Luo Qi stopped breathing for a few seconds. How dare she use her boss as a shield?

Jiang Shenghe put down the towel and looked at her again. It seemed that she wasn’t willing to use him as a shield. Well, then, he just had to trick her. 

“To tell you the truth, Pei Shixiao came to see me because of you. Do you think I am very free and I have time to listen to him say things like this? You know very well what annoys me the most.”

The most annoying thing for Jiang Shenghe was when people didn’t distinguish between public and private matters.

The most annoying thing was when others thought they could arrange for him to do something. Even if they asked him to help, it wouldn’t work, because whether he would help or not depended entirely on his mood—and not everyone was qualified to ask him to help.

Luo Qi guessed that Pei Shixiao must have stepped on his minefield.

She apologized again.

“Don’t just apologize. Can an apology solve the problem?” Jiang Shenghe said. “This is you. Try Xiao Jiang instead. Ask him if he dares to bring his personal affairs before me again and again.”

Luo Qi could only thank Jiang Yueru deeply in her heart. Jiang Shenghe tolerated her again and again all for Director Jiang’s sake.

Jiang Shenghe pushed, “If you don’t want to use me, how do you plan on solving it?”

The car was quiet for a moment.

Jiang Shenghe waited for her to come up with a solution, but she probably wouldn’t be able to come up with one for a while. She and Pei Shixiao had been separated for nine months, and he had given her enough time to come out of her entanglement. He took her to seven or eight countries on the guise of business trips just so she could relax.

On New Year’s Eve, in Times Square, he restrained himself hard from holding her hand.

He was running out of patience, and he would confess to her directly right now if he could ensure he wouldn’t scare her away. He didn’t need the sense of professional boundaries at this point. Playing it this way would also prepare her a little for the idea of them being together, so that she wouldn’t be scared when he finally confessed.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, and I don’t have any plans to get married in the near future. If you use me as a shield, it won’t have any impact on me. It won’t have any impact on you either. Pei Shixiao still cares about his face. If you tell him this, based on his self-esteem as a man, he won’t let anyone know that you found someone better than him.”

“… that doesn’t seem very sound. But thank you, Chief Jiang.”

She still rejected his proposal, and Jiang Shenghe began to feel unhappy. He was suddenly unsure whether she still had unresolved feelings for Pei Shixiao and so could not bear to hurt him this way.

Since they began working together, she had always acted as a subordinate before a superior. There had never been a moment when she was a woman in front of a man.

Jiang Shenghe opened the window a little to let in some air, and the rain swept in.

He said quietly, “Solve it as soon as possible.”

“…Okay.” Luo Qi looked at the boss out of the corner of her eye, unable to tell whether he was happy or angry. She had to find a way to solve this matter as soon as possible. She couldn’t let Pei Shixiao affect her boss’ mood anymore.

Outside the car window, the rain was getting heavier and heavier.

… …

Over at the venue, Madam Pei had been socializing with acquaintances. She soon went out to find her son.

She searched around but couldn’t find him anywhere. Eventually, she had to call him on the phone.

Pei Shixiao was smoking outside. When he saw the caller name displayed on the phone, he didn’t answer. Instead he put out his cigarette and looked for his mother.

Madam Pei saw her son coming out of the smoking area, his face pale. It seemed that he had hit a wall with Luo Qi.

“It’s normal to not give you good face. If she wanted to forgive you easily, then it wouldn’t be worth your effort. Do you think that a woman can forgive a man’s cheating so easily? When you cheated, it was the same as peeling off a layer of her skin, do you know how painful that is?”

Madam Pei thought about her own experience. More than ten years later, she still couldn’t forget how desperate she felt when her husband insisted on getting a divorce.

Pei Shixiao said, “I am different from my father. I have not reached that stage.”

“If you were like your father, I wouldn’t be helping you.” After a pause, Madam Pei said, “The moment you had Cui Peng in your heart, for Luo Qi, ten years worth of memories were ruined. You have to be clean.”

Pei Shixiao didn’t want to talk about it. He really regretted it.

Madam Pei told her son another truth, “If Luo Qi chooses to forgive you it would be because of me, not you.”

Pei Shixiao looked at his mother.

Madam Pei explained, “If she opens her eyes to reality, she would realize that no matter who she marries, there is always a risk of cheating after marriage. In that case, it would be better to find a family with good conditions and a calm mother-in-law who would not cause her troubles.”

“Luo Qi knows me well. Even though I didn’t want you to be together before, I never caused any trouble for her or caused any embarrassment to her family. I only put pressure on you. Once the engagement was finalized, even if I was not satisfied, I still placed our company’s orders with her uncle’s business. I did things as it’s supposed to be done.”

Pei Shixiao felt a sense of crisis. The appearance of Jiang Shenghe disrupted all of his plans, and whether he could get Luo Qi back was now full of variables.

Yesterday, he went to Luo Qi’s house and asked for forgiveness from Luo Qi’s parents.

Luo Qi’s mother didn’t open the door. He waited outside the door for half an hour, but it never opened.

“Mom, when you are free, please talk to Aunt Jiang.”

Madam Pei pressed fingers to her eyebrows and said, “I know, you don’t need to tell me this.”

She never liked to be sloppy when doing things, so she went over to Luo Qi’s house that same night.

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

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T/N: I am facepalming at Pei Shixiao’s delusions—did he think that without Jiang Shenghe, he would still have a chance with Luo Qi? Even without our boy Shenghe, hordes of suitable men would line up to date Luo Qi. That debt isn’t hers to begin with, she’s gorgeous, capable, and is all around lovely.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi. Thanks for your support! ❤️

A list of all advance chapters is HERE.
Chapter 29.3 — Revealing The Reason For Break-up
Chapter 30.1 — Embrace Her Under An Umbrealla