Luo Qi took off her sandals and simply held them in her hands, stepping on the soft, warm sand in her bare feet. In front of her eyes lay the vast coastline. At this moment, she actually missed Secretary Ju a little. It would be great if she was here. 

The world was far away, and time passed swiftly before she knew it.

There was laughter on the beach here and there; people hanging out in small groups.

Luo Qi walked a little deeper into the water, and the waves came up to her legs from time to time, soaking the hem of her skirt. She stood there motionless for a long time, thinking that Jiang Yueru would retire at the end of the year, and she needed to plan her future carefully.

Thinking about it, there didn’t seem to be any upcoming personnel changes in management and there was no suitable position for her. Although, in truth, it didn’t matter to her whether the position was suitable or not—as long as the annual salary was higher than what she’s getting now, it would be fine.

She was too short of money at the moment.¹

This past summer, she didn’t buy any new clothes at all. The dress she was wearing now was bought back when she was still in college. The style and color were classic and not outdated at all, and she’s worn it every year since.

When Luo Qi became aware again of her surroundings, there were only a few people left on the beach.

Luo Qi walked back to the hotel leisurely, still thinking about work, and didn’t really pay attention to the people lounging on the beach chairs in front of the hotel. When she looked up, her feet almost stopped. Jiang Shenghe was sitting there talking on the phone, a half-burnt cigarette in his hand.

She immediately dropped her sandals on the sand and put them on her feet.

Jiang Shenghe chatted on the phone with the other party for a few more words, “Come over the day after tomorrow. I already have an appointment tomorrow. Okay, let’s meet up and talk then.” Then he ended the call and put out the cigarette in his hand.

Seeing him hang up the phone, Luo Qi came over to say hello, “Chief Jiang.”

The hem of her skirt was wet and dripping with water, her feet were covered with sand, and her hair was blown into a tangled mess. She has never looked so unkempt.

What Luo Qi didn’t know was that with her hair blown by the sea wind like this, in Jiang Shenghe’s eyes, she looked messy and beautiful. The summer dress she was wearing was of a style he had never seen her wear before.

Jiang Shenghe only looked at her politely, his gaze not dropping below her neck.

She has visibly lost a lot of weight in the past few days.

“Have you had dinner already?” he asked.

She hasn’t eaten, only half a fruit, but Luo Qi didn’t tell the truth. “I ate some.”

“I just finished my work and haven’t eaten dinner yet.” Jiang Shenghe didn’t forget to add, “Get Xiao Jiang to come down, I’ll treat you both to a late meal.”

Luo Qi didn’t bring her cell phone with her. “I’ll go up and call Xiao Jiang.” She could also change her clothes while she was there.

She went back to the room to find trousers and a T-shirt and put them on. It was windy at the beach, so she tied up her long hair, then she picked up her mobile phone to find Xiao Jiang.

Xiao Jiang’s room was on the same floor as hers. She knocked on his door a few times and called out, “Xiao Jiang, it’s me.”

Xiao Jiang was actually discussing how to get along with Luo Qi in the future with the other colleagues from the president’s office. When he heard Luo Qi’s voice, he trotted over to open the door. His heart was in turmoil, but his face was calm as usual.

“Sister Luo, what are your orders?” he said politely. 

Luo Qi smiled and said, “Chief Jiang invited us to have dinner and asked me to call you.”

“Okay, wait for me for two minutes.” Xiao Jiang went back in to change clothes. 

Unexpectedly, he was the first person to lend assistance. The boss moved really fast!

Luo Qi did not leave but waited for him by the door so they could go together, not wanting to face the boss alone.

Xiao Jiang quickly changed his clothes, grabbed his room access card, and went out.

He found something to talk about with Luo Qi, “So we’re about to go out to look for food. Sister Luo, didn’t you go to the beach?”

“I did go, but I bumped into Chief Jiang on the way back to the hotel. He said he didn’t have dinner yet and asked us to come eat together.”

Xiao Jiang’s tone was extremely natural, more like talking to himself, “I wonder what Chief Jiang will treat us to tonight.”

Luo Qi turned her head and asked, “Chief Jiang often invites you to have late-night meals?”

In fact, today was the first time.

In the past, the boss often did give out red envelopes to the team but just asked them to eat by themselves. This was the first time that the boss personally invited them to eat together like today.

Xiao Jiang nodded sincerely and said nonsense with his eyes open and guileless, “Well, basically the boss would reward us when we go on business trips. Unless the schedule is tight, he would arrange meals for the whole trip.”

In the elevator, Xiao Jiang sent a text in the group chat: [I said something to Sister Luo today, that every time we go on a business trip, Chief Jiang would treat us to meals.]

He was letting the others know what was going on so they wouldn’t get their stories crossed later.

Whoever made up stories and what was made up must be announced in the group chat—that way no mistakes would be made.

Ahh, in the future, it was better not to know the boss’s secrets. This was just terrible.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

When Luo Qi and Xiao Jiang arrived at the beach, Jiang Shenghe had already asked the hotel kitchen to ask the chef to prepare some light home-cooked dishes and serve them with grilled lamb chops.

The home-cooked dishes were specially prepared for Luo Qi.

When the requested meals arrived, they were already portioned, with each person having a plate of their own.

Luo Qi looked down at her plate. There was a lot of food, and there were four grilled lamb chops.

She asked Xiao Jiang, “Do you have enough? I can’t finish the lamb chops.”

Xiao Jiang said cheerfully, “I’ll help you finish one.” He only dared to get one.

Luo Qi still couldn’t possibly eat so much.

Jiang Shenghe originally wanted her to eat more, but when he saw her in trouble, he couldn’t bear it. There was a subtle and imperceptible pampering in his tone, “Give me two more lamb chops, but you need to take care of the rest yourself.”

Seventh Year of My Secret Love For You translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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FOOTNOTE:

¹Luo Qi has always been scrimping and saving to help her family pay off their debts, but with the engagement broken, she really needs more money. For one thing, she now needs to pay rent—she used to live in Pei Shixiao’s apartment—and since her new house rental is farther away from the office, that’s an additional expense to her commute. ↩︎

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