As soon as she finished speaking, Mu Yanxi reached for Yi Wulan’s hand, which was resting on the armrest.
Yi Wulan’s mobility was limited, so even if she wanted to pull away, she couldn’t. Mu Yanxi quickly grasped her hand.
Her fingertips gently slid between hers, their fingers gradually interlocking.
Yi Wulan froze, her gaze falling.
She had always been accustomed to keeping a distance from others and had experienced little affection growing up. As far as she could remember, this was the first time she had held hands with someone so intimately.
Mu Yanxi’s hand was fair and soft, her fingertips tinged with a faint, rosy pink.
The other woman’s body heat transferred steadily from where their palms met. Yi Wulan’s fingertips trembled as if she’d received an electric shock, and she hastily pulled her hand away. “Mu Yanxi, that’s enough!”
Mu Yanxi’s hand froze in mid-air. She had expected to be thrown out, but when she saw the look of forbearance on Yi Wulan’s face, it was as if she had discovered a new continent.
The moody and unpredictable Yi Wulan, who was rumored to be difficult after her car accident, didn’t seem so hard to get along with after all.
At least she was still standing here, perfectly fine.
She wanted her to stop?
No way.
Not only would she continue, but Mu Yanxi also feigned a sigh. “Yi Wulan, don’t tell me this is your first time holding hands with someone?”
When she said Yi Wulan’s name, the end of her words carried a subtle, coquettish tone she herself hadn’t noticed.
Yi Wulan closed her eyes and endured it for a moment, but she couldn’t bear it any longer.
She opened her eyes, her expression seeming to darken by several degrees. The Yi family members beside her habitually lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Mu Yanxi blinked innocently. The dazzling light from the chandelier reflected in her pupils, as if they held the stars. She deliberately drawled, “What’s wrong?”
Without a doubt, the Mu Yanxi before her had an exquisitely beautiful face. She was not only famous for her beauty among the wealthy second generation of Yuncheng but also exceptionally striking in the entertainment industry.
At this moment, the beauty in the red dress leaned slightly forward, blocking her path. Her charming, fox-like eyes were filled with affection, as if only the person before her could enter her sight, could enter her heart.
No one could refuse such passion.
Even if it had nothing to do with feelings, one couldn’t bear to spoil it.
Yi Wulan stared at Mu Yanxi for a moment, her gaze inscrutable, and said nothing.
This silence made the surrounding atmosphere even more awkward. As if she hadn’t noticed, Mu Yanxi once again wiggled her fingers to take the other’s hand. “But we have a marriage contract. You have to get used to me, right?”
Her tone was quite aggrieved, making it seem as if Yi Wulan had committed some wicked act of abandoning her family.
Yi Wulan was almost moved to laughter by the woman before her. She had only ever heard that the second miss of the Mu family was arrogant, but she never knew she could be so shamelessly persistent.
It even gave her the illusion that time had turned back to before the car accident, when she was still the healthy, sought-after person in others’ eyes.
Yi Wulan glanced at her own legs and said in a deep voice, “Miss Mu, let’s be direct. What exactly do you want?”
Hearing this, the younger members of the Yi family broke into a cold sweat. For a moment, they didn’t know whether to lament that Yi Wulan had provoked such a formidable character or to worry for Mu Yanxi, who was unaware of Yi Wulan’s methods.
Yi Wulan had been in control of the Yi family for nearly a decade. Back when Rongjia was in crisis, it was the not-yet-graduated Yi Wulan who turned the tide, stabilized the situation, and then squeezed out her own father to ascend to the pinnacle of power.
All these years, these collateral branches of the Yi family had not dared to provoke Yi Wulan. Even after her car accident left her with limited mobility, not a single one of them dared to show the slightest disrespect in public.
They all subconsciously moved further away from the sofa, no longer having any curiosity to overhear the two’s conversation.
Ever since she was young, Mu Yanxi had been admired wherever she went, whether because of her own beauty or out of deference to the Mu family behind her.
Therefore, the more she was told not to do something, the more she wanted to do it.
Whether it was for the future of the Mu family and Yi Wulan, to strike a blow against Yi Jingming, or to resist this unreasonable world of the book, this marriage contract had to continue today.
Mu Yanxi let out a light “Ah,” feigning innocence, and retorted, “What do you mean, what do I want? We’ll just proceed as originally planned.”
Yi Wulan didn’t want to answer and avoided Mu Yanxi’s gaze.
Mu Yanxi glanced down at her watch. The diamond-encrusted watch face reflected the light into her eyes. She curled her lips. “Yi Wulan, don’t tell me you’re afraid of me?”
Yi Wulan’s tone was calm as she replied, “I am not afraid of you.”
Just cautious, that’s all.
Yi Wulan’s personality had always been this way. She had never experienced much affection growing up in the scheming Yi family, where she would often encounter the various men and women with their pungent perfumes that her father brought home.
Only by making herself stronger could she escape such an environment. From her studies to her career, she had taken every step flawlessly.
She was accustomed to analyzing matters calmly and carefully.
A wanton and reckless style of doing things like Mu Yanxi’s was something she could never bring herself to do.
Mu Yanxi tapped her wrist thoughtfully. “Do you think our Mu family isn’t good enough for the Yi family?”
“The Mu family is very good.”
“Then you have a problem with me personally?”
“You are also very good.”
Mu Yanxi’s eyes darted around, and she smiled slyly. “If that’s the case, then why cancel the engagement?”
Yi Wulan remained silent, as if in thought.
After a moment, she looked at the group of younger Yi family members who had long since retreated several meters away. “Is there anyone among you willing to represent the Yi family in a marriage alliance with the Mu family?”
Since Yi Wulan had said so, there would naturally be benefits.
But when they eagerly looked over at Mu Yanxi, she didn’t spare them even half a glance, to say nothing of the notoriously protective Mu Yanqing, whose face had already darkened at the side.
Although they entertained the idea of replacing Yi Wulan, it was obvious that Mu Yanxi only wanted Yi Wulan. If Mu Yanxi didn’t protect them, who knew if Mu Yanqing would target them? You had to be alive to enjoy the money.
In an instant, not a single person was willing to take the risk.
Mu Yanxi held back a laugh and chimed in with a gloating remark from the side, “Hey, look, none of them want to. It seems like you’re the only one left in the Yi family…”
Halfway through her sentence, Yi Wulan silently slid her wheelchair forward.
Mu Yanxi’s heart skipped a beat. Could Yi Wulan be about to fly into a rage out of shame and anger and attack her?
She took a slight step back and lowered her head to play the victim. “If even you reject me, think how embarrassing it would be for our Mu family if word got out.”
Like a pitiful, unwanted puppy.
After a long while, just when Mu Yanxi had been waiting for an answer and thought she wouldn’t get one, she heard Yi Wulan speak faintly, “Then we’ll do as you wish.”
“What do you mean, ‘as I wish’? Our marriage isn’t… huh, wait a minute?” Mu Yanxi finally realized. “You’re agreeing?”
Yi Wulan nodded and coughed a few times, which made her face look even paler. “It was a marriage that was decided long ago. If Miss Mu doesn’t mind, I naturally have no grounds to refuse.”
“I don’t mind, I don’t mind.” Just then, Mu Yanqing stepped out to take a call, so Mu Yanxi immediately took out her phone and opened the calendar. “There’s no rush for the wedding, but we can get the certificate first. Let me see which day to choose.”
She circled around Yi Wulan, leaning against her hand here, nudging it there. “This day is auspicious but a bit far. This one is also good, suitable for marriage. Or how about this one, what do you think…”
Yi Wulan gave up trying to free her hand, but her back remained ramrod straight. She wanted to pull away but was afraid Mu Yanxi would do something even more outrageous, so she had no choice but to let her be.
Mu Yanxi picked several dates and finally concluded, “It seems none of them are quite right?”
A corner of Yi Wulan’s mouth twitched slightly.
“Actually, I don’t think it needs to be so troublesome.” Mu Yanxi’s eyes sparkled, her long lashes curling upwards as she revealed a captivating smile.
Her pleasant voice was tinged with a hint of charm. “The Civil Affairs Bureau hasn’t closed yet. How about… today?”
Despite Mu Yanqing’s repeated attempts to dissuade her, Mu Yanxi insisted on getting into the black Bentley with Yi Wulan.
This angered Mu Yanqing so much that she threw down her documents and left, threatening to cut off her allowance.
In the car, Mu Yanxi secretly glanced at Yi Wulan several times, but the other woman was focused on the scenery outside the window, showing no interest in chatting with her.
That was fine. For the moment, she wasn’t in the mood either.
After all, just for the sake of getting married, she had tragically lost her monthly allowance, which started at eight figures. Her entire heart was bleeding.
Mu Yanxi put on a brave face for a few seconds before she couldn’t help but pitifully send a message to Mu Yanqing, her words sincere as she typed out several lines of apology and pleading.
Click, send.
Then, she was met with a big, red exclamation mark.
Mu Yanxi was at a loss for words.
Reborn once, her life was simply more bitter than a bitter melon.
The car slowly stopped in front of the Civil Affairs Bureau. It was a weekday, so there weren’t many people.
After taking their photos and approaching the final window to submit the necessary documents, Yi Wulan suddenly brought up her physical condition again, her gaze tinged with a certain distance. “Miss Mu, the blood clot in my brain is very difficult to remove and could be life-threatening at any moment. My legs, too, cannot be cured.”
Just before reaching the window, Yi Wulan stopped her wheelchair. “I don’t know how much longer I have to live. Marrying me will be a great injustice to you.”
“It’s no injustice.”
Mu Yanxi blinked. Yi Wulan didn’t seem as naggy as her sister, so she probably wouldn’t interfere with her too much. That meant she could develop her ‘salted fish’ career in the entertainment industry as she pleased.
If being a happy salted fish was considered an injustice, then she was truly willing to be wronged for a lifetime.
Besides, she wanted to make up for the regrets of her past life. The more others wanted to see Yi Wulan become a laughingstock, the better she would treat her.
If she could gain Yi Wulan’s trust along the way, that would be even better. It would also make it easier for her to deal with what Yi Jingming would do in the future.
Mu Yanxi said with sincerity, “President Yi is good-looking and capable. I’m clearly the one marrying up.”
“Once you hand over the documents, you’ll really be tied to me.” Yi Wulan glanced at her, emphasizing, “There are no other Yi family members here now. You don’t have to act or worry about my feelings. Do you truly have no regrets?”
Of course she had no regrets.
Mu Yanxi shook her head vigorously. “I will always be with you. If you die, I will take good care of this family for you.”
And your inheritance.
She would absolutely not let Yi Jingming succeed.
Yi Wulan: …
In the next second, before Yi Wulan could say anything, Mu Yanxi, as if worried Yi Wulan would back out, snatched the necessary documents from her hand and quickly submitted them at the window.
The staff member smiled and swiftly verified their information.
After a series of procedures, two brand-new red booklets were finally handed over.
Mu Yanxi accepted them with both hands. Looking at the two marriage certificates that bound her to Yi Wulan, she finally felt a sense of security after her rebirth.
This time, she had finally not been interfered with by the world’s consciousness.
Mu Yanxi gently placed one of the booklets in Yi Wulan’s hand. A strand of her long hair slipped from her shoulder and happened to fall on Yi Wulan’s neck, swaying gently.
Yi Wulan’s shoulders stiffened uncontrollably.
Noticing this, Mu Yanxi reached out and took hold of the hand that was holding the marriage certificate.
Her tone was soft and coquettish as she announced like a proud little peacock, “Yi Wulan, you’re mine now.”
