Lou Jingyi drove over to Vigor Bar.
Inside the private booth, the others sat in absolute silence, all waiting for the good news that Lou Jingyi had successfully defied his family and managed to avoid the wedding.
Lou Jingyi sat nursing a glass of alcohol, not saying a single word.
Song Yu was the first to lose his patience. He stood up and asked, “Jingyi, what’s going on? Tell us!”
Ren Mingchao said, “What are you getting so worked up for? It’s like you’re the one getting married.”
Hearing this, Song Yu slumped back down into his seat, completely deflated. “Sigh!”
Li Sixuan, acting as though he already knew the outcome, picked up a wine bottle and topped off Lou Jingyi’s glass. “You registered the marriage?”
Lou Jingyi nodded. “Yeah, just registered it today.”
“What?!” Song Yu exclaimed in shock. “What do you mean? You really couldn’t do anything about it?”
“It’s just a marriage for half a year, what’s wrong with that?” Lou Jingyi put down his glass. “She came to me to fulfill the engagement; it’s only reasonable.”
Ren Mingchao looked at him. “How so?”
“Her parents passed away, and Yan Hao is just over twenty. With so many people eyeing her family’s wealth, marrying me is a smart choice.”
“Mn, what she needs right now is a towering tree like Jingyi.” Li Sixuan swirled his glass of red wine. “I had people look into it. The person newly appointed to manage things is a friend of Yan Hao’s father who only recently took over the company—not nearly enough to protect Yan Hao.”
“The Lou family holds absolute sway in Jing City, and furthermore, Jingyi and she had a long-standing betrothal. This is Yan Hao’s best option.”
Song Yu fell silent for a moment, then stammered, “You guys never mentioned any of this background…”
Ren Mingchao laughed. “So what, you’ve gone from hating her to pitying her?”
“She doesn’t need pity,” Lou Jingyi stated. “No one wants to be the recipient of someone else’s charity. As the eldest daughter of the Yan family, she naturally doesn’t need it either.”
Ren Mingchao remarked, “As far as I know, Yan Hao is the granddaughter of the Jing City Yan family. You surely know the Yan family’s standing in Jing City.”
Scratching his head, Song Yu said, “I thought she was just eyeing Jingyi’s money and rushed over to tie the knot in such a hurry.”
Song Yu knew nothing at all about the Yan family’s affairs; he had only recently returned from abroad, and Lou Jingyi rarely spoke about this fiancée of his.
The news of Yan Hao’s parents passing away in a car accident had not been heavily publicized by the media; both the Lou family and the Yan Corporation had spent money to suppress it, all to prevent Yan Hao from seeing those reports and suffering an extra surge of grief.
Still, you couldn’t entirely blame Song Yu for jumping to conclusions, considering his brain was easily the least functional among the four of them.
Song Yu hurriedly looked it up online. “He never mentioned where his fiancée was from before…”
“How was I supposed to know she was connected to that Yan family?”
“Pfft!” Ren Mingchao nearly spat out a mouthful of wine. “Do me a favor and use that brain of yours. Anyone capable of a business alliance with Jingyi—could they possibly come from a lesser background?”
“Did you leave your brain overseas when you went to study abroad, and now it refuses to come back?”
Song Yu: “…”
“Show her some respect from now on. After all, she is my wife in name.”
Submissively, Song Yu nodded. “Got it.”
Lou Jingyi finished his last sip of alcohol, set down the glass, and said, “I’m heading back first.”
As soon as Lou Jingyi stepped out of the booth, Ren Mingchao chuckled. “If the news of their marriage goes public, who knows how many people will be shocked.”
The fact that the Lou and Yan families had a betrothal was known only to the two households, along with a few close relatives and friends. He shook his head. “Not that it’ll ever be made public anyway—it’s just a marriage in name only.”
Li Sixuan retorted, “Not necessarily…”
He was rather eager to see the day Yan Hao completely won Lou Jingyi over.
Lou Jingyi returned to Jingyuan.
Stepping into the entryway to change his shoes, he noticed the interior decoration looked a bit different. When he looked up after changing his shoes, he saw large, bright red “Double Happiness” characters pasted onto the floor-to-ceiling windows, while the walls along the staircase were adorned with “Newlywed Joy” banners.
The ubiquitous “Double Happiness” characters served as a constant reminder that he had officially become a married man today. His grandparents sure worked fast—they had everything decorated in no time at all.
Opening the bedroom door, the raised lump under the covers on the bed made him pause. It brought back memories of Aunt Chen mentioning during dinner that she had moved Yan Hao’s belongings into the master bedroom.
Subconsciously, he lightened his footsteps; not disturbing someone who was sleeping was simply part of his manners. Walking over to the bedside, he picked up the neatly laid-out red pajamas and headed into the bathroom.
Hearing the movement, Yan Hao opened her eyes. She hadn’t managed to fall asleep. Sharing a bed in Lou Jingyi’s room made her feel nervous, even though nothing was going to happen between them.
Half an hour later, the bathroom door clicked open, and Yan Hao shut her eyes once more.
It was her first time wearing red pajamas, and Lou Jingyi felt somewhat unaccustomed to them. Reaching out to touch the fabric, this marriage felt thoroughly surreal.
He glanced over toward the side of the bed where Yan Hao was sleeping, noticing her body was practically pressed against the edge of the mattress. Won’t she fall off sleeping like that?
The injuries on his back were aching a bit, and he hadn’t applied the ointment yet.
Lou Jingyi took the bottle of medicine out of the nightstand drawer, hesitated for a moment, and looked toward Yan Hao.
Since Aunt Chen managed the household at Jingyuan, all the servants she hired were female. Now that he was a married man, it was truly inappropriate to have a female staff member help apply medicine to his back.
And so, he gently tugged at the edge of the blanket. “Yan Hao, help me apply the medicine.”
Yan Hao didn’t move. Such a light movement was enough to wake her; if she pretended to sleep now, it would be as obvious as daylight.
Nervously, she clenched her fists.
After a long moment, Lou Jingyi patted Yan Hao’s back lightly through the blanket. “…Yan Hao.”
“Mn?” Pretending to have just woken up, Yan Hao sat up in bed and looked at him.
Lou Jingyi turned around while sitting on the edge of the bed, presenting his back to her. “Sorry to disturb your sleep, but help me put on some medicine.”
“Oh…”
Yan Hao moved closer to him, unscrewed the cap of the medicine bottle, and waited for Lou Jingyi to take off his shirt.
Their pajamas were matching, and a trace of quiet joy flickered inside Yan Hao’s heart. A person nursing a secret crush will always find little scraps of sweetness anywhere and everywhere.
Noticing droplets of water on Lou Jingyi’s neck, she asked, “Didn’t the doctor say you aren’t supposed to take a bath?”
“…Mn, just did a quick wipe-down.”
Once the medicine was applied, Lou Jingyi thanked her quietly.
Yan Hao lay back down. This time she didn’t close her eyes, instead staring nervously and aimlessly at the ceiling.
As soon as the medicine dried, Lou Jingyi put his pajama top back on. “I’m turning off the lights.”
“…Okay.”
The moment the lights went out, the entire room plunged into darkness. With his face hidden from view, a profound sense of security washed over her.
Yan Hao could clearly sense Lou Jingyi lying down. She turned onto her side facing the edge of the bed, leaving a vast, seemingly hundreds-of-meters-wide gap between them.
To his surprise, Lou Jingyi couldn’t fall asleep—especially with the sensation of that massive empty space right in the middle. Was he some sort of ferocious beast? What if she rolled off the edge of the bed? This was the second time Lou Jingyi had entertained that thought.
Though he felt no romantic affection for her, he didn’t want her acting so timid and shrinking away from him either. They were equals. Even if they were sharing the same bed—and his bed was certainly large enough, having been made up before Yan Hao even arrived—there was no need for her to curl up sleeping right on the very edge.
Lou Jingyi couldn’t figure out why an eldest daughter of the Yan family would act so cautiously around him, of all people. He suddenly recalled that when he used to visit the Yan family for New Year greetings, Yan Hao had always been lively and confident.
Could it be because her parents passed away?
That didn’t seem likely either. Whenever Yan Hao interacted with members of the Lou family, she appeared entirely at ease without a shred of timidity.
Since they had already laid everything out in the open—stating that they could divorce in half a year, and neither harbored romantic feelings for the other—why did Yan Hao still act like that? She seemed genuinely terrified of him.
Lou Jingyi simply couldn’t make sense of it.
His phone suddenly lit up, and he replied to a few messages from Song Yu and the others.
The glow of the screen illuminated his hand, bare of any jewelry.
A marriage should come with rings. Although his marriage to Yan Hao was a matter of form, he couldn’t bring himself to shortchange her. Fulfilling that duty as a husband was something Lou Jingyi would naturally see through to the end.
Lou Jingyi drove over to Vigor Bar.
Inside the private booth, the others sat in absolute silence, all waiting for the good news that Lou Jingyi had successfully defied his family and managed to avoid the wedding.
Lou Jingyi sat nursing a glass of alcohol, not saying a single word.
Song Yu was the first to lose his patience. He stood up and asked, “Jingyi, what’s going on? Tell us!”
Ren Mingchao said, “What are you getting so worked up for? It’s like you’re the one getting married.”
Hearing this, Song Yu slumped back down into his seat, completely deflated. “Sigh!”
Li Sixuan, acting as though he already knew the outcome, picked up a wine bottle and topped off Lou Jingyi’s glass. “You registered the marriage?”
Lou Jingyi nodded. “Yeah, just registered it today.”
“What?!” Song Yu exclaimed in shock. “What do you mean? You really couldn’t do anything about it?”
“It’s just a marriage for half a year, what’s wrong with that?” Lou Jingyi put down his glass. “She came to me to fulfill the engagement; it’s only reasonable.”
Ren Mingchao looked at him. “How so?”
“Her parents passed away, and Yan Hao is just over twenty. With so many people eyeing her family’s wealth, marrying me is a smart choice.”
“Mn, what she needs right now is a towering tree like Jingyi.” Li Sixuan swirled his glass of red wine. “I had people look into it. The person newly appointed to manage things is a friend of Yan Hao’s father who only recently took over the company—not nearly enough to protect Yan Hao.”
“The Lou family holds absolute sway in Jing City, and furthermore, Jingyi and she had a long-standing betrothal. This is Yan Hao’s best option.”
Song Yu fell silent for a moment, then stammered, “You guys never mentioned any of this background…”
Ren Mingchao laughed. “So what, you’ve gone from hating her to pitying her?”
“She doesn’t need pity,” Lou Jingyi stated. “No one wants to be the recipient of someone else’s charity. As the eldest daughter of the Yan family, she naturally doesn’t need it either.”
Ren Mingchao remarked, “As far as I know, Yan Hao is the granddaughter of the Jing City Yan family. You surely know the Yan family’s standing in Jing City.”
Scratching his head, Song Yu said, “I thought she was just eyeing Jingyi’s money and rushed over to tie the knot in such a hurry.”
Song Yu knew nothing at all about the Yan family’s affairs; he had only recently returned from abroad, and Lou Jingyi rarely spoke about this fiancée of his.
The news of Yan Hao’s parents passing away in a car accident had not been heavily publicized by the media; both the Lou family and the Yan Corporation had spent money to suppress it, all to prevent Yan Hao from seeing those reports and suffering an extra surge of grief.
Still, you couldn’t entirely blame Song Yu for jumping to conclusions, considering his brain was easily the least functional among the four of them.
Song Yu hurriedly looked it up online. “He never mentioned where his fiancée was from before…”
“How was I supposed to know she was connected to that Yan family?”
“Pfft!” Ren Mingchao nearly spat out a mouthful of wine. “Do me a favor and use that brain of yours. Anyone capable of a business alliance with Jingyi—could they possibly come from a lesser background?”
“Did you leave your brain overseas when you went to study abroad, and now it refuses to come back?”
Song Yu: “…”
“Show her some respect from now on. After all, she is my wife in name.”
Submissively, Song Yu nodded. “Got it.”
Lou Jingyi finished his last sip of alcohol, set down the glass, and said, “I’m heading back first.”
As soon as Lou Jingyi stepped out of the booth, Ren Mingchao chuckled. “If the news of their marriage goes public, who knows how many people will be shocked.”
The fact that the Lou and Yan families had a betrothal was known only to the two households, along with a few close relatives and friends. He shook his head. “Not that it’ll ever be made public anyway—it’s just a marriage in name only.”
Li Sixuan retorted, “Not necessarily…”
He was rather eager to see the day Yan Hao completely won Lou Jingyi over.
Lou Jingyi returned to Jingyuan.
Stepping into the entryway to change his shoes, he noticed the interior decoration looked a bit different. When he looked up after changing his shoes, he saw large, bright red “Double Happiness” characters pasted onto the floor-to-ceiling windows, while the walls along the staircase were adorned with “Newlywed Joy” banners.
The ubiquitous “Double Happiness” characters served as a constant reminder that he had officially become a married man today. His grandparents sure worked fast—they had everything decorated in no time at all.
Opening the bedroom door, the raised lump under the covers on the bed made him pause. It brought back memories of Aunt Chen mentioning during dinner that she had moved Yan Hao’s belongings into the master bedroom.
Subconsciously, he lightened his footsteps; not disturbing someone who was sleeping was simply part of his manners. Walking over to the bedside, he picked up the neatly laid-out red pajamas and headed into the bathroom.
Hearing the movement, Yan Hao opened her eyes. She hadn’t managed to fall asleep. Sharing a bed in Lou Jingyi’s room made her feel nervous, even though nothing was going to happen between them.
Half an hour later, the bathroom door clicked open, and Yan Hao shut her eyes once more.
It was her first time wearing red pajamas, and Lou Jingyi felt somewhat unaccustomed to them. Reaching out to touch the fabric, this marriage felt thoroughly surreal.
He glanced over toward the side of the bed where Yan Hao was sleeping, noticing her body was practically pressed against the edge of the mattress. Won’t she fall off sleeping like that?
The injuries on his back were aching a bit, and he hadn’t applied the ointment yet.
Lou Jingyi took the bottle of medicine out of the nightstand drawer, hesitated for a moment, and looked toward Yan Hao.
Since Aunt Chen managed the household at Jingyuan, all the servants she hired were female. Now that he was a married man, it was truly inappropriate to have a female staff member help apply medicine to his back.
And so, he gently tugged at the edge of the blanket. “Yan Hao, help me apply the medicine.”
Yan Hao didn’t move. Such a light movement was enough to wake her; if she pretended to sleep now, it would be as obvious as daylight.
Nervously, she clenched her fists.
After a long moment, Lou Jingyi patted Yan Hao’s back lightly through the blanket. “…Yan Hao.”
“Mn?” Pretending to have just woken up, Yan Hao sat up in bed and looked at him.
Lou Jingyi turned around while sitting on the edge of the bed, presenting his back to her. “Sorry to disturb your sleep, but help me put on some medicine.”
“Oh…”
Yan Hao moved closer to him, unscrewed the cap of the medicine bottle, and waited for Lou Jingyi to take off his shirt.
Their pajamas were matching, and a trace of quiet joy flickered inside Yan Hao’s heart. A person nursing a secret crush will always find little scraps of sweetness anywhere and everywhere.
Noticing droplets of water on Lou Jingyi’s neck, she asked, “Didn’t the doctor say you aren’t supposed to take a bath?”
“…Mn, just did a quick wipe-down.”
Once the medicine was applied, Lou Jingyi thanked her quietly.
Yan Hao lay back down. This time she didn’t close her eyes, instead staring nervously and aimlessly at the ceiling.
As soon as the medicine dried, Lou Jingyi put his pajama top back on. “I’m turning off the lights.”
“…Okay.”
The moment the lights went out, the entire room plunged into darkness. With his face hidden from view, a profound sense of security washed over her.
Yan Hao could clearly sense Lou Jingyi lying down. She turned onto her side facing the edge of the bed, leaving a vast, seemingly hundreds-of-meters-wide gap between them.
To his surprise, Lou Jingyi couldn’t fall asleep—especially with the sensation of that massive empty space right in the middle. Was he some sort of ferocious beast? What if she rolled off the edge of the bed? This was the second time Lou Jingyi had entertained that thought.
Though he felt no romantic affection for her, he didn’t want her acting so timid and shrinking away from him either. They were equals. Even if they were sharing the same bed—and his bed was certainly large enough, having been made up before Yan Hao even arrived—there was no need for her to curl up sleeping right on the very edge.
Lou Jingyi couldn’t figure out why an eldest daughter of the Yan family would act so cautiously around him, of all people. He suddenly recalled that when he used to visit the Yan family for New Year greetings, Yan Hao had always been lively and confident.
Could it be because her parents passed away?
That didn’t seem likely either. Whenever Yan Hao interacted with members of the Lou family, she appeared entirely at ease without a shred of timidity.
Since they had already laid everything out in the open—stating that they could divorce in half a year, and neither harbored romantic feelings for the other—why did Yan Hao still act like that? She seemed genuinely terrified of him.
Lou Jingyi simply couldn’t make sense of it.
His phone suddenly lit up, and he replied to a few messages from Song Yu and the others.
The glow of the screen illuminated his hand, bare of any jewelry.
A marriage should come with rings. Although his marriage to Yan Hao was a matter of form, he couldn’t bring himself to shortchange her. Fulfilling that duty as a husband was something Lou Jingyi would naturally see through to the end.