Heavenly Match - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After waiting anxiously for a few days without anything happening, I gradually put the matter out of my mind.

Once the Dragon Boat Festival passed, the weather turned into a continuous, stifling heat, accompanied by the rumbling of summer rains.

The sound of the rain made for exceptionally good sleep, and I ended up waking up late several days in a row.

Today was no different; I woke up at noon and went downstairs, yawning, to find something to eat.

Standing in the center of the hall was a woman in white, soaked to the bone. Her black hair hung limp against her pale, frail body as she stared up at me with a resentful gaze, a ghostly chill swirling around her.

I nearly missed a step and gripped the handrail with trembling hands. “What kind of holy spirit are you?”

“I’m Bai Rou.” She gave a miserable smile, her lips devoid of color. “Since you wouldn’t open the door for me, I had to let myself in.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. No wonder I’d dreamed that my food delivery had arrived and the courier kept shouting for me to come out from under the window. I’d told her to just bring it in, but she wouldn’t; she just kept shouting…

Water seemed to drip endlessly from Bai Rou’s body, leaving a trail from the front door like the path of a crawling water ghost.

I didn’t dare take a single step toward her. “You… you’re really dead…”

“You’re the one who’s dead.”

When I walked over, I realized she was burning up, not cold. I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She hadn’t floated in; Aunt Bai must have given her the door code. I really needed to change it…

She was running a high fever. When I touched her, she swayed and grabbed my hand. “Yue Chu? You’re Yue Chu?”

As she uttered my name, hatred pooled in her eyes, though she couldn’t quite seem to focus, so she ended up glaring fiercely at the wall instead.

“I’m over here.” I turned her face toward me. “What are you here for?”

It took her two seconds to remember how to speak. “Yue Chu, I came to see what kind of seductive tramp you are. You think you can steal my man? You-”

As she spoke, she forgot her lines and just stood there dazed.

Afraid she might die in my house, I had no choice but to call a doctor.

She lay on my bed, her head burrowing toward Yun Chu’s side, burying her face in his pillow.

“Yun Chu’s scent,” she murmured, pulling her face out.

“Don’t say such disgusting things,” I said, propping her back up. “It’s just the smell of shampoo. If you like it, you can buy it yourself.”

“Oh, Yue Chu.” She seemed to notice me just now, her lips curling into a malicious grin. “I’m sleeping in your Hubby’s bed. You’re not angry, are you?”

“I’m furious, absolutely furious,” I said dismissively, patting her through the duvet.

“Heh, the person who should leave this house is you. I advise you not to go looking for troub-”

Mid-sentence, her mouth fell open and she fell asleep.

Afraid she would drool on my pillow, I silently reached out and closed her mouth for her.

She finally woke up toward evening.

She looked at me with a complex expression, sitting at the head of my bed and clutching the quilt as if the purpose of her life had been snatched away.

“Now that you’re better, you should leave.” I walked into the room and reached out to check her temperature.

“Don’t… don’t think this is over.” She twisted her face under my hand and spat out harsh words. “I won’t give up. I’ve chased Yun Chu for so many years. You snatched him away without even a word of greeting. I won’t accept this.”

“If you haven’t caught him after chasing him for so many years, that shouldn’t be my problem.” I withdrew my hand and sat on the edge of the bed.

She looked inexplicably smug. “Don’t get happy too soon. I noticed that you don’t even have a wedding photo. He doesn’t love you. You won’t last.”

I paused. “He doesn’t love me… what does that have to do with whether we last?”

She was stunned. “How can it not? Aren’t you husband and wife?”

“The two of us got married to make money,” I mused. “Right now, it seems like a win-win situation. As long as the family doesn’t go bankrupt, we should be able to make it work…”

She got agitated. “You’re actually such a social climber!”

“Don’t tell me you’re doing this for love?” I felt a surge of genuine respect. “Then keep at it. Don’t worry, I won’t break you two up. After all, human emotions are uncontrollable, and I’m too lazy to bother. As long as you don’t transfer our assets and you keep things hygienic, it’s fine.”

As I spoke, I rested my hands on my legs. “However, if you succeed, we’ll have to establish a hierarchy. I’ll be the primary wife, and you’ll be the concubine. According to the rules, you’ll have to show me filial respect and wash my feet…”

“In your dreams!” Her face turned deathly pale.

“If you don’t show me respect, I can’t let you move in. I can’t control Yun Chu’s person, but I’m keeping an eye on the accounts. It’s impossible for me to buy you a house, so you’ll just have to provide everything yourself.” I expressed my pity. “And any children you have will be legally mine. They’ll have to call me Mother…”

“What are you talking about?”

“There’s no other way. After all, your children would be illegitimate. People would gossip. Not to mention they wouldn’t get a share of the family fortune, and with your income, even their education would be an issue. If Yun Chu cares about the children, he certainly won’t sit idly by. And since I promise to treat them as my own, it’s inevitable that…”

She looked at me in disbelief, her face growing whiter and whiter until she stopped speaking altogether.

I poured a glass of water and brought it over. “Sister, has the fever broken? Have some water.”

She gripped the glass tightly, the water rippling inside.

“I finally understand… I’ve lost.”

She gave a bitter laugh and looked at me candidly. “Yue Chu, you and Yun Chu are a match made in heaven. You exist on the same plane-one I can never reach.”

“I won’t show up again. So, I’ll tell you… On your wedding day, I kidnapped Yun Chu. I wanted to force him to call off the engagement.”

I was startled. “Your ‘plane’ is actually quite high too.”

She pulled out a video to show me.

It was a surveillance angle from a villa attic. Yun Chu was climbing out of a window while Bai Rou desperately grabbed the hem of his clothes. It was like a tug-of-war; his formal dress shirt was stretched and torn, the collar pulling so tight his face was flushed red.

Yun Chu shouted hoarsely, “Bai Rou! I don’t love Yue Chu-I don’t even know her-but that doesn’t mean I can’t marry her! Those are two different things! Don’t be so extreme!”

“A marriage without love won’t be happy! I’m saving you!” Bai Rou gripped even tighter.

Yun Chu coughed painfully. “Stop it! This is a marriage contract worth 350 million! If it’s delayed… are you going to pay for it?”

“I’ll pay! As long as you’re with me, I’m willing to go bankrupt!” Bai Rou said with pleasant surprise, her strength increasing.

“Let go…” Yun Chu’s eyes began to roll back. “My net worth is five billion… if you strangle me to death, you can’t afford the compensation…”

“I’ll pay you back with my life!” Bai Rou was so moved that her eyes filled with tears of devotion.

The clothes finally couldn’t take the strain and began to make slight tearing sounds.

“This shirt… cost three hundred thousand… you have to pay for that too…”

“Huh?” Bai Rou suddenly hesitated. “But I really do have three hundred thousand.”

Her grip loosened slightly, and Yun Chu, caught off guard, tumbled away. He went rolling down the sloped roof and over the eaves.

“Yun Chu!” Bai Rou screamed.

An eavestrough caught his sleeve, providing a bit of a buffer, but his precarious clothing finally gave way at the tear. Yun Chu fell from the roof, only to stubbornly scramble back up after a long moment. Wearing half a shirt, he stumbled off into the distance…

“Haha.” I let out a couple of laughs but then felt it was inappropriate. I reined in my expression and comforted Bai Rou. “Actually, if you’d had 350 million that day, things wouldn’t have ended like this.”

She lowered her head gloomily. “Even if I had money, I wouldn’t give it to him anymore. He’s not worth it… He only likes my money.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Exactly. Men aren’t worth it, and feelings can sour. Only money will never betray you.”

She slowly looked up at me.

“Work hard and make money. Once you’re rich, you can find any man you want.” I held her shoulders, encouraging her to cheer up.

She grabbed my hand, a light of hope igniting in her eyes. “Sister, I understand. Then… can you give me five hundred thousand?”

“Huh? No begging allowed.”

“No, before I came here, someone told me that since my mom was fired, she’s entitled to severance pay. She worked for thirty years, so based on the N+1 standard, it should be around five hundred thousand.” She gripped me even tighter. “Sister, you’re a good person. You won’t cheat her just because my mom doesn’t know the law, right?”

Is it too late to regret this?

It was too late.

After transferring the money to Bai Rou, she left happily.

Whatever, it was Yun Chu’s money anyway.

I watched Bai Rou’s lighthearted figure disappear around the corner, and my aching heart found a sliver of comfort.

The rain had been stop-and-go all day. After a cloudy afternoon, large raindrops began to pelt the ground again.

Bai Rou didn’t have an umbrella.

I grabbed one and chased after her. The rain was already heavy, and she was standing under a tree by the road, looking worried. She took the umbrella gratefully and said her goodbyes.

After waving her off, I looked at my empty palm and fell into a daze.

Why did I only bring one umbrella out? Had I been infected by Bai Rou’s stupidity?

I blankly touched my forehead, only to realize it had become burning hot at some point.

Staying outside would only make it worse, so I resigned myself to walking home in the rain.

“Wifey!”

Through the thunder and the curtain of rain, I thought I heard Yun Chu calling me. I turned my head in a daze and saw him running toward me with a black umbrella, completely indifferent to his pant legs getting soaked.

It was about time for him to get off work and come home.

He rushed up to me, tossed the umbrella aside, and pulled me into a tight hug.

Me: “Huh?”

“Wifey, I saw Bai Rou at the gate. What did she do?” He cupped my face, checking me over in a panic. “What happened? Did she hit you? You’re so hot…”

“No…” I let the rain hit my face as I struggled out of his grip. “Let’s go home. We’ll talk at home.”

“Wifey, hang in there.” He immediately hoisted me onto his back and started running toward the house.

He’s a real piece of work. I tapped his shoulder. “Are you using me as a human umbrella?”

“Oh, right.” He clumsily put me down and then quickly scooped me up in a bridal carry.

…Whatever, forget it.

I finally made it to bed.

Yun Chu checked me over again. Once he confirmed there were no injuries, he asked, “Did Bai Rou poison you? How is your fever this high?”

Good question. How did it get this high?

I wondered if I could play the victim and demand five hundred thousand in compensation from him too.

On second thought, that seemed too low. I tugged at his sleeve. “Um, didn’t you say I was your 350-million-dollar Wifey?”

He sat up straight by the bed, his whole body jolting. “Don’t… don’t listen to people’s nonsense.”

I sighed, thinking that Bai Rou was a good judge of character. This man really was a snob-calculating and stingy. As soon as he married me, he started trying to drive down my price.

Then he said, “Wifey, you’re priceless. I wouldn’t trade you for any amount of money.”

Wait? A stingy man with schemes?

He took my hand and poured his heart out anxiously. “Chuchu, in the beginning, I really did marry you for profit. But from the first moment I saw you in our wedding suite that day, I secretly vowed that I could never let you cry like that again. I had to treat you well.”

“I started falling in love with you from that very moment. Since then, it’s had nothing to do with profit or calculations. I only want to spend the rest of my life with you unconditionally…” He kissed the back of my hand almost reverently, a deep smile in his eyes. “For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.”

I almost fell for it.

“Chuchu, do you feel the same?” he asked after finishing, looking satisfied and joyful. “I knew it. You’re so considerate of me. You get jealous for me, you care about my family, and you love me so much you can’t bear to leave me.”

“Uh…” My eyes drifted toward the ceiling.

“I’ve never felt this at peace.” He leaned his face against the back of my hand affectionately, talking incessantly. “Ever since I was a kid, my father scared me by saying if I didn’t work hard to make money, my wife would run away. But now I know that won’t happen, because my Wifey loves me. She’ll stay with me forever…”

“I want an apple,” I said, tugging his sleeve to interrupt his speech.

Only then did I notice his wrist was twitching slightly. I touched it. “What happened?”

“I sprained it just now.” He moved that hand naturally to smooth my hair, looking guilty. “I’m sorry for making you suffer in the rain. I wasn’t thinking straight; I was just frantic.”

“…Forget it, it’s fine.” I sighed helplessly and started putting on an act. “It’s just that I recover slowly and have a weak constitution. I might need some good food to nourish myself, maybe some wellness retreats… it’ll be quite expensive…”

“That’s fine. Money is the least important thing in our house.” He pulled his hand back to peel the apple for me, his mouth twitching from the pain. “We still have billions in our accounts. If you run out, I’ll just ask my dad for more.”

Well then, never mind. Touched, I pulled his twitching hand away. “I don’t want the apple anymore.”

He stopped, beaming. “Then what do you want? I’ll buy it for you.”

I stared at him blankly, trying to think of a fruit that didn’t require peeling or hands.

For some reason, his face turned red. His eyes sparkled as he leaned down, his voice low and soft, like a feather brushing against the tip of my nose.

“Is this okay?”

Before I could realize what he meant, a fresh-scented kiss landed on my lips.

Not bad.