L&H - 3

Before the alarm even rang, Yu Qing was yanked out of bed by Fu Ji Chen. “Still sleeping? Get up.” One hand gripped her wrist, and the other held her neck.

There was no hint of gentleness in his actions.

Yu Qing struggled to open her eyes but didn’t have time to focus on the man in front of her before she closed them again, overwhelmed by exhaustion.

She was both tired and sleepy.

Even though her whole body ached, she forced herself to sit up.

She thought she had missed the alarm.

But then she realized something didn’t add up.

This freak, Fu Ji Chen, always woke up at five o’clock, spent half an hour exercising, ten minutes showering, and then headed to the office.

Of course, it was also possible that he had overindulged last night and overslept today.

“What time is it?” she mumbled unclearly.

Fu Ji Chen tossed her clothes over. “Five forty-two.”

Upon hearing it wasn’t even six yet, Yu Qing immediately lay back down. Her internal clock was set for six-thirty, so she still had half an hour to sleep—every minute mattered to her.

Clearly, she had forgotten how she had solemnly promised Fu Ji Chen last night that she would definitely wake up early this morning.

Fu Ji Chen was in a good mood today, showing a bit more patience than usual—perhaps an extra 0.1%. Normally, if she wanted to sleep in, so be it; he wouldn’t bother waking her.

He placed his hands on either side of her, enunciating each word: “You’re about to run out of money for food, and you’ve lost everything. How can you still sleep?”

Silence reigned for two seconds.

Yu Qing suddenly opened her eyes, completely awake now.

The notion of having no money for food and losing everything deeply stimulated every nerve and cell in her body.

She rubbed her head and finally remembered.

Last night, after some deep exchanges in the bedroom and bathroom, she had asked Fu Ji Chen to wake her up every day so she could ride with him to the office.

Perhaps because he was in a good mood, he had actually agreed.

This way, she would have time to study the stock market trends for the day.

Another benefit was not having to squeeze onto the subway anymore.

Fu Ji Chen was already fully dressed. He checked his watch again. “You’ve wasted another minute. I’ll give you twenty-two minutes to get ready. I’ll wait for you in the car. If you’re not down by six-oh-five, too bad.”

Before getting up, he pinched her chin again. “Today’s the first day, so I let you sleep forty-two extra minutes. Starting tomorrow, whenever I get up, you get up.”

“Hurry up and get dressed,” he said as he picked up his phone and left.

Yu Qing lay in bed for another ten seconds, clearing her mind momentarily.

When she worked abroad, she often stayed up until one or two in the morning and was used to waking up at six-thirty. Her sleep time was much less than it was now.

Perhaps she should learn from Fu Ji Chen. Without any special circumstances, she could sleep at eleven-thirty and wake up at five, using the least productive hours for sleep and the most alert hours for making money.

Ten seconds passed, and Yu Qing immediately threw off the covers, got dressed, and washed and applied makeup as quickly as possible.

By the time she reached downstairs, it was six-oh-four.

Never had she been so efficient.

Fu Ji Chen teased her, “Not bad, you hit the timing perfectly.”

That comment clearly carried a tinge of sarcasm, but Yu Qing was not one to back down. She retorted, “Thank you, President Fu, for your kind words.”

She opened the other car door and sat inside.

The driver started the car. The neighborhood was exceptionally quiet, with only occasional vehicles coming and going.

After returning for nearly half a year, this was the first time Yu Qing saw Beijing at six in the morning.

She and Fu Ji Chen sat on opposite sides. He was looking at his phone, and she turned hers on to get busy.

There were quite a few unread messages on WeChat, all received late at night from her father.

First message: [Yu Qing, listen to me. Stop being stubborn. Come home now, and I’ll pretend nothing happened. I’ll unfreeze your cards, return your house, and order you a few new sports cars. Everything can be resolved.]

Second message: [Let me make this clear. If you engage in non-litigation financial business, I guarantee you won’t find work in Beijing. You can try if you don’t believe me.]

Third message: [Of course, you can do other litigation-related work, which I can’t control. But are you willing to give up your specialty?]

Fourth message: [Yu Qing, if you abandon your specialty, I’ll look down on you!]

Fifth message: [What’s wrong with marrying Qin Moling? Can you stop acting like a spoiled princess? It’s my fault for spoiling you!]

Half an hour later, around two-thirty in the morning, two more messages came in.

[Yu Qing, I refuse to believe you don’t miss home!]

[If you miss home, call me. I’m a big person who doesn’t hold grudges against small matters. I’ll still answer your call.]

After reading the last two messages, Yu Qing concluded that her father had drunk too much last night.

She cleared the messages, deciding ignorance was bliss.

Her phone vibrated several times in succession. Thinking her father had woken up early and regretted sending those messages, she found instead that they were financial updates forwarded by Fu Ji Chen.

After reading them and contemplating deeply, she turned her face. “President Fu.”

Fu Ji Chen didn’t look up. “Speak.”

“Or how about this: you become my consultant, and I’ll pay you by the hour?”

Fu Ji Chen responded leisurely, “Hire me as your financial advisor?”

Yu Qing: “Mm, something like that.”

Fu Ji Chen slowly scrolled through the news feed, focused on global political updates.

Yu Qing rested her chin on her hand, waiting for his response.

After finishing the article, Fu Ji Chen didn’t spare her feelings. “My hourly rate starts at a hundred thousand. With the margin in your account barely enough to buy two or three lots, how do you plan to hire me?”

He added another jab: “If you keep losing for a couple more days and can’t cover the margin, your position will be forcibly liquidated. Where will you get the money to pay my hourly fee?”

Yu Qing: “...”

If she weren’t currently surrounded by challenges and needing to stay low-key, she would have thrown a few limited-edition bags in his face and pressed his head down: “Here, serve me!”

But now, she had to keep a low profile.

She understood Fu Ji Chen’s arrogant attitude; he wouldn’t waste so much energy and time on such small profits. For him, any deal with such disproportionate input and output was simply foolish.

However, being countered always left her feeling frustrated.

Suddenly, an evil thought crossed her mind.

“President Fu.”

“No discussion.”

“Can you at least hear me out?”

Fu Ji Chen stopped her, “I don’t have time to study your futures market.”

“I’m not discussing that.” Yu Qing moved closer to him. “When I become rich, can I hire you to do anything? For instance, I’ll pay you twenty million for a month.”

Fu Ji Chen finally looked up, “Such big talk. Do you really think writing a 2 followed by seven zeros makes you worth twenty million?”

He pushed her aside, “Go study your stock market.”

Yu Qing immediately bounced back like a spring, “Do you dare accept? Twenty million in cash, no borrowing, no loans, no relying on men—just my own earnings.”

Fu Ji Chen wasn’t afraid of provocation and certainly didn’t take her bold claims seriously.

With keen interest, he took a step back, “Twenty million is too much for you. I’m afraid by the time I have grandchildren, you still won’t have saved that much. Two million, I’ll sell you a week of my time.”

Yu Qing was half-believing, half-doubting.

“When you save enough, transfer it directly to me. If you want to hire me for a specific week, contact Secretary Pan in advance.” Fu Ji Chen lowered his head and continued reading the news.

Soon, the car turned into the underground parking lot of Fu Corporation Tower.

Yu Qing checked the time deliberately—it took twenty-one minutes.

During rush hour, this route would take at least an hour and a half.

This was Yu Qing’s first time taking Fu Ji Chen’s car to the office. To avoid suspicion, she waited for Fu Ji Chen to leave first, then sat for a while until the driver told her, “Miss Yu, no cars are coming in now.”

“Okay, thank you.” Yu Qing got out of the car.

At the elevator entrance, Fu Ji Chen hadn’t gone upstairs yet and was talking to the second-in-command of the finance department.

There were always rumors in the company that Fu Ji Chen and Qiao Yang were a couple.

Yu Qing rarely paid attention to these things; her focus was on making money and becoming self-reliant.

They both turned their heads simultaneously upon hearing footsteps.

A hint of surprise flashed in Qiao Yang’s eyes—she didn’t expect Yu Qing to arrive so early. Like her, Yu Qing wore a work uniform with light makeup and lipstick, yet she appeared exceptionally refreshing.

Yu Qing met their gazes and greeted them, “Good morning, President Fu, Manager Qiao.”

Qiao Yang had interacted with Yu Qing a few times, “Good morning.”

Fu Ji Chen just nodded symbolically, turned around, and pressed his fingerprint on the elevator button. The elevator door slowly opened.

Yu Qing didn’t know if Fu Ji Chen was deliberately waiting for her or had forgotten the time while chatting with Qiao Yang.

The two of them entered the executive elevator.

Fu Ji Chen glanced at Yu Qing but didn’t speak. However, his finger remained on the elevator button, clearly waiting for someone.

Qiao Yang understood the boss’s intention—to let Yu Qing in as well.

“Lawyer Yu, come along.”

Qiao Yang’s tone was warm, her voice gentle.

In fact, Yu Qing didn’t want to share the elevator with Fu Ji Chen.

Qiao Yang deliberately moved aside to give her enough space to enter.

Not wanting to offend the two leaders, she said, “Thank you.”

Once inside, she instinctively stood in the corner behind them.

Fu Ji Chen pressed his floor, then Qiao Yang’s office floor. He asked, “Which floor?”

Yu Qing: “Twenty-eight, thank you, President Fu.”

Before she even mentioned twenty-eight, Fu Ji Chen had already pressed the button.

Qiao Yang slightly turned her body and asked in a familiar tone, “Work doesn’t start until nine. Why are you here so early? Did your leader assign you a task?”

Yu Qing remained calm, “No. Yesterday, I had something to do and left right after work. There are a few contracts I haven’t reviewed yet, so I came early to catch up.”

Qiao Yang smiled, “Just like when I first started working. If I didn’t finish something the previous day, I’d think about it all night, fearing any mistakes.”

As they spoke, the elevator stopped on the twenty-eighth floor.

Yu Qing thanked them again and quickly stepped out.

“She’s a legal specialist, many people in our company admire her.” After the elevator doors closed, Qiao Yang said this to Fu Ji Chen.

A slight pause.

“I find her quite beautiful too.”

She smiled, “Look at the difference between our ordinary tastes and yours. If you were to rate her appearance out of ten, what score would you give?”

Fu Ji Chen gave her a glance, “Are performance reviews now based on looks?”

Qiao Yang: “...”

Unable to follow his train of thought, but this statement conveyed one piece of information—he didn’t want to answer.

It was within her expectations.

She brought up work matters, “Lemon plans to increase ground promotion and personnel investment costs in the first quarter next year.”

Lemon Drinks was a beverage company controlled by Qin Moling, a competitor of their Fu Corporation’s Dixin Drinks. This year’s market competition was particularly fierce.

Next year would be even more intense.

“Should we consider increasing our market investment?” Qiao Yang sought advice.

Since acquiring Dixin Drinks, Fu Ji Chen hadn’t paid attention to it. His current focus was solely on the two plots of land.

“At that time, discuss it with Dixin’s vice president.”

Qiao Yang nodded, “Alright.”

While speaking, they reached her floor.

Meanwhile, on the twenty-eighth floor.

Yu Qing opened all the windows in the office, brewed coffee, and began studying her stock market.

Unconsciously, it was already eight-thirty.

Yu Qing was immersed in a pile of analysis materials, hoping for good luck today. Even if she couldn’t earn much, at least she wouldn’t need to continue covering the margin.

It was eight-forty, and colleagues began arriving in the office.

Yu Qing packed away the stock analysis materials and turned on her computer. Only then did she feel hungry. She had been too busy earning money to eat breakfast, and it was too late to go downstairs to buy some.

She sent a message to Fu Ji Chen: [Have you had breakfast?]

Fu Ji Chen: [What time is it now?]

Clearly, she couldn’t count on him. Yu Qing: [I haven’t eaten yet.]

Fu Ji Chen: [Because you didn’t wake up early enough. The early bird catches the worm.]

Yu Qing mentally chuckled twice, [Then President Fu might not have heard, the early worm gets eaten by the bird!]

After a moment, Fu Ji Chen replied: [Yu Qing, is this all you aspire to? Can you motivate yourself to aim higher than being a worm!]

Yu Qing: “...”