Chapter 2: Found Time to Get Married

Staring at the face across from him, Shen Baizhou was dumbfounded… If there really were a Creator in this world, this face must be one of His few proudest works. Every line on this face radiated undeniable elegance; the features were so exquisite it was impossible to find a flaw.

“Get married?” he exclaimed, staring at this flawless, epic-level beauty from head to toe. “The two of us?”

“Yes.” The beauty’s expression didn’t change. “One month of marriage, twenty thousand for you—what, you want to negotiate?”

“I…”

“I know, people like you are hard to find,” she said, nodding before Shen Baizhou could speak.

“Alright, twenty-five thousand.” Shen Baizhou twitched his lips. Only now did he realize—this wasn’t some “dismissal consultant.” She was here for a fake marriage!

“What do you mean by ‘people like me’?” he started to ask, but she raised an eyebrow: “Thirty thousand!”

Swallowing nervously, Shen Baizhou said, “It’s not about the money… I don’t have a Beijing household registration.”

He had seen these things in the news—usually, one party needed the other’s Beijing household registration to handle matters, so they paid for a fake marriage… But this beauty had just raised the price to 30,000. Naturally, Shen Baizhou was tempted. The problem was, only locals could earn this money—how could he, an outsider, afford it?

“Beijing household registration?” The beauty looked confused. “Why would I need that?”

“You don’t need it for a fake marriage?” Shen Baizhou was equally baffled. “Then what do you want?”

“I just need to fend off blind dates. After that, at most, you accompany me to meet my parents once…”

“Just that?” Shen Baizhou was stunned.

“Only marriage, no romance, right?” He had to confirm. Thinking of his past life’s experiences, he couldn’t afford romance, even if it killed him.

“Of course no romance,” the beauty nodded. “Thirty-five thousand, is that okay?”

“Okay.” Shen Baizhou quickly nodded, afraid she’d regain her senses.

“Good.” She opened her camel-colored platinum bag and pulled out a contract, filling in the numbers on the blank spaces.

“This is a prenuptial agreement. Take a look, and if everything’s fine, sign here. According to the contract, the 35,000 will be transferred to you in five days.”

Glancing at the basic terms, Shen Baizhou didn’t hesitate and signed his name immediately, afraid she would back out.

“Okay, add me on WeChat, then we can register.” She took out her phone. “I’ll scan you.”

Shen Baizhou handed over his cracked-screen phone, a little embarrassed. The state of the phone perfectly reflected his current financial situation.

The beauty frowned as she tried scanning it, but it didn’t work. Shen Baizhou awkwardly prepared to switch methods when her fair hand lightly grasped his, adjusting the angle. Her fingers were slender, long, and impossibly soft.

Too much, he thought—her hands were even tender? He was momentarily distracted.

“All set. This is my WeChat, I’m Su Hongdou,” she said, pointing to herself.

“Fourth-year student, not yet graduated.”

“Shen Baizhou,” he replied, “a poor guy.”

“If anything comes up, just message me,” Su Hongdou said generously. “Now that we’re married, we’re friends too.”

“Good.” Shen Baizhou nodded. He thought to himself: she’s young… and she’s willing to promise something to a broke guy like me?

They went to the window, presented their IDs, and Su Hongdou told the clerk: “Hello, we’d like to get married.”

The process took about twenty minutes—much faster than Shen Baizhou expected. Blue Star had fully digitized household registration; no documents needed to be carried. Most of the time was spent on photos.

By the time they left the civil affairs office, it was already noon. Su Hongdou waved politely and got into her sports car. Watching the Porsche speed away, Shen Baizhou felt a surge of hope. He might be turning his luck around.

Since his transmigration, misfortune had clung to him like a relentless dog. His past-life money had all gone to support his ex-girlfriend’s indulgences. After she found a rich benefactor, she kicked him aside. His past self, drained of savings, couldn’t even afford sleeping pills and eventually leapt off a bridge in despair…

He, on the other hand, had transmigrated only to inherit 80,000 in online debt. The start of his life was a bowl filled with negative 80,000.

But a stock market-like opening could always get worse. Today, he had even lost his job—until just now, when a perfect goddess appeared, bringing with her an initial investment of 35,000.

Looking carefully at their wedding photo, he marveled at the face that was dizzyingly beautiful…

“Life, life, you finally know how to follow the script,” he thought.

Then, ding! A voice message arrived:

“Shen Baizhou, where the hell have you been? I told you to process the resignation, but you didn’t. Dragging time, huh? Hurry back—you want work, right? Fine, there’s plenty to do. If you can’t finish, don’t think about leaving tonight!”

It was his supervisor, Sheng Jiong. Shen Baizhou frowned. This guy was unpredictable—not only withholding bonuses but also firing him.

Shen Baizhou had originally just wanted one more day’s salary, not a fight… After all, if he caused trouble, they could deduct his severance. Appeals to the court took too long, and he had less than 300 yuan left…

But now things were different—35,000 arriving in five days gave him confidence.

Suddenly, he felt he couldn’t swallow this insult anymore. Thinking of the workplace bullying from his past life, he decided it was time to deal with Sheng Jiong!

“Back to work!” he muttered, tightening his hair. “Workers don’t get mad? Then they really take us for Hello Kitty!”

Arriving at the company during lunch, Shen Baizhou grabbed two buns at the B1 cafeteria and sat at his desk. Wang Xiaopang, sitting nearby, nervously asked:

“Zhou ge, what were you doing just now?”

“Nothing… just found time to get married.”

“Stop joking,” Wang Xiaopang said, glancing around to confirm Sheng Jiong wasn’t there, lowering his voice: “HR came for you… was it—?”

“Yes,” Shen Baizhou said. “I got fired.” He opened his writing software, imported his phone notes to the computer, and continued writing Crazy Stone.

“What’s this?” Wang Xiaopang asked curiously.

“This should be my first pot of gold,” Shen Baizhou said seriously. He had chosen Crazy Stone carefully—it was a low-investment, high-return blockbuster, perfectly suited for someone starting from rock bottom…

Before, he didn’t dare write at work; now, fired, the joy of paid slacking was irresistible.

“Sheng Jiong really is despicable—paying bonuses tomorrow, firing you today. That’s just mean!” Wang Xiaopang complained softly. He barely dared play mobile games during lunch now because of past incidents…

“Yes, he’s despicable,” Shen Baizhou typed, “but I’ll show you a good show soon.”

“A show? Sheng Jiong’s?” Wang Xiaopang was surprised. Could Shen Baizhou really confront him? He had always been the timid nice guy.

Just then, a big man blocked his desk, shouting:

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking for you! Since you’re not handing over today, do this PPT now! The company doesn’t keep slackers!”

The burly man was Sheng Jiong. In the past, he had publicly scolded and even hit Shen Baizhou’s past self multiple times… Once, because of slow work, he smashed a prized figure on his desk, and Shen Baizhou hadn’t dared to protest.

Now, Sheng Jiong glared at him, thinking: “You got fired and didn’t leave? Trying to mess with me? Fine, I’ll max out your workload. If you say no, I’ll smack you myself!”

He gestured roughly: “Part 3 of A Lazy Wife at Home—proofread and make the PPT. Submit by 5 PM. Can you do it?”

Shen Baizhou frowned but then nodded: “Okay.”

The same timid attitude as always.

Sheng Jiong snorted, confident this soft guy would never dare defy him in person.

Then, unexpectedly, Shen Baizhou said: “Supervisor Sheng, I’m in a great mood today. Give me parts 1 and 2 too. I’ll finish all three parts of the PPT by 5 PM!”

Huh? Sheng Jiong was surprised—he was volunteering for more work? Looks like he cooled off after stepping out… Too late!

And indeed, Shen Baizhou completed the PPT quickly and well.

“Fine, all yours. Be careful, do it neatly. 5 PM sharp—I need it for tomorrow’s review. No more lunch break, start now! Late? I’ll smack you!”

“Pft.” Sheng Jiong left. Shen Baizhou continued typing calmly.

Wang Xiaopang watched, embarrassed. “Zhou ge, that’s your ‘good show’? I thought you’d confront him fiercely… but you just worked like usual, even taking on extra tasks to stay safe. Geez, this is embarrassing…”