Another Day of Pretending for the Wealthy Couple - Chapter 10

Ji Tanyuan opened her eyes and gazed at the lights outside the door.

Zhong Yan had just turned off the engine. Ever since he refused her request to go back home out of boredom during the drive, she had been feeling downcast. “Missing home?” he asked.

Ji Tanyuan smiled gently. “No, let’s get out. They must be waiting anxiously.”

Zhong Yan grabbed her wrist and studied her for a long moment, his grip firm and unyielding. “Tanyuan, are you being willful with me?”

Ji Tanyuan was at a loss for words. “I merely mentioned going home, and you call that willful?”

Zhong Yan’s expression turned cold. “Staying in Shanghai for a day or two is fine, but no longer than a week. Ji Tanyuan, this is where you belong.”

Ji Tanyuan looked at him in disbelief. “You’re being too domineering.”

Zhong Yan made no move to exit the car. “Domineering? If anyone catches wind of marital troubles between our families, yours will be the first to suffer. I thought you understood the stakes, given how obedient you’ve been until now.”

“I’m only going back to Shanghai, I never said anything about separating.”

The Ji family’s headquarters were in Shanghai, and some meetings required her physical presence.

“Your home is in Beijing.”

Ji Tanyuan opened her mouth but closed it again. She wasn’t one to curse, but at that moment, she felt the urge. “Are you out of your mind?”

Zhong Yan didn’t respond. Just then, his long-waiting assistant team noticed the boss’s car at the entrance and approached to standby.

This was Assistant Liang’s third time meeting the madam, and he felt a little nervous. The CEO often referred to her as “the princess” behind her back, but Assistant Liang thought she was quite gentle. Both times they’d met, she had been smiling warmly, and during their first encounter, she had even gifted him a luxury watch.

In contrast, “Crown Prince Zhong” was sharp-tongued and critical, with a habit of making sarcastic remarks. Though Zhong Yan signed his paychecks, Assistant Liang much preferred the smiling Princess Ji.

As he was lost in thought, the passenger door suddenly swung open. Assistant Liang was met with a wave of fragrance and the sound of a door slamming shut with a deafening crash.

“Zhong Yan! I want a divorce!” she declared, striding forward.

Zhong Yan quickly followed her out of the car. “Do you think you can even leave Beijing? If you manage it, I’ll take your surname!”

He knew Ji Tanyuan was testing his limits…

Ji Tanyuan, in her high heels, abruptly halted, took a deep breath, and turned back.

She walked up to Zhong Yan, lifted her head, and, in full view of everyone, slapped him hard across the face.

“I’ll be waiting for you to become ‘Ji Yan’!” With that, she turned and walked away.

Under the watchful eyes of assistants, secretaries, hotel managers, doormen, bodyguards, and passersby, Zhong Yan received the first slap of his life.

Assistant Liang stood frozen, utterly stunned.

The others behind him took a unified step back. One of the secretaries even gave Assistant Liang a nudge and whispered, “You’re the chief aide, Liang. Go on, you’ve got this.”

Assistant Liang swallowed hard. “Zhong…”

Zhong Yan turned to look at him, as if only just noticing their presence. He pointed ahead, sounding somewhat defeated. “Go bring her back.”

Assistant Liang had had enough. She’s your wife, you go after her! What am I supposed to do as your subordinate?

“You should go.” Assistant Liang murmured softly.

Zhong Yan shot him an impassive look.

Driven by sheer survival instinct, Assistant Liang let out a resigned “Aye!” and hurried after Ji Tanyuan.

“Come back.” Zhong Yan called out again. “She’s my wife. What are you chasing her for?”

Assistant Liang closed his eyes briefly. Why does marriage make everything so much more complicated? He turned, stepped aside, and gestured politely. “After you, then.”

Zhong Yan watched the woman walking ahead. She was wearing a mermaid-style gown, making it impossible for her to walk quickly, yet she took rapid, tiny steps.

He scoffed and quickly caught up to her, grabbing her arm and gently pulling her back, only to see her face streaked with tears.

All the words he had prepared died in his throat. He sighed, he was truly at a loss.

He bent down and wiped her tears. “Why are you crying?”

“My surname is Ji, fine? From now on, I’ll be called Ji Zhong Yan. I’ll go back after this busy period is over.”

Ji Tanyuan stood still, turning her head away to avoid his touch.

Zhong Yan explained, “It’s not that I don’t want you to go home. Do you want to be nagged by the Old Buddha? Right now, neither of us can go our separate ways. You’ll just have to endure it for a while.”

Ji Tanyuan stared at him, her eyes glistening with tears. Zhong Yan also felt he was being somewhat unfair, but this was the only effective way to keep Ji Tanyuan by his side. If she went back to her parents’ home, he would undoubtedly be subjected to endless nagging.

“Tanyuan, before acting impulsively, you should consider the consequences, right?”

“Impulsive? You’re so good at pinning labels on me. Our adjustment hasn’t been smooth. Why not return to the essence of this marriage alliance, focus on interests, not emotions?”

Zhong Yan straightened up. “You’re married. We’re on the same household register now. If you want to go home, it should be to our home, not your place in Shanghai. I told you from the start, marriage requires seriousness. I treat you as my wife, and you should treat me as your husband.”

He tore up the Zhong family precepts that had been included in the betrothal gifts. Ji Tanyuan didn’t know how complicated divorce was in the Zhong family, even if it didn’t kill you, it would strip you of a layer of skin.

“Did you really treat me as your wife? Just now, you were threatening me!”

“Didn’t you slap me too? We’re even.”

“How is that even? You just threatened me, telling me to consider the consequences. What consequences? What could possibly happen if I go back to my parents’ home? I’ve never heard of a marriage where the wife isn’t allowed to stay at her parents’ home for a week.”

Ji Tanyuan couldn’t understand the logic. It wasn’t as if she was separating from him, what was wrong with going back periodically for a short stay?

Zhong Yan gave a half-smile. “Now you’re nitpicking with me? Why don’t you act this boldly with others?”

“If you go back, am I supposed to stay alone in an empty room? You never came back when you were abroad, but now that we’re married, you suddenly remember to go back and fulfill your filial duties?”

Ji Tanyuan felt a lump in her chest, unable to swallow or spit it out. “Did I stop you from sleeping with someone else? Go ahead, sleep with whoever you want. Why are you stopping me?”

Zhong Yan’s expression turned completely cold. He took a step back. “So, this is what you’ve been waiting for, Ji Tanyuan. This is your true intention, isn’t it? You’ve always been thinking of a marriage in name only.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Dream on. I’m not as skilled at playing games as you are.”

Ji Tanyuan’s arm was trapped in his grip, and she couldn’t break free. “Let me go!”

Ten minutes earlier, Assistant Liang had been craning his neck, watching the two standing together again in the distance. The man was handsome, the woman beautiful, what a perfect match. What a pity.

No one understood better than him what the Zhong family was scheming. The price of saving the Ji family wasn’t just about disrupting the existing situation, it was far more complicated. They were greedier.

This marriage alliance was nothing but a cleverly disguised plunder by the Zhong family for their own benefit.

Someone patted Assistant Liang on the shoulder. “Assistant Liang, what are you doing?”

Startled, Liang turned around and saw a woman, Rong Xi, the deputy general manager of Furong Real Estate and the youngest daughter of the Rong family.

“Manager Rong? What are you doing here?”

“Come eat, what are you doing here?” Rong Xi looked up. “Alright, no need to ask, did your boss get into an argument with someone again?”

Assistant Liang sighed. “Not exactly.”

Rong Xi tilted her chin. “Well, isn’t that what’s happening?”

By the time Assistant Liang turned back, he saw his boss hoisting someone over his shoulder.

Assistant Liang spun around, nearly dropping to his knees. “Manager Rong, please, I’m begging you, go talk some sense into him. The two from Tianzheng are still waiting upstairs.”

With a hundred-billion acquisition on the line, if competitors found out about marital troubles between these two, the market would fluctuate again.

Rong Xi glanced at the cold-faced Zhong Yan and smiled. “Zhong Yan, should I go entertain the Tianzheng representatives in your place?”

Zhong Yan halted his steps.

Ji Tanyuan took a deep breath. “Put me down.”

Zhong Yan set her down, keeping an arm around her waist. “Unnecessary.”

“But you two seem to have serious issues.” Rong Xi remarked, noticing Ji Tanyuan’s red-rimmed eyes.

Ji Tanyuan smiled lightly. “Just got something in my eye earlier. He was helping me blow it out.”

Rong Xi nodded. “Good enough.”

What a performance these two put on as a couple.

Ji Tanyuan’s ability to instantly cooperate, using rationality to override emotion, was impressive. If this was an act of playing dumb while secretly being shrewd, things were about to get interesting.