Chapter 21: The Prenuptial Agreement

So this was the “main topic”—the real reason they had insisted on seeing her today.

Gu Yao said nothing as Cheng Mu led her toward the living room.

After Madam Cheng finished instructing the servants to serve tea, the three of them sat down across from each other.

A few minutes later, a prenuptial agreement was placed in front of her.

Cheng Mu’s reaction was immediate. He abruptly looked up at his mother, confusion and displeasure clear on his face.
“What’s the meaning of this?”

Madam Cheng gestured for him to calm down.

“Don’t misunderstand. There’s nothing harsh in it. Why don’t we let Miss Gu take a look first?”

Straightforward and blunt—she didn’t bother with niceties.

Cheng Mu wanted to protest further, but Gu Yao, who had remained silent all this time, quietly reached out and picked up the document.

She began reading from the first page, carefully flipping through each section.

Oddly, the person most at the center of all this—Gu Yao herself—seemed unusually calm. Compared to the anxious and unsettled Cheng Mu, she looked more like an uninvolved observer.

She was, frankly, curious.

After that symbolic mandarin fish, what kind of “gift” had Madam Cheng prepared this time?

And truth be told, for a family like the Chengs, the terms in the agreement weren’t especially harsh.

In fact, they were quite generous.

For example:
If she gave birth after marriage, she would receive a fifty million yuan bonus.

Another clause stated that all wedding arrangements—big and small—would be handled solely by the groom’s side. Her parents wouldn’t need to contribute financially or otherwise; they merely had to attend the ceremony on time.

…

But one particular line caught Gu Yao’s eye, and she read it over several times.

The agreement explicitly stated that after marriage, the woman must devote herself fully to domestic duties—supporting her husband and raising children. If she performed well, she would receive an extra monthly allowance of 100,000 yuan.

Key phrase: fully devote.

In other words, from office worker to full-time housewife—with a salary jump from 4,000 to 100,000 yuan. All it took was a marriage certificate.

Sounded like a guaranteed win.

Only a fool would act all high and mighty.

Unfortunately, Gu Yao had been that kind of fool.

She had studied hard for over a decade, once even rejecting a lucrative job offer from a major tech firm. From that moment on, it was clear—money and she would always be at odds.

Sometimes, she really was a fool.

Just like now, as she calmly and politely corrected Madam Cheng:

“Mandarin fish has a delicate flavor because of the quality of the water it’s raised in. The problem with that dish wasn’t the ingredient—it was the poor cooking.”

With that, Gu Yao stood up and excused herself.

Cheng Mu was utterly baffled. How had a perfectly civil conversation taken such a sudden turn?

Watching her son’s confused expression, Madam Cheng remained seated, showing no intention of stopping her.

But just as the girl reached the door, she turned back and offered one last polite remark:
“Thank you for your hospitality, Madam Cheng. It was an honor to experience what star-rated chefs are truly capable of.”

In that instant, the color drained from Madam Cheng’s face.

A sharp parting shot.

She had been subtly mocked—Gu Yao was saying that even as the lady of a prestigious family, Madam Cheng was no better than this pathetic performance.

Watching her son bolt after the girl with nothing but a quick word of warning, Madam Cheng’s face darkened.

“Useless boy!”

Furious, she hurled her teacup at the floor.

Porcelain shards scattered everywhere.

A housekeeper rushed in, startled. After a moment’s hesitation, she quietly reminded,
“Madam, the chairman just left word—he’s asking you to return his call when you’re free.”

The room fell abruptly silent.

She thought back to two nights ago, when her husband had returned late from the Yufeng Club, locking himself in the study for hours. Long after midnight, he came out with a grave expression and gave her a very clear order:

No matter what it takes, Cheng Mu must be cut off from that “girl from the Development and Reform Commission.”

Marriages had to be between equals.

Even if she was a civil servant, marrying into the Cheng family would be considered a step up. She had never approved of the match. But worried that pushing too hard might backfire and hurt her son, she had stayed her hand… until now.

Fortunately, now that her husband had taken a firm stance, Madam Cheng decided she might as well go along with it—play the bad guy and drive the lovers apart herself.

And yet, upon meeting the girl in person today, she realized Gu Yao wasn’t as easy to manipulate as she’d imagined. Soft-spoken on the outside, but razor-sharp within—every word cut right to the bone.

Faced with the temptation of money, Gu Yao didn’t waver for a second. She saw straight through Madam Cheng’s intentions with a single glance.

So young, yet already so perceptive.

She had truly underestimated her.

---

On the drive back, Cheng Mu was behind the wheel, apologizing nonstop.

“Yao Yao, my mom didn’t mean any harm with the agreement. I just thought… you work so hard for barely any pay, why not stay home and be a rich housewife? I can provide for you for the rest of your life.”

In the passenger seat, Gu Yao leaned against the window, chin resting on her hand, lost in thought.

The wind outside whistled through the crack in the window, blending with his endless explanations and turning them into a buzz that grated on her nerves.

Finally, she let out a quiet sigh and cut him off.

She turned her head to look at him and asked calmly,
“If one day Hengyuan Group goes bankrupt, and your shares become worthless overnight… would you still say you could provide for me forever?”

Cheng Mu went silent.

Because the answer was no.

His only asset was his identity as the second young master of Hengyuan Group. Strip that away, and he had nothing.

But to him, that identity was enough.

In Cheng Mu’s eyes, Gu Yao was just being stubborn. The reason she disliked the prenuptial agreement was simply wounded pride.

But pride doesn’t pay the bills, does it?

Marrying him would mean a life of ease—no more stress, no more financial pressure. Wasn’t that a good thing?

To this day, Cheng Mu still couldn’t figure it out.

What was it that she really wanted?

Even if it were an open-book test, he wouldn’t bother to flip through the pages. Because when two people don’t share the same values, they’re just parallel lines—destined never to meet.

In the six months they’d been together, Gu Yao had heard all sorts of people warn her that Cheng Mu wasn’t a good match.

She always just smiled.

Because she believed he wasn’t a bad person at heart. She’d never blindly followed gossip.

They said she couldn’t judge people well.

But in truth, she judged people terrifyingly well.

Everything that happened today at the Cheng villa? She had seen it coming a long time ago.

Her calmness back there—just a front.

Sometimes, when she was around Cheng Mu, Gu Yao felt like she wasn’t even human anymore.

So emotionally composed for so long… it made her sick.

She wanted to lose control.

Twenty minutes later, the Porsche came to a stop outside her apartment complex.

Without a word, Gu Yao unbuckled her seatbelt. With Cheng Mu staring at her, she spoke in a flat tone:

“People don’t live just for love and family, you know.”

“I’m touched that you want to take care of me forever. But once you’ve had mandarin fish, you can never go back to choking down delicacies. Pass this on to your mother for me: I’m sorry for not appreciating her ‘kindness.’”

Of course Cheng Mu heard the meaning behind her words.

He clenched his jaw, forced back the anger rising in his chest, and grabbed her wrist just as she opened the car door.

He sneered, voice low and cold, delivering one final warning:
“Miss Gu, don’t flatter yourself. I’m not the kind of man who can’t live without you.”

Gu Yao already knew that.

There was no shortage of women lining up for the second young master’s attention.

She yanked her wrist free and looked him straight in the eye.

Her voice dropped a few degrees, laced with cutting sarcasm:
“You chased me for five years, we’ve been together for six months. Altogether, that’s six full years. Funny, isn’t it? In all that time, you never understood me the way your mother did over a single meal. You keep saying you know me—maybe you should ask her who I really am.”

An airtight agreement—crafted to press all her weak spots.

Sign it, and it was like the Gu family selling their daughter.

Refuse, and she’d just look like a pretentious fool.

Either way, she lost.

See? No one knows a son like his mother does.

And Cheng Mu? Still so naive.