She didn’t expect him to reply at all given the late hour.
To her surprise, he responded instantly.
J: “Alright, you pick the time and place.”
Determined not to let her precious walking pharmacy of a lifeline get snatched away by some other woman, Yun Qingwu immediately locked down a restaurant and sent him the details.
Since she was treating him to lunch, she decided she would drop the marriage proposal right there over the meal.
Registration didn’t even require a household registry booklet anymore, so she made sure to tuck her ID into her bag ahead of time. If he agreed, she’d haul him straight to the civil affairs bureau the second they finished eating, giving him zero breathing room to back out.
With no classes scheduled for the following day, she slept in until ten before finally rolling out of bed to wash up and apply her makeup.
Eager to project just how much she valued him, she put genuine effort into her hair and makeup, carefully pulling together a cohesive outfit.
Sensing the time was right, she headed downstairs.
The moment Chen Ma caught sight of her, a wide grin spread across her face. “You look so lovely today, Miss! Are you heading out on a date?”
“Something like that.” Yun Qingwu walked down the stairs with a smile, only to run smack into Gu Yi as he emerged from his room.
Taking in her polished attire, Gu Yi knitted his brows. “Where are you off to?”
Giving a wave of her hand, Yun Qingwu retorted, “A beauty’s business is none of your concern~”
Gu Yi: “…”
They used to share every little detail of their lives, but now she was keeping secrets from him.
Whenever she went out with him in the past, she’d always gone completely bare-faced. Today, however, she had dolled herself up meticulously. Who on earth was she going to meet?
The moment Yun Qingwu slid into the car, a text from Ji Siming popped up on her screen.
J: “Still at home? I’ll come pick you up.”
Yun Qingwu: “Uncle Zhang is driving me, let’s just meet at the restaurant~”
J: “Alright.”
Upon reaching the destination, Ji Siming had barely stepped out of his car when he spotted Yun Qingwu climbing out of hers.
Swaddled in a white puffer jacket, she had a beige cashmere scarf wrapped snugly around her neck several times to shield her chin, leaving only the tip of her button nose glowing pink from the chill.
Standing by the roadside, she craned her neck to scan the area, clearly searching for him. The instant her gaze locked onto his, a radiant smile bloomed across her face, and she bounced over toward him with eager, sprightly steps!
“Professor Ji!”
Terrified that she might take another spill on the ice, he strode quickly to meet her, his tone laced with a faint, imperceptible mix of anxiety and doting affection. “Slow down, I’m not going anywhere.”
Clutching a bouquet of flowers, Yun Qingwu stopped right in front of him. Forcing herself to mentally psych herself up, she held the bouquet out toward him. “Professor Ji, would you marry me?”
Amidst the swirling snowflakes, everything around them seemed to hit a pause button.
Ji Siming’s mind went blank—he honestly hadn’t anticipated the little girl being quite this brazenly direct.
When he remained silent for a prolonged beat, the eager spark in Yun Qingwu’s eyes instantly dimmed.
Figures. The guy simply had zero interest in marrying her.
And here Only Mist had claimed he was probably dying to marry her… tch, she really shouldn’t have listened to her.
Her arms holding the bouquet drifted downward, but the very next second, a steady hand caught her descending wrist.
“Is that really all it takes—just a single bouquet to propose to me?”
Pouting, Yun Qingwu shot him a glare. “Well, are you going to say yes or not?”
This was her first time ever proposing to someone. Even if her motives weren’t entirely pure, getting rejected was a massive blow to her pride.
Lowering his gaze to look at her, Ji Siming figured he’d never encountered anyone who could throw a tantrum right in the middle of a proposal.
Bending down slightly, he teased, “If I say no, are you going to burst into tears right here on the spot?”
Yun Qingwu instantly fired back, “I am not the type of person who cries easily!”
She was just going to be profoundly devastated to see her [Medicine] vanish into thin air, that was all.
Ji Siming was practically bursting with joy on the inside, though he didn’t dare let it show too clearly on his face.
He desperately wanted to call off everything and stage a grandiose, formal proposal of his own. Yet if he showed too much enthusiasm, she’d inevitably grow suspicious that he harbored ulterior motives.
Since she currently held no romantic feelings for him, letting his agenda show too plainly would only terrify her into thinking she couldn’t divorce him later, likely sending her running for the hills.
Having managed to coax the girl into opening her mouth and bringing it up first, he couldn’t afford to screw it up at the finish line.
“I should lay things out first, though. Aside from teaching at the university, I have other professional commitments and frequently have to lead archaeological field teams out of town. I might be away from home for extended periods.”
“Besides, I’m agreeing to marry you mostly to get my family off my back.”
Yun Qingwu nearly laughed out loud on the spot. Not being home is fantastic! Not being home is the absolute best!
“I’m just doing it to get my family off my back too! Don’t worry, I won’t take advantage of you.”
“Let’s sign an agreement: if neither of us develops feelings for the other after a year, we’ll get a divorce, and I’ll walk away with nothing.”
She obviously couldn’t tell him that she was marrying him purely as a biological remedy for her condition, planning to ditch him the moment Lin Lan returned—that sounded far too callous. She had no choice but to invent an alternative excuse.
Besides, Ji Siming had lived like a celibate monk for all these years without a single woman in his orbit; she certainly didn’t have to worry about him falling for her.
Struggling to suppress the triumphant corners of his mouth from curving upward, Ji Siming reached out and took the bouquet. “Alright.”
Secure the marriage certificate first; as for the divorce, that was mathematically impossible.
Once a little rabbit willingly hopped into the wolf’s den, there was zero chance of letting it scamper back out.
She belonged to him, period.
Utterly oblivious to the man’s devious little mental calculations, Yun Qingwu felt a twinge of lingering guilt for duping him into a marriage purely under the guise of medical treatment.
The two headed inside to grab lunch, solidifying the agreement that they would maintain separate living arrangements after marriage.
Ji Siming hadn’t intended to demand cohabitation anyway. He knew full well the young woman valued her boundaries; pushing that issue would torpedo any chance of getting her to sign the marriage papers today.
He had his assistant draw up a comprehensive legal agreement tailored strictly to her terms.
The document was quite thick, but after confirming there were no clauses unfavorable to her side, Yun Qingwu skipped reading the fine print regarding the husband’s stipulations. Glancing at the clock and seeing it was already two o’clock, she immediately hopped to her feet. “Professor Ji, did you bring your ID? Let’s go register our marriage!”
Patting the identification card tucked safely inside his pocket, Ji Siming feigned a hint of aloof reservation. “In such a rush?”
“Yeah! Did you bring it or not?”
“Brought it.”
“Then let’s move!” Seizing his wrist, Yun Qingwu hauled him right out the door.
When they had arrived for lunch earlier, she had stepped away to take a phone call for barely a minute only to return and find some stranger brazenly hitting on Ji Siming for his contact info.
If she didn’t rush to seal the deal and lock down that paperwork right this instant, her precious [Medicine] might get swiped away by some opportunistic poacher.
Watching the girl’s fingers wrapped firmly around his wrist, Ji Siming couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.
Pulling out his phone, he fired off a quick text to Assistant Liu, instructing him to dispatch a professional videography crew to capture their marriage registration milestone.
As far as Yun Qingwu was concerned, this union was temporary and destined for divorce.
He, however, knew he was only ever getting married once—and divorce was completely off the table. Therefore, every single milestone and ritual had to be executed to perfection; he wouldn’t let her have a single shred of regret down the road.
By the time they arrived at the entrance of the civil affairs bureau, the photography crew was already waiting on-site.
Blinking in surprise, Yun Qingwu asked, “You arranged this?”
With a soft “Mm,” Ji Siming replied, “I’m a bit of a stickler for ceremony. You don’t mind, do you?”
Yun Qingwu shook her head. Finding a guy who actually enjoyed taking photos and capturing videos these days was practically impossible; she hadn’t expected this fellow to be quite so vain.
Both possessed striking, head-turning looks, instantly drawing a wave of captivated stares the moment they stepped into the main hall.
Anyone unaware would have assumed some major celebrity had just dropped by to register a marriage.
The processing moved at lightning speed, and within no time at all, the crimson booklets were resting in their palms.
Before Yun Qingwu could even properly inspect hers, it was gently plucked back out of her hand by Ji Siming. Snapping a photo of the cover, he explained, “I’m just taking a picture of the cover to post on my Moments to appease my family. You’re still in school, so we’ll keep things under wraps for now. We can make it public whenever you’re ready later on, sound good?”
Yun Qingwu nodded. “Sounds good.”
That happened to match her own game plan; she hadn’t anticipated their thoughts aligning so seamlessly.
She initially considered letting Lin Lan in on the news, but second-guessed herself upon realizing that by the time Lin Lan returned from abroad, she and Ji Siming might already be legally divorced.
Lin Lan doted on her endlessly, always shielding her from the slightest hint of grievance since childhood—she had been genuinely distressed when Gu Yi tried to force her into an arranged match previously.
If Lin Lan found out she had hastily tied the knot with a virtual stranger simply to treat a medical condition, she’d undoubtedly be heartbroken.
After mulling it over, she decided to keep it under wraps for the time being since they were heading toward a divorce anyway.
As for Xuanxuan—if she were marrying someone she actually loved, she would have blabbed the news instantly. But right now, Ji Siming was essentially just a specialized medical tool to her.
Besides, Xuanxuan was a notorious lightweight who couldn’t keep a secret once she had a buzz on; if she let slip a single word, the entire universe would find out she was married. Better to keep everyone in the dark and tell absolutely a soul.
Still, fearing the girl might throw a fit if the truth eventually came to light, Yun Qingwu decided to execute a preemptive surrender by sending her a comical kowtowing sticker labeled [Pleading for Forgiveness].
Naturally,吳雨萱 took the bait and started grilling her. But since the two frequently traded memes, Wu Yuxuan assumed she was just flexing and immediately launched into a playful frenzy, spamming her with over a dozen stickers in retaliation.
Xuanxuan: “Haha, I win!”
Yun Qingwu: “Mmhmm, yep, Xuanxuan is the absolute best~ ૮ ¯͒ ᗜ ˘ ა “
Putting her phone aside, she watched as Ji Siming finished drafting and publishing his Moments post.
[My love, stretching across mountains and fields, finally has a name. [Image]]
The photo featured only the cover of their marriage certificates with no faces visible. Yet given that he practically never posted on his Moments, the moment it dropped, notifications from friends across every circle instantly flooded the battlefield.
Ji Yaran (The Debt Collector): “Holy cow??? Which innocent young girl did you trick into marriage, Uncle?”
Feng Che: “Is this photoshopped? Is this photoshopped? Is this photoshopped?!”
Mo Yan: “You crafty dog, putting on such a deeply affectionate act.”
Ji Xingchuan: “Holy shit, Uncle, now that you’re married all the family’s matchmaking pressure is going to pivot straight onto me, I’m completely cooked! [Sky is falling.jpg]”
Grandfather Ji: “You little brat, whose photo did you steal? I don’t believe a single word unless you drag the young lady right to my doorstep so I can vet her myself!”
Ji Yaran replying to Grandfather Ji: “Grandpa, I could hear the sound of your abacus clicking all the way from my campus! (Thumbs up) (Thumbs up)”
…
Flipping through his Moments post, Yun Qingwu lifted her eyelids to look at him. “Mountains and fields of love?”