Chapter 2: The Cheap Husband

They took their household registration books and the process was quick. Within a few minutes, two bright red marriage certificates were in their hands.

Lin Yuan also took a deep breath and opened her marriage certificate. The photo showed her and Sheng Xiao standing close together. She had a faint smile on her face, while Sheng Xiao’s expression was indifferent. Both of them were very attractive, and they looked quite well-matched.

Suddenly, Lin Yuan’s gaze was drawn to Sheng Xiao’s name.

Sheng Xiao?

Wasn’t the name Yaoyao mentioned on the phone Sheng Xiao?

Did she hear wrong?

Just as she was wondering, a call came from Yaoyao. Lin Yuan glanced at Sheng Xiao and answered the phone.

“Yuan, where are you?”

Lin Yuan held the red booklet tightly. “I’m at the Civil Affairs Bureau.”

“Didn’t we agree to meet at the cafe? What are you doing at the Civil Affairs Bureau? You… you said you were where?!!!” Yaoyao’s voice suddenly rose, almost a scream.

Lin Yuan moved the phone away from her ear. “Yaoyao, didn’t you introduce us? We already got the certificate.”

“Yuan, Sheng Xiao is still waiting for you at the cafe. Who did you get the certificate with?”

Lin Yuan looked at the name on the marriage certificate again. She remembered something. “Yaoyao, which two characters did you say ‘shengxiao’ is?”

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yuan was completely confused!

How could such a coincidence happen in the world!

She had said that the man in front of her was completely different from the one Yaoyao described. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Sheng Xiao with some apology. “Um, Mr. Sheng, you weren’t here for a blind date, were you?”

Thanks to Yaoyao’s loud voice, Sheng Xiao heard their conversation clearly. He knew that Lin Yuan had also mistaken the person, and that she wasn’t intentionally approaching him knowing his identity. The suspicion in his heart completely dissipated.

“What, Miss Lin wants to go back on her word?”

His words made Lin Yuan speechless. It was as if she was the one who excitedly dragged him to get the certificate, and now she was the one who wanted to break off the marriage. She was a complete heartbreaker!

“My friend called just now, you heard it too. I mistook you for someone else. Why didn’t Mr. Sheng remind me?” Lin Yuan had mistaken the person, but Sheng Xiao couldn’t have mistaken the person too, right? The situation was awkward, to say the least.

Sheng Xiao looked at the woman whose head was getting lower and lower. “Miss Lin, you’re crossing the river and tearing down the bridge. I confirmed it just now.”

Lin Yuan wanted to say something about when he confirmed it, but then her mind flashed back to his indifferent words, “Are you sure you want to get the certificate with me?”

She was so angry she almost bit her tongue. Closing her eyes, she looked at Sheng Xiao with a serious expression. “Mr. Sheng, this marriage was purely a mistake. I believe you wouldn’t be happy with it either. Why don’t we go back inside…”

“I’m quite satisfied.”

Lin Yuan: “…”

“Mr. Sheng, please don’t be impulsive. Marriage is a lifetime commitment. Don’t settle for it just because you don’t want any trouble.”

She tried to appeal to his reason and emotions.

However, Sheng Xiao was unmoved, and instead, he turned the tables on her. “Miss Lin’s meaning is that you want me to bear the label of being a second-time married man at such a young age?”

Lin Yuan looked up at the sky helplessly. What was going on!

In the end, she failed to persuade him and was persuaded instead.

Sheng Xiao’s emotionless but highly persuasive words echoed in her ears, “Miss Lin seems to be in urgent need of a marriage to escape your current predicament. And I’m the same as you. Since we’re going to get married sooner or later, the person you were going to meet on a blind date today was a stranger anyway. Why go through the extra trouble?”

When Lin Yuan found Yaoyao, Yaoyao was jumping up and down, like a restless monkey. “Yuan, what’s going on? You don’t even know who the other person is, what they do, how many people are in their family, and you just got married like that?”

“Isn’t there an ID card? I know all that.”

Yaoyao was exasperated. “It’s too easy to fake an ID card, my dear. You can’t jump out of the fire pit of the Lin family and then jump into another one, can you?”

She picked up Lin Yuan’s marriage certificate and took a look. Her anger subsided a bit. “This cheap husband of yours is pretty good-looking though…”

Lin Yuan: “…”

Yaoyao was clearly a beauty-is-justice kind of person.

“Yuan, actually, isn’t this fate? You even encountered the same name, the probability of that happening is something I wouldn’t even dare to think about!”

Lin Yuan: I think you’re pretty good at thinking.

“Yaoyao, you have to say sorry to Mr. Sheng for us. We stood him up.”

Mi Yaoyao patted her chest. “Don’t worry, you have Sister Mi!”

Lin Yuan took her marriage certificate and returned to the Lin family. The Lin family of three was having dinner, being served by the maids.

Seeing her come back, Jiang Pei Yao greeted the maids. “Quickly prepare a place setting for Yuan.”

Lin Zhenghai: “Don’t bother with her! Eat if you want to!”

Lin Fangfei patted Lin Zhenghai’s arm and winked at Lin Yuan. “Yuan, don’t make your father angry. Come and apologize to him.”

Lin Yuan: “Apologize for what?”

Lin Fangfei: “You know you messed up the blind date with Mr. Zhao. Do you know how much the company will lose? How can you make such a big decision without saying anything?”

“Is that so? Since my sister is so understanding, why don’t you enjoy Mr. Zhao’s wealth and status?”

Lin Fangfei was speechless. Lin Zhenghai slammed his chopsticks on the table. “You have a sharp tongue! How could Fangfei marry Zhao Qingzhong!”

Lin Yuan smiled coldly. “Can I then? Who is your real daughter?”

She no longer shouted and screamed as she had in the past, but instead, she questioned them word by word, leaving Lin Zhenghai speechless for a moment.

Lin Yuan didn’t understand why, even though she was Lin Zhenghai’s biological daughter, he gave all his fatherly love to his stepdaughter, Lin Fangfei?

Was it because Lin Fangfei’s biological mother, Jiang Pei Yao, was Lin Zhenghai’s “favorite concubine”?

So he loved her and her daughter, and was willing to abandon his biological daughter to give all his care and affection to his stepdaughter?

Lin Fangfei stepped forward in time. “Dad, calm down. Yuan is just angry and said some harsh words. When she calms down, she’ll naturally understand that you and Mom are doing this for her good.”

Lin Yuan suddenly laughed. “What a touching scene of fatherly love and filial piety. It’s really moving.”

She turned and went upstairs. After a while, she came down with her suitcase. Lin Zhenghai frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Moving out. I don’t want to get in the way of your family.”

Jiang Pei Yao quickly winked at Lin Fangfei. Lin Fangfei stopped Lin Yuan. “Yuan, what are you talking about? This is your home. We are a family.”

Of course, if they let Lin Yuan go like this, who would marry Zhao Qingzhong?

Lin Yuan stood in front of Lin Fangfei, her gaze sweeping over the three of them. One black face, two white faces. She had been fooled by their acting in the past.