My Wife is a Workaholic

Chapter 3 – Let’s Have A Meal Together 

Zu Jin didn’t know how to continue the conversation after they introduced themselves.

They were strangers, so what could they talk about?

Should she ask Yan Lin if he was already married? Or if he had a wife? Or if she should use her time and energy to pursue him?

Or should she ask what Yan Lin thought about being a full-time cook?

It didn’t seem to be appropriate.

In the end, pursuing the opposite sex was not her strength at all.

What’s more, she had a personality where it’s slow to warm up to. Of course, the exception was when she was talking about contracts in the business world.

She had a way with words. She would fight for every benefit to be in her favor and she would never back down.

But right now, it’s not business.

And Yan Lin didn’t seem to be a talkative person. So when Zu Jin didn’t talk, the car became quiet.

The neon lights outside of the window were so dazzling that Zu Jin suddenly remembered her college years.

At that time, she was working part-time while studying. As long as she didn’t have anything to do at night, she would work different part-time jobs on the streets, such as handing out flyers or selling trinkets.

Between part-time jobs, she would sometimes look up at the surrounding high-rise buildings. Those high-rise buildings were lit with warm yellow lights and looked so comfortable and cozy under the night sky.

There are thousands of bright lights, but none of them belong to me.

It was because of this kind of immense loneliness that she worked harder than anyone else in her early twenties.

But dreams were sometimes a ridiculous thing.

She was now 35 years old. Her current savings amount was a number difficult for ordinary people to surpass even if they lived through several lifetimes.

But every day after she finished working and returned home, she was alone. That kind of loneliness only increased over the years.

“We’re here.”

The car suddenly stopped.

Zu Jin returned to her senses and unfastened the seat belt at once.

She raised her head and looked forward. Yan Lin happened to be looking back at her.

Their eyes met in the dim car. The man’s clear eyes and distinct facial features unexpectedly made her a little embarrassed.

“Thank you. I’ll treat you to dinner some other time.”

Yan Lin actually did not refuse when he heard her.

He nodded and said in a deep and low voice, “Yes, if you have time.”

He really was a man with a few words.

The next day, the dark circles under Zu Jin’s eyes could not even be covered with a concealer.

Xia Tong was sitting in the front passenger seat. She turned to look at Zu Jin with an exaggerated expression. “Really? Last night you guys…”

Unexpectedly, Zu Jin did not respond at first. “What?”

Xia Tong swallowed and remembered that the chauffeur was still there. She coughed and had to bear with it first.

As soon as they got on the corporation’s elevator, Xia Tong could not hold herself back.

“I saw everything last night. You got into a man’s car!”

Zu Jin crossed her arms and leaned against the elevator wall with a calm look. “What? Do you want to blackmail me?”

“Yes! Give me five million or you will be exposed today!”

Zu Jin sighed. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled helplessly. “Nothing happened, so don’t get excited!”

Xia Tong’s excited expression instantly collapsed.

“Who was that man last night? I thought you suddenly changed your personality and became interested in men.”

The elevator door opened. Zu Jin patted Xia Tong on the shoulder and walked out.

“You are right about this. I am interested in him. As long as I successfully pursue him, I will try to get a marriage license with him before the end of the year and have a baby next year.”

Xia Tong stumbled a bit. “By golly, it’s not a dream right?”

The top floor employees were usually lively. But when they saw Zu Jin coming, they seemed to be in a hurry to go back to work.

Zu Jin took off her suit jacket as she walked. “You’re not dreaming, Secretary Xia. Did you know——”

With that, the two entered the president’s office.

After the doors closed, Zu Jin went on to say the second half of the sentence. “——from the moment I saw him, I knew what the name of our child would be?”

Xia Tong shivered and finally couldn’t stand it. “Hey! How can you be like this!”

Zu Jin put away the smile on her face and gave a look.

Xia Tong felt a murderous intent and immediately became well-behaved. “I was wrong. I will go prepare the meeting information.”

“Be good. Go.” She waved her hand.

The meeting lasted nearly two hours in the morning and five to six phone calls were made to coordinate everything.

After finally being able to sit down and quietly deal with some documents, Xia Tong’s complexion did not look good when she said that some people from the board of directors had arrived. As a result, Zu Jin had no choice but to get up and receive them.

The old people on the board of directors were sharp and cunning. They reprimanded her like she was their servant simply because some of the corporation’s decisions conflicted with their interests.

Since Zu Jin was the executor of the corporation’s decisions, she could only consider the overall situation. So when they scolded her, she didn’t answer back the entire time and only smiled in response.

Fortunately, these people lost their temper and left. Furthermore, they didn’t have any intentions of having lunch with her.

Zu Jin didn’t know how many times she had experienced this kind of situation since she became president, so it didn’t affect her wonderful mood at all.

When she left the reception room, Zu Jin was planning to return to the office and continued working.

But as she was walking, she suddenly said, “Is there a new Japanese restaurant near us? How is the food?”

Xia Tong did not understand why she was asking this. “I still haven’t eaten there, but I heard that other people said it’s very good.”

“Then go and reserve a table for me. I might go over later.”

“I thought you didn’t like Japanese food… Oh, oh! I understand.”

When the conversation ended, Xia Tong quickened her pace and happily walked away.

 

Back at the office, Zu Jin took out the business card from her bag.

She started typing a message on her cell phone while standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. She planned on asking Yan Lin if he had time for a meal now.

But after hesitating for a minute, she gave up this idea.

Isn’t texting a little too much like a coward?

Her lunch break was so short. She didn’t know how long it would take to get a reply after the text message was sent.

In addition, if Yan Lin’s personality was more passive than what she had thought and if he ignored the text message, would she just sit around and wait?

She entered the cell phone number and called it.

“Ring, ring, ring…”

“Hello.”

The man’s deep voice came from the cell phone. It tickled Zu Jin’s ears.

“Hello, Mr. Yan. It’s Zu Jin, the one who received a ride from you last night. Do you remember?”

The other side was silent for two seconds. Then, the man seemed to have chuckled. “Oh, it’s you.”

“Yes, I am at Dongxin Street now and I want to treat you to a meal. Would you like to come?”

Zu Jin actually used a little bit of a communication technique here.

She didn’t say anything polite like thanks, nor did she ask a question about if she could buy him a meal.

This was a communication technique she used when she spoke with a stranger. When the other person was given a passive choice and they heard that there was room for a different choice in the words spoken, then the person would probably intuitively want to refuse.

So Zu Jin skillfully reduced the other person’s instinctive resistance when faced with making a decision. This way, she would not only achieve her goal, but also quickly narrow the distance between them.

Sure enough, everything was as she expected.

“Okay. I’m nearby too. What do you want to eat?” The man asked.

Zu Jin grinned immediately, but she still tried to keep her voice calm.

“How about a Japanese restaurant? I’ve already reserved a place.”

The other side hummed in agreement and the tone was equally smooth. “Okay, then I will see you later.”

“See you later.”

After hanging up the phone, Zu Jin immediately clenched her fist.

“Yay!”

If she wasn’t wearing high heels, she would have actually stomped her feet wildly.

In the end, she was very excited. As soon as she turned around, Xia Tong happened to be pushing the door open.

“Uh, Jin Jie1, I knocked on the door.” Xia Tong was very cautious.

Zu Jin straightened her clothes and said, “Have you made the reservation?”

“Here it is. Boo hoo Jin Jie, please let me go and take a look…”

“No.”

Seeing Xia Tong’s disappointed expression, Zu Jin couldn’t help but comfort her with a sentence. “I’ll let you see later. What’s the rush?”

Even though Zu Jin was currently in the most exciting stage of being secretly in love, she was far from losing her head.

She didn’t want too many people to know about the relationship until she was certain about it.

After all, her identity was quite special. She was still unclear about Yan Lin’s identity, but it must not be an ordinary one.

Therefore, if a person with ulterior motives knew about it, they would inevitably make a fuss and cause more trouble.

If she could avoid it, then she would as much as possible.

The Japanese restaurant was very close to Qiyu Corporation, so Zu Jin didn’t drive.

She walked there alone and didn’t expect that when she reached the door, Yan Lin also happened to arrive from the opposite side.

Both of them couldn’t help laugh.

Yan Lin did not wear a suit today and his hair was not styled with pomade like the last two times Zu Jin met him.

A simple white button down shirt paired with light-colored jeans made him look more down-to-earth and a bit younger.

The man had a tall figure, straight back, and a modest and gentle temperament, yet he was still eye-catching when he walked down the street.

“Are you working today?” Zu Jin asked softly.

“I have today off.”

Then, Yan Lin pushed the glass door open and let her walk in first.

They walked with one person in front and the other behind to enter. Zu Jin informed the waiter about the reservation and the waiter led them to the second floor.

The second floor was quieter and did not have a lot of guests.

Their seats were near the large windows. With their location, they would not be disturbed even if there were more guests on the second floor.

Zu Jin was very satisfied with the place. She thought Xia Tong really knew how to pick a place, and she must praise her when she got back.

After they ordered, the waiter brought a pot of genmaicha2.

When Zu Jin poured a cup of tea, she could immediately smell a faint and delicate fragrance. However, Zu Jin was not interested in the tea. She only picked it up to take a sip and did not touch it again.

She looked at Yan Lin, who was sitting across from her. He was sitting silently as the white steam floated up and surrounded him. She suddenly felt like she didn’t need to say anything, and that it would be nice to sit together like this.

But it didn’t seem to be good to say nothing.

In the next moment, Yan Lin spoke.

“Has your car been fixed yet?”

Zu Jin felt guilty at once and quickly picked up the teacup to hide behind it. “Oh, it has been fixed. Thank you for giving me a ride last night.”

“You’re welcome.”

Yan Lin paused and his expression suddenly became a little guilty.

He lowered his eyes and said, “To tell you the truth, yesterday I thought you were going to ask me for a loan.”

“…What do you mean?” Zu Jin did not understand.

“Because at the party yesterday, I heard you and the man next to you say that I am a raw melon egg3.”

“Pfft!”