If I Only Need Mrs. Zhou, Can I Bring Sui Sui Along?

The skin in the center of her palm was red.

Especially the base of her palm, even her wrist felt slightly sore and weak.

In the quiet corner of a coffee shop on Saturday morning, Xiao Ming across from her was talking excitedly non-stop, but Sheng Sui wasn’t listening attentively, repeatedly distracted as she looked down at her open palm.

She had slept very deeply last night. During one of the times she drowsily woke up in the middle of the night, she saw Zhou Shiyu beside her in the darkness taking her right hand and carefully wiping it with wet tissue, even taking care of the gaps between her fingers.

Sheng Sui had been truly exhausted and powerless at the time. Looking back now, Zhou Shiyu’s behavior of helping her wipe her hands in the middle of the night was indeed very suspicious.

If it really was what she was thinking…

Embarrassed heat crept up her cheeks. Sheng Sui didn’t know where to put her hands for a moment when she heard Xiao Ming across from her ask curiously:

“Did you hear what I just said—why is your face so red?”

“…Didn’t sleep well last night,” Sheng Sui urgently pulled back her wandering thoughts and looked across the table. “You just mentioned that your company is about to sign a contract with Cheng He?”

“That was five minutes ago, okay.”

Xiao Ming made a half-dissatisfied, half-helpless tsk sound, sporting huge dark circles under her eyes as she lowered her head to drink iced americano, wincing at the bitterness:

“What I’m talking about now is that I received a job offer invitation from Cheng He last night.”

The woman leaned forward mysteriously, lowering her voice: “Can you believe it? Zhou Shiyu’s secretary actually contacted me directly, saying they’re willing to poach me with triple the salary, not counting future performance bonuses.”

“……”

Sheng Sui thought of last night’s text message and helplessly held her forehead, listening as Xiao Ming continued: “I was so tempted at the time, but when I asked about the reason, they actually said it was because the dishes I recommended last time were very much to Mrs. Zhou’s liking. Zhou Shiyu believes that people with outstanding hobbies outside of work must have exceptional abilities.”

Xiao Ming took another big gulp of iced coffee and let out a long breath: “Am I failing to understand capitalists? There’s actually this kind of hiring reason?!”

Sheng Sui thought it over and felt she couldn’t keep hiding this anymore. She grasped Xiao Ming’s hand on the table and said seriously: “I have something to tell you.”

Her expression was rarely this serious. Xiao Ming was about to nod in confusion when she caught sight of a man entering the coffee shop from the corner of her eye.

Her eyelid twitched as she hurriedly gripped Sheng Sui’s hand in return, burying her head: “Your matter can wait. Quick, look at ten o’clock direction—be careful not to be discovered.”

Sheng Sui mimicked her posture, crouching low and cautiously looking up to see Zhou Shiyu in a light gray shirt standing at the entrance.

The man was tall and upright, holding Sheng Sui’s familiar coat in his arms. Warm spring light filtered through the windows and fell on his hair and shoulders, making him seem to shimmer with dancing light spots.

Their gazes met across the space, and Sheng Sui saw Zhou Shiyu smile slightly while bathed in sunlight, his gentle dark eyes behind the glasses carrying shallow amusement.

Sheng Sui was mesmerized by the picturesque scene before her eyes. During her moment of daze, Xiao Ming tugged at her sleeve twice.

Her best friend’s words fired out like a machine gun: “I know Zhou Shiyu is decent-looking, but you don’t have to stare at him like that!”

Seeing the man about to walk over with his long legs, Sheng Sui couldn’t help asking: “Why are you hiding from him?”

“Of course I’m afraid of awkwardness,” Xiao Ming knew Sheng Sui’s work environment was relatively simple and explained to her, “I just rejected his secretary. If I handle meeting Zhou Shiyu badly now, what if it affects our cooperation with Cheng He?”

Sheng Sui gave Zhou Shiyu a small shake of her head from afar, signaling him not to come over yet, then asked: “You…don’t want to go to Cheng He?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Xiao Ming saw Zhou Shiyu sitting in the distance with his back to them and relaxed, sitting up straight. “I just can’t agree.”

“Although our company is quite small, it really was built up bit by bit through our hard work. Now all the company’s money is invested in the project in my hands. If I run away alone and it affects subsequent cooperation, the dozen or so people on the team, even the dozens of people in the entire company, would have nowhere to go. How could I do that to people?”

“I just don’t want any accidents right now,” Xiao Ming irritably grabbed a handful of her thick hair. “It’s all because he offered too much, otherwise I wouldn’t be conflicted.”

“Enough about me,” Xiao Ming looked back at Sheng Sui. “What were you going to say?”

Sheng Sui quietly looked at Xiao Ming, who had obviously been haggard recently, and finally just smiled: “Nothing much, just wanted to say my husband came to find me, so I can’t stay too long.”

Let’s wait a bit longer. Telling her about the marriage now would only make Xiao Ming worry more.

“…I really want to knock your head,” Xiao Ming couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “On a perfectly good Saturday sleeping time, do you know how much determination it took for me to crawl out of bed?”

“I know you worked hard,” Sheng Sui lovingly patted her head and handed over the cloth bag filled with various flower teas she’d brought from home. “I’ve written down the effects of each flower tea. Don’t drink too much coffee usually, change up the flavors occasionally.”

Xiao Ming opened the bag to look and saw that tea packets with various ingredients were all sealed in bags, with detailed note stickers on each bag covered in small writing.

She pretended to cry and sniffed: “I take back what I said earlier. Baby, I love you.”

Sheng Sui’s original intention was just to give the flower teas to Xiao Ming. Seeing her eyelids barely staying open, she gently advised her to go home and catch up on sleep.

“I know you’re eager to see your husband,” before leaving the coffee shop, Xiao Ming bought another cup to-go at the counter, tilting her head to tease Sheng Sui.

“By the way, you didn’t reply to my messages last night. What were you busy with?”

The woman hooked her finger under Sheng Sui’s chin, raising an eyebrow: “After showing off your love at the square, did you go home and continue the passionate battle until dawn?”

Zhou Shiyu was sitting at a round table not far from the cashier. Sheng Sui could see the man’s back clearly and somehow felt he could hear their conversation.

Her ears burned as she urged Xiao Ming to hurry: “Your coffee is ready, go get it quickly.”

“Oh oh oh, getting shy now. I’ve never seen you like this before, Student Sheng Sui?”

“……”

After struggling to send away the big Buddha before her, Sheng Sui turned back into the coffee shop.

Pushing through the door, she saw Zhou Shiyu still sitting in the same position, posture unchanged, with a cup of coffee in front of him and his long legs naturally crossed.

The scene was like a magazine photoshoot, except for the incongruous detail of her coat on the man’s lap.

“Did you come here for work?” Sheng Sui sat down across from the man.

Since getting up this morning, Zhou Shiyu had been on the phone constantly. After breakfast, he’d been in the study having video conferences, so coming out should also be for business.

“It’s cold, so I wanted to bring you clothes.”

Zhou Shiyu raised his hand to signal the server for a cup of hot milk and handed her the light gray windbreaker: “There are also two things I need to ask your opinion about.”

The man took out his black phone and pushed it in front of Sheng Sui. On the screen was a media invitation sent by Secretary Chen last night.

Because of their embracing silhouettes, yesterday’s square dancing video had gone viral. When the organizers were checking other filming angles, they unexpectedly discovered that one of the protagonists was actually Zhou Shiyu. They contacted Cheng He’s public relations team that very night—

Although for various reasons, Zhou Shiyu only saw the message this morning.

“The organizers have video footage of our faces and are asking whether it can be released.”

Zhou Shiyu explained gently: “The public relations team analyzed netizen comments and statistics, concluding that if we want to publicly announce our marriage to society, now might be the best opportunity.”

“Most importantly, it’s your thoughts,” the man paused slightly in his words. “If you don’t want to appear in the public eye, yesterday’s video will be deleted immediately.”

After reading Secretary Chen’s long analysis message to Zhou Shiyu on the screen, Sheng Sui thought for a few seconds and said softly with lowered eyes: “Let’s delete it.”

When the video first went viral last night, she thought netizens would just laugh and move on, not expecting there would be follow-up.

For the first time, Sheng Sui realized that her marriage with Zhou Shiyu would also have to face the public.

But thinking about it, that made sense. All the top figures in various industries she knew had their past experiences detailed, so marital status would naturally be no exception.

Regarding whether to go public, since Zhou Shiyu had given her the choice, the premise must be that he didn’t object, otherwise the video wouldn’t have been preserved until now.

Taking a deep breath, Sheng Sui looked up at the man across from her: “I don’t want to publicly announce our relationship to society. Is that okay?”

Even if it was all blessings, she didn’t want her personal photos or information spread across the internet, much less wanted to be criticized and judged by people.

Sheng Sui had experienced online exposure once and absolutely didn’t want to go through it a second time.

It was so long ago it could be traced back to the winter when she was fourteen. Type 1 diabetes was somehow triggered, leaving her drowsy for several consecutive days.

Her mother had married far away, her father worked at construction sites during the day and was busy drinking with coworkers at night. With no one to care for her and feeling truly miserable, Sheng Sui finally had to take leave to go to the hospital, but fainted in the hospital lobby before even registering.

Fortunately, a kind doctor carried her to emergency treatment. While Sheng Sui saved her life, she also unknowingly incurred nearly five-figure treatment costs, making her already impoverished family’s situation even worse.

Her father, who had never been educated, immediately insisted the doctors were lying when he heard his young daughter had diabetes. Seeing no injuries on her body, he tried to forcibly take her home. When the kind doctor who had saved her stopped him, he became angry and violent, grabbing an IV bottle and injuring another elite doctor’s right hand.

The incident escalated into a medical dispute.

Onlooking crowds took photos. Despite attempts to stop them, various videos were unstoppably posted online. Sheng Sui and her father’s faces were viewed repeatedly by millions, with every expression and word carefully studied.

During the week after Sheng Sui was discharged, local television stations and dozens of media outlets came looking for her, using the gentlest tones to try interviewing her, repeatedly telling her: Please boldly expose your father’s despicable behavior, we will definitely give you justice.

She was terrified and dared not accept, only knowing that every word she said would be embellished and published online. At that time, public opinion was overwhelmingly in her favor, sparing no effort in hurling the world’s most vicious curses and insults at her father.

But somehow, whenever Sheng Sui looked at those comments, she always felt the malice was simultaneously backlashing against her, easily swallowing her whole.

Her father was a bastard who combined violence and malice, but at the same time, he was truly the only family in this world who still wanted her.

Everyone loudly shouted for her to denounce the violence and learn to fight back. Many kind people even gave her various forms of assistance. But back then, as a fourteen-year-old minor, Sheng Sui needed her father’s accompaniment even to buy life-saving insulin.

Just as she couldn’t face malice, Sheng Sui didn’t know how to handle the overwhelming kindness and encouragement either.

During that period, nearby neighbors all pointed and whispered about them. The construction site, unable to bear the public opinion pressure, fired her father. The father and daughter could only flee in embarrassment and live a wandering life.

Life didn’t get better afterward. Her father was recognized several times and faced contempt and spitting on the streets, repeatedly rejected when looking for new work, with various rumors and gossip following.

As for Sheng Sui, the beatings continued as usual.

The foundation supporting her sent people for regular check-ins. She always smiled and answered that her father hadn’t hit her once since then. To avoid being watched with pitying eyes by the kind doctors at the hospital, she spent her adolescence calculating how to eat fewer carbohydrates so she could buy less insulin. She reused disposable needles repeatedly, wiping them with alcohol cotton swabs each time.

Public opinion was like a mountain—whether good or evil, it left Sheng Sui unable to breathe.

Even now, she rarely watched streaming media and had never posted personal photos on any social media platform, not even WeChat.

The incident was sudden, and she knew her explanation to Zhou Shiyu was chaotic. She also remembered that the man had mentioned last night at dinner wanting a grand wedding—any part of which involving communication with people could potentially attract netizen attention.

From the bottom of her heart, Sheng Sui didn’t want to take any risks again.

“…I’m sorry,” knowing the other party’s wishes, Sheng Sui felt her unilateral decision was somewhat cruel. “But I really can’t do it.”

“Related videos will be completely deleted within half an hour. You don’t need to worry.”

Without asking another word of nonsense, Zhou Shiyu typed on the screen with his slender fingertips, finally put down his phone, and reached up to gently ruffle her hair: “The marriage matter won’t be made public online either. We have no obligation to explain to netizens.”

“As for other things,” the man raised his hand to lightly pinch her cheek, his thin lips close to Sheng Sui’s ear as he whispered:

“Sui Sui can compensate me in other places.”

“……”

The heavy atmosphere instantly disappeared without a trace. Sheng Sui turned her face away, not letting him pinch: “Didn’t you say there were two things? What’s the other one?”

Zhou Shiyu withdrew his mischievous hand: “There’s been some trouble with a project in Jingbei. I need to go on a business trip tomorrow to handle it.”

“I’m a bit worried about home,” the man tilted his head to look at her, the gold wire chain of his glasses falling across his face. “Can Mrs. Zhou manage alone?”

This was the first time since their marriage that the two would be separated. Sheng Sui pursed her lips: “How long will you be gone?”

“At the shortest, a week. If it takes longer, possibly one to two months.”

Zhou Shiyu didn’t give a definite answer, only lowering his eyes to carefully observe Sheng Sui’s expression: “The tricky part is that the location is remote. If the signal is poor, we might not be able to maintain contact.”

One to two months, and possibly unable to reach him at any time…

On the drive home, Sheng Sui’s mind was occupied by thoughts of the business trip. Looking at the scenery flowing backward outside the window, she occasionally asked casual questions:

“How many people are going on your business trip?”

“Including me, three total.”

“I remember Cheng He works in emerging industries. How is this trip related to resort development?”

“Policies have been good these past two years. Qiu Si proposed wanting to test the waters, but we probably won’t continue doing it.”

“Since you won’t continue, do you personally have to go?”

Until they arrived home, Sheng Sui was still talking to herself: “Besides, if communication is poor there, can safety be guaranteed—”

The man in front of her suddenly paused in his steps. Zhou Shiyu turned around and leaned down to look at her, his dark eyes behind the glasses containing laughter:

“If Sui Sui really can’t bear to part with me, I won’t go.”

“…I don’t mean that,” Sheng Sui looked away and refused to admit it, walking around the man toward the dining room to get water. “Just confirming.”

Though she said she didn’t care, after lunch when she saw Zhou Shiyu busy in the kitchen again, she was still curious. Holding her laptop, she went over and asked what he was doing.

“Don’t know how long I’ll be away,” Zhou Shiyu was lowering his head to cut emerald green cabbage, his knuckles pressed against the cold knife back, the cutting sounds crisp and efficient.

“Just making some food to leave at home. You can just heat it up when the time comes.”

“…Oh, okay.”

Sheng Sui watched the man put the vegetable strips in a basin to soak, open the fully stocked refrigerator, and methodically take out various ingredients. She suddenly had a real sense of their upcoming separation.

Zhou Shiyu said he had an early morning flight tomorrow and would have to leave home before dawn, most likely unable to have breakfast with her.

Not only that, for possibly the next one to two months, Sheng Sui would have to live alone in the empty luxury apartment, waking up every day to face emptiness beside her.

Inexplicably, her mood became somewhat low.

She watched in a daze, her gaze following upward, until Zhou Shiyu put down what he’d taken from the refrigerator and walked over to face her.

The man leaned against the glass table, bending down to kiss the corner of her lips: “Didn’t you say this morning you wanted to write an email to Z?”

“…I’ll write it right away.”

Sheng Sui agreed vaguely, lifting her face to accept the kiss. When the man pried open her lips and teeth, she uncharacteristically didn’t dodge but instead obediently raised her hands to circle the man’s neck. Her soft, compliant appearance surprised even Zhou Shiyu.

Before, no matter how much she enjoyed it, shame would always outweigh desire. Sheng Sui couldn’t be as freely expressive as Zhou Shiyu with provocative words, tending toward passivity in both speech and action.

Today she seemed like a completely different person.

Keenly sensing her change, Zhou Shiyu gently supported the back of Sheng Sui’s head, kissing her even deeper. When he took her soft earlobe in his mouth, he asked in a low voice:

“Do you want me?”

Sheng Sui lowered her eyes, seeing those well-defined hands that had already stopped at her soft curves, thinking that refusing would be useless anyway. Half-yielding, she said: “…Up to you.”

Zhou Shiyu chuckled lowly and moved to lift her up.

Unlike last night’s frenzy, the man only did it once today before letting Sheng Sui rest. As he held her close and was about to withdraw, his form suddenly paused, his smile taking on an ambiguous meaning.

Sheng Sui naturally knew what Zhou Shiyu was smiling about. She turned away her flushed face, a hint of moisture appearing in her eyes.

“Baby kept chasing after me,” Zhou Shiyu pushed in again and slowly moved inside, raising his hand to brush away the hair sticking to her forehead from sweat.

“Didn’t you eat enough just now?”

Sheng Sui pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to speak. When she thought the man would make another move, Zhou Shiyu finally just withdrew appropriately, going to the bathroom to get a hot wet towel to clean her up.

Looking at the transparent wrapper on the floor that wasn’t tied in a knot, Sheng Sui knew Zhou Shiyu had just simply let her enjoy herself once while he hadn’t released, and couldn’t help but look down toward his area.

Her right hand ached faintly again. She asked uncomfortably in a small voice:

“Is your…is that okay?”

“Mm, it’ll calm down soon,” the current situation obviously wasn’t suitable for cooking. Zhou Shiyu went to the dressing room to find a thirty-two-inch empty suitcase and packed in front of Sheng Sui, asking casually:

“For a business trip of one to two months, how many sets of clothes should I prepare?”

At first he said it might be a week, now he’s packing by the month.

Sheng Sui complained internally, getting dressed and sitting on the bedside, answering: “Six or seven sets should be enough, or I can also mail clothes over.”

“Good, I’ll bring a few more sets,” Zhou Shiyu caught all of Sheng Sui’s small expressions, curving his lips imperceptibly. “Conditions there aren’t great, express delivery might not get through.”

Poor communication, delivery not working smoothly—Sheng Sui initially just felt vaguely uncomfortable inside, but now she was worried about her husband’s quality of life for the next month.

She looked up, unable to help worrying: “Why don’t I help you pack together? See what else you need to bring.”

“What else do I need?”

Zhou Shiyu walked over with his long legs, his eyes containing thoughtful amusement as he pondered for a moment, finally pressing his hand on the bed surface and leaning down to look into Sheng Sui’s watery eyes, his deep voice echoing:

“If I only need Mrs. Zhou, can I bring Sui Sui along?”

Author’s Note: The old fox is starting to deceive and set traps, but his tail is about to be gradually discovered too -v-

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