Civil Affairs Bureau.

The officer handling the marriage documents glanced at the pair of newlyweds in front of him.

The man was tall and handsome with an extraordinary aura cloaking him while the woman was petite, delicate-looking, and graceful.

The two of them made a perfect pair.

“Are you marrying each other out of your own free will?” the officer asked a routine question before stamping on the documents.

The woman simply kept mum by pressing her lips into a tight, grim line.

With just a glance, the man could tell that she was somewhat unhappy, and so, he silently looked away before parting his lips to give a mild “Yes” in reply.

“Alright. May the two of you have a long-lasting and harmonious marriage!”

As soon as the officer’s voice dropped along with the two stamping sounds, the woman, too, felt those two sounds resonating across her mind.

As of today, the 21st of May, she was no longer single!

…

“Sis! You married yourself off for a mere two hundred thousand?!”

In a café, Ding Baoyi gave Yan Nian a once-over the way one would regard an imbecile.

The latter had a slim oval-shaped face, slightly curved brows, clear and glistening almond-shaped eyes, a small nose, and tender, rosy lips.

Even though she was not as voluptuous as her friend who was a D-cup, she had a superb figure with C-cups as well.

She had all along been the prettiest girl in class who had even been pursued by a rich second-generation heir before. Now, however, for the sake of a mere two hundred thousand yuan, she married herself off to a poor doctor. Her friend found this to be a great pity!

She thought nothing of it, though. Sipping at her coffee, she merely shrugged her shoulders in response. “What choice do I have? My mom won’t support me financially. I don’t have the capital to open a flower shop, nor am I qualified to apply for a bank loan. Besides, he said that… he’ll treat me well.”

“Can one believe such words from a man? Haven’t you heard the saying ‘Pigs can fly if men’s words are trustworthy’?”

She cocked a brow at that. “He… knows that I’m not a virgin.”

Her reply instantly rendered the other woman speechless.

Oh, yeah.

If it was not for this matter, Yan Nian would have been a married woman long ago.

Her ex-boyfriend broke things off with her and annulled their upcoming wedding right away when he discovered from the doctor during their premarital checkup that she was no virgin. He even called her a slut!

From then on, she became a cold and aloof person, and before the start of each new relationship, she would say to the other party:

“I’m not a virgin. Do you mind this?”

Ding Baoyi could not help but let out a heavy sigh at the thought of this.

“It wasn’t your fault, what happened back then. You didn’t even get a clear look at that person’s face, did you?”

“I don’t wish to talk about that matter again.”

Everyone has their own young and frivolous days. As for her bestie, the stupidest thing she had done was getting drunk in a bar, which resulted in her sleeping with a stranger whose face she did not get a clear look at.

Knock knock.

The sudden rapping on the table instantly captured the ladies’ attention.

Standing before them was a man neatly dressed in a suit and a pair of leather shoes. His features were not very distinctive-looking, but his face was sculpted and his skin was of a healthy malt color.

Yan Nian shot a quizzical look at the other woman.

“Your friend?”

Before she could even get a reply, the man looked at her and said, “I have something to tell you. Alone.”

Yan Nian: “I don’t know you.”

Man: “You surely know Jiang Beiyuan.”

Duh.

Jiang Beiyuan’s my husband.

How can I not know him?

Sensing that something was up, Ding Baoyi tactfully got up and made up an excuse to leave the two alone. “Er, I’ve forgotten to turn off the gas at home. I’ll be heading back now. See you!”

“Hey—”

Yan Nian pursed her lips as she watched her bestie slip away, leaving her in the lurch.

What a friend!

The man took the seat facing her and handed her a gold-gilded name card.

The name card with the words “Xu Kuangjie, CEO of Xu Corporation” on it felt somewhat scalding to the touch.

“I’m Jiang Beiyuan’s friend. He’s ill and has been down with a cold for several days now. He’ll recover faster if you go over to his house and take care of him.”

That left her at loss for words. “Well, if he’s sick, then he should find a doctor. Why look for me? I’m no Hua Tuo ¹ .”

She never saw her so-called husband again after that day at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

She could still remember herself drawing a line with that legal husband of hers and bidding him goodbye when they left the bureau. “We have an agreement about not meddling in each other’s affairs after our marriage registration.”

She distinctly recalled his face darkening and turning cold and somber at her words. “I did not say that.”

“Hey, we agreed before our marriage that we each take what we need — I take two hundred thousand from you and you come looking for me if you have any needs. Otherwise, I’ll be staying in my flower shop for the next few days.”

When she finished speaking, she’d found the man’s face turning increasingly frigid.

“…Fine.”

After that one-word reply, he simply turned around and left.

A contrasting dark, cold shadow appeared on the ground as he got bathed in the sunset, leaving that tall and broad silhouette of his lingering in her mind…