May 20, 2025, entrance of the Binzhou Civil Affairs Bureau.
Xu Yunzhou lit up his phone screen for the umpteenth time—17:15.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the slight unease in his heart, and dialed the number he knew by heart.
"Ranran, where are you?"
He tried his best to make his voice sound steady,
"The Civil Affairs Bureau closes in fifteen minutes."
Noisy background sounds came from the receiver, mixed with Su Qianran's usual, somewhat coquettish panting:
"Ah, Yunzhou! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you! My mom suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized, it's super urgent, I'm already on the high-speed rail back to Mingzhou!"
Xu Yunzhou's fingers gripping the phone tightened slightly.
Met in college, in love for five years, countless days and nights of companionship, the marriage registration planned since last Mid-Autumn Festival was ultimately postponed just to choose today, a day with a special meaning... and in the end, it fell through again.(TL: In Chinese, "520" sounds similar to "I love you," making May 20th a very popular date for couples to register their marriages.)
But what could he say?
After all, a mother falling ill and going back to visit her is perfectly justified.
His Adam's apple bobbed, suppressing the disappointment in his heart, his voice remaining gentle:
"Yeah, Auntie's health is what's important. Pay attention to safety on the road, don't be too anxious."
"Mhm! Baby is the best! You've been wronged today, you have to be a good boy even by yourself! Love you~ mua!"
Hanging up the phone, he stood in place, watching the last couple of newlyweds snuggle up and walk out from behind the glass doors of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
Afterwards, he returned to their marital home.
There were no tedious customs, the two had already moved in a year ago, wedding photos hung all over the walls, and in the eyes of both sides' relatives and friends, they were already husband and wife.
Xu Yunzhou hastily boiled a bowl of plain noodles in clear broth, added an egg, and after settling his dinner.
He sat in front of the computer, ready to work overtime.
The mortgage, future expenses, the debts incurred for preparing the wedding and the bride price... whipped him like countless lashes, making him afraid to stop.
Halfway through typing on the keyboard, the sharp notification sound of WeChat rang out.
Su Qianran sent a voice message:
"Yunzhou, can you transfer twenty thousand yuan to me right now? Mom needs to pay the hospitalization fees, it's urgent!"
Attached behind was a photo of the hospital's outpatient department, taken from a hasty angle.
Xu Yunzhou's heart tightened, not doubting her at all, his fingertips moved rapidly, transferring the only twenty thousand left in his card over:
"Okay, don't be too anxious, Auntie will be fine."
"Alright, I won't talk to you anymore, I'll definitely be very busy tonight."
Su Qianran replied with a hugging emoji.
About half an hour later, another message popped up.
It wasn't Su Qianran, but that rich second-generation who had pursued Su Qianran relentlessly back in college—Chen Beichen.
We haven't contacted each other for four years, what does he want with me?
Xu Yunzhou's heart inexplicably tightened, having a bad premonition, and he clicked open the message.
What greeted his eyes was a photo of Su Qianran.
In the photo, she was wearing a black lace slip dress he had never seen before, outlining her graceful curves, with exquisite makeup, a trace of lazy charm flowing in her eyes, the background being the ambiguous lighting of some high-end restaurant, with red wine placed on the table.
When... is this photo from?
Before Xu Yunzhou could figure it out, Chen Beichen's text messages, carrying undisguised malice, popped out one after another:
"Hahaha, Xu Yunzhou! Are you surprised? Are you caught off guard? That fiancée of yours who 'went back to her hometown to take care of her mom' is eating with me right now!"
"I'm dying of laughter! What's the use of being good at studying? No matter how good your grades are, how handsome you are, or how much of a fucking simp you are, it won't change the fact that your woman climbed into my bed on the day you were supposed to get your marriage certificate!
This world looks at strength! Your ten years of hard studying at a cold window can't compare to my family's three generations of accumulation!"
"Did she just borrow twenty thousand from you? Tsk, good acting skills, right? That was her saying she needed to act realistically, and it even covered the money for us getting a room tonight! She said she couldn't let me be the only one paying all the time, so considerate."
"I heard you haven't even touched her yet? What a reckless waste of God's gifts. Don't worry, after tonight, she'll be molded into my shape. I'll send you the photos of the process, keep them for a good jerk off!"
Xu Yunzhou looked at the screen in silence, his eyes instantly bloodshot, his fists clenching so hard they cracked.
He didn't immediately flare up; explosive rage was the behavior of beasts.
Right now, he needed to confirm if this was true or false, or if it was just Chen Beichen's one-sided provocation.
Xu Yunzhou found the WeChat of one of Su Qianran's female colleagues; he had added her last time she came to their house to see Su Qianran and the three of them played Honor of Kings together.
"Hello, taking the liberty to ask, what time did Qianran leave the company today?"
The other party showed "typing..." for quite a while before sending a reply:
"You... know everything? Actually, I've been wanting to say it for a long time, I feel it's not worth it for you. Lately, there's always a guy driving a Ferrari coming to find her, sending flowers and bags, his offensive is very fierce. As for his looks... he's really not as handsome as you."
Xu Yunzhou slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, yet his chest ached with an empty feeling.
"Okay, thank you."
He clicked open Su Qianran's WeChat dialogue box, that contact he had pinned to the top and given the alias "The best Ranran in the whole world".
His fingertips hovered above the screen, trembling, and ultimately, he didn't type a single word, directly choosing to delete the friend.
The action was clean and neat, but his heart felt like it was being repeatedly hammered by a blunt instrument, aching dully.
Five years of feelings, over a thousand days and nights of companionship, all sorts of longing for the future, collapsed with a crash at this moment, shattering into a mess on the ground.
He went downstairs and carried up a case of beer.
With a "pop," he pulled open the tab, and the ice-cold liquid mixed with bitterness poured down his throat.
Many ignored details clearly strung together at this moment.
Lately, she always came home very late, carrying a faint smell of alcohol, excusing it as overtime or social engagements.
And he, in order to earn a bit more money to pay off debts, desperately took on side gigs, acting like an idiot with no time to look into it deeply, even feeling sorry for her working so hard.
It turned out Chen Beichen had returned, that rich second-generation who was rejected by Su Qianran in front of the whole class back in college.
Back then, it was youthful spirit, viewing money as dirt.
Now, having stayed in the big dyeing vat of society for so long, experiencing a life of luxury and dissipation, under the other party's stronger monetary offensive, the human heart... truly does change.
Reality is a fucking bad joke.
He didn't blame anyone, he only blamed himself for being blind.
"If the old doesn't go, the new won't come; the next one will be more obedient."
(TL: A common internet phrase used to comfort people after a breakup.)
He whispered hoarsely to the empty air.
With a "clack," the beer can in his hand was easily crushed flat. Facing the bustling yet cold city lights outside the window, he parted his lips, revealing a smile mixed with alcohol and desolation.
"Speaking of which, Chen Beichen is also a dumbass, Su Qianran must have done a hymen repair surgery to fool him, right? He actually believes that in this day and age, there are couples who have been together for five years and haven't slept together? Absurd..."
Just as he was thinking this, suddenly—
"Ding!"
An extremely crisp notification sound exploded in the silent room.
Xu Yunzhou suddenly sat up straight, his heart pounding crazily.
This sound... could it be that after extreme bad luck comes good fortune, and the legendary System has descended?
As expected! Web novels didn't deceive me; when the heavens are about to place a great responsibility on a man, it must first give him a green hat, frustrate his spirit, exhaust his muscles and bones, and then present him with a golden finger to help him defy the heavens and change his fate, slap the face of his ex, and sit upon an empire with beauties!
(TL: "Green hat" is Chinese slang for getting cuckolded.)
He held his breath, his adrenaline soaring, excitedly waiting for the mechanical voice in his mind or the light screen to emerge before his eyes.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
Nothing happened.
Only the computer fan was still buzzing tirelessly.
Only then did he realize that the "ding" was the notification sound of a completed Xunlei download on his computer.
(TL: Xunlei is a very popular Chinese download manager software).
"Fuck! Got excited for nothing!"
But on second thought, that wasn't right, he hadn't downloaded anything at all?
He swayed over to the computer and clicked open the download list with his mouse.
A compressed file named "Goddess Nurturing" popped up, and lying isolated inside was an executable file. The icon was a golden crown with a minimalist design, yet it inexplicably exuded a mysterious nobility.
"What the hell is this? Where did this knock-off reskinned little yellow(erotic) game come from?"
He muttered, and with a bit of drunken inquisitive desire, moved the mouse and double-clicked that crown icon.
There was no complex login interface, no character creation process; what was displayed was a sequence of footage that was excessively clear, just like real-time surveillance video!
In the footage, a young girl with a slender and graceful figure, tying her hair in a ponytail, was standing with her back to the "camera," in front of a slightly worn full-length mirror.
She seemed to have just finished exercising, humming an out-of-tune "Cowboy on the Run" while raising her hands, preparing to take off the pure white tank top that was slightly soaked with sweat and outlined the lines of her youthful back.
Xu Yunzhou raised his eyebrows, carrying a trace of distracted playfulness amidst his hazy drunkenness:
"Tsk, so stimulating right from the start? These games edited from little Japanese movies nowadays really understand user psychology."
He leaned back in his chair leisurely, even picking up the remaining half-can of beer to take a sip, carrying a kind of numb reckless abandon as he waited to enjoy the upcoming "R-rated scenes".
This is my second Novel on this "site", if you like my work you can go check my other novel here.
NB :For the first week there will be 2 free chapters(4 for members) per day so that there is bit of a stockpile for everyone to read.