Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qi Chengzhi knew exactly how Song Yu felt. She removed her face from the pillow and looked at him with a smile. âMm.â
...
...
Qi Chengzhi made sure they were both neat, and by then, lunch break had just finished.
Song Yu was feeling really sleepy. She closed her eyes lazily and fell asleep, leaving Qi Chengzhi to continue doing work.
At about three in the evening, Mu Huaisheng called him.
âYou saw the news.â Qi Chengzhi looked at the still-sleeping Song Yu and walked to the window, speaking softly there.
âThis is Sisiâs fault. My words did not affect her, but Iâll make sure to put a strict watch on her next time. Howâs Song Yu?â Mu Huaisheng asked from the other end of the line.
âShe was mostly angry that your sister touched me. She didnât believe the rest.â Qi Chengzhi then remarked bluntly, âHuaisheng, my family came out this time to give one, and only one, warning. If thereâs ever a next time, I wonât spare your dignity either.â
Mu Huaisheng was silent for a moment before saying, âI understand. Are you free tonight? I booked a room at the Red Roof Club. I want to apologize to your wife. I wonât be bringing Mu Sisi, of course.
After coming to B City, Mu Huaisheng asked around for some high-end places. One was Dynasty, while the other was the Red Roof Clubâin both places, the application to become a member had strict vetting procedures, requiring also a referral by someone else.
In that regard, Wei Ziqiâby virtue of Mu Huaishengâs potential cooperation with Wu Fengâsettled it all for him relatively easily.
Even so, it was not easy to book a room at the Red Roof Club, but Yan Beicheng found out that it was Mu Huaisheng who wanted to book the room. Realizing that it probably had something to do with the news earlier that morning, Yan Beicheng reserved it for Mu Huaisheng out of respect for Qi Chengzhi.
Qi Chengzhi turned to Song Yu and noticed that she was awake.
Afraid to wake her up, he had earlier silenced his phone.
âIâll talk to her about it first and ask for her opinion.â Qi Chengzhi began speaking in his normal volume. âIâll tell you soon.â
âWhat is it?â Song Yu asked after Qi Chengzhi hung up.
âDid you wake up because you heard me on the phone?â He walked over and sat beside her. He was leaning on the pillow, and she was leaning against him.
âNo, I woke up naturally,â she reassured. Song Yu had slept well, but when she was nearly awake, she heard Qi Chengzhiâs voice, which then roused her up completely.
âMu Huaisheng called. He wants to personally apologize to you about what happened with Mu Sisi,â Qi Chengzhi explained. âHe booked a room at the Red Roof Club. I havenât given him an answer yet because I want to ask you first.â
Song Yu looked down and mulled over it for a moment. She then said, âLetâs just go. I trust your opinion of others. If heâs a good person, thereâs no need to involve him with what his sister did.â
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...
After work, Qi Chengzhi drove to the Red Roof Club with Song Yu.
The attendant brought them to the room that Mu Huaisheng booked. He was already waiting there.
Hearing the door click open, he looked up and saw Qi Chengzhi coming in with Song Yu. His expression, though warm, seemed slightly embarrassed.
He stood up and smiled at Song Yu. âThank you for coming, Song Yu.â
She returned his smile but kept quiet.
The three of them sat down, and the attendant asked if the dishes could be served. Mu Huaisheng nodded, then turned to Qi Chengzhi, asking, âCan you drink tonight?â
âI canât. I need to drive,â Qi Chengzhi responded curtly.
Mu Huaisheng then asked Song Yu, but before she could answer, Qi Chengzhi held her hand and responded, âSheâs pregnant. She canât drink.â
Briefly surprised, Mu Huaisheng smiled. âI see, congratulations.â
Turning again to the attendant, he requested some fresh-pressed juices instead of wine.
After the attendant left, he began his apology, âIâm sorry that my sister did this kind of thing at this time. If something happens, she wouldâve messed up big time.â
âI trust Chengzhi a lot, so it didnât have much of an effect on me,â Song Yu responded bluntly. âBut that doesnât mean I forgive her actions.â
âI understand. You donât need to forgive her at all. Iâve been scolding her ever since the Wei familyâs celebration the other day, but no matter what I say, she never listens. Sheâs even gone out to stir up this kind of trouble, so I donât expect her to have any logic or reason. Her stubbornness knows no bounds, and I donât plan on just letting her do as she pleases.
âIn fact, I have to bear the responsibility as well because I didnât manage to control her in time. I shouldâve known earlier that she wonât listen to my advice and wonât give up if she hasnât gotten what she wanted.â Mu Huaishengâs voice was deep. âWhen Chengzhi stormed off angrily from Dynasty, I immediately booked her a plane ticket to send her back, but I didnât expect my parents to be in Italy. They wonât be back anytime soon, and I wonât feel at ease if sheâs alone there. Who knows if she does anything stupid, or maybe even secretly fly back here? If that happens, I wonât be able to locate her and keep her in check, so sheâll have to stay here. Iâll look after her properly, of course, and make sure that she wonât give you any more headaches.â
âThat would be the best. But before anything else, thereâs something Iâd like to say. If she comes at me and does something funny, I wonât be treating her nicely. In fact, Iâll most likely be treating her rather uncivilly,â Song Yu declared. âIâm not so kind as to forgive her and be all goody-goody with her, especially when I âm aware that she likes my Chengzhi and is trying to wreck our relationship.â
âIâll do my best to stop her from bothering you.â Mu Huaisheng was afraid to give them his unequivocal promise. He had company matters to attend to, and it was not easy to keep a constant watch on Mu Sisi.
Song Yu smiled plainly and said, âPlease also tell her that Iâm happy with Chengzhi and I trust him fully. Thereâs nothing she could do that can break up apart.â
Moments later, the attendant brought over the food and fruit juice.
Once the attendant left, Mu Huaisheng poured some juice for them and said to Song Yu, âApologizing over wine is merely a formality. Tonight, Iâll use fruit juice in place of wine to offer you my sincerest apologies.â
Song Yu took a sip and smiled. âIâve already told Chengzhi that I trust your character because youâre his friend. You are you. Mu Sisi is Mu Sisi. Iâll tell you that I hate her, but that wonât affect my opinion of you.â
Mu Huaisheng smiled. It was equally as good to say cheers even though it was only fruit juice.
âTo tell you the truth, even though sheâs my sister, I can tell you that sheâs not a match with Qi Chengzhi,â Mu Huaisheng remarked.
Song Yu did not expect Mu Huaisheng to actually say that. Surprisingly, he was not so biased as to side with Mu Sisi.
âSisi has the belief that she loves Chengzhi for the longest time. She was infatuated with him. But what she didnât know was that Chengzhi loved you longer.â Mu Huaisheng looked at Qi Chengzhi with a half-smile and noticed that the latterâs expression was unwavering. Qi Chengzhi was about to drink his fruit juice, but he stopped short of it and simply held the stem of the glass.
âChengzhi talked about me before?â Astonished, she glanced at Chengzhi. He was not the type of person who would talk about his feelings.
âNot exactly. I realized it only when I saw you. Back in America, Chengzhi had plenty of admirers, some of them Americans, but he ignored them all. There was one time I was very curious if there was something wrong with him for ignoring all those women, so I asked.â Mu Huaisheng then recounted the exact words Qi Chengzhi told him last time. âAt that time, I didnât know who it was, but when I saw you, I knew youâre the one that he had always liked. You look much younger than I thought, though. Back then, I thought that the girl would be about his age, considering heâs had his heart set on her so early on.â
Even though Qi Chengzhi was already married to Song Yu, he was still mindful of their age gap being brought up.
Mu Huaisheng did not truly mind as much and was not at all worried, since he was Qi Chengzhiâs good friend after all.
âIf this is the case, then Song Yu must be rather young at that time. Isnât that just wonderful of you to like her already?â Mu Huaisheng looked suspiciously at Qi Chengzhi as if the latterâs thought processes were abnormal.
âHave you chosen a place for your flagship store?â Qi Chengzhi changed the topic without even flinching.
It was not a smooth transition at all, and Song Yu could not help but laugh. âWhat are you doing? I wanna listen to the things that happened during your university days.â
âIf you want to listen, Iâll slowly tell you everything when we go home.â Qi Chengzhi shot her a glance, implying that he would âslowly tell her everythingâ in bed.
â...â Song Yu blushed. Not one second did she believe he would cooperate and actually tell her everything without a fuss.
Mu Huaisheng broke into laughter as well. Knowing that Qi Chengzhi tried getting him to stop bringing that up, he segued into the transition and answered, âWeâve chosen three potential sites and are talking with each respective owner. Weâll see which one fits best, and if we can purchase it, we will.
âOh yes,â Mu Huaisheng said to Song Yu. âDo you have any good interior designers you can introduce? Weâll need to start setting up the interior once the location is confirmed.â
Song Yu was somewhat taken aback. âWell, since youâre working with Wei Ziqi, why didnât you ask his motherâs company? Madam Wei is one of the very best in the industry. And with your kind of luxury products, youâd surely want to engage a renowned designer, right? It has to match your productsâ style, after all.â
Qi Chengzhi knew that Mu Huaisheng wanted to find a way to make it up to her under the guise of an apology.
Even if Song Yu was not an interior designer, her line of work would definitely have given her connections with those who did. If Mu Huaisheng put the word out that he was on the lookout for an interior designer, many would jump on the chance to do so. In letting Song Yu introduce someone to him, he was giving Song Yu a chance to do the other party a huge favor, which would later come in handy for her in the future.
As Qi Chengzhiâs wife, Song Yu may not care muchâif at allâabout those things, but Mu Huaishengâs intentions were like icing on the cake.
âOur initial decision was to change to a new style and make B Cityâs flagship store into one that stood out and fully embodied the Chinese culture.â Mu Huaisheng continued explaining, âAnd if we employed the services of Autumn and Co., itâs only natural that Iâd want Madam Wei to personally work on the project. But she hasnât been personally involved in any projects recently, and even if she did, I donât think weâll be able to afford her services. I might as well ask you if there are any friends you could introduce, rather than just employing any ordinary designer from her company. Itâs more or less the same thing, and of course, Iâd place more importance on someone closer to me.â
Song Yu understood his intentions clearly. She did not refuse his gesture of goodwill because the first person to pop in her mind was Ruan Danchen.
Within the company, Ruan Danchen was the main person in charge of interior design. Her designs always stood out, but because there was too much competition in the industry, she never had the chance to truly make a name for herself.
Even though designing MUâs flagship store would not cause as much of a stir as designing Qilinâs hotel, it would still be enough to Ruan Danchen to finally showcase her talents.
Regarding the hotel, a time would come when the interior had to be designed. However, Song Yu was, in fact, afraid to ask Qi Chengzhi to appoint Ruan Danchen through the back-door. It was a professional matter, and she did not want to interfere with Qi Chengzhiâs work.
Since Mu Huaisheng brought it up himself, it was a different matter altogether.
âIt just so happens that I do have a friend. Sheâs not a famous designer, but her designs are very stylistic.â Song Yu smiled.
Mu Huaisheng nodded and said, âWell then, if the store location is confirmed, we can arrange a time to meet and visit the place.â
The three of them had dinner and subsequently left the place.
In the car, Song Yu was very excited to give Ruan Danchen a call and tell her everything.
âREALLY?â Ruan Danchen was both happy and surprised. Her voice was several tones louder than usual, and the excitement was much more prominent than usual.
After that short burst of excitement, Ruan Danchen calmed herself. She took a notebook from her lap and placed it onto the sofa beside her. It was an as-yet incomplete design she was working on.
âAre you sure itâs alright to look for me? You didnât use any favors, did you?â Ruan Danchen crossed her legs and asked.
Not once did Ruan Danchen ever ask Song Yu for more projects from Qi Chengzhi. Even the prospect of designing the interior of Qilinâs hotel was not something she ever considered.
She was unsure of her own competency, as it would be her first time doing something like that. Her biggest worry was that she overestimated her capabilities, with the consequences spilling over to Song Yu.
âI didnât.â Song Yu looked at the beautiful night scenery before her and smiled, saying, âMu Huaisheng was the one who voluntarily made the suggestion. He asked me to introduce a designer, and the first person I thought of was you. Itâs only a recommendation, and I see him as a genuinely trustworthy person. Itâs not like heâll just jump right in and engage your service just because I introduced you. When the time comes, itâll still have to depend on your draft. If heâs satisfied, heâll bring you on, but if he isnât, even I wonât have a say on anything. The most important thing is that it depends on you.â
âI understand. Iâll surely do my best, and I wonât let you down!â Ruan Danchen pumped her fist into the air.
Song Yu smiled and hung up. Qi Chengzhiâs eyes shifted to her and he said, half-smilingly, âDo you intend on being a matchmaker?â
She blushed and touched her face. âWas it that obvious?â
âI donât know if Mu Huaisheng can see it or not, but I can,â Qi Chengzhi replied. Since she finished her call, he could once again stretch his hand over and held her hand.
âEven though his sister is a problem, I think Mu Huaishengâs good enough. He probably wonât let his woman be bullied. Since youâre his good friend, I trust his character, and whether it works or not, the first thing is introducing each other. Even if it doesnât work, it still benefits Danchenâs career, doesnât it?â
Qi Chengzhi rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and made a sudden remark. âThey wonât work.â
âHow do you know that?â Song Yu asked begrudgingly. âIs he just going to dampen my enthusiasm?â
Qi Chengzhi smiled enigmatically and said, âIf you donât believe me, just wait and see.â
He may not have said his reasons, but Song Yu was compelled to believe him. Having dampened her spirits, her jovial warmth dissipated and her mood soured, too. She made a face and muttered, âMeanie.â
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On Sunday morning, the two of them woke up early to do their wedding photoshoot.
Qi Chengzhi did not book a studio, but instead, got in touch with a well-known photographer who works exclusively with magazines. The couple went to the photographerâs personal studio, with Qi Chengzhi bringing the wedding dress shipped from France, as well as a few groomâs suits he prepared for the wedding.
He took into account Song Yuâs pregnancy and was worried that her body could not take it if they did the photoshoot outdoors. He thus decided to do only indoors.
The wedding dress arrived rather recently, giving Song Yu no opportunity to try it on beforehand. The photoshoot marked her first time wearing the dress.
Qi Chengzhi was led away so he could change his clothes, and after he came out, another person brought him away to touch up his face. When he noticed that the makeup artist was going to apply some foundation on him, his thick brows furrowed into a frown and he headed for the door without another word.
âSir!â The makeup artist chased after him. âYou have to use a bit of makeup so youâll look better in the photo.â
âThatâs not necessary. Thereâs no use for me to look better. Itâs enough if my wife looks good.â Qi Chengzhi continued walking without turning back at all.
The makeup artist trailed behind and said, âSir, if youâre shooting like this, the effect will be vastly different from your wife. The final picture wonât look nice!â