In an adult’s arms, she could sleep three or four hours without waking; if put down, she woke immediately.
She worried, “I hope this won’t be hereditary.” What if their child also followed this?
Zhou Shíyì said, “No problem, if it is, I’ll soothe the child.”
Since kids weren’t in their plans yet, they didn’t discuss it further.
“You didn’t call me after working late?”
He said that and pulled her into his arms.
Zhong Yiwuxin knew he was tired too. She reached out to hug him. “Weren’t you supposed to meet with Yan Tinglin? I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Zhou Shíyì looked down at her; this was the first time she hugged him so tightly.
“Thank you.”
Zhong Yiwuxin was confused, unsure why he said thanks.
He lowered his head and kissed her. “Not a disturbance. If calling is inconvenient, just message me next time.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
She wondered where he kept that appraisal certificate. He had never ordered rings or necklaces for his previous arranged marriage partners, so all the jewelry should be for her.
Without special reason, he wouldn’t have hidden it.
“The jewelry appraisal certificate—I saw it, you don’t need to hide it again.”
Zhou Shíyì remained calm. “Hmm, did you see what was inside?”
She was not falling for that.
There was definitely nothing hidden inside. If there were important notes or anything else, he wouldn’t have asked like that.
Zhong Yiwuxin said nothing, instead kissed him back.
Zhou Shíyì stopped questioning and lifted her to kiss her deeply.
Before, he hadn’t wanted her to know about the ring to save face.
Not showing her the ring’s timing was to avoid her feeling guilty or sad. After making up, looking back at all those moments—breaking up, deleting him—she blamed herself, thinking she shouldn’t have.
Let her think the ring was ordered before the breakup and only arrived at the flagship store afterward.
Back in the bedroom, he went to shower while Zhong Yiwuxin lay on the bed, almost asleep, until water droplets from his hair brushed her forehead, making her open her eyes.
“Done showering?”
“Yeah.”
She reached out and hugged him.
She decided to come home every night. In his arms, all her fatigue melted away.
“Husband, good night.”
“Finally willing to call me that?”
Before the breakup, Zhong Yiwuxin often called him that.
Since reuniting, she barely called his name, sometimes not even that.
Zhou Shíyì gently kissed her eyelids. Some words he just asked straight out, “Before, whenever you had free time, even for a second, you’d send me a message.”
“Now you don’t because I had an arranged marriage, and they met both our parents. Do you feel there’s still distance between us?”
During meetings or discussions, he still habitually checked his phone every hour or two, afraid she’d message and he might miss it.
But sometimes, she wouldn’t send a single message for two days.
His kisses slid from her nose to her lips.
Kissed like this, Zhong Yiwuxin couldn’t speak and silently consented.
His kiss moved down her chin to her neck.
He guessed maybe because of the planned arranged marriage, many of her habits hadn’t returned.
She used to like holding his hand for a long time, occasionally nibbling it.
Now those things felt strange to her.
At the wedding night, she held on for only two or three minutes before quickly letting go as if holding a hot potato.
While he showered, drowsiness swept over Zhong Yiwuxin, but her mind remained unusually clear.
Water droplets from his hair passed her leg, brushed her abs. His damp hair made cool droplets fall among the lushness.
The cold drops were kissed away by his warm lips and tongue.
Zhong Yiwuxin no longer tensed like the first time she was kissed after marriage; he offered a hand to hold.
She gripped his long, strong hand tightly, feeling familiar surges on his lips.
Zhou Shíyì rose, kissed her ear.
When she wrapped her arms around his neck, he entered her deeply.
His voice husky, “Like before.”
Zhong Yiwuxin’s legs climbed around his waist.
***
At 7 AM the next day, Zhong Yiwuxin hurriedly finished breakfast and drove to the company.
Last night, she and Zhou Shíyì agreed to be more restrained in the coming months.
He agreed and reminded her to tell him if she got tired.
She only said so but wouldn’t admit it no matter how tired she got.
Zhou Shíyì faced even greater pressure. Kuncheng’s high-end models were relentlessly suppressed by Ruichi, the price war ongoing with uncertain outcomes.
Tomorrow was the kun series mid-range model launch.
He also planned to build a supercharging network, but technical bottlenecks remained.
Du opposed building the supercharging network, saying that with the price war squeezing profits and poor high-end sales, plus investment in chip R&D, they should ensure financial security and not launch big projects now.
Chairman Zhou agreed with Du, advising Zhou Shíyì to think carefully and avoid reckless decisions.
Zhong Yiwuxin arrived at the office before 7:30 AM; Níng Quē was about to eat breakfast.
“Have you eaten? Want me to bring you some?”
“A sweet soy milk would do. I already ate.” Zhong Yiwuxin changed her mind.
Níng Quē gave an OK sign.
Now he had a new breakfast buddy. Like him, Yan Tinglin lived and worked at the company.
At the cafeteria, Yan Tinglin had already bought breakfast for him. Several chip team members were at the table, including Tang Nuoyun.
They’d met before at cross-team meetings and greeted each other briefly. Níng Quē sat opposite his friend.
Together their two teams totaled three to four hundred people, with only some attending the cross-team weekly meeting, including those at the table.
Yan Tinglin looked into Níng Quē’s eyes and immediately saw he hadn’t slept well.
“All-nighter?”
“Almost.” Níng Quē took a sip of iced soy milk to cool down. “Thinking about all the future meetings where we’ll have to argue, headache already.”
A chip team member laughed, “Isn’t arguing normal?”
Natural conflicts from differing work stances couldn’t be avoided. Sometimes it wasn’t about right or wrong, but whether reality and technical conditions allowed them to do things a certain way.
As chief algorithm engineer, Zhong Yiwuxin naturally wanted the chip team’s full support for the large model.
But chips had physical limits, and the chip team had to consider process and cost.
Tang Nuoyun also laughed, “Arguing’s just everyday for us, right? Your algorithm team probably curses the chip team often, just like we curse you.”
Níng Quē: “That’s true. What do you say about us?”
“Say your tech sucks but you think you’re amazing.”
“We say your chip designs are garbage.”
Both burst out laughing.
Níng Quē used to not worry about mutual curses or disputes, because disagreements were inevitable.
But this time was different.
Zhong Yiwuxin and Tang Nuoyun were sensitive due to their identities and were core team members.
If opinions clashed, how to resolve it?
He thought all night but found no good solution.
Yan Tinglin told his friend to relax: “When there are disagreements, I always side with Zhong Yiwuxin, no matter how big. You just rest easy.”
Most chip team members, including Tang Nuoyun, didn’t take this seriously and treated it as mere politeness.
Níng Quē: “She really deserves the favor.”
Yan Tinglin casually asked, “Why?”
Níng Quē said seriously, “She’s the youngest on the whole team and was born premature.”
Hearing the word “premature,” Yan Tinglin laughed so hard his shoulders shook.
He laughed until his stomach hurt and didn’t even eat breakfast.
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