Chapter 1: This is the President of Yanxin.
The weather forecast mentioned that compared to previous years, Beijing’s April temperatures were on the lower side this year, with today’s high reaching only 13 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, in Jiangnan, it was 25 degrees today.
Shan Dai’s thoughts drifted aimlessly. Accustomed to life in the south, if she were to move to Beijing one day, would she even get used to living there?
Of course, she was just letting her mind wander. She was married, and her husband, Lu Zhixing, was also a native of Jiangnan. They had settled down in Lan City, a bustling and brilliant metropolis in the Yangtze River Delta. The only reason she was paying attention to the weather in the northern capital was that Lu Zhixing had gone there on a business trip, which was now in its third month.
Before getting off work, Shan Dai held her phone, looking at the huge temperature gap between the two locations while pondering what clothes she should pack if she went over in the next couple of days. The main question was: how long would she stay?
After deliberating back and forth, she exited the weather app and switched to WeChat. Propping her chin lazily on one hand, she tapped the screen with the other to send a message to the WeChat account contact saved as “Mr. Lu.”
“Knock knock~”
“Dai Dai.” Lu Zhixing replied very quickly, just as always.
Shan Dai: “I was wondering if you’ll have much free time over the next few days? If you’re busy, we can just meet up briefly, and I won’t need to bring too many heavy clothes.”
Lu Zhixing: “I have time. It’s been so long since we last saw each other. Even if I have to take time off, I’ll keep you company. But you don’t need to pack extra clothes either, Dai Dai. I’ll go shopping with you and buy new ones.”
The corner of Shan Dai’s mouth curved up, and she typed back: “Okay.”
Mr. Lu: “I’ll wait for you. Be careful on your way out.”
Shan Dai sent a one-word reply: “Okay.”
Then she typed a second line: “Working overtime tonight?”
Mr. Lu: “No overtime, but I have a social obligation.”
He also sent a second line: “I’m sorry, Dai Dai, I haven’t called you in days. How about we talk on the phone right now? I’ll be getting back to the hotel very late tonight. I’m sorry.”
Shan Dai replied gently: “No need, you go ahead and focus on work. We can chat when I get there, no rush. Take care to rest, and drink in moderation.”
Mr. Lu: “Okay, I got it. Then you must come, alright? Dai Dai, don’t get called back right after your business trip and leave me here gazing through autumn waters1.”
Shan Dai couldn’t help but laugh.
Closing her laptop, she picked up her bag and headed out the door to off-work mode.
At the elevator, she ran into her good friend, who was also a partner in the company. The young heiress walked over, swaying gracefully in her high heels with bag in hand, leaning her entire body weight onto Shan Dai the moment she put an arm around her. “Baby, don’t be gone for too long. Your dear baby here is slaving away at overtime. If you don’t come back, she’s going to work herself to sudden death.”
Shan Dai covered her mouth with a laugh and glanced sideways at her: “Mr. Lu warned me not to run off precisely because every time he and I went on vacation while we were dating, you’d spam me with messages like crazy. He’s terrified you’ll sabotage his path to seeing his wife.”
“Hmph, Mr. Lu has only been married for a year and has already been on a business trip for months. Is that my fault?” She said casually, “Usually I feel like he loves you a lot, but lately I feel like I love you more. Tell him to watch himself out there and not go setting up two separate homes in the north and south, or I’ll run him down with my car.”
Shan Dai pinched her cheek: “I will definitely deliver the message word for word.”
The elevator doors opened, and they stepped in together.
“Wanna grab dinner? Our last meal together.” Ziming pressed the B2 button. “I’m truly heartbroken. Lu Zhixing having a wife means I have to lose my wife.”
“It’s only for a few days,” Shan Dai coaxed her, then added, “Eat by yourself. I’m going back to pack a few things and work a bit more overtime.”
“Sigh.” The woman stroked Shan Dai’s petal-soft, effortlessly stunning face. “My Dai’er, the company’s greatest hero. Without you, this company would collapse.”
Shan Dai smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor denying it.
Upon reaching the underground garage, two cars shuttled in opposite directions—north and south—through this international metropolis.
Shan Dai returned to their marital home. She and Lu Zhixing had moved in together some time before their wedding. The apartment was located in downtown Lan City, making the daily commute fairly short for both of them. Although Lu Zhixing had gone on a business trip to Beijing after the Lunar New Year, he was about due to return soon.
Shan Dai cooked a simple bowl of noodles for herself. After dinner, she stretched lazily, walked back to the bedroom, and retrieved a 24-inch suitcase from the walk-in closet.
She picked out a heavy coat and a trench coat; it was better to bring some warm clothes after all. She wouldn’t be going shopping immediately upon landing anyway. Having not seen each other in so long, she didn’t want to go out right away; spending two days in a world for just the two of them at the hotel sounded quite nice.
In their two years of dating and one year of marriage, they had never been separated for this long.
At 9:00 PM, after taking a shower, Shan Dai sat in the bedroom hugging her laptop to work overtime, checking the specific details of the project she needed to negotiate with their partner on her upcoming business trip to Linzhou. She planned to head to Beijing to find Lu Zhixing only after finishing that business trip, as the two locations were very close to each other.
Before she knew it, it was already midnight.
Shan Dai rubbed the sore corners of her eyes, closed her laptop, casually tossed it onto the adjacent pillow, and closed her eyes. Before she could drift off to sleep, her phone vibrated beside her pillow. Bleary-eyed, Shan Dai reached over to grab it and took a hazy look.
It was WeChat.
Secretary Su: “President Shan, I am terribly sorry to disturb you so late. Here’s the situation: our President Shen’s flight has been delayed, so he won’t be able to reach Linzhou tomorrow. Our meeting may need to be canceled or postponed. Could you let me know when would be convenient for you to reschedule?”
The sleepiness in the depth of Shan Dai’s eyes gradually cleared up.
“Unbelievable,” she muttered under her breath, turning over to sit up. She raised her head to look at the burgundy suitcase parked near the doorway of the walk-in closet in the distance.
Withdrawing her gaze, she switched to Lu Zhixing’s account and scrolled back to his gentle reminder from the afternoon… After hesitating for two minutes, she ultimately decided against canceling her flight ticket. Instead, she re-entered Secretary Su’s chat window.
“When will your President Shen land?”
Two minutes later, Secretary Su replied: “We’re not sure on our end yet. A storm in the United States has caused widespread flight cancellations, we are extremely sorry, President Shan.”
“…” Then what was the point of scheduling at all? She couldn’t stay in Beijing indefinitely waiting for President Shen’s plane to land before heading to Linzhou to talk business. There were so many matters to handle on her end; theirs was a startup company.
Shan Dai tossed her phone aside, collapsed back down, and pulled the blanket over her head. After a long moment, a soft sigh sounded from under the covers.
Entrepreneurship sure was tough.
The next time her phone rang, it was 9:00 AM.
After getting up to wash up, Shan Dai drank a cup of black coffee for breakfast. Finally, she picked up her suitcase and set off for the airport on schedule.
The plane took off on time at 11:30 AM from Lan City International Airport and landed at Linzhou Airport at around 1:00 PM.
Originally, her plan was to negotiate work today and head to Beijing tomorrow to see Lu Zhixing. The two places were very close, only a half-hour high-speed rail ride apart.
Now that there was no business left to discuss, Shan Dai could only hail a taxi directly from the airport to the high-speed railway station to take a train to Beijing.
After a few transfers, the taxi arrived at 4:00 PM outside the hotel where Lu Zhixing was staying during his business trip.
Arriving a day early counted as a surprise for him. Shan Dai hadn’t told him; upon reaching the hotel, she checked her suitcase at the front desk and then hailed a cab directly to Yanxin Times Group.
Yanxin Times’ headquarters was in Beijing, with a branch in Lan City, Jiangnan. Lu Zhixing served as the General Manager of the R&D Department there and had come here on a business trip for a new project during this period.
The group’s building was located in a prime, high-value district in downtown Beijing. Traffic was somewhat congested, so by the time she arrived, over half an hour had passed—just as off-work time was fast approaching, making it perfectly timed.
Only when she was inside the cab did Shan Dai send Lu Zhixing a message: “Guess where I am right now?”
Lu Zhixing: “?? Don’t tell me you already finished the negotiations and came to Beijing?”
Shan Dai hadn’t told him that her business meeting was canceled and that she had come directly, so she played along: “Mr. Lu is pretty smart, huh.”
His phone call came through instantly, his voice full of pleasant surprise: “Really? Dai Dai? You finished negotiating that quickly?”
“Mm-hmm~ I’m almost at the Yanxin Building.” Looking out from the car window at the skyscraper towering into the clouds in the heart of the CBD up ahead, she asked, “Is it convenient for me to come find you?”
“It’s convenient. Go straight to my office. But I’m just about to go into a meeting—how about you wait for me inside? I’ll be off work as soon as the meeting ends. See if there are any restaurants you want to try and make a reservation. If not, I’ll set one up later.”
“Okay, sure.”
Lu Zhixing hung up and sent her his office address. Shan Dai had the driver steer into the underground garage of Yanxin Times; seeing the crowds of people bustling in and out of the building at the entrance plaza made her feel a bit self-conscious.
Taking the elevator up from the underground garage to the 30th floor, the doors opened to reveal a woman dressed in a dusty-pink business suit waiting right outside. Seeing her, the woman asked with a smile: “Are you Mrs. Lu?”
Shan Dai’s red lips curved up as she nodded: “Hello.”
The woman’s eyes sparkled slightly: “Madam is so beautiful.”
Shan Dai smiled: “Thank you.”
“This way, please. I’m Manager Lu’s secretary here. He went into a meeting and instructed me to look after you.”
Shan Dai realized, expressing her gratitude: “Thank you, sorry to trouble you.”
“You’re very welcome, Madam.” She opened an office door and raised her hand, gesturing for her to step inside.
Shan Dai looked around the office and strolled casually over to the executive desk. Sitting on the clean desktop was a gift box featuring the logo of a European diamond brand.
The secretary brewed a cup of coffee for her and invited her to sit. “Please rest for a bit, and I’ll show you around in a moment.”
“Thank you.” She walked over and sat down, smiling as she looked at the young woman. “Work is very busy around here, isn’t it?”
“Indeed, it’s been quite busy since after the New Year. I heard Manager Lu originally planned to stay here for three months, but now it has to be extended for a while. That must be why Madam came to visit him, right? It must be tiring for you.”
Shan Dai raised an eyebrow; she hadn’t heard him mention anything about an extension.
She took two sips of the coffee. It tasted very good, though Lu Zhixing was a person who preferred tea over coffee, making it quite rare for his office to have such items.
Seeing her sitting alone with nothing to do, the secretary suggested: “How about I give Madam a tour? Manager Lu’s meeting will still take a while.”
“Is it convenient?”
“It is.”
Shan Dai smiled softly as she stood up: “Then I’ll trouble you.”
“Not at all, Madam.”
Exiting the office, the secretary followed Shan Dai down the quiet corridor. With her hands slipped into her coat pockets, Shan Dai’s high heels lightly treaded on the carpet as she strolled silently through this prestigious building in Beijing.
As they walked, a broad, bright transverse corridor appeared before them. She turned her head to look.
The secretary introduced: “Yanxin Times consists of two buildings connected by an elevated skybridge. Madam can also head over to inspect the other building if you like. That side is Tower A.”
Shan Dai lifted her delicate, slender brows: “What departments are over there?”
“That side mainly houses the executive offices—the President’s Office, the General Manager’s Office, and some key departments like Public Relations. Additionally, Yanxin’s newly established subsidiaries from last year—the Gaming Department and the Media Department—are all in that building. Traditional departments like Manager Lu’s R&D Department are located here in Tower B.”
“The Gaming Department is over there? Is your company’s gaming exhibition hall open to visitors? May I take a look?”
“Certainly. You’re interested in games, Madam? Do you work in this industry?” The secretary led her directly onto the skybridge.
Shan Dai: “Yes, I own a media and entertainment company. I recall that Meixun Company had a partnership with your firm a while back, and I happened to have collaborated with Meixun as well.”
“I see. In that case, would it be convenient for Madam to give me a business card? I can have my colleagues from the Gaming Department connect with you later; perhaps there will be an opportunity for us to collaborate.”
How could Shan Dai dare to entertain such grandiose future prospects? Meixun was the largest company she had collaborated with to date, and even that was just a single project opportunity.
She pretended not to have one on her: “What a shame, I don’t have one on me right now. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity.”
“Alright.”
The skybridge was framed by glass mirror walls on all sides, exuding a high-tech vibe. Stepping across it in high heels, one’s own reflection was visible from every direction.
Shan Dai couldn’t help but feel amazed and envious, wondering when her company, Mingdai, would ever grow to be so prestigious.
Reaching the opposite side, they took the elevator up to the 60th floor.
The secretary explained: “The Gaming Department is on the 55th floor, while the company’s exhibition hall is on the 60th. Aside from various major conference rooms, this floor is entirely dedicated to different exhibition halls. It’s used for receiving guests, so placing it on this floor keeps it quiet.”
The gaming exhibition hall was located not far from the elevator. Soaked in the rare setting sunlight of Beijing’s early spring chill, Shan Dai wrapped herself in a scarf, crossing her arms as she wandered among the various game models.
The secretary waited by the door to accompany her. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to step inside, but rather that she knew nothing about gaming and didn’t want to spoil Shan Dai’s enjoyment.
After about half an hour passed, a group of people exited the conference room at the far end of the 60th floor and walked over in this direction.
Walking in the center was a man dressed in a sharply tailored, ink-black suit. The premium bespoke attire perfectly highlighted his tall, straight posture, long legs, and lean waist.
The setting sun filtered through the exhibition hall’s glass onto the hallway, causing even his suit’s cufflinks to reflect lines of light like an aurora.
The secretary lowered her head to greet the man.
As the man brushed past her, his gaze swept over her shoulder toward the interior of the gaming exhibition hall. Immediately, his long-legged stride paused slightly.
The secretary raised her head and caught the man’s gaze falling on her. Heart skipping a beat, she wondered if some partner guests were visiting today.
She quickly stepped forward two paces, waiting until everyone else had entered the elevator and left before speaking up to explain to him: “Hello, President Pu. Inside is Mrs. Lu, the wife of Manager Lu Zhixing from the Lan City R&D Department.”
“Lu Zhixing.” The man’s gaze fell diagonally on the graceful silhouette wandering through the exhibition hall.
“Yes. Manager Lu went to attend a meeting with you just now… I was taking Madam on a casual walk around. Her company is in media and entertainment, so she wanted to tour our gaming exhibition hall, which is why I brought her here.”
“Lu Zhixing has already taken the elevator down on the other side.” The man parted his thin lips slightly, his voice deep and magnetic.
“Oh. Then, then I’ll go inform Madam.”
With that said, seeing that the man remained standing rooted in place, his eyes still lingering on the woman who was intently touring the hall, he didn’t leave.
Beijing was extraordinarily cold today. The sunlight that had been suppressed behind cloud layers all day long had only now fully shaken free, cascading entirely over the woman.
She looked as if she were immersed in an orange-red gaming realm; her coat was pink, her hair strands were pink, and even her breath seemed pink.
That face was half-submerged in her scarf, with only half of her drop-dead gorgeous face exposed, radiating a serene and detached aura.
Even the arc of her turning high heels was silenced into insignificance by her light posture and graceful poise. She strolled so effortlessly and silently through the jungle of models—detached from the world, a picturesque scenery all her own.
His quiet presence made the secretary doubt whether the exhibition hall was off-limits to visitors, causing her to walk silently toward the entrance of the exhibition hall.
She tapped softly on the door frame: “Madam.”
The woman looked out, her gaze instantly shooting past the secretary’s figure to meet the eyes of a tall man standing outside the hall.
Secretary: “Madam, Manager Lu has finished his meeting.”
Shan Dai strolled out of the exhibition hall.
The secretary was once again astonished by her beauty. Those few steps she took out from the setting sun felt like stepping right out from a virtual game world into reality. Yet her breathtaking visuals remained untarnished from start to finish—in the setting sun, she was an unattainable fairy from an otherworldly realm, while in reality, she was like a dreamlike immortal untouched by worldly dust, causing one’s heart to beat faster uncontrollably as her steps drew near.
Manager Lu’s wife was actually this beautiful.
Seeing that the man behind her still hadn’t moved, the secretary held her breath to introduce him to Shan Dai: “This is Yanxin Times’ President, President Pu. Manager Lu was just over here attending a meeting with President Pu, and he has returned now.”
Shan Dai parted her lips in surprise, then immediately spoke up: “Hello.”
Translator’s note:
Translator’s note
- 望穿秋水 (wàng chuān qiū shuǐ), an idiom meaning to gaze anxiously or longingly until one’s eyes wear out ↩︎
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