My Wife is a Workaholic

Chapter 8 – A Full Woman Does Not Know the Hunger of a Starved Woman1

Zu Jin took a bath as soon as she got home. Then, she planned to go to sleep immediately because she was so tired to the point of dying.

But, her cell phone began to vibrate as soon as she closed her eyes.

She picked it up to see who it was and found that it was her best friend, Liu Wei, calling her.

After being connected, Liu Wei immediately asked, “Hey, where are you?”

“I’m at home. What are you doing? It’s late at night, so aren’t you with your husband and kid? Why did you give me a call?”

Liu Wei snorted for a moment. “We fought. You’re at home? I’ll go find you.”

Zu Jin rubbed her temples and in a muffled voice, she said, “All right, come.”

She and Liu Wei were college classmates and best friends.

During those days, they lived in the same dormitory and worked very hard, so they always had a close relationship with each other.

But after they graduated and worked for a few years, Liu Wei married and had a child.

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Additionally, Zu Jin’s career was busy, so they rarely saw each other. But every time they would get together, they would talk forever like how they did during college.

They had no secrets from each other.

Liu Wei arrived more than an hour later with a bottle of wine.

They sat on the living room sofa and began to talk while they drank.

It was actually not the first or second time that Liu Wei quarreled with her husband, and then came over to complain to her. Zu Jin didn’t have to listen to know the trivial things the couple fought over.

But when Liu Wei finished complaining this time, Zu Jin did not appear to have the usual “nothing left to live for” look.

Instead, it had become….

A look of longing.

The contrast was so big that Liu Wei was shocked.

“What’s the matter with you?”

Zu Jin touched her nose and couldn’t stop herself from giggling for a moment. “Nothing, are you done?”

She really wanted to quickly tell Liu Wei about her love life, but Liu Wei was complaining about her husband. In this case, she couldn’t show off her happiness.

It would be really out of line.

But Liu Wei saw that she was so abnormal. Liu Wei narrowed her eyes and looked at her for a while. Then, she suddenly asked,”You’re not in love, are you?”

“Cough.”

Liu Wei immediately started screaming.

After they caused a commotion on the sofa, they eventually calmed down.

“Tell me, quick, what does that man do? Is he handsome?”

Zu Jin resisted her smug impulse. “He works in investing and he’s very handsome. In my eyes, I can give him a hundred points.”

Liu Wei’s eyes widened. “One hundred points? You’re exaggerating! Who in the world is so godlike? Have I ever heard of him?”

“He’s the boss of that overseas company, Chloe Investments. But I swear, I really didn’t know who he was at first. I fell in love with him at first sight.”

“Chloe? My husband watches the finance channel at home every day. Chloe Investments appear every now and then. It’s the top company of the investment community. But isn’t it a foreign company? Are you sure you haven’t been deceived?”

Zu Jin poured some more wine into their glasses and then she sat in a different position.

“I’m very certain that I haven’t been deceived.”

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After Liu Wei received confirmation, there wasn’t any excitement from her that Zu Jin imagined there would be.

The smile on Liu Wei’s face slowly disappeared. “Oh my god. Chloe? Zu Jin, if you want to play, then you can. But I’m telling you that it is better to not take it too seriously.”

“Huh?”

Zu Jin didn’t know why, but she couldn’t even laugh.

Liu Wei tapped on Zu Jin’s shoulder with her fingers. And she said with hate for iron not becoming steel2, “He’s Chloe’s boss. What woman has he not met? I’m telling you, men like young and beautiful women. What about you? How old are you this year? You’re almost pushing forty! How long have you known each other before you fell in love? Do you really think he can be serious about you?”

Zu Jin was silent.

Liu Wei thought she had convinced her, so she shook her head and sighed.

But in the next second, Zu Jin said something that almost angered her to death.

“I don’t have a love brain3! We’re serious! Really!”

Liu Wei suddenly stood up and rolled up her sleeves like she was about to beat up Zu Jin tonight.

However, Zu Jin already bursted into laughter and flexibly rolled onto another part of the sofa.

Zu Jin put her hand up to gesture for her to stop and begged for mercy. “I was wrong. I won’t make you mad anymore.”

Liu Wei picked up her wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. “You said that your career is so successful now, so why do you have to find a man to marry and have children? What’s wrong with being single? Do you know how much I envy a free woman like you?”

Zu Jin clicked her tongue. She slowly moved and sat down next to her. After that, she took Liu Wei into her arms into an embrace and lightly patted her.

“If you are a full man, then you do not know how hungry a starved man is…”

“Oh? Did you two already…” Liu Wei suddenly looked up at her.

Zu Jin was embarrassed by the way her words were interpreted. “No! What I am saying is that you envy my freedom, but I envy your family situation. At our age, after we reach financial freedom, we pursue a sense of purpose. You know that I am not a middle-aged liberal arts woman. Traveling and writing have no use in my world of core pursuits. I’m just a common person, that’s all.”

Liu Wei finally calmed down by what Zu Jin said. “Then tell me, how can you be sure that Chloe’s boss is not lying to you? Oh, by the way, what’s his name?”

“Yan Lin.”

Zu Jin looked at the TV on the wall, and muttered to herself before she said, “As for how sure I am, I can’t tell. Anyways, at that time I was looking at him from far away and didn’t even know who he was. I just thought that from now on he was the only one for me.”

Liu Wei could not help laugh out loud. “It’s hard to imagine that your feelings can still be this rich. Over the years, I thought you would not be attracted to any man any more.”

“Haha. I feel the same way. When I knew who he was, I was actually going to give up. But then he said that he really had a crush on me. After that, we talked about some ideas about love and marriage, and found that we were quite compatible with each other. And you know that I have said a long time ago that if I got married, I would let my husband take care of the children at home and I will make money to support my family. After I told him this, he actually agreed because his thoughts were different from me. He thinks that family is more important than his career.”

Liu Wei was dumbfounded and it took her a long time to come back to her senses after Zu Jin finished blabbering.

“If he does not cheat on you, then you two will really match each other like a golden couple. After all, there are very few men in the world who are willing to stay at home full-time and cook, especially since you are a workaholic.”

“Ah? I don’t like those words. A man who is ambitious in his career will be considered masculine and attractive, so why should a woman be called a workaholic? I think this is a derogatory term!”

Liu Wei waved her hand. “Suit yourself, I don’t think I can understand you. When you have time, call me to meet this legendary boss. I’ll have to see in person how handsome and charming he is; and if he’s worthy of your love at first sight and if he can be entrusted to marry you!”

Zu Jin and Liu Wei clinked their glasses together. “Sister, truthfully, I’ve already told him that I want to get married and have a baby as soon as possible, so will you scold me?”

“…You!”

 

The two women drank until it was past one o’clock in the morning and helped each other upstairs to sleep.

Zu Jin had a countless number of fragmented dreams throughout the night.

She dreamt that she and Yan Lin were married. Yan Lin was cooking dinner for her in the kitchen in an apron, and next to her leg was a baby wearing a diaper and sucking on a pacifier. The warm scene made her wish she could laugh out loud in her dream.

Then, the dream changed and she found herself back in high school.

Her mother, Zu Hua, and her neighbors were playing mahjong in the living room. The choking smoke hovered on the roof and would not disperse until after a very long time. She was carrying her bookbag and was asking Zu Hua for money to pay for living expenses. In the end, Zu Hua did not have any money she could take out, and they were ridiculed by the neighbors for a long time.

What else did she dream about?

Oh, that’s right. She dreamt that she was sitting in front of all of the board of directors in a conference room and Ji Desheng announced that she would be promoted to the President of Qiyu Corporation.

It was a really familiar scene and she knew that she would still be excited even if she dreamt about it for the first time.

That’s why Qiyu would forever be her main focus, no matter how much she wanted to have a warm home.

She would be thankful for Ji Desheng’s kindness for supporting her at that time for the rest of her life.

When Zu Jin opened her eyes, she was surprised to find her warm forehead had a thin layer of perspiration.

She looked around and it turned out that Liu Wei was hugging her closely from behind like an octopus.

After Zu Jin got up and washed her face, she went downstairs to make some breakfast for her and Liu Wei.

But when she passed through the living room, she saw her cell phone on the coffee table and remembered that she had not paid attention to any incoming calls and email messages. She did not know if she had missed any urgent business for work.

Luckily, she turned on her phone, looked through it, and saw there was nothing major.

She breathed a sigh of relief and secretly told herself that she shouldn’t have been so indulgent with Liu Wei last night.

Suddenly, the cell phone rang, and it was Yan Lin calling her.

Zu Jin’s eyes widened instantly, and for a moment she was at a loss. She really hadn’t been in love for a long time.

“Yan Lin? Good morning.”

Yan Lin said yes, and in a magnetic and gentle voice, “Good morning. Hearing your voice, did you just get up?”

Zu Jin chuckled, “Yes, my friend came to visit me last night, so I got up late.”

“Then are you resting today? Why didn’t you tell me earli—Oh… I’m sorry. It’s good to rest well at home. You’re usually very busy after all.”

Zu Jin didn’t expect him to be so nervous. She immediately thought he was like a teenager who had just fallen in love and was a little boy who didn’t know what to do in front of his girlfriend.

But she was also flustered just now…

She secretly made a face and then explained, “No, I was so busy yesterday that I forgot to tell you. I just have a break in the morning. I have to make a trip to the corporation this afternoon, but I will have nothing to do after I’m done. How about we go on a date then?”

Unexpectedly, it was quiet on the other side.

Zu Jin thought he was unhappy, but Yan Lin suddenly asked, “We can go on a date. I was wondering where we should go. Do we go to the movies? Or do we go somewhere to do something fun? I don’t quite understand.”

Yan Lin was so inexperienced in this area that Zu Jin was secretly happy.

But she and Yan Lin were about the same age and dating was a way for people their age to communicate. She actually didn’t know much about dating.

“I don’t understand either.” Zu Jin was full of thoughts and gave a serious hint with her words.

Then, she continued, “But let’s watch a movie in the future. I just want to have a quiet chat with you on this date. As for the place… There is still one day left. Let’s think about it together. When we’ve thought of a place, let’s send the address to the other person.”

Yan Lin didn’t know whether he was happy with her “I don’t understand either” or something else.

He immediately gave an obedient yes as soon as Zu Jin finished saying what she thought.

“Okay, I’ll think about it seriously.”

After Zu Jin made breakfast, Liu Wei came downstairs at the perfect time.

After they finished eating, they went to sit in the small garden behind the villa for a while. When Liu Wei felt better and left, Zu Jin tidied up and went down to the corporation.

She had to explain something to several important department leaders because she was going on a business trip tomorrow.

However, there was an unexpected guest that had arrived while everyone was attending the meeting in the conference room.