A bright and sunny Monday morning.
Zhou Zheng arrived at the company ten minutes early, just like usual.
He had barely sat down in his office when Assistant A knocked and came in.
"I heard the boss got here at eight," Assistant A said, pointing toward the CEO's office. "The weather today is still cloudy."
Zhou Zheng glanced at the brilliant sunshine outside the window and let out a deep sigh.
The weather outside had been great lately, but inside the executive suite, it had been overcast for over a week.
The boss was in a bad mood, leaving everyone walking on eggshells, not daring to make a single unnecessary sound.
Assistant A couldn't help but ask again, "Assistant Zhou, what exactly is going on with the boss? The company has been doing really well lately, and we just landed a massive project. Why is he still so unhappy?"
"How should I know? Stop prying into the boss's business and get back to work." Zhou Zheng said this, but just as Assistant A pointed out, there was nothing at the company worth the boss's worry. Therefore, the most likely explanation was that he had a fight with his wife.
Lu Bochuan spent the entire day in meetings, looking completely untiring.
The assistants in the executive suite sighed in despair, originally thinking they would have to work overtime again today. Who knew that when they returned from lunch, they would see Chu Wei.
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Usually, when Mr. Chu came to their company, it was to take the boss out to hang out.
Sure enough, a little while later, the boss left together with Mr. Chu.
Overjoyed, everyone packed up their things to get off work.
In the elevator, the red numbers kept changing.
Chu Wei stood in a relaxed posture. Meeting Lu Bochuan's eyes, he suddenly laughed.
Lu Bochuan gave him a baffled look.
Chu Wei reigned in his expression. "Hey, you didn't see the look on your assistants' faces just now. Seeing me come over was like seeing a savior; they were practically on their knees thanking me. What did you do to make everyone so nervous?"
Lu Bochuan frowned, only then realizing that he had brought his personal emotions into his work.
In the past, no matter what happened, he could always handle it with ease and continue working without batting an eye. But this time, his usual self-control seemed to have failed him.
Lu Bochuan took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's nothing."
Seeing that he didn't want to talk about it, Chu Wei didn't press the matter. However, after arriving at their private room, Lu Bochuan ordered five bottles of liquor in one breath.
After a few rounds of drinks, he finally started to feel tipsy, and he became more talkative. "Chu Wei, tell me, if you did something wrong, how would you get someone to forgive you?"
Chu Wei raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you do something wrong and make your wife angry?"
Lu Bochuan paused, poured himself another glass of wine, and then said, "Not me... it's a friend of mine."
Chu Wei burst out laughing. "Come on, Bochuan, we grew up wearing the same pair of pants. You still want to lie to me?"
"Just drop the 'I have a friend' opening. It doesn't suit you."
"Spit it out, what exactly happened?"
Lu Bochuan picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. "I said some wrong things before and made her unhappy. How can I get her to forgive me?"
Chu Wei stroked his chin. He didn't know much about the relationship between Lu Bochuan and Shu Qingqing. He only knew that Lu Bochuan married her back then because of a child, not out of love.
However, at his wedding last time, he could clearly feel that something was different between them. Especially Lu Bochuan, whose eyes kept following Shu Qingqing.
Therefore, he wasn't surprised by what Lu Bochuan had just said.
So he said, "If you made her angry, then just apologize."
Lu Bochuan's gaze was heavy. "I apologized, but she is still very angry."
Chu Wei clicked his tongue. "Then whatever you did wrong must have been too much."
The fingers Lu Bochuan used to grip his glass tightened. It was true that the things he said before were too harsh.
"But it's not like there's no way to win her forgiveness." Chu Wei suddenly put a hand on his shoulder. "Haven't you heard that 'a good woman fears a persistent man'? Before, when I made my wife angry and she wouldn't forgive me, I just kept pestering her. I was thick-skinned, refusing to leave no matter how much she hit or scolded me, and I even kneeled on a durian. In the end, she still forgave me."
"Girls actually have very soft hearts. The main thing is that your attitude must be sincere."
Chu Wei rambled on and on, only to find that Lu Bochuan was still just drinking in silence.
Helpless, he had no choice but to risk his life keeping him company.
Halfway through their drinking, Lu Bochuan went to the restroom. Chu Wei saw his phone lit up on the coffee table and suddenly hatched a plan.
He found Shu Qingqing's number in the contacts and called her.
"Hello, Qingqing? It's Chu Wei. Bochuan is drunk. Can you come and pick him up?"
Drunk?
Shu Qingqing bit her lip, pausing for a moment before saying, "Could you please call a designated driver for him?"
Chu Wei hemmed and hawed. "The thing is, I'm in a hurry to leave. My wife has an emergency and needs me, so I don't have time to find a driver for him. I've sent the address to your phone. I really have to go now, so please hurry over."
Looking at the location Chu Wei sent, Shu Qingqing fell into a dilemma.
One look at the address and she knew it was a bar. If Chu Wei really left, leaving a drunk man like Lu Bochuan all alone, what if he ran into some woman with ulterior motives...
The reason the original owner of her body was able to marry Lu Bochuan in the first place was precisely because someone had drugged his drink.
But if she went, how would she explain it to Lu Bochuan when he woke up and asked her about it?
After hesitating for a few seconds, Shu Qingqing still picked up her car keys.
Following the room number Chu Wei gave her, she found the private room and, sure enough, saw Lu Bochuan lying on his back on the sofa all by himself.
She walked over and patted his face. "Lu Bochuan, are you still conscious?"
Lu Bochuan opened his eyes. Seeing it was her, his eyes lit up. "Qingqing?"
"Can you still walk? If you can, stand up by yourself."
Lu Bochuan offered her a hand. "I can walk, but you have to hold onto me."
Shu Qingqing pursed her lips. She had barely reached her hand out when Lu Bochuan gripped it tightly.
Chu Wei was hiding in the restroom. Seeing the two of them leave, he finally dared to come out. "Lao Lu, this is as much as I can help you."
Afraid that Lu Bochuan might throw up since he was drunk, Shu Qingqing simply hired a designated driver.
As the car drove along, Lu Bochuan held her hand tightly but said nothing.
Supporting a large man who was over 1.8 meters tall was truly exhausting for Shu Qingqing. She barely managed to get him back to his room.
Lu Bochuan lay quietly on the bed. With his sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, even lying flat, a typically unflattering angle, did not diminish his handsome looks.
Shu Qingqing looked at him quietly for a while. Remembering that he was a clean freak, she decided to get a towel to wipe his face.
However, just as she turned around, a pair of strong arms embraced her from behind.
"Don't go." Lu Bochuan's voice was very clear. "I missed you so much."
Shu Qingqing turned around in his arms, furrowing her brows as she looked up. "Lu Bochuan, you aren't drunk?"
Lu Bochuan was about to answer, but thinking of the relentless pestering Chu Wei had mentioned, he forcefully held back his words and simply hugged her tightly.
Shu Qingqing was annoyed. To think she had actually been worried about someone taking advantage of him, when all along he was just pretending to be drunk.
She gave him a hard push and turned to leave.
But just as she pressed down on the door handle, Lu Bochuan caught her and pinned her against the wall. "Please don't hide from me, okay?"
"Qingqing, I really wanted to see you."
"Everything in the past was my fault. I will do my absolute best to change and earn your forgiveness."
"I just beg of you, please don't avoid me."
Shu Qingqing dug her nails fiercely into the palms of her hands.
After a long silence, she finally looked up with a calm expression.
"Lu Bochuan, please let go."
"If you keep acting like this, I think our only option is divorce."
