“I’m not getting married. Even if it kills me, I won’t. I’ve said it a hundred times: whoever wants to enter into this arranged marriage can go ahead, but I am definitely not doing it.”
Si Jinnian slammed his hand on the table, stood up from his chair, and turned toward the door. As he walked away, he muttered under his breath, “What era is this, and they’re still pulling this arranged-from-birth nonsense? Aren’t they afraid people will laugh if word gets out?”
“Where are you going?”
Seeing Si Jinnian’s attitude, Li Shuhe was furious.
“Where I go is none of your business. Anyway, I will not marry this person if it kills me! If you guys want this marriage so badly, go marry him yourselves!”
Si Jinnian walked out of the room without looking back.
“You stop right there! You will go through with this marriage whether you like it or not. Shuchen is arriving right now. If you dare walk out and leave him hanging here, I will freeze every single asset under your name immediately.”
This threat was no small matter. To a playboy who had yet to take over the family business and still relied on his parents for his lavish lifestyle, having his assets frozen was truly terrifying.
However, compared to a lifetime of his own happiness, Si Jinnian figured his mother wouldn’t just sit back and watch him starve to death.
After sending a text message to a friend about going out for a drink, Si Jinnian got into his black McLaren and left home without looking back.
“Si Jinnian, you brat, get back here!”
His mother’s near-roar echoed from behind, perfectly drowned out by the roar of the car engine.
Through the rearview mirror, Si Jinnian glanced at his overbearing mother, hooked one corner of his mouth into a smirk, slammed his foot on the accelerator, and sped past a black Bentley coming the other way.
A minute later, the black Bentley pulled up to the Si family estate. The car door opened, and a pair of polished leather shoes stepped out first, followed by a remarkably distinguished-looking man.
The man wore a white shirt with the cuffs rolled up due to the intense heat. His black dress pants were pressed to absolute perfection without a single wrinkle. He had his hair styled in a three-part side part, wearing a pair of rimless, thin-metal-frame glasses. Faintly visible along the temple pieces, an ultra-thin metal chain hung down beside his ear, giving the man an air of bold confidence and a unique, striking charm.
“You must be Young Master Pei!”
Seeing the car at the entrance, the butler hurried out. Pei Shuchen gave a slight nod in response.
Confirming his identity, the butler respectfully invited Pei Shuchen inside.
The driver retrieved the gifts Pei Shuchen had prepared for Si Jinnian’s parents from the trunk and followed them through the main gates.
Upon seeing Pei Shuchen, Si Jinnian’s parents offered profuse apologies and tried to cover for Si Jinnian, making up an excuse that he had an emergency today, and politely asking Pei Shuchen not to take it to heart or hold it against him.
Pei Shuchen had anticipated Si Jinnian’s absence and secretly felt a sense of relief.
Before returning to the country to accept this marriage alliance, he had already sent people to investigate Si Jinnian. He was a notorious playboy in Kyoto, being indolent and irresponsible, spending his days street-racing and drinking with fair-weather friends, or lingering in nightlife spots night after night, replacing romantic partners one after another. He was the textbook definition of a ruined, spoiled heir.
As for a ruined rich kid like Si Jinnian, Pei Shuchen wouldn’t even deign to look at him with half an eye.
Yet, bound by the engagement, he wasn’t sure if he could actually break it off by coming here today.
“Uncle and Auntie, you don’t need to cover for him anymore. I already know that Nian disagrees with this match. Actually, the reason I came today is to discuss calling off this engagement with you.”
“Ah? Call off the engagement?”
“This, how can that be? This match was set up by your late mother and us when you were kids. Now that you’re both of marriageable age, we should honor the agreement from back then and your mother’s dying wish by having you two get married!”
“I know, but marriage isn’t a child’s game. Besides, a forced melon is never sweet. Since Nian isn’t willing, I don’t want to force him either. Let’s just leave this matter at that.”
Hearing that Pei Shuchen wanted to call off the engagement, Si Jinnian’s parents were surprised, but at the same time, they secretly felt a wave of relief. After all, with their son adamantly opposed to the match, it was genuinely difficult for them to force him to marry someone he disliked.
However, the Pei family had once done a great favor for the Si family, and Si Jinnian’s mother and Pei Shuchen’s mother had been best friends. The two women had arranged an engagement in utero when Pei Shuchen was just five years old and Si Jinnian was still unborn.
Nowadays, because of malicious competition from rivals, the Pei family’s business had fallen into a financial crisis. Pei Shuchen’s father had thought of the childhood engagement between the two children, hoping to use a marriage alliance to help the Pei family weather the storm.
Bound by social face and the past kindness, the Sis had no reason or justification to refuse the marriage.
Moreover, Li Shuhe genuinely liked Pei Shuchen. Not only was he exceptionally handsome, but he was also remarkably smart and sensible. If he could marry Si Jinnian in the future, he could supervise and assist Si Jinnian, and working together, the two of them would surely elevate the family business to even greater heights.
Yet Si Jinnian refused to agree, no matter what. Just as they were fretting and wondering what to do, Pei Shuchen himself had taken the initiative to propose calling off the engagement.
Though she felt a sense of regret, Li Shuhe understood the principle that a forced melon isn’t sweet, because marriage was a lifelong affair.
“लेकिन what about your father’s side…?” (Wait, keeping English: “But what about your father’s side?”)
“But what about your father’s side?”
Li Shuhe was somewhat worried that Pei Shuchen’s father would be angry. After all, if not for the Pei family’s past help and support, the Si family wouldn’t have the status they enjoyed today.
“I will explain things clearly to my father myself. Auntie and Uncle don’t need to worry about that.”
With that, Pei Shuchen took out the gifts he had prepared for Si Jinnian’s parents.
“I brought these back specially from abroad for you. I hope you like them. Let’s consider the marriage between Nian and me ended here.”
“Alright! Since you don’t like this match either, Auntie won’t force it.”
With a face full of regret, Li Shuhe took Pei Shuchen’s hand and sighed heavily.
“It’s just our Nian’s bad luck. Now that you’re back in the country, remember to come over for dinner often. As for your father’s company, your Uncle and I will definitely help you pull through this crisis.”
Faced with Li Shuhe’s generosity, a flash of appreciation crossed Pei Shuchen’s heart, but a moment later, he smiled and shook his head.
“No need, Auntie. I’ve already figured out a solution to my father’s company’s problems, so you and Uncle don’t need to worry.”
Pei Shuchen stood up. “Auntie, I have things to take care of, so I won’t stay to keep you and Uncle company. Once my father’s business issues are completely resolved, I’ll come visit you again.”
“Ah, leaving so soon? Why don’t you stay for dinner before you go?”
Clutching Pei Shuchen’s hand, Li Shuhe was reluctant to see him go.
“No, another day I’ll stay for a meal with you. I have plans with a friend; if I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.”
Lifting his wrist to check the time, Pei Shuchen walked toward the door as he spoke.
“Alright then, drive carefully on your way back. If you need anything, call Auntie anytime.”
After seeing Pei Shuchen off, Li Shuhe felt a lingering sense of regret mixed with a profound sigh of relief.
Inside a dimly lit bar, Si Jinnian was clinking glasses with his wild friends. Suddenly, a scream pierced the already lively atmosphere, followed by wave after wave of wolf whistles echoing through the entire venue.
Si Jinnian raised his eyes to look and saw an extremely pleasing-to-the-eye man walking in, with the bar owner’s arm slung around his shoulder as they chatted and laughed.
With the man’s arrival, the perverts in the bar suddenly looked like a pack of starved, wild dogs catching sight of meat, letting out loud whistles directed at him.
The man was tall and slender, wearing a gentle, spring-breeze smile on his face. He wore glasses and a white shirt that felt completely out of place in the bar’s environment, making him look noble yet possessed of an aloof, chilling beauty.
He hadn’t seen a man this much to his taste in a very long time.
Si Jinnian curled the corner of his lips, staring with rapt interest at Pei Shuchen. The moment Pei Shuchen brushed past the bar owner to take his seat, Si Jinnian licked his lips.
Si Jinnian’s small gesture was caught by his friend, Guo Ming. Smiling, Guo Ming leaned close to Si Jinnian and said with a cheeky grin, “Nian-ge, don’t tell me you’ve got your eyes on that kid? Want me to help you call him over?”
“No need, I’ll handle this one myself.”
Giving his friend Guo Ming an eye-roll, Si Jinnian picked up his wine glass and stood up, walking right up to Pei Shuchen just as he settled into his seat.
“Handsome, can I buy you a drink?”