Chapter 42
"Didn't I tell you I'd take a taxi home myself?" Ji Mingfei jogged around the front of the car to the passenger side, opened the door, and got in.
Chu Yue held the steering wheel with one hand and waited for Ji Mingfei to fasten his seatbelt before starting the car, saying, "The end of a party is often the peak time for alphas to show off their skills, I can't let anyone take advantage of me."
"You sound quite skilled!"
Chu Yue glanced at her sideways, "How do you know I was once pursued by an alpha?"
"..."
I don't know, I just said it offhand.
Chu Yue sighed and suddenly started talking about the past, "Back when I first came to the company, the CFO was an alpha who was older than me now. He set his sights on me at the company's annual party. I had been drinking and couldn't drive, but he insisted on giving me a ride. They were arguing and pulling each other on the street."
"And then?" Ji Mingfei was quite interested in the beginning of the story.
"Then I got into his car." Chu Yue chuckled. "He thought that once I got into his car, I would be trapped. He drove me further and further away. Just as we were about to get onto the ring expressway, I fastened my seatbelt and then rammed his car into an unopened tollbooth at the toll station. The traffic police responded on the spot and took him away."
Ji Mingfei got goosebumps and asked, "So, when you went to work the next day...didn't he cause you any trouble?"
"No, I don't think so! Anyway, he hasn't been around me since that day. But my salary hasn't gone up, which is probably related to him."
"The consequences are quite serious." Ji Mingfei wasn't afraid of being scolded, but he was terrified of having his salary docked. A few words of scolding wouldn't hurt him, but losing money would be a real blow!
"It was quite serious. So when we kicked him out back then, he threw up everything!"
"This works?" Ji Mingfei asked incredulously.
"It definitely didn't go through the finance department."
"..."
Isn't this extortion?
Ji Mingfei looked up at the window and realized this wasn't the way home. Judging from the driving trajectory, they were already far from the city center.
Where are we going?
"The bridge spanning the river."
…
At night, the bridge across the river appears as a golden ribbon of light from a distance, with lights reflecting on both banks. Sightseeing boats move slowly on the river, and the small lights on the heads of the fishermen on the riverbank look like stars scattered in the grass.
Before crossing the bridge, Chu Yue bought beer and milk at a convenience store. She carried a plastic bag in her left hand and held Ji Mingfei's hand as they strolled along the sidewalk.
The two stood in the middle of the bridge admiring the scenery. Chu Yue placed the milk on the railing in front of Ji Mingfei, then opened a beer and leaned on the railing to drink it.
Ji Mingfei never knew that the summer evening breeze, far from the city center, could be so cool, completely unlike the stuffy heat of the city mixed with car exhaust.
Ji Mingfei suddenly felt a craving when he saw her drinking beer, and reached out to take some, but Chu Yue snatched it away first.
"This is yours." Chu Yue handed the milk to her.
Ji Mingfei reluctantly unscrewed the milk cap. "Then don't drink in front of me! So you want to go out for drinks, and you've asked me to be your driver."
Looking at the shimmering river, Chu Yue said, "I can call a designated driver, I just wanted to go for a walk with you. We've known each other for so long, but we haven't really gone on a date yet!"
Ji Mingfei covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed, "You already have a child, and you're only now thinking about going on dates? Ms. Chu, the process of relationships can't be reversed."
"What should we do then? Who told you to give birth to the child without consulting me?" Chu Yue leaned lazily against the railing, the streetlight reflecting brightly in her eyes.
Ji Mingfei suddenly felt that this woman was incredibly beautiful, a million times more beautiful than the decisive and efficient CEO Chu in the company and the alluring Chu Yue in bed.
Realizing her heart was racing, Ji Mingfei quickly turned her head away. She touched her burning cheeks, wondering why she was feeling intoxicated when she hadn't even been drinking!
"Actually, I should have had a serious talk with you a long time ago."
Ji Mingfei turned her head and saw that she had opened another can of beer. The atmosphere of the conversation didn't seem very relaxed, or rather, it wasn't like Chu Yue's style.
Since they met, Chu Yue has acted coquettishly, acted spoiled, and threatened people nonchalantly, but she has never had a heart-to-heart talk with her. Her way of handling problems is as tough as her appearance; she is the kind of person who always puts her feelings on the outside, whether she cares or not, and always exudes an air of pretension.
Ji Mingfei had already planned to live with her, but she didn't expect her to open up to him, which left her somewhat at a loss.
What do you want to talk about?
Perhaps because she had drunk too much, Chu Yue let out a burp, ruining the atmosphere, and it took her a while to recover.
"Chu Yue, 31 years old, graduated from the Finance Department of Tianyuan University of Finance and Economics, worked at Ansheng Group for nine years, has no bad habits. Zero dating experience, except for a nominal relationship with Shen Qing'an for work purposes. You are my first love!"
First love...? Ji Mingfei suddenly felt that he had a lot of "criminal records".
Chu Yue took a key out of her pocket and put it in Ji Mingfei's hand. "This is the key to the study drawer. Inside are my salary card, stocks, funds, bonds, and real estate. It's all yours."
"..."
She's had too much to drink. She's clearly emptied her pockets, so why does she look so relieved? Do rich people these days like to make extravagant declarations of love? Is there some trap she can't see through?
"Why...why are you giving me all this?" For the first time, Ji Mingfei felt that money was such a hot potato.
Chu Yue said matter-of-factly, "After marriage, isn't it always the wife who manages the money?"
Ji Mingfei's lips twitched. This kind of dynamic exists in ordinary families, but Chu Yue isn't an alpha from an ordinary family! Aside from her salary card, she's never touched stocks or funds; even if she were given them, she wouldn't understand them.
"You should keep this yourself!" Ji Mingfei quickly returned the key to Chu Yue.
She was rejected...? This outcome wasn't what Chu Yue had imagined. Didn't the book say that to win an alpha's heart, you first need to win their wallet? Did Ji Mingfei not want to win her heart?
"...Why not?"
"Huh? I don't understand your stock funds. You should just keep them yourself! Aren't these things traded frequently?"
Chu Yue explained to her, "It's not stock for trading, it's a share certificate, which generally doesn't need to be traded."
This woman is indeed very rich!
But what does this have to do with her? Does getting a share certificate make her a shareholder? She doesn't want to be a steward of her assets.
“Except for equity, which cannot be transferred, funds and real estate can be transferred without a transaction,” Chu Yue added promptly, as if she could read Ji Mingfei’s inner monologue.
Ji Mingfei awkwardly refused, saying, "If you think you have too much money... then save it for June!"
Chu Yue smiled and said, "June is still young, I'll earn her share slowly later."
"Aren't you afraid I'll make you leave with nothing?"
Chu Yue thought about it carefully and said, "Well... I'm not particularly afraid."
"So what are you most afraid of?" Ji Mingfei had just asked the question when she remembered the answer: she was afraid of ghosts.
"I'm afraid you'll run away from home, afraid you won't like me, afraid you'll treat marriage as just a partnership." Chu Yue's eyes were filled with helplessness as she looked at Ji Mingfei, especially after seeing his reaction, she became even more certain of her guess.
Suddenly being "checkmated" made Ji Mingfei feel a little guilty. Although she didn't intend to hide her thoughts, it was still a bit embarrassing to have them said out loud.
“It makes no difference to you, does it?” Ji Mingfei said softly, fiddling with the protruding rivets on the railing.
Chu Yue said very seriously, "Of course there is a difference. I hope you like me, just as I like you."
"Does this count as a confession?" Ji Mingfei asked her jokingly.
Chu Yue took out a ring from her pocket and said, "It's a proposal."
Ji Mingfei almost forgot that they had ordered wedding rings. Although she had chosen them herself, she never expected them to be brought out in this way.
Her throat went dry with nervousness. She swallowed hard, then smiled calmly and said, "What's the big deal? We've already got our marriage certificate. Why all this fuss? I'm not some kid fantasizing about romantic dramas."
After saying that, Ji Mingfei extended his ring finger and passed it through the ring in Chu Yue's hand.
“The size is just right.” Ji Mingfei held up his hand and waved it in front of Chu Yue.
Chu Yue couldn't hold back any longer. "Tell me, are you allergic to romance?"
Ji Mingfei shook his head and said, "I'm allergic to you. The proposal is over, can we go home now? I've missed my June 1st so much since I haven't seen her for a day."
"Don't you miss me?" Chu Yue inexplicably felt jealous of the child.
"Aren't we together in the morning, at noon, and in the evening?"
"..."
"Since you've been drinking, I'll drive." Ji Mingfei packed the remaining beer and empty cans together and put them in the trunk after they got off the bridge.
Chu Yue leaned back against the hood of the car, squeezing the empty can in her hand, making a crunching sound.
"Get in the car quickly," Ji Mingfei urged from the car door.
Chu Yue played with the empty can in her hand, refusing to get in the car. Ji Mingfei had no choice but to close the car door and walk around to coax her into the car.
"I'm so sleepy, let's go home quickly. I have to go to work tomorrow!" Ji Mingfei held up her hand to show her her watch. "Look at the time!"
"Are you sleepy? Then we won't go back tonight." Chu Yue gave a mischievous look and pointed behind Ji Mingfei, where the flashing laser lights of "Linjiang Hotel" could be seen from a distance.
"..."
Ji Mingfei quickly opened the car door, grabbed Chu Yue by the collar, pushed her into the car, and closed the door. The whole process was done in one go without any hesitation.
This was the first time Chu Yue had been grabbed by the collar by Ji Mingfei. She sat motionless in the car, watching him pass by, open the driver's side door, and get in.
"...Wife?"
"go home."
"oh!"
Ji Mingfei gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, the ring pressing firmly onto his ring finger. The jarring presence of the ring imprisoned his once-free fingers, his body tightly bound by the thorns of love, the thorns threatening to pierce his heart.
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