Chapter 16 Falling into the Reality of "I Have a Wife".
The rapid rise and fall brought a faint sense of dizziness, as if consciousness was falling vertically into a surging wave, and the world before my eyes was slowly turning upside down.
Different concentrations of mint scent on the lips dissolve gently in a swirling, lingering aroma.
Yin Xiao's eyelashes trembled uncontrollably, seemingly brushing against Yi Zhiyan's nose. He restrained her neck, and his other hand ran down her messy hair, covering her back and gently stroking it with a soothing gesture.
She closed her eyes, letting his lips be gently captured, the moist touch deepening little by little, his breath hot. Her arms went limp, naturally draped around his neck.
The surroundings were so dark, like a bottomless tunnel, and my consciousness kept floating around, only to be steadily caught.
Suddenly, under the cushion behind me, there was a vibration. It was Yi Zhiyan's phone.
Yin Xiao subconsciously pushed him away, placing her hand on his chest, but he pulled her down and pressed her onto the sofa, their fingers intertwined, unable to break free.
Her attention was briefly drawn away by the sudden bright light of her phone, only to be pulled back by the kiss that was so close to her.
The vibrations continued, gradually becoming blurry and distant, until another sharp ringtone rang in my ears.
Startled, Yin Xiao opened her eyes and flinched back before completely succumbing to her irrational desires.
Yi Zhiyan seemed to sense her unease, stopped what he was doing, pressed his forehead against hers, and held her chin with his hand, his voice low and hoarse.
Should I answer?
Yin Xiao pursed her lips, took a dazed breath, and nodded.
Yi Zhiyan gently rubbed her cheek, then let go, got up, grabbed his coat and phone, and headed straight for the study.
Yin Xiao slumped onto the sofa, her knees bent, and struggled to sit up. She picked up her incessantly ringing phone from the coffee table. She pressed the back of her hand against her burning face to catch her breath before pressing the answer button.
"Xiao! Are you home yet?" Dai Lan's loud voice pierced through the screen and hit my eardrums.
Yin Xiao covered her ears, quickly turned the volume down two notches, coughed a few times, and slowly replied, "We've arrived, don't worry."
Dai Lan replied readily, "That's good. Then you should get some rest and not think about crushing him yet. There's plenty of time to kiss him later, no need to rush. Let's make a plan together another day and take it one step at a time..."
Yin Xiao lowered her head, raised her hand to poke the corner of her mouth, and said with a slight rise in her voice, "Actually... maybe it's not necessary."
Dai Lan didn't react immediately, "Huh? You don't want to kiss me anymore?"
"No." Yin Xiao pursed her lips and took a deep breath.
"Just finished kissing."
A long silence fell on the other side; not even a breath could be heard.
"What?!" A screeching sound of sand scraping against each other suddenly rang out from the other end of the screen. After a few seconds of confusion, Dai Lan finally spoke incoherently.
"Wait, didn't you go home? How did you get to the point of crushing each other? This is going on like a rocket! I really can't keep up."
Yin Xiao nervously tugged at her hair. "Um... we actually don't live far apart. We bumped into each other on our way home."
"You bumped into him, and then you kissed him?" Dai Lan laughed, praising her generously, "It has to be you, Xiao. You're quiet until you make a stunning statement. Hey, did he hide?"
Yin Xiao gently rubbed the corner of her eye, pondered for a moment, and was not quite sure.
"He dodged, but it seems he didn't... He started by pushing me away, but then he kissed me on his own initiative. Does that mean he likes me?"
"This... I don't understand either. Why don't you confess? You've already kissed, so the success rate of confessing should be over 90%. If you succeed, you can go straight into dating."
"Confess your feelings?" Yin Xiao hugged her legs, rested her chin on her knees, and thought carefully about the prenuptial agreement she had signed with Yi Zhiyan. It seemed that there was a clause about breaching the contract if the fake relationship became real. She said dejectedly.
"I really need to make a plan for this."
As soon as I hung up the phone, a message from Yin Yi popped up at the top of the screen.
[A Niu Hulu Yi: Little sister, judging by the time, you should be sober by now. If you're still awake, watch this interview first.]
Below is a link to a website about the island. Without much thought, Yin Xiao clicked on it decisively.
[Recently, Ruan Zheng, the heiress of Huandao Media, hosted the Smart Innovation Forum at the World Audiovisual Exhibition, demonstrating exceptional judgment and sensitivity to current events, earning widespread praise. In a post-event interview, she revealed that she will return to China in a week to prepare for taking over Huandao Media...]
[Furthermore, regarding the recent news of her marriage to the heir of the Yizhi Group, she confirmed that it was true.]
—
The study was dark, and the moonlight outside the window was so dim it resembled a shadow. Yi Zhiyan walked to the window, peered through the crack at the flickering lamplight below, and reluctantly answered the phone.
"Lu Wen, you'd better have something extremely urgent to tell me!"
Lu Wen paused, then said, "Are you out of your mind? Why are you so angry? Did I interrupt something important you were doing?"
Yi Zhiyan raised his hand to rub his temples. "Enough with the nonsense. Get to the point."
"Don't you know why I'm looking for you? Miss Ruan Zheng will be back soon, and you haven't made any preparations at all?"
Yi Zhiyan didn't pay attention to Lu Wen's words. Lost in thought, she took out the mint candy box, held it in her palm, and let the coolness suppress the heat in her heart. Her thoughts gradually drifted away from the unexpected kiss just now.
He didn't respond or interrupt Lu Wen, who became more and more agitated as he spoke.
“Once she comes back, what will we do about the mess we created for Yizhi? If Yizhi turns around and signs with Huandao Media, we'll have absolutely no room to maneuver. All our previous efforts will be wasted, and who knows how many years it will be before we can find another opportunity, or even if what you're looking for is gone…”
Yi Zhiyan snapped out of his reverie amidst Lu Wen's complaints. He curled his fingers, flicked the candy box nimbly in his palm, and calmly replied.
"I'll talk to Ruan Zheng about Yi Zhi. Have Lao Qi keep an eye on things."
Lu Wen asked in surprise, "You're looking for Ruan Zheng? What do you want to do with her? Give the circle some gossip, or are you fulfilling your cheap father's dream of a marriage alliance?"
Yi Zhiyan frowned, almost cursing, "Are you sick? What kind of marriage alliance is this? I already have a wife!"
Lu Wen's tone was also harsh, and he scolded him quickly, "So you know you're married! Little brother, you need to be more careful. Did you consider your sister-in-law's feelings before you met Ruan Zheng? Does she know what your cheap father was planning? If you had waited two weeks, you really wouldn't have been able to decide who you married. What if your sister-in-law misunderstood?"
Yi Zhiyan calmly said, "I will explain it to her."
"What can you possibly say with that mouth of yours? Don't let things escalate into a divorce, or it'll all be over. Not only will your marriage be ruined, but our plans will be ruined too."
Yi Zhiyan looked up at the chaotic night and was suddenly struck by these words. He paused for a second and replied to him stiffly.
"If you're simply worried about the plan, I'm sure you're not."
"So confident?"
"I signed a one-year contract with Yin Xiao."
There was immediate silence on the other end of the call. Lu Wen seemed to hold his breath and hesitate for a moment before uttering two words lightly.
"Fake?"
"right."
"I knew it! Why the sudden marriage, and at this particular time? But seriously, aren't you afraid Yizhi and her husband will find out? After all, a fake is a fake, and the existence of a contract is a loophole..."
Yi Zhiyan turned around nonchalantly, casually tossed the empty candy box onto the bookshelf, walked around to his desk, and turned on his computer. He turned on a desk lamp, put on his headphones, placed his phone on the corner of the table, and listened to Lu Wen's rambling thoughts while revising his thesis.
“Brother, did you hear me? My worries are not unfounded. I just saw a report about Ruan Zheng. She actually said that the marriage is still valid. At first, I thought she was out of touch with the news abroad and didn’t know about your marriage, but now I think it’s really illogical.”
His voice rose steadily, his tone both worried and absolutely certain.
“You said you’ve already brought your younger siblings to Yizhi’s annual meeting, so those who need to know must already know. How could the people around the island not know? There’s definitely something wrong. Maybe those people know exactly what’s going on and are waiting to find something to hold against you so they can keep you tied to Yizhi. You’ll never be able to escape that, and you’ll never be able to get back your aunt and uncle’s hard work.”
Yi Zhiyan stared at the computer screen, pressed save, and sent the new version of his information security paper to Dean Tian. The transmission was successful. His fingers tapped casually on the keyboard, his face expressionless, and he asked a curt question.
What do you suggest we do?
"What can we do? We can only keep it a secret for as long as possible. You two should show your affection more often at school. Don't just focus on letting your family and company know. The more people around you know, the better."
The message box in front of me flashed twice, and a message from Dean Tian popped up on the screen, showing that the file had been accepted, and there was also a new message.
[Dean Tian: Xiao Yi, are you free this weekend? My niece is flying in from Zhejiang to visit for a couple of days. She's a year younger than you. How about we have dinner together? If we get along well, you can get to know each other better; you'll have plenty to talk about.]
Almost simultaneously, Lu Wen continued his rambling, "Oh, I noticed it when I had dinner with the theater troupe the other day. I understand that my sister-in-law doesn't want her classmates to know, but you can let the people around you know. There's no conflict."
Yi Zhiyan stared at the screen for a long time, then lowered his eyelashes and muttered to himself, "Isn't this conflicting?"
He hesitated for a second, then pressed the keypad and typed quickly.
[Professor Tian, is this considered a blind date?]
[Dean Tian: Since you asked, I won't hide it from you. I do have this idea. Don't overthink it. It's just that I see you spending all your time in the lab. Young people should date. And don't worry, this girl is different from the ones I introduced you to before. She's talkative and a perfect match for you.]
Thank you, Dean Tian.
[But I'm married.]
The chat window fell silent instantly. Yi Zhiyan leaned back in his chair, looked at the swaying halo above his head, and clenched his fist. He stood up, opened the drawer without hesitation, and pulled out the ring box from the bottom.
He held the box, still somewhat hesitant, silently listening to Lu Wen's tireless and irritable voice through his headphones.
"Yi Zhiyan, did you hear me? What are you doing again?"
Yi Zhiyan closed her laptop, opened the ring box, pushed it to the center of her desk, and replied slowly, "I'm turning down a blind date."
"Blind date? See if I'm right. If you don't say it, no one will know you're married. You should proactively send out some signals that you're married and don't want to be bothered! Of course, for the sake of your younger siblings, you'd better not mention their names."
Yi Zhiyan held the ring box with one hand, carefully took out the diamond ring, and absentmindedly replied, "Hmm."
"No, it's not 'best,' it's 'absolutely not'! After all, once the one-year contract expires, you two will have no relationship anymore. Keeping it a secret will help her extricate herself from this fake relationship..."
"Wait a minute." Yi Zhiyan put on the ring deftly and retorted with considerable dissatisfaction.
"Who said it won't matter after a year?"
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Author's Note: YZY: Not a single nice word! Not hanging up is the last bit of politeness...
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