fairly familiar with its basic performance. I’ll be careful when driving your car.”
There was a brief pause before she continued, “You’re different from what I’ve heard.”
Zhou Sujin lowered his head and calmly ate his paella. “How so?”
Wei Lai sincerely said, “You’re kind-hearted.”
Zhou Sujin: “……..”
This was the most ironic and absurd compliment he had ever heard. Any random compliment would have seemed more sincere than praising him as kind-hearted.
He chuckled but didn’t respond.
Wei Lai tactfully fell silent, quietly eating the food from the takeaway box.
Zhou Sujin saw her takeaway box out of the corner of his eye and saw that she was quite picky, pushing all sorts of seafood to one side of the box.
“You don’t like seafood paella?”
Wei Lai looked up. “I like it, but I don’t like seafood. I only like the rice inside.”
Zhou Sujin had no response to that.
After finishing their late-night meal, it was nearing midnight, so Wei Lai bid farewell.
In the elevator lobby, Zhou Sujin’s chauffeur was waiting for her, saying it was too late and offering to drive her back.
That night, Wei Lai couldn’t sleep soundly.
She wasn’t like this even on the first night after her breakup.
The next day at noon, after a simple lunch, Wei Lai went to the hotel to retrieve the car Zhou Sujin had lent her.
Standing in front of parking spot A028 in the hotel garage, Wei Lai was taken aback. It was the same dark emerald Cullinan she had seen outside Riverside Restaurant. At that time, she had even rolled down the car window to admire it for a while.
Her phone rang, and she quickly answered upon seeing the number.
“Hi, President Zhou.”
Zhou Sujin’s voice was cold. “I’ll leave the car with you for now. Someone will contact you next weekend.”
Next weekend?
That meant she would have the car for over ten days.
Just at this moment, Wei Lai heard the airport announcement in the background from Zhou Sujin’s end, reminding a passenger to board their flight. She hurriedly asked him, “Are you at the airport now? Are you leaving today?”
Zhou Sujin responded with a simple “En.”
“Then, when will you come back here?”
After asking, Wei Lai felt like she had overstepped her bounds.
Zhou Sujin had already resolved the tricky issues with the Jiang City project, and there was no need for him to personally oversee anymore. He replied, “Not unless there’s something urgent.”
