I’m Only Like This With You, Not With Just Anyone
When Zhou Sujin returned home from the flower shop, the house was empty. A sticky note left by Wei Lai was affixed to the cabinet door in the entryway:
“Hubby, I’m going home for a bit. I’ll be back in about an hour.“
Peeling off the note, he carried the bouquet of roses into the bedroom.
Wei Lai hadn’t gone back to her condo—she headed to her mom’s. Tomorrow’s date was to spend the entire day at home, and the only way to pass the time was by cooking.
Since there was nothing at their Jiang’an Cloud Residences condo, she came back to grab some ingredients.
Inside the fridge, she found tangyuan filling her paternal grandma had made before the New Year, both sweet and savory options. She only took the lard, sesame, and fresh pork. Just as she closed the fridge, she remembered she hadn’t grabbed the glutinous rice flour.
Adding some snacks, she packed two large bags and hauled them to her car’s trunk.
Before driving off, she snapped a picture of the loaded trunk and sent it to her mom: “Can’t guard against thieves—I practically emptied the fridge.“
Cheng Minzhi laughed. “I stocked it up for you to take. Is Sujin in Jiang City?“
“En, he arrived yesterday morning. We went to Shanghai for coffee today.“
Cheng Minzhi had liked her daughter’s WeChat post earlier, assuming it was a cafe in Jiang City.
She was currently at the beach, BBQing with He Wancheng and his friends. As she typed her reply, a shadow suddenly fell over her. He Wancheng set down a plate of skewers he had grilled and placed them on the table in front of her without saying a word.
“Mom, I’m gonna drive now. Let’s chat when you’re back. Have fun!“
Wei Lai started the car, only to hit traffic at three intersections in the city. Once she reached the residential area, the roads cleared, but the delay added over 20 minutes to her ETA.
When she arrived home, Zhou Sujin had already showered and was sitting in the living room, flipping through one of her books.
“Honey, I’m back.”
Seeing the two large bags she was carrying, Zhou Sujin closed the book and walked over to her. “Why didn’t you call me when you were downstairs?”
“I can handle it. I’ve been carrying heavy loads since I was a kid, following the stock clerks around to help restock shelves. And I was great at P.E. In every sport from elementary to high school, I always came first in the girls’ long-distance run.”
She wasn’t sure if he enjoyed hearing these bits of her past.
Zhou Sujin took the grocery bags from her hands and looked at her. “Want to join me for a run tomorrow morning?”
“…” It was going to be -4°C tomorrow.
After a brief two-second internal struggle, she smiled and shook her head, changing the subject. “Why didn’t you work while I was out?”
“I’ll handle it the day after tomorrow,” Zhou Sujin replied.
He didn’t mention the roses he had bought for her. It wasn’t until Wei Lai went to the bedroom to shower that she noticed the large bouquet of red roses on the nightstand.
There was also a handwritten card next to it. Unlike his usual bold, sweeping handwriting, the message on the card was written with care.
So that’s why he went out earlier—not to find a quiet place to rest, but to buy her flowers. This was the first time he had given her a gift on his own initiative, and roses were different from any other gift.
She picked up the bouquet, the floral scent filling the air.
Zhou Sujin entered the bedroom, and Wei Lai turned to look at him. “Thank you. I love them.”
Her joy couldn’t be put into words. She carefully set the flowers down and hugged him.
As she hugged him, Zhou Sujin held her close.
“What made you think of getting me flowers?”
“No special reason. I just felt like it.”
Wei Lai’s heart skipped a beat at his straightforward response. She looked up at him from his embrace. He was always calm and reserved, his emotions rarely visible. It was hard to catch even the slightest ripple in his eyes.
“You picked the flowers yourself?”
“En, I picked them all myself.”
She was even more pleased, and said smiling, “No one would believe it if I told them.”
Zhou Sujin continued the convo, “They wouldn’t. Even Lu An calls me cold-blooded and says I’m not a good person.”
“What you’re like doing business doesn’t matter to me. As long as you treat me well in private, that’s enough.” Bolstered by his roses, her confidence surged, and she dared to ask, “Zhou Sujin, are you only like this with me? You’re not good to just anyone, right?”
As soon as she asked, she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes and avoided looking at his expression.
Zhou Sujin looked down at her. Her long, thick eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.
He said, “En, I’m only like this with you.”
Wei Lai was momentarily speechless, her heart racing wildly in her chest.
She hadn’t felt this kind of butterflies in a long time.
She clutched onto his shirt at his waist, holding on for a few seconds in her sudden loss of composure.
Sensing her emotional state, Zhou Sujin shifted to hold her with one arm. His left hand took her hand which was clutching his shirt and gently stroked the back of it with his thumb. “Go take a shower. I’ll put the flowers in a vase for you.”
“Just hold me for a bit longer,” Wei Lai held his finger tightly.
His hands were well-defined, dry, and warm, speeding up her already erratic heartbeat.
Wei Lai stood on her tippy toes, wanting to kiss him but couldn’t reach him.
Zhou Sujin bent down, meeting her kiss halfway while pulling his hand free from her grasp to princess-carry her.
Firmly held by his strong arms, Wei Lai tentatively pushed her tongue past his lips.
Zhou Sujin carried her to the bed, holding the back of her head as he deepened the kiss.
Wei Lai trembled, her breath becoming ragged. The lack of oxygen made her chest ache unbearably, as though she were a fish stranded on shore, her heart threatening to stop at any moment.
At the brink of suffocation, she broke away from his lips, burying her face against his neck, gasping desperately for air. Only then did the oxygen feel sufficient.
Zhou Sujin wrapped his arms around her shoulder, pulling her close to help her calm down. “Take a shower and go to bed early tonight.”
Wei Lai nodded. After last night’s intensity, she knew she couldn’t handle more of him today.
The bouquet of roses was placed in a vase on her nightstand.
The next day, Wei Lai woke up early. Zhou Sujin woke up even earlier and was already out for his morning run.
Another long “date day” for him, stretching over ten hours. Wei Lai had planned out the day: cooking in the morning, napping after lunch—sleeping until around 4 or 5 p.m., and the day was pretty much over.
When Zhou Sujin returned from his run, he saw her pulling out ingredients from the fridge. “Let’s eat out for lunch.”
Wei Lai: “Let’s stay in. I’ll cook, and you can work beside me. That way, we’re still spending time together.”
Zhou Sujin understood that she was trying to give him as much space as possible, but he disagreed. “It’s rare to have a day off. Don’t waste it in the kitchen.”
“What should we do this morning then? It’s freezing outside, and there’s not much to do here.”
“Stay home. Don’t you enjoy reading?”
“The books I read might not interest you.”
“That’s fine. You can read to me.”
Wei Lai hadn’t thought a date could be like this.
After breakfast, Wei Lai brewed two cups of coffee—one Gesha for herself and another he liked.
They sat on the sunlit balcony. She sat with her back in the sunlight, opening a book she was halfway through and starting over from the beginning. Occasionally, her reading was interspersed with phrases in their local dialect.
Zhou Sujin had silenced his personal phone. He didn’t understand the local dialect and asked what it meant.
Wei Lai put down the book. “Want me to teach you our local dialect?” She worried he might not have the patience for it.
Zhou Sujin nodded. “Sure.”
Wei Lai moved her chair closer to his, sitting face-to-face.
This didn’t feel like a date. A few times, she had the urge to rest her feet on his lap. She couldn’t help but act a little spoiled, “Honey.”
Zhou Sujin glanced at her. “Want to rest them on me?”
“En.”
He adjusted his posture slightly. “Go ahead.”
Wei Lai stretched out her legs, placing her feet on his firm, muscular abdomen.
Zhou Sujin glanced at her twice but didn’t say anything, letting her do as she pleased.
On the second day after the Chinese New Year holiday ended, Wei Lai finally found time to meet a few of her plastic sisters for hotpot. Most of the group was out of town, leaving only Qiao Sitian and Yin Le in Jiang City.
In their group chat, only these two ever called her “Baby.” The others called her “Lai Lai,” as baby was overly cheesy.
She rushed to the hotpot restaurant after work and was the last one to arrive.
They often had hotpot together, so everyone was familiar with each other’s preferences, so Qiao Sitian had already ordered the soup base and ingredients and was waiting for the broth to boil.
Yin Le slid a few slices of watermelon toward her. “Where’s your CEO Zhou?”
“He left last night.” Wei Lai took off her coat and hung it up before grabbing a slice of watermelon to eat.
Qiao Sitian glanced over Wei Lai’s radiant oval face, her complexion glowing with a soft pink hue. “Looks like someone’s been well taken care of.”
Yin Le was sitting beside Wei Lai. “Baby, let me take a look.” She grabbed Wei Lai’s face, trying to turn it toward her. Wei Lai laughed and playfully pushed her away.
As Qiao Sitian placed slices of meat into the spicy broth, she said, “Do you know what they’ve been gossiping about you lately?”
Wei Lai had paid no attention nor cared in the slightest. Ever since her breakup with Zhang Yanxin, rumors had been swirling nonstop, with over a hundred variations by now.
“What are they saying about me?”
“They’re curious about the details of your prenup with Zhou Sujin. Someone saw him taking his personal attorney to your dad’s law firm before registering your marriage.”
With a prenup in place, Zhou Sujin’s wealth would have nothing to do with Wei Lai then.
Qiao Sitian asked cautiously, “So, you really signed one?”
Wei Lai admitted openly, “I did.”
Besides a supplementary agreement, there were specific arrangements concerning assets.
“Are they pitying me again? Saying my dream of marrying into affluence has been shattered for the third time?”
Qiao Sitian just smiled, fishing out the cooked meat from the pot. Using communal chopsticks, she carefully removed the Sichuan peppercorns and placed the meat onto Wei Lai’s plate.
Switching the topic, she mentioned Xinming Group. “Zhou Sujin has decided to completely withdraw from Xinming. He clearly cares a lot about you, so don’t worry about what others say behind your back.”
Wei Lai was stunned. “Completely withdraw from Xinming? When did this happen?”
“Recently. You didn’t know?”
Wei Lai shook her head. Zhou Sujin hadn’t brought it up, but it must’ve had something to do with that watch.
He said this matter between him and her was in the past, something confined solely to them. As for what transpired between him and Zhang Yanxin, she didn’t ask another word.
Qiao Sitian couldn’t resist gossiping. “What did Zhang Yanxin do to offend Zhou Sujin? I heard his dad threw a fit at home on the first day of Chinese New Year, but Zhang Yanxin didn’t care at all. He even said he’s been wanting to stop working with Zhou Sujin and already has someone else in mind for a partnership.”
She and her husband spent all last night speculating who Zhang Yanxin’s new partner might be.
Yin Le nudged Wei Lai. “Why so quiet? Isn’t this just so dramatic?”
It was, indeed, a little dramatic.
The watch she’d bought for her ex had ended up in her current husband’s hands.
Yet, even as the meal ended, Wei Lai said nothing about how dramatic it actually was.
After parting ways with Qiao Sitian and Yin Le, Wei Lai drove off. From the hotpot restaurant, she headed straight toward Jiang’an Cloud Residences.
It wasn’t until she neared the entrance to the residential complex that it dawned on her—Zhou Sujin wasn’t in Jiang City anymore. Their shared home was empty. By then, her car was already at the gate. She eased off the gas and slowly pulled over to the side.
Looking up at the towering building, she couldn’t even tell which floor their home was on.
At that moment, she missed him terribly.
Zhou Sujin had left Jiang City at dawn today, staying an extra night for her.
When she woke up this morning, she received a message from him. “I’ve arrived in Beijing.“
She’d once told him she wasn’t used to abrupt end of contact, hoping he would at least send her a message letting her know when he landed safely. This time, he’d sent one—but only that single sentence.
Wei Lai checked the rearview mirror. There were no cars behind her. She shifted into reverse, turned her car around, and left Jiang’an Cloud Residences, heading back to her own small condo.
Halfway home, Wei Lai received a call from Zhao Yihan, asking if she was at home so she could drop something off.
She glanced at the time on her screen. “I’m still outside. I’ll be home in about 20 minutes.”
“Alright, see you soon.”
It had been a while since she last saw Zhao Yihan. The last time was before Chinese New Year when they’d shared a Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner at her dad and Auntie Zhao’s place.
After dinner, Auntie Zhao walked Zhao Yihan home as usual, while her dad accompanied her back to her condo. Her dad, rarely one to bring up the past, brought up her mom. “These years, you and your mom spent Chinese New Year’s Eve together and not at your uncle’s place with your grandparents?”
“We didn’t go to Uncle’s cause Mom didn’t feel like it; she just wanted to stay home.”
After that, she and her dad walked the rest of the way in silence.
Shaking off the memory, Wei Lai found herself already at her condominium. Zhao Yihan had arrived first.
Zhao Yihan was still on vacation until next week, so she spent the whole afternoon making cherry jam from two boxes of cherries she’d bought. Knowing Wei Lai loved cherry jam as a kid, Zhao Yihan thought today’s batch turned out quite well, so she brought over a few jars for her.
“They’re sealed and ready—just put them in the fridge and enjoy.”
Wei Lai received the jars, touched but unable to express her gratitude in words.
She said with a smile, “I’ll buy some toast first thing tomorrow morning and spread this on for breakfast.” It was cold outside, so she invited Zhao Yihan upstairs.
“It’s too late; I’ll come by another day to hang out,” Zhao Yihan then asked how the supermarket financing was going.
“I’ve scheduled a meeting with a VC* in Shanghai. Chen Qi and I will head over the day after tomorrow to discuss.”
VC – Venture Capitalist
“All the best. If it doesn’t work out, I know someone who might be of help. I’ll connect you.” Zhao Yihan urged her to head inside as she opened the car door to leave.
“Thanks, sis,” Wei Lai stepped forward and hugged her.
Caught off guard by the sudden affection, Zhao Yihan felt a little awkward.
Wei Lai watched as Zhao Yihan’s car disappeared into the distance before heading upstairs to her condo.
Once inside, she checked her phone. Only her work and friends’ group chats had unread messages.
After showering, it was almost 10 p.m. Wei Lai subconsciously glanced at her chats again.
She knew she wouldn’t receive anything, but she couldn’t help holding onto a sliver of hope.
Meanwhile, Zhou Sujin had left his office and gone to his aunt’s house to deliver some items he’d brought back from Jiang City.
It was too late for coffee, so Ning Rujiang poured him a cup of warm water. As she handed him the cup, she briefly glanced at his wrist, noting that he was no longer wearing that watch.
Zhou Sujin calmly took the cup, acting normal.
Sitting down in a nearby chair, Ning Rujiang began to probe. She had already heard bits and pieces about what happened in Jiang City from her eldest nephew.
“Jiaye mentioned you’re planning to go to London soon. Your grandparents are still at the orchard. They’ll be back before long—what are you going there for?”
“For work.”
He was going to meet the person Zhang Yanxin was planning to partner with.
Ning Rujiang knew better than to beat around the bush with her nephew. “It’s related to Xinming Group, isn’t it?”
“Did my brother tell you about Zhang Yanxin wanting to buy the watch from me?”
“He did.”
Feeling sorry for her nephew, Ning Rujiang patted his arm gently. “It’s just a watch—don’t let it weigh on you. If you don’t feel like keeping it, give it to me. I’ll hold onto it for you, and when you don’t mind it anymore, I’ll give it back.”
“It’s in my watch safe.”
Ning Rujiang stared at her nephew. The watches he kept in his safe were all ones he deeply valued. “That watch—you can’t bring yourself to get rid of it because Wei Lai put so much thought into it, right?”
Zhou Sujin didn’t respond. Instead, he handed over the tea leaves and confectioneries he’d brought back from Jiang City. “Wei Lai picked these out specifically for you. She waited in line for an hour just to buy the confectioneries.”
He skillfully steered the conversation away. Ning Rujiang understood her nephew well; if he didn’t want to say something, it was impossible to press him further. “Thank Lai Lai for me.”
After finishing half the cup, Zhou Sujin got up to leave.
Sitting in his car, he glanced at the time before opening his chat with Wei Lai. “Go to bed early. If anything is bothering you, you can tell me.“
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