Back home, Jian Hang didn’t turn on her computer to work overtime. Instead, she took a spray bottle and watered all the green plants and flowers in the house.

Around seven o’clock, Qin Moling’s car drove into the yard.

Jian Hang was watering roses on the second-floor terrace. She leaned against the edge of the terrace and watched him.

Qin Moling looked up and said, “You don’t need to come down, I’ll go upstairs.”

As he stepped onto the stairs, Qin Moling unbuttoned his shirt and went up to the second floor, heading towards the second bedroom.

Jian Hang had showered around the same time as him. She was drying her hair when he came over from the second bedroom, carrying his men’s watch.

Jian Hang had her watch on her wrist; she put it back on after taking a shower.

Qin Moling glanced at the watch on her wrist. He put his watch on, too, this time on his right hand.

It wasn’t until they were in bed that Jian Hang realized why Qin Moling wore his watch on his right hand. It was because she was facing him, and his right hand was holding her left.

Jian Hang looked up at the person above her. They were holding hands tightly, and he had pressed her hands to either side of the pillow.

People were pressed together, their hands clasped together, the metal straps of their two watches constantly rubbing against each other.

Jian Hang said haltingly, worried, “The watchband… it will scratch.”

“It’s alright,” Qin Moling said. “This watchband is made of a special material.”

He leaned down and kissed her.

… …

The next morning, Jian Hang almost couldn’t get up.

They hadn’t been together for almost a week, and last night they ate three times before they were finally satisfied.

As Jian Hang straightened her clothes in front of the mirror, she noticed a kiss mark left by Qin Moling just below her collarbone.

He never usually left any marks on her front, but last night’s kisses were intentional; he sucked on it several times.

Jian Hang took off her T-shirt, found another shirt in the closet and put it on to cover the hickey.

She grabbed her watch and went downstairs for breakfast.

Qin Moling hasn’t left yet. He made coffee in the morning and gave her a third of it.

“Good morning, President Qin.”

“Mm. Good morning.” Last night, she called him ‘President Qin’ while they were joined together, and now Qin Moling didn’t object to her calling him ‘President Qin’ at home.

He turned to look at her. Today she wasn’t wearing her usual work attire but instead a pale blue shirt and white, high-waisted pants.

Qin Moling remembered that they were having lunch together today.

He glanced down at his white shirt; the fabric was different from his work shirt, but it looked just like he was wearing work clothes¹.

Jian Hang took a sip of coffee, which nearly gave her a second life. She felt like she almost died recently because she couldn’t drink coffee or play games.

After breakfast, she put down her chopsticks and slowly sipped her coffee while waiting for Qin Moling.

Qin Moling said, “You go first after you finish eating. I have something to do upstairs.”

Jian Hang: “…”

There was a routine meeting today, so she went straight to the company after finishing her coffee.

… …

The distributors’ situation was basically going in the direction Jian Hang had predicted. Notices to close their accounts had been sent to each one, which put them under great pressure.

Mr. Luo from Jiangcheng has temporarily muted the distributors group chat. The leader, Mr. Zhao, has been complaining in the group whenever he has free time these past two days, saying that he was taken advantage of by Jian Hang.

Jian Hang was the first person to dare to take advantage of him.

Mr. Zhao has been a general distributor of Lemeng for over 20 years, earning his first pot of gold from Lemeng. He has long-term vision and was quite good at business. Now he owned several industrial companies and was considered one of the top businessmen in Suzhou.

Everyone else fawned over him, but Jian Hang openly humiliated him and dared to close his account first.

Like Mr. Zhao, Mr. Luo didn’t care whether the products of the Fourth Division could make money this year. For them, the future market potential of the Fourth Division’s new drinks was worth taking a gamble on.

Back then, the Second Division also had a drink that they took a gamble on. Unexpectedly, that summer, the Second Division’s new drink became a hit in the market and was even sold out for a time.

Back then, Lemeng’s largest distributor earned nearly 80 million yuan.

Mr. Luo decided to continue distributing the Fourth Division products. Just as it was time for work to start, he called Zheng Yanshu.

“I just got back from a business trip and heard you’re going to close my account. What does that mean?”

“President Luo, have you seen the notice?”

President Luo: “…”

The notice was sent directly to his phone, and another copy was sent to his email address.

He really couldn’t lie through his teeth and say he didn’t see it.

“I saw it. I don’t understand what it means.”

Zheng Yanshu knew very well that Mr. Luo’s call today indicated that he had decided to continue being distributor for the Fourth Division’s products, as long as the conditions were not too demanding.

“Mr. Luo, the requirement is for money to be transferred to your distributor account as advance payment for next year’s new products.”

“You guys actually came up with the idea of making us pay six months’ worth of products.”

Zheng Yanshu stated bluntly, “It’s because the contract alone can no longer guarantee that you will make the payment.” Signing a distribution contract was useless; if they won’t make the advance payment and just drag their feet on closing the accounts, it will affect the market next year.

Mr. Luo frowned. Zheng Yanshu had a new boss now, and his tone has become much more arrogant. Even Zhong Yanyue from the Second Division didn’t dare to speak to him in that tone.

Indeed, one who is close to ink will be blackened.

“Paying for six months’ worth of products is unrealistic. We’ve been cooperating with Lemeng for over ten years, and we all trust each other. Your Fourth Division’s actions are disheartening. We can only pay for one month’s worth of products at most, no more than that.”

Zheng Yanshu wanted to gain more leverage so that it would be much easier to negotiate with the other 419 distributors.

He didn’t hesitate to belittle himself, “Mr. Luo, you should know what kind of life I’m living now.”

Mr. Luo sighed, “I understand.”

Mr. Zhao from Suzhou was nearly driven mad by Jian Hang, unable to sleep at night and sending endless messages in the group chat. Was it about losing a few million? No. Those millions wouldn’t even buy a good car. But having his pride trampled underfoot by Jian Hang made this matter no longer about money.

Having lost face, they desperately tried to salvage their dignity.

Zheng Yanshu continued, “I can’t possibly explain to Ms. Jian if I allow you to just pay for one month’s worth of products.”

Mr. Luo didn’t respond; he considered matters.

In fact, the payment was only deposited into his own distributor account in advance. This just means that the bank would temporarily freeze this portion of his funds according to the agreement between him and Lemeng.

In January next year, when the new product was launched, this portion of the payment would be unfrozen and transferred to Lemeng’s account.

The funds were absolutely safe, but it meant that two months worth of payment would be tied up for a while.

Before, they were never forced to fulfill the sales quota set by the Fourth Division, wasn’t it because the Fourth Division didn’t have any hold on ensured payment for its goods?

After a moment’s thought, Mr. Luo conceded, “I’ll pay in advance two months’ worth of products, but we’ll announce three months’ worth to the public. That way, the other distributors will naturally pay you for three months’ worth as well. I know you’re having a tough time, and I’ll also bring Mr. Zhao back for you. Is that sincere enough?”

Zheng Yanshu: “…” 

He didn’t expect Mr. Luo to agree to pay for two months’ worth of products so readily, and to even help bring back their largest distributor.

It seemed they’ve all been traumatized by Jian Hang.

“Mr. Luo, thank you for your support. I can’t give you an answer right now. I’ll report to Ms. Jian and see what she thinks. I’ll try my best to help you.”

“… No,” Mr. Luo exclaimed in surprise, “you don’t have any authority at all now?”

Zheng Yanshu remained silent—it was actually because he was too lazy to talk and was just being deliberately mysterious.

Mr. Luo assumed he had tacitly agreed and sighed, “Younger brother, it must be tough working under a boss like that every day.”

Zheng Yanshu: “…”

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

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T/N: It’s useless to just rely on the current contracts because none of the distributors have been following it—they all miss their sales quota and just shrug. Other than cancelling the contract for breach, Lemeng has no way of enforcing it (in fact, they even help the distributors by allowing the Fourth Division products to bundle with the profitable Second Division products). And as these chapters have shown, Lemeng doesn’t want to cancel distributor contracts.

Part of it is that Lemeng recognizes that the Fourth Division’s products is ‘not as good’ so they understand the low sales. But even so, it’s untenable that a company cannot enforce payment on its contracts 😂.  Paying the amount in advance and holding it in escrow is the best solution.

On a bigger context, Lemeng’s problems are not just from previous leadership incompetence but also internal corruption (that’s why there were 3 key executives who got fired). Perhaps this culture of letting distributors get away with not fulfilling  their sales quota stemmed from that. They give gifts, people look the other way, and everyone just blames the bad product for the low sales.

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 58.3 — Misunderstanding
Chapter 59.1 — Dispute
Chapter 59.2 — Dispute
Chapter 59.3 — Dispute
Chapter 60.1 — Moving Back to Her Own Apartment
Chapter 60.2 — Moving Back to Her Own Apartment
Chapter 60.3 — Moving Back to Her Own Apartment

1. I have no idea what Qin Moling is obsessing about here 😂 but the text definitely said Jian Hang was originally wearing a T-shirt before she changed into a ‘shirt/blouse’. Maybe they have a company T-shirt? You know those collared polo shirts with the company logo on the left side of the chest? And Qin Moling was wearing one that looked the same but with better fabric. ↩︎