Chapter 71 Pei Shuwen was all serious...
Zhao Huai'an was stumped by a single question.
Although Pei Shuwen's question made some sense, he still felt something was off.
"So, you're dating with marriage in mind? But isn't this progressing a bit too fast?"
“When I asked you last time, you said there was nothing between you two, that it was just a simple act of helping each other.”
"Really?" Pei Shuwen's attitude clearly showed that he wasn't taking it seriously.
An alarm bell rang in his mind, and Zhao Huai'an asked quietly, "You wouldn't be secretly dating someone without even telling me, would you? If so, you're treating your brother like a complete stranger."
Pei Shuwen said with a half-smile, "Whether we talked or not, it didn't stop you from spreading rumors outside."
"How can it be a rumor? Be more precise, be more precise. At most, this is an accurate prediction."
Pei Shuwen neither agreed nor disagreed.
Zhao Huai'an thought to himself, "The old saying is indeed true—being near the water tower makes one the first to get the moon."
His 'rumors' didn't go to waste; he actually made the couple's relationship work.
Zhao Huai'an: "So what are your plans after this? You transferred Lin Chaoyue to your office as an assistant, are you planning to have an office romance under the guise of official business?"
Pei Shuwen didn't care about such things: "How we talk about it later depends on her opinion."
have a look!
Take a look!
Who said Brother Pei is slow to understand!
Isn't that smart? Even when dating, they know to ask for the woman's opinion.
Zhao Huai'an couldn't help but gossip: "Will you still be online for tonight's meeting? The news that you ended the meeting early this afternoon has spread throughout the entire law firm in such a short time."
"What if that young girl wants to have a secret relationship with you? Aren't you going online to clarify things?"
Pei Shuwen put her phone aside and pressed the speakerphone button: "What's there to clarify? I don't think there's anything that's not true and needs clarification."
Zhao Huai'an: "..."
He really overestimated Pei Shuwen.
This kind of 'dictator' is usually absolute at work, but when it comes to love, he's not so easy to change his ways. In his opinion, that little girl from the Lin family will probably be taken advantage of and still happily help Pei Shuwen count the money.
Zhao Huai'an shed a tear of sympathy for Lin Chaoyue: "Alright, then I'll let the rumors fly all over the law firm. Our line of work is already boring enough, a little gossip will help to lighten things up."
"You've really sacrificed a lot lately. You just spent a fortune out of your own pocket on the team building event, and now you're even sacrificing your love life..."
"Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up."
No, no, no.
Now that you mention it, he really remembered something.
Zhao Huai'an: "By the way, we've recovered some of the money your girlfriend was scammed out of. It's in the law firm's account this morning. It's a considerable amount, and the finance department asked us when we'd transfer it to the victim."
Normally, if the police recover this kind of money, they will transfer it directly to the victim.
But this time the situation is special. The bank account that the 'victim' Lin Chaoyue had reserved in New York State was frozen, and it was frozen by her own mother. It was the kind of account that couldn't be unfrozen. So this huge sum of money could only go through them.
Pei Shuwen asked, "How many?"
Zhao Huai'an recalled the figure the finance department had sent him that morning: "It must be a seven-figure sum. You need to return this money. I think your office romance is going to fall through. Without some pocket money to keep her interested, do you think that young lady will stay and work for you?"
He only recently learned that Pei Shuwen had exploited the girl's poverty to train her to be so obedient and proactive at work.
If it were a month ago, Pei Shuwen wouldn't be sure.
But now that they're in a relationship, he doesn't think she'll leave easily.
Pei Shuwen: "We will arrange for the finance department to make the payment on a weekday."
...
Once out of Pei Shuwen's sight, Lin Chaoyue was pondering a question.
Are she and Pei Shuwen dating right now?
If it were a few years ago, when she was still in China, she would most likely have thought it counted.
But after years in New York State, where she had become accustomed to open relationships, she was somewhat uncertain.
She hesitated downstairs, changing three outfits, still unable to figure it out.
In the end, they made the international call.
"Li Cong, tell me, at what stage do we qualify as dating?"
Confess your feelings, kiss, or sleep with him?
"Yueyue, what did you say! Speak louder!" Amidst the noisy music, cheers, and sea breeze, Li Cong couldn't hear a word Lin Chaoyue said.
"I'm asking how you and your girlfriend confirmed your relationship? You mean that elite woman."
Li Cong crawled into the cabin, and only after the surroundings quieted down did he finally hear it.
"Oh, you're asking about that?" Li Cong, unusually, seemed less enthusiastic this time when talking about his elite older sister: "Just flowers, wedding rings, a cake, a group of people to liven things up, finding the right moment to propose in public, and then a fireworks display afterwards. What's wrong?"
During the time Li Cong was pursuing her, Lin Chaoyue was busy.
She was hearing about the details for the first time: "Your sister likes this too?"
"Yes, I like it. Don't girls all like this kind of sense of ritual?"
But what's wrong with liking someone? Even if you get together, you might not like them that much anymore.
Lin Chaoyue noticed that Li Cong's tone was off.
I glanced at the time.
It is 1 a.m. New York time.
As far as she knew, ever since Li Cong caught up with that elite woman, he had stopped going out to fool around at this time.
But judging from the sound of waves constantly crashing against the deck, Li Cong must have gone out to sea.
"Did you two have a fight?"
Li Cong had no interest in the commotion outside and replied somewhat aggrievedly, "Yeah, we had a fight. She said I don't do anything productive all day, I have no skills, all I do is eat, drink, and have fun, and she can turn on you faster than flipping through a book."
"Everyone says I'm just playing around, but I think she's the one who doesn't care. All she thinks about is work and climbing the ladder. It's so boring, so incredibly boring."
"Yuebao, tell me! How can there be such a woman! What do I have to do to make her happy?!"
Lin Chaoyue: "..."
Isn't it backwards?
Wasn't she the one who came to Li Cong for advice?
"So, you two established a relationship first, and then... there was physical contact?" Lin Chaoyue tried to be as tactful as possible.
Li Cong was so eager to confide in Lin Chaoyue that he didn't treat her like a woman at all: "Sleeping together, yes, speaking of sleeping together, we've been talking about it for a whole week! When she got off work, I specially decorated the room, cooked a candlelight dinner myself, and even picked out the flowers one by one! Just to spend an unforgettable night together! But what happened? She only stayed in the room for three minutes before saying she had to go to work and left without even having dinner."
"I'm left alone in my room every day! And she keeps urging me to study."
"Do you think there's any justice or humanity left in this world? I'll never badmouth Pei Shuwen behind his back again. This is retribution. You're definitely not living a worse life than me now. Even if Pei Shuwen is hard to win over, I don't believe that once he does, he'll keep you hanging like this."
"If I don't take advantage of you right away, Liu Xiahui will have to change his surname to Pei from now on."
"Cough, cough."
Lin Chaoyue choked on her own saliva.
"What's wrong? Am I wrong? She's just stringing me along! Playing with me! Toying with my feelings!"
Lin Chaoyue coughed twice more before catching her breath: "Yes, you're right, but I don't think you're completely without merit. If all else fails, you could become a fortune teller."
"Moon! Treasure!"
"You go ahead and do your thing, I'll call you back later."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Chaoyue finally breathed a sigh of relief.
People who have a lot of romantic troubles are terrifying.
She went upstairs thoughtfully. Forget everything else, there was one thing Li Cong said that she felt made some sense.
Pei Shuwen is a grown man, after all. What should have happened and what shouldn't have happened, has already happened.
He has no reason to keep me hanging on.
Let's have an honest talk.
"What is our relationship now?" Lin Chaoyue asked as soon as she sat down at the table.
"What do you mean?" Pei Shuwen put down his chopsticks very gently, but she could still tell that he was somewhat displeased.
"I was just asking casually."
Lin Chaoyue had to admit that she chickened out.
She had clearly said last night that no matter what their relationship was in the future, she wouldn't regret it, but now it seemed like she was forcing Pei Shuwen to give her a response.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit cold.
Just as Lin Chaoyue thought that this matter could perhaps be discussed later, at least not at this point in time, and that she should have a proper meal later.
Pei Shuwen looked at her seriously: "I've never been in a relationship, so I'm very conservative when it comes to feelings. Based on what happened between us recently, I think you need to take responsibility for me."
"Huh? I'll take responsibility for you?" Lin Chaoyue was completely dumbfounded.
"You heard me right. If you want to hear why it's necessary for you to take responsibility for me, I can list it all out for you."
No, no need.
Be responsible to Pei Shuwen.
That's a very niche statement.
But... she felt inexplicably happy.
Lin Chaoyue blinked: "Then how do you want me to take responsibility? All my pocket money is with you, and I've even overdrawn my salary. I have no money."
"It's free."
"Oh, that's fine then."
"Studying hard, living life seriously, and staying away from online scams are ways of taking responsibility for myself."
Pei Shuwen's expression didn't look like he was joking at all.
Lin Chaoyue: "...Okay"
Is she actually in a relationship, or has she found herself a kept man...?
However, in less than half a day, Lin Chaoyue realized that she was in a relationship.
The whole afternoon.
Pei Shuwen took care of her in an almost meticulous way.
During the years she has been abroad, she has mostly lived alone. Even though she hired a nanny to take care of her, she hasn't experienced the feeling of being waited on hand and foot for a long time.
Pei Shuwen cooked lunch and dinner according to her tastes, asked a housekeeper to help her clean, and even ordered the latest autumn clothes for her.
"Pei Shuwen, you seem to be taking care of a child?"
During a break from his work, he cut her a plate of fruit, put it down, and then returned to his desk.
Pei Shuwen said frankly, "Taking care of my girlfriend."
The word "girlfriend" officially seals the relationship between the two.
Lin Chaoyue felt like a bubble machine, her whole body was bubbling with pink bubbles.
I want to find someone to share with.
But Yao Yao was busy with her tour, Li Cong was arguing, half of the people in the industry were waiting to see the Pei family's drama unfold, and the people in the law firm couldn't say anything either.
She rolled around on the sofa.
Finally, I took some photos carefully and posted them on my WeChat Moments.
Lin Chaoyue: [Happy Holiday (*^▽^*)]
Photo: A plate of sliced fruit placed on Pei Shuwen's coffee table.
Li Cong appeared in her comment section at lightning speed: 【Something's up?】
Then came a private message: "Something's not right with you. You haven't started dating Pei Shuwen, have you?"
Lin Chaoyue: [Da Congming, I think your girlfriend is completely wrong. You're not useless, you're practically a god! If you still can't graduate this year, you should become a fortune teller.]
[I'll become a disciple of that master you mentioned last time, because he's really effective!]
I'm in love!!
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