Chapter 231: The Marriage Contract is Fake

After returning to Beishi, my affairs began to pile up; first, I had to find ways to expand the business of Baiyin Group, and second, I had to deal with the mischief from the Second Branch from time to time, usually leaving me no time to rest from morning till night.

I had also tried to forget Ruoruo; I knew there would be no future for her and me.

If she knew that the reason for her father's illness had to do with me, she could never forgive me.

Even her family would not allow us to be together.

However, whenever the night was deep and quiet, and I looked down at the myriad of lights from the floor-to-ceiling windows of Baiyin Group, I would always think of that little girl with the smiling, crescent-shaped eyes.

I could not help but inquire about her news.

She entered high school, her grades were very good, and she had new classmates and teachers, but she became increasingly quiet, often reading alone, and eating only a little at meals, saving on her food expenses.

I had someone create an opportunity for her to "find money," but she turned around and handed it to the police.

I had someone send her things, but she dared not accept them, worried that once she accepted them, she would have to do things for bad people.

I also once told her when she was buying things that she had won a raffle ticket and the prize was cash, but she rarely went to buy things, and most of her consumption was in the school cafeteria.

And I could not send people to follow her constantly, lest I frighten her.

Three more years passed, and Ruoruo was admitted to university.

In these few years, I multiplied the company's business several times over and did countless acts of charity, but what I wanted most was to go and atone for my sins to Ruoruo.

I specifically started many businesses in Fengcheng so that I could come to Fengcheng often.

I went to her university, sat at the same table as her to read, ate in the same cafeteria as her, and when she went to the lakeside to memorize English vocabulary, I read behind her.

She seemed to have never noticed me.

Until one day, she saw her with a boy.

At that moment, my heart ached as if cut by a knife.

I thought, it was time to forget her.

We were two rivers in different worlds; even if there was a brief confluence, it was impossible for us to intersect again.

I returned to Beishi.

But I still could not help but inquire about her news.

I heard that she and her boyfriend only dated briefly, and then she was dumped because the other party thought she was too conservative.

At that moment, my heart seemed to bloom with bright flowers again.

So many years had passed, and I knew I could no longer live without her.

I took time to return to Fengcheng again, and at the same time, I had business dealings with Bai Shunan's company, helping her resolve two professional crises, and she had a good impression of me.

Then, I asked my grandfather to step in, lying that there was a marriage contract between us, and I followed my grandfather to propose marriage.

This matter went unexpectedly smoothly.

It was mainly because Lin Wanfen wanted the old house and was worried that the two sisters would fight for the house in the future, and Ruoruo's mind was delicate and sensitive; it was impossible for her not to have guessed it.

Ruoruo soon agreed as well.

We went to get the certificate, and then I let her move into the new house I bought.

Heaven knows how excited I was the moment I got the marriage certificate; I returned to the new house, restless, exercising for a while, walking back and forth for a while, and studying recipes for a while.

That evening, Ruoruo arrived.

She was embarrassed to come in and hesitated at the door for a long time.

I was also inside imagining how I would meet her in a moment.

Should I go out and give her a big hug? Or should I shake her hand and say welcome to my home?

After struggling for a while, I did nothing; I just opened the door, and seeing the unfamiliarity and nervousness in her eyes, I politely invited her in.

I helped her move her suitcase into the room and then watched her from the doorway.

Her suitcase was too messy—spicy gluten strips, chargers, all in disarray.

But my focus at the time was not on this; I just purely wanted to look at her.

The 22-year-old Ruoruo had grown into a graceful young woman, but in my eyes, she was still the little girl from back then.

She still had not recognized me to this day.

She was too nervous, throwing things into the closet all at once.

I realized that my standing here made her feel constrained, so I retreated and went to the kitchen to cook.

The menu for dinner was something I had pondered for an entire afternoon; I hoped she would like it.

Before long, she also came over, wanting to help me cook.

But she had always been a person who did not like to cook; she would only make things worse inside.

Although I longed to be busy in the kitchen with her, I hoped even more that she would not get hurt, so I had to ask her to go out and sit.

I still remember that night I made three dishes: lemon shrimp, minced meat with shredded radish, and a pot of pork liver and wolfberry soup; these were absolutely suited to the tastes of people in Fengcheng.

She indeed ate with great relish, and then she wanted to eat spicy gluten strips, but I stopped her.

I forced her to eat a large bowl of rice; she felt aggrieved, like a little kitten, which made me feel amused, and then I felt even more pity for her.

That night, I could not sleep at all.

Ruoruo was only in university; I could not force her to sleep with me. Anyway, I had been able to endure loneliness since I was a child, so I did not care about this period of time.

Although I had never had that kind of life, I knew what it was about.

Over the years, I would also think about it and do it secretly by myself, but all I thought about in my mind was her. Only when I thought of her would I reach the peak.

Our cohabitation days remained calm and peaceful, and before we knew it, we lived like roommates.

I knew this was not right.

Since we were husband and wife, we must have the reality of a married couple.

However, even though I made many hints, such as letting her shave my beard or having her accompany me to exercise, and then deliberately exposing my muscles, Ruoruo just did not catch on.

For her sake, I even planned to move the headquarters of the Baiyin Group to Fengcheng.

However, Ruoruo had only visited the construction site once and assumed I was a contractor; she even wanted to earn money to support me because my income was unstable.

During that time, my mind was filled with nothing but Ruoruo.

I kept a close eye on her, and when I knew she wanted an internship, I had someone contact the HR manager there to arrange a position for her.

Ruoruo's grades were excellent to begin with, so she was a perfect fit for that role.

Whenever I learned she had been wronged or mistreated at the company, I would contact the people there and have them investigate the situation thoroughly.

Ruoruo is too kind and never speaks up when she's been wronged, so I will speak up for her.

In Ling Feng's words, I'm the one who is love-struck.

Perhaps because I always restrained myself from physical contact with her, she actually started to think I was gay.

At the time, I really wanted to see if this little girl's brain was made of water.

That day, I kissed her, but she bit me instead.

I only found out later that she had been scared by her sister since she was a child.

After her parents passed away, she was always on her own, and to prevent her from being deceived by men, her sister told her that doing "that" with a man was extremely painful, which left her with a psychological trauma.