Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the first rays of the day shone in through the window, Lin Qian opened her eyes, gazing at the man before her. Short strands of black hair covered his brow, his eye sockets were deep and defined; his full nose bridge and cheekbones, outlined his masculine contours. Then there was her favourite part: his jaw, simple and clean.
Her heart softened, she gently placed her hand on his chest, lifted her head and kissed him. Her lips barely made contact with his skin, when he suddenly hugged her and flipped her over, ending up on top of her.
Lin Qian looked into his clear bright eyes. He lowered his head to stare at her. She understood his look, and also felt a change in a certain part of his body.
“You want to do it again?” She whispered.
“Hmm.” He gently nudged her.
“Oh…”
From the penthouse, you could see the entire Xiang River. This was Changsha’s best season; the early autumn breeze had a bit of summer still lingering in it. It went through the heart of the river, through the forests like a gentle, caressing hand as it passed, finally leaving traces of sunlight slipping through, silent and velvety.
Lin Qian and Li Zhicheng embraced and cuddled, from last night when he arrived, until the early drowsy morning. Time was forgotten in this dark, distant room. Lin Qian had not seen his silhouette or his eyes for a few days. They seemed even deeper and more mesmerising, silently occupying her body and heart.
He took a condom from the bedside drawer.
Lin Qian lay under the sheets, wrapping herself up like a rice dumpling, and smiled at him, “Still using a Japanese brand, tsk tsk tsk. President Li better not let outsiders know, or it will result in the entire industry boycotting foreign investment…”
Obviously, before initiating any form of provocation against Li Zhicheng, one should think twice. This statement held true for life. Because he gave her a look, then threw the condom aside, “I’m not wearing it anymore.”
Lin Qian, “…”
Seeing him actually continuing to work himself up like this, Lin Qian hastily said, “I was wrong, I was wrong. Good enough? Quickly, put it on!”
He gazed deeply at her, cupped her face in his hands and asked, “Is it okay if I don’t?”
His voice was low but cool. Lin Qian’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing it.
He was serious.
She could get pregnant.
Their wedding would be held four months later. Before this they had talked about whether they wanted a boy or a girl. He said he wanted a girl.
But a man like him, standing at the top of his industry, adored by many, was only 27 years old and had just gotten engaged. Yet he wanted a child, at age 27, much earlier than most of his successful peers. For example, Ning Weikai was already thirty, but he had yet to have kids.
Just as she expected, in the end Li Zhicheng was still a man with twenty-year-old appearance but a forty-year-old soul.
Considering her wise conclusion, Lin Qian couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at?” he stared at her.
Of course Lin Qian would not say it. As for having a child, she thought it was best to let nature take its course. She nodded, “Okay. Then let’s not use it.”
Li Zhicheng’s gaze changed. Lin Qian couldn’t tell exactly what had changed.
Probably… he was excited.
It was so rare to see excitement in his eyes. Even his excitement was deep, restrained, and hard to notice. If she hadn’t familiarized herself with every inch of him, she wouldn’t have caught it.
This for some reason made Lin Qian excited too.
When they reached the climax together, Li Zhicheng was pressing on her with all his weight. She was panting softly underneath his chest; her voice sounded both like a whimper and a cry of rapture. Only then she realized there was no barrier between them, and when he was leaving his warm liquid inside her body, the feeling was totally different than usual.
She was actually moved. Before this when she read she always came across the word “filled up”, such a straightforward word, she felt it was vulgar. But it turned out that at this moment, only the word “filled up” could conclude how she felt physically and emotionally.
He filled her up using the most beautiful and intimate method between a man and a woman.
Lin Qian’s face was flushed. How could her change in expression escape Li Zhicheng’s eyes? There was still a thin layer of sweat on his forehead; spooning her in his arms, he asked under his breath, “What are you thinking at this moment?”
Lin Qian tittered, then told him about the “filled up” theory.
After Li Zhicheng listened, his lips lifted with a smile, but his gaze looking at her turned deep. Then a certain part of his body nudging her again.
Lin Qian stared at him wide-eyed, “Again? You…”
“You seduced me.” he whispered.
“Since when did I!”
Li Zhicheng stared at her quietly. Of course she did.
“You filled me up.” Such blatant words, yet she said it so innocently.
Could any man could hear that and remain unaroused?
At the end, because it was very close to his flight departure time and she was too tired, he only released once in her hands. When Lin Qian sent him downstairs to catch a ride to the airport, she could still feel something unusual remaining in her body. It reminded her constantly that this man who was leaving in a rush this early morning was already the most intimate person in the world to her.
“Take care. Don’t overwork yourself,” she lifted her head to kiss him.
Li Zhicheng hugged her tight, saying in a low voice, “Go upstairs and sleep for a while longer.”
“Hmm.”
Finally he let go of her and got into the car. The car moved swiftly out of the hotel and disappeared from her sight.
This had been the fourth weekend that they were apart. Lin Qian felt blue every time she sent him off. Wrapping herself tightly in a windbreaker, she hugged her arms and went upstairs.
The hotel room without him turned cold instantaneously. She tidied her belongings and picked up a wedding catalog from the table.
These are all the selected wedding gowns, hotels, and honeymoon locations that she showed him last night. It was a task that he assigned to her. He was too busy, so this kind of preparation could only be done by her.
But Lin Qian knew that Li Zhicheng did not want her to be worrying for him, that was why he left her with this task. He really did leave her here and would only come to fetch her back after he had settled everything.
Lin Qian sighed and opened the wedding catalog. At last she settled on one of the models. A strapless, bandeau wedding dress. The waistline was very slim, layers of irregularly arranged lace seemed like blossoming flowers surrounding the bride.
This was his preferred style.
Because he liked it, that was what made it so soul-stirring to her.
Today was Monday. It was exactly 9:00 a.m. when Lin Qian reached the office.
As the few Mind factories on the Mainland were all newly built, everything was neat and in order, so her management work proceeded smoothly. Actually she was rather free.
As expected, the news was all about the main global brands under DG expanding their business and starting to sell in various large shopping malls and all SMQ franchised stores in China.
This expansion was inevitable, but now the insiders would know that the Luggage Manufacturers Association, led by Ning Weikai, was constantly pressuring DG. The distributors and other business partners were sandwiched in between, finding it hard to please either party, so every step that DG took to advance in China was not easy.
Ning Weikai stood by justice and righteousness at critical moments. Lin Qian saw that on the Internet, the media had started labelling him as a patriotic businessman when they were reporting news about him.
He had made a comeback.
But Lin Qian was well-aware that this was only the first step. This move could only slow down the rate at which DG entered the market; the real confrontation had yet to begin.
Li Zhicheng appeared in her mind again; his tall figure, his pure black suit, his calm and steady demeanour.
His head-on confrontation.
After a while, her secretary sent in a disc, “Miss Lin, the video recording for the strategic meeting last week has been processed and is ready to be saved.”
“Okay. Let me check.”
Lin Qian inserted the disc into her computer.
This was a strategic meeting attended by the whole of Aida’s management board the prior week. The goal was to discuss how to handle the acquisition by DG. Even the Chairman, Li Zhicheng’s father, Xu Yong, who had not made an appearance for a while, came to give a speech to motivate everyone. Lin Qian was out of town, so she joined via video call.
Lin Qian has met her future father-in-law twice before. After she had moved in with Li Zhicheng, he brought her to the nursing home. Xu Yong treated her politely; they both had good impressions of each other, but they hadn’t had any in-depth interaction.
Lin Qian pressed the ‘play’ button. A large group of people appeared on the screen; Li Zhicheng, Gu Yanzhi, Liu Tong, Xue Mingtao… and Xu Yong, sitting in the center, looking hale and hearty with his hair grey. Father and son looked quite similar; both had well defined contours, handsome facial features, and fair skin.
Very soon, Xu Yong spoke. He was important and powerful; everyone in Aida looked up to him with great reverence and trust. He slowly reviewed the history of him starting the company and everyone listened attentively. Li Zhicheng, the most powerful person now, sat beside him and was absorbed in his speech, too.
After that, he changed the topic, saying, “I heard that the DG Group from the United States has approached us with an acquisition offer. Their offer is enticing. They have contacted many minor stakeholders in private, as well.”
The atmosphere in the meeting room seemed to turn more serious than before.
“I have been to DG. When I was young, I went on a trip to study in the United States and Europe,” he said lightly. “This corporation is indeed good. It’s in the Fortune 500 List and it is known as No. 1 in the suitcase industry. But, they have been trying their luck in the Chinese market for three years and have yet to yield results, so now they are resolving to a simple and rough method like acquisition.”
As soon as he said that, everyone laughed. A faint smile flashed across Li Zhicheng’s eyes too. Xu Yong added on, “So, should we sell Aida to them?” He scanned around, the crowd was silent.
“Never!” he said firmly, “I will not sell, no matter how much is offered! One of my sons spent all his life striving for Aida, and in the end he passed away in a car accident while on a business trip. My other son…” he looked towards Li Zhicheng, “he came back from the military which he had served for years, and gave up his position as a senior officer to manage Aida. Aida is the accumulation of our efforts and it is also the cumulative effort and affection of all of us here. So, I will never sell away Aida.”
A booming round of applause burst out and the atmosphere turned lively in an instant. Some of the senior employees, led by Liu Tong, were especially glad and inspired.
After the cheering had ceased, Xu Yong scanned the room with his eagle-like sharp gaze, then said, “Today I am here to declare my stand and also to unite everyone. I am not selling, so all of you should not sell either, because Aida belongs to everyone. If any one of you sold your share, I could only say, from now on you are no longer my friend, my employee, nor part of Aida. You would be standing against Aida. You could even say that you have betrayed the national brands. I, Xu Yong, will never forgive this kind of person.”
The meeting ended with prolonged applause. Even after a few days had passed, when Lin Qian re-watched the recording of this meeting, she was moved by Xu Yong’s sonorous and powerful words.
Was it really like father, like son?
Another thought popped in her head. Xu Yong probably had yet to find out about her brother’s identity as the investor who represented the US party in acquiring suitcase corporations. If not, with Xu Yong’s steely attitude, he would definitely distance himself from her if he found out.
Of course Li Zhicheng would hide it from him.
However, right now Lin Qian did not expect that, after a few days, all the things she thought would not happen, occurred one by one.
Even Li Zhicheng was caught off guard.
