Chapter 13#
Contract Marriage (13)#
Lu Yi raised his head, looked at the face close to him, and bluntly spat out two words: “Not at all.”
Yu Ke’s tone carried a hint of disappointment: “Not even a little bit?”
Lu Yi didn’t answer the question but instead asked Yu Ke, “Speaking of which, you were Fang Chuan’s first love, after all. Young love, and yet you show no mercy when bickering with him. Did you two end things horribly back then?”
Not all first loves are sweet and innocent. Some romantic experiences, when brought up, make you wish the other person’s entire family were dead.
Mentioning the events of over a decade ago, Yu Ke’s smile faded. Since he had long quit smoking, he opened a wedding candy box, picked out a strawberry-flavored lollipop, and popped it into his mouth.
His voice came out a little muffled: “It wasn’t that bad back then. What Auntie said was harsh, but I did take some money from his family, and it helped me a lot. I just figured, since he’s already this old, it’s better for me to knock some sense into him than to let someone else teach him a lesson later. Otherwise, he might run into someone more skilled and get cheated out of everything, even his underwear.”
Although Fang Chuan had a strong-willed and shrewd mother, no mother can stay by her son’s side forever.
Back in school, relationships were still relatively innocent. He was Fang Chuan’s first love, and Fang Chuan was his first love too. Even though same-sex marriage was legal in China, it still wasn’t mainstream.
He gave a bitter laugh: “You might not believe this, but back when I was with Fang Chuan, I knew he came from a well-off family, but I never wanted anything from him. I just liked the way he looked. That’s all.”
In that relationship back then, although he had always been the one in control, Fang Chuan’s mother, Qin Lan, had made a huge scene, calling him a fox spirit seducing Fang Chuan. He was already a bit flashy and had many people jealous of him. When the early romance blew up, combined with pressure from the school, his aunt wanted him to drop out. Those days were incredibly dark for him.
When things got so bad that he was being pressured to quit school, he even thought about suicide. But on the very day he planned to do it, Fang Chuan snuck out of home to find him. Seeing the other’s face, he abandoned that foolish thought.
Then he chose to use Fang Chuan’s feelings, making a huge fuss, forcing Ms. Qin to come negotiate with him. That was how he got that one million and transferred schools.
After getting the one million, he kept only a hundred thousand for high school and college living expenses and gave the rest to his uncle and aunt, completely buying back his own freedom.
He attended university domestically, then went abroad at public expense, covering most of his expenses overseas through part-time jobs.
But there was no need to tell Lu Yi all this. After all, they were husbands in name only, actually just partners. Sharing all that would feel like deliberately trying to gain sympathy, which he didn’t like.
In short, when it came to Fang Chuan, he didn’t exactly feel animosity—after all, it was Fang Chuan showing up in front of him that had helped him overcome the thought of suicide. But it wasn’t like he had no grudges either. If it hadn’t been for Fang Chuan’s mother, he wouldn’t have been pushed to that point back then.
Regardless, it was all over a decade ago. They had both matured a lot. When he saw Fang Chuan again, the intense emotions of youth had long since faded away completely.
Lu Yi’s expression was calm, his tone carrying no warmth: “I didn’t say I don’t believe you.”
He had known Fang Chuan for ten years, and they had been together for less than a decade. In the early days, Fang Chuan occasionally mentioned Yu Ke, so he knew a bit about what had happened back then.
In Fang Chuan’s words, although Yu Ke’s family wasn’t well-off, he had the pride of a young man—even a bit aloof. And though Yu Ke had said some very harsh things at the time, he had genuinely liked Fang Chuan in the beginning, not for his family’s money.
Not to be harsh, but someone like Yu Ke, if he had been that scheming at such a young age, he wouldn’t be where he was now.
With a crunch, Yu Ke bit through the lollipop: “But now I feel that compared to feelings, money is more practical. If I could go back in time, I’d scold my past self harshly. So stupid, settling for just one million.”
After saying that, his eyes curved into a smile, and he added seriously, “I’ll do my best to be a good wife for that ten million. So if you don’t like me, it’s better if you never do. I can’t guarantee I won’t actually fall for you, and you’d end up heartbroken for nothing.”
Lu Yi looked at his smiling face, then suddenly reached out and patted Yu Ke on the head: “If you don’t feel like smiling, you don’t have to. Our contract doesn’t have that clause.”
After making that gesture and saying those words, he put his hand down.
The room fell completely silent afterward, so quiet that you could hear both their breathing. At first, their breaths were out of sync, but then, without realizing it, they began to match.
“Actually, President Lu, you—”
As he said this, Yu Ke noticed something off. He turned his head and realized that Lu Yi’s eyes had somehow closed, and his breathing had steadied. He had actually fallen asleep sitting up.
Although they had used small glasses for toasting, Lu Yi had drunk all real liquor and had helped block many drinks for him, his so-called wife. After drinking at a hundred tables without eating much, combined with the emotional fluctuations and increased blood flow, getting drunk was only natural.
But the other’s face showed no sign of flushing, and he had been perfectly coherent when speaking earlier. It was impossible to tell he was drunk at all.
Yu Ke helped Lu Yi lie down flat, then found a blanket and draped it over him. He let out an almost imperceptible sigh: “Honestly, being too gentle with others can be troublesome sometimes. What if you actually make me fall for you?”
Lu Yi slept for about two hours, then was woken up by a call from Lady Lu. He fumbled for his phone and answered. Her voice came through: “It’s almost time to prepare for the evening banquet. Where are you now?”
Lu Yi sat up, and the blanket slid off. He glanced at Yu Ke, who was napping not far away, then stood up and stepped out to take the call.
After finishing the conversation with Lady Lu, he came back and woke Yu Ke: “Change your clothes. We’ll attend the banquet soon.”
“Oh, okay.” Yu Ke rubbed his eyes. Once out of the room, he very cooperatively linked arms with Lu Yi, and in front of the guests and media, they once again looked like a very loving newlywed couple.
During the evening banquet, only Fang Chuan’s father showed up from the Fang family. Without any troublemakers this time, everything went smoothly according to plan.
When they were heading back that night, since Lu Yi had been drinking, he had the driver take the wheel. He and Yu Ke sat in the back seat.
Watching the night scenery pass by the window, Yu Ke pressed his face against the glass and felt something was off: “Wait a minute. This doesn’t seem like the way to the Lu family estate, does it?”
His mind had already started imagining a whole series of kidnapping scenarios straight out of TV dramas.
Lu Yi explained, “We were at my parents’ place earlier. After getting married, I live separately from them. This is the right way.”
That was the Lu family rule: before marriage, they lived together; after marriage, they had complete freedom, both financially and in terms of residence.
Of course, “after marriage” was defined by when the marriage certificate was issued, not the wedding ceremony. That was also why Lu Yi insisted on getting the certificate first and holding the wedding later.
From start to finish, everything had gone according to his planned procedures, every step arranged properly.
“Oh, I see.” Yu Ke turned his head and looked out the window. The reflection on the glass showed his slightly awkward expression.
He consoled himself: earlier, he had thought he might have to live with Lu Yi’s parents for a year. Compared to that, this situation was at least better.
After about half an hour, the car drove into a high-end residential complex and parked in the underground garage.
The driver handed the keys to Lu Yi, opened the door, and left.
“We’ve arrived. Get out.”
Yu Ke got out and followed Lu Yi to the elevator of a certain building. They went from the basement level up to the nineteenth floor. In the elevator, he couldn’t help asking, “I thought you would have chosen to buy a villa. A standalone house with its own yard, more comfortable for yourself, right?”
The elevator quickly stopped at the 19th floor. Lu Yi stepped out and, while opening the door to unit 1901, answered, “Living alone, too big a place is a hassle to clean.”
Yu Ke was even more surprised: “Don’t you hire people to clean?”
He had assumed that a rich kid like Lu Yi, born with a silver spoon, had never lifted a finger for such things.
“I don’t like other people touching my belongings.” Lu Yi took out new slippers from the shoe cabinet by the entrance. “These are sized based on what I bought for Fang Chuan. If they don’t fit, we’ll go down to the mall later and buy new ones.”
He turned on the lights and walked into this new home he had personally arranged: “This apartment was designed by me, and the furnishings were replaced to suit the two of us. Since time was tight before, I didn’t change everything out.”
In fact, he could have left things like invitations and wedding decorations to the secretary to handle. But this was his own home—he didn’t want to hand over the keys even to his secretary.
“You can take a look and see what else you need. In ten minutes, we’ll go downstairs and shop.” Lu Yi went into the kitchen to boil water in the electric kettle and simultaneously checked the water, electricity, and heating systems once more.
When he finished checking, the kettle was bubbling away. Yu Ke, wearing slippers that barely fit, came padding out: “I have a question. Why is there one room that’s completely empty, without any design?”
“That was originally left for Fang Chuan to design himself. But now, there’s no need.”
Yu Ke raised his hand again: “Sorry, but now there’s a bigger question. One room is a music room, one is a storage room, one is the master bedroom, and one is completely empty. So tonight, how are the two of us going to sleep?”