Chapter 30 "You want to be my friend with benefits?"...
The words "marriage fraud" left Qiao Shu bewildered. She sneered inwardly, trying to recall what she had done to constitute marriage fraud.
The answer is, of course, no.
There is no one more honest than her. How could she have the ability to trick him into marrying her? What could she have lied to him about? To be able to sleep with a beauty of her caliber, it must be incredibly lucky for the Yu family.
"I tricked you into marriage? What did I trick you into thinking I did?" Qiao Shu asked.
Yu Zeheng didn't offer an explanation; instead, he asked the others, "What if the other party doesn't accept the punishment?"
Qiao Shu gave a genuine, cold laugh.
Chu Tian crossed her arms and waved a finger: "That won't do. Breaking the rules makes the game less fun. Xiao Shu, after you've finished your punishment, go back and deal with Boss Yu."
Some people, enjoying the drama, said: "I'm also very curious, why would anyone say Xiao Shu committed marriage fraud? What did Xiao Shu do to deceive Boss Yu?"
Even more astute commenters said: "You actually believe their supposed romantic relationship? It's just an excuse. Actually, Boss Yu just wants to hear our Xiao Shu apologize, right?"
"..."
Not wanting to waste time, Qiao Shu moved her lips despite her displeasure, uttering three words in a barely audible whisper: "I'm sorry."
The sound escaped from his throat, awkward and muffled.
Yu Zeheng crossed his long legs: "Sorry, I didn't quite hear you. Shouldn't you look at the person you're apologizing to when you apologize?"
Qiao Shu stared into his eyes, took another deep breath, and forced a fake smile: "Husband, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you about getting married."
Yu Zeheng nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips. He regretted that there were no security cameras in the room; otherwise, he could have edited this segment together and watched it hundreds of times.
Nothing is more comforting than hearing her apologize to him in person. In the past, her apologies always carried a deliberate sarcastic tone, but now, even if she was unwilling, they sounded more sincere.
She can apologize, and he can forgive and forget.
"Is this alright?"
"Barely passable," Yu Zeheng commented casually.
To hell with "barely enough"! Qiao Shu's competitive spirit was ignited. She sat down and called for the continuation, adding before starting, "We can't keep going clockwise. Let's switch to counter-clockwise this time."
"Xiao Shu, your vengeful mentality is obvious." Chu Tian smiled, propping her chin on her hand.
"We can't keep being the ones who suffer losses, can we?"
"That's right, I also want to change direction."
Chu Tian smiled and said, "OK, let's switch this time."
Yu Zeheng: "Very dissatisfied?"
Qiao Shu didn't even look at him: "You wait."
The background music started playing on time, and the mineral water bottles began to be passed around. Qiao Shu was the first to receive one each time, and then passed it on to the next. Several friends stood there blankly holding the water bottles after the music stopped, then realized what had happened, covered their faces in annoyance and amusement, and finally resigned themselves to their punishment.
Qiao Shu watched her friend make a fool of himself with a smile.
Yu Zeheng could clearly see the expression on her face without turning his head, and he rarely felt so peaceful.
The music started again, and George rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.
After smoothly spinning around twice, she firmly grasped the mineral water bottle, leaned towards her friend beside her, and raised her lips in a provocative smile. Yu Zeheng was in no hurry to take it back.
Just a second before the music abruptly stopped, Qiao Shu hurriedly handed him a water bottle and poked his arm.
Yu Zeheng looked at her calmly and didn't take it.
He didn't answer!
Qiao Shu gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with disbelief.
The music stopped, but Qiao Shu was still clutching the bottled water in her hand. She closed her eyes, and before she could tear Yu Zeheng apart, she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
Yu Zeheng gave a half-asleep smile.
Apart from Chu Tian, almost everyone saw that Qiao Shu had framed them instead, and several people with a low threshold for laughter were already laughing so hard they were bent over.
"Or maybe we should just give up and not let this argument ruin our lives."
Qiao Shu gritted her teeth: "He just happened to be lucky."
Qiao Shu's only consolation was that this time, it was another friend who punished her.
"What kind of punishment would be good?" her friend asked, drawing out the last syllable. She tilted her head and looked at Yu Zeheng, indicating that he could give her some suggestions. Before she could finish speaking, her view was blocked by Qiao Shu, who gave her a warning look.
My friend smiled wryly, unable to come up with any particularly cruel way to punish me.
Several times, Qiao Shu's attempts to frame him failed. Later, she became smarter. When Yu Zeheng refused to catch it, she threw it at him directly. But almost at the same time, the mineral water bottle was thrown back at her. She was helpless and glared at Yu Zeheng resentfully, but she couldn't do anything about it.
Yu Zeheng left after playing for about an hour. He came tonight to see Tang Palace's financial statements for last month, and the manager was already waiting in the meeting room.
Goodbye, Boss Yu!
Qiao Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, the person was finally gone.
They played noisily until the party ended.
Chu Tian came over and hugged her, whispering, "My birthday wish is that the man my family arranges for me will be half as good as Boss Yu."
Qiao Shu's eyes flickered. She had drunk some wine, and she had become much more sentimental.
Some of them are able to have the freedom to marry. If they are lucky, their partner is of decent character and they can get along well. If they are unlucky, they meet a scoundrel like her father, who is unambitious and has been messing around with women at his age.
Yu Zeheng is indeed considered to have received the best possible fortune.
“You’ll find someone better than him.” Qiao Shu hugged her and patted her shoulder. “Today is your birthday, so all your wishes will come true.”
Chu Tian smiled and said, "Then I hope you and Boss Yu can have a long and lasting relationship."
Qiao Shu: "..."
This sudden turn of events was something she hadn't expected.
"Let's have dinner together sometime. I had a great day today."
"Bye-Bye."
Qiao Shu originally planned to go straight back, but after taking a couple of steps forward, she went around to the elevator to the third floor and knocked on the reception room she had visited before.
A deep voice echoed in the room: "Come in."
Qiao Shu pushed open the door, as if she had entered her own territory. She liked the style of the place and the quality of the materials. The only drawback was that the colors were too dull and lacked vitality. She walked in and placed her bag on the glass coffee table.
She looked at him and said, "Tell me, how did I commit marriage fraud?"
Yu Zeheng sat in his office chair, took off his suit jacket, and wore only a white shirt. He also loosened his tie and unbuttoned two buttons, revealing his neck and a small patch of pale skin.
He looked away from the screen and onto her face: "Wait a minute, I'm almost done here."
"Okay, you go ahead and get busy. We can have a proper chat when you're done," Qiao Shu said with a smile.
Yu Zeheng checked the time: "There's a phone over there. If you need anything, you can have them bring it to you."
"knew."
Qiao Shu answered lazily. She called someone to bring her a pot of honey water. She had drunk a bit too much tonight, and only when she was alone did she feel a little dizzy.
She had nothing to do and was lying on the sofa playing on her phone.
Tonight's banquet caused her WeChat Moments to be flooded with posts, and even Yu Zeheng appeared in the photos, but only as a background figure, with his legs crossed, looking like a refined and unassuming nobleman.
Qiao Shu quickly scrolled through the page.
She listlessly twirled a strand of hair with her fingers, her gaze occasionally drifting from the screen to Yu Zeheng at work. She rarely saw him working, so she took a second look.
Qiao Shu recalled what happened four years ago.
According to the Yu family's plan, she was to marry her cousin, Yu Zeheng. The two had met once. He was mature and steady, and although he seemed boring and had a dull personality, he was still a good marriage prospect. With the engagement imminent, a slender girl stumbled up to her and told her a love story.
Qiao Shu unintentionally became the other woman who ruined someone else's relationship. She was disgusted and broke off the engagement. The process was not smooth, and the old man was very angry, so she was confined to her home for a month.
Later, the old man said: "The Yu family has more than one candidate. Yu Zeheng is about the same age as her, but he has a rebellious personality and the family can't make decisions for him."
Qiao Shu faced two choices: continue the engagement or approach Yu Zeheng and persuade him to marry her.
Qiao Shu chose the second option.
She was used to being pursued by boys since she was a child and was confident that she could win over everyone. However, she repeatedly ran into obstacles with Yu Zeheng. It didn't matter; she had plenty of patience.
In order to persuade Yu Zeheng to marry her, Qiao Shu said many things, some sincere and some insincere, but she doesn't remember them all.
As for what could have kept Yu Zeheng brooding for four years, her mind went blank.
Qiao Shu lifted her eyelids, and when she felt sleepy, she closed her eyes drowsily. Her intention was to pretend to sleep and rest, but she didn't expect to actually fall asleep.
Yu Zeheng glanced up unintentionally, but the person on the sofa turned their head and fell soundly asleep.
She only calms down her flamboyance and arrogance when she is asleep.
He got up, took a thin blanket from the cabinet, unfolded it and covered her with it. Then he felt that she must be uncomfortable sleeping like that, so he bent down, held her shoulders, and tried to lay her down. She instinctively raised her arm to block him and then woke up.
Qiao Shu opened her sleepy, half-open eyes and looked at him, asking, "Are you done?"
"Um."
Qiao Shu sat up straight, supporting herself on his arm, and gradually became more awake: "Now you can tell me why you said I committed marriage fraud?"
No matter how far she went, she still remembered this incident.
Yu Zeheng's gaze was dark: "Don't you know?"
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked you.” Qiao Shu raised her eyelashes, speaking with self-righteousness.
What was she saying? I can't remember anything she said or did.
Those two sentences, "No matter how I look at them, I still like you the most" and "If you marry me, I will definitely make you happy," were nothing more than nonsense she made up.
In a sense, she did lie to him, but on the other hand, he knew from the beginning that she was lying to him.
When exactly did I start to believe it?
Yu Zeheng stared at the confused eyes in front of him. Such beautiful eyes, clear and bright, with distinct black and white. When they overlapped with the eyes in the ward, he realized that he had been attracted to her from the very beginning.
The anger was real, and the rejection was real, but it was all a struggle against this unfamiliar feeling.
Yu Zeheng had never met a woman like Qiao Shu.
He fell for her trick, even if he didn't want to admit it.
Qiao Shu waved her hand, parted her red lips, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Zeheng maintained his low posture, one hand supporting himself on the sofa, almost trapping her in his arms. He said, "Before we got married, who said we wouldn't get divorced once we were married?"
Qiao Shu frowned, even more confused: "Did I say that?"
"You said you wouldn't get a divorce, only accept widowhood," Yu Zeheng said in a flat tone.
Qiao Shu vaguely remembered the word "widow," but was that her exact wording? Knowing herself as she did, she didn't think she could utter such nonsense.
“You must be mistaken,” she said.
"You're going back on your word after I told you, Qiao Shu. Why can't you be honest?"
Yu Zeheng answered, moving a little closer until his forehead touched Qiao Shu's. The warm, cool touch reminded him of the time when she had a high fever from a cold, when he lowered his head and kissed her lips as she opened them to say something.
Qiao Shu tilted his chin up and clearly sensed that she didn't mind kissing him.
She's been single for two years, so there's nothing wrong with her kissing her ex-husband.
Yu Zeheng wrapped his arm around Qiao Shu's waist, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap.
Qiao Shu supported herself on his shoulder with one hand, her eyes closed. She felt his arm tighten around her, pressed against his chest, her heart pounding like a drum. She responded to his kiss.
She tentatively stuck out her tongue and licked his lips.
Yu Zeheng suddenly grabbed the back of her head and kissed her fiercely and urgently, making Qiao Shu almost unable to breathe.
The saying goes, "Things shouldn't happen more than three times," but they inexplicably kissed three times.
This chaotic relationship began at Qingling Temple and continues to this day.
Qiao Shu, still panting, leaned on his shoulder and asked breathlessly, "Yu Zeheng, tell me the truth, do you want to be my sex partner?"
If so, it's not impossible. If there's anything about Yu Zeheng that she can't forget, it must be when they were in bed together.
Yu Zeheng stared at her for two or three seconds before he could process the last two words.
He chuckled, his tongue brushing against his teeth. His face was handsome, with deep creases on his eyelids when he smiled. He held her chin and kissed her again.
"You wish."
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Author's Note: Ex-husband: You think you can get something for nothing and then not take responsibility? Dream on!
50 random red envelopes
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