Been Waiting for You to Escape Marriage for a Long Time – CH3

Chapter 3: Boyfriend

Silence fell over Shuiwan One tonight.

Shen Shuyi, who had always spent money like water, had never once in his life known what a spending limit was.

If a million yuan fell to the ground, he wouldn’t even bother to bend over and pick it up — yet now, the POS machine couldn’t even process half a million.

The embarrassment spread through every inch of his body.

He had never, ever felt this humiliated before.

Zhao Yuheng sensed that something was wrong and asked, “What’s going on?”

Inside, Shen Shuyi’s heart was shattering and piecing itself back together.

He hadn’t expected Shen Lu’s action to be that fast. It had only been less than three hours since he came back from the old man’s funeral — and all of his cards and supplementary cards had been frozen.

Yes. All of them.

Unwilling to believe it, Shen Shuyi swiped a few more cards.

Each time, the POS terminal flashed the same error message. By the last one, Zhao Yuheng had already sat up straight.

He had sharp brows and bright eyes — strikingly handsome.

He sat tall and broad-shouldered, his expression calm but slightly puzzled, wondering what kind of trick this spoiled young master was playing.

When Shen Shuyi swiped the last card and saw the same message again, his heart went completely cold.

His face turned pale, but he still forced himself to recover his composure as quickly as possible.

With a cough, he tried to sound aloof and proud, though his voice was a little unsteady.
“You should go home for now. I’ll transfer the money to you later.”

“I’ll give you the money later” = “Don’t count on ever seeing it again, darling.”

Hearing that, Zhao Yuheng sneered inwardly.

He had grown up in the slums of Hong Kong City, mingling with all kinds of people. Back in the days when he had nothing, he had even worked as a thug for small gambling parlors — debt collection was second nature to him.

And the line he’d heard most often from debtors was, “I’ll pay you later.”
Which, in reality, meant: “You’ll never see that money again.”

A mere half a million — to the Shen family — was less than a drop in the ocean.

Yet this young master was still trying to play games with him. Instantly, Zhao Yuheng’s impression of Shen Shuyi plummeted to rock bottom.

What a waste of a good-looking face.

Sure enough, all capitalists were the same breed of idiots.

“Master Shen, that’s not very nice of you,” Zhao Yuheng said coldly. “I take the money, and I walk away. But if you can’t pay up… don’t blame me for sticking around.”

“…?”

What the actual—

Shen Shuyi could hardly believe what he’d just heard. How could there exist such a shameless man on earth?

That money wasn’t even something he owed — he was offering it freely to get rid of the marriage!

And now, this guy wasn’t grateful, wasn’t walking away quietly, and was even threatening him?!

What kind of mangy mutt gets a free bone and still bites the hand that gave it?!

Shen Shuyi’s temper flared instantly; he raised his hand, ready to explode.

But just as the curse reached his throat, he swallowed it back down.

He had his reasons — he hated this arranged marriage with every fiber of his being.

And judging by Zhao Yuheng’s attitude, the man didn’t seem particularly eager either.

After all, if he could be bought off with just half a million, that was already a blessing.

At least that was the one bit of good news.

For now, Shen Shuyi didn’t want to provoke Zhao Yuheng — the last thing he needed was this guy running to his big brother to complain.

He clenched and unclenched his fists several times, fighting down the urge to slam the table. Finally, he spoke calmly:

“I’d like to ask what exactly you mean by that. What do you take the Shen family for? You think I’d really skip out on a measly half a million?”

Zhao Yuheng didn’t back down an inch. “Words are just words. Why should I believe you?”

Oh, you think I’m joking with you?

Shen Shuyi was so furious his lips pouted enough to hang two kettles from them, but he forced himself to stay calm.

He finally called for Butler Lin.

“Uncle Lin, get me a pen and some paper. I’ll write you a promissory note, okay?”
The last part was squeezed out through clenched teeth, directed straight at Zhao Yuheng.

Zhao Yuheng locked eyes with him, as if trying to tell whether he meant it.

After a long pause, Zhao nodded. “Alright. I trust Young Master Shen.”

Having grown up abroad, Shen Shuyi’s Chinese handwriting was awful — round, wobbly characters like a grade-schooler’s, especially the complex ones, which sprawled across half the page.

Finally, under Zhao Yuheng’s watchful gaze, he took out his personal seal and stamped it next to his name.

“The note’s written. Now get the hell—”
He coughed and corrected himself: “I mean, you can go now.”

Zhao Yuheng folded the note neatly. “I’ll come find you in three days. By then, I trust Young Master Shen will have the money ready.”

Shen Shuyi raised an eyebrow. “It’s only half a million. Today was just… a special case. In three days, you’ll have it. Take the money — and after that, don’t ever appear in front of me again. Got it?”

Originally, Zhao Yuheng had no good opinion of this pampered, arrogant young master.

If it hadn’t been for the forced demolition, their paths would never have crossed.

“Mm.”

After Zhao left, Shen Shuyi suddenly remembered something. He jumped up and grabbed Zhao’s arm.

The Third Young Master’s hand was pampered to perfection — pale and beautiful against the cheap black down jacket. When he leaned close, there was a faint jasmine fragrance that pulled at one’s senses.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shen Shuyi said with a displeased frown, “One more thing — you have to promise me.”

Zhao Yuheng stood still, waiting patiently for him to continue.

“This matter between us,” Shen Shuyi said, baring his teeth like a hissing cat, “was a private arrangement. You’re not allowed to tell my brother. Got it?”

Not long after Zhao Yuheng left, Shen Shuyi called Shen Lu.

When Shen Lu saw his name flash on the screen, he casually tossed the phone onto the table — clearly used to these kinds of calls.

As soon as the call connected, an ear-piercing scream tore through the speaker for a full ten seconds — loud enough to shake the phone. The business partners nearby flinched in shock.

Shen Lu sneered coldly. He had long known the youngest of the family had been spoiled rotten by the old man. Freeze his cards, and he’d either hang himself or raise hell.

A tantrum call like this was practically the best possible outcome.

He waited until Shen Shuyi had finished screaming before he lifted the phone to his ear.
His tone was icy, “Keep yelling. I’ve got the speaker on — four hundred media outlets are here on-site. Let’s see if you can still save face in Hong Kong.”

Shen Shuyi froze. “…”

“Shen Lu! You shameless bastard! You heartless, cold-blooded turtle! Who gave you permission to freeze my cards?! Are you even human?! I’m your only brother — what kind of monster are you?!”

He still sounded fierce, but nowhere near as loud as before.

Everyone knew Shen family’s Third Young Master lived for his reputation.

He had carefully cultivated the image of a refined, elegant, noble gentleman in the Hong Kong media for over a decade — he couldn’t afford to destroy it now.

Shen Lu had him right where it hurt.

But Shen Shuyi still couldn’t accept it — freezing his cards was as good as killing him!

“I’m cutting you off! You’re not my brother anymore!”

“Fine,” Shen Lu replied coldly. “Go ahead. But if we’re cutting ties, then get out of Shuiwan One right now and find yourself a job. I’d love to see which company would hire a pampered, useless young master like you.”

“…”

Was he not allowed to joke anymore?!

When hard didn’t work, Shen Shuyi went soft.

Lowering his voice, he pleaded miserably, “Big brother~ please, I’m begging you — whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just unfreeze my cards, okay?”

That routine had always worked with the old man.

But not with Shen Lu.

“It’s useless on me,” Shen Lu said coldly. “Give up the thought. The moment you finish the marriage, I’ll unfreeze everything. Otherwise, don’t even bother asking.”

With a sharp beep, the call ended.

Shen Shuyi stared blankly at the disconnected screen. His vision went dark, and he collapsed back onto the couch.

What now?

This time, his brother was serious.

After being hung up on, he didn’t dare to call again.

He had always been a little afraid of Shen Lu — the earlier outburst had been pure panic over his financial crisis.

Now that he’d cooled down, fear finally set in.

The Shen family might look glamorous in Hong Kong, but like every wealthy clan in the city, profit always came before family. And now, Shen Lu was the undisputed head of the house.

No way would he dare challenge him again.

But he couldn’t just really marry some pauper!

He had worked so hard even before he was born — the moment he entered this world, life had been one grand, glorious head start. Raised on luxury, trained from dawn to dusk in equestrian, golf, shooting, and fencing, never touching cigarettes or alcohol — a shining example of wealth and refinement—

All that effort, just to end up tied to Zhao Yuheng, a cheap man?! Damn it!

God, why were you playing this kind of joke on him?

Was he really destined to spend his later years squeezing onto subways, living in some shabby rental room?

He imagined lying beside Zhao on a tiny, messy bed, wearing 15-yuan pajamas, 4.5-yuan slippers, and not even having a proper wedding ring—

In that instant, Young Master Shen felt as if several bolts of lightning had struck him. He gasped, nearly fainting from the horror.

Dear God, I only ever asked for lots and lots of money — not lots and lots of love, okay?

Especially not love from a cheap man! Love that costs less than those plastic flowers they sell outside elementary schools for fifty cents a bunch!

He lay on the leather sofa in a daze for a long time, before finally deciding he couldn’t just sit here and wait to die.

He still had a few connections in Hong Kong. He began calling friends, one by one, hoping to borrow some cash.

For now, he could swallow his pride — the priority was to scrape together that half a million and cut all ties with Zhao Yuheng once and for all!

But as expected, none of the calls worked.

Shen Lu clearly knew what he was up to — all of Shen Shuyi’s usual party friends had already been warned. Anyone who dared to lend him money would be going against Shen Lu himself.

And none of the city’s young elites were stupid — their families all depended on the Shens. Offending the current head of the family? What good would that do?

After seven or eight calls, not a single yuan was borrowed.

He slumped onto his $3-million leather sofa, utterly defeated.

Finally, one call to the second young master of Tailan Real Estate — an old study-abroad friend who knew his situation — offered a whisper of an idea.

“Shuyi, why don’t you talk to your boyfriend about it? He’s loaded, isn’t he? I’m sure he’d help.”

He continued, laughing: “You’re an adult — why are you still hiding your relationship?”

Shen Shuyi fell silent for a moment.

Yes. That’s right.

There was something he hadn’t yet confessed to Shen Lu —

That the Third Young Master of the Shen family…

…had a boyfriend overseas.

A boyfriend he’d been dating for less than a week.

Author’s Note:

Yes, Shuyi still has a boyfriend (wait, what?!)

But! Let’s be clear — it’s still 1v1, both clean!

This boyfriend will soon become cannon-fodder ex-boyfriend!

Also, Shuyi, you’re a crazy little beagle… Aaaaaaaah!!! (10s scream)

And his big brother? Definitely the “??” (cold, stoic one).