Chasing My Husband! The "Crown Prince" of the Beijing Circle Is Wildly Unruly! - Chapter 1

It was the twelfth lunar month in a northern seaside town, and the evening wind was especially biting and cold.

On the glass door of a noodle restaurant, steam had condensed into a thin layer of mist.

Inside the restaurant, under the warm, orange light, a young man in a white shirt sat on a dark red wooden stool. His soft, brown hair was a bit long, covering the tips of his ears.

With a straight nose, thin red lips, and pale skin, he exuded the clean, refined air of an art student. However, the black apron over his white shirt also gave him a sense of being a devoted husband.

Across from him sat a woman with long, straight black hair and gold-rimmed glasses. She looked at the man in front of her, her fingers nervously gripping her phone.

Her cheeks were a little flushed with shyness, and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke: “Mr. Wang, I’m sorry to bother you. Auntie Song introduced us, and I happened to be passing by after work, so I came in.”

Wang Xinghe’s tea-brown eyes were gentle as he said, “Since this is a blind date, let me tell you about my situation.”

“My name is Wang Xinghe. I have a bachelor’s degree in painting. I’m twenty-six years old this year, born in the Year of the Pig. I’m in good health. I have no parents, and my older sister married and moved far away. I don’t have a family estate, just this two-story commercial building my parents left me. This noodle restaurant and my car, a BYD, were bought with a loan. I don’t have much in savings, only about 100,000 yuan…”

As Wang Xinghe spoke, the woman across from him, who had initially been shy, gradually paled…

But her good manners made her maintain her politeness as she replied, “My name is Zhao Ya. I have a bachelor’s degree in education and work as a middle school teacher in town. I’m twenty-five years old, born in the Year of the Rat. I’m in good health and my parents are still with me. I have a house and a car in my name—a Mercedes-Benz E…”

Wang Xinghe kept a faint, gentle smile as he watched her. Seeing the change in her expression, he already knew the answer.

“This bowl of noodles is on me. Please come back and visit often, Teacher Zhao.” After seeing off the twelfth lady he had been set up with, Wang Xinghe tiredly rubbed his temples.

Outside, the wind was still howling. The night was deep, and there were few pedestrians on the road.

He wrapped himself in a coat and walked toward the bun shop next door.

Whoosh— The sliding door opened, and the cold air and warm air fought for space.

Auntie Song was busy counting money. When she saw who had arrived at the door, she quickly put down the bills, her plump face breaking into a wide smile: “Oh, little Wang!”

“How was the teacher Auntie Song introduced you to? Did you like her?”

Wang Xinghe’s face was full of helplessness, yet also a sense of resignation. “Auntie Song, my circumstances are too poor. The people you introduce me to won’t possibly be interested in me.”

Auntie Song’s plump face stiffened. “How can you say that! Our little Wang is so talented and handsome. He’s charmed so many girls since he was a child!”

Wang Xinghe walked up and massaged her shoulders. “Auntie Song, it’s not about how I look. I’m too poor. I can’t afford a house and can’t give anyone a stable future. Wait until I’ve made a lot of money, and then you can introduce me to someone, okay?”

Auntie Song huffed in frustration. “I just wish I had a daughter. If I did, I would definitely marry her to you! A bunch of silly girls with no vision! Marrying you would be a blessing for life. You’re so filial, capable, and good-tempered, and you’re handsome to boot. You don’t smoke or drink. Where else would they find someone like you?”

Wang Xinghe laughed. “Yes, yes, yes. I’ll be your son-in-law in my next life. I’ll make a reservation!”

Auntie Song sighed again. “If your parents hadn’t had that accident, what would a house or a car matter to you? In the end, it’s just…”

Wang Xinghe’s hands, massaging her shoulders, paused. He quickly composed himself and comforted Auntie Song. “Auntie Song, it’s been several years now. We, the living, should just keep moving forward.”

“Ah, you, child…”

Wang Xinghe walked out of the bun shop, and the biting wind stung his eyes.

He rubbed his eyes, a gentle puff of warm breath escaping his mouth.

Unconsciously, four years had passed.

Time really flies. It felt so fast it was disorienting, almost like everything had been a dream.

He was even getting to the point where he couldn’t distinguish whether the happy times or the painful times had been real.

Everything felt hazy, as if he had lived a different life.

At 10:00 PM, the shops along the street were closing one after another, and Wang Xinghe also stopped persevering.

After tidying up the restaurant, he went to the door to move the sign and the stove back inside.

Just as he was about to close the outward-opening glass door, he noticed a man curled up in the corner.

The man was covered in sea mud, shivering uncontrollably as he hugged himself.

Having grown up by the sea, Wang Xinghe was sensitive to his surroundings and quickly figured out that the man must have crawled out of the sea to be covered in so much mud.

Perhaps because he had received so much kindness from strangers over the past twenty years, he was willing to stop and lend a hand to someone in distress.

“Are you okay?” Wang Xinghe knelt in front of the man and asked softly.

The trembling man slowly raised his head.

His sharp eyes scrutinized Wang Xinghe for three seconds, then he shook his head.

Wang Xinghe saw that the man’s face was completely caked in sea mud and looked pitifully dirty.

So he asked again, “Can you stand up? Come into my shop and wash up.”

He couldn’t bear to let him die right in front of his shop on such a cold night.

The man was visibly stunned. He opened his mouth as if to say something but saw that the overly gentle man in front of him wasn’t joking.

He then used the wall for support and slowly stood up.

But he was too exhausted, and his body was not cooperating. His feet gave out, and he stumbled toward the street below the steps.

Wang Xinghe quickly caught him. His touch was firm and reassuring.

He helped the man into the shop.

“You sit down first; I’ll close the door.”

Wang Xinghe walked to the door and pulled down the rolling shutter with a clatter, shutting out the cold outside.

“Come on, I’ll run you a hot bath.” Wang Xinghe took the initiative to help him up and only then realized that the “little mud man” was half a head taller than him.

At 1.8 meters, Wang Xinghe’s height was common in the north, but it was rare to meet someone so much taller than he was.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— The sound of hot water came from the bathroom.

Wang Xinghe found a set of loose sweatpants and a sweater in the cabinet, along with a pair of unused underwear, and handed them into the room.

He then looked down at the pile of dirty clothes on the floor. The black pants were scratched and torn beyond recognition from the mud and oyster shells on the coast. The black jacket also had a hole here and a tear there.

The gray sweater underneath, however, had dry, brownish hard spots that looked like bloodstains…

Was he hurt?

Whoosh— The bathroom door was pushed open.

The man hadn’t put on the clothes Wang Xinghe had given him. He was only wrapped in a bath towel, standing barefoot at the door.

With just one look, Wang Xinghe was frozen in place.

The man stood there like a meticulously carved statue, every line revealing strength and beauty.

His shoulders were broad, but his waist was tight and powerful. The lines of his abs and chest were clearly defined, like a masterpiece carefully etched by a sculptor.

The bath towel was casually draped over his lower body, vaguely revealing his long, lean legs. Even the curve of his toes seemed perfect, making Wang Xinghe marvel.

As an art student, Wang Xinghe’s pursuit of beauty was almost demanding, and his eyes practically lit up at this moment.

If this man were his model for a nude painting, it would be such a perfect work of art.

But Wang Xinghe quickly came back to his senses. He was afraid he would never be able to paint again in this lifetime.

So he looked up, just about to ask him why he wasn’t wearing any clothes, when he saw the person above him. He had deep, rich features—a striking, intense face. Those eyes were full of impact and were staring right at him.

They were deep, like an abyss.

He was just too handsome. Wang Xinghe considered himself good-looking, but the man in front of him was ruggedly and purely handsome—an effortless kind of handsome.

His deep-set features, sharp phoenix eyes, perfectly curved thin lips, and his high, straight nose gave him an almost aggressive handsomeness.