The license plate on Luo Qi’s car had limited use on Thursdays, so she got up twenty minutes earlier than usual so she could squeeze onto the subway and still arrive on time. There was a cold wave yesterday, and today the temperature dropped by more than ten degrees.

She added a coat over her suit. She bought this trench coat when she was in college. It’s a classic line from a certain brand, and it still looked in style despite being worn for seven or eight years.

When Luo Qi got outside her building, the clouds were very thick and there was little hope of the sun coming out.

It was really worrying. She looked up at the balcony on the third floor and thought about her cucumbers—they might wilt from the cold. Had she known better, she wouldn’t have planted them in October. She should have sowed the seeds later, when the heating was turned on and the room was would be warm enough.

The entire way to work, she was thinking about how to ensure that the cucumbers she planted would not freeze to death.

Ever since the cucumbers sprouted, most of her extra energy after getting off work was poured into them. It didn’t allow her much time to think about Pei Shixiao every day anymore. Every time she thought about him, it seemed she wasn’t as sad as when they just broke up.

After getting off the subway, Luo Qi still had to walk a while to get to the company.

She wore high heels today and walked sedately.

The sidewalks were covered with fallen leaves; late autumn seemed to have come seemingly overnight.

It was rush hour, and the road was as full of cars as ever; Luo Qi didn’t notice her boss’s car passing by.

But Jiang Shenghe saw Luo Qi. She was wearing a trench coat and her hair was down. He recognized her from the back at a glance.

It was not convenient to stop here.

The car passed her quickly.

… …

Today, Jiang Shenghe arrived early, and only Xiao Jiang was in the President’s Office area.

“Chief Jiang, good morning.”

“Well. Assistant Luo’s car hasn’t been assigned yet?”

“Arrangements are already being made. The car previously allocated to Secretary Ju has the same plate number ending as Assistant Luo’s car, so another car is being allocated for her. It will be tomorrow at the latest.”

Jiang Shenghe nodded and walked to the office, sending messages as he walked.

Several of his cars were sitting idle in their parking spaces, but he couldn’t rashly arrange for her to use them.

Ten minutes later, Luo Qi arrived upstairs. It was getting warmer, so she had taken off her coat and was holding it in her hands. Entering the office area, she saw the door to the boss’s office open.

“Sister Luo, it’s so early,” Xiao Jiang greeted.

Luo Qi pointed in the direction of Jiang Shenghe’s office and whispered to Xiao Jiang, “Is Chief Jiang here?”

Xiao Jiang mouthed back, “He just came in, hasn’t asked for anything yet.”

“Okay,” Luo Qi smiled and went to her office.

… …

The boss didn’t come to the company yesterday, and no one knew where he went or what he did. No one in their president’s office was privy to his personal itinerary. Xiao Jiang said that the boss often disappeared for a day or two.

Until half past nine, Jiang Shenghe didn’t look for her.

But even if the boss didn’t come find her, she needed to go see him.

A stack of documents in hand, she went to ask the boss to sign them before he left for a meeting.

The documents were sorted into different colored folders, making it clear at a glance which ones required his personal nod and approval, and which ones she had already processed within the scope of her authority and only required his signature.

“Chief Jiang,” Luo Qi stood by the door and did not go in without permission.

Jiang Shenghe raised his head and said, “From now on, as long as the door is open, just come in.”

Luo Qi said ‘yes’—but it was still better to knock next time.

One had to follow the rules one should when dealing with the boss.

While she was looking down at the information, Jiang Shenghe glanced at her.

Before, when he hasn’t seen her for a long time, he would suddenly miss her at certain moments; his heart aching, yearning for her. Now that he hasn’t seen her for a day, this feeling of missing her was still there, the same as before.

“I’m going to Suzhou next Monday. You and Xiao Jiang will come with me, and Li Rui will go too. Just stay at the same hotel as last time.”

“Okay. I’ll make the arrangements right away.”

Li Rui is going with them. It should be related to Yuanwei Medical. 

But unlike before, Luo Qi was not looking forward to going to Suzhou on a business trip.

After Jiang Shenghe signed everything, Luo Qi stacked a dozen folders together. The top one was not stable and slid down a little bit.

Luo Qi moved quickly and raised her hand to stabilize it. At almost the same time, Jiang Shenghe also pressed the back of his hand against the folder.

“Thank you, Chief Jiang.”

Like every other time before, she politely said ‘thank you’ when it wasn’t necessary.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Before getting off work, Luo Qi was given keys to a car. The company has allocated a car to her with the plate number ending in ‘2’. Not only was a special car assigned to her, but a driver was also arranged along with it.

She looked at the driver’s name and contact information. He turned out to be an old acquaintance—he was Jiang Yueru’s former driver.

Luo Qi immediately called Old Fan. “Uncle Fan, are you on loan to our office temporarily?”

Old Fan answered with a smile, “I still have two more years before I retire. Before retirement, I will work full-time as a driver for the President’s Office. Director Jiang will go abroad at the end of the month and will settle there in the future. She asked Chief Jiang to arrange a suitable position for me, and by chance, it seemed your office was in short supply of drivers. I don’t know if you are really in short supply or not, but that’s what Chief Jiang said.”

According to Luo Qi’s understanding, there really was no such shortage.

In addition to Chief Jiang’s driver, their President’s Office already has two full-time drivers, who were enough to handle their field work.

It should be that Chief Jiang opened the back door in order to take care of Old Fan for Director Jiang.

Old Fan has driven a car for Director Jiang for more than 20 years. He often joked that he used to pick up his son from school after work, but now he picked up his granddaughter from kindergarten.

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

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T/N: China is combating road congestion and traffic pollution in its major cities by rationing the available license plates—a portion goes to a lottery system; another goes to an auction, with the auspicious numbers going into special auctions. The ratio between the supply and demand is so bad that you only have 6% chance of winning in the lottery and, of course, only those who can afford it can join the auction. In many instances, the license plate is more expensive than the car itself—it’s why you sometimes see characters in c-novels mention how impressive an ML’s license plate is.

In addition, they regulate the number of cars on the road by designating certain hours of the day as off-limits for plate numbers that end in certain numbers, say, those that end on 1 and 2 are not allowed on Monday morning and evening rush hours.

The car previously assigned to Secretary Ju—which should have gone to Luo Qi—was not allowed on the roads on Thursdays, same as Luo Qi’s personal car. The office planned to allocate a different car to her so that she could still drive to work on Thursdays.

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A list of all advance chapters is HERE.
Chapter 24.2 — Unmatched Partiality
Chapter 24.3 — Unmatched Partiality