Ge Chen sipped his tea and answered, "I'll be free from the Ge Family and I hope you can support me all the way. Since you will be the only person I can rely on after our marriage."
"I haven't agreed yet. So, to get your freedom, you are ready to marry a wood like me. I feel almost pity for you." She shook her head.
Ge Chen was surprised. "Wood? You are not-"
Xue Lin said, "You don't have to be polite. I know what I am. Aside from that, you said that if I marry you, they cannot touch us anymore. Why is that?"
Ge Chen replied, "Because there are places where they have no power, I live in one of the cities like that."
She casually asked while finishing another pastry, "Which city is it?"
He said, "It's B City."
Xue Lin shuddered the moment she heard it. Her face became instantly pale.
B City is one of the richest cities in China and he can live there if he works under the Mu Family. But that didn't make her nervous.
Many moving pictures rushed from her memories, all the good memories, and the bad memories and she couldn't stop them.
"…ss… miss… miss, are you alright?" Ge Chen sounded concerned.
"I-I'm alright… really…" Xue Lin didn't have the time to think about what he was thinking. Cold sweat rolled down from her left temple. She tightened her grip under the table and looked at Ge Chen. "Are you really okay with this?"
Ge Chen was worried about her as he saw her face becoming pale. But he still answered, "Are you asking me if I'm okay with you then yes, I am. I don't have regrets proposing this to you." However he couldn't help but think, 'Did something happen in B City in the past? I have to be careful not to make her feel uneasy about it.'
Xue Lin gazed at him for a while before saying, "Somehow I don't dislike you."
"I'm honored. Since we came into an agreement, do you want to sign the contract?" Ge Chen looked at her.
She shook her head. "I don't want to. I will believe in you. And when do you plan on getting the marriage certificates?"
He gave her a warm look. "I won't mind having it now but do you have your family register?"
She replied, "I have but it's only the soft copy."
"That won't be a problem." Ge Chen shook his head. "I'll arrange the rest."
"Alright then, let me finish all the pastries first." After finishing the pastries, they headed towards the hotel. While walking, she asked him, "By the way, I'm Xue Lin. What's your name?"
'And finally, she is interested.' Ge Chen said, "I'm Ge Chen. You can call me Chen."
She nodded. "Alright… Chen… It feels weird to call someone without an honorific."
Ge Chen gave her a warm smile. His heart melted when she called out his name like that. "You'll get used to it. I'll call you Lin if you don't mind."
"Sure, I don't mind." She could care less about how others called her.
Louis blinked. "Huh? Just like this? That was too easy!" He couldn't believe his eyes and ears.
Ming Yu commented, "It's more like a contract than marriage."
Xue Lin printed out a copy of her family register and looked at Ge Chen. "We already have what we need. Let's go."
Ge Chen calmly observed her top to bottom and then said, "Before that's let's go somewhere else."
Xue Lin's body tensed. "Where do you want to go?"
Ge Chen smiled. "I'm not going to do anything weird. You can let your guard down. Your mistrust in me kind of hurts my feelings."
"I'm sorry but it'll take time." Xue Lin said.
She agreed to marry him because she wanted to be free from the Ge Family's pressure. She had to break free from them. She had promised herself that this time, she would end whatever started three years ago. And to achieve her goal, she had to make the Ge Family and her family out of her path. She promised herself that if Ge Chen took good care of her, then she would do everything to make up for him. After all, she was using him for her own selfishness.
Ge Chen took her to a mall. Xue Lin was surprised. "Why are we here?"
He said coolly, "I want us to wear the bride and groom's attire before we go to the civil affairs office."
"Huh? Why do you want to waste your money like this?" She didn't want to this to be so ceremonial.
"This is the day we get married. Though we will hold the reception party later, I can't take you there when we are wearing casual clothes." He looked at her. "My friend once said that women always dream to have a perfect marriage. Sorry, I cannot give you a church wedding since we are rushing it up."
Something tugged in her heart. Yes, she also dreamed about it but she let it go three years ago. After that, she never imagined herself to become a bride. She nodded. "I see… let me choose a wonderful gown for myself."
Ge Chen nodded, "Yes, take your time, I'll pay."
She protested, "No, I can't let that happen. I'll pay for my gown."
He asked the obvious question. "How can the husband make his wife pay?"
Xue Lin blushed slightly. "H-hey, we aren't husband and wife yet." She averted her gaze. 'What was that? My heart just...' She controlled herself and frowned while gazing at him. "Alright, you can pay for my gown, but I'll pay for your clothes."
"Sounds fair." He agreed. 'She doesn't like discrimination. Wonderful!'
Xue Lin wore a Saudi Arabic lace luxury ball gown satin wedding dress. It had long sleeves designed with lace. Aside from the lace, the gown was very simple. It was just the way she wanted. Her hair was tied up in a loose bun and the hairstylist tucked little white belle flowers on her head before covering her head with a simple transparent white veil with comb. She wore small diamond top earrings and low heel bridal shoes.
She came out of the store and looked at the man in front of him. Ge Chen looked dashing in a light pink shirt, white tuxedo, pants, and shoes. His hair was brushed to his right side. He looked at her and his heart stopped for a moment.
Xue Lin's white jade-like skin was glowing. Her grey eyes shimmered in the sunlight. Her red lips looked like ripened fruit. Her dress-up was simple yet elegant. Ge Chen couldn't take his eyes off her. He muttered, "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever met."
Xue Lin heard him and blushed. She didn't want to show her embarrassment, so she frowned. "Don't exaggerate." Her tone was stiff.
"I mean it." Ge Chen reached out his left hand. "Shall we go then?"
"Yes…. And you look handsome as well." She tried her best to compliment him without looking at him.
Ge Chen smiled. "Thank you, my bride."
Xue Lin felt her face was burning. Her heart raced. She protested, "I'm not your bride yet." For some reason, she couldn't look at her groom's face. His gaze was too intense.
They went to the civil affairs office. For some reason, there weren't many people. Everything proceeded peacefully. Finally, they got small red books in their hands.
Just like that, Xue Lin and Ge Chen got their marriage certificates and they became husband and wife.