“Master,” the butler said, bowing slightly as he explained himself, fearing his knocking had disturbed Su Xingque. “The young master hasn’t left his room all day, and I was worried something might be wrong.”
Just as Su Xingque was about to nod in acknowledgement, the door to the guest bedroom cracked open.
Warm light spilled from the room. Sleepy-eyed and disheveled, Shen Zhu froze the moment he spotted Su Xingque. He instantly retreated back inside and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
Though it was Su Xingque himself who had ordered Shen Zhu to stay out of his sight, as a man accustomed to absolute deference, having a door slammed in his face still didn’t sit well with him.
Su Xingque’s expression darkened. Caught between the bone-chilling glare of his master and the firmly shut door, the butler did his best to pretend he was nothing but transparent air.
A few seconds later, a faint rustling came from behind the door, and a sliver of light pooled at Su Xingque’s feet.
Through the crack, Shen Zhu’s quiet, sheepish voice drifted out. “I, I didn’t mean to close it so hard.”
Su Xingque’s expression softened a fraction. Acting as though he hadn’t heard a word, he turned and headed back upstairs.
“Young Master, why don’t you come out and have some supper?” The butler chimed in, seizing the opportunity to smooth over Shen Zhu’s embarrassment.
Sleeping too much in the evening naturally resulted in a late-night bout of insomnia.
After finishing his late-night snack, Shen Zhu lay in bed playing mobile games for a few hours before lazily opening the WeChat messages Shen Pengcheng had sent him earlier.
“Xiao Zhu, how is married life treating you? I heard you moved into the Su family’s ancestral estate?”
“Once your dad is free, I’ll head over to visit you and pay my respects to President Su while I’m at it.”
That old fox really knows how to spin his words, Shen Zhu thought with a cold sneer, completely ignoring the long string of voice notes that followed.
Shen Pengcheng was clearly looking for an excuse to drop by, secure some business favors, and nose around to see exactly how much leverage Shen Zhu actually had now that he was married into the Su family.
It looks like Su Xingque hasn’t thrown the Shen family many business bones, Shen Zhu mused, twirling his phone between his thumb and index finger as he calculated.
Unsure of how much of Shen Pengcheng’s bluster was real, Shen Zhu spent the next few days constantly on edge, preparing for his father to show up at the door.
But Shen Pengcheng never came. Instead, it was Meng Jing who staged a surprise raid.
Ever since she discovered Su Xingque hadn’t even brought his new husband home after getting their marriage license, Meng Jing had been looking for a chance to check in on the newlyweds. She wanted to use her authority as a parent to put some pressure on them so they would settle down and behave like a proper married couple.
She had suggested several times that Su Xingque bring Shen Zhu over for dinner, but her son had always brushed her off with various excuses.
Knowing there was no point in arguing with her stubborn, grown son, Meng Jing took matters into her own hands. Picking a day with beautiful weather, she made her way over to the Su estate.
The butler, having received advance notice of the matriarch’s arrival, had woken Shen Zhu up early so they could stand by the estate gates to greet her.
Meng Jing’s sharp eyes immediately noticed something amiss.
“Where is your ring?” she asked softly, taking Shen Zhu’s hand as they walked toward the house.
“Do you not like the design? We can always have the jeweler alter it,” she added, proactively giving him a way out in case there was some underlying tension she wasn’t aware of.
Caught off guard, Shen Zhu let out a startled, “Ah” before quickly fabricating an answer. “No, it’s not that I don’t like it. I was just worried I might damage it while doing chores.”
“Chores are what the servants are for,” Meng Jing said with a warm, encouraging smile. “You should spend your time keeping Xingque company and fostering your relationship.”
Shen Zhu merely offered a polite smile and let the subject drop.
Meng Jing genuinely liked Shen Zhu. Once they were settled in the living room, she pulled him close, overflowing with concern. She asked if he had fully recovered from his illness, if he was settling in well, and how he and Su Xingque were adjusting to each other.
Shen Zhu answered each question precisely according to the playbook of a model husband. But when he wrapped up his review with a standard “we’re doing quite well,” he noticed Meng Jing’s expression shift.
“Are things truly well?” Meng Jing’s eyes filled with a trace of motherly worry. “He left you out in the cold on your wedding night, and he took ages to even bring you to this house.”
“You two should be in the honeymoon phase, yet he let an entire night go to waste.”
Only then did Shen Zhu register the true implication of her words.
Is she asking if we’re sexually compatible?
Well, that is a bit awkward to answer.
Meng Jing, having lived several decades longer than him, instantly picked up on his embarrassment. She offered gently, “That child has been cold and detached since he was a boy. If he’s hesitant to initiate contact, it’s likely just his personality. Don’t take it to heart.”
Ho, Shen Zhu thought, suddenly remembering the juicy gossip Kaka had whispered to him at the nightclub:
Su Xingque is practically impotent.
It seemed even his own mother shared that suspicion.
“I won’t,” Shen Zhu replied dryly.
As lunchtime approached, the butler stepped forward to ask if he should call Su Xingque back to join them for the meal.
“I don’t even want to look at him,” Meng Jing said, clearly irritated by the realization that Su Xingque still hadn’t touched Shen Zhu. “Let him spend the rest of his life married to his company. He doesn’t ever have to come back as far as I’m concerned.”
Neither the butler nor Shen Zhu dared to comment, leaving them to sit in silent, polite amusement.
Meng Jing thought for a moment, deciding to use Shen Zhu to break the ice.
“Go pack up a portion of the lunch,” she instructed the butler.
Turning to Shen Zhu, she said, “Xiao Zhu, why don’t you deliver lunch to Xingque? I’m sure he’ll be absolutely thrilled to see you.”
At this point, Shen Zhu was like a duck being driven onto a roost—he had absolutely no choice but to agree.
Half an hour later, Shen Zhu was sitting in the back of Meng Jing’s chauffeured car, holding an insulated lunch box.
He had originally planned to call Su Xingque to coordinate their stories and then slip away halfway to enjoy some free time. However, Meng Jing was incredibly meticulous. Under the guise of being “thoughtful,” she had insisted her personal driver drop him off.
In reality, she was just positioning an observer.
The driver pulled up to the entrance of the Su Corporation building, opened the door for Shen Zhu, and stood by the car, watching him until he crossed the threshold of the lobby.
Su Xingque and Shen Zhu had married in secret. As a result, nobody in the company—aside from Wilson—knew of Shen Zhu’s true identity.
Since it was the lunch hour, the lobby was bustling with people. Shen Zhu, holding a premium insulated lunch box, stood out like a sore thumb.
“Whose handsome boyfriend is that delivering lunch? He’s gorgeous!” two female employees whispered as they walked past, unable to tear their eyes away. In their excitement, they spoke a bit too loudly.
Shen Zhu pretended not to hear, turning his gaze toward the receptionist.
Perfect. It’s the same girl who blocked me last time.
Realizing that sneaking upstairs was out of the question, Shen Zhu decided his best bet was to call Su Xingque directly.
But after five consecutive unanswered calls, Shen Zhu began to suspect he had been blacklisted.
On his final attempt, Shen Zhu hid in a quiet corner of the lobby, aggressively punching in the numbers.
The line rang twice before the call was abruptly disconnected.
Well, the good news is I haven’t been blacklisted, Shen Zhu thought, resisting the urge to hurl the lunch box across the floor.
The bad news is, Su Xingque refusing to answer is basically the same thing.
“Mr. Shen?”
Just as Shen Zhu was about to throw caution to the wind and go home, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
Once Wilson confirmed he hadn’t mistaken his identity, he hurried over, took the lunch box from Shen Zhu’s hands, and guided him toward the executive elevator.
“President Su is currently in a meeting,” Wilson explained politely. “The representatives from our current partner company are proving to be quite difficult. A meeting that was supposed to finish this morning has dragged on until now.”