“Third Young Master, Old Madam specifically chose you for this marriage alliance. There’s no use resisting—Third Young Master? Can you hear me? …Beep… beep…”
The assistant’s voice was completely drowned out by the explosive rock music inside the car. The screen of the phone lying on the passenger seat slowly went dark.
“BANG—”
A deafening crash rang out, followed by a piercing, grinding crunch that drilled into people’s ears, shattering the quiet just as the city lights came on—
At exactly eight o’clock Beijing time, in the center of Sunan City, a brand-new Lykan HyperSport veered into a white jade stone lion in front of the Tan Sheng Group building.
It was totaled on the spot!
In an instant, the crowd screamed and cried for help, panic erupting everywhere.
Police and ambulance sirens blared through the night.
Gossip reporters swarmed the scene, surrounding the wrecked, globally limited-edition supercar until there wasn’t a gap to be seen.
The fully automatic convertible roof slowly opened, and countless blinding camera flashes struck the handsome face of the thoroughly drunk man in the driver’s seat.
His gray-blue hair stood out beneath the dazzling neon lights.
You had to hand it to the Tan family’s Third Young Master: he might be a complete menace by nature, but he really was beautiful.
Tan Siyu lifted his slightly tipsy eyes, which seemed to brim with affection. He had a face that was top-tier in every way, but the curve of his lips was far too flippant. He flashed a peace sign at one of the cameras.
“Good evening, everyone~”
**
#TanSiyuDrunkDrivingCrash
#OutrageousYoungMaster
#NationalLaughingstock!ThirdYoungMasterTanCausesAScandalOutsideHisOwnFamilyHeadquarters
#EveryoneIsLaughingAtYouButYouAreTheFunniestOfAll@TanSiyu
In no time, all sorts of related search terms shot to number one on the trending list.
A TV station reported: “At exactly eight o’clock Beijing time, Third Young Master Tan, Tan Siyu, drove a brand-new Lykan supercar into the giant white jade stone lion statue in front of his family’s group headquarters. The cause is unknown, and the police investigation is ongoing.”
Tan Sheng Group’s public relations team worked through the night, spending tens of millions to suppress the trending topics and block the search terms. Finally, they went ahead and released news about a marriage alliance that wasn’t even close to being settled—
The Tan family’s Third Young Master was about to marry the Tang family’s daughter.
Once the news was out, the marriage alliance was as good as set in stone.
There was no way Tan Siyu could refuse to go through with it.
At the police station, he was scrolling on his phone when he saw the news. He gave a mocking laugh, then hurled the phone away.
He’d thought that causing a scandal would be enough to call off the marriage alliance. But the old lady was still one step ahead—she’d backed him into a corner.
He was stuck. He had no choice but to marry her.
Meanwhile, Tang Li was fretting over whether she could still eat after eight that evening. When her best friend told her to check the trending topics, she instantly made the face of the “old man staring at his phone on the subway” meme.
The sky had fallen.
But not all the way.
“You’re marrying Tan Siyu?” Every word Qiao Ning said was a request for confirmation.
“No. That’s not it. I don’t know.” Tang Li denied it three times in a row.
She and Tan Siyu were only supposed to go on a blind date. They hadn’t even formally met yet.
They had supposedly attended the same high school, but they hadn’t been in the same class, and that was six or seven years ago. After graduation, they’d both gone abroad, and neither had seen the other since.
Still, after returning to China, she’d often seen this Third Young Master Tan in headlines and trending topics.
The two-character verdict in Chinese: womanizer.
The three-character upgrade: king of womanizers.
One netizen had even tallied up the lengths of the king of womanizers’ relationships: the longest lasted twenty-nine days, the shortest three. In short, none had made it past a month.
Efficiency was his whole thing.
“That’s strange. The announcement Tan Sheng put out is definitely real,” Qiao Ning said doubtfully.
“Could my parents have approved of him?”
Tang Li was just about to call her mother and ask when her mother’s call came through.
“Baby, tell me honestly. Do you like that Tan Siyu?”
“Huh?”
Tang Li was baffled. “Mom, you and Dad don’t approve of him?”
“You like him?” Mrs. Tang’s heart lurched.
Oh no. Her precious daughter had fallen for the blue-haired guy!
“No, I don’t! We haven’t even met.”
Only after hearing that did Mrs. Tang finally breathe easy. “So the Tan family is just trying to clean up their Third Young Master’s mess with this whole thing!”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!” Without stopping to think, Tang Li agreed with whatever her mother said. Whatever Her Majesty Mother said went, and Tang Li made sure to give her all the emotional support she needed.
“Good. Then this is easy. I’ll take you over there and demand an explanation.”
Mrs. Tang immediately had a car prepared. After picking Tang Li up, she stormed over to the Tan family’s home.
**
At the police station, the assistant looked at Tan Siyu with practiced resignation. Even so, he still went through the motions, patiently urging him, “Third Young Master, please go home. Surely you don’t really want to spend the night here?”
Tan Siyu lounged on the sofa, the backs of his knees propped on the armrest, his long legs sticking out and swinging aimlessly.
He stretched out a hand and warmly invited Li Rui. “I’ve never tried spending the night here. Why don’t you join me?”
Li Rui politely declined. “If you don’t go back, Old Madam will scold me again.”
“Then cover your ears and pretend you didn’t hear—”
Tan Siyu fell silent mid-sentence.
Li Rui’s phone was ringing in his pocket. There was no need to guess that it was someone from the Tan family—and quite possibly Old Madam.
Though it could also have been his father or mother.
Li Rui answered the call and greeted the caller respectfully. “Madam.”
Oh-ho. His mother.
Tan Siyu shifted onto his side and lazily swung his legs as he listened.
When the call ended, one eyebrow lifted.
Li Rui summed it up for him. “The Tang family is here. Madam wants you home within half an hour.”
“And?”
“Madam said that if you don’t come back, she’ll have someone break your legs.”
“…”
“Third Young Master, I hear the Tang family’s daughter is gorgeous. Apparently, she studies dance, too. You wouldn’t lose out by marrying her.”
“Then you marry her.”
Tan Siyu kipped up from the sofa, grabbed his coat, and swaggered out of the police station.
After taking a couple of steps, he turned back and smiled at Li Rui. “Get me a phone. I broke the last one.”
“…As you command.”
Bei: Pay attention now: this woman is called Xiaomei, and this man is called Xiaoshuai.
Two clueless little pups in love, both putting on an act in front of each other.
The whole idea is: I love you, but I don’t know you love me too, so I’m going to reel you in and make you fall for me. (wink)
Let’s have a sweet romance this winter~
Come along with Beibei and let your heart flutter like crazy! (ˉˉ)
Important: I, Bei, will say this just once: Guaranteed! To!! Be!!! Sweet!!!!