WHIF- Chapter 1

Ch. 01 Will you marry me?

    “Sorry, something came up at work last minute. I’m late.”

    Ji Xiang was in the middle of running the 101st mental simulation of ‘how to drive off a blind date’ when a man in a suit finally arrived, moving at a relaxed pace despite being late.

    He narrowed his eyes slightly.

    Half an hour late, yet not a trace of guilt on his face.

    Well, doesn’t matter. It gave Ji Xiang a perfect excuse to reject another matchmaking setup — a gift he wouldn’t let go to waste.

    “Mr. Zhao, is it? I’m quite particular about punctuality,” Ji Xiang set down the now lukewarm coffee in his hand and offered a polite smile, “I don’t appreciate people who are late. But out of courtesy for the first meeting, I decided to wait after receiving your message. However, I think now—”

    Before he could finish, Zhao Yuancheng nodded lightly and pulled a flower out from behind his back.

    Yes, a single flower.

    It even looked like it had been plucked haphazardly from the roadside.

    Ji Xiang raised an eyebrow at the scraggly stem and messy leaves.

    Zhao Yuancheng cut him off smugly, thinking he was being clever: “Special circumstances, just this once. Sorry for making you wait today.”

    Ji Xiang opened his mouth but said nothing. He had been sitting in the café all afternoon, speed-dating through a list of candidates his parents had arranged. Zhao Yuancheng was the last one for the day, and Ji Xiang was desperate to wrap up and end this miserable weekend.

    Not that next weekend would be any better — just more blind dates that awaited him.

    But Zhao Yuancheng gave him no chance to decline. He waved his hand dismissively, “Tell you what, let me make it up to you. How about dinner tonight? I know a great, authentic Northeastern spicy hotpot place nearby. My treat.”

    Ji Xiang barely managed to suppress the twitching of his lips and replied tactfully, “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

    “Come on, it’s not expensive. Don’t worry about my wallet. It’s settled, let’s sit here and rest for a while and then go over.” Zhao Yuancheng said as if the matter was already settled, placing the drooping flower by Ji Xiang’s hand before sitting across from him. “By the way, your name’s Ji Xiang, right? Can I call you Xiao Xiang?”

    “You probably already know a bit about my background. Our matchmaker is good friends with my mom, so she must’ve told you. Honestly, the moment I saw your photo, I was quite taken aback. I even thought you were an omega… but hey, I’m not old-fashioned. An omega would be ideal, sure, but beta’s fine too — betas can have kids too,” Zhao Yuancheng said while flipping through the café’s menu. “Tsk, even a regular latte is twenty-five yuan… and you ordered a vanilla latte? Figures. Just a bit of syrup and they jack it up to thirty-five.”

    “Let me tell you,” He went on, “these things are designed to scam betas and omegas who love trendy stuff. You really should cut back on this kind of unhealthy drink. As for me, forget it, I won’t have anything. Waiter! Hot water, please!”

    The server, though confused, still brought out a glass of hot water from the staff room — customer comes first after all.

    Ji Xiang silently observed Zhao Yuancheng, thinking, ‘Another top-notch person.’.

    Good-looking enough, well-dressed… and yet the words coming out of his mouth were pure trash.

    Catching Ji Xiang’s gaze, Zhao Yuancheng smirked, “What’s wrong? Looking at me so affectionately?”

    Ji Xiang: “…”

    Affectionate your ass.

    “Oh right, there’s something else,” Zhao Yuancheng said, after drinking half of his hot water, “Before we start dating, I should lay things out clearly. My career’s on the rise, doing quite well. You don’t have to worry about house or car — down payments are already settled. I bought a 184-square-meter flat just outside the second ring road. If you choose to work after marriage, I’d expect you to pitch in a bit toward the mortgage — just a token amount, of course, I’m not unreasonable. You’re a beta, after all.”

    “But if you really don’t want to work, that’s fine too — stay home and take care of the house and kids. My mom’s easy-going, you’ll see. As for kids, I love them. Ideally two, but we can negotiate. One thing though — since you’re beta, my mom insists that at least one child must be an alpha. So, if the first one’s an alpha, no pressure for more. Beta fertility isn’t like omega’s, we’ll just have to work a little harder. Hospital checkups and all that — you okay with that?”

    Zhao Yuancheng looked genuinely serious.

    Ji Xiang, meanwhile, just kept stirring his cold coffee, unfazed.

    After weeks of blind dates, Ji Xiang had seen every type of ridiculousness that can be imagined. At first, he was appalled, now though, he was immune.

   His strategy was simple: however gross they made him feel, he’d return the favor twice over.

   He thought back to yesterday’s omega — stunningly pretty, from a comfortable middle-class family, spoiled and proud. Barely two sentences in, the omega had already mocked Ji Xiang’s beta status, accusing him of gold-digging and scheming for family wealth.

    Ji Xiang hadn’t even gotten a word in before being labeled a social climber.

    And in the end, when Ji Xiang said that he had no intention of going on a blind date, but had to come to reassure his parents, the omega got even angrier.

    The general meaning was that I, an omega, was lucky to choose to meet a beta like you.

   And then there was last Sunday’s beta, grilling him about his salary, bonuses, promotions — as if Ji Xiang owed him an annual financial report.

    After all, there are different species even in humans, Ji Xiang thought with a mental shrug. Might as well add today’s specimen to the collection.

   He smiled sweetly at Zhao Yuancheng, “Actually, I’m pretty easy-going about all that. But since you have your expectations, I have a few small ones too.”

    “Go ahead,” Zhao Yuancheng said confidently, sure he’d already won.

    “I’ll get straight to the point,” Ji Xiang leaned back lazily, arms crossed, “Since beta-omega pairings don’t allow permanent marks, we betas tend to have more insecurities.”

    “Of course, I understand,” Zhao Yuancheng nodded sagely. “You’re excellent in every way — it’s just a pity you’re beta.”

    “Then let’s not beat around the bush,” Ji Xiang continued, smiling, “If you want to marry me, it’s simple. The bride price might be a bit higher.”

   Zhao Yuancheng scoffed lightly, “No big deal. If you become my wife, of course I’ll give a bride price. How much are we talking about?”

    “Well, first, the car,” Ji Xiang began sweetly. “I’m not sure what you’re driving now, but for a married couple, a decent ride is essential. Something like a Maybach S480 [mfn]the Mercedes-Maybach S480 starts at approximately ¥1,458,000 Chinese Yuan – Google[/mfn] or a Bentley Bentayga [mfn]often exceedes ¥2,000,000 Chinese Yuan – Google[/mfn] — that’s the baseline. And one car isn’t enough. We’ll need three — one for each of us, and a spare in the garage.”

   Ji Xiang watched as Zhao Yuancheng’s expression started to freeze with his sentences, and kept smiling.

    “As for the house — your 184 square meters is a bit too cramped for me. If I’m willing to have kids for you, I’ll need at least six properties to feel properly pampered.”

    “As for the bride price, it doesn’t have to be crazy. A cousin of mine got 660,000 yuan recently. To save face for my family, one million yuan sounds about right, don’t you think? The meaning is also good,— perfect. [mfn]auspicious meaning—in Chinese, 一百万 (1,000,000) implies ‘perfection’[/mfn].”

    Ji Xiang casually twirled the wilted flower Zhao Yuancheng had brought, but he couldn’t tell what kind they were. Just like Zhao Yuanchen, he was too lazy to explore. “Finally — the man I marry should have some savings. We can’t spend all of our savings on a wedding, can we? So, you’ll need at least a hundred thousand in personal savings, minimum. That’ll count as part of our marital assets, okay?”

    Zhao Yuancheng’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

    He gave a cold laugh, “Are you kidding me?”

    “Kidding?” Ji Xiang blinked innocently. “Weren’t you the one planning our future so enthusiastically? I’m just telling you my reasonable terms.”

    He leaned forward, speaking so only the two of them could hear, “Can’t meet them? Then how dare you say so much nonsense before?”

    “Ji Xiang! You’re going too far!” Zhao Yuancheng exploded, standing up in anger.

    Mission accomplished, Ji Xiang dropped his smile and turned to look out the window, expressionlessly.

    Honestly, even giving guys like this a glance felt like a waste.

    He sighed silently. The real headache would come later — dealing with his parents’ endless questions.

    He really didn’t understand how those matchmakers managed to gather all the weirdos together and throw them at him.

   Zhao Yuancheng, fuming, raised a finger to hurl one last insult before leaving—only to be interrupted.

    “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt.”

    This new voice was calm and warm — a world apart from Zhao Yuancheng’s arrogance. It instantly soothed Ji Xiang’s irritated mood.

   He looked up—and was momentarily stunned.

    The man was tall and well-built, hair neatly combed back, his sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes sharp yet composed. A pair of rimless glasses rested on a straight nose, and the perfectly tailored grey pinstripe suit he wore only accentuated his mature charm.

   For a second, Ji Xiang felt like he’d stepped into a high-society banquet and not a random downtown café.

   He glanced down at his own hoodie, chosen for convenience. Next to Zhao Yuancheng, it hadn’t felt out of place. Now, with this man standing there, he suddenly felt like they weren’t even in the same universe.

    “Who the hell are you? What do you want?” Zhao Yuancheng snapped, furious at being interrupted.

    But the man didn’t even spare him a glance. He turned to Ji Xiang, bowing slightly — even so, Ji Xiang guessed he was easily over 1.9 meters tall.

   “Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Yang Chaosheng — ‘chao’ as in ‘tide’, and ‘sheng’ as in ‘endless vitality’.”

    His tone was formal, almost solemn, as if making a lifelong vow at a wedding ceremony.

   Ji Xiang thought he was imagining it, but the next second the other person’s words were like thunder from the blue sky as he handed him something that looked like a wreath with a clang [mfn]sounds produced when metal meets a surface[/mfn].

    “Regarding everything you just said, I meet all your requirements. May I ask—would you marry me?”