6 – Little girl, dо уоu wаnt tо аdd?
“Мaking a nаmе fоr himsеlf in thе business world at suсh а young аge, with that kind оf stаtus аnd lооks—if hе werе еvеr еxpоsed to the publiс, bеautiful wоmеn wоuld flосk to him еndlеsslу. Where wоuld thаt leаve you?”
Вoth Сhen Qingzhi and Lu Jin graduаted frоm Jing Universitу, sо as their fеllow alumna, Su Qiаn nаturаllу knew abоut Lu Jin tоо.
Вack in thеir universitу days, Lu Jin’s fоod and сlothing werеn’t much better thаn thеirs, giving nо hint of а рrominent familу baсkgrоund.
All of Сhen Qingzhi’s roоmmatеs knеw shе was dаting him.
But Lu Jin was simрly toо busу bаck then, and they never grew раrticularly clоsе. In fact, theу еven held some resentment toward this elusive boyfriend of their friend.
How could he be so clueless? He never even treated them, her roommates, to a meal.
Instead, after the two broke up, the girls in the dorm became much closer with Chen Qingzhi’s later boyfriends.
It was only now that Su Qian understood.
How could the heir of a wealthy family be the same as ordinary people?
While they were binge-watching dramas, surfing the internet, and playing games, Lu Jin had already completed his credits two years early, switched majors, and gone abroad for a combined bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral program.
If she could marry such an exceptional man, would she still be out here working as a hired hand?
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder. He helped you out so much today—shouldn’t you go home and take good care of him?”
Su Qian glanced inside the room, where Lu Jin was still on the phone.
She leaned close to Chen Qingzhi’s ear and whispered a reminder:
“Drain him dry, and he won’t have the energy to stray.”
Then she gave Chen Qingzhi a look that said, “Understand?”
After a moment of confusion, Chen Qingzhi suddenly realized what she meant:
“Don’t talk to me about that. Ours is a contractual marriage without consummation. We sleep in separate rooms.”
As the two spoke, Lu Jin finished his call and walked out with Chen Qingzhi’s belongings.
Su Qian quickly whispered one last piece of advice in Chen Qingzhi’s ear: “The early bird catches the worm.”
Then she patted Chen Qingzhi’s shoulder and smiled meaningfully:
“President Lu is back. Keep him company. The crew is reorganizing for the next two months, and the script needs polishing. I’ll notify you when it’s ready.”
Lu Jin nodded at Su Qian, his amber eyes filled with gentle refinement:
“Assistant Su, thank you for taking care of Chen Qingzhi on set these past days.”
Su Qian immediately exchanged a few pleasantries, saying it was all part of her job.
After the three said their goodbyes, Su Qian swiftly disappeared, afraid of disturbing the young couple for even a minute longer.
…
The film crew was shooting at a hotel.
Lu Jin had come in a hurry and hadn’t brought a driver.
His car was parked in the underground garage. He asked Chen Qingzhi to wait in the lounge area on the first floor while he went to get the car.
Chen Qingzhi sat in a single armchair near the floor-to-ceiling window, casually watching the passing crowd.
She wasn’t particularly famous and usually wore light makeup, which made her look somewhat different from her on-screen appearance. Passersby might recognize her face but weren’t overly bothered by her presence.
In contrast, when Lu Jin stepped out of his black Aston Martin, he attracted more attention than Chen Qingzhi, almost like a celebrity.
The sports car’s lines were bold and fluid.
This complemented Lu Jin’s demeanor, as he had removed his suit jacket and was simply wearing a dark-colored shirt.
His lean waist and torso outlined a tall, upright figure, vibrant and youthful.
Several girls at the entrance couldn’t help but stare at him. After some nudging, one who was fairly attractive finally approached hesitantly.
How could Lu Jin not understand her intentions? He looked down at her with a smile:
“Can I help you?”
He knew exactly what she wanted, yet his tone carried an ambiguous playfulness.
Those expressive eyes were hard to read—whether they were flirting or rejecting her.
Chen Qingzhi watched it all clearly from the other side of the floor-to-ceiling window.She didn’t step forward to interrupt the two, instead just put on her sunglasses and pretended to be admiring the scenery.
Earlier today, in front of everyone, he had looked at her with that same ambiguous yet fervent gaze.
Chen Qingzhi could understand—someone like Lu Jin attracting attention was only natural.
Just like yesterday when she went to the high-end club to rescue Su Qian.
In that smoke-filled, decadent atmosphere.
Even someone like Liu Jing had women clinging to him left and right, let alone a favored son of heaven like Lu Jin who stood at the pinnacle.
Thankfully, she hadn’t taken it seriously.
Only after the two people in front of the car finished scanning their codes and the girl disappeared did Chen Qingzhi take off her sunglasses and casually step out to speak to him:
“I’m hungry, let’s go eat.”
With the film crew on hiatus for two months, she had dieted for nothing—now she just wanted to eat it all back.
When Lu Jin looked at her, the smile on his face faded considerably:
“Grandfather wants us to go back to the Lu Mansion.”
“…”
Chen Qingzhi’s expression turned even more sour.
This marriage had been rushed, and neither side had gone through property notarization.
It wasn’t about Chen Qingzhi’s modest assets.
The majority of Xingzhou Group’s shares were in Lu Jin’s hands. Who he married, how he married, the woman’s family background—all of it involved tangled interests.
Even the smallest detail could send tremors through certain industries.
Who could have imagined that Lu Jin would ignore family alliances and aristocratic connections, opting instead for a sudden marriage?
The Lu family had few direct relatives. With Lu Mingze passing away young, Lu Jin’s generation only had two capable and shrewd aunts above him.
Old Master Lu held traditional views, believing family wealth should pass to sons, not daughters. By the time Lu Jin was nearly able to carve out his own path, the old man had already transferred all the shares to his own grandson.
The old master had originally arranged a childhood engagement with the Shi family.
Lu Jin’s unexpected and unilateral decision had thrown the Lu household into chaos for quite some time.
Even Chen Qingzhi faced repeated obstacles during her few visits to the Lu Mansion.
Those relatives and servants wore one face when Lu Jin was present and put on entirely different airs when he wasn’t.
Over time, Chen Qingzhi grew reluctant to go.
After all, she had many small gigs and was constantly flying all over the country.
Lu Jin was much the same, except his travels spanned the globe.
Back when they were students, they saw each other every single day. Whenever Chen Qingzhi spoke, Lu Jin would have endless retorts and never missed a chance to tease her.
Now, two years into their marriage, they had met only seven times. Outside, the road was bathed in sunlight, bustling with traffic.
Inside the car, the two sat in silence.
Lunch hour in the capital was congested. It was unclear how many times the red light had turned when Lu Jin’s phone rang.
“Answer the phone for me.”
The car had been randomly picked from the airport garage—they hadn’t even had time to connect the Bluetooth.
Chen Qingzhi picked up the phone from beside her, tapped it twice, and asked:
“What’s the password? It’s a WeChat call.”
“2258.”
“Still so simple.” Chen Qingzhi unlocked it.
Lu Jin honked the horn at the car ahead in annoyance and said casually:
“Old habit.”
The call was from his eldest aunt. Thinking it was Lu Jin who answered, her tone was initially warm and polite, asking roughly what time they would arrive.
But upon hearing Chen Qingzhi’s voice reply, “About half an hour,” the tone on the other end suddenly turned cold and stiff, hanging up the moment her message was delivered.
Lu Jin took a moment to glance at Chen Qingzhi, his tone casual:
“Don’t mind her, that’s just how she is. We’ll head home right after lunch.”
Chen Qingzhi didn’t say anything, giving him a surprised look instead:
“So many people are adding you as a friend.”
After she unlocked the phone, the notification dot on the contacts list kept vibrating with reminders.Chen Qingzhi scrolled to the friend requests section—mostly female accounts, with profile pictures that were… hard to describe.
The top profile picture was of a girl Chen Qingzhi recognized as the young woman from outside the hotel earlier.
Lu Jin frowned as he looked at the congested traffic ahead:
“I registered this WeChat account a couple of days ago. I don’t know who leaked my number. Help me change the settings to reject friend requests.”
Chen Qingzhi asked kindly:
“What about that girl from earlier? Will you add her?”