Chapter 8
Thorn Park is a very old sports park in City A. Although it was built a long time ago, it is still very popular with citizens who come here to exercise every day because it is surrounded by old residential areas.
Lin Langyi walked along the circular plastic walkway and crossed a scenic boardwalk before reaching the extreme sports area.
There was no sign of Cheng Yanjin at the BMX track or the street basketball court, and she had already wasted half an hour in the park.
Lin Langyi patiently compared the real-time location sent by the other party on her phone again, and continued walking forward until a large bowl-shaped skate park and a comprehensive street skate park came into view.
There were many young people here. Lin Langyi ignored their performances of skateboarding or rollerblading on the ramps and steps, and finally caught sight of a tall and muscular man in a small group of people gathered together.
He was indeed too conspicuous, both in appearance and in the increasingly confident and flamboyant aura he exuded when wearing sportswear.
The elastic, tight-fitting, quick-drying fabric wrapped his body tightly, outlining his beautiful muscle lines and exuding an intense, thirst-quenching aura. His broad back and lean, muscular waist were vividly portrayed. Cheng Yanjin, wearing tricycle-style flat shoes, stretched slightly and stood at the front of the crowd as if it were his due.
Directly in front of him were twenty fluorescent yellow low stakes, spaced no more than 60cm apart, which, from Lin Langyi's perspective, formed a straight yellow line.
Cheng Yanjin crossed his legs and pressed down, lowering his back in a half-squat starting position. He stared at the yellow line in front of him, then leaned back 15 degrees before suddenly pushing off the ground and bursting into action.
Leaning back immediately increased his initial speed, and after a few swings of his arms and pushes, he was in front of the low stake in the blink of an eye.
He seemed to be holding his breath, and before the first stake, he cleanly lifted his left leg, locked his right knee, and his hips drove his legs to turn left and right at a rapid, slight angle. His inner thigh muscles tightened, revealing bulging muscle lines. In this way, he easily supported all his center of gravity with one leg and gracefully completed the single-leg speed stake crossing.
In no more than five seconds, his upper body remained as steady as a rock, and even his right hand hung casually in front of him. He seemed to effortlessly pass through the twenty low stakes in an anaerobic burst state, like a gust of wind.
A huge cheer erupted from the crowd. Cheng Yanjin straightened up from his low posture, smoothed his hair back without much surprise, and slowed down on his roller skates, circling around in a semi-circle before finally spotting Lin Langyi standing outside the arena.
"You're finally here?" He gestured to her wrist, the screen of his sports watch lighting up. "You're fifteen minutes late."
"It took me a while to find you." Lin Langyi took a step back slightly. Cheng Yanjin was sweating a little, as if he were a steaming furnace.
"Hmm, what did you want to talk to me about?" Cheng Yanjin hadn't even changed out of his roller skates, and slowly followed her at a half-step distance, meaning they could talk as they walked.
Standing at over 1.8 meters tall, he looked like he was on stilts in his wheeled shoes, and Lin Langyi had to tilt her head back to see him.
She cut to the chase: "Why did you agree to the marriage alliance?"
Cheng Yanjin's smooth steps faltered almost imperceptibly. He put his hands behind his back and didn't look at her. "The old man is urging me. He said that if I bring someone home for dinner, he'll give me 20% of the stocks he holds. He'll give me another 30% for the engagement banquet, and the rest after we get married."
Although he turned his face away, Lin Langyi's gaze was too heavy. Cheng Yanjin pursed his lips. He hadn't planned to hide it anyway: "Also, it seems that Feng Congning is pregnant."
That's right.
Lin Langyi suddenly realized.
That's a matter of how the family fortune is divided in a wealthy family. Cheng Yanjin isn't marrying a wife, he's marrying money.
She gave a polite smile, as best she could: "Then why me?"
Cheng Yanjin glanced at her and smiled, his white teeth gleaming: "You look like you're the one who can infuriate Feng Congning the most."
Lin Langyi turned and left.
The roller skates rattled behind her, and she had only taken two steps when someone grabbed her arm from behind.
His palms were still sweaty, and his body temperature was burning hot. He grabbed her and forcefully dragged her a few steps in front of him: "I haven't finished speaking yet, why are you running away?"
"Isn't the Lin family having some difficulties lately? If you follow me, we can still snatch the money for baby formula from Cheng Yangkang."
Lin Langyi's heart sank. The matter of Ying Shanhu was still being kept from her, yet Cheng Yanjin found out so quickly. The only explanation was that someone from her side had leaked the information to him.
With all the secrets exposed, how can we even begin to bargain?
She denied it: "We are not in trouble."
Cheng Yanjin scoffed and mercilessly exposed her lie: "Your brother said it himself."
Lin Xiangshuo, you bastard, why don't you go and arrange your own marriage?!
Cheng Yanjin ignored her gloomy face, skated around on his roller skates from her left to her right, and then back again, and proceeded to state his requirements one by one:
"Listen carefully, we each get what we need, I only have one request, and that is that you leave me alone."
"Don't worry about who I eat with, what time I get home, or where I spend my money. We'll have a marriage of convenience. I'll get the money, you'll get through this difficult time, and we'll break up in about a year or two."
Lin Langyi was more concerned about her own rights: "If I don't care about you, won't you care about me either?"
Cheng Yanjin shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, and said, "I don't care if you're all lovey-dovey with someone else, as long as you keep a low profile and don't get caught by the old man, and don't run off with someone else during the contract period."
He misunderstood last time; it turns out he dressed up for a live broadcast. So, it seems she must still have some feelings for him, since she rushed to meet him as soon as she heard about the marriage.
After all, she was gentle, considerate and understanding when they first met, and this time when the Lin family's cash flow was in trouble, his family stepped in to cover it. With both affection and money involved, how could she not be devoted to him?
Cheng Yanjin is used to others being grateful to him, but he refuses to let others interfere with his private space without any sense of propriety.
Marriage is marriage, and life is life. Don't confuse the two, and don't actually assume the role of a wife and boss him around.
He declared domineeringly, "Have you ever heard of an open relationship? It means not interfering with each other, just pretending in front of others and not giving anything away. If you try to control me, you can forget about Ying Shan Lake."
The May sun was already quite strong. As noon approached, the sunlight shone down from above, and when Lin Langyi looked up at people, all she could see was the blinding sunlight.
"Open relationship...?"
Cheng Yanjin glanced at her: "Don't you understand what I mean?"
Lin Langyi asked shrewdly, "What? You have a lover? Do you need me to help you out?"
He rolled his eyes dramatically: "I just don't want to be controlled by you, and you're assuming I'm messing around?"
After saying this, Cheng Yanjin felt that it would be very embarrassing to say that he had never had an ex-girlfriend or a romantic interest at this time. He coughed lightly and pretended to be very experienced, saying, "I don't have a girlfriend now, and I'm not sure about the future."
After saying that, he glanced at the woman beside him who was deep in thought with her head down: "What? You have one?"
Since things had come to this point, Lin Langyi had no reason to hide anything: "I had an ex-boyfriend, we broke up."
Cheng Yanjin suddenly turned his body to face her side, and the roller skates came to an abrupt stop with a screeching sound.
He stopped abruptly: "Wow, your first love?"
"Um."
How many years have you been together?
"More than two years."
Why did you break up?
"Long-distance relationships, oh, international relationships, I don't do virtual pet romances, it's troublesome, unnecessary."
"Are you two on good terms? Is he handsome? What type is he? Do you still keep in touch?"
Lin Langyi looked at the man in front of her, who had suddenly become aggressive and relentlessly demanding answers, completely baffled. She didn't understand why he had just casually mentioned wanting an open relationship, and now he was interrogating her about her background.
Cheng Yanjin remained expressionless, speaking slowly and deliberately: "Let me see what kind of flavors you like, and I'll introduce you to a couple later."
Upon hearing this, Lin Langyi actually took out her phone and flipped through her photo album: "I remember there are two more group photos, right?"
"Oh, you still have photos after breaking up..." he said sarcastically.
Lin Langyi raised her hand and held up the enlarged photo in front of him: "I don't date people who aren't good-looking."
It looks like it was taken on a university campus. The handsome and refined young man is holding a book and looks very youthful when he smiles.
Cheng Yanjin nitpicked: "Nothing special, this type is not as good as Yu Ge's."
Lin Langyi didn't connect the "Brother Yu" he mentioned with Yuan Chuyu; she didn't even know that Cheng Yanjin was his best friend.
She put away her phone and said calmly, "I like people who are emotionally stable, capable, and can handle everything on their own without causing me trouble."
"Isn't that Yuan Chuyu? Too bad, he's always kept his distance from women, you can't handle him." Cheng Yanjin seemed quite gloating about this.
Hearing Yuan Chuyu's name again suddenly made Lin Langyi pause for a moment. She then remembered that he had been silent ever since he stood her up last time, and that her subsequent polite greetings on WeChat, inviting him to visit again when it was convenient for him, had been politely declined.
"I'll bother you again when it's convenient next time" is similar to leaving a message while shopping, "I'll go check out other stores and come back to buy later." Both parties know perfectly well that there's a 99% chance it's over.
It seems that Lin Liaoyuan's previous hope of receiving investment from Yingyuan Group has been dashed.
Lin Lang, thinking of money, steered the conversation back on track: "With our marriage alliance, your money is secured, but when will my investment arrive?"
Cheng Yanjin: "Cheng Yangkang said that after we get our marriage certificate, we will make up for the losses in the form of shares."
Lin Langyi gave him a deep look.
Nobody comes here to do charity. Investing in the form of shares means that once the automated clean water aquaculture is fully rolled out, the Cheng family can make a fortune when the stock price soars. They have not only formed a marriage alliance, but also provided timely assistance and made a successful investment. It's a win-win-win situation.
But at the moment, she really couldn't find any other way to quickly climb out of the swamp.
Lin Langyi said decisively, "Then let's get our marriage certificate tomorrow."
Cheng Yanjin looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at a ghost.
I'm so resistant to marriage; just hearing the word makes me feel like ants are crawling all over my body.
He hummed in agreement: "We'll see. Families like ours always need to consult auspicious dates and birth charts."
Lin Langyi slowly exhaled: "Okay, when should we go? I suggest as soon as possible. You don't want Feng Congning's baby to be born first, do you?"
Cheng Yanjin couldn't help but feel disgusted when he heard the name: "Does she think that just because Cheng Yangkang cares about her, I'll be wary of her pregnancy? Not everyone is as good-tempered as Brother Yu and can get along peacefully with their stepmother."
Lin Langyi was suddenly struck by a bombshell. She froze for two seconds, then exclaimed in surprise, "Yuan Chuyu and Yuan Pingran aren't...?"
Whether Cheng Yanjin was naturally indifferent or overly honest, he had spilled the beans on every topic he knew about from the beginning until now, no matter what it was:
"No, Yuan Pingran and Chu Guanqian were indeed engaged long ago, but it seems that Yuan Pingran had a falling out with Chu Guanqian before she went abroad. Then I heard from the adults that Chu Guanqian found a lookalike and got together with him. As a result, they even had a child, which is Brother Yu."
"It wasn't until about two years after Yuan Pingran returned to China that the stand-in overdosed on sleeping pills and committed suicide. Chu Guanqian then brought Yu Ge back to the main family and registered him under Yuan Pingran's name."
Lin Langyi was taken aback: "Yuan Pingran would agree to that?"
Cheng Yanjin pursed his lips: "Why not? Yuan Pingran is infertile, while Yu Ge has been exceptionally intelligent since childhood... Besides, no matter which child is adopted, Yuan Chu Yu, who has the blood of the Chu family, will never be abandoned. So rather than letting Chu Guanqian run away and have another child with another woman, it would be better to let him settle down and raise Yu Ge as his son."
Lin Langyi was surprised to learn that the seemingly low-profile Yingyuan Group had such a long-standing secret. She asked, "What was the name of that... Yuan Chuyu's biological mother?"
Cheng Yanjin shrugged: "I don't know. I've never heard him mention it, and his family wouldn't either. The most important and correct thing is that the marriage between the Yuan and Chu families is successful. So, after that substitute committed suicide, it didn't cause any ripples. It seems that she wasn't someone with a background or family connections. She was just an ordinary girl."
He was half incomprehensible and half admiring: "To be able to live peacefully with the person who drove his own mother to her death for twenty years, even if you don't remember anything when you're a child, you'll eventually know something when you grow up. I certainly couldn't do that... Brother Yu is just too good-tempered."
Cheng Yanjin mentioned Yuan Chuyu's gentle nature twice within a few minutes, which gave Lin Langyi a strange and contradictory feeling. It reminded her of a beautiful body of water that was blue-green like a cat's eye when she was traveling, but the old man advised her that "green water is deep and black water is abyss".
“Yu Ge was only six years old at the time. He was arranged to become Yuan Pingran’s son and called her ‘Mom’ in less than a week. The family thought that he was too young to have much feeling for his birth mother, and that raising him from a young age would make him accustomed to her.”
"Then, as they wished, less than a month later, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, he told his family elders that he wanted to change his name."
“‘Like her mother, he has the surname Yuan,’ he said it himself.”
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