ADMPT: 2
Chapter 2
The roads in the countryside weren't easy to travel on. In recent years, they had gradually been paved with cement and asphalt, yet that still couldn't hide how winding they were. Especially after nightfall, the car sometimes inevitably jolted and bumped along.
After playing on his phone for a while, Chu Li felt his eyelids grow heavy. Leaning against the window, he drifted into a drowsy sleep.
When he woke again, it wasn't because he had arrived home, but because of a sudden ringing of the phone's ringer.
Outside, it was pitch-black. The car was moving fast. It was already on the highway.
Chu Li was still groggy from sleep, his head dizzy, his throat dry and sore, and his nose also congested. He was in a daze for a long while before fumbling for his phone in the darkness.
"Hello…"
As expected, his voice also sounded rusty, hoarse.
Karma for a cold bath may be delayed, but it never fails to arrive.
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, then a slightly familiar voice came through, carrying the same politeness as a few days ago: "Mr. Chu, are you unwell?"
It was someone from the Jiang family. The assistant of his convenient arranged marriage partner, Surname Cheng. He had called just a few days ago to inform him about the meeting the day after tomorrow.
Chu Li gave a muffled hmm. "A bit."
From the sound of it, it was clearly more than a bit.
"Will it still be convenient to meet the day after tomorrow?"
"It's convenient. Resting for a day will help a lot."
To be honest, Chu Li didn't dare guarantee that taking medicine tonight and resting for a day would leave him seven or eight parts recovered by tomorrow. But he knew that if he failed to meet them as planned and sign the contract the day after tomorrow, his eldest uncle's side of the family would start nagging in his ear again, making him feel even worse than being sick.
Anyway, the meeting wouldn't take long. He could manage to hold on.
There was a one-second pause on the other end before adding, "Chairman Jiang said he will come to meet you in person the day after tomorrow."
Chu Li felt a bit puzzled upon listening. He didn't know why that person had suddenly decided to meet him personally, but he didn't ask. Whoever he met was the same to him. Meeting this arranged marriage partner in advance might even help him prepare for life after marriage. So he said, "All right."
After a moment's thought, he added, "I'll wear a mask."
Assistant Cheng couldn't help but smile upon hearing. "Then please get some rest. I'll let you know the exact time and place tomorrow."
Chu Li gave a soft hmm. "I've troubled you."
After ending the call, Chu Li still felt dizzy. He closed his eyes again, leaning against the car door, dozing on and off.
He fully woke up when the car had left the highway and entered the bustling city, passing by an area blaring with deafening square-dance music.
Chu Li rubbed his eyes and didn't doze off again, staring blankly at the gradually familiar nightscape of the Imperial Capital.
He was almost home.
He had been brought to live in the Imperial Capital by his parents when he was seven years old.
Before that, his parents had taken him to many hospitals for checkups. Considering his health and his age, they didn't send him to kindergarten, afraid the kindergarten kids were too young and might bully him. So they decided to have him learn while traveling with them.
It wasn't until he was seven, old enough for elementary school, that they brought him back to the Imperial Capital to study. Young students were still immature, of course, but Chu Li had always been good-natured and lucky. Every teacher he encountered was gentle and responsible, and the few who occasionally bullied him because of his hair color were quickly put in their place by classmates and friends who got along well with him.
All these years, his secret of being intersex had been kept hidden well, never discovered by others.
His parents thought it was a lucky and smooth start, unaware that he wasn't an ordinary child. Compared to his peers, he was far more precocious. And the secret he worked so hard to hide wasn't just the fact that he was intersex. It was that he was a succubus.
Later, as he grew older, some troublemakers in class gradually began dyeing their hair. In middle school, there were still teachers overseeing, but after entering university, it was completely free. Any hair color could be seen. Chu Li's white hair no longer stood out so starkly.
In addition, he studied fine arts. Once most people learned this, they would show an I get it expression, without needing any further explanation.
It saved him a lot of trouble.
Perhaps it was the dizziness from being sick, but Chu Li felt the car was a bit stuffy. He cracked open the window slightly, only to be blown by the cold wind and sneeze, while the dizziness morphed into a dull headache.
He quickly closed the window and touched his forehead.
As expected, it was very hot.
Or rather, his whole body felt faintly feverish.
Still, it was far more reassuring than the fever during the heat. Chu Li thought wryly.
At least his family could be by his side to take care of him, and he didn't have to worry about any secrets being discovered.
The car soon came to a steady stop in front of the house.
The driver took Chu Li's luggage out of the trunk and handed it to him as he got out of the car.
The driver was kind but quiet. Still, upon seeing him looking so sickly, he couldn't help but show concern, saying, "Go home quickly and take some medicine, get some rest."
Chu Li tugged the corners of his mouth at him. The cold wind lifted his white, loose hair. It made his entire face seem tinged with a faint, sickly beauty. He whispered a thank you.
Perhaps having heard the noise, the front door suddenly swung open, and a few figures stepped out.
By the faint moonlight, Chu Li made out that two of them were his parents, while the other two were his uncle and aunt.
His father took the luggage from his hands, and his mother, noticing his poor complexion, hurriedly led him inside the house.
His uncle and aunt had intended to speak, but after chattering a few words and realizing no one was paying attention, they fell silent and followed them into the house.
As soon as they entered, a white fluffy dumpling stuck itself to Chu Li's leg. It was the family puppy, a Bichon Frise named Bingtang.
On any other day, Chu Li would have scooped the puppy into his arms and stroked its fur. But today, he simply had no strength. His arms and legs felt like they were filled with lead, and even lifting them was a struggle.
His mother brought him medicine and a thermometer. Chu Li swallowed the medicine with warm water, while the thermometer still required about five minutes to show a reading.
In the meantime, his uncle and aunt went on like a well-rehearsed act, bantering back and forth right beside him.
"You silly child, why do you have to fall ill at such a critical moment?
"Will it be better the day after tomorrow? Or should we just go to the hospital and get an IV?"
"Even if it's only the assistant and the lawyer coming the day after tomorrow, they're still from the Jiang Group."
Chu Li focused on swallowing his medicine, too preoccupied to acknowledge them, nor did he explain that the arranged marriage partner himself would also be present the day after tomorrow.
The more Mr. and Mrs. Chu listened, the worse their expressions became.
Blood ties were shackles.
Not to mention, Mr. Chu and his uncle, Chu Enguang, were brothers who had grown up together and had gotten along fairly well before starting their own families. Moreover, over the years, there had inevitably been exchanges of favors between the two households. When Chu Li's school registration had been an issue before, it was his sister-in-law who had helped handle it. Though it was a small favor, it still counted as a kindness owed.
Later, because Old Master Chu treated Chu Li, this outsider with no blood relation, so well, some people couldn't help feeling a bit unsettled. His big brother and sister-in-law were among them. Gradually, what had never been a deep affection began to sour.
Due to these tangled relationships that are impossible to untangle, and now with the company in trouble and everyone implicated. Even if they harbored resentment toward his big brother and sister-in-law, there was no way to shed all pretense of cordiality.
This was simply how the adult world worked. There were far too many things done against one's will.
But when it came to their only child, Mr. Chu finally lost his patience. With a cold expression, he began showing the guests out. "Big brother, Little Li is suffering. It’s late. Let him rest. You two should head back."
Mrs. Chu went straight to the entrance and took their shoes out of the shoe cabinet.
Naturally, the two of them sensed their younger brother and sister-in-law's resistance and knew that continuing the conversation would only make things unpleasant. After softening his expression, he said, "Then, Little Li, rest well. The day after tomorrow, your aunt and I will take you there together."
Once they were seen off, Mrs. Chu closed the door. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Mr. Chu, but remembering that Chu Li was present, she swallowed her words.
More than half of Chu Li's body sank into the sofa. He casually stroked the puppy that had jumped up and curled beside him. He wasn't affected by those relatives at all.
He didn't see this marriage alliance as any kind of humiliation or self-sacrifice. The help he was offering wasn't for the benefit of certain profit-seeking relatives, but for the legacy his grandfather had built from nothing, spending the better part of his life on it.
It spared his parents from the moral kidnapping of his opportunistic uncle and aunt.
Not everyone in the Chu family was like his uncle, Chu Enguang, who valued profit above all else. Many relatives treated him very well. Now they were all seated on the same precarious boat. If the boat overturned, the parents and relatives he cared about would also be greatly affected. Chu Li was willing to make a small sacrifice to repair the boat.
When the time was up, Chu Li took out the thermometer.
"Let Mom see." Mrs. Chu took the thermometer from his hand and held it up to the light to check the reading.
Mr. Chu leaned in as well. "37.5°C."
"It's okay." Chu Li comforted them with a smile.
It wasn't a severe fever, just a common cold. A bit of medicine and rest would do. It wasn't serious enough to require an IV at the hospital.
Knowing Chu Li wasn't feeling well, neither of them brought up the marriage alliance.
Mr. Chu carried Chu Li's luggage back to his room. Mrs. Chu filled the thermos with a full cup of warm water. Chu Li took off his outer clothes and slipped under the covers.
As the medicine took effect, sleepiness washed over him again.
Mrs. Chu placed the thermos by the bedside, picked up the puppy that had followed them all the way, turned off Chu Li's bedroom light, and left the room with Mr. Chu.
It wasn't a good sleep at all. Chu Li drifted in and out of sleep, sweating profusely.
When he fully woke up the next day, it was already past two in the afternoon.
Chu Li vaguely remembered his parents coming into his room, a palm and a slightly damp towel placed on his forehead. Even fed him some porridge and medicine in the morning.
Because he had sweated, he didn't feel very fresh, but he could sense himself improving, his strength slowly returning.
Chu Li half sat up, leaning against the pillow. He opened the thermos and poured himself a cup of water. His gaze instinctively searched for his phone.
The phone was in his jacket pocket, already dead and shut off.
Chu Li charged his phone and turned it on, discovering a missed call from Assistant Cheng from 10 a.m. that morning.
Chu Li immediately called back.
The call was answered quickly. Having roughly guessed why Chu Li's phone had been off that morning, he inquired politely, "Mr. Chu, are you feeling any better?"
Chu Li gave a soft hmm, his voice still a little nasal. "Much better."
Assistant Cheng: "Then tomorrow…"
Chu Li: "I'm fine."
Assistant Cheng: "Good. Then, shall we schedule it for tomorrow at 2 p.m., Xianfeng, room 0615?"
"No problem."
…
After resting for another full day, by the morning of the following day, Chu Li's fever had completely subsided. Only a minor, harmless cold remained, and the nasal tone wasn't as noticeable.
Because of this illness, his uncle didn't find another opportunity to pester him.
After lunch, Chu Li took a warm bath and changed into more formal attire.
He hadn't cut his hair since summer ended, and it had grown a bit long. The untrimmed hair at the back looked slightly messy, so he found a plain hair tie and tied it into a small bun.
At one in the afternoon, his uncle and aunt arrived at the door right on time, as if afraid Chu Li might back out at the last moment.
After all, it was a marriage of convenience, and a contract would have to be signed. The Jiang family wasn't fools. Chu Li would gain nothing by the marriage alliance. Everything would be excluded from the contract. He might even be treated harshly by the Jiang family's side. At most, it would only secure a bit of assistance from the Jiang family to the Chu family.
Besides, Jiang Ciyu didn't look like someone easy to get along with. After marriage, the two of them would probably rarely see each other. Otherwise, such a good deal of marrying the young master of the Jiang family wouldn't have fallen to Chu Li in the first place.
To spare Chu Li from enduring more of the endless chatter along the way, Mr. Chu casually came up with an excuse about having errands to run a bit farther out in the evening. He drove his own car, taking Chu Li and his wife, and didn't squeeze in with his uncle and aunt.
With things already set in motion, Chu Li couldn't run away at this point. His uncle and aunt didn't bother debating whether to take one car or two.
Xianfeng was a place where the Imperial Capital's high society gathered for tea and idle chatter, with no small expense. The private room reserved by the Jiang family was even more exclusive, catering only to VIPs.
Traffic around one in the afternoon wasn't terrible, but it couldn't be called good either. His uncle and aunt deliberately followed behind Chu Li's family car, never expecting to get stuck at two red lights, and would be cut off by another vehicle, ending up far behind.
Mr. Chu already had plenty of dissatisfaction with the two of them and naturally didn't slow down to wait for them.
When the three of them arrived smoothly at Xianfeng, his uncle's car was nowhere in sight.
"No need to wait for them. Let's go in first." Mrs. Chu suggested.
"Don't keep Mr. Jiang waiting too long." Mr. Chu didn't object either.
"All right." Chu Li saw through his parents' little scheme, smiled, and said nothing.
Chu Li had already told his parents in the morning that Jiang Ciyu would be coming in person.
Naturally, his uncle and aunt knew nothing about this, and Chu Li didn't have the leisure or inclination to bother telling them.
Even in the very first meeting they had agreed on, these two insisted on coming along. They grandly claimed they were just seeing him off, but in reality, they treated him like nothing more than a pawn in a negotiation, believing themselves to be the ones holding the pieces.
Assistant Cheng had been waiting in the lobby on the first floor and immediately spotted Chu Li, whose appearance stood out. He looked even more stunning in real life than in his photos.
Chu Li had fox-like eyes, slightly upturned at the corners, and pupils dark as ink. Even just standing there, without his gaze resting on anyone, he made people feel their hearts tug.
Especially today, with a mask covering most of his face, those eyes looked even more alluring.
Assistant Cheng spoke very politely. "I'm sorry, Chairman Jiang only wishes to meet the young Mr. Chu alone. If you have other matters, you may leave first. If not, you may wait in the private room next door."
Mr. and Mrs. Chu exchanged a glance.
It was actually understandable. Someone like Jiang Ciyu personally meeting Chu Li was already quite rare, and it was only natural that he didn't want to interact with anyone outside of the intended arranged marriage partner.
Yet the two of them still felt uneasy and didn't leave, choosing instead to wait next door.
"Please follow me."
…
Chu Enguang and his wife finally rushed over. Not seeing the three familiar figures and not knowing which private room was reserved for today's meeting, he quickly called Mr. Chu.
On the other end of the line, Mr. Chu spoke calmly, "Big brother, Jiang Ciyu came in person today and said he only wants to see Little Li. You and my sister-in-law can head back first. Thanks for making the trip."
Chu Enguang choked, unable to argue. After all, it was indeed their insistence to send Chu Li over.
Before he could say anything else, Mr. Chu added, "I've got things to take care of here. I'll hang up first."
After hanging up, Mr. Chu went back to brewing tea for Mrs. Chu.
…
In the private room next door, Assistant Cheng left after escorting Chu Li.
The door behind him closed gently. Chu Li immediately met a pair of eyes that scrutinized him without the slightest restraint.
The gaze belonged to a handsome man seated at the tea table. The man was dressed in pure black, reserved and composed, exuding an air of uncommon nobility and the unyielding authority of one long accustomed to a high position.
His gaze wasn't rude. It was the clinical scrutiny of a stranger. After a brief moment, he looked away.
"Sit."
Chu Li obediently walked over and sat across from him, addressing him as Mr. Jiang.
Chu Li’s eyes were stunningly beautiful, with the tiny mole at the outer corner of his right eye serving as the perfect finishing touch. The impression only deepened once they were seated at eye level.
Jiang Ciyu knew some succubus friends and had even been gazed at by succubi using their charm abilities, yet without exception, it did not affect him. But at this moment, he felt Chu Li was as beautiful as a succubus.
But Jiang Ciyu himself wasn't an ordinary human either. He could sense the energy fluctuations around him and knew the other person hadn't used any supernatural ability on him. He was simply beautiful, plain and simple.
Jiang Ciyu averted his gaze, gave a curt nod, and got straight to the point. "This is a marriage of convenience."
Chu Li didn't know why he had suddenly brought this up, guessing it was meant to set the rules. He cooperated with a soft hmm.
The next second, Jiang Ciyu handed over the agreement. "Memorize these," he said.
The agreement had been based on Ren Yao's suggestions and finalized by his assistant. He had glanced over it and found it acceptable.
Chu Li reached out to take it, carefully scanning the contract terms.
Cohabitation after marriage… changing forms of address… adding each other on WeChat… visiting Grandpa at the hospital together every weekend…
On the back were all sorts of notes about Jiang Ciyu's likes and dislikes, even down to the smallest details, such as not liking vinegar and having a fondness for eating fish.
Chu Li: "?"
No matter how he looked at it, this didn't seem like he was being put in his place.
Chu Li asked bluntly, "Is this to create a public persona in front of the media?"
After all, some high-profile figures care about their public image, especially the image of a happy marriage.
"No," Jiang Ciyu replied. "It's only for show in front of Grandpa."
Chu Li understood immediately. He knew a bit about the Jiang family, and Jiang Ciyu had agreed to this marriage precisely because of Old Master Jiang.
Jiang Ciyu: "When the contract ends, we will get a divorce."
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