The sound of rapid footsteps came from upstairs, and the lights turned on from floor to floor with the approaching sound.

Jiang Shenghe looked up and saw that Luo Qi was already coming down from the second floor. She stumbled—almost spraining her ankle—when she saw that the person who had come was Jiang Shenghe himself and not just the driver.

“Careful.” He couldn’t help but take two steps forward.

How could she dare bother the boss to deliver oil paintings to her in the rain? She quickly walked down the flight of stairs and said, “Chief Jiang, why are you here?”

Jiang Shenghe looked at her and said simply, “I came here to see you.”

Luo Qi: “…”

She didn’t reply to his words.

Something seemed to be on the verge of coming out, but she pushed it down.

Being sentimental was the worst thing she could possibly do where he was concerned.

The atmosphere in the narrow, cramped aisle grew awkward.

Jiang Shenghe didn’t say anything more, so Luo Qi had no choice but to break the silence. “Chief Jiang, don’t you have a social event tonight?” 

It was on the official schedule, but the boss didn’t make any of them accompany him tonight and instead gave them a day off to rest.

Jiang Shenghe said, “It just ended.”

His shirt sleeves were rolled up. Luo Qi saw that there were still wet patches on his arms and his trouser legs were soaked. Outside, the rain was getting heavier and heavier. “Chief Jiang, please go back quickly.”

Jiang Shenghe turned a deaf ear to her polite words and said, “I didn’t drop by tonight just to deliver a painting to you. I came to see you.”

“Luo Qi,” he called her, “do you want to try with me?”

The heavy rain drowned out the nervous beating of their hearts.

Luo Qi was stunned. She instinctively wrung her hands, a mindless, nervous gesture. The house key poked into her palm, but she felt no pain at all.

Just now, he said that he came to see her specially and sent her heart to the top of a roller coaster—she almost couldn’t bear it. When he asked her if she wanted to try with him, he threw her directly off the roller coaster, and she fell into a high-altitude bungee jump.

She looked at him and couldn’t say anything.

The sound-activated light suddenly went out.

Luo Qi’s eyes were completely blinded in the dark, and she couldn’t see anything clearly, but his unmistakable presence was still there.

He was the boss of the Yuanwei Group and a son of the Jiang family. He stood at the top of the circle of the rich and powerful, while her family was still in debt.

More than that, there was still someone in his heart.

How to even try?

A relationship where everyone gets what they need?

She couldn’t afford to play adult games with him. The moment she gets into an emotional tangle with him, she would be utterly ruined.

There was a loud ‘thud’—the oil painting leaning against the wall had slid down to the ground.

The light turned on.

The painting was in a waterproof bag, and neither of them bothered with it.

Luo Qi’s mind was in a daze, spinning sluggishly, thinking about how to reject him so as not to offend him or hurt his face.

It’s been one and a half minutes. This was ten thousand times more tortuous than the ten minutes he had been waiting for her to come downstairs.

Jiang Shenghe looked at her and spoke again, “I’m not just looking for someone on a whim to relieve my emptiness. Luo Qi, I have been thinking about you for seven years.”

Before her stunned eyes, Jiang Shenghe said to her in her own Suzhou dialect, “I have been secretly in love with you for seven years and seven months.”

He only knew these few phrases in the Suzhou dialect.

“You are the one who troubled my emotions all these years. I returned to China because you are here. The movie on Haicheng Beach was shown just for you.

“If you still don’t believe me, if you think I’m just making this up just to get you to be with me…” Having said this, he paused.

Luo Qi didn’t need him to prove himself anymore, “I believe you.”

There were so many things rushing in her mind.

She was at a loss, in a critical state.

Jiang Shenghe waited for her next words, but they didn’t come.

He stood at the entrance, his right shoulder wet from the rain.

Two minutes had passed. It should be a silent rejection then.

The last person he ever wanted to force was her. He bent down to pick up the painting, “Do you still want this painting? It doesn’t matter if you don’t want it anymore, I’ll take it back.”

Luo Qi didn’t hesitate at all. “I want it.”

Jiang Shenghe stood up straight, “Since you want it, don’t throw it away casually. If, one day, you feel it is only in the way, contact my driver to take it back. This painting has a different meaning to me.”

Luo Qi’s tears fell without any warning. Fortunately, the lights had gone out again, and he didn’t see. She quickly wiped them away with her hands.

“My confession today may be a bit abrupt. I’ll wait until you’ve calmed down and think some more about whether you want to try with me. Don’t worry, I have time to wait.” Jiang Shenghe didn’t want to use his identity to pressure her, “Whether you agree to my pursuit or not, it will not affect my working relationship with you.

“It’s getting late, go on up.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Luo Qi carried the oil painting upstairs. She was so befuddled she even forgot to say goodbye.

From the first floor to the third floor, with every step she took a scene emerged from the past.

It turned out that Director Jiang’s special care for her was because of him.

It turned out that all his sense of boundaries was for her.

Luo Qi reached her door and fumbled with the key, failing to insert it twice.

She finally succeeded in opening the door. She just put the oil painting inside, pulled the door shut behind her and ran all the way downstairs, taking two steps at a time.

He has already left.

Luo Qi didn’t bring an umbrella with her and rushed heedless out into the rain, “Chief Jiang!”

Jiang Shenghe hadn’t gone too far away; he wasn’t even near the car.

He thought he was hallucinating, but he turned around and suddenly saw a figure in the dark rushing under his umbrella.

It was unclear whether it was rain or tears on her face.

“You have something to tell me?”

Jiang Shenghe didn’t dare to hope; maybe she just wanted to tell him clearly in person.

Luo Qi shook her head, “No.” She didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know how to decide—she only knew she couldn’t bear to let him down.

Jiang Shenghe held the umbrella towards her and raised his hand to wipe the rain off her face, “Do you realize that I won’t let you go now that you’re here?”

He stared at her face and finally saw tears in her eyes, “Why are you crying?”

Her heart ached.

Her heart ached, and she felt sad for him.

Jiang Shenghe lowered his head and touched his lips to her eyes.

The boss actually kissed her. Luo Qi felt as if she had been burned and was about to step back on reflex. He grabbed her waist and stopped her from moving.

“Luo Qi, asking you to try with me doesn’t mean that you should fall in love with me immediately. I know it’s a bit difficult for you, and you don’t have the energy to try again with someone.”

There was also the worry that there would be objections from his family, and the two of them would end in vain.

“If you don’t want to fall in love again or start a new relationship, that’s okay.” He asked her, “Do you want to get a marriage certificate with me? You can continue to pay your debts, and I won’t interfere. If you are feeling under great pressure, we don’t need to tell other people for now. Just stay with me.”

After receiving the certificate, he would have a reason to call her and see her.

Luo Qi looked at Jiang Shenghe in disbelief.

She felt like she was in the middle of a dream.

Jiang Shenghe looked at her. “Luo Qi, marry me. The person you want to marry may not be me. But the person I want to marry has always been you.”

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 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
Chapter 37.1 — The Boss Before Her is Her Husband
Chapter 37.2 — The Boss Before Her Is Her Husband