Chapter 30: How Could I Not Want to Marry You

Chu Peihan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as a strange itch bloomed in his chest. She wasn’t scratching his palm—she was teasing his very heart.

Jiang Yunhe really had a knack for stirring emotions. Or perhaps… maybe she wasn’t even doing it on purpose. Maybe he was just willingly falling for it. Otherwise, why would he feel this way?!

She had no idea that what she thought was a serious discussion of strategies, in his eyes, came across as deliberate seduction. His gaze grew strange, and she misread it.

“What’s wrong? You think it’s inappropriate?”

“No… When should we pick the wedding date?” Chu Peihan suddenly asked something completely unrelated, clearly prioritizing this matter now—and urgently.

“Oh, that’s not urgent.” Jiang Yunhe raised an eyebrow, speaking with certainty. “Don’t worry. Our marriage is set in stone—no one can stop it. Even if you don’t want to marry me, I’ll force my way into your life.”

“Impossible. How could I not want to marry you?!” Chu Peihan blurted out without hesitation. If, at the start, he had ulterior motives, now—it could only be her. No one else.

He only hoped… she wouldn’t regret it.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. In the end, he forced himself to calm down and suppressed every inappropriate impulse. He couldn’t risk scaring her off.

But after years of being single, he really couldn’t take this kind of torment.

Jiang Yunhe said softly, “If you think it’s not appropriate, then forget it. It’s not a big deal—”

Chu Peihan interrupted, “No, do whatever you want.”

Jiang Yunhe: “…”

Why did he look so distracted?

He seemed burdened by heavy thoughts.

From a distance, Fang Mianmian trailed them in secret. Seeing the two of them holding hands so intimately, she felt disdainful. So that’s all she had? She thought Jiang Yunhe was something special.

Turns out, just some cheap tricks to seduce a man. Pfft. Shameless.

Raised by lowly people—no class at all.

For a moment, Fang Mianmian hesitated. It seemed Jiang Yunhe wasn’t even a threat. Maybe she should just let it go?

But… she couldn’t swallow it.

If she let her go now, she’d feel like she lost.

So she decided to keep following. If the two of them ended up doing anything shady, she’d finally have dirt on Jiang Yunhe. Once she had leverage, Jiang Yunhe would have no choice but to obey her in the future.

The thought made Fang Mianmian feel exhilarated.

She continued following closely, not realizing that Jiang Yunhe and Chu Peihan were weaving in and out of narrow alleyways, growing more and more remote. She had no idea when she’d been lured into a trap.

By the time she realized something was wrong, a bunch of people had appeared in the alley!

She looked again—Chu Peihan and Jiang Yunhe had disappeared into a small courtyard, hand in hand. Then, they were gone.

Fang Mianmian’s eyes narrowed. She quickly pushed the door open and followed, thinking they’d snuck off for a secret rendezvous.

But when she stepped inside, she realized it wasn’t what she expected at all—it was a dye workshop. Rows of cotton cloth hung from racks, fluttering gently and obscuring visibility.

Fang Mianmian frowned. A strange unease crept into her heart.

She scanned the courtyard—no sign of them.

It was as if what she saw earlier had just been a hallucination.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yunhe had taken the opportunity to pull Chu Peihan through another small door and sneak out. They tiptoed away without alerting anyone—like thieves.

Well, it was basically stealing!

From what she knew, this place was one of the county’s most notorious dens of vice—a mix of gambling hall and brothel. A total mess.

If Fang Mianmian left quickly, she might be fine.

But if she got any ideas and decided to hang around… well, who knew what might happen?

“Chu Peihan, am I being a little vicious?” Jiang Yunhe asked.

“No. She had bad intentions from the start. Besides, you didn’t actually do anything.” Chu Peihan had a way with words. And truly—Jiang Yunhe had done nothing wrong.

Everything was Fang Mianmian’s choice. If her intentions had been pure, she wouldn’t have followed them there.

Jiang Yunhe felt reassured—and totally justified.

She didn’t care what anyone else thought. As long as Chu Peihan saw her as a good person, that was enough. Nothing else mattered.

Still—talk was one thing, actions another.

Chu Peihan felt the need to explain further. At the very least, she needed to understand how serious this was, and not act on impulse.

“How do you even know about this place?”

“I…” Jiang Yunhe looked guilty. In the end, she pinned the blame on her good-for-nothing cousin. She coughed lightly and said, “It’s all Jiang Chenglong’s fault. You know him—he never learns. If it’s bad, he does it. Drinking, gambling, whoring—he’s good at all of it. Back then, when he didn’t come home, Sun Meilin would make me come to town to look for him.”

That wasn’t a complete lie.

Sun Meilin did often force her to come find her son. But Jiang Yunhe never cooperated. She wasn’t a fool. Every time she was chased out of the house, she’d just find a place to slack off and ignore her orders.

As for how she really knew about this place…

In her past life, that scumbag Wang Tiejiang had lost big gambling and, instead of sending over Widow Liu, had tried to sell her to pay his debts.

But she’d been so badly beaten—bruised and malnourished—that the brothel didn’t even want her.

Instead, they gave Wang Tiejiang a proper beating!

Embarrassed, he took it out on her even worse afterward.

Thinking back on it, the murderous rage returned to Jiang Yunhe’s eyes. Her face went pale. Trauma like that… never truly disappears.

She was hurting.

Chu Peihan quietly took her hand and said gently, “That won’t happen again. No one will bully you anymore. Yunhe, I’ll protect you. But still, this kind of place isn’t right for you. Stay away.”

What if he wasn’t around and something happened to her?

Jiang Yunhe felt a sudden lightness. She nodded obediently. “Okay, okay. I think the same. This kind of place isn’t for me—I won’t come again.”

Though, she was curious to see what would happen to Fang Mianmian now.

If she could, she’d stay and watch the drama unfold.

But—her own business came first.

Soon, Jiang Yunhe pulled him away from that place of trouble. They needed to stay clear of that mess—otherwise, it’d be too easy to get dragged in and end up the ones being blamed.

Fang Mianmian… she was a handful, after all.