Chu Yuan took a deep breath, her shoulders slumping slightly. She looked exactly like a pitiful, drenched little kitten that had been abandoned by its owner.
Right now, she possessed a dejected heart, a dejected expression, a dejected tone, and a dejected everything. “Sister Yan, I thought I had made it obvious enough, but I didn’t expect you to still be unaware of my feelings.”
Yan Dai’s eyes shifted slightly.
Now, it was her turn to remain silent, listening without a word as Chu Yuan continued.
“I took the initiative to add you as a friend. While you were away on your business trip, I missed you terribly. I came to pick you up at the airport myself just so I could see you sooner.”
“I even prepared flowers and booked a place for dinner in advance to wait for you.”
“So, is that still not obvious enough?”
“I wouldn’t do these kinds of things for someone I don’t like.”
Chu Yuan was precisely that kind of person, someone who loved and hated with absolute clarity.
When she liked someone, she would throw herself into treating that person incredibly well without reservation, and she was never shy about expressing her affection.
After all, liking and loving someone were the most important and rarest things in this world, if you liked someone, you had to say it bravely and directly.
Furthermore, Chu Yuan didn’t think that being liked by her was anything to be ashamed of.
Everyone’s love was precious, and she wasn’t the type to just fall for anyone randomly.
Having poured her heart out all at once, Chu Yuan spoke in a very serious and solemn tone, “Sister Yan, it’s because I like you that I wanted to agree to this marriage.”
Yan Dai pondered for a moment, momentarily at a loss for how to respond to her.
Originally, she had regarded this marriage merely as a transaction devoid of any emotion, and she had never expected to develop any other feelings with her arranged wife.
Yan Dai had already made her plans.
In front of others, she and Chu Yuan would be a married couple, behind closed doors, they would live their separate lives while the cooperation between their two conglomerates deepened.
To Yan Dai, this was already the best possible dynamic between them.
A worse scenario would be if Chu Yuan had someone else she liked outside. Not only that, Yan Dai was even prepared at any given moment for the marriage to fracture.
A partnership with anyone carried the potential to fall apart.
An arranged marriage was no exception.
Indeed, Chu Yuan’s “interrogation” just now had hit every mark perfectly.
Even if the person marrying her today weren’t Chu Yuan, but any other girl, she would have agreed.
She would have been willing to keep the appointment, sit face to face with that girl, and calmly discuss the terms of the prenuptial agreement.
After all, since she had made up her mind to enter an arranged marriage, she had to maintain the relationship as best as she could.
However, what Yan Dai had absolutely never anticipated was that her arranged wife would choose to confess to her today.
Yan Dai’s mind went blank for a split second.
But once she calmed down, Yan Dai felt more disbelief than anything else.
“If I remember correctly, today is only our second formal meeting,” Yan Dai reminded her.
Chu Yuan nodded. “I know, but I’ve liked you from the very first moment I saw you.”
Although love at first sight sounded a bit unrealistic, it had happened.
The first time she laid eyes on Yan Dai, she knew for certain that she liked her.
Sometimes, falling for someone truly took only a single glance.
A single glance that felt like an eternity.
Before meeting Yan Dai, Chu Yuan had also sneered at the concept of love at first sight, not quite believing in it.
Moreover, she had firmly believed that love at first sight was merely being captivated by someone’s looks.
It wasn’t until she met Yan Dai that she deeply understood the charm of the phrase.
Whether it was being captivated by looks or something else didn’t matter.
In short, Yan Dai had truly and genuinely moved right into her heart.
Sometimes, love at first sight wasn’t actually that shallow.
Instead, it was a grander, biological sort of attraction.
Yan Dai remained somewhat skeptical, or rather, completely incredulous. “Are you serious about everything you’ve said today?”
Chu Yuan’s tone grew a bit anxious. “Why would I lie to you, Sister?”
Yan Dai lowered her gaze slightly.
She wasn’t a fresh-faced girl straight out of school, she wouldn’t be deeply moved to tears just because someone said they liked her.
Furthermore, she didn’t quite believe that a person could generate such deep and intense feelings after seeing someone only twice.
Even if there was a bit of goodwill and a slight crush, that would be normal.
But… that kind of small liking wouldn’t last very long, would it?
Yan Dai gave a very faint smile. “I understand your thoughts now. But when I drafted this clause, I didn’t mean to imply that one of us would definitely cheat after marriage. I simply wrote down the worst-case scenario. Just in case…”
“There is no ‘just in case,'” Chu Yuan interrupted directly, speaking with absolute certainty. “In this lifetime, I will only ever like you, Sister. I won’t fall for anyone else.”
Yan Dai looked at her quietly.
Life was long, and a lifetime was very far away.
This kind of promise was incredibly difficult to keep.
It was like when one was a child and loved a certain cartoon or a specific toy; back then, one desperately wanted to have it, but after a few years had passed, it could be tossed aside without a hint of hesitation.
Yet Yan Dai didn’t argue, only offering a very soft smile. “All right then, I’ll delete this clause when I go back.”
However, Chu Yuan’s mood didn’t particularly lighten because of this.
This dinner date was supposed to be an occasion meticulously planned and designed by Chu Yuan to foster the relationship between her and Yan Dai, but it ended up feeling like a negotiation instead.
This was completely different from what Chu Yuan had envisioned at the start.
But she quickly worked through it on her own.
She had fallen for Sister Yan at first sight, but she couldn’t morally kidnap Sister Yan into liking her back just as quickly.
There was no need to feel so dejected right now.
They had only met twice so far, and they would definitely get married in the future. When that time came, they would have much, much more time to spend together as a couple.
She and Sister Yan had a long future ahead of them.
With so much time to spend together after marriage, she could definitely make Sister Yan fall in love with her.
Chu Yuan silently repeated to herself a few more times in her heart.
A wonderful girl like me… one day, Sister will come to like me.
Chu Yuan was a complete and utter optimist.
Just like that, she managed to soothe her own feelings. When she looked at the prenuptial agreement again, she no longer found anything wrong with it.
Chu Yuan casually glanced through it a few more times before handing the document back. “Whatever kind of agreement you draft is fine, Sister. I don’t have any objections now, I’ll defer to you.”
Yan Dai looked at her.
She noticed that just a second ago, the girl’s face carried a look of slight disappointment, yet in this second, the corners of her mouth were already curving upward slightly, carrying a hint of determination.
How could her expressions change so quickly?
Yan Dai took the document back. “I will draft the formal prenuptial agreement when the time comes, in duplicate.”
Chu Yuan picked up her dessert cup again, eating as she smiled and said:
“I’ll listen to you, Sister.”
“Whatever you decide, Sister, is bound to be for the best.”
There was no longer the slightest trace of her previous dejection.
For a moment, Yan Dai didn’t know what was going on inside this young girl’s head either.
After they finished their meal, Yan Dai took the initiative to ask, “Do you want me to drive you home?”
Instead of answering, Chu Yuan countered with a question, “Why are you offering to drive me home, Sister?”
“It’s getting late. It’s not safe for a young girl to go home alone.”
“Are you offering simply because you want to drive me home, or,” Chu Yuan paused slightly, “or is it because you feel that I am your arranged wife, and you’re doing it out of responsibility and politeness?”
If it were the former, Chu Yuan would definitely agree without hesitation. But if it were the latter, she felt it wasn’t necessary.
Chu Yuan didn’t want to give Sister Yan any opportunity to treat her with that kind of justification and distant status.
Yan Dai was momentarily choked by the question.
During the few seconds Yan Dai hesitated, Chu Yuan obtained her answer.
As expected, it was exactly as she had imagined.
However, Chu Yuan would no longer feel down or experience internal conflict over the fact that Yan Dai didn’t like her yet.
Chu Yuan smiled radiantly, deliberately using a playful tone to ease the atmosphere, “Sister, I’m just joking! I have my own car.”
Yan Dai, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about this. She had arrived here in Chu Yuan’s car. “I actually forgot about that.”
Chu Yuan proactively suggested, “Let me drive you home, Sister.”
At the same moment, Yan Dai also spoke up, “Then shall we head home separately in a moment?”
The two of them spoke almost simultaneously.
Yan Dai explained, “Someone will be coming to pick me up shortly.”
Chu Yuan didn’t press the matter further. “Then I’ll wait with you until your ride arrives, Sister.”
Thus, the two of them waited for the car outside.
The streetlights had all turned on, looking incredibly beautiful.
An occasional night breeze blew past, very cool and refreshing, a highly comfortable feeling.
Chu Yuan took the initiative to ask, “Sister, are you usually busy with work?”
Yan Dai: “Most of the time, yes.”
Chu Yuan: “No wonder every time I message you, you only reply with a few words and take a long time to get back to me.”
Yan Dai caught her underlying meaning. Was this a subtle, playful complaint?
Yan Dai: “It wasn’t intentional.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. After all,” the words “no emotion” inadvertently surfaced in Chu Yuan’s mind, and she let out a very soft sigh, “after all, you don’t like me, Sister. Even if you don’t reply, I can understand.”
Yan Dai paused for a brief moment, wondering if she had just been put on the spot again. “It won’t happen in the future.”
“Is this also fulfilling an obligation?” Chu Yuan shook her head. “If that’s the case, then I don’t want to force you to do things you’re unwilling to do, Sister. We should just interact in the most natural way possible.”
Yan Dai let out a sigh. “Chu Yuan.”
“Hmm?”
Yan Dai said rationally, “You might not be able to distinguish what true liking is yet. After all…”
“After all, this is only the second time we’ve met, right?” Chu Yuan finished her sentence for her.
“Yes.”
“But I’ve never been someone who loses interest after three minutes since I was a child.” Chu Yuan lowered her head, using the tip of her shoe to gently grind a small pebble on the ground. “If I truly like someone, I will like them for a very, very long time, just like how I’ve stuck with my hobbies for all these years.”
Just as she finished speaking, the car sent to pick up Yan Dai arrived.
The window on the driver’s side rolled down, revealing a woman’s face.
Chu Yuan recognized her, it was the person who had shielded Yan Dai at the airport today, apparently named Qin Man or something.