Why is he so agreeable this time? What other schemes is he cooking up?
Ignoring the doubt in her eyes, the man picked up his briefcase. "From now on, besides work matters, I won't have anyone come over."
"Oh."
"Also, on the 2nd of next month, we'll go get the license."
"..." Get the license? That fast?
Qin Yige's lips parted, but she still voiced her true feelings: "But I don't really want to get married this early."
She dared to bet that Shang Sheng felt the same way, not wanting to marry her either. They were both cornered by their elders.
The man's expression remained unchanged. He stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Coincidentally, that's what I think too. If you can convince our elders, I'd be grateful."
How could she possibly manage that?
Qin Yige pouted. "The engagement ceremony has already been held. They definitely won't agree. Shang Sheng, why don't we push back the date for the license?"
"Reason."
"Just say... I'm going to teach in a remote mountainous area, and we'll get married after I return?"
"You're going to teach?"
The girl tilted her head. "If I can avoid getting married, teaching in a remote area isn't impossible."
Shang Sheng suddenly sneered, "Qin Yige, is the betrothal gift I gave not enough? Or do you want me to lose face? To the point where you'd rather teach in a remote area than marry me?"
He had long suspected that before they were married, even after the engagement ceremony, Qin Yige would cause trouble.
As expected.
"No, no, no, your betrothal gift was enough. I really didn't want to make you lose face this time. We're in the same boat, prospering or perishing together. How could I do something that harms myself?"
"Yes, you won't do anything to harm yourself, but you can do things that harm your parents and elders."
"How have I harmed them?" the girl argued stubbornly.
The man closed the distance between them again and raised her chin.
Their eyes met. He coldly warned, "Qin Yige, it's come to this, there's no turning back. You'd better obediently wait to be Mrs. Shang. Anything others have, I'll let you have, as long as you behave yourself."
Qin Yige stared at him for a long moment, then slapped away his hand from her chin. She tiptoed and touched his forehead, which felt normal temperature. "Shang Sheng, are you blind? The person you want to marry is Qin Yige, *I* am Qin Yige."
"I know whether I'm blind or not. Based on the current progress of the wedding venue setup, our wedding can be held in early November."
The girl's mouth fell open. That would mean getting the license in five days and the wedding a month later?
Someone tell her why it was happening so fast. Was she unwanted?
Shang Sheng turned and walked towards the door.
Qin Yige chased after him, nagging anxiously. "Shang Sheng, think of something! Aren't you known as the smartest person in the world? If you really marry me, your life will be in turmoil for the rest of it."
"I never claimed to be the smartest in the world. Whoever said that, go ask them for a solution."
Oh, right. Chu Rang said that.
Chu Rang said Shang Sheng was too smart; if he called himself the second smartest, no one would dare to claim to be the first.
"How about you make a sacrifice? Find a woman and say she's pregnant with your child... No, that would be embarrassing for me. Or I could find a man and pretend to elope with him, but that would be embarrassing for my parents..."
The apartment door was opened. Shang Sheng turned around and looked at the chattering young girl. He spoke one last warning, "If you dare to do anything reckless that makes me lose face, I'll find you no matter where you go, and then—"
"And then what?"
"I'll give you a pair of silver bracelets."
"Silver bracelets?"
"You heard me correctly. For 365 days out of 366, I'll keep you tied to the bed."
"???"
By the time Qin Yige understood what "silver bracelets" meant, Shang Sheng had already left.
She might not be married, but that didn't mean she didn't understand anything.
On the contrary, she understood everything.
Shang Sheng, that scoundrel, dared to tease her!
He wanted to sleep with her, right? Using handcuffs to tie her to the bed?
Adding to what she saw last night, Qin Yige's mind conjured images that almost made her nosebleed.
Putting everything else aside, Shang Sheng, that scoundrel, had a great physique. Six-pack or eight-pack abs? And then there's that—
Hiss—
Qin Yige immediately stopped her wild thoughts, shaking her head with a flushed face, banishing Shang Sheng's image from her mind.
She stared at the ceiling for a long time. Finally, to distract herself, she called Chu Rang.
"Hello, Yige." Chu Rang was a bit busy today, but he still had time to answer Qin Yige's call.
"Brother Chu."
Chu Rang shivered. "Sister Qin, let's talk properly."
Qin Yige felt dejected. "After much thought, I really don't want to marry Shang Sheng. Can you help me find a way to break off the engagement—"
"What? Yige, what are you saying?" He knew Qin Yige would never bring good news.
"I said I don't want to marry Shang Sheng..."
"Yige, what are you saying? I can't hear you. The signal seems bad here. Yige, hello!"
"I said, Chu Rang, I've changed my mind. I don't want to marry Shang Sheng!"
"Beep beep beep."
Qin Yige stared at her hung-up phone in disbelief.
Chu Rang actually hung up on her?
On the other side, Chu Rang put away his phone, moved his chair aside, and lowered his voice. "It's Yige's call."
"Mm." He wasn't deaf.
"She wants me to help her find a way to break off the engagement with you."
"Mm."
"Should I help?" Chu Rang asked deliberately.
Shang Sheng glanced at him, then replied, "Help."
His answer surprised Chu Rang. "You really don't want to marry Yige?"
Shang Sheng closed his file and said indifferently, "Whether I want to marry her or not, the engagement ceremony has already been held. Do you think I would go back on my word? I'm not as childish as she is, nor do I have that much time to waste."
"Heh, if you're not going back on your word, then what am I helping Yige with? Isn't it all in vain?" Chu Rang gave a dry laugh.
"If you know that, then good," the man said, and then continued to review his documents.
Chu Rang: "..."
The day before getting the license, Qin Yige's head was about to explode. She couldn't think of a single perfect reason to break off the engagement.
Not only that, but she also received a "death-summoning" call from Shang Sheng: "I'll arrive at Port City tomorrow morning at eight, and we'll meet at the Civil Affairs Bureau at nine sharp."
Shang Sheng had been away on business for a few days and was currently in the US, heading to the airport.
"Shang Sheng," Qin Yige called out softly.
Shang Sheng: "Even if you tell me now that you're pregnant with another man's child, you still have to go get the license with me."
"!!!" Qin Yige's eyes widened abruptly.
Did he have telepathy? How did he know she was going to use that excuse?!
The girl suppressed her shock and gave a dry smile. "How could that be? I was going to say, we won't talk about the engagement anymore. We're about to get the license, so you have to propose to me, right? You have to go through the proper rituals, don't you?"
"Yes," he agreed readily.
"My request isn't excessive, is it?"
"Not excessive."
"Then how about you propose to me first, and then we go get the license?"