My Wife is a Workaholic

Chapter 6 – Confession 

Zu Jin felt that her mood and spirit were much more stable after the call with Yan Lin.

She used the coffee table to support herself to stand up. She wanted to go upstairs and continue resting.

But, she suddenly turned and walked towards the kitchen once she reached the stairs.

The clay pot on the gas stove was still steaming hot.

She used a potholder to lift the lid and the strong smell of chicken soup floated out.

She made a hmph sound. As she rummaged through the drawer to get the chopsticks, she whispered, “You don’t eat for nothing!”

But as soon as she picked up a piece of chicken and took a bite, she couldn’t help but spit it out.

“Eck, why is it so salty?”

It was not only salty, but also undercooked.

If the chicken was boiled a bit longer, then it would be okay.

After resting at home for two days, Zu Jin was alive again.

She went back to the corporation and had a meeting the entire morning. In the afternoon, she made an appointment with several project participants to discuss things; and in the evening, everyone had to have dinner and drinks.

The day passed by in the blink of an eye.

By the time Zu Jin was no longer busy, it was already later than eleven o’clock in the evening.

Zu Jin was standing on the side of the road outside of the clubhouse and the windy night breeze cleared her head. Then, she remembered that today she had agreed to meet with Yan Lin for dinner.

However, it was so late now that there was not enough time for them to meet. It looked like they both missed their date.

She secretly felt a little bit disappointed while standing under the dim street lamp.

She discovered that there was a missed call when she took her phone out and turned it on.

It was Yan Lin who called after five o’clock in the afternoon.

At that time, she seemed to be in a meeting with some partners and her phone was off.

Currently, Xia Tong was walking up from behind her and opened the door to let her get in the car.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she was inside of the car. Zu Jin decided to call him back, but it was so late. Therefore, she would write a text message to explain things first, and then she’ll talk about the rest tomorrow.

Her fingers might not have worked very well since she had been drinking. When she was editing the text message, she accidentally pressed Yan Lin’s cell phone number and called him.

“Ring, ring, ring…”

Every time it rang, Zu Jin felt her heart beating harder.

“Zu Jin?”

The background noise on Yan Lin’s side was a little loud, but it soon became quiet. It seemed like he walked into an empty room in order to answer the phone.

And it looked like he was still awake.

Zu Jin breathed a sigh of relief. “Mhm. I’m very sorry. I was busy this afternoon and missed your call.”

Yan Lin said calmly, “It’s all right. I thought you were busy, so I didn’t call again to bother you.”

Zu Jin wanted to continue to say something, but she was worried about how Xia Tong and the chauffeur were still there.

At this moment, she felt a little embarrassed about what she said to Yan Lin.

After thinking about it, she decided to end the call as soon as possible.

“I hear you’re still busy? I won’t disturb you anymore. We’ll get in touch another day.”

Who would have thought that Yan Lin replied with, “I’m just attending a friend’s engagement dinner. It’s almost over. Let’s have dinner together at noon tomorrow. Do you have time?”

Zu Jin’s heart skipped a beat.

“If you have time, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Zu Jin quickly hung up the phone and secretly observed the movements of the other two people in the car.

It seemed like Xia Tong didn’t notice anything, and perhaps it was because it was really late in the evening. The driver in the front would naturally never say anything about it even if he heard it.

She pursed her lips and turned her head to look out of the window.

She became aware that she had blushed again in the reflection of the window glass.

At noon the next day, Zu Jin came to the place they agreed to meet at.

Yan Lin seemed to have been waiting for a while and was sitting in a booth inside of the restaurant. He still wore a simple white button down shirt with jeans. He looked like a gentleman and was very elegant.

“Sorry, there was a small matter that held me up.”

Yan Lin smiled. He put down the menu and made a gesture to invite her to sit.

“It feels like you are always busy.”

Zu Jin was stunned for a moment. After taking off her coat and sitting down, she took a sip of water before she replied, “Yes, basically every day it is like this. But I see that you actually appear to be very free.  I thought it would be busier for those in the investment business.”

“Well, it used to be like that when I started my business. But now I’ve divided my work to other people and explained everything about it to them, so I feel comfortable.”

Zu Jin couldn’t help herself so she gave him a thumbs up. “You’re so lucky to be able to have so many trustworthy people working for you.”

Yan Lin raised his eyebrow. “I thought you would praise me for being able to afford to take it easy.”

“Huh? You really deserve to be praised for this. But if you’re so relaxed, do your employees deserve more credit?”

Zu Jin regretted it immediately after she said that. Even though she was the corporation’s president, the board of directors were still above her.

Therefore, she was actually a senior employee, and Yan Lin was a real big BOSS. The status between the two of them could not be equal, so naturally their perspectives were different.

She thought she would feel uncomfortable if she was the boss and her leadership skills were ignored while her staff was praised instead.

But unexpectedly, Yan Lin did not show any displeasure.

He raised the glass of water and took the initiative to clink Zu Jin’s glass.

“You are really straightforward.”

Zu Jin blushed for a moment. “Thank you.”

“I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to return to work in time this afternoon, so I didn’t take you to eat at the private room I mentioned last time. But this place tastes good too.”

Once Zu Jin heard this, she remembered that she did not take the time to see what kind of restaurant this was.

But when she looked up, she found that this was a family Shanxi noodle restaurant. It was a really down-to-earth place.

She gave a dry laugh. “Then this time you can eat without worrying.”

They immediately laughed at the same time.

They did not order any main dishes. Instead, they only ordered a bowl of noodles for each person, and two small side dishes.

While waiting for the food, Zu Jin looked out of the window at the bright sunshine. Her tense mood these days finally relaxed a lot.

“Actually, there’s something I want to tell you.”

Yan Lin looked at her with a calm expression, but he had this kind of introverted personality that could not be ignored.

It was not until now that Zu Jin realized that this was the temperament of a man who held a high status and great power1 for a long time. She actually thought that it was all because of his good manners.

She rubbed the design of the glass of water with her hands. “That night, I said my car broke down, but I actually lied.”

 

Yan Lin was silent for a while. “Hmm? Why?”

“It actually isn’t the first time I’ve seen you. The first time I saw you was at noon on the day of the dinner. I happened to be having lunch near Qiyu Corporation, and then I saw you walking alone by the side of the road. I watched you walk and almost trip. You spilled coffee all over yourself. That embarrassed look…”

Yan Lin could not help laugh for a while and explained, “So it was like that. That day I was a little drunk.”

Zu Jin continued, “Then, I saw you at the dinner that night and you didn’t bring your business card. You were standing there alone, and I just…”

“What?” Yan Lin asked with uncertainty.

“I thought you were very… cute.”

Zu Jin said the word “cute” very slowly because this word was a little sappy.

When she looked at Yan Lin’s astonished eyes, Zu Jin braced herself and went on to say, “Because I really like men that are like you and look like they need to be protected. But I learned about your identity from Chairman Ji two days ago, so I gave up and thought everything was impossible.”

The waiter came over to deliver two bowls of noodle soup and a small plate of shredded turnips and pickles.

Yan Lin would always thank the waiter the last time they had a meal together. However, this time he didn’t even look up.

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Zu Jin was even more embarrassed and she said thank you. After the waiter left, a bit of her shame turned into anger.

“Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

Yan Lin reacted. He lowered his head and said somewhat strangely, “Because I have never met a woman who is as direct as you.

“You!”

Yan Lin quickly put down his chopsticks and made a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Go on.”

Zu Jin was not in a good mood. She sipped a mouthful of hot soup and burned herself. Her eyebrows creased into a frown.

“There’s nothing else I can say. I was planning to confess to you if the opportunity was right. Then, I wanted to see if you would like to quit your job after marrying and stay at home to take care of me and the child, so that I could continue to work. Anyway, my salary will not be a problem to support the whole family. But who would have known…”

After a pause, Zu Jin sighed. “My god! You are Chloe’s boss. What else can I say?”

At their age, even powerful people were destined to be alone if there wasn’t any hope for affection.

They were eating noodles and drinking soup before, but at this moment it was quiet.

Zu Jin felt her own heart sinking as each second passed.

But this let her clear her mind.

Maybe saying this ridiculous fantasy to Yan Lin was a way for her to vent; or maybe Yan Lin’s silent expression made her calm down, so it would seem like she could save some of her dignity.

“I think your idea is feasible. After all, there is nothing wrong with a man taking care of the family.”

Yan Lin suddenly spoke.

“…Huh?”

“Aren’t you busy with your work? I can hand over my work to my staff so I will have plenty of time. If I have children after marriage, there must be someone to take care of them. After all, if I work and let the babysitter take care of them, it is not good for their physical and mental development.”

Zu Jin was about to eat some noodles, but she just froze there.

They looked at each other for a while. Her senses returned and she pulled out a napkin to wipe her mouth.

“Then do you like children? I am already so old, so I will definitely have children immediately after I get married.”

Yan Lin replied, “I don’t like them, and I also don’t dislike them. But if it is my own child, then I will certainly devote a lot of energy to them.”

Zu Jin narrowed her eyes. “So at what stage do you think we need to be at before it is suitable for us to get married?”

Yan Lin smiled. “At least not like this. We have only met a few times. If we get married, I think at the very least we should not pretend so much when we are in front of each other. For example, I can see that when we eat together, you don’t seem to enjoy it and you are very nervous. But I also have problems. I should not have concealed my identity from you in the first place. I also should not have…”

Zu Jin couldn’t help it and interrupted him. “Should not have what? I actually think that if we eat together in the future, you can just decide what to order from the menu. It’s a waste of time for us to meet, sit down, and decide every time.”

Yan Lin nodded. “I understand. Let me arrange all of these things in the future.”

“What else did you want to say just now?”

“I was going to say, if you didn’t say these things, I was also planning on talking to you when the opportunity was right…”

“Talk about what?”

Yan Lin cleared his throat, and he became aware that the tips of his ears turned red.

His eyes fell on the seasoning jar between them and spoke softly.

“I actually have a crush on you, but I was worried that saying it too soon would scare you. But I didn’t expect you to move so fast.”

Zu Jin coughed. “In any case, I chased you and you agreed, right?

“Well, the future is long1, so please bear with me.”

After Yan Lin said this, he picked up the glass of water and clinked her glass again.

“Yes! The future is long, so please bear with me too!”

They drank the cooled boiled water like it was baijiu2. They looked at each other again and smiled as though they had never agreed to what seemed like a business contract.