Before starting to eat, Xiao Jiang got a pair of tongs and took a lamb chop from Luo Qi’s dinner plate for himself, then took two more and put them on Jiang Shenghe’s. Naturally helping Luo Qi solve the problem.

Luo Qi was grateful, “Thank you.”

Xiao Jiang smiled at her, “I have more lamb chops to eat, so I should be the one thanking you.”

Jiang Shenghe remained silent as before.

Luo Qi was used to it. In her impression, he was taciturn and cherished words like gold.

While they were eating, Xiao Jiang received a call from Secretary Ju. She asked him what time the summary of today’s work would be emailed.

“Right now, master, please wait a moment.”

In fact, he had already finished preparing it, but before he could send it, Luo Qi called him over for a late-night meal with the boss.

The summary was in his laptop and there was no backup on the mobile phone.

He could have finished eating the late-night meal first and then sent the report once he got back to his room later, but there was no reason not to use such a legitimate excuse. If he left midway through the meal, it would give the boss a chance to be alone with Luo Qi.

“Chief Jiang, Secretary Ju needs some important information. I’ll go back to my room first and send it. I’ll be back in ten minutes. You guys eat first, don’t wait for me.”

Jiang Shenghe looked calm and said, “Go ahead.”

Xiao Jiang put down his chopsticks and hurried back to the hotel.

Only Luo Qi and Jiang Shenghe were left on the beach. Those who didn’t know would think that they were lovers.

“In the last meeting, when Ruipu Medical and Dongbo Medical were mentioned, what did you think?” Jiang Shenghe broke the silence.

If there was work being discussed, even if there were only two of them at the table, there won’t be any ambiguity.

Luo Qi had just taken the piece of lamb chop and was about to eat it; she put it back.

Jiang Shenghe said, “It’s not a meeting, just talk while eating.”

He picked up the tongs, picked up the lamb chop and brought it back to her plate, “How many times have I told you that we don’t need to have so many rules when eating in private.”

“Thank you, Chief Jiang.” Unable to resist the hospitality, Luo Qi pinched the aluminum foil¹. Her mind was entirely focused on the boss’ question just now. Before answering, she first confirmed something, “Has the company decided to acquire Ruipu Medical?”

Jiang Shenghe also took a lamb chop, ate it slowly, and replied to her, “Li Rui² has this plan.”

Luo Qi glanced at the boss, keeping her gaze at that spot between his eyebrows, and then at the lamb chop in his hand, “The acquisition of Ruipu Medical can enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of our Yuanwei Medical and make up for some of our shortcomings.”

As for Dongbo Medical, what should she say? Pei Shixiao invested in it a few years back. It must be said that he really has a good vision for investments. Now Dongbo Medical was developing at a rapid pace.

If she said that Dongbo Medical was worth acquiring, she would be suspected of favoring Pei Shixiao. Once Yuanwei decided to acquire it, Pei Shixiao would make hundreds of millions from selling his shares. Uninformed people might think that she still had feelings for Pei Shixiao and was still helping him even after they broke up.

If she said that Dongbo Medical didn’t pose a competitive threat and did not need to be acquired, it could make people think that she was disregarding the company’s interests in order to avenge Pei Shixiao’s betrayal.

“As for Dongbo Medical, I will not comment. It would be biased because it is a company invested in by my ex-boyfriend’s company.”

“Huanheng Capital invested in Dongbo Medical?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Shenghe hadn’t paid attention to the shareholders of Dongbo Medical before, “Sorry, I mentioned someone who shouldn’t be mentioned.”

Luo Qi’s smile was professional, “It’s okay. We only just broke up, so it’s normal that you didn’t know.”

He looked at her and pretended that he had just learned about her breakup, “Is this why you cried that day?”

“…”

This really fell under the area of topics which should not be talked about ever again.

At that time, her eyes were swollen like walnuts and were truly terrible to look at. In the future, she still wanted to work her way up to the level of core management for the Yuanwei Group—if she gave the boss the impression that she was a crybaby, it would be a huge loss!

Luo Qi tried to make amends for her image, “We have been together for so many years and had a deep relationship. When we broke up, I couldn’t help my emotions.”

What she didn’t know was that the few words she said to rectify her image inadvertently pierced Jiang Shenghe where it hurt.

Jiang Shenghe only paid attention to the phrase in the middle and found himself emotional. They had a deep relationship.

Luo Qi reassured her boss, “The emotional adjustment is almost complete now and it won’t affect work.”

Jiang Shenghe expressed his understanding, “It doesn’t matter. It’s normal to be unable to adjust for a while. I have also been troubled by unruly feelings before, and it took a long time to adjust.”

Luo Qi was so surprised; she couldn’t believe that Jiang Shenghe could possibly suffer from emotional dissatisfaction. Although she was surprised, she was grateful to her boss for being considerate and showing compassion towards her.

Xiao Jiang came back after spending fifteen minutes dithering. He was worried that leaving for too long would arouse Luo Qi’s suspicion.

Jiang Shenghe asked the waiter to heat up the lamb chops again. He glanced at his watch and saw it was not yet ten o’clock. 

When they finish the late meal, it would only be ten o’clock. Earlier, Luo Qi had stood unmoving at the beach for a long time. When she finally came back, she was so distracted that she almost didn’t see him. After eating this meal, she would return to her room alone and would probably be distracted again.

“I’ll have the hotel show a movie on the beach later. If you’re interested, just stay and watch.”

Xiao Jiang decided to jump in and answer the question. He would lie for the first time tonight, and it was even in front of the boss! The boss had never shown a movie on the beach before, but he still wanted to mislead Luo Qi into thinking that this was a common occurrence and not specifically shown just for her. 

So he asked, “Chief Jiang, what movie will be shown this time?”

Luo Qi heard the key phrase ‘this time’. It seemed that Jiang Shenghe had gone to Haicheng on a business trip before and also showed a movie on the beach.

Jiang Shenghe replied to Xiao Jiang, “Healing, family film.”

Xiao Jiang nodded, “Then I will watch.”

Healing movies were Luo Qi’s favorite, so she also planned to stay and watch. This was her first time watching a movie on the beach.

Jiang Shenghe called the hotel manager, who immediately asked someone to make arrangements.

Less than half an hour later, the movie curtain appeared in front of them.

In just a few days, Luo Qi watched movies outdoors twice—she lamented that it was really great to have money. She sighed, thinking that aunt and nephew had the same hobby, and both liked to watch movies outdoors.

The movie-watching experience in Jiang Yueru’s yard a few days ago was not as good as watching on the beach.

The hotel also sent them fruit snacks and various drinks.

Jiang Shenghe deliberately sat at the far edge, separated from Luo Qi by Xiao Jiang. If he was farther away from her, then she could relax more while watching the movie.

But from where he was sitting, she was blocked by Xiao Jiang and he couldn’t see her.

After a while, Jiang Shenghe stood up, picked up his chair, and moved a few steps back. Luo Qi was now diagonally in front of him, and he could see her if he glanced sideways.

Luo Qi opened a small pack of melon seeds and lifted her face to the sea breeze, waiting for the movie to start playing.

The curtain lit up.

A familiar title came into view. Luo Qi has seen this movie before and found it very healing. She used to watch it when she was in a bad mood and was unduly stressed.

Not far away from them, there were seven or eight young people—young couples and groups of friends. They were attracted by the movie.

There were chairs nearby, but they didn’t sit on them and just plopped themselves down on the sand.

There were so many snacks on the table that Luo Qi couldn’t possibly finish them all by herself. Jiang Shenghe took a plate and handed it to the young couple next to him. He didn’t say that the hotel owner had specially prepared it for him, and only said, “It’s provided by the hotel.”

The boy thanked him repeatedly, offered some to his girlfriend, and passed the snack plate to the unknown girl next to them, “They said it was provided by the hotel.”

“Thanks.”

Several groups of people who had never met each other before shared snacks and fruits and watched the same movie.

Never far away was the sound of waves hitting the shore.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

It was already past midnight when the movie ended.

Luo Qi had been so engrossed in watching it that she temporarily forgot all her disappointments. When the film credits started playing, she also returned to reality.

Jiang Shenghe sat there with no intention of leaving and told them, “You go back, I have an appointment to play cards.”

Luo Qi returned to her room. She was still not sleepy even after taking a shower. She found a blanket to wrap around her shoulders and went to the terrace to pass the time.

She could see the part of the beach where they just watched the movie. Right now, there were people sitting around a table—Jiang Shenghe seemed to be playing cards with his friends. His life outside of work was richer than she had thought.

That beach should have special meaning to him.

He made phone calls there, had late night meals there, watched movies there, and played cards there.

She thought of what he said, that he had also been troubled by his feelings and had to adjust for a long time. She wondered what kind of woman could bear to refuse his affections.

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

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FOOTNOTES:

¹The bone was probably wrapped in aluminum foil for ease of eating.↩︎

²Li Rui is the one in charge of Yuanwei Medical. We met her during Luo Qi’s pre-birthday dinner with Jiang Sixun a few chapters back. She’s one of the talents groomed by Jiang Yueru before. ↩︎

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