Chapter 19 – President Ye Drove a Volkswagen to Work
Mo Suqing frowned at him. When she spoke, there was rejection in her voice. “Ye Zhongjue, don’t do this. Have you forgotten what we agreed upon??We will be divorcing?in three years. I will feel a lot of pressure if I take your card.”
Ye Zhongjue didn’t withdraw his outstretched hand.
It was difficult to read his thoughts. His voice was flat, betraying no emotions.
“No matter what happens in three years, we are a legally married couple now.?You said you would do whatever a wife should do. I, similarly, mean to do whatever a husband should do. I hope you can try to understand. From now on, you will buy everything for the household. You are in charge of all monetary matters. My salary is yours to take care of, too. If you don’t take this card, I will still transfer the exact amount of money I receive every month to your bank account. So, please do not decline.”
Mo Suqing began to waver. She was also a little surprised to see the intense expression shown on Ye Zhongjue’s face.
It looked like he had put his foot down. If he so insisted, she would do as he wished and spend his money on household stuff.
In the end, Mo Suqing took the card. Ye Zhongjue’s expression gradually relaxed. He had feared she would reject him again.
In all his life, he had never been turned down by a woman. It was the first time he had been rejected – and so fiercely too.
There was definitely a difference between being a receiver of love versus the one chasing love.
After they got home, Mo Suqing retired to the master bedroom while Ye Zhongjue went to the guestroom to take a shower.
Mo Suqing lay on the bed and listened intently to movement outside, her eyes wide open. When Ye Zhongjue asked her to take his payroll card, he had mentioned her promise before they got married. She frowned. It turned out he still remembered.
They were both adults and knew very well what it actually entailed by “whatever a wife should do.”
But, it was a different story when she was drunk. Now she was sober, she simply could not reconcile herself to sleep on the same bed with a guy she had known for two days.
Mo Suqing turned over and over again in bed, restless.
Then, she heard a door open outside. She strained her ears for any other sound. It seemed that Ye Zhongjue had finished his shower and walked out of the guestroom.
Mo Suqing was puzzled. It was late. Why didn’t he go straight to bed after taking a shower? What was he doing outside?
Her curiosity piqued, Mo Suqing got off bed to see what was going on.
She opened the door and saw the man sleeping on the sofa in the living room. His eyes were closed and his breath was even. The long lashes of his were pretty on his face in the dim light.
The sofa was obviously a bit too short for his 180-centimeter frame and he must be really uncomfortable lying there.
Ye Zhongjue must have heard her footsteps, because his eyes?flew?open.
Mo Suqing suddenly didn’t know where to place her hands. Finally, she stammered, “Why aren’t you sleeping in the guestroom? The sofa is so small…”
Her voice trailed off, because she seemed to know the answer to her own question.
Ye Zhongjue sat up slowly, his gray night robe loosened a little to reveal his sexy chest. Mo Suqing turned her face away.
“It’s been a long time since someone slept in the guestroom. I have yet to find time to tidy it up.”
Mo Suqing turned her head away again to avoid eye contact with Ye Zhongjue. After a while, with her cheeks bright red, she finally uttered, “Can you tie your robe properly?”
Ye Zhongjue’s expression changed. Then, he shook his head resignedly and did what he was told.
“Okay, you can lift up your head now.”
Mo Suqing, her cheeks still rosy, now found her mouth dry at the sight of Ye Zhongjue, who had freshened up and was oozing charm.
She said uneasily, “This is your house. Also, you are working tomorrow… Aren’t you uncomfortable, sleeping on the couch?”
Ye Zhongjue’s expression darkened a little. He replied emphatically, “This is our house now.”
Uneasiness gleamed in Mo Suqing’s eyes. “Still, please go sleep in your bedroom. Let me sleep on the couch. I am shorter than you; I won’t be too uncomfortable.”
Ye Zhongjue tossed a question to her instead of making a direct response, “Aren’t you going to work tomorrow too?”
“Of course,” answered Mo Suqing, not seeing what he was getting at.
“Then you can’t sleep well enough for work if you sleep on the couch. I am a man and I’ll be fine. Go to bed now.”
Hearing this, Mo Suqing didn’t know how to react. She stood there for a while, thinking. Then, she spat it out slowly, looking a bit reluctant, “How about… we both go sleep in the bedroom? I think the bed is big enough.”
She could be more eager. It was as if this was a very difficult decision that she had made and she had to will herself to carry it out.
Ye Zhongjue looked at her and said nothing. Mo Suqing was feeling increasingly awkward just standing there. She scratched at her nightdress and prompted, “Are you coming or not?”
Ye Zhongjue fixed his gaze on her for a long time before asking, “Are you sure about this?”
Mo Suqing fell silent, a “what else can I do” look on her face. Even if the guestroom had been cleaned, she could not possibly let him sleep there every night. After all, he was the owner of the house.
“Yes,” she nodded, “I am sure. Let’s go back to the bedroom. We will both sleep there. It’s another work day tomorrow; you will be sleep-deprived if you sleep here.”
Ye Zhongjue listened to her little speech and then stood up from the couch. He rolled up the blanket he had taken to the sofa and slowly walked toward the bedroom.
Mo Suqing followed suit.
Ye Zhongjue went to the left side of the bed instinctively. He seemed to be exhausted, because the moment he lay down on the bed, he closed his eyes and prepared himself to go to sleep.
After standing beside the bed for a while, Mo Suqing switched the main light off. The dim light from the lamps somehow made her nervous.
She lay down on the right side of the bed cautiously and was immediately surrounded by a pure and fresh fragrance. It was not strong and smelled really nice.
She knew it was impossible, but she still took some effort to try and relax herself.
The problem was, she could feel that every nerve of hers was taut. Her whole body was rigid as hell. She lay there, not daring to move a muscle. Even her breath came out with caution, as she dared not exhale noisily.
She remained like this for a long time, until all of a sudden, the man next to her spoke, “Can you go to work tomorrow if you keep doing that?”
Mo Suqing was so startled that she almost bit her own tongue. So he hadn’t fallen asleep!
“I thought you were?already?asleep…” “With someone who is constantly on tenterhooks by my side and thereby makes the ambience so intense,” Ye Zhongjue said, “how can I fall asleep? I’m not made of wood!”
Mo Suqing turned her face away in embarrassment. She admitted she was a little nervous, but he didn’t have to exaggerate like that, did he?
Ye Zhongjue said in a defeated tone, “Come on, don’t think too much. Go to sleep now. If you still can’t sleep, switch off the lamps.”
Mo Suqing sounded apologetic when she said, “But, I really have difficulty falling asleep…”
Ye Zhongjue reached over to switch off the lamp on his side of the bed and said, “Switch off your lamp too. People fall into slumber more easily in the dark.”
Mo Suqing considered his suggestion, then switched off the lamp beside her. Ye Zhongjue’s voice resonated again across the dark room.
“If sleep won’t come, how about I tell you a story? Don’t be nervous; just relax and enjoy the story.”
Mo Suqing nodded, tugging at her duvet.
“When I was little, my father was very strict with me. Compared to my peers, I barely had a normal childhood. I would do everything my father asked me to. Then, I grew older and became rebellious; for many a time, I was unwilling to obey.”
“I was deciding which high school to go to when I had a fight with my parents. Rashly, I left home to live on my own. That was how I met the girl. Every day, she showed up on the same street…”
Ye Zhongjue’s husky voice became meditative.
“Then?” Mo Suqing asked curiously, no longer in a tense mood.
In the dark, Ye Zhongjue turned to look at her and said lightly, “Then, I fell in love with her…”
He paused again.
“And then?” Mo Suqing prompted.
With an almost imperceptible melancholy, Ye Zhongjue replied, “There was no ‘then.’ I went abroad and didn’t know much about the goings-on at home.”
“But didn’t you try to?find her?when you?returned?”
Ye Zhongjue looked a little astonished for a moment before saying, “No, I didn’t. I thought she was likely living her own life now, and there was no point to disturb it.”
Thus, he finished the story.
“Well, it’s pretty late. Let’s sleep.”
Mo Suqing could feel that he didn’t want to talk about the girl anymore. She fell silent and drifted into sleep.
After she was sound asleep, Ye Zhongjue sighed softly in the dark.
The next day, Ye Zhongjue drove his car to work. He had been wanting?to drop Mo Suqing off to work too, but he could feel her lingering resistance to him.
In the end, he decided against it. He didn’t want to scare her.
When Ye Zhongjue arrived at the company, it so happened that one of the higher-ranking executives was getting out of his car with his secretary.
They watched Ye Zhongjue getting off a white Volkswagen, and from the driver’s seat at that.
The secretary gaped after him in open-mouthed amazement. The president had driven a Volkswagen by himself to work! Was he trying to scare the hell out of them?
Within half an hour, the whole Mighty Empire got wind of the rumor that their mighty president Mr. Ye had driven a white Volkswagen to work that morning.
Many were dubious about it.
After all, it was as unbelievable as a beggar proclaiming himself a millionaire.