At 5:05, Secretary Gao’s alarm rang. She went to Qin Moling’s office to remind him that he should prepare to go to the Fourth Division.

Qin Moling was looking at the sales report for the Fourth Division. He asked, “What time is it?”

Secretary Gao provided the exact time, “5:07.”

“No rush, wait a few more minutes.” Qin Moling annotated the data, as he was going to the Fourth Division’s Sales Department later, he needed to have some data in mind.

He said, “I’ll go over after Jian Hang leaves the company.”

He was just going to deliver the figurines; he wasn’t going to see her, and he certainly didn’t want to run into her.

To avoid her misunderstanding that he was not keeping his position as boss.

Secretary Gao waited another six or seven minutes. Everyone at Lemeng knew that Jian Hang left work promptly at five o’clock every day, and her car would definitely be out of the underground parking garage at 5:05.

Everyone secretly envied her commute time.

Jian Hang’s contract states that she should start work in mid-September, but she came in early. While envying her, people also thought she was being foolish. Why didn’t she take advantage of the long break to travel around? Instead, she came to the company every day to clock in, and even then, she’s not well received by Qin Moling. What’s the point of her coming here?

At 5:15, Qin Moling put away the sales reports.

The file bag was on his desk. He picked up his watch and put it on. When Secretary Gao noticed that her boss wasn’t looking at the file bag, she took a few steps forward and picked it up.

Qin Moling walked ahead, followed by Secretary Gao. She didn’t ask Xiao Fan if Jian Hang had finished getting off work yet; she’d leave it to fate. The boss probably wanted to run into Jian Hang, but he was a little too proud to do so.

Secretary Gao informed Zheng Yanshu, “President Qin is going to your Sales Department now.”

Zheng Yanshu: [Got it] 

This wasn’t the first time Qin Moling came over to discuss the sales of the Fourth Division. Their sales this month should be better than expected, so it was reasonable for Qin Moling to come and find out more about it.

Inside the elevator, Qin Moling watched as the floor numbers kept dropping.

He hoped she hadn’t left, but he also hoped she’s already off work.

The elevator quickly stopped on the twentieth floor, where Zheng Yanshu was waiting for them.

Qin Moling asked, “Are all the people in your department here?”

“Here.”

“Let’s have a quick meeting.”

As they chatted, the group entered the Fourth Division’s office area.

Qin Moling glanced at Jian Hang’s office. The door was never locked; besides the plants, there was nothing else of importance inside. The only thing she cared about was her laptop, which she took everywhere she went.

Her office lights were off; she should have already gotten off work.

At that moment, in the conference room he had just passed by, everyone was staring at the figurines on the conference table.

Jian Hang laid out the five figurines in a row, saying, “Take a close look, and then share your impressions.”

Lin Xiao’s eyes widened. His most immediate feeling was ‘Holy crap!!’ These were figurines he couldn’t possibly get!

He desperately wanted to own all five figurines. There was one of them that he hadn’t managed to snag, but Qin Xing had gotten lucky and managed to get it. He went to Qin Xing’s house to take it from him, but failed.

He kicked Zhou Yi under the table, intending to ask if Zhou Yi envied Jian Hang. But after kicking him, he realized that this was at the company, and Zhou Yi wasn’t a friend here, but his boss.

As expected, Zhou Yi’s eyes narrowed, and he warned him to be mindful of the occasion.

The figurines on the table were all of Zhou Yi’s favorite game character. He had been admiring them when he was suddenly kicked.

Zhou Yi asked, “Ms. Jian, where did you get so many limited edition figurines?”

Jian Hang glanced at him. “Is this the main point of the meeting?”

Zhou Yi: “…”

Lin Xiao knew where the figurine came from; it belonged to Qin Moling, nicknamed ‘Little Olive’. Qin Moling had taken advantage of Qin Xing for his birthday, but he didn’t understand why Jian Hang had brought Qin Moling’s figurines to the company.

“Boss, are these figurines a reward for the marketing department producing a proposal that satisfies you?”

“It’s not impossible.” Jian Hang picked up her figurine. “I can give this one away.” The other four were gifts from Qin Moling.

The deputy director of marketing didn’t play games, didn’t know this character that was made into figurines, and didn’t usually pay attention to figurines at all. “Ms. Jian, I don’t really know.”

Jian Hang said, “This has nothing to do with the game; you’re only looking at the figure itself.”

Lin Xiao’s mind returned to work. “It’s the same person, just different looks and clothes. In game, we usually call it a skin. These five figurines are five different skins of the same character.”

The deputy director suddenly understood, “I get it now, thank you.”

She immediately opened the PowerPoint presentation and revised the previous planning proposal.

Lin Xiao sighed, ‘The people in the Fourth Division have looks, but even more so, they can execute’. This exceptionally charismatic deputy director’s work style was very similar to that of a female tycoon—swift and decisive.

Jian Hang shared Fang Nan’s business card with Zhou Yi. Tan Feng arranged for them to meet Fang Nan tonight.

She had spoken with Fang Nan on the phone that afternoon, conveying her thoughts to Fang Nan. In terms of professional matters, she suggested that Zhou Yi and the deputy director lead their team to coordinate with Fang Nan’s studio.

“Don’t let the template for the proposal limit your thinking. Break out of that framework, and you’ll definitely be able to create a high-quality proposal. Meeting adjourned.”

She carefully put the figurines into her handbag.

Jian Hang was unaware that Qin Moling had come to the Sales Department and was holding a meeting in the adjacent conference room with them.

She returned to her office, intending to place the figurines next to the potted plant. Just as she reached into her handbag, she heard footsteps at the office door.

Jian Hang turned her head, saw the person who had come, and was stunned.

Qin Moling was even more surprised than she was, not expecting that she hadn’t left yet.

“President Qin.”

She greeted him.

Jian Hang didn’t want him to know how much she cared about those figurines. There was a stack of sales reports from last month on the table; she picked them up, put them in a bag, and covered the figurines.

“Why aren’t you off work yet? Isn’t it past five o’clock?” Qin Moling asked, coming in with a file bag.

Jian Hang replied, “The meeting just ended. I’m going home now.”

After concealing the figurines, she turned to look at him. “You came all this way just to see me?”

“No, I’m here to see Zheng Yanshu.”

He deliberately emphasized, “I only arrived at 5:15.”

Thinking of what she said that day, Qin Moling was still unhappy. His voice was very calm. “Didn’t you tell me to assume the role of the boss?”

Jian Hang hummed in agreement, picked up her hand bag and laptop bag, and said, “I’m off work. Is there anything else?”

“It’s nothing. You can go home now.” Qin Moling walked to her desk, opened the file bag, took out the figurines inside, and placed them one by one next to the potted plant, arranging them in a row.

Jian Hang stared at the row of figurines without saying a word, put down her bags, and took his hand.

Qin Moling didn’t respond to her, placing the empty file bag on the table. The separation was weighing on his mind; he had already proactively sent over the figurines, and didn’t want to take any more initiative.

The two remained silent for a moment.

Qin Moling turned around and hugged her with one arm.

“Did you trick Qin Xing out of those figurines?” she asked, leaning against him.

“No tricks. He knows that you and I had an argument recently at a meeting about the Fourth Division. Jiang Shenghe asked him to buy figurines for you, and he sponsored them for free, saying that he was giving them to me to give to you.”

Jian Hang was touched. “I must thank him properly another day.”

“Yeah. He can drive all the sports cars at home as he pleases; I rarely drive them anymore.”

It was 5:30, time to leave work. Qin Moling didn’t plan to work overtime today. “I’ll take you home.”

“Wait a minute.” Jian Hang straightened up from his arms, picked up the hand bag, took out the figurines inside, and placed them in front of the five new figurines he had given her, matching them one by one.

Ten figurines, neatly arranged in two rows.

After arranging them, Jian Hang turned to look at him, and Qin Moling leaned down and kissed her lips.

Qin Moling wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and placed her on the desk. He held the back of her head and deepened the kiss.

It was so deep that it couldn’t get any deeper.

After the kiss ended, Jian Hang calmed her breathing, and it took her a while to regain her composure.

“Let’s go home.” Qin Moling was the first to walk out of the office.

Jian Hang took out a mirror to touch up her makeup, then picked up her laptop bag and left.

Qin Moling had the driver take Jian Hang’s sports car, while he drove her there himself.

After stopping for a few minutes in front of a convenience store to buy what he needed, Qin Moling drove onto the main road and headed to Jian Hang’s small apartment.

This was the first time Qin Moling had stepped into Jian Hang’s private space since they got married. He had always escorted her to the door before, but today he had entered the bedroom.

There was one of his T-shirts on the bedside table, neatly folded and placed next to the pillow.

He felt a little more at ease knowing that she wore his clothes as pajamas.

In her small apartment, Jian Hang was used to going barefoot.

Qin Moling led her into the bathroom.

The bathroom in the master bedroom in Jian Hang apartment was very small, less than one-fifth the size of the bathroom in Qin Moling apartment. Yet the small space was exquisite, with hydroponic plants and blooming flowers.

The toiletries in the niche were neat and clean, without a single water stain.

The water mist gradually swirled and spread.

The cramped space was quickly filled with moisture.

Jian Hang held onto Qin Moling’s neck, and since she wasn’t wearing high heels, she could only kiss him by standing on tiptoe.

She tensed her arches and stepped on Qin Moling’s instep.

The water from the showerhead flowed down her toes and onto the back of his feet.

Jian Hang got tired standing this way; her toes almost cramped up.

Qin Moling bent down, picked her up and placed her on the washbasin. He held her ankle and buried his head to kiss her.

At this time yesterday, Jian Hang was at the villa packing her suitcase. She ate alone and waited for him in the living room to come home.

At this moment, he humbled himself and gently pleased her in her small apartment.

When Qin Moling’s lips touched her, Jian Hang felt as if she was walking on an electric current, her fingertips and toes going numb.

Jian Hang turned off the bathroom light; the sound of water and her own soft voice filled the room.

It was almost ten o’clock when the two came out of the bedroom; they hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

Jian Hang didn’t have the energy to cook, so Qin Moling made a simple meal. She ate with her head down, not looking at him. Just now, under the shower in the bathroom, when he wanted her, he called her ‘wife’, over and over, his voice deep and magnetic.

She had been bewitched by him.

“Move into my apartment.” Qin Moling looked up at her.

Jian Hang handed him a cup of fruit tea. “No, thank you. There might be another argument at the meeting next Monday.”

Qin Moling: “…”

She felt that living separately for the time being was good; there were fewer arguments and more longing for each other.

Jian Hang dared not be careless at the routine meeting next Monday; success or failure hinged on that day.

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

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