At half past ten in the morning, Jiang Zao stepped out of the pantry with a cup of coffee in hand. She spotted Kexin crying at her workstation and jumped in surprise. Hurrying back to her own desk, she leaned in and whispered to Li Li, “What’s going on with Kexin?”
Li Li pulled a pained expression and replied, “Isn’t she on the Planning Team? You know, the group the CEO tore into at the big meeting the other day, calling their work total crap.”
“Word is, the manager’s ripping into the team leader, the team leader’s ripping into the team members, and now they’re overhauling the whole thing.”
“Kexin got an earful from her team leader. She’s got a fragile heart and thin skin—you know how it is.”
Just then, Tang Peng, typing away at the desk next to them, shot Li Li a glance and warned coolly, “Your team leader’s watching you too, you know.”
Li Li shuddered and pleaded toward her own boss, “Hey, I’ve been super diligent lately…”
With that, she pulled up some files and turned to Jiang Zao. “Is there really no hope for our project? Hey, why don’t you tell Tang Peng about that idea you shared with me and Kexin at your place the other day?”
“Just tweak it and submit again. Give it a shot.”
But then Li Li wilted. “Tang Peng says Eunuch Zhou probably won’t even look at it…”
Tang Peng paused her work at that and poked her head over. “What are you two talking about?”
Seeing Tang Peng about to join their little slacking chat, Li Li’s eyes lit up. “Come on, come on—let’s head to the pantry and talk.”
Tang Peng rolled her eyes. “I’m talking work. What are you trying to chat about?”
Li Li shut her mouth.
Jiang Zao quickly outlined her idea to Tang Peng, who flipped through their team’s proposal. “Your suggestions differ from this version. We’d still need to revise it.”
Jiang Zao nodded. “I’ve been looking at standout cases from other brands these past couple days. I think we can refine the details, but the big picture doesn’t need changing.”
Tang Peng was still juggling other projects, so Jiang Zao was the lead planner on their “Practical Living” pitch.
“Kexin’s team’s proposal is just playing it safe—nothing eye-catching,” Tang Peng agreed. She made the call: “Let’s revise it. I’ll lighten your load so you can focus on this, then I’ll hand it off to the manager myself.”
Remembering something, she sent Jiang Zao a link. “There’s an advertising competition coming up in a few days, plus exhibitions from a bunch of companies. Go with someone from Marketing, network a bit.”
Jiang Zao smiled and nodded.
Tang Peng eyed her ever-enthusiastic attitude with some surprise, then gave her back an approving pat. “Alright, let’s figure out lunch today.”
Bzzz—
Her wristwatch buzzed just then. Jiang Zao glanced at it in front of Tang Peng and saw a doodle from one of her contacts.
She’d only turned on the watch that afternoon and hadn’t added anyone yet, so the message caught her off guard. The sender hadn’t drawn anything—just scrawled two letters with the doodle tool.
【VX】
She had no idea who it was from, but there was only one likely suspect.
Was he telling her to check WeChat?
Tang Peng spoke up suddenly. “Boyfriend?”
Jiang Zao startled and covered the watch. “Huh? How’d you know?”
“Lots of couples use that feature to flirt. You can even send heartbeats.” Tang Peng grinned and tapped her own smartwatch. “My ex and I played around with it all the time back then.”
“Your boyfriend’s pretty clingy, huh? Can’t go an hour without a WeChat reply.”
Jiang Zao smiled awkwardly. “…”
Good thing Xie Lisheng hadn’t put his real name in her contacts…
Out of kindness, Tang Peng offered, “New watch and all—want me to show you how it works?”
Jiang Zao waved her off frantically. “No, no, no… really, no need.”
Tang Peng: ?
~~~
Jiang Zao returned to her desk and picked up her phone. There was a WeChat message from Xie Lisheng an hour ago.
【Crab Boss: Got plans tonight?】
【Crab Boss: Called your little aunt. Haven’t seen her since we got our certificate. Bringing her and your cousin over for dinner tonight.】
Jiang Zao’s eyes widened.
Bringing Little Aunt to their home? So sudden?
She hadn’t really filled her aunt in on marrying Xie Lisheng yet. Just the day before last, when she’d nervously asked for the household registry, her aunt had gone quiet for a moment but hadn’t pried before handing it over.
She really ought to explain things to her elder… but…
Jiang Zao hesitated, unsure if she should come clean to Little Aunt that her marriage to Xie Lisheng was just a protocol arrangement. The odds were high they’d go their separate ways once the term was up.
“Come on, Jiang Zao! Cafeteria’s got fermented black bean pork ribs today!” Li Li’s excited voice rang out.
Lunch break arrived, and her colleagues left their desks arm in arm. Jiang Zao replied to Xie Lisheng with a quick “Got it” before catching up to them. “Coming! Let’s go.”
~~~
To focus entirely on her family that evening, Jiang Zao cranked her work efficiency to the max in the afternoon. Even so, she didn’t wrap up until seven-thirty. She glanced around the Planning Department—nearly eighty percent of the team was still glued to their seats. Turning to Li Li beside her, she said, “I’ve got family stuff tonight. Mind if I head out first?”
Li Li had slacked off one too many times and had only finished a fraction of her assignments. She pulled a miserable face and waved Jiang Zao off. “Go on. Just remember to visit me sometime.”
Jiang Zao couldn’t help but chuckle, though she still “heartlessly” left her behind and clocked out in high spirits.
True, Xie Lisheng had arranged everything without waiting for her reply, but she still felt he had thought things through more thoroughly than she had. After all, if he hadn’t mentioned it, the idea wouldn’t have even crossed her mind.
On the way home, Jiang Zao reflected the whole time. In the end, she decided to order some pricier takeout for her little aunt and cousin.
The gatehouse butler at Willow Shore No. 1 Courtyard bowed in greeting as always, and Jiang Zao ducked her head awkwardly and hurried past, still not used to it.
She was just wondering how to explain her flash marriage to Xie Lisheng—and where on earth she’d found a man who could afford a place like this—when she pulled open the front door. The aroma of home-cooked food and a warm, lived-in scent hit her full in the face.
She froze in place.
Her cousin was sitting on the floor near the hallway, playing with a model. Spotting her, he beamed and shouted, “Sister Qiqi’s back! Mom! Sister Qiqi’s home!”
Pan Hui came over wiping her hands, her face lit up with a smile. “You’re back? How come so late? Overtime again?”
Jiang Zao opened the shoe cabinet to change her shoes, eyeing her little aunt with a frown. “Why’d you go and cook yourself? How could I invite you to my own home and make you do all the work?”
“I already ordered takeout for you and Haohao…”
Her little aunt looked surprised, then laughed. “I didn’t cook a thing. Lisheng handled the whole kitchen himself. Wouldn’t even let me help.”
Jiang Zao went blank, blinking slowly. “You said… who?”
Xie Lisheng had been home the whole time? And cooking??
“He came to the school himself this afternoon to pick me up with your brother,” her little aunt explained. “Soon as we got home, he got right to it. And you still weren’t back by now.” She leaned in, a mix of approval and concern on her face. “His job must keep him pretty busy, huh? He must’ve cleared his schedule specially to spend time with us.”
As they spoke, Xie Lisheng appeared around the corner of the hallway, his gaze meeting Jiang Zao’s in the entrance hall.
His sleeves were rolled up to his forearms, the black shirt paired with a floral apron—an odd but oddly harmonious sight that left her mind completely blank from the sheer visual impact.
The apron from the kitchen just happened to be a cute pink bunny print, clashing spectacularly with his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and sharp features to create a once-in-a-millennium spectacle.
Xie Lisheng leaned against the wall and spoke up for her. “Her department’s been slammed with a project lately, so she might have to pull the occasional late night.”
His eyes flicked over the dumbfounded Jiang Zao as he reassured the elder. “It won’t be like this next month. She won’t be worn out for long.”
Pan Hui waved it off. “No young person these days avoids overtime. We get it. Just take care of yourselves, you two.”
Xie Lisheng returned to the kitchen. Pan Hui patted her still-out-of-it niece on the back and urged her, “Go wash your hands quick and give Lisheng a hand in there. He looks like he’s been working hard.”
Jiang Zao snapped back to reality, set down her bag, and asked, “How long have you and Haohao been here?”
“Two or three hours, I guess,” Pan Hui said. “After we got home, I chatted a bit with Lisheng. Never would’ve guessed you two knew each other that long—university classmates, huh?”
Jiang Zao’s brain kept short-circuiting. What exactly had Xie Lisheng told her little aunt? Had he come clean about the protocol marriage, or spun some tale of true love?
Whatever his story was would dictate how she acted around him in front of her aunt—and what line she fed them herself.
Jiang Zao slipped off her shoes and headed to the water bar to wash her hands.
The kitchen was semi-open, right next to the water bar and facing the living room. As she ran the faucet, she spotted the steaming tea and fruit platter on the coffee table, along with snacks and her cousin’s new model.
In the few hours she hadn’t been home, Xie Lisheng had taken excellent care of her family.
She glanced back at the man in the kitchen, her expression shifting subtly.
Even knowing full well why they’d gotten married, he’d gone all out to do these things.
If she hadn’t been the one marrying him today, he would’ve done the exact same for someone else’s family.
For Xie Lisheng, this was simply what he ought to do. He was, at his core, a decent, considerate, and well-mannered man.