Chapter 54

Lu Qianchuan comes back from work, and Zhuang Sitian greets him ingratiatingly, "Mr. Lu, good evening. You're finally back. If you didn't come back, I would have gnawed on the table."

Lu Qianchuan glances at her, feeling her smile is a bit strange.

Did she make some mistake?

He takes off his suit jacket and turns to the kitchen, seeing Qin Yan serving soup. He rolls up his sleeves, preparing to help.

Putting the soup on the table, he notices there are six hot dishes, one soup, and one cold dish on the dining table.

"Why make so many?" Lu Qianchuan looks at Qin Yan.

"Making it for Tiantian to taste." Qin Yan explains with a smile. Seeing a gift box on the table, she asks in confusion, "What is it?"

"A pen holder." Lu Qianchuan explains indifferently, "Sent by a partner. Thinking you were missing one on your desk, I brought it for you."

"Thank you."

Qin Yan was indeed planning to buy a pen holder; her pens always fell when placed on the table. She opens the gift box and takes out the pen holder; it's quite exquisite.

Zhuang Sitian sees the pen holder, the magnolia flowers on it are exquisite and lifelike, and she looks at Lu Qianchuan with a strange gaze.

A jade-carved pen holder with magnolia flowers—not only is the material expensive and hard to find, but this kind of delicate manual carving probably takes a lot of effort.

Which partner would send this kind of thing to a big man like him?

He doesn't say it directly when he wants to be good to his wife, and he even makes up a partner. What kind of play is he acting in again?

Lu Qianchuan meets her gaze, frank and open, with a hint of warning in his dark eyes.

Qin Yan puts the pen holder away, washes her hands, and comes back, "Let's start, Tiantian is hungry."

"Yes, yes."

Zhuang Sitian had tasted every dish before and knew the taste was very good, but she had to wait for Lu Qianchuan to come back, so she had been holding back.

They start to eat, the three of them dining.

After eating and drinking enough, Zhuang Sitian touches her stomach. She was originally going to help clean up, but then she saw Lu Qianchuan roll up his sleeves, put on an apron, and go to the kitchen.

She is stunned for several seconds in surprise before asking Qin Yan, "Mr. Lu actually cleans the kitchen? Didn't you hire a nanny here?"

"Yes, the nanny usually comes to clean, help us wash clothes and sweep, but if I cook, I don't have to wait for the nanny to come; Mr. Lu will clean the kitchen. This division of labor is clear, and I think it's quite good."

"..." Zhuang Sitian is shocked.

Dividing the labor to let the eldest young master of the Lu family enter the kitchen—this is something she has never heard of.

She remembers that in the past, when she was a ball boy, if the ball rolled to Lu Qianchuan's feet, he was too lazy to bend down to pick it up, and even for a dirty ball, he would disdain to touch it with his hands.

She also remembers that last year, his own younger sister got a little foundation on his jacket, and he didn't hesitate at all to throw that jacket away.

But now, he actually goes to the kitchen to clean up oil stains!

"Qin Yan, how did you train Mr. Lu to be so obedient?"

"..." Qin Yan looks at her in confusion, "Train what?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious. It must have been Mr. Lu who pursued you first."

If it weren't true love, he definitely wouldn't let Mr. Lu enter the kitchen.

"Cough..." Qin Yan thinks for a moment, "I guess it was me pursuing him."

After all, it was she who grabbed Lu Qianchuan's tie and made him register for marriage with her.

"I guess? How did you pursue him? Did he not give you a cold face? Did he not make things difficult for you?" Zhuang Sitian is even more curious.

"Just, just, grabbed his tie and made him marry me. If he didn't agree, I'd kiss him."

"..." Zhuang Sitian is shocked.

Can you pursue someone like that?

But how did she get close to Lu Qianchuan?

Lu Qianchuan could let her grab his tie?

How did she kiss Lu Qianchuan?

In the past, a friend they both knew really sprained her ankle and wanted him to help support her, but he immediately took half a step back, letting that sister fall and worsening her injury.

People close to him couldn't even get near him, let alone do something rule-breaking like kissing him!

"What are you talking about?" Lu Qianchuan takes off his apron and comes over, seeing Zhuang Sitian's expression is strange.

"We were talking about how Qin Yan kissed you,"

"No," Qin Yan didn't expect her to say it directly. This is so embarrassing, "We were talking about how we got married."

"Hmm, it's getting late, Miss Zhuang, it's time to go back and rest." Lu Qianchuan speaks.

"Right, I should go too." Zhuang Sitian meets his gaze and gets up quickly, "Qin Yan, if you need anything, call me. I'll be upstairs."

Qin Yan nods and sees her out.

She returns to the bedroom, finishes writing the final summary of the report, and turns to see Lu Qianchuan holding a book, sitting on the sofa opposite her and reading.

Although the air conditioning is on in the room, she is still wearing a sweater, but the man opposite is only wearing a white shirt and suit trousers, sitting in a relaxed posture. His side profile arc is superior, his forehead is full, his brows and eyes are deep, his nose bridge is high, and his downward Adam's apple is half-covered by the loosened collar.

"Mr. Lu, don't you care which enterprise this project will be given to?"

"It probably won't be the Du Group."

"Why so sure?" Qin Yan is confused.

"The Du Group already has cooperation with the school, and their cooperation contact is already very mature, but your teacher proposed that multiple enterprises compete for this project together, probably because he doesn't really want to give it to the Du Group."

Qin Yan nods, "And then, is it your Lu Corporation, or the Gu Corporation?"

Lu Qianchuan stares at her, gets up, walks to the desk, bends over, and says, "Giving it to the Lu Corporation is of course good. This is my first time cooperating with a third-party scientific research team, and I will personally handle the connection. If it's given to the Gu Corporation,"

He pauses, raises his hand to tuck the stray hair behind her ear, and says, "We will swallow the Gu Corporation. This project will eventually become mine, right?"

"..." Seems like there's nothing wrong with that.

His meaning is that although he holds 20 percent, what he wants is the remaining 80 percent of the Gu Corporation.

So, this is also his purpose for marrying her.

"Have you thought of a way to swallow the Gu Corporation?"

"Still thinking," Lu Qianchuan sits by the desk, closes the book, and looks at her, "This project is a good opportunity for you to hold Gu He'an."

Qin Yan frowns, "This is a scientific research project led by a teacher for students. I won't let my personal interests affect this project.

Mr. Lu, you helped me deal with things on the internet before. This time, I owe you a favor. Let's talk about conditions."

Lu Qianchuan watches her tighten her small face, her expression serious. He turns and returns to the sofa to sit down, "Go ahead, I'm listening."

"The conditions given by the Gu Corporation are about the same as those given by your Lu Corporation. By comparison, your Lu Corporation doesn't have a particularly big winning chance. I'll cheat for you, increase the funding by two million, and you cannot interfere with the research team's subsequent research and development. After the Lu Corporation gets the authorization, in order to implement the scientific research project, you must cooperate with the researchers during the production process. There might be a need to modify instruments, or adjust, or purchase new instruments. Do you agree?"

Lu Qianchuan stares at her, hooking the corners of his lips, "Mrs. Lu, are you cheating for me, or digging a hole?"

Just investing money, not interfering, and also modifying the production line, and even purchasing new instruments—these are all cost inputs that haven't gone online yet.