At five o’clock in the afternoon the sun was still very strong, and it was over 30 degrees outside. Even with a hat on, Luo Qi’s face felt hot.

Jiang Shenghe went to the car and got an umbrella. It was the same umbrella he held for her to protect her from the rain in Suzhou. When they checked out of the hotel, he paid for it and took it home.

There was nothing special about the black, long-handled umbrella so Luo Qi didn’t recognize it.

Luo Qi squatted there to set up the planting equipment, and Jiang Shenghe squatted down next to her, holding the umbrella up and tilting it towards her to block out the sun.

The yard was quiet, and it was even quieter between them.

Jiang Shenghe asked, “In such hot days like this, won’t the seedlings be fried by the sun when they sprout?”

When Luo Qi heard this, she turned her head and found herself looking into his eyes. She hastily turned back and continued to work on the equipment as if nothing happened. “I don’t know either.”

“My cucumber seedlings were frozen to death,” she added.

As for whether they would be killed by the heat, she could not say based on her own experience.

Jiang Shenghe said, “It’s okay. I’ll ask Aunt Chai to get some parasols for shade.”

… …

She didn’t know whether it was because of the hot weather or because Jiang Shenghe was beside her, but after planting the seeds, Luo Qi was sweating profusely, and the back of her T-shirt was soaked.

The sun had already set by this time. Jiang Shenghe put away the umbrella and said, “Go inside to wash your hands and have a glass of water.”

Her hands were indeed dirty, and she couldn’t refuse this time. Luo Qi followed her boss into the villa. Aunt Chai would be in the kitchen, so she headed there to wash her hands.

The kitchen was bigger than her entire rental house. Aunt Chai was preparing dinner at the counter. Luo Qi stood in front of the sink about five or six meters away.

After washing her hands, she turned her face only to find Jiang Shenghe standing there, handing her a fresh hand towel.

He had already washed in the bathroom, and there were still drops of water on the backs of his hands.

Luo Qi wiped her hands in a hurry and planned to put the hand towel away.

Jiang Shenghe stretched out his hand, “Give it to me.”

He took the hand towel back and used it to wipe the water off the back of his hands.

Luo Qi didn’t know where to look. She had already used that hand towel, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Jiang Shenghe did not keep her for dinner, “Drink a glass of water before leaving. Thank you for your hard work today.”

“It’s nothing. I had nothing to do at home anyway.”

After hurriedly downing a glass of water, Luo Qi left.

In the dining room today, she saw a glimpse of the luxury of the villa. It simply was a world away from her own life.

… …

In the following days, the temperature rose steadily, and Luo Qi reminded the boss to water the cucumbers more.

In mid-July, the boss mentioned to her that the cucumber seedlings were growing well.

Fortunately, they survived. She had been worried that the cucumber seedlings would be burned to death.

When she was growing her own cucumbers, she created an observation record in the form of daily pictures.

Luo Qi organized the observation record and sent it to her boss. This should answer all his cucumber-related questions in the future. “Chief Jiang, these should be helpful to you. Everything I know about raising cucumbers are recorded in it.”

Jiang Shenghe took the observation record. He knew what she was thinking: she didn’t want to have too much interaction with him outside of work.

He said it himself so that she didn’t have to, “You will be busy in the next few weeks. Xiao Jiang will go back to his hometown to hold the wedding, and his work will be temporarily assigned to you.”

“Not a problem.”

Luo Qi couldn’t help but sigh—time flew so fast.

Her birthday was coming soon again.

This time last year, she was in the same mood as Xiao Jiang and was close to getting married.

She became absent-minded for a moment, and it was caught by Jiang Shenghe. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking about at this time—whether she was thinking about turning twenty nine in two months and still owing so many debts, or perhaps thinking about the past.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

At the end of the month, Xiao Jiang’s wedding was held in his hometown. The boss gave him two weeks of wedding leave.

Xiao Jiang specially sent wedding candies all the way from his hometown to his colleagues in the president’s office. Each person was sent a box filled with special candies collected from all over the country, full of childhood memories.

There were eight boxes of wedding candies, one was for Secretary Ju, and one for Jiang Shenghe.

Xiao Jiang said in the group chat: [“It’s a happy occasion! When you receive the wedding candies, you will surely have good luck.”]

Jiang Shenghe opened the box of candy and found a card with a handwritten blessing inside.

‘My wish for Chief Jiang: 

That your wish comes true and for you to have a son soon.’

Jiang Shenghe sent a message to Xiao Jiang: [Thank you, I have received you blessings. Is the vacation time enough? If not, take a few more days off.]

Xiao Jiang was a good flatterer, but he really did want his boss’ dream to come true very much.

[Thank you, Chief Jiang. Two weeks of vacation is enough. My mother will stop liking me if I stay at home for too long.]

During lunch break, those from the president’s office opened their candies and ate them, then threw a few teasing remarks over at Luo Qi.

“Assistant Luo,” they shouted, “when can I have some of your wedding candy?”

“Ah! I would almost have forgotten it if you didn’t mention it! Our Assistant Luo has a boyfriend.” Then he said to Luo Qi, “Now that Xiao Jiang’s married, you are the only one in this office who isn’t. You won’t be able to get a word in when we talk about children.”

“Bring your boyfriend to the next dinner party.”

“You have to take him with you. Until now we still don’t even know what your boyfriend looks like.”

Several people sang the opera like this in perfect harmony.

Luo Qi could only laugh awkwardly. She ate her candy in silence.

Jiang Shenghe brought several cups of coffee over, “Who wants to drink? I made too much.”

“I’ll have a cup, thank you, Chief Jiang.” The boss often brought them coffee, and by now they had somewhat gotten used to it.

Jiang Shenghe asked, “What were you joking about now?”

“We were talking about Assistant Luo’s boyfriend. We only saw his back in her ‘circle of friends’.”

They asked, “Chief Jiang, have you met Assistant Luo’s boyfriend? He’s the one in the oil painting she posted in her ‘circle of friends’.” 

Luo Qi glanced at the boss and didn’t know what to say.

Jiang Shenghe replied calmly, “I’ve seen him.”

He tilted his head to look at her, “When will you officially introduce him to them?”

Luo Qi: “…”

She didn’t know if the boss was trying to help her act and had the intention of bailing her out, but regardless, she still fell into the drama pit.

She answered vaguely, “We are not in a hurry, there will be a chance soon.”

Jiang Shenghe echoed her, “Well, there’s a need to work overtime anyway. Let’s wait until Xiao Jiang comes back.”

The boss pulled the discussion back to work, and she went from stage drama to reality.

Since that night in Suzhou when he held her under an umbrella, getting along with the boss was like riding a roller coaster every day. One moment she was safely on the ground, the next she was suddenly shooting up into the sky, and then doing a 360-degree spin in the air.

Her heartbeat would suddenly go out of control.

And when she finally found herself on the ground again, it would take a long time for her to recover.

Luo Qi unwrapped another candy. She sat in front of the computer for a moment and clicked on the research information related to 3D printing.

From July to September, there had been no shortage of wedding candies on her desk. A while ago, a colleague from Jiang Yueru’s work team also got married.

She had eaten wedding candies from her former colleague before and now from Xiao Jiang, and even drank wedding wine from Jian Hang and Qin Moling wedding.

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

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A list of all advance chapters is HERE.
Chapter 34.3 — Chief Jiang, I Plan To Resign As Your Assistant
Chapter 35.1 — Birthday Confession
Chapter 35.2 — Birthday Confession
Chapter 35.3 — Birthday Confession
Chapter 35.4 — Birthday Confession
Chapter 36.1 — Getting A Marriage Certificate
Chapter 36.2 — Getting A Marriage Certificate
Chapter 36.3 — Getting A Marriage Certificate
Chapter 36.4 — Getting A Marriage Certificate