As soon as Zhu Xinghao returned to the dorm, she saw Bai Sichan sitting on a chair with a blanket wrapped around her, her body curled up as she typed rapidly on the keyboard with both hands.
She looked just like a little hedgehog storing food for the winter.
Bai Sichan turned around when she heard the door open. Seeing Zhu Xinghao, she was surprised.
“The opening ceremony ended so early?”
“No.” Zhu Xinghao looked uninterested as she took off her coat. “I only watched the opening dance by one of the girls from the dance club. Same as always. Nothing new.”
She put her coat on a hanger and placed it in the wardrobe. Then, she happened to notice the men’s coat lying on Bai Sichan’s bed.
Zhu Xinghao froze for a moment. She walked over, picked it up, and looked at it curiously.
“Whose is this?”
Bai Sichan’s fingers stopped on the keyboard.
“The guy I registered my marriage with.”
Zhu Xinghao suspiciously touched the coat.
“Are you sure?”
Zhu Xinghao’s father owned a large clothing factory as well as a studio that specialized in custom-made clothing. Because she had grown up around the business, Zhu Xinghao knew quite a lot about different fabrics.
She ran her fingers over the suit and studied its pattern before making a judgment.
“This kind of fabric costs at least 15,000 yuan per meter.”
Bai Sichan did not believe her. She did not even look up.
“You must have seen it wrong.”
How could it possibly be that expensive?
Zhu Xinghao carefully examined the coat, checking the pockets, collar, and even the inside. She found no logo or any brand information at all.
The pattern on the buttons was quite unusual, though. It looked like the flower of some kind of plant.
This coat must have been specially made.
Zhu Xinghao looked at Bai Sichan in disbelief.
“Are you sure that man registered a marriage with you just because he needed money?”
Bai Sichan was completely focused on finding a bug in her code. She clicked the mouse and stared at the breakpoint.
“Mm.”
“How much did you give him?”
“One thousand for registering the marriage, and another thousand later.”
At this, Bai Sichan couldn’t help thinking about her jade pendant again.
She really needed to get it back as soon as possible.
Zhu Xinghao had no idea what was going through Bai Sichan’s mind. She fell silent.
How could someone wearing a high-end custom-made suit possibly be so poor that he would register a marriage with someone for just one thousand yuan?
Was he crazy?
Zhu Xinghao placed the coat beside Bai Sichan’s bed again and asked, “Where did you two go last night?”
“The Hilton.”
“A suite or a regular room?”
“A suite.”
At this point, Bai Sichan finally realized that something was wrong.
The Hilton was considered a mid-to-high-end hotel, and he had paid for the room last night.
Was his profit… really that low?
Bai Sichan turned around and saw Zhu Xinghao’s face had gone pale.
“I think you were tricked,” Zhu Xinghao slowly said. “Sichan, a suite at the Hilton costs at least 3,000 yuan a night.”
She immediately came to a conclusion.
“There is no way he would be with someone and still end up paying money out of his own pocket.”
“…Mm.”
That made sense.
Bai Sichan thought back to the first time she had met He Shenglian.
That day, she and Meilin had gone out for tea. Meilin casually brought up the idea, and Bai Sichan had jokingly said that she really wanted to spend some money to hire a poor young man to register a marriage with her, then get divorced after receiving the scholarship.
Then He Shenglian had appeared.
He had stood calmly in front of Bai Sichan and asked directly,
“What do you think of me?”
“One thousand yuan,” he had said. “I need money right now. Give me one thousand yuan, and I’ll register the marriage with you.”
…
Thinking about it now, Bai Sichan realized that she really had been blinded by his good looks and had foolishly rushed into the marriage.
“You’d better call him now and ask him to meet you,” Zhu Xinghao advised. “Since it’s a weekday, hurry up and get the divorce done first. As for everything else, you can deal with it later.”
Only then did Bai Sichan remember the business card.
She searched through the pocket of the dress she had worn that morning, but found nothing.
There was nothing there.
She searched her bag next. She took out her wallet, mirror, tissues, and everything else, but still couldn’t find it.
Seeing her empty hands, Zhu Xinghao froze.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t ask for his number when you registered the marriage?”
“…I was in too much of a hurry. I forgot.”
At the time, there had only been a few minutes left before Li Shiqing received the photo of the certificate. She had been too busy taking a picture and sending it to him that she had completely forgotten to exchange contact information.
And there was another problem.
She had lost her marriage certificate too.
Bai Sichan searched through her bag and all her clothes, but still couldn’t find the red booklet.
She clearly remembered putting it into her pocket after taking the photo.
Zhu Xinghao comforted her.
“It’s fine. Even if you lose a marriage certificate, you can apply for a replacement. It won’t affect the divorce. The only problem is that you have to find that man first.”
Bai Sichan suddenly remembered that at the hotel, when she had been in a hurry to return to school, she had borrowed He Shenglian’s phone to call Yang Zhili.
Yang Zhili should still have the call record.
With a little hope, she took out her phone and called Yang Zhili.
She tried three times, but no one answered.
Zhu Xinghao glanced at the clock on the table.
It was already eight in the evening.
She rubbed her chin.
“At this hour, who knows where that guy is having fun. Just call him again tomorrow. One more night won’t make a difference.”
The three of them, along with Meilin, had grown up together, so they knew each other’s personalities very well.
Ever since kindergarten, Yang Zhili had loved pretty girls. By elementary school, he already knew how to write love letters and send roses. He had gone from being a cute little boy to the playboy he was now.
Zhu Xinghao patted Bai Sichan on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. If that guy still doesn’t answer tomorrow, we’ll go straight to his usual hangout and wait for him.”
Yang Zhili really was having fun.
It was the birthday of one of his friends, so he had invited everyone from his dorm out to celebrate. After drinking several more bottles than he should have, he became completely drunk and collapsed on the sofa.
Colorful lights shone over him.
Beside his right hand, a phone had fallen into a glass.
The screen displayed a missed call from:
Xiao Chanchan.
Two minutes later, the screen went completely black.
Bai Sichan only learned about this “disaster” the next day.
She stared at Yang Zhili in disbelief.
“You lost both your phone and your SIM card?”
Yang Zhili nodded.
“Perfect chance to get a new number. That way I won’t be bothered by people calling me all the time.”
Bai Sichan stared at him.
“…That’s what happens when you change girlfriends so often.”
It was no exaggeration to say that since starting university, Yang Zhili had dated enough girls to fill three tables at a mahjong game.
There would still be one or two left over as substitutes.
Now, every way of contacting He Shenglian was completely gone.
Bai Sichan felt miserable.
To be honest, the marriage certificate was no longer that important to her.
All she wanted was to get her jade pendant back.
That jade pendant had belonged to her mother. Her mother had always worn it and had left it to Bai Sichan before she passed away.
If Bai Sichan could choose again, even if she had to risk being called a woman who took advantage of a man without paying, she still would not have handed over that jade pendant.
On the third day after losing contact with He Shenglian, Bai Sichan won the final spot for the university scholarship by an overwhelming three-point lead.
After the scholarship list was announced, Li Shiqing said to Bai Sichan with a stiff expression,
“If possible, I hope I won’t see a divorce certificate from you the next time we do the statistics.”
Bai Sichan desperately wanted that divorce certificate.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t even find the man.
The plane landed smoothly.
After two days without getting proper rest, He Shenglian opened his eyes.
There were many blood vessels visible in his eyes, and his skin was still pale, making him look slightly sick.
His assistant stood in front of him and reminded him gently,
“Sir, would you like me to cancel this afternoon’s meeting?”
“No need.”
He Shenglian immediately refused.
He instinctively took out his phone again.
She still hadn’t called.
It had already been four days since they last saw each other.
The young woman seemed to have completely forgotten about him.
He Shenglian’s patience was almost exhausted.
He put his phone back into his coat pocket.
Just wait a little longer.
If she still didn’t call by eight tonight, he would call her himself.
That weekend, Bai Sichan went home.
She originally had a professional English class on Monday, but the teacher had something urgent to deal with and moved the class to Tuesday afternoon.
That meant Bai Sichan could stay home for another day.
Her father had been quite busy recently. He said there were some problems at the company.
Her stepmother, Jiang Rong, had never been particularly close to her. Her daily schedule consisted of shopping, beauty treatments, and afternoon tea. Occasionally, she would invite friends over to play cards.
Bai Sichan had never been able to become close to her stepmother, but she got along very well with her stepsister, Bai Siyu.
Bai Siyu was two years older than her and had just graduated this year with a degree in Business Administration. She was a beautiful woman with a fiery personality. She had not stayed at their father’s company as Jiang Rong had hoped. Instead, she had joined the well-known Hengke Group.
Bai Siyu was the typical kind of person who had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She always wore a serious expression, and once she started talking, she could go on like a rapid-fire cannon.
But she was genuinely kind to Bai Sichan.
When Bai Sichan was in middle school, she had once been surrounded by several troublesome boys from her class and had no idea what to do.
Bai Siyu had boldly grabbed a mop from the bathroom and rushed out to help her.
She had taken on six boys by herself and become famous after that fight.
From then on, Bai Sichan considered Bai Siyu even closer than a real older sister.
That whole day, Bai Sichan stayed listlessly at home.
The newly married young woman was restless and distracted. Even when her favorite manga was updated, she had no interest in reading it.
She spent the entire afternoon eating two large bags of potato chips, three buckets of popcorn, a whole bottle of cola, and several packs of dried fish snacks.
When Bai Siyu came home from work and saw her like this, she was shocked.
She frowned.
“Sichan, who bullied you?”
“…No one.”
She had simply gotten married too quickly and now couldn’t find the man she needed to divorce.
There was no way Bai Sichan could tell her sister that.
Her sister would probably grab a knife and go after the man immediately.
She said, “I just wanted to relax.”
Bai Siyu clearly disagreed.
“All this junk food will only hurt your health.”
Bai Sichan obediently listened to her sister’s lecture.
That day at the dinner table, their father asked Bai Siyu for her opinion about the company being acquired.
Bai Sichan knew nothing about business.
There were too many professional terms, such as stock acquisition and equity transfer, that she couldn’t understand.
But she did hear her father repeatedly mention one name.
Mr. He.
Apparently, Mr. He was interested in acquiring shares in the company, but Bai Song was hesitant and didn’t know whether he should accept the offer.
Bai Siyu advised him,
“Dad, you need to understand that if you keep doing things the same old way, our family business can only remain limited to A City. But…”
Bai Sichan was absent-mindedly thinking that there sure were a lot of people with the surname He.
She finished eating first, said a quick goodbye, and prepared to return to her room.
After she left, Jiang Rong, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
She calmly asked,
“The Mr. He you’re talking about… is he He Shenglian, the man who founded Hengke?”
Bai Song let out a long sigh.
“Yes. It’s him.”
Outside the room, Bai Sichan stretched lazily.
As soon as she returned to her bedroom, her phone rang.
The screen showed an unfamiliar number from A City.
It could be a classmate.
Or perhaps a salesperson.
Bai Sichan answered.
“Hello, who is this?”
There was a soft sound of breathing.
After a moment of silence, the man on the other end slowly spoke.
“It’s me.”
His deep voice came through.
It was the man she had been thinking about these past few days—the man she desperately wanted to find so they could get divorced.
“He Shenglian.”