Jun Lin gave a scoffing laugh. “Why don’t you look down and check your own marital status?”
Mo Che’s heart lurched. Stiffly, he lowered his head to check his Optical Brain. He didn’t even need to open the messages tab—the System Matching notification had already popped up on the screen!
His head spun. Unlike other Males who would rejoice at being matched, he felt none of that joy. Seeing Ruotang’s pale little face, he hurriedly explained, his heart aching:
“Ruotang, I really don’t know why the System matched me with a Wife-Lord today of all days, but you’re the only one in my heart. I’ll contact her right away to dissolve the engagement. No matter what it costs, I’ll regain my freedom and pursue you all over again!”
Ruotang shook her head, her voice choked with tears. “Mo Che, let’s just forget it. You’re so outstanding—your Wife-Lord would never let you go.”
Jun Lin watched with great relish, pulling out a handful of melon seeds from who knows where and cracking them, even stuffing a handful into Sui Ning’s hand. He commented in a low voice, “Wife-Lord, take notes. This is called retreating in order to advance!”
The corner of Sui Ning’s mouth twitched. As a melon-eating spectator by nature, she loved gossip and drama—but the problem was, this particular melon couldn’t be one she had planted herself.
“No need to add each other as contacts. Just transfer me five hundred thousand, and I’ll dissolve the bond with you right now.” Sui Ning held up her Optical Brain, displaying Mo Che’s information among her Beast Husbands, smiling and trying to keep her tone as gentle as possible.
They were strangers. Better to part on good terms than to fail at becoming mates and end up as enemies instead!
Besides, wasn’t money nice?
The System would keep matching her with Beast Husbands anyway. If this one wasn’t obedient, there was always the next.
Mo Che and Ruotang, who had been about to stage a grand drama of tortured, deep love, had their performance rudely interrupted by her. The netizens who had been screaming in the melon patch also stopped hopping around. Their attention shifted from Mo Che’s marriage to the fact that this plain-looking Female was actually Mo Che’s match—and moreover, could Jun Lin, the squad captain standing beside her, also possibly be her Beast Husband?!
“Five hundred thousand isn’t nearly enough,” Jun Lin said with a frown. “Wife-Lord, as a Female, you must not show the slightest softness toward Males, or certain people will push their luck. He was matched by the System. If you don’t consent to dissolving the bond, he’s your Beast Husband in life and your dead ghost in death. Bearing your surname, he won’t be able to go around flirting with others. On the contrary, because of him, you’ve lost one top-tier match—a huge loss—and on top of that, you’ve been cuckolded and your reputation ruined… Besides, half of his assets are now yours. Five hundred thousand is merely the minimum guarantee for an ordinary Female.”
Sui Ning glared at him, grinding her teeth. Why did she feel like the cuckold’s hat was the one he had put on her head?
If he didn’t mention it, no one else would even think of it!
“Then what do you suggest? Think it through before you speak, or you’ll end up shooting yourself in the foot!”
Jun Lin patted her head. “Since the Wife-Lord has spoken, I’ll handle it on her behalf. Mo Che, I’ll ask you one last time. Are you certain you refuse the System Matching?”
Mo Che glanced at Sui Ning—dressed in neutral attire, her looks at best merely delicate—and recalled the information on the Optical Brain showing her Mental Power was C+. He nodded firmly. “Yes. No matter what it costs!”
He had paid far too much to stand where he was today. He refused to be shackled by System Matching and knocked back down to square one again.
Ruotang’s Mental Power was A+. As long as she was fed enough heavenly treasures, advancing to S-rank would be easy. And she treated her Beast Husbands with sincerity and fairness. Only by becoming her Beast Husband would he have a better future!
Jun Lin’s expression was mild. “Fine. Then half of your current assets, plus everything you earn over the next five years, as the terms for dissolving the contract. No problem with that, right?”
Brutal. Sui Ning stood ramrod straight, expressionless, playing the part of a proper background prop, and even began wondering whether her earlier asking price had really been too generous.
But she didn’t like taking advantage of others, nor did she expect windfalls to fall from the sky. Only what she earned with her own two hands could she enjoy with a clear conscience.
Perhaps in the Beast World, she would have to learn a new set of moral standards. When in Rome, after all.
Mo Che gripped Ruotang’s hand tightly, refusing to let her pull away, and agreed with a pained heart: “Alright!”
Jun Lin immediately drafted an agreement, had Mo Che sign it, then urged Sui Ning to accept his friend request and sent her a copy.
After saving it, Sui Ning swiftly dissolved the marriage with Mo Che.
“Let’s go, Wife-Lord. Time to collect your compensation from the Supplies Department.” Jun Lin smiled, scooped her up under one arm, leapt down from the spectator platform, and boarded a Star-pod to the Guard Corps’ Supplies Department.
The moment she got on, Sui Ning scooted as far away from him as she could. “What exactly do you want? Don’t tell me you’re drowning in debt and want me to pay it off before we divorce?
Or is it that you want to split the assets and then divorce?”
Jun Lin found this hilarious. In a flash—before Sui Ning even saw him move—he was sitting right beside her, arms wrapped around her, nuzzling his head against her neck.
So this was a System-Matched female. The scent really was intoxicating, just a little faint—you had to get quite close to catch it.
Sui Ning couldn’t move a muscle, stiff as a wooden rod in her seat. “Your handsome-male act won’t work on me. If there’s something you want, say it! Otherwise—otherwise I’ll mentally control you.”
She couldn’t stand being this close to someone; her whole body radiated resistance. Especially with someone she’d known for less than twenty minutes.
Afraid of pushing too far, Jun Lin smiled and released her, lounging lazily against the wall of the pod. “Wife-Lord, first, I have no debts. Second, I don’t want your money. Third, I have no intention of divorcing you.
Unlike Mo Che, whose head is a hopeless muddle, I know System Matching is the optimal solution.
Sure, my Wife-Lord is a bit of a leech, but adorably dim-witted. I’m confident that as we spend more time together, I’ll discover even more good qualities in you!”
Sui Ning gave a dry laugh. “How I’ve wronged you, then.”
Jun Lin raised an eyebrow, unusually serious. “Sui Sui, I mean every word. If you don’t believe me, we can form our mating bond right after we collect your compensation!
Once you have my Beast Mark, surely you won’t doubt my sincerity?”
Sui Ning pressed her lips together and thought over his profile: Jun Lin, twenty-five years old, Combat Power Value 10, Mental Power Level S+, with looks that topped the charts. It didn’t seem too outrageous—she could stretch up on tiptoe and reach it.
“Then I’ll observe you for one… three months.” She held up one finger, then added two more. “Whenever you want to back out, I’ll agree to dissolve the marriage. You’ll only need to compensate me with one year’s earnings.”
Jun Lin smiled and wrapped his hand around hers. “Sui Sui, we haven’t even started the observation period and you’re already going soft on me?”
Sui Ning huffed and turned to look out the window, but there wasn’t a trace of warmth in her eyes.
She didn’t believe the binding power of a match was that strong. Until she figured out what Jun Lin was really after, she would treat him as nothing more than a partner who could fall out with her at any moment.
The car soon arrived at the Logistics Department. The moment they stepped out, they saw a group of people approaching. The man leading them had the same red-brown hair and narrow, fox-like eyes as Jun Lin—about seventy percent alike in appearance—with a smile curling at the corners of his lips, carrying an undisguised wickedness.
Sui Ning couldn’t help glancing at the man, then at Jun Lin, who had suddenly gone cold all over. It was truly like a shoddy knockoff coming face to face with a treasured collector’s edition.
“Ha, look who we have here? Isn’t this the fake young master who took my place?”