Carrying bags of groceries of all kinds, Yun Xiaoran headed home.
She still had not replied to him, so he did not need to reply to her either.
When he opened the door, Yun Xiaoran saw his whirlwind-marriage wife sitting in the living room, her face as cold as ice, with an agreement laid out before her.
Across from her sat an unfamiliar woman with an equally serious expression.
The scene felt strangely familiar.
"You're back?"
Shen Jin spoke irritably. She had no affection whatsoever for this obsessive fan who had spied on her. Frost covered her pretty face, and she stared at him as if she wanted to kill him.
Still utterly confused, Yun Xiaoran looked at Shen Jin and asked:
"What's wrong?"
Sister Hua, Hua Rong, looked Yun Xiaoran over and gave a slight nod.
To be honest, Yun Xiaoran really was incredibly handsome. Even his 9.9-yuan outfit from Pinduoduo could not conceal his perfectly proportioned figure. Although he was still holding the groceries, everything about him as he stood there was perfect, apart from his demeanor.
Someone like him would be accepted by any modeling agency he applied to.
The only strange thing was that, somehow, this man showed none of the roguish confidence a man ought to have when he spoke. Instead, his gaze kept darting away.
It was hard for Sister Hua to imagine someone like him being an obsessive fan. A man this handsome would be quite a catch even in an ordinary relationship.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go cook."
Yun Xiaoran spoke to Shen Jin indifferently, without a trace of emotion.
Shen Jin and the woman he did not know were staring at him together, making him deeply uncomfortable.
Their gazes were just like Li Qingxi's before their breakup: calculating, full of arrogance, and devoid of affection.
Only when Shen Jin noticed Yun Xiaoran looking at her did she say quietly:
"Put those groceries down first, then come over and sign an agreement."
Yun Xiaoran nodded without speaking. As for the agreement, he could accept it as long as it was not some scheme to hurt him or sell him off to Northern Myanmar.
After reading through the entire agreement, Yun Xiaoran was a little shocked.
For example, the first clause: the husband could not enter the wife's room without permission.
All these rules seemed to establish boundaries to keep Yun Xiaoran from approaching the woman before him, who was as beautiful as she was cold.
But in truth, even if Shen Jin had not written out this agreement, Yun Xiaoran would have followed its terms anyway.
There were two reasons.
First, he had only entered this fake marriage to fool his parents. There was no need to make the act real.
Second, her air and luxurious appearance made him feel just as uncomfortable as he had around people like Li Qingxi.
And from the look of things, she seemed to be a well-known figure in the country's entertainment industry.
Everyone said the entertainment industry corrupted whoever entered it.
Judging by how this icy woman looked at him without a shred of affection, she was probably just like Li Qingxi.
After his breakup with his former girlfriend, Yun Xiaoran no longer had any fondness for the entertainment industry.
Besides, even as an adult who had only just entered society, he knew there was an enormous gulf between them.
They were not the same kind of people.
As Yun Xiaoran read the agreement, Shen Jin coldly watched his eyes for any change in emotion.
She discovered that he barely even frowned at an agreement whose terms were almost entirely designed to keep him away from her.
His behavior and attitude toward her had also been rather strange from the start.
It was as though she was not a huge celebrity or the president of China Star Entertainment.
She was merely someone he had entered a fake marriage with.
And Yun Xiaoran had simply gone out to buy groceries and cook for her as part of his duties as a husband.
Could he not recognize me?
At that thought, Shen Jin's furrowed brows relaxed slightly, but she still could not put her mind at ease:
Could this obsessive fan be playing hard to get with me?
She was far too proud to ask Yun Xiaoran whether he knew who she was, let alone take the initiative to ask why he had wanted to marry her.
Still, she decided to let it go.
The less trouble, the better.
After confirming that everything was in order, Yun Xiaoran signed both copies of the agreement. Shen Jin had signed them well beforehand.
And that was that.
They each kept one copy of the agreement.
Then Shen Jin picked up her copy with her delicate hands, raised her brows slightly, and fixed her cold eyes on Yun Xiaoran.
"I've already contacted a lawyer. We'll divorce in a little over twenty days."
Yun Xiaoran nodded at that and said nothing more.
A month in this house would be enough for him to get started from scratch in this world.
In the end, he was given a side room. Neither large nor small, it was clearly intended for guests.
Looking around, Yun Xiaoran nodded. He was very pleased with the room, since its soundproofing was good too.
That way, he could practice singing at home without causing trouble by disturbing the neighbors.
"What's the Wi-Fi password? Could you tell me?"
Standing there, Yun Xiaoran looked at Shen Jin before glancing elsewhere. Even taking a deep breath to calm himself did no good.
Shen Jin merely frowned slightly before reciting a string of numbers.
"Okay. Thank you, Miss Shen."
Yun Xiaoran's guiding principle was to avoid further misunderstandings or conflicts with this woman, so he remained polite but distinctly distant.
Shen Jin was unusually surprised to hear him call her "Miss Shen." Her dark hair lay casually against the expensive leather sofa. She wore a white summer school-uniform blouse with a solid black fitted skirt, velvety white stockings, and black heels.
Her slender fingers gripped the agreement tightly beneath pale arms that still held a healthy flush, and her eyes were full of bewilderment.
Could he really not know who I am?
Shen Jin sat on the leather sofa, beautiful and elegant, radiating an icy air that kept strangers at bay. She felt doubtful. By all rights, her beauty and her face should have been recognizable nationwide.
Surely there could not be anyone who did not recognize her.
Yet Yun Xiaoran genuinely did not seem to be pretending.
Cooking was Yun Xiaoran's forte, and soon a rich aroma filled the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Shen Jin took out her phone to watch videos on VA Site. As a singer, she had come up through that route herself.
The singers on the amateur platform sang with either lilting grace or growling power, giving their songs more life and vitality.
They were not nearly as homogenized as the performances on the competition stage of I Am a Singer.
"Listen to this cheerful song and find hope for tomorrow?"
Seeing that video title, Shen Jin could not help feeling a little more at ease.
The amateur platform really did understand her.
It knew she had been through so many irritating things today and had even recommended a song to soothe her heart.
Shen Jin put on her earphones, then closed her eyes to enjoy an amateur creator's work.
The intro was rather slow, and she nodded as she listened:
"The composition is pretty good."
"I can't help becoming a stubborn fish, swimming alone against the ocean current to the very end..."
The very first line shattered Shen Jin's composure.
If the melody was breathtaking, the lyrics were worthy of the amateur platform's weekly must-watch list.
She opened her phone and checked the username, only to discover that this was not the work of some renowned composer or lyricist on the platform, but a newcomer:
"Lone Cloud?"
Seeing that name, Shen Jin raised her brows, her eyes full of surprise.
This person had only an avatar and a username, without even a star rating yet. His sole work had reached five hundred thousand views in five hours.
A hundred and thirty thousand people were watching the video right now.
Good grief, his previous video was just the one the system had automatically created when he joined.
It showed that he had created this account six hours earlier.
An unusual account like this undoubtedly belonged to some big shot in the industry.
As Shen Jin listened to the song, she tapped the favorite and coin buttons with her slender finger, then followed the account.
Big shots like this generally let their work do the talking. They might post only once every few months, but every video would inevitably be a hit.
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