During her university years, Li Yixun worked many part-time jobs to earn living expenses. She lost count of the exact number, but she took any job that came her way—every little bit helps.
Low-paying jobs included frying fries at McDonald’s, handing out flyers on the street, working in marketing events, and making harassing phone calls for real estate companies. Higher-paying jobs included being a trade show hostess, tutor, and even working as a bridesmaid.
One of Li Yixun’s senior classmates started a wedding planning company after graduation, providing full-service wedding customization. Some couples, lacking single friends, needed to rent bridesmaids/bridesmaids/groomsmen/bridesmaids.
Where there’s demand, there’s supply. This kind of work, where she could eat and drink for free, was relatively easy and paid well, so Li Yixun would do it whenever she had time.
But she never expected to run into Chen Nian at a wedding, only about six months after their reunion at the bar.
Li Yixun discovered that the driver was Chen Nian in the car as they were leaving for the hotel after the wedding procession.
“Hello, Brother Wang arranged for us to come to this car…”
Li Yixun opened the passenger door. After recognizing the man in the driver’s seat of the black Cayenne, he paused before finishing his sentence, “Thank you for your help.”
Chen Nian turned to look at the source of the voice. Upon seeing Li Yixun, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, quickly replaced by calm. He nodded politely, his voice devoid of emotion, “No trouble at all.”
The two women in the back seat, unable to contain their excitement after discovering the driver was such a handsome man, kept trying to strike up a conversation with him.
Chen Nian was also quite friendly, engaging them in conversation in return.
The atmosphere inside the car was pleasant, if not for the awkward Li Yixun, who was pretending to be asleep in the passenger seat.
What’s that saying online? Avoidance may be shameful, but it’s useful.
Li Yixun wasn’t sleepy at all, but unsure how to approach Chen Nian, he decided to feign sleep to get by. Although she was pretending to be asleep, her ears weren’t idle; she gleaned a lot of information from their conversation.
Today’s wedding was being held by the son of Chen Nian’s mentor, who had asked Chen Nian to be his driver.
The car belonged to Chen Nian; his parents had bought it outright for his commuting in Guanghai.
He was currently working at a tech company with friends and was quite busy with the startup.
…
Until one of the girls asked him if he had a girlfriend, he didn’t answer immediately.
Li Yixun, not getting an answer, couldn’t help but secretly open her eyes and glance at him, only to have their eyes meet.
At that moment, Li Yixun wanted nothing more than to roll down the window and jump out of the car, escaping this hellish situation of being caught pretending to be asleep.
“…No, I don’t have a girlfriend.” Chen Nian calmly turned the steering wheel, his voice containing a hint of barely suppressed laughter.
Li Yixun wanted to use all the acting skills she had in her life for that moment. She rubbed her eyes as if she had just woken up, even stretching as if to look at herself. However, her clumsy acting went unappreciated. The girls in the back seat were excitedly screaming because of Chen Nian’s denial, while the other party involved, in the rearview mirror, had a visibly upturned grin on his face.
Li Yixun thought the time in the car was already unbearable, but little did she know that something even more unbearable awaited her.
The newlyweds were clearly full of wicked humor. One of the games at the wedding was “Reenacting Old Flames,” but instead of the newlyweds performing themselves or playing a recorded video, a couple was randomly selected to come on stage and reenact the scene of the couple’s proposal.
Unfortunately, Li Yixun was the unlucky one chosen.
When she went on stage, she could barely control her facial expressions. Who invented this disgusting game? Earning money today was really difficult; she couldn’t help but mutter to herself.
The other unlucky one chosen was a man in his thirties. He didn’t seem reluctant at all, smiling as he accepted the script from the emcee. Amidst the cheers, he actually knelt down on one knee and “proposed” to Li Yixun.
“I’ve been fantasizing about proposing for so long…” he recited his vows, word by word.
Li Yixun genuinely hadn’t expected that she would “accept” a proposal at 21.
Amidst cheers and jeers, she, wearing her bridesmaid gown and five-centimeter heels, awkwardly said “I do” to a strange man.
After coming down from the stage, Li Yixun knew today was her day of bad luck. She just wanted to finish her meal quickly and get back to school as soon as the wedding was over, but unexpectedly, she was stopped in the hallway by a man after the ceremony.
She recognized him as the guy who had performed the two-person comedy routine with her on stage—oh no, the guy who had proposed.
He seemed to think that the “proposal” was the beginning of a beautiful destiny between them, and poured out his heart to Li Yixun.
“Sorry, I’m in a hurry to get back to school.”
“It’s okay, I can take you back to school.” The man gestured to the four circular car keys in his hand.
Li Yixun felt she really needed to find a temple to pray to. “I’m sorry, I…”
“Aren’t you leaving?” a deep voice interrupted.
The two, stuck in a stalemate, then noticed a broad-shouldered, long-legged man had somehow appeared beside them.
Seeing that they finally noticed him, Chen Nian spread his hands, revealing the Porsche car keys.
His voice softened in a coquettish tone, “I’ve been drinking, can you drive?”
Li Yixun was completely bewildered. Aside from the fact that they hadn’t agreed to leave together, she couldn’t drive at all!
Seeingthat Li Yixun didn’t move, Chen Nian quickly walked over, hooked his arm around her shoulder, and acted like a lovey-dovey couple.
“Sir, are you taking my girlfriend home? Isn’t it a bit out of the way?” Chen Nian raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely concerned for her.
The man looked puzzled. He had specifically asked the bride to confirm she was single, so how did a young, handsome boyfriend suddenly appear out of nowhere?
“Miss Li, is he really your boyfriend? But I just heard…”
Li Yixun then realized that Chen Nian was trying to help her out of an awkward situation, and of course, she wouldn’t deny it. Compared to strangers, Chen Nian had seen her in countless embarrassing moments. Their score could be settled later; the immediate priority was definitely getting rid of this guy who kept talking about fate and destiny.
“Yes, his name is Chen Nian, and he’s my boyfriend.” She immediately leaned her head on Chen Nian’s shoulder, feigning a shy demeanor.
Chen Nian was very satisfied with this answer. He smiled and said goodbye to the gentleman, then put his arm around Li Yixun and walked out.
He stuffed the keys into Li Yixun’s hand. “Please, girlfriend.”
Li Yixun felt like she was being held hostage, clinging tightly to Chen Nian, unable to walk properly, her arms and legs stiffening involuntarily. She couldn’t help but glare at him, muttering under her breath, “How could I possibly drive? Get a designated driver!”
Chen Nian smiled warmly, seemingly in a good mood. “Then I’ll teach you, girlfriend.”
Seeing that they were out of the man’s sight, Li Yixun began to struggle, trying to shake off Chen Nian’s arm from her shoulder. “Thank you, but no need.”
Chen Nian, unusually, wouldn’t budge, holding her shoulders tightly, forcing her to stay in his embrace.
“It’s what I should do, it’s what a boyfriend should do.”
Li Yixun thought he was still teasing her, but when they met eyes, she found his expression serious, his eyes even carrying an unusual earnestness and stubbornness.
“Are you serious?”
Li Yixun was incredulous.
Chen Nian spoke without hesitation, as firmly as if reciting wedding vows, “Yes, I’m serious.”