Rose Manor: Tycoon's Relentless Chase
Chapter 37 - 34: A Wedding Invitation

Chapter 37: Chapter 34: A Wedding Invitation

Shen Jianian encountered a traffic jam on the way, arriving at the airport nearly twenty minutes late.

She hurried to the exit of Terminal 3, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. After a few minutes, with no sign of Fu Jichen, she reluctantly sent him a message asking where he was.

The flight was not delayed and should have arrived twenty minutes ago. Perhaps Fu Jichen left early, not seeing her upon his arrival.

Moments later, Fu Jichen replied with three words: "Parking lot."

Shen Jianian held her tote bag at her side tightly, moving quickly against the crowd’s flow, and made her way to the parking lot. There, she spotted a familiar car with its hazard lights flashing.

She jogged over, breathless, and the rear window rolled down, revealing a man’s sharp-featured face, cold and aloof in its expressionless state, warning others to keep their distance.

Fu Jichen’s eyes were half-closed, focused on the smooth white jade piece in his palm: "Interesting, I’m here to pick you up, yet I had to wait for you for half an hour."

Wasn’t it less than half an hour? Shen Jianian instinctively retorted in her mind.

But that detail was unimportant. Shen Jianian explained herself: "There was traffic, and the driver took a detour, which is why I’m late. Sorry, I’ll be more punctual next time."

Fu Jichen lazily turned his eyes to her, giving her a quick look, his thin lips lifting slightly: "Get in the car."

Shen Jianian exhaled, moving to the other side to open the door and sit next to him.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Song Fang formally met Shen Jianian for the first time. Out of curiosity, he scrutinized her through the rearview mirror.

Is this Mr. Chen’s newly hired assistant?

She is very beautiful, a kind of unforgettable beauty, but seems a bit slow-witted.

The car window slowly ascended, sealing out the cool air outside. Qu Mo started the car and drove out of the parking lot. The light illuminated Fu Jichen’s lazy face.

He shifted his body into a comfortable position, finding himself too restless to sleep in the car. He fished out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, tossing them into Shen Jianian’s lap.

Shen Jianian looked puzzled, holding the items for a moment before saying in a serious tone: "I don’t smoke."

Fu Jichen didn’t expect her to take so long to come up with such a response and couldn’t help but laugh: "Lacking common sense in such an unusual way." He coughed lightly, hinting, "Light one for me."

Shen Jianian understood, her cheeks suddenly heating up with embarrassment. She used the gesture of looking down to hide her expression, opened the pack, and took out a cigarette to hand to the man beside her.

Fu Jichen remained silent, not reaching out to take it.

Shen Jianian raised her eyes to look at his face. After dozens of hours of long-haul flight, his refined appearance remained unchanged, save for a few strands of messy hair over his forehead, and his face showed a bit of tiredness.

Fu Jichen met her eyes, smiling meaningfully: "Never lit a cigarette for someone before?"

"No," Shen Jianian answered honestly.

Fu Jichen was amused by her, fixing his gaze on her, grabbing her wrist with one hand, pulling it closer, and lowered his head to take the cigarette from her fingers, speaking softly: "Do you get it now?"

Doesn’t he have hands? Shen Jianian felt resentful, grumbling internally.

Fu Jichen watched her indifferently, his direct gaze making her scalp tingle. Hands shaking, she flipped open the metal cover of the lighter, a pale blue flame flared up, reaching over to light his cigarette.

With his eyes half-closed, Fu Jichen took a drag, the ember flickering, releasing her hand as curls of smoke wove around his lips.

Shen Jianian returned to her seat, handing back the cigarette pack and lighter to him, but he did not accept them, only giving her a glance. Not knowing him well, Shen Jianian completely misunderstood his intention.

Thoughtfully, Shen Jianian withdrew her hand, putting the cigarette pack and lighter into her bag. She felt stifled inside, wondering if he couldn’t just say a few more words instead of having others guess.

Feeling aggrieved, she turned to look out of the window, suddenly thinking of Zhu Yilan.

Is this how Zhu Yilan usually attends to him? If so, she started to feel a bit sorry for Zhu Yilan, dealing with such a difficult boss.

The front end of the cigarette had accumulated some ash. Fu Jichen removed the cigarette from his lips, exhaling a ring of smoke: "Ashtray." _{f|ree(w)ebn\o.vel.com}

Hearing his slightly hoarse voice from beside her, Shen Jianian turned back around, but couldn’t find one. Neither her father nor any friends smoked, so they never kept such things around, leaving her at a loss momentarily.

Fu Jichen, finding her flustered actions amusing, chuckled: "In the armrest compartment."

Shen Jianian’s gaze dropped, retrieving an ashtray from the armrest compartment’s recess. Black and matte, resembling a thermos cup, plus it had a lid, no wonder she couldn’t find it. It looked exactly like a cup with an inner lining from its appearance.

Fu Jichen’s long fingers held the cigarette, tapping the ashtray gently twice with the cigarette butt, shaking off a length of ash into it.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

Seeing her expression, he guessed she had a lot on her mind, better to speak out than hold it in.

The car was quiet, Shen Jianian’s eyelids fluttered as she spoke: "Does Secretary Zhu usually serve you like this?"

Surprised, Fu Jichen gave her a curious glance, slightly baffled: "What does this have to do with Zhu Yilan?"

Shen Jianian felt she shouldn’t have broached the subject, unwilling to discuss further, she breezed over it: "Just curious, it’s nothing."

Fu Jichen stared at her for a while, considering the situation, reaching a conclusion: "You thought I take Zhu Yilan to social events and have her do these things?" He deliberated for two seconds, then raised an eyebrow, saying, "Are you jealous?"

Startled, Shen Jianian retorted: "You’re sick."

Jealous over this? She was merely dissatisfied with his high and mighty demeanor, feeling indignant for herself and others. How did he misunderstand?

Sitting in the front, Song Fang almost dropped his jaw upon hearing Shen Jianian call him "sick."

He had never seen Fu Jichen and the new assistant interact privately and couldn’t have imagined this kind of dynamic. Was she truly an assistant? The interaction seemed more like that of a couple.

Giving Qu Mo another glance, he appeared nonchalant as if used to it. Yet, this guy never had many expressions anyway.

*

When the car drove into Rose Manor, dusk had already fallen, replaced by night. The European-style streetlights lit up sequentially, stretching into long lines, crisscrossing through the manor.

Zhou Rongzhen came to open the door upon hearing the noise.

Fu Jichen and Shen Jianian entered the house one after the other. A maid quickly stepped forward, taking the coat Fu Jichen handed over, hanging it on the rack.

"Dinner is ready," Zhou Rongzhen smiled, looking at Fu Jichen, "Would you like to rest a bit before eating, or start now?"

Fu Jichen glanced back at Shen Jianian, nodded toward her, saying, "I’m going upstairs for a bath, you start eating." With that, he stepped into the elevator.

Zhou Rongzhen was momentarily stunned, then turned to the kitchen to bring the dishes to the dining table.

Shen Jianian had some work left unfinished and didn’t want to delay too long. She sat at the dining table, took out her laptop from her bag, and started working in the available space.

"Still working?" Zhou Rongzhen brought over a bowl of chicken soup, smiling as she asked.

Shen Jianian looked up, giving her a shy smile: "I’ll be done soon."

Fu Jichen took a quick shower in ten minutes, descending the stairs with half-wet hair, spotting Shen Jianian engrossed in work, and approached her from behind. His gaze fell on the laptop screen: "So busy?"

Deeply focused, Shen Jianian hadn’t noticed his approach, and was startled, ignoring him.

Zhou Rongzhen came over with an extra set of cutlery, speaking: "Sir, this afternoon the Qin Family visited, leaving an invitation."

"Which Qin Family?" Fu Jichen pulled out a chair opposite, seating himself and first helped himself to a bowl of soup.

"I’m not sure about that, I’ll go get it for you."

Zhou Rongzhen retrieved a bright red invitation from the living room coffee table, with engraved "double happiness" character and embossed gold rose patterns along the edge—clearly a wedding invitation.

Fu Jichen sipped a mouthful of soup, opening the invitation with a finger, casually glancing at the text inside, his eyebrows slightly arching as he passed it across the table: "Put work aside, finish eating first. You can keep the invitation, if you want to attend, I’ll go with you."

Shen Jianian lifted her head from behind the computer, a face full of puzzlement at his suggestion to attend a wedding of someone she didn’t know.

Fu Jichen offered no explanation, leisurely finishing the rest of his soup.

With lingering curiosity, Shen Jianian opened the invitation, the black lettering clearly stating: Groom Qin Fan and bride Yin Shuyao will hold their wedding ceremony on November 24th, with a banquet to follow.