"The hotel will run just fine without you. Don't take your job so seriously."
"You don't want me to be a housewife, do you? No way, I'm not willing to do that."
"I didn't mean that. A person still needs their own social circle. I just don't want you to wear yourself out."
"But the contract renewal period is coming up soon. If I keep asking for time off right now, the hotel is definitely going to have something to say about it."
"It'll be the same outcome either way. No matter how well you perform, I bet your contract renewal with the hotel won't go smoothly this time."
"Why?"
"Over thirty, unmarried, no kids, and people constantly coming to the hotel to set you up on blind dates. Do you think the company leadership, trying to avoid risks, will look for someone younger or someone who's already had kids to replace you?"
"This... by all rights, my contract expires in a little over a month, but the hotel hasn't brought up the renewal at all. You couldn't actually be right, could you? What am I going to do? Am I going to lose my job?"
"What's the big deal? Aren't I about to open a fitness club? If you like it, I'll hand it over to you to run later. If you don't like it, whatever industry you take a fancy to, I'll put up the money and we'll be our own bosses."
"But I don't have any experience. What if we lose money?"
"You only get experience by losing money along the way. Rest assured, your husband has money. If we weren't looking to experience life, we'd just stay home and live like a wealthy couple."
"All right then, I'll listen to you and rest another day. I'll call in sick right now."
"I'm going out to buy breakfast. What do you want to eat?"
"Those little steamed buns you bought last time were pretty good."
When He Wenjie came upstairs carrying breakfast, he saw Yang Tao sitting on the bed with a listless look on her face, completely unconcerned about her exposed charms. Well, she was still just as stunningly upright. "What's wrong? Did the boss not give you the day off?"
"No, I said I was sick and needed a day off, and the boss told me to take good care of myself and only come back when I'm fully recovered. Looks like you really guessed right. The leadership doesn't value me at all anymore."
"Don't worry. Since you've already got the time off, just get some proper rest today, and tomorrow the two of us will go shopping."
"Yeah, I'm not going to think about those things anymore. At worst, I'll just change jobs. An amazing woman like me doesn't need to be afraid of not finding a job."
After finishing breakfast, Yang Tao went back to lie on the bed. Seeing He Wenjie bustling about, she asked, "Do you have plans later?"
"Are you feeling better? Shall we go get our marriage license right now?"
Yang Tao recalled the impulsive moment from last night and buried her face in the blanket. "Were the two of us just being too impulsive?"
"That's called the passion of the moment, deep and enduring affection. You aren't going to pull your pants on and pretend it didn't happen, are you? No wait, you still don't even have your pants on. You dare try to back out of it without even wearing pants?"
"What are you talking about?"
"All right, baby, I'm just teasing you. Get some good rest, I'm going across the hall to tidy up."
"How about I go help you tidy up tomorrow? I want you to keep me company and chat."
"When my wife gives an order, I have to obey. Actually, it doesn't really matter whether that place gets tidied up or not; its mission has already been accomplished anyway." He Wenjie took off his jacket, revealing a sturdy and muscular physique, got on the bed, and pulled Yang Tao into his arms.
"We still need to clean it up a bit. My rent here expires in two months, and when it's up I'm not going to renew. I can just move over to your place then and save some money."
"You really are my good manager. Actually, I have another suggestion: when you have time, see which house looks good and we'll buy it outright as our marital home."
"You're not kidding, are you?"
"Of course not. Don't tell me you don't want to marry me."
"Of course not, it's just that everything is happening so fast it feels a bit surreal. I'm afraid this is a dream and when I wake up everything will be gone."
"A dream? Then let me show you whether this is a dream or not." With that, he reached out and pinched one of Yang Tao's soft spots.
"Hey, you're annoying."
"Is it a dream?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore. By the way, how much longer does the private room you booked at our hotel have left? How about I talk to management and we check out early so we can get a partial refund on the room fee?"
"There's less than a week left. What refund? Even if you tried your hardest to spend money, you couldn't keep up with the speed at which your husband makes it; there's no need to quibble over these little details. How about you go stay at the hotel tomorrow too? You've worked there for so many years, before you leave, let other people serve you for once."
"Don't, how embarrassing would that be if someone saw? If we're not getting a refund, then fine, it's only a few days anyway."
The two of them lay on the bed chatting idly when suddenly He Wenjie's phone rang. It was from the 4S dealership. "Mr. He, the car you ordered has arrived, and the license plate issue has been resolved as well. When do you think you'll have time to drop by the dealership?"
"Tomorrow or the day after. I've got things to do today and no time."
After hanging up, Yang Tao asked, "Did you buy a car?"
"Yeah, I bought it a while ago, but I couldn't get the license plates sorted out so I hadn't gone to pick it up yet. Tomorrow, keep me company to pick up the car, and by the way, you can look around to see if there are any models you like. You're about to become a boss's wife, it's time you changed to a new car too."
"My car is just fine, I only bought it a few years ago and I'm used to driving it, no need to replace it. Aren't you going to open a fitness club? There will definitely be plenty of places where you'll need money then."
"We'll talk about it then. Even if you don't buy one, you can still take a look first and see if there are any models you like."
"Alright, then I'll tag along tomorrow to take a look. What kind of car did you buy?"
"A BMW. Don't young people all like BMWs? Also, when do you plan to tell your mom about the two of us?"
"Let's wait a little longer. I'm afraid my mom won't be able to handle it."
"Then aren't you afraid your mom will set you up on more blind dates?"
"Just a couple more days. In a couple of days, it's my older sister and brother-in-law's wedding anniversary, and I'll take you back home then."
"Deal, it's a date then."
The next day, Yang Tao, feeling rested, was about to go to work when she was stopped by He Wenjie. "Didn't your boss grant you time off? Why not rest a couple more days? Did you forget you're supposed to keep me company to pick up the car today?"
"Even though the boss said that, wouldn't it look bad if I didn't go? What if they just forgot to talk to me about renewing my contract?"
"Do you think the hotel's Human Resources department is full of freeloaders? It's already a done deal. If I were the boss, I would have sent someone into your department to shadow you these past couple of days, and right after they finish talking to you, they'll issue the appointment letter directly, followed by a one-month handover transition period. That person might already be on the job."
"I'll make a phone call and ask."
Shortly after, Yang Tao hung up the phone with a depressed expression on her face. "Yesterday afternoon the boss brought a new person over, saying they're the newly appointed supervisor to assist me with my work."
"See? So don't hold on to any wishful thinking, just rest easy. Let's go, get ready and we'll go look at cars."
At the 4S dealership, He Wenjie accompanied Yang Tao to look at several car models on the showroom floor, but Yang Tao showed lukewarm interest in all of them, without displaying any particularly excited expression. Seeing that Yang Tao didn't find any model she fancied, He Wenjie paid for the car, picked it up, and left.