They talked about fish fillet, what to prepare, and finally how many bottles of red wine they needed. Jian Hang only drank juice during her pregnancy, so Luo Qi suggested bringing her juicer.

“No, it’s too much trouble.”

“It’s alright, I want some fresh juice myself.”

They agreed to meet at the resort around 12:00. Luo Qi hung up the phone and turned to see Jiang Shenghe approaching. She told him, “I asked Jian Hang, and she said four bottles of wine would be enough.”

Jiang Shenghe didn’t care about the wine. “Want to make some fish fillet for me?”

“Yeah.” Luo Qi looked at him with a smile, “Did you hear that?”

“I only heard half of it.” He wanted to hear the first half again, that term of endearment. She rarely expressed her feelings for him, only in those emails. The rest of the time, it was when they were in bed, when he pleased her to the brink of sexual ecstasy, that she would say a few words.

“I didn’t hear it all. What else did you say before?” he prompted her.

Luo Qi put down her phone and went to the cloakroom to find some clothes to wear. “We didn’t talk about anything, just whether there were enough fish in the lake and that Qin Moling wanted to eat grilled fish.”

“Not that one.”

“…”

Both of them smiled.

Luo Qi stood in front of the wardrobe, momentarily forgetting what she was doing. She carefully recalled her conversation with Jian Hang. They had spoken for over ten minutes, and even with her good memory she couldn’t possibly remember every word.

The only thing she knew for sure was that he cared deeply about whatever was said and wanted to hear it again. Without rushing to change, Luo Qi walked over to him and said, “Remind me a little with a few words.”

Jiang Shenghe was naturally unable to say, so he only smiled and said, “I forgot too. I didn’t understand what I heard at the time.” He pushed her shoulders and walked to the wardrobe, “Change clothes first.”

Luo Qi finally remembered and hugged his waist. “’Our family’s Jiang Shenghe.’” She asked, “Is that it?”

Jiang Shenghe said nothing but lowered his head and gently nibbled her lips.

Luo Qi reflected on herself, wondering why he was so happy to hear such ordinary words. Perhaps it was because she had never shown any possessiveness towards him nor had she ever been jealous of him.

Her ears burned, and she confessed, “I kissed you many times while you were asleep.”

Jiang Shenghe paused from kissing her, then kissed her deeply.

The warm breath hit her face, mixed with his unique masculine scent. Luo Qi was trapped in it, holding his shirt around the waist, her fingers clutching tighter and tighter, until the fabric in her grasp were crumpled into a ball.

“Luo Qi,” Jiang Shenghe put his lips to her ear after withdrawing from her lips and tongue, “help me undo it.”

Luo Qi had unbuckled his pants for him before, and after trying a few times, she had already become very proficient at it.

Jiang Shenghe wanted to say something, and he told her so with his body.

… ….

Luo Qi had originally thought that she finally didn’t have to take a shower that Saturday morning, but her record remained unbroken. Jiang Shenghe left several kiss marks on her body, some deep and some faint.

The nightgown was no longer wearable, so she exchanged it for a casual outfit.

The bed was in a mess. Jiang Shenghe tidied it up briefly while she was taking a shower. While he was adjusting the quilt, he accidentally knocked something off the bedside table.

He bent down and picked up the magazine she had been reading for almost a year now. He flipped through it and turned to the page where she had folded the corner. His own name came into view.

The bathroom door opened, and Luo Qi came out, wiping her wet hair. The thin quilt on the bed wasn’t even made yet. He was flipping through a magazine. It seemed her secret was no longer hidden.

“Why are you spying on how I make my fortune?” she said with a smile.

“Who would tell others about how to get rich?”

Luo Qi smiled. Of course, she knew that magazine interviews were simply official statements, all carefully worded to avoid causing controversy. But when it came to him, none of the above reasons were within her consideration.

“This is my first time buying a magazine.”

Jiang Shenghe closed the magazine and went over to hug her.

Luo Qi pointed at her hair that was still dripping with water. It usually took her a long time to dry her hair. She used a towel to gently absorb the water without rubbing it, so that her hair would not be damaged.

“If you want to read my thoughts, I’ll write to you one day about my journey over the past decade.”

“Then I’ll wait for you to write it as my New Year’s gift next year.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Jiang Shenghe helped her put the magazine in the study since she didn’t need them.  Except for a pile of books, she hadn’t moved most of her belongings from her rental apartment. These books had traveled with her across the ocean, and she would sometimes take them out to warm them when she had nothing to do. She had moved several times without losing a single page.

She didn’t have many books, less than thirty in total, stacked in the middle compartment of the left bookcase.

Jiang Shenghe put the magazine back into her bookcase and accidentally glanced at a familiar novel. The movie they had watched together on the beach in Haicheng was adapted from this novel.

He pulled it out casually. There was something stuck in the book, making the cover bulge. A promotion flyer for ‘Super Weekly Sales’ slid out from the title page. He opened the flyer; the special offer items she wanted were marked with a black pen.

His thoughts were brought back to eight years ago.

After the meeting that day, Jiang Sixun asked him to stay for a while and told him about the company’s internship situation.

“The quota is full. But a friend called me this morning and asked if I could help. He said this girl’s family was having financial difficulties. Her parents’ company went bankrupt and they couldn’t pay her tuition anymore. She only has one year left in her undergraduate studies and still wants to finish it.”

Jiang Sixun’s friend had a very high opinion of the girl, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked for help.

He had said, “Just so she can finish studying.”

Jiang Sixun went on to say that the girl said she wanted to intern if she had the chance. First, she wanted to earn her own money, and second, she didn’t have the opportunity to continue her studies anymore and she would have to compete with equally talented candidates for a job in the future. If the other candidate had a master’s degree, her own academic qualifications would put her at a disadvantage, so she wanted to use the internship to enrich her resume.

He had agreed to add one more internship spot, and Jiang Sixun notified the HR department to send her the offer.

The next day, the girl reported to the company, and Jiang Sixun kept her in his project team.

A week later, he met Jiang Sixun and the girl in the elevator. Jiang Sixun introduced him to the girl and said, “He’s the one who gave you an internship.”

She said ‘thank you’, but he didn’t hear it clearly.

He stood in the elevator, his soul wandering outside. Who could have thought that after parting at the cinema, they would meet again? After not seeing each other for a few months, the brilliance in her eyes was gone. In her dark eyes, there was now haggardness, tenacity, and a hint of helplessness.

That day after getting off work, he went to look for Jiang Sixun. Luo Qi was still there, making a phone call in the corner.

“Yubao, I’m fine. Hurry up and go to your morning reading class.

“My tuition is paid for now, and my senior helped me find an internship at an investment firm. The two bosses are very kind to me and gave me the opportunity. The salary is quite good.

“I do have money, and I can eat my fill. Seriously, why would I lie to you?

“There’s a Chinese supermarket near where I live. They have bargain specials every Wednesday, and I often get great deals there.

“Things are okay. Yeah, I’m not lying to you.”

He paused for a few seconds and walked straight to Jiang Sixun’s office.

After talking about work, he said to Jiang Sixun, “Try to let Luo Qi go home earlier on Wednesdays from now on.”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

He was silent for a long time, his throat burning. “She can grab more bargain specials then.”

Since then, he often ran into her on his way home from work. He was in the car; she was on the sidewalk. People were rushing everywhere, and she walked even more hurriedly than them.

… …

Jiang Shenghe inserted the promotional flyer back in the title page and put the book back in the shelf.

“Husband?”

“Here.”

He sat down in front of the computer but didn’t have time to turn it on; he casually opened a notebook on the desk and made as if he was reading.

Luo Qi had dried her hair and now came over to him, “Let’s go to the kitchen to prepare some food, we can head over a little earlier.”

“Okay.” He calmed himself down and followed her downstairs. Her steps were lively, and she even smiled back at him on the stairs.

Luo Qi made a list of the food she wanted to bring and didn’t ask the auntie for help. She and Jiang Shenghe prepared it themselves.

“Take out the red wine first, so you don’t forget it later.”

“I can’t forget. Qin Moling messaged me three times to remind me.”

“…”

Jiang Shenghe took out several bottles of wine from his personal collection in the wine cellar, all of them expensive, but he didn’t take the two most expensive bottles. He left them to enjoy with Luo Qi on their anniversary.

He remembered to tell her ahead of time, “You can’t drink at this picnic. And I won’t either.”

“… Mm.”

He never forgot they were preparing for pregnancy.

After a while, he added, “If we don’t get pregnant this month, let’s wait and have a baby after the wedding.”

Luo Qi nodded. She also wanted to spend a few more months in their world of two.

… …

They set out an hour early, taking Doudou and Mimi with them. The two hadn’t been out to play for a long time, so they were very excited and stared curiously out the car windows.

When they arrived at the resort parking lot, Jiang Shenghe already knew who was coming today just by looking at the license plates.

“When we get back, let’s buy more planting equipment.”

Alarm bells rang in Luo Qi’s mind, “What are you going to plant now? Don’t plant pumpkins anymore.”

Jiang Shenghe parked the car and said, “We will supply Qin Moling’s family with fresh strawberries from now on.”

Last year, he posted a photo of Doudou in his Moments, and everyone who had commented, ‘Jiang Shenghe, a brilliant scholar’ under his post came today. Obviously it was Qin Moling’s doing.

The resort owner was also one of them.

Luo Qi had met all of Jiang Shenghe’s friends when she was working as his Assistant. At that time, she didn’t know that Jiang Shenghe liked her, and he often took her with him on the pretext of work.

There were several tables set up by the lake, and the guests were divided into two groups: one were fishing and the other playing cards.

These people only teased Jiang Shenghe in the group chat, but in front of their wives, they were calm and composed, not much different from how they acted in their business dealings.

After saying ‘hello’, Luo Qi went to find Jian Hang and the others. Six or seven beautiful women were sitting under a parasol, fishing, surrounded by a few children. When the children saw Doudou and Mimi, they rushed over to play with them in the grass.

Luo Qi glanced down at the bucket and saw not a single fish.

The fish in the lake were specially raised by the resort, and there were many varieties, but they hadn’t caught a single one. After a while, they were too lazy to even look at the fishing rods and just leaned back on the lounge chairs to chat.

Jian Hang pushed up her sunglasses and said with a smile, “Is your husband satisfied with today’s arrangements?”

Luo Qi nodded, “It’s enough to show off for a few months.”

The resort’s proprietress interjected, “Even when they’re all together, they can’t think with a clear mind. The worst part is, they all think they’re so clever.”

Several women burst into laughter.

Apart from Jian Hang, Luo Qi was most familiar with Shen Tang, wife of Jiang Shenghe’s cousin, Jiang Shengyu. Shen Tang used to be a star, but after her marriage, she retired behind the scenes and became the boss of a film and television company.

“When is the wedding scheduled?” Shen Tang asked.

“Tentatively scheduled for June next year.”

“That’s plenty of time. It’s a pity that neither of us can be bridesmaids. Will you go to Suzhou to do it?”

“We’ll do one in Suzhou first.”

“Then we’ll go to Suzhou that day to join in the fun and see how they welcome the bride over there.” Shen Tang asked Jian Hang, “What about you? Are you going? I’m afraid you wouldn’t be able go.”

“Yeah, the baby will be born by then.”

They laid out the food and invited everyone to eat.

Luo Qi almost brought the entire kitchen to this picnic, bringing a hot pot, a barbecue grill, and a grill plate.

Qin Moling went off to grill meat for Jian Hang. Jiang Shenghe took his place at the card table. Luo Qi was holding a glass of juice and looked at his cards. She didn’t want to sit close next to him in front of outsiders so she kept a bit of distance between, without any intimacy, simply tilting her body to look at the cards in his hand.

Jiang Shenghe noticed her leaning in that uncomfortable position. He half stood up and moved his chair nearer, letting her lean against him to look at the cards in his hands.

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

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T/N: What is this? An update?? 👀

What Luo Qi actually said was ‘our family’s Jiang Shenghe’ but you could just as easily think of it as ‘my Jiang Shenghe‘ because that is what she meant and I promise you that’s what Jiang Shenghe heard 😂

In Chinese language, what you call someone is always in relation to your closeness to that person and how you two are related to the person you are talking to. In this case, Jiang Shenghe is an ‘insider’ to Luo Qi, while Jian Hang is an ‘outsider’ to both of them, so she calls him ‘our family’s Jiang Shenghe’. 

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 67.1 — (Extra) Come a Little Closer to Me
Chapter 67.2 — (Extra) Come a Little Closer to Me
Chapter 68.1 — (Extra) Deep Kissing
Chapter 68.2 — (Extra) Deep Kissing