After walking out of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Qin Nuan stared blankly at the fresh little red booklet in her hand.
Had she really just married Shen Shiyan like this? It felt like she was dreaming.
Just a week ago, the two of them had been living in completely different worlds, yet from today onward, she had become Shen Shiyan’s wife.
Come to think of it, from the moment they met to getting their marriage certificate, it had only taken a week in total.
Yesterday morning, she had gone to his office to sign an agreement.
Given their situation, to put it plainly, this was essentially a contract marriage. Settling things in advance would save them a lot of trouble.
She wasn’t surprised by this, and besides, the terms of the agreement were almost too lenient toward her.
There was basically only one requirement: to cooperate with him on necessary occasions—such as maintaining the appearance of a loving couple in front of the Shen family, attending banquets, and so on.
The right to divorce after one year rested entirely in her hands, and after the divorce, Shen Shiyan would pay her ten million yuan in compensation.
When Qin Nuan first saw the string of zeros after the compensation amount, she was stunned. She had to count them several times to be sure, and her hands couldn’t stop trembling.
While she was still lost in thought, Shen Shiyan suddenly spoke: “Go home and pack up tonight. Get ready to move. Tomorrow at 8 PM, I’ll come pick you up.”
Qin Nuan was startled. She looked up and happened to meet his dark, deep eyes. Her face couldn’t help but flush red.
She bit her lip, recalling the fourth clause in yesterday’s agreement—the one Shen Shiyan had specifically reminded her to pay attention to:
During the duration of the marriage, the two parties will fulfill normal marital obligations.
When she had first seen this clause, she had frozen for a moment, then blushed with embarrassment and stammered, “President Shen, why… why is this…”
Didn’t this mean she would have to… with Shen Shiyan…
Wasn’t their marriage just for show in front of the Shen family? How could it…
“Miss Qin, there’s one thing I hope you can understand.”
Shen Shiyan looked at her, his attitude and tone extremely serious: “Although our marriage is more like a contract, no matter how it began, I take marriage very seriously. During our marriage, I will respect my wife and will never do anything unfaithful or dishonorable.”
“I don’t think you would want your husband to go looking for other women during the marriage either.”
Looking into those pitch-black eyes of his, Qin Nuan’s heart suddenly leaped.
She opened her mouth, staring at him in a daze, her heartbeat inexplicably growing faster and faster.
It took her a while to snap out of it and look away, but her heart still couldn’t calm down for a long time.
She hadn’t expected him to take marriage so seriously. This was completely different from what she had imagined.
Not to mention someone of Shen Shiyan’s status—even ordinary men, plenty of them fooled around after getting married.
But Shen Shiyan…
Even if it was just a contract marriage, he was still willing to take responsibility for it.
This moved her deeply and gave her a very good impression of him.
Since he had put it that way, there was no point in her being coy about it.
Her cheeks burning, Qin Nuan pressed her lips together.
It was just marital relations, wasn’t it? Although she couldn’t remember the details of that night clearly, Shen Shiyan’s stamina and skill were probably top-notch. In the future, it would be her enjoyment too.
Besides, asking him to remain celibate for a whole year after marriage didn’t seem fair either…
So she nodded gently and agreed to it.
Now that Shen Shiyan was asking her to move in, it was perfectly reasonable—and also a reminder of that matter.
The agreement was signed, so Qin Nuan naturally wouldn’t back out. She nodded and softly murmured, “Mm.”
In a place she couldn’t see, Shen Shiyan’s lips curved slightly upward.
.
That afternoon, the two returned to the company for work as usual.
Her marriage registration with Shen Shiyan had been handled with remarkable speed—given his special status, dedicated personnel took care of it, and the entire process took no more than ten minutes before she became a married woman.
When she got home after work, the first thing Qin Nuan did upon entering wasn’t to pack her things.
She threw herself into the soft sofa and sprawled there for a while, then fished the marriage certificate out of her bag.
She’d been distracted all afternoon, frequently zoning out while typing at her computer.
The little red booklet felt warm in her hands. She ran her fingers over it a few times, then opened the cover, revealing the photo of the two of them inside.
Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought Shen Shiyan in the photo wore a faint hint of a smile.
Qin Nuan’s heart skipped a beat again, and she couldn’t help but tap his image in the photo with her fingertip.
That face was just too handsome—even the stiff, formal marriage photo looked so refined and dazzling.
Someone this good-looking was actually her husband!
At the thought, she couldn’t help but giggle foolishly to herself.
If Ningning ever found out about this, it would absolutely scare her to death.
After rolling around on the sofa for a while, Qin Nuan casually cooked herself a bowl of noodles. Once full, she pulled out a suitcase and started packing.
She’d only rented this place after joining Empire Group, so she’d lived here for less than three months in total—she didn’t have much stuff.
Plus, she lived simply; her clothes and daily necessities were easy to pack.
She spent two hours packing everything into two suitcases, ready to haul them out tomorrow.
After finishing, she called her landlord to negotiate ending the lease early.
Originally, she’d agreed to rent for six months and had already paid the deposit. Now that she was suddenly terminating the lease, the landlord was displeased and refused to return the deposit.
Qin Nuan felt a pang of regret and wondered if she could get Shen Shiyan to reimburse her for the deposit.
But she only dared to entertain the thought. She patted her cheeks and comforted herself: after a year, she’d have ten million in hand—she’d be a little rich woman!
The next day, she went to work as usual. Near the end of the day, Qin Nuan received a text message on her phone.
【License plate: Jing Axxx, 8 PM, waiting for you downstairs at your place.—Shen Shiyan】
Qin Nuan compared the number with the one on his business card—they were different. This was probably Shen Shiyan’s personal number, so she quickly saved it and replied with 【Okay.】
But to her surprise, when she went downstairs, she ran into Lin Qingyang.
He was holding a bouquet of flowers, clearly waiting for her.
Qin Nuan frowned, but Lin Qingyang greeted her eagerly the moment he saw her: “Xiao Nuan.”
Just looking at him annoyed her. She took a step back and said coldly, “What are you doing here?”
“Xiao Nuan, I was wrong. I can’t go on without you! I came to wait for you after work, and I brought flowers. Can you forgive me?”
“Lin Qingyang, don’t you find those words disgusting? The moment you tried to hand me over to someone else, we were completely done. I made myself clear last time—don’t ever show up in front of me again.”
“Xiao Nuan, don’t be so heartless. You know I love you. If you don’t want to go along with Mr. Chen, fine, I’ll figure out another way for the promotion. Forgive me and come with me.”
With that, Lin Qingyang reached out to grab her.
Qin Nuan dodged just in time, her disgust for his outstretched hand growing even stronger. She shot him a glare. “Lin Qingyang, can’t you understand? We broke up. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Unwilling to keep tangling with him, Qin Nuan dropped the final blow. “Also, I’m already married. I’m someone else’s wife now. Keep your dirty hands off me.”
“Married?” Lin Qingyang froze, his face instantly darkening, his eyes turning sinister. “You got married just a week after breaking up with me? Who did you marry?”
He had swallowed his pride to beg her, only because he thought he could coax her back and keep her useful for later.
But he’d said a cartload of sweet words, and she remained cold and indifferent—even lying to him about being married.
He didn’t believe for a second that Qin Nuan was actually married.
Qin Nuan was the prudish type. In four years of dating, the most they’d done was kiss. She’d never once let him stay the night. How could she suddenly be married?
Lin Qingyang’s temper flared, and his true colors came out. He grabbed her wrist hard, grinding his teeth. “So you’ve already slept with someone else, huh? Still playing the innocent? Four years with me, acting like some chaste virgin, and then you turn around and marry someone else? Qin Nuan, you’re nothing but a slut.”
“Come with me! Since you can sleep with other people, what’s the big deal about sleeping with Mr. Chen? Help me win him over, and I won’t break up with you.”
Qin Nuan trembled with rage. She had never met anyone so shameless. But he was strong, and she couldn’t break free. As she was about to be dragged into the car, she bit down hard on the back of his hand and kicked and flailed desperately.
“Ah!!” Lin Qingyang screamed in pain, releasing her abruptly. He cursed and raised his hand to strike her.
Qin Nuan flinched, seeing no way to dodge.
But just then, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her gently.
She fell into a warm embrace.
A cool, woody scent enveloped her instantly.
At the same time, Lin Qingyang let out a shrill cry of pain.
Qin Nuan froze, then opened her eyes.
Shen Shiyan was steadying her waist with one hand, the other slowly withdrawing.
She looked up and met his deep, unfathomable eyes.
“Are you alright?” he asked, looking at her.
Qin Nuan snapped back to herself, feeling as if the calm in his gaze had seared her. The panic in her heart slowly settled in that moment.
She shook her head and said softly, “I’m fine.”
Satisfied that she was unharmed, Shen Shiyan turned and looked down at Lin Qingyang, who was sprawled on the ground.
His tone betrayed neither anger nor pleasure, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness:
“This gentleman, where exactly were you trying to take my wife?”