#67 (Next time, tell others that I am your husband...)

Wen Di tilted her head slightly, looking at Yan Heyu with a smile in her eyes. Yan Heyu was also looking at her, and their eyes met for two or three seconds, a silent confrontation that only they could understand.

To the people around them, this interaction looked like they were deeply in love. They saw Yan Heyu as spoiling Wen Di to the heavens, making her say he was her boyfriend in front of so many people.

They saw Wen Di as being bold because she was favored, and Yan Heyu as humbling himself and willing to indulge her, not caring about his own image at all.

They finally understood how the show The World Is Not as Good as You came to be.

Yan Heyu wasn’t worried that Wen Di would publicly call him a “friend with benefits” or anything like that, but he also had no idea how she would introduce him.

From the moment he asked her to introduce him properly to the moment she spoke, only two or three seconds passed, four at most. But in a setting like today’s, a few seconds felt like a slow-motion movie, dragging on in an agonizing way.

Wen Di still had a smile on her face as she said to Director Ruan, “Then I will properly and ceremoniously introduce him. This is Yan Heyu, the litter box cleaner for our Wen Wen. Because of me, he made a home in Jiangcheng. Over the past few years, he has been dedicated to developing Jiangcheng’s economy and was even named one of the ‘Top Ten Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs in Jiangcheng Industrial Park.’ My dad didn’t even get that award when he was younger, so he’s quite envious of him.”

Director Ruan couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Everyone around them laughed too.

The topic had been successfully derailed.

Many of them knew who Wen Wen was, as Wen Di often posted pictures of her beautiful fairy cat on her social media.

Yan Heyu himself couldn’t help but smile. He had no way of dealing with her.

He shook hands with Director Ruan.

Had she introduced him? It seemed like she had introduced everything. She let people know they had long-term plans and had even made a home in Jiangcheng.

But at the same time, it seemed like she had said nothing at all.

After all, anyone could be Wen Wen’s litter box cleaner, and anyone with money could buy a house and make a home in Jiangcheng.

Someone nearby chimed in, “Mr. Yan, you posted a picture of Wen Wen on your social media, didn’t you? A friend of a friend screenshotted your post and said they couldn’t believe you had a cat.”

Yan Heyu: “Yes, Wen Wen was in Jiangcheng at the time. We brought her here to live with us a while ago.”

Wen Di gave him a look. He would take any opportunity to hint at their relationship. No one could have missed the ring on his finger tonight.

Director Ruan also saw the ring. A person of Yan Heyu’s status wouldn’t casually wear a ring on his ring finger to a social event. If he did, it meant the relationship was official.

He asked with a smile, “When are we getting wedding candy from you two?”

Yan Heyu looked at Wen Di before saying, “I’m ready whenever.”

Everyone could tell that the decision was up to Wen Di.

Wen Di just smiled without saying a word.

This smile could be interpreted in many ways by others. Maybe she was too shy to say anything right now, or maybe she was so happy to be shown affection in public that she didn’t know what to say.

After Director Ruan and Yan Heyu finished talking about their personal lives, they started talking about movies. Wen Di turned to talk to some acquaintances in her circle. They seemed to be talking about their own things, but Yan Heyu, while chatting, subtly extended his hand to Wen Di and lightly touched the back of her hand, gesturing for her to hold him.

Wen Di never looked at Yan Heyu’s hand. She reached for his wrist and started playing with his cufflink.

They stood close together, their hands naturally hanging by their sides. Only by looking closely could someone see their subtle actions.

The auction was about to begin, and people who were chatting started to find their seats.

Yan Heyu’s and Wen Di’s seats were two rows apart. “Come sit with me?”

“I’m staying with Shen Tang.” Wen Di separated from him and went back to her seat.

They had become the center of attention tonight. Even after the auction started, people were still whispering about them.

Wen Di had never cared about what people said about her, whether it was good or bad, true or false. When she became friends with Shen Tang at nineteen and people said “birds of a feather flock together,” she didn’t care. Now that she was older and wiser, she cared even less.

Of course, if someone said she was beautiful and talented, she was still willing to listen.

She could never get enough of nice words.

Tonight, she bought three paintings. She gave two to Shen Tang and kept one for herself.

“Aren’t you going to buy anything for your litter box cleaner? Be careful, he might give you a hard time when you get home.”

Wen Di laughed. “Did Jiang Chengyu give you a hard time?”

Shen Tang also laughed, giving Jiang Chengyu some face. “That’s a secret.”

“I can guess without you telling me. He’s just as bad as Yan Heyu. He’s a master at being difficult and always finds new ways to be a nuisance.”

Wen Di said seriously, “I’m thinking of starting a live stream for them to try on clothes and sell them. Don’t you think the clothes would sell out?”

Shen Tang almost cried with laughter. Wen Di was a master at teasing people.

She patted Wen Di a couple of times, telling her to behave. “My eye makeup is running. If I keep laughing, I’ll get crow’s feet.”

After the charity auction was a charity dinner, but Wen Di and Shen Tang left early and didn’t go to the banquet hall upstairs.

Wen Di received a message from Yan Heyu. He was waiting for her downstairs and sent her the license plate number of his car.

The elevator stopped on the first floor, and she said goodbye to Shen Tang, whose car was in the underground garage.

Yan Heyu saw her come out and opened the car door for her from the inside. He moved to the side to give her enough room to sit.

Wen Di got into the car, bringing a gust of cold air with her.

The driver was in the front, and the two of them, with a shared understanding, didn’t talk about the introduction at the charity dinner.

Yan Heyu put the coat she had taken off to the side. “What do you want for dinner?”

Wen Di thought for a moment and didn’t have anything in particular in mind. “Nothing. Let’s just go home.”

Yan Heyu picked up his phone to call his secretary to have a soup delivered to the apartment. He had just dialed the number when Wen Di hung up the phone. “I don’t want food from outside.”

She suddenly felt a little hungry. “How about you make me some soup?”

The last time he had cooked for her was half a year ago, in the old house in Jiangcheng.

Yan Heyu was not a good cook. He had already forgotten the little bit of cooking skills he had learned back then. He discussed with her, “I’ll cook for you when we get back to Beijing. We only stay in this apartment once every few months, and there are no ingredients here.”

Wen Di looked at her watch. “It’s only a little past eight. Let’s go to a grocery store.”

Yan Heyu decided to make fish soup for Wen Di. Fish soup was simple and didn’t take much time.

In their seventh year of knowing each other, it was the first time they had gone to a grocery store together.

Some of the fresh produce was on sale at night, and there were quite a few people there.

Yan Heyu held Wen Di’s hand and went to pick out the fish and other ingredients they needed. The daily routine of life was far from his world. He didn’t have to worry about these things. But when he was with Wen Di, he could patiently do things he wasn’t good at and used to think were unnecessary, striving to be his best.

Wen Di asked him, “What kind of fish should we get?”

Yan Heyu didn’t know. “Let’s ask someone.”

He asked the guide nearby. He wanted to buy fish for soup.

The guide saw that they didn’t even know what kind of fish to buy and enthusiastically told them how to cook it at home, when to turn the heat down, and how long to simmer it.

Even with all the instructional videos online, the guide was so enthusiastic that Yan Heyu took out his phone and took notes seriously, even double-checking the parts where the guide spoke too fast.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. My son often calls me to ask me how to cook things.”

Wen Di quietly watched him take notes. In this moment, without him saying a word, she wanted to buy him something to make him happy too.

Whether it was in the past or now, she admired his calm, decisive, and powerful nature at work, which was especially charming in her eyes. But when he was with her in their everyday life, he was even more endearing.

After buying all the ingredients, they went to stand in line to check out.

Yan Heyu took out his cardholder, which he had made sure to bring with him when he got out of the car. He pulled out Wen Di’s card.

“Did you figure out the password?” Wen Di asked him.

“Yeah, I tried eight times.” He had tried two passwords every day for four days straight and finally got it right.

“You remember eight of my passwords?”

Yan Heyu looked at her. “Yes.” She had asked him to remember her passwords for her before, and he really did remember them. Some of them were passwords she had told him once five or six years ago.

Wen Di was a little confused. “I have eight passwords?”

“I don’t know for sure. Maybe some of them were just spur-of-the-moment creations to mess with me, and you ended up forgetting them yourself.”

“...”

After paying, Yan Heyu put the card back in the cardholder.

Wen Di’s phone received a transaction notification.

She turned off her phone and took his hand.

Yan Heyu froze for a moment. The feeling of being relied on by her had finally returned a little.

He held her hand back, and they left the grocery store.

In the car, Wen Di’s phone vibrated. Qin Xing had sent her a private message with only one emoji and the words “shaking with fear” underneath it.

She replied to him: [?]

Qin Xing didn’t reply again.

He had turned off his phone and put down his cards.

Jiang Yunxing had someone pour two glasses of wine and handed one to him.

Qin Xing smiled politely and took the glass.

The room was quieter than the night Jiang Yunxing had gone to see Yan Heyu.

Jiang Yunxing hadn’t even started talking about business yet, but Qin Xing already had a feeling about why she was looking for him.

“I need your help with something.” Jiang Yunxing was direct. When dealing with these people, beating around the bush would only annoy them in the end.

Qin Xing told her to go ahead.

“You probably already guessed why I’m here.”

Qin Xing didn’t pretend to be clueless. “Sister Yunxing, I’m not trying to be rude, but you’re not your uncle’s legal guardian. He’s a grown man; he should clean up his own mess.”

Jiang Yunxing was amused by him. “I know what you mean. I’m willing to lose my dignity for my uncle. I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s not like Yan Heyu is making things difficult for me; I’m the one who wants to clean up my uncle’s mess. To put it simply, I’m solving a problem for money.”

Qin Xing shrugged and clinked glasses with her. If she could see the situation so clearly, he, as an outsider, didn’t need to worry about her.

“Wen Di and I don’t seem to have a reason to meet, and you’re close with her. So I was hoping you could talk to her about this. I’m willing to cooperate with any terms for peace, as long as they’re not deliberately difficult. Ask her to talk to Yan Heyu. Let’s not do something that will harm us both. Isn’t it better to save that money and invest it in the market?”

Qin Xing also thought it was a good idea. It could help Yan Heyu cut his losses in time and save face for Wen Di. But the problem was, “I don’t know if Wen Di is willing.”

He was still clear-headed when it came to human relationships.

If Wen Di wasn’t willing to help, and Brother Yan continued to deal with Jiang Zhengqian, people would think Brother Yan wasn’t giving Wen Di any face.

“How about this, I’ll ask her right now.”

He wanted to do it in front of so many people to avoid any misunderstandings.

Qin Xing made a voice call to Wen Di, and she answered, thinking it was about work.

“You’re back from the charity auction, right?”

“Yeah, on the way. What’s up?”

“You know about the conflict between Brother Yan and Jiang Zhengqian, right?”

Wen Di had a general idea. “Tell me.”

Qin Xing relayed Jiang Yunxing’s message and told her to make her own decision, without trying to persuade her.

Wen Di was very direct. “I’m not getting involved in his business.”

“Okay, I understand. You can go back to what you were doing.”

Qin Xing hung up the phone.

He looked at Jiang Yunxing, who had also heard the call’s content. “There might not be any room for reconciliation in this matter.” The only person who could persuade Brother Yan wasn’t willing to get involved, so there was no point in asking anyone else.

Jiang Yunxing smiled. She thanked him for his help regardless of the outcome. After finishing the wine in her glass, she said her goodbyes.

Wen Di’s attitude of staying out of it and not caring was something she couldn’t understand.

She called Xiao Donghan and told him that his plan hadn’t worked.

Xiao Donghan was calm after hearing the news. He just said, “Mm.”

“You don’t have anything else to say?”

“What is there to say? To me, whatever Wen Di does is right.”

“...”

“Jiang Yunxing, you need to change your fixed way of thinking. When you’re trying to solve a problem, you need to detach your mindset from the Jiang family background. Don’t assume that anything you get involved in has to be solved. Don’t put yourself on such a high pedestal. You’ll find that any outcome becomes reasonable.”

“I’m not a sore loser.”

“I hope so. Even I have lost before.”

“...”

Jiang Yunxing realized that he was the one with an overwhelming sense of superiority and extreme narcissism.

“That’s all for now. Director Liu has already signed the contract with Met Company. You can handle the rest yourself.” He ended the call.

Xiao Donghan was waiting at the airport, flying from London to Beijing for an end-of-year business cocktail party. He wasn’t interested in these things, but the person in charge of the event had personally called him, so it would be rude not to go.

He would definitely run into Yan Heyu there, but he wasn’t afraid of Yan Heyu’s sarcasm anymore. He had been specifically learning to speak with a Beijing accent.

Yan Heyu would probably be shocked.

________________________________________

Wen Di didn’t hide the fact that Jiang Yunxing had asked for her help from Yan Heyu, including her refusal to get involved.

Yan Heyu looked at her. “If you ask me to stop, I’ll stop right now.”

Wen Di shook her head. “You have your reasons for doing everything you do. It’s not that I don’t care.”

Yan Heyu held her hand. “Thank you.” Most of the time, she understood him and knew he had a sense of propriety in his actions.

When they got back to the apartment, Yan Heyu turned on the light in the entryway. He waited for Wen Di to come in and put on her slippers before turning it off.

The floor-to-ceiling curtains were not drawn, and the stunning night view outside lit up half the room, making the darkness feel brilliant.

Yan Heyu put the grocery bags on the entryway cabinet and wrapped his long arms around Wen Di, not letting her move.

Wen Di leaned against the door, pushing him but not being able to move him. “You always act up as soon as you get home.”

Yan Heyu said, “I’m not acting up. You didn’t introduce me properly before the auction.”

It wasn’t acting up; it was settling a score.

“I gave such a grand introduction.”

“You know what I wanted to hear the most.”

Yan Heyu lifted her to his eye level.

He had his back to the floor-to-ceiling window, half his face hidden in the dim light, making his features look even more defined.

Yan Heyu kissed her on the lips. The kiss carried the warmth of his body.

He wanted to know, “How will you introduce me the next time we’re in a situation like that?”

“I’ll try my best not to be in one.”

“...” He smiled, and his kiss returned, deeper this time. When he pulled away, he pressed his lips against hers and asked, “What if we do? What will you say I am to you?”

Wen Di joked, “My life partner.”

“...I’m not just partnering with you to live a life.”

Yan Heyu kissed her again. This time it was a deeper kiss. When he pulled back, he pressed his lips against hers and said, “You can just tell people I’m your boyfriend.”

Wen Di didn’t say anything.

“Forget it.” Yan Heyu changed his mind again. “Next time, tell people I’m your husband. I’m ready to get our marriage license whenever. My mom has asked me several times recently when I’ll need the household register, telling me to go home and get it so I have it on me.”

Wen Di: “...You’re good at coaxing people now.”

“I wouldn’t use something like this to coax you.”

Yan Heyu was holding her with both hands, so it was inconvenient for him to use his phone. He asked her for help.

The light in the room wasn’t bright enough for facial recognition, so Wen Di asked for his unlock password.

He said, “Your birthday.”

It hadn’t changed since he changed it.

Wen Di unlocked it. He told her a phone number, and she helped him enter it. After she typed the first few digits, the number that came up first in the search bar was his mom’s number.

“Did you see my mom’s number?”

“I did.”

“Call it directly.”

Wen Di looked at him. “What are you going to do?”

“I have something to talk to my mom about.” Yan Heyu asked her to put it on speakerphone.

Ye Minqiong answered quickly, asking her son what was wrong.

“Mom, are you home?”

“I’m at your grandpa’s. What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just asking where you put the household register.”

“I took it out and put it on the table for a few days, but I put it back in the safe last night. You won’t be needing it for the next two years anyway.”

“...”

“It’s my fault. Why did I tell you to have the household register with you? I gave you the false impression that you would be able to get your marriage license with Wen Di soon. I talked to your dad about it. He told me to put it away quickly, saying if I left it with you, you’d flip through it several times a day. The cover of the household register would fall apart, and you’d have to buy a new one.”

Yan Heyu was speechless.

Wen Di turned her face away, unable to hold back, and silently laughed.

Ye Minqiong reassured her son. “I won’t hold you up. When you bring Wen Di home, I’ll give you the household register. I won’t give it to you now. You won’t be able to use it, and it will only cause you more worry.”

She then asked how he and Wen Di were doing.

Yan Heyu said, “We’re great. She’s as good to me as she’s always been.”

Wen Di’s gaze returned to his face. She herself had no idea how she was good to him.

After hanging up, Wen Di put his phone on the cabinet.

Yan Heyu looked at her. “I wasn’t lying about the household register. We can get our marriage license in Beijing or Jiangcheng. Either place works.”

Wen Di felt that he had led her astray. She hadn’t even processed everything, and now they were talking about getting married.