Cui Ran was worried that she had seen it wrong, so she checked again and found that the ring was indeed on his ring finger.

For a man like Jiang Shenghe, wearing a ring meant that the marriage was settled, and it was even possible that they have already obtained a marriage certificate.

Finally, in between talking about work, they found a suitable opportunity to chat.

She refilled her uncle’s tea and added half a cup to Jiang Shenghe’s, saying, “I just saw Mr. Jiang’s ring. Congratulations. I’m looking forward to the wedding banquet.”

Jiang Shenghe politely replied, “Thank you.”

This was an acknowledgement that he had a significant other and that good things were coming soon, so the wedding shouldn’t be too far away.

Cui Ran wasn’t very familiar with Jiang Shenghe, so she didn’t want to ask him directly who his fiancée was. Also, Jiang Shenghe continued to chat with her uncle about Linghong. Since he didn’t want to talk about his personal matters, she stopped herself from asking.

They had almost finished their conversation when Luo Qi and the lawyer came out of the villa.

Cui Ran was stunned and didn’t understand what was going on.

She knew this lawyer who came out with Luo Qi—they were her uncle’s personal lawyer. Luo Qi also had a briefcase in her hand. It seemed that she was handling some matters for Jiang Shenghe.

The lawyer said ‘hello’ to Xiang Yi and left to deal with the equity transfer of Luo Zhiqiu’s company.

Jiang Shenghe casually pulled the chair next to him for Luo Qi, “Everything alright?”

“Yes. The authority have been assigned to the lawyer.” Luo Qi sat down next to Jiang Shenghe and greeted Cui Ran.

Cui Ran looked at the two people sitting together and inexplicably thought of her cousin’s words, ‘I heard he’s already married, and you’re still thinking about getting promoted as main wife? Dream on!’

Naturally, she identified that ‘he’ as Jiang Shenghe.

If things were as her cousin said, that Luo Qi was having an affair with a married man, and this married man was Jiang Shenghe, then it was not so difficult to understand why Luo Qi gave up her self-respect and bottom line.

Jiang Shenghe’s personal charm was simply too great, and it was impossible not to be attracted to him after spending time with him.

“When you said that Luo Qi was going to be promoted, was that man Jiang Shenghe?” she asked in a message to Cui Peng.

But Cui Peng was on the plane at this time and could only reply to her cousin after landing.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

It was already evening, time for dinner, and Xu Xiangyi asked Cui Ran to stay and have dinner together. “Yu Bo is coming too, he’s on his way.”

Cui Ran couldn’t refuse and had to stay.

She called her husband and told him she was having dinner at his uncle’s and asked him to go home early to be with the children.

“Why are you at Aunt’s house?”

“We’re discussing cooperation with Linghong. Jiang Shenghe is here too. Uncle asked me to come over.”

“It’s not your place to ask about their affairs. Just follow what Uncle says.”

“I know. I’m not stupid.” Cui Ran asked her husband, “How about you? Are you still working at the company?”

“I’ll be home soon.”

Cui Ran gave some instructions for the children and then hung up.

When she returned to the living room of the villa, Yu Bo was already there.

The person Yu Bo least wanted to see in his life was Luo Qi, but the boss had asked him to come for dinner.

With one more person, it soon became much more lively than before.

The chef prepared dinner and everyone sat down. Luo Qi still sat next to Jiang Shenghe.

While everyone else was drinking, Jiang Shenghe poured Luo Qi a glass of warm water and told her not to drink alcohol. He took the glass of red wine she was holding and placed it in front of him.

Luo Qi took the cup of water and said, “Thank you, Chief Jiang.”

Jiang Shenghe did not respond.

Yu Bo was chatting with Xu Xiangyi, and only Cui Ran was keenly aware that the atmosphere between them and how they looked at each other was not right. She had eaten with Jiang Shenghe several times, but he had never taken care of anyone at the table.

They had no family matters to talk about, and only talked about investment. Soon enough they talked about Ruipu.

Xu Xiangyi asked, “Giving up the high-end market, is it Xiao Luo’s idea?”

Luo Qi put down her water cup. Before she could finish her words, Jiang Shenghe replied for her, “Well, she has her own thoughts.”

She resisted the urge to turn her head and look at him.

Xu Xiangyi praised, “Not bad, very courageous.”

This time Jiang Shenghe did not interrupt. Luo Qi raised the water glass to Xu Xiangyi and said, “Thank you, Mr. Xu.” Since there were outsiders present, she did not try to be friendly and call him ‘Uncle Xu’.

“Adjusting market positioning is not easy.” Xu Xiangyi said politely, “I haven’t visited Ruipu’s R&D center yet. I’ll go to Ruipu in Beijing someday to take a look.”

“Mr. Xu is welcome any time.”

“Where is the Ruipu office building?”

“We’re moving to Yuanwei Building later.”

Xu Xiangyi smiled, “In that case, I know Yuanwei very well.”

Yu Bo was surprised, “Ruipu is moving?”

“Yes, we’ll move to a two-floor office in Yuanwei Building.”

Yu Bo had been to Yuanwei Building before and found that one floor was almost twice as big as Ruipu’s current office area. She actually rented two floors, only caring about her face and enjoyment.

Although Lingjia Capital did not participate in the specific operations of Ruipu, it still had the right to interfere with some unnecessary expenses.

“Won’t the cost of renting that much space increase your expenses significantly? Ruipu’s funds are already tight.”

“They knew we had no money, so Yuanwei provided us with the office space for free. This way, Ruipu’s original office building can be rented out in full, and there’s still a good amount of rental money to be earned.” Luo Qi took the opportunity to complain about her financial difficulties, “Mr. Yu is right. Ruipu is indeed broke and can’t even make ends meet. We have to rely on other people for food now.”

Yu Bo: “…”

“I wonder if Mr. Yu has confidence in Ruipu’s future development after adjusting its market positioning?”

Yu Bo smiled wanly, feeling like he was about to fall into the trap she had dug, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Lingjia has always had full confidence in Ruipu.”

“Then I’m relieved.” Luo Qi smiled and said, “Everything is difficult in the beginning. Ruipu is struggling right now, but fortunately, you are all very supportive. Yuanwei gave us a place to work, and President Cui didn’t lower the price when she renewed the contract with us. She has been very considerate of us.”

Cui Ran: “…”

This was obviously praising her in a sarcastic way!

She managed to force a smile in response.

Luo Qi looked at Yu Bo and continued, “Then I’ll report to President Yu on the situation at Ruipu. We’re currently short on funds for research and development. With another 150 million, Ruipu, a child who relies on others for food, will have enough to eat and wear warm clothes.”

Yu Bo: “…”

He shouldn’t have mentioned that Ruipu had no money just now. She actually took revenge and blackmailed him, taking the opportunity to raise funds.

Jiang Shenghe smiled and picked up a lamb chop for her with his chopsticks.

Luo Qi had just taken a sip of warm water and almost choked on it. Did he forget that there were outsiders around?

She reacted quickly and said calmly, “Thank you, Chief Jiang, for giving Ruipu a meal.”

Jiang Shenghe looked at her gently, “Eat first, then you will have the energy to borrow money from Mr. Yu after eating.”

Xu Xiangyi watched their performance and laughed.

He picked up two lamb chops with a pair of tongs and gave them to Yu Bo. “Come on, eat more too, or you’ll be too hungry to argue with Xiao Luo.”

Yu Bo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

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

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T/N: Cui Ran and her husband call Xu Xiangyi ‘paternal aunt’s husband’. Jiang Shenghe, and by extension Luo Qi, calls him ‘father’s older brother’.

They are both ‘uncle’ in English, but quite different in Chinese.

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 59.2 — Hold Me For A While and Don’t Let Me Down
Chapter 59.3 — Hold Me For A While and Don’t Let Me Down