Wen Yining took the document and opened it to the first page.
Her eyes scanned the first paragraph, and her fingers paused for a moment.
“Party A, Xi Yu, and Party B, Wen Yining, voluntarily enter into a contractual marriage relationship. This agreement is valid for one year, effective from the date both parties sign. Upon expiration of the agreement, the marital relationship between both parties will automatically dissolve, and neither party needs to file for divorce separately.”
One year.
Valid for one year.
Wen Yining’s eyelid twitched as she continued flipping through the pages.
Second page: “During the term of the agreement, both parties shall maintain independent living spaces. Party A shall not compel Party B to fulfill any marital obligations. Both parties’ assets shall remain separate, and any assets held in their respective names after marriage shall belong solely to each party and shall not be considered joint marital property.”
Third page: “During the term of the agreement, Party B shall cooperate with Party A in attending necessary public events, including but not limited to family gatherings, company events, and media appearances. Party A shall notify Party B at least twenty-four hours in advance of each event, and Party B shall not refuse without justifiable reason.”
Fourth page: “Upon expiration of the agreement, Party A shall pay Party B…”
She saw the number.
Followed by a string of zeros.
Wen Yining stared at the number for two seconds, then flipped to the last page of the document.
Xi Yu’s signature was already there—sharp strokes, each line carrying the aloofness that kept others at a distance.
She picked up the pen.
Assistant Lin gently reminded her from the side, “Miss Wen, aren’t you going to read the rest of the terms carefully?”
Wen Yining looked up and glanced at him.
The corners of her mouth slowly curved upward into a genuine, irrepressible smile.
“No need.”
She signed her name, her handwriting flowing smoothly, even with a hint of eagerness.
Assistant Lin stared at her expression, stunned for about half a second.
Having worked by Xi Yu’s side for four years, he had seen all kinds of situations, but he had never seen a woman wear such an expression while signing a marriage contract.
Wen Yining pushed the signed document back, capped the pen, and placed it neatly on top of the file, her movements crisp and decisive.
“All done,” she said, her voice carrying a lighthearted relief.
Assistant Lin placed the document into his briefcase, stood up, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, “Miss Wen, do you… have no other questions?”
Wen Yining also stood up, patted the nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt, and said with a smile, “No, thank Mr. Xi for me.”
Assistant Lin opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He simply nodded, turned around, and left.
As he walked out of the Wen family’s front door, Wen Yining stood in the living room and suddenly burst into laughter.
One year.
Only one year.
She wouldn’t have to marry a man who didn’t love her for the rest of her life, wouldn’t have to be an unloved ornament in the depths of the Xi family’s mansion, and wouldn’t have to face that icy, sculpted expression every day.
After one year, with that sum of money, she could go wherever she wanted, without even having to worry about her parents’ disapproval.
Wen Yining was so secretly thrilled that she lost control of her expression.
She didn’t even notice when Mother Wen peeked out from around the staircase corner.
Seeing Assistant Lin leave so quickly, Mother Wen asked nervously, “Did you sign it? What contract? What are you laughing about?”
Wen Yining turned around, looked at Mother Wen, and though her smile faded slightly, the corners of her eyes remained curved.
“Nothing, Mom. Everything with the Xi family has been settled.”
Mother Wen gave her a suspicious glance, but upon hearing the words “has been settled,” she let out a long sigh of relief, and the suspicion on her face was immediately replaced by a smile.
“That’s good, that’s good. I always said the Xi family wouldn’t back out of the engagement.”
Wen Yining didn’t wait for her to finish speaking before turning and heading upstairs.
Back in her room, she closed the door, leaned against it, and looked up at the ceiling.
One year.
Three hundred and sixty-five days.
She counted on her fingers, then laughed out loud.
∴*****
Xi Corporation Building, thirty-second floor.
Assistant Lin pushed open the door to the CEO’s office and placed the signed document on Xi Yu’s desk.
Xi Yu was reviewing a quarterly report and didn’t look up. “Signed?”
“Signed.”
Xi Yu turned a page of the report, his tone indifferent. “Did she read the terms?”
“She did.”
“Did she have any objections?”
“Miss Wen had no objections.”
Assistant Lin paused for a second.
“Only…”
Xi Yu noticed the unusual silence and finally looked up at Assistant Lin.
“Only what?” he asked again. “If she had no objections, what was her reaction?”
Assistant Lin’s expression was subtle, as if carefully choosing his words. “She didn’t have any major objections, and Miss Wen… she was smiling when she signed it.”
Xi Yu frowned.
“Smiling?”
“Yes,” Assistant Lin said. “After signing, she even asked me to thank you on her behalf.”
The office fell silent for a few seconds.
Xi Yu leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest.
“Did she read the page about the duration?”
“She did.”
“Did she read the page about the compensation amount?”
“She did that too.”
Xi Yu’s fingers stopped moving.
He looked at the document on the desk. The five characters on the cover of the marriage agreement—Marriage Agreement—glistened faintly under the overhead light.
“You can go back to work.”
Assistant Lin nodded, turned, and left the office, the door closing softly behind him.
Xi Yu sat in his chair, swiveling halfway around to face the floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside was the city’s skyline, a forest of skyscrapers and streams of traffic, everything operating as usual.
Two words kept circling in his mind.
Smiling.
He remembered yesterday at the Wen family home, how she sat across from him, head bowed and silent.
He thought she was unwilling, forced by the Wen family, trapped in the same fire as him.
Now it seemed he had overthought it.
Why would she be unwilling? Hadn’t the Wen family groomed her for exactly this day?
Wasn’t everything she did aimed at marrying into the Xi family?
Now that her goal was achieved, of course she could smile.
The corner of Xi Yu’s mouth twitched, something like a smile.
He had thought she was different from other women.
At the banquet that day, he remembered clearly the look of impatience on her face when she handed him the wine. After passing it over, she turned and walked away, muttering something under her breath, her retreating figure carrying a sense of relief, as if she had finally completed a task.
He had found it interesting at the time.
Now, looking back, it was all an act.
A foster daughter of the Wen family, trained from childhood to marry into a wealthy family—how could she truly be impatient?
That impatience, reluctance, and indifference were probably new tactics taught to her by Mother Wen.
Playing hard to get, retreating to advance.
He had seen too many women throwing themselves at him, but he had never encountered one like her.
That was why he hadn’t pushed her away that night.
Xi Yu closed his eyes, extinguishing that thought.
Never mind.
What kind of person she was had nothing to do with him.
After all, it was only for a year.
But come to think of it, she was quite perceptive.
She didn’t cry, didn’t make a scene, didn’t question what he thought of her, and didn’t even bother with useless excuses like how she was innocent or that she hadn’t done anything that night.
If she had actually done any of that, making a fuss and annoying him, he might have really canceled the contract.
After all, the proposal had already been made, the engagement was set, but whether or not to marry, and when, was still in his hands.
If she had annoyed him, he had plenty of ways to let this marriage fall through.
But she didn’t.
She read through the terms, signed, and said thank you with a smile.
Clean and decisive, without any hesitation.
That saved him a lot of trouble.
Xi Yu picked up the document from the table, flipped to the last page, and looked at the smooth signature.
The handwriting was rounded, written in one stroke without any hesitant ink blots, crossed-out marks, or even traces of the pen pausing.
She signed it so readily.
He closed the document and tossed it into the drawer.
Fine.
A woman who only cared about profit was easiest to deal with. After a year, the debt would be settled, and neither would owe the other anything.
Xi Yu leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest twice.
She wanted money—he could afford it.
She wanted a year of wealth and luxury—he could play along.
As long as she didn’t cross the line.
As long as she didn’t actually think of herself as Mrs. Xi.
As long as she didn’t expect any feelings from him.
As long as she didn’t end up like his mother, who used every means to marry his father, only to leave without looking back when she realized she couldn’t hold on.
Xi Yu’s fingers stilled.
He pushed that thought out of his mind, picked up the quarterly report on the table, and flipped to the page he had been reading.
Numbers lined up before his eyes, but he couldn’t take in a single word.
His mind was filled with that signature.
Rounded, smooth, without hesitation.
He closed the report, stood up, and walked to the window.
His reflection appeared in the floor-to-ceiling window—dressed in a suit, expressionless, no different from usual.
But he was thinking about one thing.
She signed so readily—was it because she wanted the money, or because she didn’t want to marry him and spend her life with him either?