IROAWTMTFL Chapter 5

“Zhuang…” Just as Yan Yan was about to call out, he was directly dragged away by Zhuang Yiyun. The man’s hand was bigger than his own, with long and strong finger bones. When they held hands, it was warm, and Yan Yan’s attention was immediately diverted.

At this point, it was unclear whether he would be blocking peach blossoms or not, but there definitely were family reasons involved. Otherwise, Auntie Zhuang wouldn’t have appeared like this.

When Jiang Li chased after them, she saw an angry woman. Zhuang Yiyun protected Yan Yan behind him. Both sides didn’t say anything, yet the atmosphere was tense.

Seeing someone else approach, Zhuang Xian didn’t want “passersby” to see her like this, so she just glanced at Zhuang Yiyun and Yan Yan before saying in a bitter tome, “Don’t do anything crazy, you better think it through,” and left.

Yan Yan turned to look at Zhuang Yiyun. Even though he still looked cold, Yan Yan inexplicably felt that his mood wasn’t bad.

“Do you want to back out?”

“Can I?”

With Zhuang Xian’s figure completely disappearing at the street corner, Zhuang Yiyun let go of Yan Yan’s hand and replied, “Of course.”

Yan Yan shook his head. Only fools regretted afterward, wasn’t it just an evil mother-in-law? Why should he be afraid? Moreover, he wasn’t planning to spend his entire life with Zhuang Yiyun.

“I’ll visit your house this weekend, and next week, you choose a day.”

‘Next week?’ Yan Yan nodded without much hesitation.

Jiang Li stood there dumbfounded. Her blank stare made it difficult for Zhuang Yiyun to ignore it. His gaze fell on her, and then he glanced at Yan Yan inquiringly.

“This is my classmate, Jiang Li. She is my good… bestie.” He originally wanted to say “good buddy,” but thinking about his cute and lovely persona, he should probably call her “bestie.”

Having known each other for ten years, this was the first time Yan Yan called Jian Li “bestie.” Her entire being went bad instantly, and her IQ seemed to have deteriorated, showing a dazed expression that indicated her brain had stagnated.

Yan Yan had to say with a forced smile, “Lili has a bit of a simple personality. I was worried, so I brought her along.”

Zhuang Yiyun wasn’t interested in his explanation. He nodded and asked, “Do you want me to take you back to school?”

“Sinole” Jiang Li came back to her senses and immediately cut in, “Yes, it’s dangerous for us to go back on our own.”

Two tall people of 1.8 meters were “in danger” going back on their own? Okay, what could Zhuang Yiyun say? He let the two of them wait by the shop entrance while he went to get his car.

As soon as he left, Jiang Li immediately grabbed Yan Yan and asked, “Tell me honestly, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on? I just found myself a man.” Yan Yan raised an eyebrow, his previous innocent appearance completely gone.

Right in front of Jiang Li, he took out his phone and sent a message to Zhuang Yiyun: [Gege, Jiang Li knows my parents. If she finds out, she’ll definitely tell them, so I had to lie to her and say that you’re my boyfriend… Don’t blow our cover, okay?]

On seeing these words, Jiang Li didn’t know where to start with her complaints: “So, are you two pretending to be a couple now? And then you told me, but you want me to pretend not to know? No, why are you pretending? Who suggested it? Him? What’s with this immersive experience of a danmei novel?”

“You want to know why? Then act normal. If your sweet little white cabbage is snatched up by a handsome guy, what kind of reaction should you have when you find out? Take ten seconds to think about it, his car is here.”

“Fuck, Yan Yan, you dog!”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

The ten thousand sentences Jiang Li wanted to say afterward were blocked. Yan Yan jogged a couple of steps to the side of the street, tilted his head, and looked into the car window that Zhuang Yiyun had opened from the passenger seat. Seeing this, Jiang Li could almost imagine that cute power, he even had dimples when he smiled. The main reason he tried to act cool was to avoid people poking at his dimples, but at this moment, he didn’t hold back at all.

After confirming that it was Zhuang Yiyun, Yan Yan directly opened the back door of the car, gestured for Jiang Li to get in first, and then followed and sat in the back seat.

Jiang Li winked desperately, wondering why he wasn’t sitting in the front passenger seat. In the rearview mirror, Zhuang Yiyun saw Jiang Li’s eyes and eyebrows squeezed as if she was having muscle cramps. Yan Yan must have tugged at her sleeve, whispering, “Lili, you’re embarrassing me.”

He tried to lower his voice as much as possible, but the car had good soundproofing. Yan Yan’s words were still quite clear. After he said it, Yan Yan realized that Zhuang Yiyun might have heard it, and his face turned red. Their gazes briefly met in the rearview mirror, and Yan Yan quickly looked away.

Jiang Li: “…”

‘I should be beneath the car, not inside.’

Although she was used to Yan Yan’s tall tales, but their interaction as a fake couple shocked her and made her tremble. If she didn’t know Yan Yan was pretending, she would’ve been shocked on the spot.

‘Amitabha Buddha, Goddess of Mercy, please take away this demon!’

Zhuang Yiyun barely said anything during the whole journey. He only asked about the location twice, and Yan Yan answered. After that, Yan Yan and her whispered to each other, making it seem like they had truly transformed from “buddies” to “besties.”

“My research topic was assigned by the department head, and it’s really difficult. The requirements are too high, and his research students are also not easy to deal with,” Yan Yan complained in a low voice, then encouraged himself, “But I’ll do my best.”

“Anyway, I can’t help you. Our school’s humanities courses can’t even catch up to your school’s last place,” Jiang Li was stiff, not sure why she was engaging in this kind of conversation with him.

“But you guys can win gold medals.”

“Hehe.”

“Lili, I’ve finally got a chance to take a break. How about we go have some dessert tomorrow?”

Jiang Li: “…”

Didn’t they usually go for barbecue, hot pots, and crayfish? How did it turn into dessert???

Yan Yan glared at her, indicating the crucial person in the driver’s seat.

Jiang Li: “Oh. But why doesn’t your boyfriend accompany you?”

Jiang Li had surrendered to Yan Yan’s curiosity and she felt ashamed, saying her lines awkwardly.

“Gege is very busy with work. I don’t need him to accompany me every day,” said Yan Yan, the understanding and considerate little husband.

Jiang Li almost vomited. Fortunately, they weren’t far from their destination. This torture of a conversation finally ended. As Zhuang Yiyun’s car drove off, Jiang Li grabbed Yan Yan by the neck with one hand and dragged him to the sports field to interrogate him. After listening to him, her brows could’ve crushed mosquitoes.

“Are you insane? Can you just casually agree to marriage? And who is he, a PhD, a researcher, and he’s deceiving a male college student with a fake marriage?! Can people who are willing to fake a marriage be good people?”

“Why should I care if he’s a good person or not?” Yan Yan took off his wig and used his fingers to comb through his hair. He was in a good mood, and he responded with a smile.

Jiang Li wanted to say more but Yan Yan cut her off, “I won’t suffer a loss, and if I do, it’s his loss.”

“Do you really like him?”

“I do. He’s so handsome, don’t you like him? If he were straight, would you pursue him or not?”

Jiang Li thought for a moment, but she decided not to answer. Just like Yan Yan had said, they both liked this type, but with Zhuang Yiyun’s aura of rejecting people from a thousand miles away, she wouldn’t dare pursue him.

“Are you serious?”

“What do you mean by ‘serious’… Wait a minute, do you think I’m really going to date him?” Yan Yan smiled, “No wonder you’re so nervous. Don’t you know me? I’m just superficial. Before, you kept stopping me from making bar appointments. Now you have no reason to stop this one. Let me tell you, someone like him, an elite and abstinent gentleman, cherishes life. Don’t worry about impurities.”

“Tch~ You think you know, you big-talking virgin.”

“Oh, why am I still a virgin? Why don’t you tell me? Could you barge into a hotel room, pretend to catch infidelity, and drag me away? Only you could do that, and only I wouldn’t mind having a friend like you.”

“You idiot! Could that guy be worth it? If I hadn’t got the information quickly, your life would’ve been ruined!”

Talking about this matter made Jiang Li angry. With Yan Yan’s fun-loving and no limit personality, how could he not have looked for a hook up the moment he became an adult? But the first time he did, he encountered someone who was sick. If it weren’t for Jiang Li’s timely intervention, who knew what would have happened. Since then, Jiang Li had been watching over him. Although Yan Yan complained on the surface, deep down he knew that’s what he needed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be the “big-talking virgin” in Jiang Li’s words.

“Yeah yeah, it’s thanks to our boss Lili.”

“In any case, you should observe this Zhuang Yiyun closely. It’s easy to be deceived by appearances. Don’t just be head over heels and neglect everything else. Do you understand?”

“I understand, don’t worry.”

“Don’t give me that crap! I’m worried you won’t be sincere and only focus on the carnal stuff, that you might get dirty thoughts. I’m even more worried that you’ll be sincere but the other person won’t be, someone like him won’t be easy to handle.”

Dirty thoughts? Yan Yan wanted to laugh. He felt like his thoughts had never been healthy. But Jiang Li was truly worried about him so he didn’t refute it, and he even broke his usual rule and accompanied her all the way back to the sports university. The sports university was right next to their engineering university, but normally, they wouldn’t go out of their way to escort each other back.

When Yan Yan returned to the dormitory, it was already quite late. After some consideration, he sent a WeChat message to Zhuang Yiyun: [I’m back in the dormitory [smile]]

Zhuang Yiyun: [Okay]

Yan Yan: [So, see you this weekend, gege.]

Zhuang Yiyun: [See you this weekend.]

Their unfamiliar and somewhat stiff conversation ended like that. Even though Zhuang Yiyun had driven him back to the school and it had taken a long time for him to return to the dormitory, Zhuang Yiyun didn’t say a word.

From that day until Friday, the two didn’t contact each other again. Even Yan Yan, who has always been positive, did not take the initiative to send a message.

The current state of their relationship was a bit awkward. The more proactive he was, the more Zhuang Yiyun would put up his guard, so he took a step back. However, Yan Yan was just waiting for that piece of paper! Getting married was very easy, but there was a 30-day cooling-off period to get a divorce. Hehe.

‘Just get the certificate first,’ Yan Yan thought casually. When he went back home, his parents were completely shocked. They were worried about their son going out and messing around, so they wanted him to find a stable partner, which wasn’t wrong. Zhuang Yiyun was indeed outstanding, but going from secretly getting along to officially declaring that they would go get their marriage certificate next week???

Their son was only 21, he hadn’t even graduated from college, they hadn’t even thought about his marriage yet!

Father Yan and Mother Yan were flustered in the warmth of their home’s air conditioning.

“So, you guys got together after that meal?” Qian Ruqing was practically in a daze.

“Yes.” Zhuang Yiyun answered calmly, and it was impossible to tell from his appearance that they had only eaten two meals together and exchanged two WeChat messages.

“And you guys decided to get your certificate next week?” Yan Ximing also had a face full of disbelief, but it was clearly a bit better than his wife’s.

Yan Yan: “Yes. Zhuang Gege is so outstanding, I feel more at ease if we get married earlier. But I’m still in school, so we don’t plan to hold a wedding ceremony for now.”

Yan Yan finished speaking and glanced at Zhuang Yiyun.

Zhuang Yiyun also looked over, and the two exchanged a cooperative glance. In Father Yan and Mother Yan’s eyes, the son and son-in-law’s tacit attitude ingeniously soothed their frightened hearts. But their concerns then turned into something else.

Their son was still pretending to be a good boy, and was still wearing a wig on his head. This… won’t he be exposed on the second day of the marriage and then divorced?!

While Zhuang Yiyun was discussing work with Father Yan, Qian Ruqing quickly pulled Yan Yan back to his room.

“What are you going to do about this? Hurry up and dye your hair, wearing a wig all the time isn’t a solution. Yan Yan, you’ll be living together after you get married, right? That’s 24 hours of being together, won’t you get exposed? Finding a partner like Little Zhuang isn’t easy. You need to cherish him, live your life well with him, do you understand?”

“Dye my hair…” Yan Yan seemed to be lost in thought, and after a moment, he responded, “Alright.”

Qian Ruqing put down half of her worries. Yan Yan was now willing to listen to advice, this was the power of love! Their son really seemed to be getting better. She never expected things to develop like this, and Qian Ruqing was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Good, good, good. Then Mom can rest assured. Our family doesn’t have many rules usually, you’ve been used to being free at home. But when you’re living with your boyfriend… husband? Wife? Anyway, when you’re living with Xiao Zhuang, you need to compromise with each other, do you understand? It’s not like being at home. You’ve been with me and your dad since you were little, and it took our family twenty years to get along harmoniously. You and Xiao Zhuang aren’t familiar yet, so a little friction is normal.”

“It’s okay to argue, but you can’t physically fight.”

Yan Yan thought about how Zhuang Yiyun might look while fighting. He couldn’t picture it. Even though the sight of his chest and abdominal muscles tensing up would surely be sexy, it was still hard to imagine a scientist getting into a physical fight. Wouldn’t it be a one sided match? The other party looked tall and imposing, but would actually get knocked down by a single punch from him?

Yan Yan amused himself with his imagination and nodded in agreement, “I won’t fight.”

Qian Ruqing continued to chatter for a few more sentences, and Yan Yan found it quite interesting to listen to. Even though their sudden agreement to marry was unexpected, rushed, without ceremony, and inexplicable, hearing his mother nag like this made it feel like he was really about to start a new family.

His heart felt a bit sore and warm, but he wasn’t going to admit it.

Zhuang Yiyun’s visit to the Yan home went surprisingly well, even beyond his understanding. The Yan’s family house was old and not very big, but it had a warmth that he had never experienced before. Yan Yan’s parents’ tolerance and respect for their son were even more evident than when they first met. That was the biggest feeling Zhuang Yiyun had during his first visit to Yan Yan’s home. For a moment, he even selfishly rejoiced that perhaps he was crazy but lucky, as if he had truly met a nice person.