AFAILIAST CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5 — First Time Getting Married, No Experience

Late at night, Pei Ji lay on the hotel’s single bed, tossing and turning with no hope of sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, a single line popped up in his head on repeat:

[Alright, then let’s get the certificate first. We’ll get married.]

Over and over. Impossible to mute.

Back then, when he heard that, his mind was a mess. Chu Tinghan had him by the tie and would not let go, which threw him completely off balance. He had only wanted to escape those claws, so he nodded in a daze and agreed.

Now that he was calm, he could not help wondering if this marriage was being rushed.

Modern society did not have the ancient rituals of formal betrothal, but he should at least meet the parents.

His relationship with his own family was bad. His scummy dad would probably not care if he lived or died, so skipping them was fine, but what about Chu Tinghan’s side? Shouldn’t he go pay a visit to Chu Tinghan’s parents?

He was the once-in-a-century ultimate scumbag, and Chu Tinghan wanted to marry him anyway? Did he not need someone to talk sense into him?

Marriage was not a game. Was he not worried that Pei Ji would pull the “got bored of playing” stunt again?

Pei Ji could not understand why Chu Tinghan was so decisive.

He had only just said he would take responsibility and live a good life, and the very next second Chu Tinghan jumped straight to registering the marriage.

And to think Pei Ji had prepared thousands of words beforehand, afraid Chu Tinghan would refuse. He used only the opening lines. Before he could say the rest, Chu Tinghan cut to the chase and insisted they go register.

By logic, Pei Ji was the freeloader who abandoned his partner and kid, while Chu Tinghan was the rich fool who got played.

Faced with such an unreliable marriage, it should have been Chu Tinghan who felt uncertain, not Pei Ji.

Yet right now, Pei Ji had the strange feeling of a lamb stepping into a tiger’s mouth.

Things were going too smoothly, which made it feel suspicious.

His phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Pei Ji opened it and saw a new message from Chu Tinghan.

Chu: Send me your hotel location.

Pei Ji shot upright.

It was the dead of night. One man visiting another in a hotel… what for?

Old flames reigniting… to do what, exactly?

Panic prickled down his spine. His first reaction was to button his pajama top all the way up to his throat.

He stared at the chat box for a long time but still had no idea how to reply.

Honestly, even if his past self had dated Chu Tinghan for two years and there was a child, this Pei Ji still could not handle physical closeness with Chu Tinghan.

Two weeks ago he had been a high school senior who had never even held hands. Overnight, he had somehow fast-forwarded into a warm-married life with a spouse and a kid.

Who was he supposed to complain to about this whiplash?

Sigh. Fate really had a sense of humor.

The cursor blinked in the input bar for ages. He typed, erased, and ended up with nothing.

Ten minutes passed. As if he had run out of patience, Chu Tinghan sent another message, just one cold punctuation mark.

Chu: ？

Pei Ji shut his eyes and thought it through.

They were getting married anyway. Sooner or later they would have to sleep on it. Resigned, he sent his location to Chu Tinghan.

He immediately locked the screen, like a man hiding from his fate.

The phone buzzed again.

After a beat, he opened it with a dead-inside look. As expected, it was from Chu Tinghan.

But it was not what he imagined.

Chu: Tomorrow at 11 a.m. Bring your ID card. I will pick you up downstairs.

He was taking him out?

Pei Ji reread the message to make sure he had not misread it. He still could not guess what Chu Tinghan was planning.

He finally sent his first reply, after bracing himself.

Pei Ji: For what?

The reply came almost instantly.

Chu: Marriage.

Pei Ji thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Marriage???

This fast?

Staring at the screen, at those emotionless words and punctuation, he found the whole thing absurd.

If you ignored the content, it looked like a boss scheduling tasks for an employee. Who would guess it was two fiancés arranging their wedding?

And it was not even a discussion, because from start to finish, Chu Tinghan’s tone was all orders.

Pei Ji was not ready. After thinking it over, he asked sincerely:

Pei Ji: Is tomorrow morning too soon?

Text alone felt too cold and easy to misread, so he hurried to attach a sticker of a puppy scratching its head.

Perhaps a cute sticker could save him.

Unfortunately, Chu Tinghan did not buy it.

Chu: I am busy. Tomorrow morning is my only free time. If you do not want to marry, fine. Then we will never meet again.

Panic hit Pei Ji. It felt like he would be blocked and deleted in the next second.

He rushed to type:

Pei Ji: I’ll marry.

After a beat, he added:

Pei Ji: I will be on time tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chu, who was trying to maintain his aloof public image, was grinning so hard his face hurt.

He also saved the puppy sticker.

Who would have thought one car accident would change his fiancé’s personality and even teach him how to act cute.

Mr. Chu was very pleased.

“Mr. Chu?” Aunt Zhang called softly from behind.

Chu Tinghan turned, surprised. “Aunt Zhang, you are still up?”

“Not yet. I wanted to ask, now that Xiao Pei has left, should I clear out the room he stayed in?”

She paused, then added, “He left in a hurry and did not take everything. He told me to handle it as I see fit, but I thought I should ask your opinion.”

Half his good mood evaporated.

Left in a hurry. Forgot to take things.

Just how eager was Pei Ji to leave him?

No matter. Soon they would be legally married. Once they had their certificate, Pei Ji would never be able to leave again.

That thought sent a thrill through him. His blood felt like it was boiling.

“No need to clear it.”

“And the things he did not take? Should I throw them away or keep them?”

“Keep them. He will be moving back in a few days.” A glint of laughter flickered in his eyes.

Aunt Zhang froze, then smiled. “So you and Xiao Pei made up?”

Chu Tinghan lifted a brow. “Yes. We are getting married.”

At that, Aunt Zhang beamed, chattering as she tidied up.

Xiao Pei might be quiet and prone to staying shut in his room, but he was a good kid. Mild-tempered, handsome, talented, especially when he played the guitar. It was captivating.

“He played for you?” Chu Tinghan’s smile went stiff and twisted into bafflement.

So he would play for Aunt Zhang, but not for him?

He had dropped so many hints, begged in so many ways, yet the times he had actually heard Pei Ji play were few and far between. Every time, Pei Ji’s face had been frosty, like he was being forced.

Aunt Zhang had not expected her mutter to be overheard. She hurried to explain, “No, I was cleaning downstairs and just happened to hear it.”

Chu Tinghan nodded, but he didn’t let it go.

“Just happened,” was it? Then why had he never “just happened” to hear it once?

Tsk. No, he had to find a way to make Pei Ji willingly play for him.

After thinking a moment, he asked, “Aunt Zhang, you said the other day that Pei Ji might have memory loss. Is that true?”

---

The next day, as agreed, Pei Ji arrived downstairs half an hour early.

He paced back and forth at the hotel entrance, so much that the security guard felt dizzy watching him.

First time getting married, no experience. He was really nervous.

He looked down to check his outfit. He had not brought many clothes. The only formal thing he had was the white dress shirt he was wearing.

Early spring was cold, and the shirt was thin, so he threw on a gray overcoat for warmth.

When he reached for a tie that morning, he suddenly remembered the way Chu Tinghan had yanked him forward by it the day before. He shoved the tie deep into the bottom of his suitcase and hid it.

Even without a tie, the outfit looked good on him. Relaxed, yet proper.

It should be fine for a marriage registration.

A moment later, a familiar black car pulled up.

He recognized it. It was the same one that had picked him up from the hospital.

He smoothed his coat and stepped forward.

The back window rolled down, revealing a noble, cool face.

Chu Tinghan glanced at him. “Get in.”

So distant it felt like a business arrangement.

Alright. Maybe marrying the scumbag who freeloaded off him was not exactly Chu Tinghan’s dream either.

It was probably for the child.

Lost in thought, Pei Ji forgot to get in and just stood there.

He looked like a wayward teenager being forced into marriage.

Thinking he was backing out, Chu Tinghan said coldly to the driver, “Drive.”

The tires had barely turned when Pei Ji snapped out of it and grabbed the handle. “Wait.”

Chu Tinghan looked over. “Are you marrying or not?”

“Marrying.”

Once he was in, neither of them spoke. They sat in silence like two strangers sharing a ride.

Pei Ji had no idea what he had done to set Chu Tinghan off again.

He swore he had not done anything to wrong him since he arrived in this timeline.

Chu Tinghan’s moods were like June weather, sunny one minute and stormy the next.

Pei Ji sneaked glances.

Right now, Chu Tinghan’s face was cold. He looked displeased.

A bold idea popped into Pei Ji’s head. Maybe this man did not want to marry him at all.

Maybe he only agreed to give their two-year-old some semblance of a family.

If that was true—

If neither of them really wanted this, they should not get married. If they did, they would only become a resentful couple. That kind of unhealthy home would be terrible for a child.

Better to cut losses now than regret it later.

He stared at the perfectly sculpted profile and stammered, “Chu Tinghan, do you really want to marry me?”

Chu Tinghan slowly turned his head, eyes narrowed, the look dangerous. “What do you mean?”

Under that gaze, Pei Ji’s courage wavered. He could not take the words back though, so he forced himself to continue. “I just think divorce is hard. If one day we—”

“There is no ‘one day,’” Chu Tinghan cut him off, voice cold.

“Do you truly want to marry me?” Pei Ji pressed on, not sure where the nerve came from.

The next moment, Chu Tinghan barked at the driver as if he had reached his limit. “Stop the car!”

Pei Ji froze, confused.

Chu Tinghan’s chest rose and fell sharply, as if he were furious. He seemed to grind each word out. “I do not. Get out.”

Oh, so before the wedding he was already talking about divorce. Was Pei Ji expecting praise for his foresight and prudence?

Mouth open, Pei Ji made a very small “ah.”

What was happening?

He sat there, stunned.

“Get out,” Chu Tinghan repeated, voice like ice. Two simple words, but the chill sank into the bones.

At that moment, thunder cracked across the sky.

A bank of heavy black clouds rolled in, and the bright day turned dim in an instant.

Assuming Chu Tinghan had changed his mind, Pei Ji sighed. Without a hint of complaint, he obeyed, opened the door, and stepped out. His movements were quick and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

He did not notice that, in the corner where he could not see, Chu Tinghan’s hand clenched, nails nearly digging into skin, a flicker of unwillingness on his face.

His lips parted, ready to tell Pei Ji to get back in out of the rain. But remembering how the man had left without a trace of reluctance, he closed his mouth again and said nothing.

Defeated, Chu Tinghan lowered his head. Loose strands of hair shadowed his eyes.

So this was what a clean break looked like.

He would rather stand in the rain than share a space with him?

So even with memory loss, Pei Ji still did not want to be with him…

Pei Ji, who had no idea what Chu Tinghan was thinking, could only watch blankly as the black car drove away.

Sparse raindrops began to fall, cool and sharp, soaking his shoulders.

A nervous flutter rose in his chest.

His gut told him he had made a mistake, though he did not know why.

Logically, if Chu Tinghan could avoid marrying a scumbag, he should be lighting fireworks in celebration. Why had his face only grown darker?

As the rain grew heavier, a Maybach pulled up in front of him.

Thinking it was Chu Tinghan, Pei Ji took a step back, but he did not recognize the man inside.

“Are you Mr. Pei Ji? A Mr. Chu sent me to pick you up.”

Pei Ji was thoroughly baffled. After a long beat, he nodded slowly.

So he had been kicked out halfway, then gifted a luxury car to collect him.

Mr. Chu certainly had a way of doing things.

Inside the Maybach, Pei Ji used the towel in the car to dry his hair. A strange thought crept in.

He hated to admit it, but at this moment he really did feel a bit like the pampered little spouse kept by President Chu.

It was just that this particular patron had a temper that needed smoothing by someone who knew how to stroke it the right way.

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