Contractual Marriage: We’re Meant to Be Together

254. Isn’t This Me?

Translator: Bryan

“I read your diary.” Wei Qing put down his chopsticks. “Wasn’t it because I’d helped you that you struck up a relationship with me?”

“Wei Qing!” Yan Chuyang smacked the chopsticks down onto the table. “Why did you read my diary without my permission?”

“It’s not my fault.” Wei Qing lowered his eyes guiltily. “Your diary was right under the throw pillow. I felt it when I rested my head on the pillow.”

“Ah!” Yan Chuyang ran his fingers through his hair speechlessly. “I shouldn’t have trusted you. I should’ve locked my diary up!”

Wei Qing snorted and then said quickly, “I was the one who helped you, wrote you anonymous letters and donated money to you, but you don’t have to thank me. I just want you to love me more.”

Yan Chuyang snorted, “It wasn’t you.”

Wei Qing became anxious. “What makes you say that?! It was indeed me! I’ve been watching over you all along!”

Yan Chuyang clicked his tongue. “I saw the deed of your house when I was looking for a reference book in your room the other day. You used to live in Block 003 on Haihe Road, but the donator’s address is Block 001.”

The look in Wei Qing’s eyes flickered abruptly. “When did you find out?”

“A long time ago,” Yan Chuyang indifferently lowered his head and, toying with the rice, said, “After I won the prize in the comic competition, I gave you the prize money, and then I found out when I went to your room to look for a reference book.”

Wei Qing let out a long sigh and leaned backwards against his chair. “So you’ve long since come to know I wasn’t the donator, that you didn’t owe me anything. Then why did you give me the prize money?”

“Because you’re the one I want to marry and dote on,” Yan Chuyang said earnestly, “I liked you, and you were so nice to me. Shouldn’t I give you the prize money? It’s what I should do.”

Wei Qing was astonished. “But… But you wrote in your diary that the anonymous donator was the one you had feelings for!”

“Eh…” Yan Chuyang blushed and said embarrassedly, “That’s because I went to look for the kind-hearted donator when I was little, but I mistook you for him. You were so good-looking and adorable. I fell in love with you at first sight, which was why I wrote in my diary that I developed feelings for the donator. I wrote that because I thought you were him.”

Wei Qing rubbed his eyebrows speechlessly and murmured, “My goodness. What have I been doing?”

It turned out that the uneasiness and suspicion he had been feeling for months was all because of a misunderstanding.

He thought, “God, what have I done?”

“Eh…” Yan Chuyang tapped the table with his fingers. “What’s wrong? Why do you have that look on your face?”

Wei Qing sighed, suddenly lifted his head and said earnestly, “Let’s fix a date for our wedding.”

“Ah…” The look in Yan Chuyang’s eyes flickered and with that he hesitated, “Don’t you think it’d be too showy to hold a wedding?”

“Not at all.” Wei Qing raised his voice. “You’re still in college, and we won’t be able to get a child in the near future, which is why we need to hold a wedding first, don’t you think?”

Yan Chuyang blushed. “Hey! What do you mean by ‘in the near future’? I can never bear you any children!”

“I know. That’s all the more reason to hold a wedding first!”

“But…” Yan Chuyang was confused. “The two of us knowing about our marriage would be enough. Why make a big deal out of it? I mean, we’ve registered our marriage already. As long as…”

“Give me your hand,” Wei Qing interrupted him.

Yan Chuyang was perplexed momentarily before he subconsciously reached out his hand.

Wei Qing held Yan Chuyang’s wrist, pulled a ring from his suit pant pocket and put it on Yan Chuyang’s ring finger.

Yan Chuyang’s face stiffened, his whole body rigid.

“Very good.” Stroking the back of Yan Chuyang’s hand, Wei Qing said in a deep voice, “It suits you well.”

It was a long moment before Yan Chuyang recovered his voice. “You…When did you buy this?”

“The day we went to Mexico to get our marriage certificates.”

“How’s that possible?” Yan Chuyang’s eyes widened. “We’d only just met at that time. Why did you buy me a ring?”

“Who knows?” Wei Qing raised his head and said with a resigned smile, “I have no idea why I did that either. When I saw the jewelry store, I thought of you, and after that, I walked inside and picked a ring of your size.”

Yan Chuyang raised his hand to look at the silver ring. “Was it because I married you that day? Was that why you bought me a ring?”

“No.” Wei Qing shook his head. “Maybe I fell in love with you at first sight. I just didn’t dare admit it. That’s why I bought something that could prove we’re married.”

Yan Chuyang abruptly lifted his head, his face registering incredulity. “Wei Qing…”

Wei Qing reached out his hand.

Yan Chuyang stood up from the chair and threw himself into Wei Qing’s arms.

Wei Qing put his arms around Yan Chuyang’s waist and sat Yan Chuyang on his lap.

“Will you forgive me?” Wei Qing asked thickly, his face buried in Yan Chuyang’s chest.

“For what?”

“For imprisoning my feelings with my memories of the past and refusing to admit to loving you.”

“It’s okay.” Yan Chuyang clapped him on the shoulder. “All that matters is I like you.”

“Chuyang…” Wei Qing’s voice became faintly hoarse.

“It’s okay. Really.” Yan Chuyang kept patting Wei Qing’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”

Wei Qing raised his head. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s all right.” Yan Chuyang stroked Wei Qing’s chin and said softly, “I did something wrong as well. I wasn’t confident enough and I kept suspecting you. I love you so much that sometimes I can’t help overthinking things.”

Feeling on the verge of tears, Wei Qing buried his face in Yan Chuyang’s shoulder. “How can you be so sweet?”

Yan Chuyang patted him on the shoulder. “There, there. Good boy. Come on. Say you love me.”

Having dropped his guard, Wei Qing blurted, “I love you.”

Yan Chuyang smiled smugly, feeling very happy that his handsome marriage partner was meekly lying in his embrace.

“Be a peach and say it again.”

“I love you.”

“Mmm, say it louder.”

“I LOVE YOU!”

“Good boy. I’ll always love you.”

“…”

Yan Chuyang played the role of a Top for once. Having derived enough wicked pleasure from it, he was carried into the bathroom by Wei Qing.

Yan Chuyang officially moved in with Wei Qing.

Early the next morning.

Yan Chuyang was woken up by aroma of food from the kitchen. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep for a little while longer, but his stomach kept protesting.

“Damn you, Wei Qing.” Yan Chuyang opened his eyes groggily, pushed himself onto his elbow and mumbled, “Why does he always have to make the food smell so good?”

With that he threw back the covers and got out of bed, but he had hardly gone one pace when he tripped and fell.

He stepped on the lower hem of his dress.

Yes, his dress.

Yan Chuyang didn’t know what had gotten into Wei Qing last night, but the latter had actually pulled from the wardrobe the princess dress that Yan Chuyang had once worn before, and then coaxed him into wearing it.

Yan Chuyang got to his feet and walked to the wardrobe. He wanted to find a suitable coat.

He was fumbling around when the lace of his dress snagged on the handle of the wardrobe. Yan Chuyang pulled at it, and the wardrobe wobbled. Suddenly, a small wooden casket fell off.

“Uh…” Yan Chuyang was confused for two seconds before he jerked out of his trance, stooped down and picked up the casket from the floor.

“What is this?”

The casket looked very high-end. It was made of reddish brown walnut and had a silver lock on it, but it was not locked.

The casket was covered with a layer of dust. It seemed to have been there for a long time.

Yan Chuyang blew the ash off it, removed the lock and opened the casket.

Eh… The thing inside was even more strange. There was only one wooden picture frame in there.

Yan Chuyang picked up the picture frame, turned it over and looked at the photo inside.

It was a photo of a theater play. The lights were dim and only the back of an actor wearing a princess dress with a variety of accessories could be seen.

Yan Chuyang stared at it for a while. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes and asked in astonishment, “Isn’t this me?”

At first he had been unsure, but the picture was a high-definition one. He clearly saw a black ribbon around the waist of the princess gown.

That was his shoelace. He remembered that the princess gown had been very baggy, and he hadn’t had enough time to adjust it before going onto the stage, which was why he had unfastened his shoelace and wrapped it around his waist in his anxiety.