Chapter 2: Agreeing to the Marriage Alliance
Watching An Yi speak on stage, An Shaofeng looked as nervous as an old father at an elementary school talent show, terrified his child might mess up in front of everyone.
He had not told An Yi about the marriage alliance with the Huo family beforehand, just like the Huo family had not told him in advance that An Yi would need to go on stage and speak.
Huo Zhanfeng stood at the side of the stage with a smile on his face. The Huo family had not told him beforehand that he would need to come forward and host the event either.
An Yi going up on stage was completely improvised on the spot.
If he had to stand in the rain, then he might as well throw away the younger generation’s umbrellas too. Though he was already in his forties, his mindset kept up with the times.
After finishing that line, An Yi did not say anything else.
Mainly because he had run out of things to say.
Before going on stage, someone had stuffed a glass of champagne into his hand. After thinking it over for a while, he figured it was probably meant to make him look impressive.
So he copied the classic move used by successful people, raised his glass a little, then turned and walked off the stage.
He had been nervous to death.
The moment An Yi stepped down, An Shaofeng—who had practically been invisible the whole time—suddenly flashed to his son’s side.
Leaning in, he whispered by his ear, “I’ll explain it to you when we get home.”
Explain my ass!
He had not even held a girl’s hand before, and now he was about to get married!
After An Yi stepped off stage, people immediately surrounded him with congratulations and flattery. Once the An family latched onto the Huo family, it was like a bald chicken suddenly spreading giant wings and landing on a phoenix tree branch. Their status in the social circle instantly jumped several levels, multiplied and upgraded.
As the Huo family’s representative, Huo Zhanfeng was about to go through the motions and exchange a few polite words with An Shaofeng.
But when he opened his mouth, he lagged for a few seconds.
After thinking for quite a while, Huo Zhanfeng finally came up with a line. “Once An Yi marries into the family, the Huo family certainly won’t mistreat him.”
“Of course not. An Yi was very happy too when he heard the marriage had been settled.”
An Yi: … No I wasn’t. No I wasn’t at all.
He had only found out about his engagement half an hour ago, and that was by overhearing other people gossip about it on the way over. He had thought he was eavesdropping on someone else’s business. Who would have guessed it was actually his own?
He was just so happy. 🙂
But clearly, An Shaofeng had already perfected the art of lying through his teeth.
He did not even blink when he said it.
He looked even more at ease than when An Yi had once told a teacher his homework had been carried off by a bat.
After hearing that, Huo Zhanfeng let out a meaningful, “Oh?” After all, his nephew’s reputation was terrible—famously terrible, in fact. He was known everywhere as a complete bastard. “Really?”
An Shaofeng said firmly, “Of course. Just look at how happy the child is smiling.”
The two of them turned and looked at him together.
An Yi: …
An Yi: “Heh heh.”
Seeing An Yi’s smiling face, both elders felt deeply gratified.
Didn’t either of you feel even the slightest sting of conscience?
Huo Zhanfeng said, “As long as the children are happy, that’s all that matters.”
An Shaofeng nodded. “Exactly. What a wonderful match this is.”
An Yi: …
Even the god of matchmaking probably had no idea this match existed.
Once Huo Zhanfeng had completely run out of things to say, he prepared to leave. Before going, his gaze swept over An Yi.
He still did not know whether this young man was truly the fated person that blind fortune-teller had spoken of.
While Huo Zhanfeng was examining him, his eyes happened to meet An Yi’s directly.
The young man seemed hesitant, like he had something he wanted to say. Most likely, he did not want the marriage alliance either.
Which was understandable. A guy barely in his twenties being married off like this—if word got out, people would laugh their heads off.
Not to mention that his nephew’s reputation was already notorious. His private life had definitely given plenty of people something to talk about. It was only natural for the other party to be unwilling.
Huo Zhanfeng slipped into the role of a kind elder. “Is there something you want to say?”
An Yi nodded.
Worried that the young man might have something he could not say aloud, Huo Zhanfeng raised his hand and had someone bring An Yi paper and a pen.
After writing on it, An Yi stuffed the note into Huo Zhanfeng’s hand.
In truth, even if he gave him the note, Huo Zhanfeng still would not change the decision about the marriage alliance. At most, this was just a way to comfort and placate An Yi. After all, for Huo Beixing’s sake, this marriage had to happen.
Never mind An Yi being unwilling ten thousand times over— even if the entire An family objected, this marriage alliance would still not fall through.
The important thing was keeping him calm.
Before leaving, Huo Zhanfeng smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll take a good look at it once I get back.”
The tension on An Yi’s face visibly eased.
Good. That was enough.
Huo Zhanfeng understood at once. Near the end of the banquet, he left White Horse Manor.
Once he got into the car, he pulled out the little slip of paper.
He had assumed it would be some sad words from a tragic young man, so he opened it with one hand.
Huo Zhanfeng: …
The note read: One Hundred Episodes of Impromptu Speaking for Hosts.
—
After the banquet ended, An Yi left White Horse Manor together with An Shaofeng. Once he got into the car, he felt as if he had finally recovered a tiny bit of belonging, and slumped bonelessly across the back seat like a lump of jelly.
Being hauled out of a godforsaken mountain and dropped into a technologically advanced big city, An Yi always felt out of place no matter how he spoke or acted. The first twenty-three years of his life made him feel like a frog at the bottom of a well. Ribbit ribbit…
Even though he had worked hard to learn over the past year, there was still a huge gap between him and those who had grown up surrounded by education and refinement since childhood.
For example, some people laughed at him for not knowing how to use a knife and fork. Maybe he was just born with the fate of a poor man—those high-end utensils still did not sit right in his hands even now.
The little frog gazed at the bustling cityscape outside the window, tilted his head away, and decided not to think about it anymore.
But the moment he turned his head, he found An Shaofeng’s big face suddenly close to his own.
An Yi: …
Fatherly love had arrived so suddenly.
An Shaofeng smiled and patted his son on the head. “So, how was today?”
An Yi looked at him with a numb expression.
Don’t you have even the slightest idea?
But An Shaofeng acted as though he had seen nothing. Yep. Saw absolutely nothing.
An Yi did not bother beating around the bush. “I’m not marrying.”
Putting the marriage alliance aside, he had never even gotten to attend a wedding banquet once in his life. And now the first one he got to attend was his own.
No way was he doing this. It was way too much of a loss.
An Shaofeng remained calm and composed, pretending not to know. “Why not? What a good marriage this is.”
An Yi lowered his head and looked at the exquisite cufflinks on his sleeve. He fiddled with them with his fingers, staring at the detailed patterns on them as he muttered, “Even in the backwoods, people don’t do this arranged marriage stuff anymore. Big cities should be even less likely to do this, right? Don’t people always say to keep the essence and discard the dross?”
Looking like a man who had seen the world, An Shaofeng replied, “The Huo family is a rather traditional family.”
An Yi: ?
An Shaofeng added, “They passed down both the essence and the dross.”
An Yi: …
Seeing An Yi sitting there lost in thought, An Shaofeng’s own thoughts became somewhat tangled too.
To be honest, when this biological son had first been brought back, An Shaofeng had only been excited for two or three days. After all, he had not raised him since childhood, so there was not much affection. Bringing An Yi out with him also felt embarrassing—he could not use a knife and fork, could not speak properly, and sometimes muttered in dialect that no one could understand. Later, An Shaofeng simply stopped taking him out and kept him at home. If An Yi went anywhere, he always had people follow him, afraid the boy might do something embarrassing or shame the An family.
After living together for a year, some feelings had formed. At least, a little.
Last year, one of the An family’s investments lost money. One failed project would not have been too bad, but then the projects began collapsing like dominoes, one after another. The cash flow chain snapped too, leaving behind a giant hole they could not fill.
Just then, the Huo family sent people around looking for young people whose birth charts were compatible. An Shaofeng took the chart over, compared it, and found that An Yi’s birth data matched perfectly.
Wasn’t that convenient?
So he went to them, only to discover that the Huo family was looking for a marriage partner for Huo Beixing.
Two months ago, Huo Beixing had met with an accident and become a fool. No matter what treatments they tried, nothing worked. The Huo family had no choice but to seek another solution, so they found a blind fortune-teller.
The man left behind a piece of paper with a birth chart and some specific traits written on it. He told them to search according to those conditions, then said nothing more.
A marriage alliance with the Huo family would definitely bring benefits, so naturally An Shaofeng did not think too hard about the rest.
Who would have thought that there were two other people with the same matching birth charts as well: the Li family’s only daughter and the Fang family’s younger daughter.
An Shaofeng had been dumbfounded on the spot.
Luckily, the traits that the blind fortune-teller had left behind gave him a chance to bluff his way to victory.
“The immortal said that besides having a matching birth chart, the person also has to be pure and kind to the utmost degree.”
An Shaofeng slapped the table and sprang to his feet. His moment had come!
No one was going to snatch this from him.
“My An Yi grew up in nature from childhood, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, living in contact with the natural world every day. He is the most simple and unspoiled of them all.”
In short: he was basically a wild man.
Even though most of the Huo family found it unacceptable to take a male spouse, for Huo Beixing’s sake they still settled on An Yi. At the same time, they also left themselves a fallback plan. The marriage term would only last two years. If Huo Beixing did not recover within those two years, then once the term ended, the marriage would be dissolved, and they would marry the next person whose birth chart matched An Yi’s.
An Shaofeng tugged at a strand of hair on top of An Yi’s head. “The wedding is set for three days from now.”
An Yi turned his head away. “I don’t agree.”
An Shaofeng smoothed down the hair he had tugged loose. “The date has already been set. Whether you agree or not, you still have to agree.”
An Yi said, “But I have two legs.”
An Shaofeng smiled. “Silly child. Everyone has two legs.”
An Yi replied, “I mean mine can be used to run away from the marriage.”
An Shaofeng: …
An Yi really did have some skill when it came to fleeing. Back when the bodyguards had filed injury claims because of him, there had been two of them who were so exhausted they did not come to work for three whole days.
Seeing that force would not work, An Shaofeng softened his tone. “This marriage alliance with the Huo family is of great importance to the An family and to your father. If it doesn’t happen, your father probably won’t be able to go on living either. And if your father dies, what will you do?”
An Yi’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Can you just say that out loud?”
An Shaofeng: ?
An Yi lowered his head shyly. “Inherit the estate.”
An Shaofeng: …
What a filial son.
In the end, An Shaofeng brought out his trump card and told the truth. “Actually, I didn’t want to tell you this, but your father really has no choice. The family business has been losing money nonstop since last year, and the financial hole is getting bigger and bigger. I had no choice but to…”
An Yi finished the sentence for him. “Sell your son for glory?”
An Shaofeng snapped back, “What do you mean ‘sell’? That sounds awful. This is called a joyous marriage.”
An Yi blinked at him. “Joyous for who?”
Because I’m definitely not happy.
An Shaofeng: …
An Shaofeng sighed. It was humiliating to admit, and his eyes carried the weathered exhaustion of an adult. “It really is forced by circumstance. If this keeps going, we’ll have to mortgage and sell the family house. A grown man like me can endure hardship, but I can’t bear to watch your mother suffer with me.”
The An Yi who had stubbornly insisted just moments ago that he would not marry suddenly blinked.
His heart softened.
Thinking of that gentle woman, An Yi began to hesitate. If things were really as An Shaofeng said, then that woman—gentle and elegant as a narcissus blossom—would probably cry her heart out.
Over the past year, Chen Lin’s kindness toward him had made him feel maternal love for the first time in his twenty-three years of life.
Its most obvious expression was that she had transformed his skin from charcoal black into the color of a boiled egg.
Seeing the struggle appear on An Yi’s face, An Shaofeng knew the boy was starting to waver.
Sure enough, nothing worked better than telling the truth.
He would call this move: sincerity is the ultimate finishing blow.
An Yi’s kindness was the brightest thing about him, but in a circle like this, it was also the least valuable thing.
An Yi was not an ungrateful person. Chen Lin’s care had tied him down tightly.
An Shaofeng said, “It won’t be long. Just two years. After you get married, I won’t send people to follow you anymore.”
The boiled egg stopped struggling.
Two years, then two years.
Though he still felt unwilling in his heart.
But what could he do? His life had always been more bitter than bitter melon.
An Yi slumped there like a salted fish that had already given up on dreams, muttering softly, “I ain’t even somebody’s daughter, so how can I go marry another man?”
Hearing that thick rustic dialect, the driver in the front seat jolted in shock.
Who said that?! Where did this country bumpkin come from?! Who was talking?!
He glanced at the rearview mirror.
Oh. So it was their newly returned young master.
Rustic and pitiful, both at once.
When An Yi had first been brought back a year ago, he barely spoke standard Mandarin at all. But in order to adapt to the environment, he gradually changed. Only when he was especially angry or anxious would a few dialect phrases slip out uncontrollably.
Yet An Shaofeng, totally lacking in social awareness, deliberately mimicked him. “Ain’t no way~ If Dad says you can marry, then you can marry!”
An Yi: …
Driver: …
Wow, thanks so much.
An Shaofeng patted him on the shoulder. In truth, he still did have some feelings for An Yi. His tone was helpless, tinged with guilt. “Your father really has no other choice. Even though I can’t bear to see you married off either, this is the only way to save the An family.”
But regret? That, he did not have.
Even if it were An Yuan, still overseas right now, he would have made the same choice and pushed for the marriage alliance.
In summary: there was fatherly love, but not much.
The driver pulled up downstairs at the apartment building. After saying goodbye, An Yi went inside and took the elevator up.
Once home, he showered and lay down on the bed.
He was not some giant piggy bank with endless storage space. He needed time to slowly digest all the news from today.
Then he suddenly caught the key point.
What exactly had happened to Huo Er of the Huo family that made a marriage alliance necessary?
An Shaofeng had not said, and no one had mentioned it at the banquet either.
But then again, that made sense. The banquet had been hosted by the Huo family. Gossiping about the landlord while standing on the landlord’s property was no less reckless than dancing on someone’s grave and asking them why they were not dancing too. Was it because they had no legs?
Which was, admittedly, a bit too naughty.
But An Yi had been smart since he was little.
More specifically, he was very good at using a search engine.
He sat down at the computer, exited the drawing page, opened the browser, and typed in Huo Beixing’s name.
Good lord. The results were almost all sensational gossip headlines.
One of them even had the title: Young Tycoon Travels with Four Companions.
The photo showed both men and women, and the comment section below was even more chaotic and colorful.
“Move along, everyone. They’re all just passing flings of President Huo.”
“So was that romance rumor with Best Actress Huang fake or not?”
“Don’t ask me, wasn’t President Huo supposed to like sweet girls? I was still shipping him with that certain young actress.”
“A while ago people were saying he liked cute younger pretty boys too. He wasn’t lying—President Huo’s heart just changes fast.”
“President Huo is never going to settle down in this lifetime.”
“Are all of them President Huo’s boyfriends and girlfriends? Four at once?”
“That’s right. President Huo’s thing is being a pervert.”
“If I had as much money as Huo Beixing, I’d be even more perverted than him.”
“Sure, but you’d also need his face and body. Most of them are willing anyway.”
All of them were boyfriends and girlfriends?!
That many? Add just one more and it would be enough to count on one whole hand.
An Yi stared with his mouth hanging open in shock, then read on until he was furious.
How could someone like this even exist?!
An Yi raged inwardly: Damn it! I don’t even have one, and he alone has four?!
How dare he?!
Heaven really was unfair!
An Yi exited that post and entered another hot thread. It seemed to be some kind of ranking list of handsome men in the entertainment industry, except that because Huo Beixing’s looks and popularity were too high, he had been included as a special exception.
Under each man’s name was the type of boyfriend style he belonged to. For example, under one award-winning actor it said “dad-type boyfriend,” while under one fresh-faced idol it said “little wolf-dog boyfriend type.”
An Yi scrolled down.
Huo Beixing: Mosaic-type boyfriend.
An Yi: …
Author’s Note:
Huo Dashan: He’s slandering me! He’s slandering me!
An Yi: —I’m going to marry a pervert…
