His parents came to check on the young couple

Shen Jin listened expressionlessly as Yun Xiaoran recounted what had happened the night before.

"All right, that's pretty much everything." Yun Xiaoran finally got a breather. He took a sip of tea to soothe his throat, then went back to his breakfast.

"Was that all?" Shen Jin maintained her cool, aloof expression in front of Yun Xiaoran.

In truth, if those words had come from her best friend, Sister Hua, her face would probably have been bright red by now.

"While we were on the phone, it sounded like something was going on between you and Sister Hua, too. You could ask her. There are probably still a few gaps."

Yun Xiaoran's casually delivered remark seemed to weigh a thousand pounds on Shen Jin. She was deeply embarrassed by what she had done the night before.

But Yun Xiaoran saw it differently. The human mind consisted of desire and reason. Desire was like a train barreling through the brain, and only the wall of reason could stop it.

After drinking, that wall of reason crumbled to dust. All that remained in the mind was desire and whatever the heart craved most.

Shen Jin finished her meal in silence. With the I Am a Singer finale three days away, she still had plenty of time to rehearse at home.

"All right, if there's nothing else, I'll head upstairs. Remember, you absolutely cannot come upstairs without my permission." Shen Jin was once again laying down the rules for Yun Xiaoran as usual.

"Okay. What would you like for lunch? I can make it." Yun Xiaoran gave her a perfunctory reply, then headed toward his room.

He still had plenty to do. Between releasing songs and writing a novel, every day was packed.

"All right." Shen Jin nodded. Though she felt a little disappointed, she was just about to go upstairs when Yun Xiaoran's phone rang.

"Hello, Mom? What's up?"

"What? You're coming today? But I haven't gotten anything ready yet..."

"All right, I'll get things ready now."

Shen Jin stopped on the staircase to the second floor, quietly listening to Yun Xiaoran's conversation with his mother.

It was easy to tell from their conversation that Yun Xiaoran's parents were coming over...

That meant she would be meeting her in-laws. At first, Shen Jin had thought nothing of it, but once she unconsciously began seeing Yun Xiaoran's mother as her mother-in-law, she started to panic.

"Right, this is a fake marriage. What am I panicking for? I just need to play my part." Shen Jin gave a soft laugh to bolster her courage, but she still felt unsure.

"Miss Shen, my parents are coming." Yun Xiaoran stated the fact plainly. To be honest, he wasn't particularly nervous.

Perhaps it was because this wasn't his first experience of married life. He and Li Qingxi had even met each other's parents before.

All things considered, the biggest difference between him and Li Qingxi and an actual married couple was that a married couple had a certificate, while they didn't.

By that reckoning, this was practically his second marriage. Still, Yun Xiaoran had decided to keep that lie buried.

He and Shen Jin would be divorcing in a little over twenty days anyway. There was no need to tell her so much pointless information and create more worries.

"Oh, then why aren't you nervous at all?" Shen Jin looked at Yun Xiaoran with displeasure. His indifferent expression made it seem as though he didn't take this seriously at all.

"Well, we should at least act like a married couple." Yun Xiaoran shrugged. His words left Shen Jin rooted to the spot as she murmured to herself,

"What does a married couple act like?"

Hearing that, Yun Xiaoran gave it some thought, then bit the bullet and said,

"We'd sleep in the same bed, cook together, and not act so stiff around each other..." The more Shen Jin heard, the more shocked she became, finding it increasingly outrageous. She shook her head in firm opposition. "No. Anything is fine except sleeping in the same bed."

Yun Xiaoran looked into the eyes of the flustered, helpless Shen Jin. "I didn't say we'd actually sleep together. We just need to put an extra pillow on your bed. To make it more convincing, you can put my pillow there."

Hearing this compromise, Shen Jin couldn't help nodding. Her expression softened a little. "Then put your pillow on my bed."

"That works."

And so, through their first lengthy discussion, their plan for playing a convincing married couple gradually took shape, clear in some respects and vague in others. They worked out things like what each of them would say and what dishes to cook when...

In short, apart from not actually being married in any real sense, they would act like a married couple in every other way. To show enough sincerity, Shen Jin even went out to buy gold and health supplements. Yun Xiaoran thought it was an unnecessary expense, but for a music diva like her, it was hardly anything.

Zhou Xian and Yun Xiang were middle-class residents of Linshun City, neither rich nor powerful. They had two children: Yun Xiaoran, the older brother, and Yun Chenxi, his younger sister.

"We're here. This is where our daughter-in-law lives. Looks pretty spacious."

Zhou Xian looked around the upscale residential complex and thought it seemed quite nice.

Yun Xiang nodded as well. He had visited the upscale complexes where Li Qingxi lived before.

Yun Xiaoran and Shen Jin had been waiting in the parking area outside the complex for quite some time. When Yun Xiang's eyes met Yun Xiaoran's,

"Dad, she's-"

Yun Xiaoran had only just begun to speak when a soft arm suddenly slipped through his.

With one arm linked through Yun Xiaoran's, Shen Jin's eyes curved into lovely crescents. "Hello, Mom and Dad. I'm Yun Xiaoran's wife, Shen Jin."

Good grief, does she have to make it this convincing? Yun Xiaoran glanced at Shen Jin in surprise, but kept a stiff smile on his face as he looked at his father. Since Shen Jin had gotten them off to a good start, he felt less nervous, too.

Yun Xiang was about to go over to greet his son and daughter-in-law when the sight of his son and the young woman beside him made him draw a sharp breath.

This young woman with such a striking figure was his daughter-in-law?

"Dad." Yun Xiaoran approached with Shen Jin and took the initiative to introduce her. "Dad, this is Jin'er." The words felt incredibly awkward coming out of his mouth.

Shen Jin immediately took off her mask and greeted Yun Xiang with a smile. "Dad."

Seeing his daughter-in-law's breathtaking face, he nearly stared his eyes out of their sockets. He had figured his son's taste wouldn't be bad, since Li Qingxi had already been beautiful enough. But this young woman's beauty was even more refined. She truly surpassed Li Qingxi.

She looked especially sweet, too. At a glance, she seemed very gentle.

But why did she look... a little familiar...?

"Dad, Jin'er's saying hello to you."

Only after Yun Xiaoran reminded him did Yun Xiang come back to his senses. He immediately answered with a smile, "Oh, Jin'er. I'm so sorry."

Seeing what her daughter-in-law looked like, Zhou Xian couldn't help feeling genuinely happy for her son.

She was so much better than that celebrity from the entertainment industry before. Because of what had happened between Li Qingxi and her son, Zhou Xian had already uninstalled Weibo and anything else related to the entertainment industry, and had even urged the whole family to unfollow Li Qingxi.

"See? Our son really does have good taste, finding us such a beautiful daughter-in-law."

"Mom, Xiaoran and I just feel the same way about each other." Shen Jin nodded to Zhou Xian, then took out a heavy box bearing the China Gold logo in gold lettering and placed it in Zhou Xian's hands.

"Oh, sweetheart, you really shouldn't have spent so much..." Zhou Xian's eyes narrowed into slits with her smile, but she couldn't stop Shen Jin from pressing it into her hands.

After Yun Xiaoran made the introductions and they exchanged pleasantries, they headed upstairs.

As Yun Xiang called for the two of them to go upstairs, he finally noticed the health supplements Yun Xiaoran was carrying. He frowned. "Jin'er, sweetheart, don't bring so much next time. Just treat this place like your own home."

One glance told him these things had cost a fair amount. His son had even had to trouble his daughter-in-law; there was no doubt all these gifts were her way of showing respect and care.

Yun Xiang was touched, but he truly didn't want his daughter-in-law spending so much.

"Dad, this is just a little token of my affection. From now on, I'll take care of you alongside Yun Xiaoran. Just think of me as your daughter."

Shen Jin's lips curled into a soft smile, and warmth filled her heart. She had to admit that the atmosphere in Yun Xiaoran's family was quite nice.

There were no complaints or inappropriate behavior. In fact, throughout the visit, Yun Xiang and Zhou Xian kept coming up with funny things to talk about.