The next day, Monday, Lu Baisheng called him back in the afternoon.

It seemed that the villa was temporarily unoccupied. It had changed hands twice over the years. Luo Zhiqiu had been in urgent need of money at the time and put the villa up for sale at a low price, on the condition that the other party must pay in full .

The first buyer was a close friend of Luo Zhiqiu who was indirectly helping him out. After buying the villa, he kept it idle and simply regarded it as an investment. He thought that if Luo Zhiqiu made a comeback one day, he would sell the villa back to him. 

Luo Zhiqiu re-invested the money in the company, but the business did not improve for a long time, and he didn’t know when he could pay off his debts. Later, his friend ran short of funds and used the villa to raise money for project construction payments.

The current owner has no shortage of money or houses, and the villa has been vacant all this time and has not been used for any other purpose.

Lu Baisheng said, “The current price of that villa has quadrupled compared to when Luo Zhiqiu sold it.”

“I’ll buy it no matter how expensive it is,” Jiang Shenghe replied.” He asked, “Were you able to contact the owner?”

“Yes. But the owner said he’s not short of money and has no plans to sell it for the time being.”

“Talk to the owner again. If you can’t reach an agreement, I’ll go to Suzhou myself next week.”

There was a meeting at three o’clock, so Jiang Shenghe hung up the phone and went to the conference room on the 40th floor with a cup of coffee.

Luo Qi also had a meeting in the afternoon and arrived at the 40th floor at about the same time. Li Rui convened a meeting with the senior management of several medical technology companies.

Exiting the elevator, she caught sight of a tall figure walking towards another conference room, Xiao Jiang next to him.

Jiang Shenghe had his head lowered, looking at his phone. As if suddenly sensing something, he turned and looked directly at her.

Their eyes met; a smile appeared on his cold face, and he walked towards her with long strides.

As he approached, he asked, “Why didn’t you call out?”

Luo Qi smiled, “I was worried I would delay you from your meeting.”

“It won’t delay me. I still have a minute or two to talk.” Jiang Shenghe still remembered that when she first went to Ruipu for work she said that she missed him. “Next time you see me, just call me.”

“Mm.”

He held the coffee out to her.

Luo Qi didn’t want it and shook the water cup in her hand.

“Give me the water.” Jiang Shenghe took it without hesitation. “You’re not in the President’s Office anymore, so it’s not convenient for me to make you coffee at this time.” He then asked her, “What’s your meeting?”

“Market resource allocation.”

A strand of her hair was stuck in her suit. Jiang Shenghe raised his hand and gently tidied it up.

This was not the first time he had fixed her hair for her, and Luo Qi’s heart still skipped a beat.

When someone else came over, she waved to him and quickly walked away.

“President Jiang,” they greeted.

Jiang Shenghe nodded and watched Luo Qi enter the meeting room before he, too, left.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

A week soon passed, and it was Jiang Shenghe’s birthday.

Lu Baisheng hadn’t been able to reach an agreement with the villa’s owner. Jiang Shenge instructed Xiao Jiang to book him a ticket to Suzhou for Saturday evening, returning on Sunday night.

Today was his birthday, and Luo Qi invited him to the tavern. This was the second year she spent his birthday with him.

At the crack of dawn, he received another email from her.

Hello, Chief Jiang. 

This year has flown by so quickly. I still miss the President’s Office, those days when you were always by my side at work. How about you? Do you still ask executives in meetings: “Is this your solution? Who came up with this?”

Then give them a death stare~

Today is your day, remember to be gentle at the meeting.

I wish my Chief Jiang to always be 22 years old.

… …

Luo Qi booked a table at the far corner of the tavern a day in advance. It was quiet there and no one would disturb them.

Chu Lin already knew their preferences. They never drank alcohol when they came here, so she prepared juice for them as refreshments.

Luo Qi toasted him with her juice, “Happy birthday.”

When they clinked glasses, she lowered her glass, but Jiang Shenghe lowered his glass even more, so that her glass was always higher than the rim of his.

“Husband, let’s chat.”

“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Just chatting.” Luo Qi propped up her chin and looked at him, wanting to know more about him. “Okay, let me ask you, what is the craziest thing you’ve ever done since you were a child?”

For a few seconds, Jiang Shenghe fell into memory.

He hadn’t known that she had resigned from Yuanwei Capital. During that time, he had a project in London and sometimes he did not go to the office for as long as two weeks. At that time, Jiang Sixun didn’t know that he was interested in Luo Qi. Resigning during an internship was not a big deal, so Jiang Sixun simply accepted her resignation.

On the third day after Luo Qi left, Jiang Shenghe came back from a business trip and mentioned her on his own initiative. Only then did Jiang Sixun remember to say that Luo Qi had already left the country. Her father was seriously ill and she left in a hurry.

He hadn’t finished revising her project plan yet; it would only take two more days at most.

But it was already too late.

From that moment, there was a sudden emptiness in his heart, and nothing could fill it.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jiang Sixun: “… you never asked about the other interns leaving.”

“She’s different.”

Jiang Sixun finally noticed something, “Why is she different?”

He didn’t hide anything and told him everything.

Feelings could not be forced. He forced himself to calm down for the meantime, using work to divert his attention, trying not to think about the days when she was still at Yuanwei Capital.

A month later, he learned from Jiang Sixun that she had actually applied for a job at Yuanwei Group, working while taking care of her sick father. Luo Zhiqiu’s company affairs were still unresolved and he was embroiled in lawsuits.

One day, three months after she left, he was at the office working late, looking over the project plan again. He suddenly missed her terribly. He wondered how she was doing back home, whether she still bought discounted food and supplies at the supermarket, and whether she’d encountered unspoken rules¹ in the workplace.

He knew he shouldn’t, but he still bought the plane ticket.

Jiang Shenghe came out of his thoughts, “The craziest thing was flying all night to see you, waiting downstairs of Yuanwei Building, just to take a look at you.”

She looked very sad that day.

Having liked her once, he decided to help her resolve her father’s situation and hoped that she would have a smooth life in the future.

He asked, “What about you? What crazy things have you done?”

After asking, he suddenly felt that it was wrong to ask—what if the answer was related to her previous relationship?

“I don’t mean anything else. Let’s not talk about this.” He toasted her with the glass of juice.

Luo Qi didn’t raise her glass. She looked at him and said, “I can tell you this. The craziest thing I’ve ever done was getting married to my husband in a flash.”

As she said this, she stood up and kissed him on the lips across the table.

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

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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 68.1 — (Extra) Deep Kissing
Chapter 68.2 — (Extra) Deep Kissing
Chapter 69.1 — (Extra) Before the Wedding
Chapter 69.2 — (Extra) Before the Wedding
Chapter 70.1 — (Extra) The Wedding
Chapter 70.2 — (Extra) The Wedding
Chapter 70.3 — (Extra) The Wedding
Chapter 71.1 — (Extra) Baby
Chapter 71.2 — (Extra) Baby
Chapter 72.1 — (Extra) Daily Life of Raising Kids
Chapter 72.2 — (Extra) Daily Life of Raising Kids
Chapter 73.1 — (Extra) Luo Yu x He Xu, Chu Lin x Luo Yuli
Chapter 73.2 — (Extra) Luo Yu x He Xu, Chu Lin x Luo Yuli
Chapter 74.1 — (Extra) Luo Yu x He Xu, Chu Lin x Luo Yuli, Luo Qi x Jiang Shenghe
Chapter 74.2 — (Extra) Luo Yu x He Xu, Chu Lin x Luo Yuli, Luo Qi x Jiang Shenghe

FOOTNOTE:

1. Unspoken rules, basically work place sexual harassment. Including harassment from clients, considering China’s drinking culture for business. While toasting clients and drinking is seen as acceptable, throwing you to the wolves while drunk—or letting them paw you—is not. ↩︎