In July of the year when Luo Qi was 22 years old, she successfully grabbed a discounted airfare ticket back to China, her pockets cleaner than her face¹.

She packed up her room and took all her clothes with her.

Her family owed more than 30 million yuan, and she didn’t know if her father’s health could survive this ordeal. For a long time to come, perhaps ten years or even longer, she wouldn’t have the money to buy such expensive clothes again.

When entering the workplace, these clothes could still help her look presentable.

She sold all the bags and jewelry she had bought before and used them to raise money for her father’s medical expenses.

She didn’t have much left, and even renting a place to stay after returning home would be a problem.

The day before leaving the country, she went back to Yuanwei Capital again.

Perhaps she was just bored.

It might also be that she couldn’t let go of it; she kept wanting to confirm one last time whether Jiang Shenghe has replied to her email.

Her access to her work email was cancelled when she left the company, so she could only try to open it on the Yuanwei Capital intranet.

There was a dedicated administrator for the email account, a young mixed-race guy.

“I want to see if the client has replied to me.” She didn’t say she was waiting for Jiang Shenghe’s reply.

“Hasn’t your job been handed over to someone else?”

She said, “I still want to know where my shortcomings are.”

He didn’t understand her way of thinking. In his eyes, she was a little too invested in this.

Even though he didn’t understand, he still logged into her email for her and said that this was the last time because it was against the company’s regulations.

There really won’t be a next time; she would leave tomorrow.

She opened her email, but Jiang Shenghe still hasn’t replied.

This time she gave up completely.

While waiting for the elevator, she met Jiang Sixun who was about to go out. He was surprised to still see her here.

“When is your flight?”

“Early tomorrow morning.”

Jiang Sixun nodded and said a few words of farewell.

The next day, as she waited in the airport terminal hall worrying about the future, a sum of money was deposited into her card. It was her salary from Yuanwei Capital, paid to her in advance.

Jiang Sixun must have mistakenly thought that she went to the company yesterday because she was short of money and went to the finance department to see if she could get her salary paid in advance.

She took out her cell phone and wanted to explain but then felt it was unnecessary because she really needed the money.

This money solved the most urgent problem.

After arriving in Beijing, she rushed back and forth between the hospital, her shared apartment, and the company every day.

During the days when her father had his first surgery, she barely slept. This went on for several nights until the critical period passed.

On Monday, she fell asleep on the subway on her way to work, missed her stop, and was more than ten minutes late. As a result, she lost her perfect attendance bonus for that month. She felt upset and blamed herself for several days.

For her at that time, that amount of money was enough for a month’s living expenses, if she budgeted it carefully.

Life was suffocating under the pressure of reality.

She gradually forgot that she had dreams.

She rarely thought about whether Jiang Shenghe had ever replied to her email anymore.

“Ms. Luo?” Chi Xin knocked on the door.

Luo Qi’s thoughts were pulled away from the past, “Come in.”

She closed the project plan of more than 100 pages. She had taken it out to read it again since she was not busy today.

Chi Xin came in and reported her work, then she stood by the desk without moving.

Luo Qi looked up, “What else?”

“I heard that Chang Chuxin came to Yuanwei and went straight to the 42nd floor. I don’t know what he is doing there.”

Chang Chuxin was the president of Yuanwei Medical.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

In September of the year when Luo Qi was 23 years old, Luo Zhiqiu needed a second operation.

At that time, she was already Jiang Yueru’s Assistant.

Jiang Shenghe was still working at Yuanwei Capital; he came back from abroad at the end of September.

His Aunt asked him, “Why don’t you come to my office?”

He hesitated for a long time before answering, “It’s okay.”

“I’ll go straight home and just have dinner with you tonight.” So he went directly to his Aunt’s villa from the airport, and even took a detour so he wouldn’t pass by Yuanwei Building.

Luo Zhiqiu’s second operation was very risky.

He came to see Uncle Xu and asked Uncle Xu to help him contact the most authoritative surgeon in the field.

His Aunt just arrived home from the company and asked him why he suddenly came back to the country.

“I’ve arranged a doctor for Luo Zhiqiu. Just say it was you who helped find a doctor.”

His aunt hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “Okay, no problem.”

He had wanted to ask his Aunt several times how Luo Qi had been doing this past year, but he couldn’t open his mouth.

After finishing the meal, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is she okay?”

The dining room was silent for a moment.

“I don’t know if it’s okay. Luo Zhiqiu’s first surgery last year was very devastating to the body; he hasn’t recovered yet, and now he needs another surgery. From what Luo Qi said, whether he can make it depends on luck. 

“Because of her, Pei Shixiao gave up his job abroad and started a business in China, which caused a falling out with his family. Pei Shixiao’s parents would never agree to them being together.”

Silence again.

“But they have a good relationship.”

His Aunt told him everything she knew.

He nodded, and after a while he said, “That’s good.”

On the day of Luo Zhiqiu’s surgery, he went to the hospital but did not show up in the family waiting area. He waited in the doctor’s office.

From nine in the morning to four thirty in the afternoon.

The next day, he went to Manhattan, where Yuanwei Capital had a difficult matter for him to deal with.

Before he left, he asked his Aunt, “Try not to let her drink.”

At that time, Luo Qi had only been his Aunt’s Assistant for less than two weeks. His Aunt didn’t know Luo Qi, and like Uncle Xu, she found his behavior incomprehensible.

Auntie was very angry and said, “She is not your girlfriend.”

He had no words to refute.

“Just think of it as my previous life. She just hasn’t recognized me yet in this life.”

Aunt: “……”

She laughed, helpless, as if she had heard a huge joke.

“You… you said you… I really…”

His Aunt was so angry at him that she couldn’t utter a complete sentence for a long time.

“Aunt, Luo Qi is just like you. No matter what happens, she never complains. She is also as tenacious as you are. You will know what kind of person she is after spending time with her.”

His Aunt just smiled, as if she didn’t believe what he said.

“You are a lover who sees beauty in everything about her.”

He didn’t argue. “You’ll take that back in two years.”

“Not to mention two years, if you can continue to like Luo Qi for another year, I will give you a long-lasting love award.”

Two years later, he returned to China to take over Yuanwei Group.

“Chief Jiang?” followed by two knocks on the door.

Jiang Shenghe came back to his senses and closed the email he had sent to Luo Qi. “Come in.”

Xiao Jiang pushed the door open and entered. “Boss Chang is already in the reception room.”

Chang Chuxin rushed over from Suzhou and made an appointment with the boss at three o’clock; he arrived ten minutes early.

Jiang Shenghe nodded to show that he understood.

Chang Chuxin had been troubled by Luo Qi this year. When she said she wanted to adjust the market positioning, Jiang Shenghe agreed without blinking an eye and directly informed them to cut off Yuanwei Medical’s mid and low-end market.

It was said to be for the long-term competitiveness of the Group.

With just one word from the Group’s head, everyone at Yuanwei Medical became busy as hell.

Over the past year, he was plagued by constant contract disputes, three of which ended up in lawsuits. All of it left him exhausted.

Even so, the boss continued to praise Luo Qi.

He just couldn’t understand why the boss had become so ridiculous in this matter and agreed to Ruipu’s strategic plan. It turned out that Luo Qi was the boss’s wife.

Jiang Shenghe came in and Chang Chuxin stood up, “Chief Jiang.”

“Sit.”

Jiang Shenghe asked directly, “What is it?”

Chang Chuxin was simple and straightforward, and he honestly wanted to meet Luo Qi.

But he wasn’t talking to Luo Qi alone now. “I want to talk to Ruipu in front of Chief Jiang.”

Jiang Shenghe stared at Chang Chuxin thoughtfully for a few seconds, then called Luo Qi and asked her to come over.

… …

After hearing Chi Xin say that Chang Chuxin went to the 40th floor, Luo Qi had a hunch that it was related to her. Li Rui was in charge of the Medical Technology industry, so Chang Chuxin should have gone to Li Rui for work matters, not to Jiang Shenghe.

Sure enough, it really had something to do with her.

Since the news about their relationship was made public, her coming to the 40th floor was like going home, and they all took it for granted.

But it was working hours now, and Luo Qi treated Jiang Shenghe as her boss and sat across him.

After the pleasantries, Chang Chuxin got straight to the point, “Ms. Luo, whether adjusting the market positioning can really improve the Group’s overall competitiveness as projected, I don’t think even you dare to guarantee it.”

“What does Mr. Chang mean?”

“Ms. Luo is the head of Ruipu. You should be in charge of Ruipu’s business, not Yuanwei Medical. I know this may sound unpleasant, but I built the entire Yuanwei Medical team myself. I have more feelings for them than you do. You don’t understand Yuanwei Medical very well. This plan caught us off guard and disrupted all our plans.”

Chang Chuxin also took the risk. Expressing his dissatisfaction in front of Jiang Shenghe was more effective than venting his emotions in private behind his boss’s back.

He came here this time to get more compensation for Yuanwei Medical.

The Group would not give out any compensation for cutting off the mid and low-end markets, and each subsidiary would have to bear all losses and breaches of contract by itself.

“You’re a layman.” Chang Chuxin added, “Of course, Vice President Li told me that the current Yuanwei Medical is a project plan made for you by Chief Jiang.”

But who would believe it?

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Jiang Shenghe had come up with this excuse to save Luo Qi’s reputation.

Jiang Shenghe said, “If you’re angry, take it out on me. Know that I will protect her. Don’t let it happen again.”

Chang Chuxin: “…”

It seemed the rumors were true.

It was rumored that Jiang Shenghe directly and publicly stated at a high-level meeting that he did not distinguish between public and private affairs.

It was okay to target him, but targeting Luo Qi was unacceptable.

“Chief Jiang, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m also doing this for Yuanwei Medical.”

Jiang Shenghe naturally knew this. He had recruited Chang Chuxin himself from a competitor to form the current Yuanwei Medical Team, and he had both ability and strength.

Luo Qi guessed that Chang Chuxin’s intention in coming here was to get more compensation.

The Board of Directors would never agree to let the Group to pay, so the pressure fell on Jiang Shenghe.

It was she who proposed to cut off the mid and low-end markets and she didn’t intend to put Jiang Shenghe in a difficult position.

She interrupted, “Since Mr. Chang thinks that I’m a layman and I’m just messing around, I can’t convince you right now. How about this? Let’s make a verbal wager. In two years, if Ruipu’s profits exceeds Yuanwei Medical’s, Yuanwei Medical will allow me to poach a group of R&D personnel, and vice-versa. What do you think? Do you dare?”

Chang Chuxin smiled, and he felt funny.

“You want to surpass Yuanwei Medical’s performance in just two years?”

Luo Qi only asked, “Do you dare?”

What else could Chang Chuxin say?

Not responding meant giving in.

He wasn’t worried about losing to her, but with such a wager, he wouldn’t be able to ask the Group for compensation.

When he came, he was full of anger, and when he left, he was twice as angry.

This couple was really infuriating.

Luo Qi killed two birds with one stone. Not only did she hasten Chang Chuxin’s withdrawal from the low-end and mid-range markets, but she also foiled his plan to ask the Group for money.

This wager only had a two-year limit; the pressure on her was doubled.

After Chang Chuxin left, Jiang Shenghe looked at her and said with a smile, “You really dare to gamble.

“It’s okay if you lose. I’ll appoint you to a new position and make you Chang Chuxin’s new boss. He won’t dare to speak out,” he said.

“No, I have to accept the loss. I can’t leave Ruipu.” Besides, she might not lose.

Luo Qi laughed, “You are too unprincipled.”

Jiang Shenghe said, “My principle is you.” 

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

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T/N: This story is ending and I’ve picked up a new work in its place. Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the 80s.

Rebirth. Set in the 1980s. FL sees her husband cheating on her and somehow goes back in time. This time around, under the marriage agreement of the two families, she chooses her ex-husband’s uncle instead.

Despite the dog-blood summary, it’s very good work. The love is epic; the career super interesting. Antique hunting. Porcelain, Jade, Bronze. Archeology. It’s a great way to peek into China’s different eras through the treasures they created.

If you’re enjoying my translations, do consider buying me ko-fi. Thanks for your support! ❤️ A list of all advance chapters is HERE.

1. Pockets cleaner than her face. It means someone with no money. ↩︎