Chapter 16
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On the second floor of the bar, a group of a dozen men and women gathered. Two men lounged casually, watching Ji Xi as he returned from the terrace after a phone call, leaning against the railing and scrolling through his phone.
One man held a glass of wine. “What’s up with these women tonight? They all have their eyes glued to Ji Xi. Usually, they come looking for me.”
The other man, holding a woman in his arms, laughed. “They’re just treating you like a fool to exploit. More of them like me anyway.”
He pinched the woman’s chin and asked, “Isn’t that right?”
The woman giggled coyly, “Yes.”
This prompted a light scoff from the man holding the wine glass.
Noticing a few women eyeing Ji Xi with restless anticipation, he added, “Look at them. I’m not saying I’m better looking than Ji Xi, but at least I’m on par with him.”
His companion laughed at his vanity.
He recalled a previous comment thoughtfully: “Didn’t Ji Xi just say marriage should be a joke?”
“I think he was joking. Otherwise, how come there’s no sign of it?”
They had finished dinner and invited some people over for a second round.
As soon as Ji Xi arrived, several women surrounded him.
He smiled faintly and said, “I’m married.”
The few who heard were so surprised it sobered them up instantly. They asked if he was serious. He just smiled and said nothing more, as if it were just a joke.
The man holding the woman suddenly felt a twinge of rivalry. He lifted his chin toward Ji Xi and asked the woman in his arms, “If you had the chance tonight, would you go to him?”
As he asked, the woman’s gaze happened to fall toward the railing.
Fortunately, she wasn’t noticed.
She quickly averted her eyes and pressed closer to the man, saying reluctantly, “Of course not!”
Mr. Ji seemed familiar with these playboys and their familiar haunts but maintained a distance, untouched by any of their scenes. Unlike them, he was a man who inspired a desire to conquer, to make him stay for oneself—to see what he was like when he was good to someone.
After answering, she couldn’t help but glance that way again.
She saw another woman carrying a glass of wine approach.
As the woman reached Ji Xi, her body suddenly went limp.
Before she could fall into the warm embrace she expected, her arm was gently lifted, and the tilted glass was steadied.
The wine inside swayed against the glass walls, nearly spilling over.
“Hold it steady.”
Before she could react, the hand withdrew, clearly skilled at handling such little tricks.
Afterwards, these little games continued—some coaxing him to drink, others directly flirting.
Another woman approached, holding a bottle of whiskey, wanting to pour him a drink.
Before she could speak, Ji Xi suddenly raised his head.
The shifting lights cast a glow on his face, illuminating the lax expression between his brows and a hint of impatience.
The woman paused.
Ji Xi extended his glass forward slightly, signaling her to pour, then lifted his chin toward the side and said, “Stand there. Don’t speak.”
Then, he returned his gaze to his phone.
**
“Ji Xi never seems to be without a woman by his side,” Zheng Tingyan remarked.
After Shu Shiran spotted Ji Xi at the railing, Zheng Tingyan and Xu Ying also noticed him.
Zheng Tingyan said, “In just the short time we’ve been watching, there’ve been several.”
Xu Ying added, “Including the one now, that makes four.”
Though the lighting was dim, many precise actions were indistinct, but they could see some women touching him physically and being steadied by him, others talking to him—all in a flirtatious atmosphere.
Women fluttered around him like butterflies.
Zheng Tingyan commented, “That’s probably nothing for him.”
Setting aside his background, his face alone was quite popular.
“What do you think, what would it be like to marry someone like Ji Xi?” Shu Shiran asked.
Zheng Tingyan and Xu Ying looked at her as if to say, “Why the sudden question?”
Shu Shiran was caught off guard by their looks.
It seemed the news about Ji Xi’s marriage hadn’t spread; they hadn’t heard it.
“I’m just asking casually.”
Zheng Tingyan glanced at Shu Shiran’s wine glass. “Shiran, you’ve had too much to drink.”
Shu Shiran tends to get very chatty and jumpy when tipsy.
“...”
Just assume she’s drunk.
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Zheng Tingyan didn’t think much of it. “Although he’s handsome and pleasant to look at, these playboys won’t change just because they get married. He’ll probably drive all those flirty women outside crazy. There are already plenty of examples causing chaos.”
Xu Ying joked, “Marrying him might cause mastitis.”
Shu Shiran was speechless.
“Actually, if you don’t mind those things, marrying him might be alright.”
Xu Ying pondered, “If they just live their own lives, that’s another matter.”
Zheng Tingyan: “Anyway, I couldn’t accept it.”
Just then, the person Zheng Tingyan had sent to buy wontons returned, and the three didn’t continue the topic.
Upon arriving, Zheng Tingyan immediately asked the bar staff to get wontons from her usual place and asked Shu Shiran and Xu Ying if they wanted any.
They both said they weren’t hungry.
Xu Ying: “Weren’t you just at a dinner party?”
Zheng Tingyan sighed. “My mom had set up a blind date for me tonight, but I didn’t want to go, so I went to a business dinner instead. There was this guy bragging nonstop—it ruined my appetite.”
The freshly bought wontons were still hot. Zheng Tingyan slowly opened the container.
Suddenly, she remembered something.
“Oh, Shiran, did you have something to say when you invited us out today?”
Shu Shiran froze mid-motion with her wine glass.
She had something to say, but after hearing their discussion about Ji Xi and seeing the women still around him, she felt like there was a dark cloud over her head and couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Shu Shiran: “Nothing really, just wanted to hang out. No plans after work.”
Xu Ying: “You’re not busy these days?”
Shu Shiran: “Still busy for a while longer.”
Once a project competition is done, things should settle down.
The three all had work the next morning, so they didn’t stay out late and left shortly after eleven.
When they left, the party upstairs was still going on, but Ji Xi was no longer by the railing.
The next morning.
—Zheng Tingyan: Guess what I just heard.
—Xu Ying: What?
—Zheng Tingyan: I heard someone say Ji Xi got married.
—Xu Ying: ?
—Xu Ying: When? To whom?
—Zheng Tingyan: Don’t know.
—Zheng Tingyan: I asked around, no one would say.
—Xu Ying: Wasn’t he out partying last night?
—Zheng Tingyan: Yeah.
—Zheng Tingyan: Feels like a fake rumor to me.
Shu Shiran was about to head to a meeting when she saw the messages.
Sitting at her computer, fingers hovering over the keyboard, she typed a few words and deleted them repeatedly.
Finally, she deleted a long sentence and replaced it with the simplest message.
—Shu Shiran: It’s real.
—Shu Shiran: Ji Xi is married.
—Shu Shiran: The one he married is me.
Her message came in to a silent chat group. Zheng Tingyan’s last message was from five minutes ago.
After her message, the group remained silent.
Suddenly, both her computer and phone lit up with WeChat notifications.
But there was no message flood as she feared; only Zheng Tingyan sent a laughing emoji.
Clearly, she thought Shu Shiran was joking—and not even a very funny joke.
—Shu Shiran: I’m serious.
—Zheng Tingyan: Shiran, you’re still drunk from last night, aren’t you?
—Xu Ying: Eat something light today, drink more water.
No one responded further.
“...”
Shu Shiran remembered a photo on her phone—taken just before she tucked the marriage certificate into a drawer Monday night.
She found the photo in her album and sent it to the group.
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—Shu Shiran: [Photo]
—Shu Shiran: Not photoshopped.
—Shu Shiran: The physical marriage certificate is at home. You can come see it at my place tonight.
After sending these three messages, the chat was as silent as a stagnant pond.
Then, a flood of messages came in.
—Zheng Tingyan: !!
—Xu Ying: ???
—Zheng Tingyan: This really isn’t photoshopped?
—Zheng Tingyan: Aying, is the marriage certificate really like this?
—Xu Ying: Yes.
—Shu Shiran: I’m not lying to you.
—Shu Shiran: Why would I?
—Zheng Tingyan: !!
—Shu Shiran: I wanted to tell you last night.
—Zheng Tingyan: When did this happen?
—Xu Ying: The date on the certificate is this Monday.
—Xu Ying: So the gossip we heard earlier was true.
—Zheng Tingyan: Who would have thought it was you, Shiran!!
They even called her by her full name.
—Shu Shiran: ...
—Shu Shiran: I was going to tell you last night.
After replying, Shu Shiran looked toward her assistant, Yuanyuan, standing at the door.
Yuanyuan came to tell her the meeting was starting.
Shu Shiran: “Coming.”
—Xu Ying: How did you end up marrying Ji Xi?
That’s a long story.
—Shu Shiran: I have a meeting now, I’ll tell you later.
—Xu Ying: ...
—Zheng Tingyan: !!!
—Zheng Tingyan: Don’t go!
**
Dai Jiao went to meet a client this morning. Shu Shiran’s morning meeting was mainly for reports.
She and Dai Jiao usually handled the initial stages and overall design supervision; the detailed refinement of plans was left to others.
The meeting, including reports, suggestions, and discussions, lasted until noon.
When it was time for lunch, Shu Shiran told everyone to go eat first.
“Sharon, your friends are here to see you,” Yuanyuan said.
“Friends?”
Before Shu Shiran could guess who it might be, she heard a voice: “Shu Shiran.”
It was Zheng Tingyan and Xu Ying, who had made their way to her office.
“Why are you here now?” Shu Shiran approached them. “Aying, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
Xu Ying: “I’m on lunch break until 1:30.”
Zheng Tingyan: “Who told you to stop talking halfway!”
Both looked like they were waiting for her explanation.
Afraid others might overhear, Shu Shiran pulled them outside. “Lunch is on me.”
The restaurant was near the office, popular with nearby office workers at this hour.
Zheng Tingyan said, “No wonder last night you suddenly asked what it would be like to marry Ji Xi. I thought you had too much to drink. Didn’t expect you were quietly doing something big, Shiran.”
Shu Shiran: “... Do you have to use my full name?”
Zheng Tingyan: “You’re the one hiding it from us.”
Xu Ying tugged at her. “Let her explain first.”
Shu Shiran started from the troubles at Wanling Group and went on to the rainy night when Ji Xi’s car stopped beside her.
“The company helping Wanling was backed by Ji Xi. When I heard about Wanling’s situation, I asked you about it. You said it was solved, and I didn’t think twice!” Zheng Tingyan felt guilty. “Shiran, why didn’t you tell us?”