Xie Zongxu responded with a simple “Mm.” took the kraft paper envelope, and casually handed it to Li Yang.
“Yours.”
Li Yang accepted it and opened it. Inside was her passport.
She froze for a moment and looked up at him.
“Why do you have my passport?”
“I had someone pick it up from your house while they were getting your household registration booklet. Since you told your family you were going on a trip, there had to be a reason. We’re flying to Singapore later, so it matches up perfectly.”
Li Yang opened her mouth as if to say something, then swallowed the words.
She realized she had truly underestimated this man.
From the moment she spoke in the lounge until they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, less than an hour had passed.
Yet within that hour, he had arranged for someone to collect her household registration booklet and passport from her home, coordinated matters with the Civil Affairs Bureau, and even adjusted his Singapore itinerary.
Everything had been under his control.
She had thought she was the one taking the initiative.
But now it seemed she had merely followed his rhythm, step by step, into a circle he had already drawn.
“What is it?”
Xie Zongxu looked at her.
Li Yang put the documents back into her bag, lifted her head, and met his gaze.
“Mr. Xie, I have one request.”
One of Xie Zongxu’s brows rose slightly.
“Please.”
“As for the marriage certificate, let’s not tell my father or your family for now.”
Xie Zongxu looked at her without speaking.
Meeting his gaze, Li Yang said each word clearly.
“You said earlier that if it doesn’t work out, we’ll get divorced. Since that’s the case, let’s do it thoroughly. We’ll spend these seven days in Singapore. When it’s over, if I feel it won’t work, we’ll quietly get divorced and pretend none of this ever happened.”
She paused.
“If our families find out, they’ll definitely make a fuss. By then, even getting divorced won’t be easy.”
As Xie Zongxu listened, that faint curve returned to his lips.
“So, Miss Li means that these seven days are a secret between the two of us. If the trial marriage fails, we’ll pretend this certificate never existed?”
Li Yang nodded.
“Exactly.”
Xie Zongxu took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
“Have you ever considered what happens if the trial marriage succeeds?”
Caught off guard, Li Yang blinked.
Succeeds?
She genuinely had never thought about that.
Her mind had been entirely occupied with leaving herself an escape route, with figuring out how to withdraw unscathed if things went badly.
She had never considered what would happen if things actually worked out.
Seeing her reaction, the amusement in Xie Zongxu’s eyes deepened.
“Miss Li, you’ve prepared so many escape routes for yourself. Have you considered the possibility that after these seven days, you might not want to leave?”
The tips of Li Yang’s ears immediately began heating up again.
“Then… then we’ll keep it.”
Trying to maintain her composure, she added: “We’ve already gotten the certificate anyway. Keeping it isn’t a loss.”
A soft chuckle escaped Xie Zongxu.
“Fine. Then we’ll do as you said. These seven days will be our secret.”
Li Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, Zhao Yan approached.
“Mr. Xie, the car is ready. We can head straight to the airport.”
Xie Zongxu nodded and looked at Li Yang.
“Let’s go, Mrs. Xie.”
Mrs. Xie.
The three words sounded completely different coming from his mouth than they had from the staff earlier.
When the staff had called her that, her heart had merely stirred slightly.
But when he said it, it felt as though an electric current had passed through her entire body.
Lowering her eyes to hide her flustered state, Li Yang followed him into the car.
The vehicle drove directly onto the tarmac.
A Gulfstream G650 jet stood on the runway. Its silver-white fuselage reflected a cold gleam beneath the sunlight. The boarding stairs had already been lowered, and flight attendants waited by the cabin door.
Li Yang had seen plenty in her life. The Li family owned a private jet as well.
Even so, when she saw the Gulfstream, she paused slightly.
This aircraft had enough range to fly directly from New York to Singapore. Its price tag was nearly three times that of her father’s jet.
Walking ahead of her, Xie Zongxu noticed her hesitation and glanced back.
“What is it?”
Li Yang shook her head and followed him.
“Nothing. I was just thinking that Mr. Xie is really rich.”
Xie Zongxu chuckled softly but said nothing.
Inside, the cabin featured a simple gray-and-white color scheme, spacious sofa-style seats, wooden paneling, and a faint fragrance.
It was almost identical to the sandalwood scent she had noticed that night.
Li Yang sat by the window and fastened her seatbelt.
Xie Zongxu took the seat opposite her and casually picked up a document to review.
A flight attendant approached and politely asked Li Yang what she would like to drink.
“Just water, thank you.”
After answering, Li Yang turned her attention to the window.
The runway stretched into the distance. Ground crew members conducted final inspections, everything proceeding in perfect order.
The aircraft began taxiing.
Then accelerating.
Then climbing.
The scenery outside became smaller and smaller until nothing remained except an endless sea of clouds.
Leaning back against her seat, Li Yang suddenly remembered something.
Turning her head, she looked at Xie Zongxu.
“Mr. Xie.”
Xie Zongxu lifted his eyes from the document.
“Mm?”
“You said earlier that someone went to my house to get my household registration booklet and passport.”
Xie Zongxu nodded.
Li Yang carefully chose her words.
“Then… what exactly did your people tell my father?”
A faint smile appeared in Xie Zongxu’s eyes.
“I told him that after your trip, the Xie Family wanted you to stay at the old residence for a few days so the elders of both families could get to know each other better. We needed the household registration booklet to handle some paperwork.”
Li Yang froze.
“My father believed that?”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Closing the document, Xie Zongxu leaned back comfortably.
“Uncle Li already wanted us to spend more time together. Since I took the initiative to suggest it, he couldn’t have been happier.”
Li Yang opened her mouth, intending to say something, but swallowed the words once more.
After the aircraft reached cruising altitude, Zhao Yan walked over from the front cabin holding a tablet.
“Mr. Xie, the Singapore schedule has been rearranged. Please have a look.”
Xie Zongxu accepted the tablet, glanced through it, and nodded.
“It’ll do.”
Zhao Yan then turned to Li Yang with his standard professional smile.
“Madam, is there anything you’d like to eat? Mr. Xie has already reserved a restaurant for tonight after we land, so I’d like to ask about your preferences.”
Madam.
There was that title again.
Li Yang still had not fully adapted to it. Being addressed that way caught her off guard.
“I… anything is fine.”
Zhao Yan smiled and nodded.
“Chinese food or Western food? Any dietary restrictions?”
Li Yang thought for a moment.
“Western food. No restrictions.”
Zhao Yan made a note and then turned toward Xie Zongxu.
“Mr. Xie, shall I keep the reservation at Les Amis?”
Xie Zongxu responded with a simple “Mm.”
Zhao Yan turned and left to finalize the arrangements for after landing.
Watching his retreating figure, Li Yang suddenly spoke.
“Mr. Xie.”
Xie Zongxu looked at her.
After a brief hesitation, she asked: “Why do all your people call me Madam so naturally?”
One of Xie Zongxu’s brows lifted.
“What else should they call you?”
Li Yang found herself speechless.
That was true.
What else could they call her?
They had already gotten the marriage certificate. If not Madam, then what?
And yet the entire situation still felt unreal.
From speaking in the lounge, to standing before the Civil Affairs Bureau, to now sitting aboard a plane bound for Singapore, only two hours had passed.
Within those two hours, she had gone from Miss Li to Mrs. Xie.
Watching her drift into thought, the amusement in Xie Zongxu’s eyes deepened once again.
“Not used to it?”
Li Yang nodded honestly.
“A little.”
Xie Zongxu said nothing and simply looked at her.
A few seconds later, he suddenly reached out his hand.
Instinctively, Li Yang leaned backward.
But he had already withdrawn his hand.
Now there was a little red booklet in his fingers.
While she had been daydreaming, she had been holding it the entire time. At some point, it had slipped onto the seat without her noticing.
Xie Zongxu handed it back to her.
“Keep it safe. Replacing it would be troublesome if it gets lost.”
Li Yang accepted it and lowered her gaze to the gold-stamped characters on the cover.
Suddenly, she smiled.
Xie Zongxu looked at her.
“What are you laughing at?”
Li Yang lifted her head and met his gaze.
“Myself.”
“Mm?”
“I spent all last night thinking about how to convince you, how to get to Singapore, how to test these seven days.”
She paused.
“And then this morning, in less than an hour, we got married.”
After another pause, she asked:
“Mr. Xie, did you already know I would come looking for you?”
Xie Zongxu looked at her but said nothing.
Li Yang waited for his answer.
A few seconds later, he let out a quiet chuckle.
“No.”
She did not believe him.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Looking at her, his tone remained calm and even.
“I simply have a habit of planning every step in advance. Whether you came or not, I would still have gone to Singapore. If you came, I would bring you with me. If you didn’t, I would proceed according to the original plan.”
Listening to him, that uncomfortable feeling rose in Li Yang’s heart again.
So whether she came or not made no difference to him?
Was she merely one of the options in his plan?