[MarriageFirstLoveLater] Chapter 9.1 — Pick Her Up

This was not the first time that Jian Hang had gone home so late. She often got home at two in the morning; eleven o’clock was really not too late for her.

It only took ten minutes to drive from the company to her home at night without the traffic.

So why did she let Qin Moling come to pick her up, and what was her mentality—Jian Hang didn’t think about it too much, and even more so, she didn’t want to think about it.

Jian Hang took a few sips of warm water and continued working.

Over at the villa, Qin Moling came out of the study and returned to the bedroom. He had already taken a shower and was wearing home clothes. He stood in front of the closet, looked at it for most of a minute, and then took out a new shirt he hadn’t worn before and put it on.

… …

In the restaurant downstairs, Aunt Geng was preparing ingredients for tomorrow’s breakfast. She didn’t expect Qin Moling to go out so late at night. “Would you like me to prepare hangover soup for you?”

“No, I won’t go drinking.” Qin Moling didn’t say where he was going.

Without bothering to call the driver, he drove to Yinlin himself.

The cafe downstairs was not closed yet, so he bought a cup of fruit tea.

Yinlin’s front desk was off duty and there was an access control door, so he couldn’t get in.

Qin Moling sent a message to Jian Hang: [I’m here, outside the door.]

[Coming.] Jian Hang put down her phone, took the makeup mirror from her bag, found the lipstick and applied it as quickly as possible. She fixed her hair again then went out to pick him up.

Qin Moling stood outside the glass door, holding fruit tea in one hand and playing with car keys with the other. Jian Hang hadn’t come yet, so he looked at Yinlin Capital’s logo on the wall with half interest.

A figure approached from inside the door; he looked over and tried to see inside.

It was difficult to see clearly through the thick glass door, but when she got closer Jian Hang could clearly see that Qin Moling was wearing a dark blue shirt with the cuffs unbuttoned and rolled up casually.

He must have taken the elevator directly from the basement—he was not wearing a coat, and his shirt was tucked into his trousers outlining his thin and powerful waist.

Jian Hang was wearing a blue-grey, short waist, knitted sweater today. She had long legs and a slender waist. All of her female colleagues at Yinlin were envious of her, and today’s outfit showed off her figure even more.

The clothes the two of them were wearing could be considered of the same color.

Qin Moling also took another look at Jian Hang’s outfit and handed her the fruit tea, “It’s too late, I didn’t buy you coffee.”

“Thank you.” Jian Hang took the cup, and they walked side by side to her office.

After walking for a while, Qin Moling said, “How long will it take you to finish your work?”

Jian Hang looked at him sideways and said, “Half an hour at most.”

Qin Moling sat down across her desk. Today he not only served as a driver for the first time in his life, but also made an exception to accompany someone work overtime.

Jian Hang poured him a glass of water and went back to work. He had nothing to do, so he passed the time by scrolling through his phone.

Qin Moling raised his head inadvertently: Jian Hang was focused on the computer screen. She was holding the cup of fruit tea he bought in her hand and was absent-mindedly trying to put the straw into her mouth but it had tilted to one side.

She was focused on studying the information and did not pay attention to the fruit tea and straw. She tried to drink several times but couldn’t find the straw with her mouth.

Qin Moling has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Seeing that she couldn’t find the straw, he really wanted to reach out and stuff the straw into her mouth.

Jian Hang finally finished reading the current page of information, took the time to look at the straw, lowered her head to properly suck it into her mouth, and at the same time clicked on the mouse to move the progress bar with her other hand, then resumed reading the next page.

She read the project information for more than 30 minutes. Qin Moling was idle and bored, and he observed her for more than 20 minutes. The entire time, she never once glanced at Qin Moling.

After drinking a cup of fruit tea, Jian Hang saved the file and turned off the computer.

Qin Moling took the glass he had used and went to the bathroom.

Although Jian Hang’s office was not large, it was fully functional and had a separate toilet.

In the small bathroom, you can get a glimpse of some of her living habits. On the washbasin, everything was neatly arranged. Hand sanitizer, hand cream, and deodorant were all arranged in order by bottle height.

There was not a drop of water stain on the countertop. There were two pots of roses on the table, which were reflected in the mirror and had become four pots.

There were several pots of hydroponic green plants hanging on the wall of the bathroom, its vines trailing down and filling the room with greenery.

Qin Moling turned on the faucet and rinsed the water glass.

Jian Hang didn’t expect that he went to the bathroom to wash the glass. “Just leave it there, I’ll wash it.” She was embarrassed to let the guest do the work.

The glass had already been washed. Qin Moling turned off the lights, came out of the bathroom, put the quilt in the tea cabinet, and waited for her at the door of the office.

Jian Hang packed up her desk, took her coat and bag, and they left together.

In the past, no matter how late she worked overtime, she would always go home alone. Today, there was another person driving beside her, and it felt very different. Especially so when the person driving the car beside her was the aloof eldest son of the Qin family.

Jian Hang leaned in the passenger seat and opened the window a crack. The cold wind was particularly refreshing.

Looking at the street lights outside the car, her thoughts ran far away. She didn’t have to drive anyway, so she allowed herself to have wild thoughts.

She felt relaxed like never before.

She couldn’t do this when she was driving by herself.

This was quite nice after all.

“The company didn’t assign you a driver?” Qin Moling’s voice brought her back to reality.

Jian Hang’s thoughts came back, she turned from the car window and looked at him. 

“There is a driver. If I don’t have any entertainment at night, I ask the driver to get off work at normal times. The company is close to my home, and my apartment has good security, so I don’t need a driver to pick me up.”

Qin Moling glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, “But you want me to pick you up?” He wanted to know what she was thinking when she asked him to pick her up. Did she want to see him, or was it something else?

Jian Hang herself hasn’t yet figured out what she had been thinking and didn’t really want to understand it. Even if she wanted to figure it out one day, she wouldn’t tell him. In a loveless marriage like theirs, no one wanted to be in a disadvantage emotionally.

She pretended not to understand his probing and said, “Didn’t you say you were coming to pick me up and asked me to wait for you in the office?”

Qin Moling: “…”

Jian Hang looked at him and said magnanimously, “If you don’t have time to come pick me up, you don’t have to come. I would feel sorry if it delays your work.”

Qin Moling didn’t answer. The car turned, and he looked at the road carefully in the rearview mirror, hoping to end the conversation.

After a while, he felt that it was indeed inappropriate to have asked her that way, so he avoided the important point and said lightly, “It didn’t delay my work.”

When the conversation resumed, Jian Hang said, “Then it’s good that there was no delay.”

She turned to look out the window. The night view was quite beautiful.

The ride was too short, and before they could say a few more words, the car stopped in front of the apartment building.

Qin Moling got out of the car and sent her upstairs.

Jian Hang looked at her watch. It was past midnight, and it was not appropriate to invite him into the house anymore.

“Wait a moment.”

Jian Hang didn’t close the door and went straight to the kitchen.

Qin Moling held the door handle to prevent the door from closing automatically and saw Jian Hang coming over with a milk carton.

“Milk helps you sleep.” She handed him the milk.

Back in the car, Qin Moling threw the carton of milk into the passenger seat and stared at it again and again. 

Jian Hang actually gave him milk, and he actually accepted it.

Marriage First, Love Later translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com


If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi and get access to advance chapters as reward. Thank you for your support! ☺️

Chapter 9.2 — Pick Her Up (2/2)

Chapter 10.1 — See The Exhibition (2/3)
Chapter 10.2 — See The Exhibition (2/4)
Chapter 10.3 — See The Exhibition (2/5



5 responses to “[MarriageFirstLoveLater] Chapter 9.1 — Pick Her Up”

  1. Are they playing some kind of mind games I am unaware of

  2. These people… the awkwardness is real though. It’s just a little wild to me that they’re like this and got married.

    Normally I expect people to at least have common interests or be able to have a pleasant conversation before getting married. Unless it’s purely political or a marriage alliance, but in this case I’m not sure what the mutual benefits are supposed to be in this.

  3. “he really wanted to reach out and stuff the straw into her mouth” 😂

    “In a loveless marriage like theirs, no one wanted to be in a disadvantage emotionally.” 🥺

  4. i love these kind of slow burn stories. Ty translator nim

    1. (Maela) White Moonlight Translations Avatar
      (Maela) White Moonlight Translations

      oh, me too! i feel they are more immersive (and realistic haha) than instant love.

Leave a reply to Chronos5884 Cancel reply