By the time Shen Shuhe fully regained consciousness, it was already noon the next day.
She opened her eyes with a splitting headache, only to be greeted by the sight of a thoroughly disheveled room.
It took her a long moment to gather her bearings before realizing she was in one of her properties in Beijing—a luxury apartment on the twenty-eighth floor in the heart of the CBD, boasting one of the city’s finest skyline views.
What happened yesterday?
The engagement…
Zhou Jiayan calling off the engagement…
She had randomly grabbed a man to finish the ceremony…
Getting into the car…
Drinking…
As if suddenly realizing something, Shen Shuhe abruptly lowered her head to examine her body. The moment she saw the love bites covering her skin, she knew it hadn’t been a dream.
She shifted slightly and immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
Her thighs ached so badly they hardly felt like her own.
She reached for her phone on the bedside table, but instead of finding it, her hand brushed against something cool.
She looked over and froze.
When she clearly saw the words printed on the little red booklet, she couldn’t help gasping.
Wait…
Had she gone and registered her marriage while drunk?
Could someone that intoxicated even get legally married?
Her head throbbed painfully as fragments of memory slowly surfaced.
She vaguely remembered ordering the man to get dressed and accompany her to the Civil Affairs Bureau, insisting it hadn’t closed yet.
After arriving there, everything went blank.
The only thing she remembered afterward was walking out of the bureau, tossing the marriage certificate into the air, and saying to the man beside her,
“Happy marriage!”
Just how much trouble could one person cause?
Taking a deep breath, Shen Shuhe finally picked up the marriage certificate.
Its cover was dark red, embossed with the national emblem and the words People’s Republic of China Marriage Certificate.
She opened it, her brows knitting together.
Something was strange.
Although she’d never been married before, she knew that the photo on a marriage certificate had to be a hatless portrait with the face fully visible.
She met the requirements, but the man beside her was still wearing a cap and a face mask.
Even the name section looked unusual.
Her side clearly read Shen Shuhe, followed by her ID number.
Her husband’s name, however, was listed only as Lu XX, while the last six digits of his ID number had been blacked out with ink—just like the last two characters of his name.
The lower right corner of the page bore a crisp official embossing seal, and the bright red stamp of the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau Marriage Registration Office was slightly raised beneath her fingertips.
This was an authentic marriage certificate in every sense.
So where was her husband?
Shen Shuhe glanced around the apartment.
The room was silent.
There wasn’t another person in sight.
She was about to get out of bed when her phone rang.
It was a call from her mother, Wen Lingyi.
The moment she answered, her mother’s anxious voice came through.
“Sweetheart, where did you and your new husband disappear to yesterday? I called you so many times and couldn’t reach you. Don’t worry, though. Your father and I took care of everything at the engagement banquet.”
Warmth spread through Shen Shuhe’s heart.
Her parents had always been her greatest support.
No matter what outrageous thing she did growing up, they always stood by her side.
Even when she got herself into trouble, they never hesitated to clean up the mess.
“The Zhou family are absolute beasts! If he couldn’t have children, they should’ve said so earlier. Did they think they could cut off the Shen family bloodline? Dream on! If you hadn’t liked Zhou Jiayan so much, your father and I would’ve never approved of him. He’s all fair skin and pretty looks, without a shred of manliness. Whenever something happens, he just hides behind his parents. If he hadn’t been born into a good family, he’d be nothing. Honestly, you’d have been better off marrying a stray dog. When are you bringing your new husband home so your mother can meet him?”
From the other end of the phone, Shen Shuhe could hear her father’s voice speaking softly.
The only words she caught were “birthday banquet.”
“Oh, right!” Wen Lingyi exclaimed.
“I almost forgot the important part. Sweetheart, where are you? I’ll send you an address. Make sure you go. You know the Lu family, right? Their precious daughter returned from overseas last week. They’re holding her birthday banquet today. Originally, the Shen family wasn’t invited, but the invitation only arrived this morning. They said there had been a problem with the delivery…”
Of course Shen Shuhe knew the Lu family.
No one in Beijing didn’t.
The Lu family was the pinnacle of military and political power.
For three generations, they had produced founding heroes of the nation. Old Master Lu was a legendary figure within the military.
Now, the eldest son of the family, Lu Yanzhou, commanded an entire military theater and wielded tremendous influence.
Meanwhile, the family’s beloved daughter, Lu Mingshu, was one of the social elite’s most celebrated young ladies—a renowned beauty and scholar who had just returned after graduating from the world’s top-ranked university.
Compared to them, the Shen family’s business empire was insignificant.
An event of this caliber would only be attended by the most influential figures in the country.
How could the Shen family possibly have qualified for an invitation?
“Sweetheart, I’ve sent you the address…”
Shen Shuhe snapped out of her thoughts, absentmindedly rubbing the edge of her phone.
“What about the invitation?”
“It’s at home. Come back after you’ve cleaned up and pick it up,” Wen Lingyi replied, her voice carrying a trace of exhaustion.
“Your father and I have to go to the company today to deal with some matters. The invitation is on the coffee table in the living room.”
Shen Shuhe acknowledged softly before ending the call, her gaze drifting to the endless stream of traffic outside the window.
The Zhou family hadn’t been entirely wrong yesterday.
The Shen family truly was facing a crisis.
The Shen Group, painstakingly built by her father, Shen Yanzhi, had long been one of the country’s leading suppliers of high-end medical equipment, maintaining close partnerships with both the military and top-tier hospitals.
But six months ago, an unexpected “technology leak” scandal had thrown the company’s core patents into dispute.
Their competitors seized the opportunity, joining forces with several investment firms to short the Shen Group’s stock.
The company’s market value had plummeted by nearly forty percent.
Even worse, banks had begun tightening credit, while the military had temporarily suspended long-term procurement contracts pending security reviews.
The entire Shen Group now stood beneath the shadow of a collapsing cash flow.
Her engagement to Zhou Jiayan had been arranged for two reasons.
First, because she truly believed they loved each other—though now it seemed that love had existed only on her side.
Second, because the Zhou family had promised an investment of one hundred million yuan, along with access to Southeast Asian markets, enough to help the Shen Group weather its financial crisis.
But now…
Shen Shuhe tightened her grip on her phone.
Zhou Jiayan had betrayed her, and the Zhou family had publicly humiliated the Shen family at the engagement banquet.
She would settle that score sooner or later.
But right now, the most urgent priority was finding a new way to save the Shen Group before it collapsed.
The Lu family’s banquet…
Perhaps it was an opportunity.