After the Arranged Marriage, I Was Pampered by the Powerful Tycoon - Chapter 13

At some unknown point, Cheng Ruan slowly opened his eyes. The man before him was facing away, putting on his clothes.

As his gaze fell upon the several startling scratch marks on the man’s back, Cheng Ruan awkwardly looked away, feeling a splitting headache.

Realizing the man was turning around, Cheng Ruan quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep, attempting to avoid the post-intercourse embarrassment of facing one another.

Luo Mingzhi seemed to have noticed his act. He walked over to him and asked, “Awake?”

Cheng Ruan squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

Luo Mingzhi knelt on one knee by his side, reaching out to tidy his somewhat messy, stray hairs.

“I’ve already made an appointment. We’re going to register the marriage this afternoon.”

Cheng Ruan opened his eyes, asking with difficulty, “Are you serious?”

Luo Mingzhi countered, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Cheng Ruan nearly choked. He turned his face away and muttered, “What kind of benefits did the Old Master give you?”

Luo Mingzhi seemed to be in a good mood today, his lips curling into a playful smirk. “Does you count?”

Cheng Ruan wanted to swing a pillow at Luo Mingzhi, but he found he barely had the strength to even lift his arm. He could only lie in bed, seething in silence.

Ignoring Cheng Ruan’s expression, Luo Mingzhi carried him directly to the bathroom to wash up, then asked, “Do you need me to help you change?”

Flushed red, Cheng Ruan told him to get out.

Walking out of the bedroom, Cheng Ruan curiously examined the ink wash paintings on the walls. Not far off in the hallway stood several ancient-style gold-foil embroidered screens. Judging by the style, this was likely Luo Mingzhi’s private villa.

Sitting at the dining table, Cheng Ruan rubbed his waist. He stared at the sandwich on his plate and spoke the words he had just spent a long time pondering: “We have an agreement. Once the Muyao Town project is over, we get a divorce.”

Luo Mingzhi picked up his coffee, his eyes fixed on the day’s newspaper. “Fine.”

Cheng Ruan couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you treat me like that yesterday?”

Luo Mingzhi replied without hesitation, “Because you deserved it.”

Seeing Cheng Ruan so angry he was speechless, Luo Mingzhi set down the newspaper. “Since we are married, it is normal to satisfy our desires.”

“Besides, you begged me quite sincerely.”

Cheng Ruan hadn’t expected Luo Mingzhi to use his own words against him; for a moment, it felt like a lump was stuck in his throat.

“Fine then.” In a moment of heated impulse, he said self-destructively, “Since we’re living together anyway, wouldn’t it be more convenient to just be bed partners in the future?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Cheng Ruan wanted to bite his tongue off.

What… what on earth was he saying?!

Cheng Ruan peeked at Luo Mingzhi’s reaction, praying he wouldn’t take the words seriously.

Luo Mingzhi, however, seemed to consider it earnestly and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Cheng Ruan felt his vision go dark, feeling that his future life was now equally bleak.

Exiting the Civil Affairs Bureau with a sour face alongside Luo Mingzhi, Cheng Ruan had finally placed another shackle upon himself. He flipped through the two marriage certificates in his hand repeatedly, nudging Luo Mingzhi’s knee with his own. “Luo Mingzhi, what are your thoughts?”

Luo Mingzhi said, “Now, it is considered a formal marriage alliance.”

Cheng Ruan shut his mouth, resting his chin in his palm as he gazed out the car window.

Of course. Luo Mingzhi was always driven by profit; why would he think of anything else?

Cheng Ruan’s belongings were quickly moved into Luo Mingzhi’s home, causing quite a stir in Jincheng. After all, in the eyes of outsiders, Luo Mingzhi’s attitude would directly determine Cheng Ruan’s fate in this “forced marriage” alliance.

Fortunately, it seemed there was still more gossip to be had.

Cheng Ruan lazily directed people on where to place things. An organizer was inside tidying up clothes, which reminded Cheng Ruan that he still hadn’t taken Luo Mingzhi’s measurements for the custom suit he ordered last time.

Forget it. Cheng Ruan felt he was losing his mind—why bother getting a custom suit for that dog of a man?

Cheng Ruan collected his thoughts and called Lu Ling.

Lu Ling answered quickly: “Mr. Cheng.”

Cheng Ruan asked, “How is the communication with Teacher Sun going?”

Lu Ling’s tone was grim. “I was just about to report to you. The people we sent to communicate with Teacher Sun all returned empty-handed. They were even chased out by the villagers when they tried to go back.”

“I see…” Cheng Ruan pursed his lips. “Are you free tomorrow?”

Lu Ling said, “Yes.”

Cheng Ruan said, “Tomorrow, you and I will go there in person.”

Lu Ling asked, “Should we bring bodyguards?”

Cheng Ruan shook his head. “We aren’t going there to fight. We’ll act according to the situation.”

Cheng Ruan woke up early to start the journey. He tiptoed to open his door and peeked out; seeing Luo Mingzhi’s door tightly shut, he lightened his footsteps toward the living room, preparing to change his shoes and leave.

But clearly, he had miscalculated. Luo Mingzhi was sitting elegantly on the sofa with his legs crossed, drinking coffee and holding a financial report.

“Morning.” Luo Mingzhi looked up at him, then lowered his head back to the report. “Going out this early?”

“Morning…” Cheng Ruan said awkwardly. “Yes, I’m going to Muyao Town to take a look.”

Luo Mingzhi gave a faint “Oh.” “Just you?”

Cheng Ruan shook his head, quietly shuffling toward the door. “Lu Ling is coming too.”

Luo Mingzhi gave a casual warning: “The folk customs in Huangjia Village are fierce. Be careful when you go.”

Cheng Ruan stopped. “You know where I’m going?”

Luo Mingzhi raised an eyebrow with an expression that suggested it wasn’t hard to guess.

Cheng Ruan grumbled inwardly, put on his shoes, and said, “Alright then, I’m heading out.”

On the way to Muyao Town, Cheng Ruan asked Lu Ling, “Is Teacher Sun’s wife from Huangjia Village?”

Lu Ling said, “Yes. Teacher Sun fell in love with her while visiting Huangjia Village for inspiration in his early years, and he has lived there ever since.”

Cheng Ruan kept recalling Luo Mingzhi’s words. Looking down at his own shirt and dress pants, he said, “Stop once we reach the town. we might need to change our clothes.”

Ignoring the “adibas” logo on his chest, Cheng Ruan zipped up his jacket and walked out of the changing room. He smiled at Lu Ling, who was similarly dressed in “naki.” “Let’s go with this. Move out.”

The two reached the village entrance, shared a look, and walked toward an approaching villager wearing a bamboo hat and a black face mask.

Cheng Ruan asked with a smile, “Hello, old uncle. Is this Huangjia Village?”

The villager looked suspiciously at the fair-skinned Cheng Ruan. “Are you from the town?”

Cheng Ruan nodded. “Looking for a relative.”

The villager looked toward the village. “Who are you looking for? I might know them.”

Cheng Ruan said, “I’m looking for Huang Fengjun.”

“Why is there another one?” the villager muttered. “Yesterday, a few guys in suits and ties came, looking like some pyramid scheme organization. They went straight for Fengjun’s house and were chased out by Old Sun with a broom.”

Cheng Ruan followed up, “How many groups came?”

The villager led them inside, saying, “Several, I think. Counting you two, this is the third wave.”

Cheng Ruan stopped walking. The villager stopped too and looked back at them. “Why did you stop?”

Cheng Ruan shook his head. “Nothing. Please, lead the way.”

The villager led them for about half an hour. Cheng Ruan felt something was wrong. Lu Ling also sensed the impropriety and whispered to ask Cheng Ruan if they should stop.

Cheng Ruan looked around. “We are definitely in the village now, but he is intentionally leading us to a deserted area. This isn’t good.”

Cheng Ruan walked up and called out to the villager, “Old uncle, how much further is it?”

The villager reached up to adjust his bamboo hat. “Can’t even handle this little bit of time?”

Hearing this, Cheng Ruan simply sat down on a ridge in the field and acted stubborn. “Teacher Sun, we came specifically to find you. It’s fine to walk with you, but surely you can give us a drink of water?”

Cheng Ruan held a bowl and gulped down water. After finishing, he asked curiously, “Teacher Sun, is this well water? It’s so sweet.”

“How did you recognize me?”

Cheng Ruan set down the porcelain bowl. “Compared to people who do manual labor all year round, your hands are too young, and your speech doesn’t have the local accent.”

His cover blown by Cheng Ruan, Sun Yiliang simply took off his mask and looked at him. “Finish drinking and leave. Don’t annoy me here.”

“I haven’t even started annoying you yet.” Cheng Ruan shamelessly pulled up a stool and sat beside Sun Yiliang. “Teacher Sun, you know why I’m here?”

Sun Yiliang asked, “Are you here to persuade me to come out of retirement, or to persuade me not to?”

Cheng Ruan looked at Lu Ling. “How did the others try to persuade you?”

Sun Yiliang looked inside the house and spoke quite bluntly, “Coercion and bribery—nothing more than those tactics.”

Cheng Ruan shook his head. “We aren’t those kinds of people.”

“Wrong,” Sun Yiliang interrupted him. “You are exactly those kinds of people. Profit-driven, cold-blooded, and selfish.”

“Do you know why I stopped making cheongsams?” Sun Yiliang said. “Whether it’s the dresses or the culture, it can’t be summarized by the word ‘profit.’ But in the eyes of people like you, that’s the only thing that matters.”

“Then you’ve really misunderstood me.” Cheng Ruan spread his hands innocently. “I am very supportive of inheriting and promoting intangible cultural heritage. That is exactly why I’m here today.”

“Why bother?” Sun Yiliang said. “I’ve told you, you can’t move me. I washed my hands of this long ago.”

“Back then, only Mr. and Mrs. Luo had a bit of sincerity. Aside from them, wasn’t everyone else just acting for their own purposes?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Luo?” Cheng Ruan keenly caught the key information. There weren’t many prominent Luo families in Jincheng, and given the connection to Muyao Town, it had to be Luo Mingzhi’s parents.

Cheng Ruan asked, “You knew the members of the Luo family?”

Sun Yiliang gave a cold snort. “Weren’t they killed by those people? Once profit was touched, lives were threatened. It’s simply filthy.”

Cheng Ruan agreed indignantly, “Exactly!”

Sun Yiliang looked at him. “Aren’t you one of them yourself?”

“I am not!” Cheng Ruan denied it. “Although I am a businessman, I pride myself on having a clear conscience. In my view, while a company seeks profit to grow, it should also take on more social responsibility. That is the conscience a businessperson should have.”

Sun Yiliang sneered. “Talk is cheap.”

“You misunderstand. I truly want the ‘two greats’ of Muyao Town’s intangible heritage to shine again,” Cheng Ruan said. “To be honest, to me, whether there is one heritage item or two, or even whether we build this cultural district at all, it doesn’t actually affect much.”

“We have plenty of development projects on hand. Why fixate on this one?”

“But I just think it’s a pity. If the power of commerce can be used to continue promoting and uncovering those excellent intangible cultures through this development, isn’t that a win-win?”

Sun Yiliang was half-convinced. “You’re probably lying to me too, aren’t you?”

“Like I said, lying to you does me no good.” Cheng Ruan’s gaze was sincere. “You can try to trust me. If at any point you feel it goes against your wishes, we can terminate the cooperation at any time.”

“Hmph.” Sun Yiliang stood up and walked into the inner room. Cheng Ruan’s palms were covered in sweat. He stared at the “naki” on Lu Ling’s clothes and asked, “Secretary Lu, do you think I’m going to get the cold shoulder too?”

Sun Yiliang walked out supporting his wife. “You’re already sitting inside and you’ve drunk my well water. Does that count as a cold shoulder?”

Cheng Ruan stood up. “Teacher Sun!”

“Thank you and Miss Lu for helping my wife.” At the mention of his wife, Sun Yiliang’s eyes softened. “She suddenly ran out that morning. The villagers and I searched for a long time and couldn’t find her. We even called the police, only to finally get a call saying she had been sent to a hospital in Jincheng.”

Mrs. Sun’s spirits seemed to have recovered somewhat. She recognized Cheng Ruan and Lu Ling and sincerely thanked them.

Cheng Ruan waved his hands hurriedly. “It was just a small effort.”

“There aren’t many people left who are willing to make such an effort,” Sun Yiliang smiled. “In that case, perhaps I can try to trust you.”

Cheng Ruan felt a bit embarrassed. “I look forward to working with you.”

Sun Yiliang and his wife personally saw them to the village entrance. Cheng Ruan waved to them and got into the car.

Cheng Ruan looked at the wheat fields outside the window. “They have agreed. Please follow up on the progress personally, Secretary Lu.”

“Yes.”

Cheng Ruan said, “Have someone look into who else went to see Teacher Sun besides our people.”

Lu Ling was very efficient. Not long after they arrived at the company, she knocked on the door of Cheng Ruan’s office.

Cheng Ruan was currently agonizing over when to invite the designer over. Seeing Lu Ling enter, he pulled back his thoughts and asked focusedly, “How is it, Secretary Lu?”

Lu Ling gave a concise report on the investigation results.

“I see…” Cheng Ruan pinched the spines on his cactus plant, not entirely surprised. “Then add a few more people to keep a constant eye on their movements.”

Lu Ling then hesitantly handed him an envelope. “Mr. Cheng, this was obtained through our channels…”

Cheng Ruan opened the envelope and pulled out the photos inside, asking, “What is this now?”

“Oh, right, Secretary Lu,” Cheng Ruan said while looking at the photos. “Help me make an appointment for the designer to go to Luo Mingzhi’s house. I was preparing to…”

Cheng Ruan saw the photo clearly. “This is?”

In the photo, Luo Mingzhi was sitting across from a man. The man was using his chopsticks to put food into Luo Mingzhi’s bowl. The setting appeared to be an upscale restaurant.

It was the same man he had seen at the entrance of the Luo Corporation last time.