Chapter 12: It's Hard to Stop at the Brink

“Don’t…” Su Qing recoiled in alarm, pushing Zhang Cheng away and retreating into the corner by the headboard.

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to control herself either, so she didn’t dare let them become intimate. She had to stop it.

“Zhang Cheng, if you can’t restrain yourself tonight, I won’t be able to refuse you either. But then there’ll be no future for us. When you come home tomorrow, you’ll be alone. I won’t be here.

“Think about it.”

She must like me too, Zhang thought. That’s why she can’t refuse me and keeps warning me: she wants us to last. Perhaps, little by little, I can make her love me and become my real girlfriend. I can’t ruin my chance.

But with her so close, beautiful and fragrant, his body still urged him forward. He struggled to master himself.

“Could you wait a little longer?” Su pleaded. “First you have to learn to be a playboy who can fool Zhou Mingyuan. Then we can do what we want, perhaps for a long time. I want that too, not just one night.”

“A long time?”

His eyes lit up. He went into the bathroom and took a cold shower until the heat in him subsided.

The next morning sunlight slipped through the curtains and spread across his bedding on the floor. Zhang woke slowly. Su was still sleeping peacefully on the bed.

They hadn’t shared the bed or done anything intimate, but they had slept in the same room. He could see her as soon as he opened his eyes, and that alone made him happy. He wished they could live like this for a lifetime. Even if all they did was work separately by day and rest under the same roof at night, he would be content.

If only he could get a system or some miraculous opportunity and become rich overnight. He could take Su away, stop worrying about Zhou’s moods and give her everything. Unfortunately, such things happened only in web novels.

He rose quietly so he wouldn’t wake her, washed in the bathroom, then took his keys downstairs and drove to collect Zhou.

Zhou rested with his eyes closed in the back seat. As they neared the office, he opened them and looked coldly at Zhang in the mirror. “How did you two sleep last night?”

Zhang’s heart skipped, but he quickly steadied himself. “I slept on the floor and she slept in the bed. Don’t worry, I didn’t touch her.”

Privately he felt a little ashamed. Without Su’s repeated warnings, he might really have slept with her. He would have felt guilty now, and Zhou would have noticed. The consequences were unthinkable.

“Good.” Zhou was satisfied. He knew Zhang well: when the driver lied or had done something wrong, his eyes became uneasy and his voice faltered. Apparently he understood the stakes and hadn’t dared misbehave.

Zhang followed him into the office building. At reception, two young women covered their mouths, but laughter escaped between their fingers. Their curious, suggestive looks traveled over him until he felt uncomfortable. Puzzled, he touched his face. What was wrong with him?

In the elevator he met Old Wang from sales, a longtime employee who loved gossip and could chat with anyone. Wang clapped him on the shoulder.

“Xiao Zhang, well done! You actually won Secretary Su over, and now you’re living together? Incredible. I never thought she’d choose you.”

A bespectacled colleague from finance was there too. He had always been a little jealous of Zhang’s looks, and his envy showed.

“I can’t understand it. A woman like Secretary Su is beautiful, well educated and capable. Why would she choose a poor driver? It’s like planting a flower in cow dung. What a waste.”

In the drivers’ break room, young Driver Li came straight over. He raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice.

“Zhang, you really got Secretary Su? You’re living together? How was last night? How many times—five or six? She’s so beautiful. You must have had quite a night.”

Another driver, Wang, joined him. Nearly forty and unmarried, he had always envied men who won beautiful women. His eyes were red with envy.

“At least seven times, I’d say! She’s beautiful, with a great figure and fair skin. What man could resist? Zhang, you’ve got to teach us how you won her.”

“You two are filthy…” Zhang flushed from his ears to his neck, feeling as exposed as if someone had stripped him in public. He didn’t know where to put his hands.

He remembered the night in the hotel. They really had gone on so long that he couldn’t remember how many times. The two men had stumbled close to the truth, making him even more embarrassed.

But he was also puzzled. How had the entire company learned overnight that he and Su were living together? Had Lin Wanshu spread it so widely that Zhou would be embarrassed to pursue Su? Or was she betting Su would be too ashamed to stay and resign?

Unable to resist, he opened their WeChat conversation and typed: “Have you heard the rumors? Everyone knows we’re living together. Someone was talking about me in the elevator.”

Su replied quickly: “I heard. I don’t care. I want to see what she does next.”

Her answer was stubborn. She clearly had no intention of leaving and meant to stand up to Lin.

“Does the boss know? Is he angry?” Zhang asked.

“He’s hard to read. I can’t tell.”

Suddenly his phone rang. The caller was the boss’s wife.