L&H - 37

Fu Jichen gazed steadily at Yu Qing. Her ash-gray pink coat was vibrant and eye-catching under the sunlight, accentuating her delicate features even more.

Her accusations, delivered with a bandit-like logic, had pierced his heart into fragments.

Ever since last night’s line, “I’ll never have you again,” he’d been falling apart bit by bit.

“Yu Qing.”

“Mm. Go ahead.”

Yu Qing hadn’t finished the lemon tea, leaving half the bottle.

Fu Jichen didn’t say anything but pulled her into his arms, lowering his head to kiss her lips. Yu Qing turned her face away and shoved the bottle’s mouth toward him instead.

Fu Jichen: “...”

Since she wasn’t ready for a kiss, he didn’t push it.

If she wanted intimacy, she wouldn’t pretend otherwise.

After deep consideration, Fu Jichen made a decision. “Let’s go back to how we were before—no restrictions or talk of marriage.”

Yu Qing tightened the bottle cap, looking at him with suspicion.

Fu Jichen wasn’t without conditions either. “But you need to treat me as your boyfriend. Occasionally bring me home to show your family that Qin Moling has no chance.”

Before she could object, he justified himself with a strong argument. “Consider it compensation for me.”

“Compensation for you?”

“Mm. You took back the keychain you gave me last night; I can’t reminisce about you through it. Unforgivable.”

Yu Qing: “...”

Fu Jichen put aside his joke. “I don’t know how long we can last together, but while we’re on this path, I’ll do my best to make you willing to invest in our relationship—a risky product indeed.”

Yu Qing played with the bottle in her hand, twisting the cap open and then closing it again.

She looked at him. “So, you’re determined to keep me all to yourself, not letting anyone else take me away, just so you can bask in the sun and eat dried little fish.”

“... “

Seeing her relaxed demeanor, Fu Jichen leaned down to kiss her again.

This time, she didn’t avoid him.

Yu Qing: “Two seconds, don’t get carried away.”

Fu Jichen kissed her upper lip gently, then sucked on her lower lip.

There was a soft knock on the private room door—it was the waiter bringing the food.

Fu Jichen released Yu Qing, and they both sat back at the table.

Yu Qing rested her chin on her hand, staring at the vase of roses on the table.

Their conflict was temporarily resolved.

However, she had promised Grandpa Fu to cut ties with Fu Jichen. Now that they had reconciled, hiding it from Grandpa would be dishonest.

She stared at the roses.

Fu Jichen watched her.

Yu Qing turned her face, meeting his gaze.

“Why are you staring at me? It’s not like you’ve never seen me before.”

Fu Jichen: “It’s my first love, finally having a girlfriend. Can’t I be nervous and excited?”

Yu Qing was speechless.

Carefully pondering his words, she silently laughed.

Shameless.

She exchanged one of her chopsticks with one of his.

“We’re paired up again, living together once more. Who knows how many months this will last. But no matter how long, I hope we stay in sync. Pleasant journey ahead.”

With personal matters settled, Yu Qing took out the contract from her bag. “Here, take a look. After eating, we’ll go to your office for the handover procedures.”

Fu Jichen finished reading and set the contract aside.

When she worked, she was relentless; even he couldn’t directly take the contract from her hands.

After finishing the meal and handing over the contract, Yu Qing hurried back to her firm.

The office fell silent.

The warmth of her lips still lingered on his.

Before leaving, she gave him a perfunctory kiss.

Fu Jichen scanned the contract and called Pan Zheng, handing over the paper version for safekeeping.

Pan Zheng was surprised by Yu Qing’s efficiency but also worried. “Qiao Han won’t give up easily. The next challenge is the control rights, which will be the most troublesome for Lawyer Yu.”

“If it were easy to resolve, I wouldn’t be paying her so much.” Fu Jichen clipped each access card onto the keychain.

Pan Zheng glanced at the keychain. So they had reconciled, and the keychain was back.

“President Fu, dinner with President Zou is at seven tonight. Quite a few people will be there. From what President Zou said, he wants to introduce you to a friend—Director Feng’s daughter.”

In essence, it was the bank chairman’s daughter who had taken a fancy to Fu Jichen.

They wanted President Zou to play matchmaker.

The boss seemed to have quite a connection with bankers’ daughters. Here comes another one.

“President Fu, are you going?”

“Why not?” Fu Jichen replied nonchalantly.

He stowed the keychain away. “I might as well use this opportunity to follow up on the loan they have with us.”

Pan Zheng: “They might just be using this hundred-billion-dollar loan to test your stance, to see if you’d consider marrying Director Feng’s daughter.”

If purely viewed from an interest standpoint, a union between the two families would be mutually beneficial.

That’s why the usually discerning Director Feng lowered his standards and proactively extended an olive branch.

“President Zou mentioned that this is a private dinner.” The implication was clear—no unnecessary subordinates, only the boss attending alone.

Pan Zheng inquired, “Should I find an excuse to accompany you?”

“No need.”

In the afternoon, after finishing his work, Fu Jichen went upstairs to the chairman’s office.

Chairman Fu had just returned to the company, not even finishing his cup of tea.

Fu Jichen got straight to the point. “Did you ask President Zou to introduce me to someone for matchmaking?”

Chairman Fu looked bewildered. “No. Why? Is Old Zou playing matchmaker now?”

“Yes.” Fu Jichen replied. “Director Feng’s daughter.”

Chairman Fu consoled him. “So, don’t give up on yourself. Even if Yu Qing abandons you, there are still people willing to marry you.”

“... I’ve reconciled with Yu Qing.”

Chairman Fu nodded slowly. “Congratulations.”

The dialogue between father and son had always been straightforward.

Fu Jichen sat in his father’s office for a while; they didn’t say much, and he quietly drank a cup of coffee.

Chairman Fu remembered the cocktail party. “Ji Qingyuan personally delivered the invitation to me this morning. You go on my behalf. The Ji family’s cocktail party will surely be attended by Yu Qing’s family.”

Fu Jichen thought for a moment. “You should go too, and bring my mom along. I want to introduce Yu Qing to her. They both like perfume, so they should have something to talk about.”

Chairman Fu frowned. “Yu Qing also likes perfume? And you want to introduce her to your mother? Are you sure you want to do this?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Chairman Fu felt a headache coming on at the mention of perfume. “What if Yu Qing has a treasured perfume that your mother doesn’t have, or vice versa? Have you thought about the consequences?”

Fu Jichen looked at his father but didn’t say anything.

Chairman Fu sighed. “In the future, we’ll have to scour the world for perfumes for them. If we can’t find them, we won’t even be able to go home.”

Fu Jichen: “...”

Chairman Fu recalled the past few years when he took his wife to a friend’s house for a small gathering. During their conversation, they talked about a certain perfume, and his wife realized she didn’t have it.

After returning home, she told him that she really wanted to own it.

He didn’t take it seriously and even scolded her a bit.

Later, tears fell from her eyes.

He was baffled and asked if she was feeling unwell.

She said, “I’m not unwell, just draining the water that got into my brain before marriage.”

Her words subtly revealed regret over marrying him.

He then went through great lengths to find her an identical bottle.

“Jichen, think it over. If you want to live the life I did, I won’t stop you. But don’t drag me into it.”

Fu Jichen didn’t hesitate. “If they really want perfume, you provide the money, and I’ll do the legwork.”

It was almost time, and he still had a dinner appointment to attend.

Putting down the coffee cup, “Dad, you get back to work. Don’t forget to bring Mom along to the cocktail party later.”

“Jichen, wait a moment.” Chairman Fu called his son back.

Fu Jichen stopped at the door and turned around. “Anything else?”

Chairman Fu: “Your grandfather thinks that Yu Qing has broken up with you. Now that you two are reconciled, you need to give him some explanation. What if he unknowingly lets friends introduce someone to you? It wouldn’t be appropriate and would disrespect everyone involved.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Yu Qing will handle it well.”

________________________________________

At five o’clock, dusk enveloped the surroundings.

Yu Qing tidied up her desk and prepared to leave work.

She had arranged to meet Grandpa Fu for coffee.

Originally, she planned to find a café near Grandpa Fu’s house, not wanting the elderly man to travel back and forth. However, understanding her potential traffic issues after work, Grandpa Fu chose the same café as last time.

To avoid causing trouble for Fu Jichen, she decided to have an open and honest chat with Grandpa Fu.

After shutting down her computer, Yu Qing tapped the heads of the three Maneki-neko figurines still facing the wall in reflection. She rearranged them and left them to continue their penance.

With her bag on her back, she locked the door and left.

Grandpa Fu had arrived early today as well. With nothing to do in the afternoon, he walked over.

He didn’t know why Yu Qing had called him today.

Perhaps it was to inform him that she and Jichen had broken up.

Last night, his grandson’s words at his house...

Every word hit him right where it hurt most.

He wanted to say a few comforting words but couldn’t find them.

“Grandpa Fu, sorry to keep you waiting again.” Yu Qing placed her bag and coat aside and sat down.

“No problem.” Grandpa Fu didn’t want to waste her time either; lawyers were always busy. “Whatever you have to say, just say it.”

Yu Qing folded her hands neatly and sat upright, like a child in class.

“Grandpa, Jichen and I have reconciled.”

“You’re our elder, and you care so much about our relationship. We’ve decided to respect your wishes and walk this path together.”

“We hope to share this joy with you.”

Grandpa Fu: “...”

He didn’t know whether to feel reassured or heartbroken.

Her words made it seem like they decided to be together because of him.

Yu Qing continued, “After meeting with you yesterday, I reflected deeply when I returned home. I realized that I had hurt Fu Jichen.”

“In the matter between Jichen and me, I shouldn’t break up with him just because of others’ wishes—it’s a huge disrespect to him. A breakup should only happen after mutual agreement.”

“To use an inappropriate analogy, just as signing a contract requires mutual consent, dissolving it also needs negotiation. Unilaterally terminating a contract is a breach.”

Grandpa Fu couldn’t argue with her. He now only wanted to know, “So, when are you and Jichen planning to set a wedding date?”

Yu Qing honestly replied, “We have no such plans. We’ll continue to be together in our own way.”

Grandpa Fu: “Are you two still unwilling to grow up?”

Yu Qing had already mentally prepared herself. “Grandpa, I won’t argue. I’ll just share what’s on my mind.”

Though Grandpa Fu was unhappy inside, he maintained composure. “Mm, go ahead. I’d like to hear it.”

Yu Qing: “To put it sentimentally, I hope that one day, Jichen and I will be like you and Grandma. Many years from now, we’ll still be a family, still bickering and arguing.”

“But for now, I haven’t found anyone worth taking a risk for, even if it means losing everything. Jichen and I have only been together for just over three months.”

“Jichen told me that if we get married, we’ll sign a prenuptial agreement. If he files for divorce, all his assets will go to me—I won’t lose out. But for me, money isn’t something I lack.”

“Grandpa, apart from my professional knowledge, I’m practically poor except for my money. That’s why I love my job—it’s the little wealth I possess.”

Grandpa Fu remained silent for a moment. He understood. Anything more would be redundant.

“Then I hope that many years from now, when you and Jichen sit here, you can talk about how much you used to... make people gnash their teeth in frustration when you were young.”

Yu Qing laughed. “Thank you for your kind words and blessings, Grandpa.”

They sat for a while longer until Grandpa Fu’s driver arrived.

As Yu Qing stepped out of the café, she received a message from Fu Jichen: [I have a social engagement tonight. Someone wants to introduce me to a matchmaking prospect—Director Feng’s daughter, Feng Mai. Since it involves cooperation and loans, I’ll go check it out. Mainly to assert myself and let others know that I’m in a relationship. My first love’s name is Yu Qing.]