Chapter 2: Does Madam Have Any Plans to Remarry?
“Hello, Madam.” The man nodded slightly.
Hearing his words, Shan Dai instantly knew that he recognized whose wife she was. She smiled faintly and said, “I was just looking around and ended up disturbing President Pu. My apologies.”
The man’s gaze lingered on her smile for three seconds. For one second, he made no response. For the second, he said, “Feel free to look around, there are no strict rules here.” Saying that, he cast a glance at the secretary. “Treat Madam well.”
Finally, after letting his gaze rest on her face for one last second, he offered a nod of respect and took his leave.
Shan Dai watched the man’s departing back from afar, secretly thinking to herself that she hadn’t expected the president of Yanxin Times—a centuries-old conglomerate—to be so young… and so strikingly handsome. Even more surprisingly, he wasn’t at all like the cold, stern, unsmiling corporate overlords people usually imagined. Instead, he was thoroughly a gentleman.
She followed behind the secretary.
When they reached downstairs, the elevator doors opened just as she bumped into Lu Zhixing, who was dressed in a dark gray suit. The expression on the man’s handsome face was gentle and elegant. Even though he was nearly thirty, he still possessed the same high-spirited vigor from his graduate school days.
Seeing her, the man’s expression paused for a moment before his smile melted into something as warm as a spring breeze. “So you ran off over here. No wonder my office was completely empty.”
Shan Dai raised her lips into a smile: “I went to tour the gaming exhibition hall. Are you done with your meeting?”
“Yes.” He glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s almost off-work time. I just received a message from President Pu inviting me out to dinner tonight, so I’m going to tell him we’ll make it another day. Dai Dai, do you want to come with me?”
Seeing this, the secretary off to the side chimed in: “In that case, I’ll leave Manager Lu and Madam to your plans. I’ll head back first and stop intruding.”
Lu Zhixing nodded: “Thank you for your hard work, Secretary Su.”
“Manager Lu is too polite.”
After the secretary left, Shan Dai stepped closer to the man.
In that same instant, he cupped her face in his hands, leaning in to press a kiss against her cheek. “Tired after a busy day, baby?”
“I’m alright.” She gave a sweet smile, reaching out to stroke his handsome brows and eyes. “How come you look like you’ve lost weight? Is it really that grueling here?”
“I’m alright, it’s just that I missed you—missed you like crazy.”
He pulled her into his embrace.
Shan Dai closed her eyes, burying her face against the man’s broad shoulders. The long-awaited embrace truly made one completely forget the disappointment of last night’s canceled business meeting.
Coming here on this trip was worth it no matter what.
At five-thirty, the off-work clock struck, and the company began to buzz with a faint stir of voices.
Lu Zhixing reluctantly let go of her, taking her hand as they walked together toward the elevator. Reaching the entrance of the office on the 62nd floor, Shan Dai felt too embarrassed to go inside, so she waited right by the door.
This floor was extraordinarily quiet, even more deserted than the 60th-floor exhibition hall. It was said that aside from the President’s Office and the Secretary’s Office, there was absolutely no one else here.
On the black double-doors, a purple plaque was engraved with five golden characters: “Office of the President.” Staring at those five characters, she recalled the figure from earlier—so that was the legendary President of Yanxin Times.
Inside the office, the host had not off-worked yet and was sitting upright before a double-tiered executive desk, flipping through documents.
Lu Zhixing approached with measured steps: “President Pu.”
“Mm. No plans for tonight, right?” The man slightly lifted his eyelids.
“Well…” He gave a dry laugh. “I’m truly sorry.”
The man raised an eyebrow: “You have plans? Tomorrow works as well.”
Lu Zhixing nodded: “My wife is here, so… we might need to reschedule. I’ll arrange a time to meet with President Pu tomorrow.”
“Oh, your wife is here.” The man acted as if he had no idea all along, signing a document while speaking, “Manager Lu is already married at your age?”
“Yes, married for a year.” He smiled faintly. “I didn’t head back after coming here on a business trip after the New Year. She had a business trip to Linzhou today and dropped by to see me on the way.”
“How affectionate.”
Lu Zhixing’s smile broadened.
The man behind the executive desk thought for a moment, asked him to wait a short second, and picked up his phone to check it.
A few seconds later, he raised his head with a slight air of apology, asking: “How long is your wife staying? Surely she’ll stay for a few days. Take some time off to keep your wife company properly.”
Lu Zhixing raised his eyebrows.
Pu Huaiyan: “Looking at the schedule, I probably won’t be able to free up time tomorrow. So, we might have to slight your wife a bit. How about we all grab a group dinner tonight? Starting tomorrow, you can take a few days of leave—consider it my apology to your wife.”
Lu Zhixing smiled: “President Pu is too polite. Then let’s eat together.”
“Good.”
Lu Zhixing rose to take his leave.
Hearing the door open, Shan Dai turned her head, only to be wrapped in an arm and pulled along toward the elevator.
Lu Zhixing recounted the conversation inside the office to her, finally adding: “Sorry, Dai Dai, President Pu might be going on a business trip tomorrow. I’m taking the day off tomorrow to spend the entire day with you, and tomorrow night we’ll eat on our own.”
Shan Dai didn’t mind it at all. Whispering intimately to him inside the elevator, she said: “It’s just a dinner. We can still have a late-night snack in our own world tonight.”
The corners of Lu Zhixing’s mouth curved up, and he nodded.
The gathering spot was said to be a famous private dining establishment in the northern capital, tucked away on the outskirts of Beijing. They drove from the downtown sunset all the way until the sky was studded with stars before finally arriving.
Before they could even take their seats after entering the private room, the door opened once again.
Inside the private room, gentle, clear incandescent lights lit up the space, while the corridor was designed with orange streetlight lamps. The moment the man—clad in a fitted, open dark coat over his suit—pushed open the door and stepped inside, the orange light and shadows swept forward along with his black attire, like a model making a final runway appearance bringing an aura uniquely his own.
He was just that extraordinary and striking.
Lu Zhixing was in the middle of taking Shan Dai’s removed beige coat. Seeing the newcomer, she paused for a second. Waiting until Lu Zhixing finished exchanging greetings with him, she met the gaze the man cast her way.
Lu Zhixing introduced her to him: “This is my wife, Shan Dai.”
“Shan Dai?” The man’s thin lips softly savored these two characters, which weren’t particularly common in names.
Shan Dai naturally and familiarly explained, as she did to anyone who heard her name: “Shan Dai, as in green mountains and dark indigo.”
A look of realization flashed in the man’s eyes. The corner of his thin lips turned up three degrees as he looked straight at her, nodding: “Madam’s name is lovely, and you fit the name perfectly.”
Shan Dai smiled, “Thank you.”
Everyone sat down together.
As a family member attending, there weren’t many people at the table. The moment they sat down, the men started discussing business projects. Therefore, when the waiter came over to take their order, the task fell onto Shan Dai’s shoulders.
After she carefully ordered a generous amount of food, the waiter passed the menu to the man sitting opposite her.
He opened it, took a single glance, passed it back, and said to the waiter: “Add one more of the house special desserts for Madam, and the rest as Madam ordered.”
Lu Zhixing and she smiled in unison.
The dishes were served swiftly like flowing water. Not knowing whether the others drank, but knowing Lu Zhixing would, Shan Dai had ordered a moderately priced bottle of French wine.
After the waiter poured three glasses of wine and set them down, everyone exited the private room. The man sitting across briefly ended his conversation, turning his eyes toward Shan Dai, who had been spacing out.
“Madam is here on a business trip; where are you currently employed?”
Shan Dai snapped back to reality: “Mingdai. It’s a company my friend and I founded together—just a small firm.”
“Starting your own business.” The man raised his wine glass to toast her from afar. “Then I can’t compare—I’m just living off my parents’ legacy.”
Shan Dai smiled alongside her husband beside her. She said, “President Pu must be joking.” She hadn’t expected that a man heading such a massive conglomerate would turn out to be so humorous on the inside.
She lifted her glass over to clink it, and Lu Zhixing’s wine glass joined in for a clink as well.
After the man finished the wine in his glass, he picked up the bottle himself. Mid-action, he asked her again: “What industry is Madam engaged in?”
“Media and entertainment, game development, digital content, and derivatives.” Saying that, she brought up her visit to the exhibition hall that afternoon again, “I happen to know quite a bit about the game projects under Yanxin Times, so I went to tour it this afternoon.”
The man nodded straight away, setting down the wine bottle as his gaze drifted over like a light breeze: “To possess such capability at your age makes you a role model for our generation. Just treat the Yanxin Building as your own home and feel free to come and go over the next few days. If there is an opportunity to collaborate, please do not hesitate to look after Yanxin, Madam.”
Shan Dai lowered her head directly with a laugh, marveling in her heart at how charming his personality truly was. She couldn’t help but say: “President Pu inherited a family business, but it’s no ordinary one. For such a vast conglomerate, saying ‘young and promising’ doesn’t even begin to cover President Pu’s responsibility and talent.” She raised her glass, “In any case, being able to collaborate with Yanxin is every small startup’s dream at the beginning. Thank you for your encouragement, President Pu.”
After the few of them clinked glasses, Lu Zhixing put some food into Shan Dai’s bowl, gesturing for her to eat more.
They continued discussing serious business while Shan Dai ate with nothing else to do.
Perhaps because she had chosen the dishes herself, the flavors suited her taste quite well. On the other hand, the man opposite didn’t eat much at all, barely taking two bites every few minutes. This made Shan Dai’s heart beat nervously, wondering if all the dishes she picked failed to suit his palate.
Halfway through the meal, Lu Zhixing’s phone rang. Nodding to Pu Huaiyan, he stepped outside to take the call.
The private room had ample heating, and eating hot dishes for a long time made her feel warm. Shan Dai took the opportunity to rummage through her bag, pulling out a wine-red woven hairband.
It wasn’t polite to mess with her hair at the dining table. Seeing that the man across was looking at his phone, she quietly stood up, walked over to a mirrored folding screen in the room, and checked her reflection to tie up her long, straight black hair with the band.
When she returned, the man who had been looking at his phone was already watching her at some point.
Shan Dai offered him a smile.
Two-thirds of the dishes were still left on the table. After some thought, she spoke up anyway: “President Pu, do the dishes not suit your appetite? How about we order a few more?”
The man’s gaze lightly swept over half the dishes before raising his eyelids, his eyes crossing the octagonal table to fall onto the woman’s face opposite him, “They don’t fail my appetite.”
“I noticed you barely touched your chopsticks.” She gave a slightly unnatural smile.
“My stomach is feeling a bit uncomfortable; Madam doesn’t need to mind it. You’ve traveled far from your flight, it must be exhausting—eat a bit more.”
Shan Dai paused, nodded, and asked again: “Your… stomach is uncomfortable?”
“Yes. Years of social drinking, it’s normal. It doesn’t matter.” He picked up his wine glass and downed the mouthful of red wine inside.
Watching his action, Shan Dai opened her mouth as if to speak, but stopped herself.
The man set down his glass, looked at her for half a second, and asked: “Madam and Manager Lu have been married for…”
“Oh, one year.”
He nodded: “Very affectionate.”
Shan Dai smiled.
Pu Huaiyan looked at her, and after another couple of seconds, said: “Does Madam have any plans to remarry?”
“…” Shan Dai froze. Her eyes darted around a few times before she tentatively asked again, thinking she had misheard: “What?”
“Do you have any plans to remarry?”
“…”
Did he drink too much???
Stunned for a moment, she forced a faint smile and said: “President Pu has had too much to drink.” She added, “Eat some food, and don’t drink any more wine, lest your stomach feels even worse later.”
The man nodded, truly picking up his chopsticks to prepare to eat. Looking around, he asked again: “Which dish is good?”
Shan Dai could only turn the lazy Susan, rotating a vegetable dish and a soup dish toward his direction: “The seasonal greens are pretty good, and President Pu can also have a couple of sips of warm soup, it’s good for the stomach.”
He picked up a bite of greens and used a spoon to scoop some soup.
Lu Zhixing still hadn’t returned.
The man took a sip, nodded to indicate it was very good, and suddenly asked Shan Dai: “Madam’s company just started out, so you must be very busy. This is your first time coming to see Manager Lu, right?”
“Yes, first time.” She felt these words of concern regarding their marital relationship were a bit strange and made her somewhat uncomfortable, but it was rude not to answer.
Pu Huaiyan, acting as if unaware, continued to lower his head to eat while speaking: “Busy as you are, you should still go out to have fun occasionally.”
She smiled, not knowing how to respond.
Pu Huaiyan raised his eyelids slightly, his clear and gentle gaze falling onto her dignified, smiling face: “After Manager Lu came to headquarters, his work has been hectic with frequent social engagements. I thought he wasn’t married yet.”
Shan Dai listened quietly without understanding his point.
Pu Huaiyan: “The more time Manager Lu spends accompanying others, the less opportunity he naturally has to keep Madam company. When Madam has free time, you can go out to play by yourself.” He seemed to ponder for a moment, then continued: “For instance, this time of year, the Xinjiang grasslands are quite nice. Madam can go take a look—a vast expanse of lush green, full of vibrant life1.”
“…” Shan Dai’s mind felt like it thumped, instantly crashing and coming to a complete standstill.
The man went to grab another mouthful of greens, speaking to himself as if tipsy: “These green vegetables are pretty good too. Madam should eat more. I specially arranged this private restaurant for Madam—once you leave this room, you won’t get to eat it anymore.”
“…”
Shan Dai stared at him intently. In less than two seconds, thousands of thoughts raced through her mind, feeling as though something inside her heart had collapsed with a rumbling crash.
Translator’s note:
Translator’s note
- 绿 (green) is Chinese internet slang associated with being cuckolded or cheated on ↩︎
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