Quick Transmigration: The Control Group in Sweet Novels

A year into their marriage, Chen Zuo and Qi Yang remain busy with work.

Qi Yang has become a partner and has countless cases piling up on his hands year after year. Chen Zuo is even more constantly working on projects, and business trips are a regular occurrence for him.

Although they lived in the same city, they rarely saw each other. When Qi Yang dragged her tired body home, Chen Zuo was still away on a business trip. By the time Chen Zuo returned from his trip, Qi Yang was already on a plane.

On Friday afternoon, in the office building downstairs, the fast food restaurant was bustling with noise. Qi Yang and her colleagues sat around it, taking a break during lunch to check their private messages.

Chen Zuo asked her: Have you eaten?

Qi Yang's fingertips twitched slightly, and she quickly replied with her head down: I'm eating now, what about you?

The message was replied to almost instantly: Not yet.

It was followed by a pitiful, crying emoji.

Qi Yang was the first to send him this emoji. Later, he somehow learned how to use it and collected the whole series of emojis. In their chat history, his messages were almost always accompanied by one of these emojis.

Looking at the screen, Qi Yang's expression softened instantly. She tapped the screen lightly: Go eat quickly, then you can get back to work.

Chen Zuo: Received my wife.

Qi Yang exited WeChat, casually opened a food delivery app, precisely selected the iced Americano that Chen Zuo often drank, and placed the order. The two had lived together for a long time and knew each other's preferences inside and out.

After a quick lunch, her colleagues got up one after another to return to the law firm to prepare for the afternoon meeting. Qi Yang and the rest of the group entered the office building, took the elevator to the 18th floor, and went straight to the conference room. With less than ten minutes left before the meeting, she took out her phone to put it on silent, but another message popped up, and she clicked on it.

It was a photo sent by Chen Zuo.

The first thing that catches the eye is the man's long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles. He wears a black watch on his wrist and gently holds an iced Americano. Below the photo, he captioned it: "My wife is so good >᎑<"

Qi Yang looked down at the photo, a smile unconsciously spreading across her lips. She then put away her phone and prepared to start the meeting.

After a busy day at work, the two of them finally had some free time, which led to a long-standing longing that became uncontrollable. Before they even reached the bedroom, the living room was already a mess.

Qi Yang was wearing a professional skirt suit. Her coat had been lost during the two rolling around, leaving only a disheveled shirt and petticoat, with several buttons popped off the shirt.

Chen Zuo was in no better shape. The man's bespoke suit was wrinkled as he wrapped his arms around the woman's slender waist, his watch pressed against her skin through the fabric.

Qi Yang stirred, but Chen Zuo pressed her down, his eyes dark and his voice hoarse as he said, "No need to take it off."

Qi Yang froze, her movements halting in shock. Before she could react, she was already pinned to the sofa.

The next morning, Qi Yang woke up to find herself alone. She closed her eyes and listened quietly for a while. She heard a soft sizzling sound coming from the kitchen, which calmed her down a bit.

After waking up from her sleepiness, she got up, dressed in her pajamas. Just as she walked downstairs, she remembered the unfinished case she had been working on recently, so she turned around and went to the study, intending to find the case files and briefly review them during her free time.

The study was clean and tidy, with various legal books on the bookshelves. She pulled out a stack of documents at the bottom, and just as she opened it, a photo tucked between the pages suddenly slipped out and floated lightly to the floor.

Qi Yang picked it up and looked at it; it was a high school graduation photo.

The laminated photo still had neat edges, but the color had turned a bit yellow. The photo showed seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys and girls wearing matching blue and white school uniforms, standing in rows, their faces showing the tender and beautiful moments of their youth.

Among the crowd, Chen Zuo stood out with his tall and slender figure and neat short hair. The boy in the photo looked more youthful than he does now, making him stand out among his peers.

He somehow managed to squeeze into the second-to-last row, a faint smile playing on his lips, while the girl in front of him obediently looked at the camera.

Several years later, Qi Yang looked at the photo quietly and suddenly recalled some memories.

On the day of the graduation photo shoot, it was very hot. The sun was so strong that it hurt people's skin. Everyone was lining up in a messy, noisy manner.

"Brother Zuo, why aren't you standing over there?" Someone suddenly started laughing and joking, reaching out and pushing Chen Zuo forward, placing him behind Qi Yang.

Chen Zuo stumbled from the push, barely managing to regain his balance. He glanced at the girl's drooping ponytail, then turned to the man and laughed, "Get lost, and behave yourself."

Lou Yu gave a thumbs up, "Well done, your brother Zuo has been waiting for you to do that."

Chen Zuo sneered: "Saying he wasn't talking about you?"

Lou Yu looked up at the sky, pretending not to hear anything. Just then, the homeroom teacher came over and directed the formation, "Quickly stand in line, the principal and the director will be here soon. Don't make a fool of yourself before graduation."

Qi Yang didn't turn around, but the sounds behind her were clearly audible. She knew Chen Zuo was right behind her, but there were too many people, and she was too embarrassed to turn around.

Suddenly, someone seemed to get closer from behind, and a boy's clear voice rang out above them.

"Don't leave after you're done filming."

Qi Yang heard this but didn't move.

Chen Zuo seemed to know she could hear him, and continued in a low voice, "Give me a photo of the two of us, okay?"

The photographer had already come over, and everyone quieted down.

"Come on, teachers and students, let's all say 'Graduation' together, okay?"

Everyone shouted in unison, "We've graduated!"

The photo freezes in time.

Their figures overlapped, standing close together; as the years passed, their appearances matured.

"Awake?" A man's voice came from the study doorway.

Chen Zuo was wearing loose-fitting home clothes, which were different from the suits he usually wore, adding a touch of everyday life to his appearance.

Qi Yang smiled and said, "Just woke up."

"Okay." Chen Zuo's expression softened. "The food is just ready, come and eat."

After they sat down, Chen Zuo served her some food while saying, "I've looked at your work schedule."

Qi Yang looked up.

"You're going on vacation next month, right? My project is almost finished, so I'll have some free time." He looked up at her. "How about we take some time to go on a trip? I've been so busy with work lately, I miss you."

Qi Yang's eyes lit up, and she readily agreed, "Okay."

Because of this planned trip, I can find a sense of anticipation even when I'm back to my busy work.

This month has flown by, and soon it will be time for our vacation together.

Inside the airport, Qi Yang found a seat and waited a while before seeing the man who had checked in his luggage return. He was dressed casually today, and his black stand-up collar jacket accentuated his broad shoulders and narrow waist. He held his phone to his ear, seemingly listening to something.

As he approached, Qi Yang asked curiously, "What are you listening to?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Zuo looked at her and immediately turned on the speakerphone.

Lou Yu's plaintive voice immediately came through the phone receiver, "I'm fed up! My parents are driving me crazy with their nagging this time I'm home. They keep pressuring me to find a boyfriend. Do they think I can just find one whenever I want?"

"It's all because of you, Chen Zuo! If you hadn't gotten married so early, would my parents have kept comparing me to you? I can't stand staying at home anymore. You have to take responsibility for this. I heard you're on vacation recently, right? You wait, I'm flying over to find you right now!"

After the audio finished playing, only the two of them remained, staring at each other.

Chen Zuo looked at her arched eyebrows, a smile playing on his lips, and asked with a hint of amusement, "What should we do? Run?"

Qi Yang smiled and nodded in response, "Run!"

Sunlight streamed through the airport's floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm and tender glow on the two figures.