Five years without pregnancy means you're too weak; I remarried a powerful man and had triplets

The wall clock struck twelve, its soft chime echoing through the quiet editing room.

Shen Zhiyi quickly pressed the Enter key, and the rendering progress bar jumped to full at the last second. The finished product was successfully exported with a "ding".

She dragged the file into Lu Zichuan's email almost simultaneously, clicked send, and moved so fast it was as if she were performing some solemn ceremony, her back ramrod straight.

She had just breathed a sigh of relief when the internal phone rang.

"Come in." Lu Zichuan's voice came through the receiver, still in a cold and hard tone, showing no trace of the emotions he had just experienced after watching the film.

Shen Zhiyi clenched her cold fingertips, got up and knocked on the door of the president's office.

When she entered, Lu Zichuan was leaning back in the boss's chair. The computer screen was still on the last frame of the final cut, the very scene of the breakdown that she had revised. There were no deliberately constricted pupils, only a close-up of the actor's fingertips digging into the sofa seam, his knuckles turning white. The emotions were heavy, but it was more poignant than any crying scene.

He didn't look up, but tapped his fingertips lightly on the armrest twice, as if he were savoring something, or as if he was holding back something.

Shen Zhiyi stood before the table, her back ramrod straight, deliberately making her voice respectful yet distant: "President Lu, at exactly twelve o'clock, the final cut has been sent to your email. I've revised all the points you raised earlier. If you have any other questions, I can ask you tomorrow..."

"We didn't slack off this time when we changed locations."

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Zichuan suddenly spoke, his voice slightly softer than before, but when he looked up at her, he quickly reverted to his cold, bossy demeanor. "The use of emotional nuance was good, a better transition than the previous black screen. That breakdown scene..."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing as if he were unusually uncomfortable. "...It's cut even better than I asked for."

Shen Zhiyi was stunned for a moment, her eyelashes trembled, and she almost couldn't help but smile.

She had spent four hours rehearsing the length of that shot more than a dozen times, just to meet his requirements while retaining her own expression. She didn't expect him to see through it at a glance.

But she quickly remembered his words from that afternoon, "There's no need for cooperation," and immediately suppressed the little bit of happiness that had just appeared. She just lowered her eyes and said in a flat voice, "It's all thanks to Mr. Lu's guidance."

"Don't give me that." Lu Zichuan frowned, as if he couldn't stand her flattering him so distantly, and tapped the file name she exported on the screen: "President Lu's Modified Version v3".

He looked away, his voice stiff and strained: "The film is good, it meets the requirements. Remember to do this every time. When the film is released, I'll add 20% to your year-end bonus, so you won't have worked for nothing these past few hours."

Shen Zhiyi paused for a moment, then looked up at him.

He was clearly praising her, but his brows were still furrowed, as if giving her a bonus was some great injustice. His ears, however, were subtly reddened, hidden behind the stray hairs at his temples, barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

The bitterness in her heart suddenly dissipated, as if it had been softened by warm water.

She pursed her lips and said softly, "Thank you, Mr. Lu."

"What are you thanking me for?" Lu Zichuan turned his face away, pretending to look at the night view outside the window, but his voice was a little softer. "Once you've handed in the film, hurry up and leave. Don't get in the way. Come back later tomorrow, no need to clock in."

After saying that, he felt it was too soft, so he immediately added, adopting the air of a superior: "If you're not in good shape tomorrow and it affects the progress, half of your bonus will be deducted."

Shen Zhiyi looked at his feigned fierceness despite his obvious concern and suddenly laughed.

Her eyes curved up like two crescent moons dipped in water, and the redness at the corners of her eyes from staying up earlier softened.

She didn't expose him, but obediently nodded: "Okay, I understand."

She turned to leave, but Lu Zichuan suddenly called her back.

"Wait."

He picked up the pen she had left at his place that afternoon from the table and handed it to her: "Doesn't this pen have special meaning to you? You didn't even notice it was gone for so long?"

"You're so forgetful. I'll take care of it for you this time, but if it happens again, I won't be responsible."

Shen Zhiyi took the pen in a daze. It was a gift from her mentor when she won her first award for editing a film in college. She still remembered her mentor saying to her at that time, "Shen Zhiyi, you have an extremely high talent for editing. You should cherish it. This was given to me by my mentor. Now I am giving it to you. I hope you can create a new history for our editing industry."

That was extremely high praise. Shen Zhiyi was flattered and originally wanted to refuse, but her mentor's attitude was very firm, as if he was convinced that she would make a name for herself in the field of editing in the future.

This was an extremely private matter, so why did Lu Zichuan know about it?

She opened her mouth: "How could you...?"

Before he could finish saying the word "know," Lu Zichuan said, "That pen looks very old, but it's been polished to a pristine condition, without a single scratch. It's clearly been well taken care of."

Shen Zhiyi looked at the pen in her hand, and it was indeed as he had said.

He actually noticed such a small detail...

No wonder he's a CEO.

Her gaze was filled with undisguised adoration, making Lu Zichuan a little embarrassed. He coughed lightly and said, "Never mind, I have to go back soon anyway. You can ride in my car. Wait for me in the parking lot. I'll be down in ten minutes."

As if realizing his voice had become somewhat cold and hard, she paused again: "Is there enough time?"

Shen Zhiyi nodded. "Okay."

"Then let's go out."

Lu Zichuan lowered his head, but couldn't hide his burning ears.

Looking at his face turned away, his ears bright red, Shen Zhiyi suddenly felt that those cold and harsh words from that afternoon didn't seem so hurtful after all.

She gave a soft "hmm," picked up her pen, and walked out of the office. As she closed the door, she saw through the crack that Lu Zichuan was still sitting there, staring blankly at her finished product. He tapped on the keyboard, then deleted it, finally only renaming the file to "Zhizhi Modified Album Version 1.0" and saving it in his own folder.

The wind in the corridor was a bit chilly, and Shen Zhiyi gripped her pen tightly, her steps becoming lighter.

She touched her burning ear tips and suddenly thought that this wasn't so bad. Being a work partner was a good idea. Although Lu Zichuan's words that afternoon were a bit excessive, after she kept editing and exploring, she found that his suggestions were indeed better than what she had originally done.

She realized that Lu Zichuan wasn't nitpicking, but genuinely wanted her work to reach a higher level.

Unlike Hsu Che-sheng, who simply wanted to have leadership.

Meanwhile, in his office, Lu Zichuan looked at the revised scene on the screen, the warmth of Shen Zhiyi's pen still lingering in his hand. His Adam's apple bobbed again, and he chuckled softly, his voice as light as the wind falling on flower petals.

Unbeknownst to her, when her advisor handed her the pen, he happened to be helping the professor in the next office. Although their voices were not loud, the office was not soundproof, and he could hear them clearly.