Put it on for me

As soon as she arrived at the Ye manor and before even entering the house, Ye An ran into Ye Man.

She was Ye Yuan Nian’s daughter after remarrying, and her stepsister.

The little girl stood at the front door wearing a plaid skirt. She stared at Ye An arrogantly, her jet-black pupils filled with hostility.

Ye Yuan Nian stepped forward, coaxing, “Man Man, quickly say jiejie.1”

Ye Man pursed her lips, refusing to speak.

Ye An didn’t mind either. She shot her a glance and directly entered the house.

“An An’s here?”

A gentle voice sounded. It was from Ye Yuan Nian’s current wife, Jiang Luo, as she descended the stairs.

Jiang Luo wore a light cyan cheongsam. Although she was already nearing age 50, her idyllic lifestyle has maintained her looks well. There were few signs of aging on her face.

She smiled gently and kindly. Ye An reciprocated the courtesy. “A’yi*.”

A’yi – literally, this means Auntie. In Chinese culture, one would refer to their stepmother as Auntie.

Jiang Luo nodded. “I’ve already had people tidy up your room; it’s still the same one you used to live in.”

Back then, the reason why Xia Jin divorced Ye Yuan Nian was because he had been unfaithful. He had vainly wished that his marriage would not collapse as he philandered with other women outside.

Xia Jin had a strong temper and couldn’t just throw sand into her eyes*. Even though Ye Yuan Nian had emphasized that he had only been temporarily muddle-headed and promised that it would never happen again, Xia Jin was resolute in divorcing him and left with their daughter. 

throw sand into one’s eyes – an idiom, meaning can’t just deceive or mislead oneself

But, this had nothing to do with Jiang Luo.

Jiang Luo married Ye Yuan Nian more than a year after his divorce. She couldn’t be counted as the third party in destroying someone’s marriage; the story between the two could only be described as complicated.

Jiang Luo and Ye Yuan Nian had known each other since they were young. They grew up together. When they were students, Ye Yuan Nian had an unrequited love for Jiang Luo and had pursued her for a while. But at the time, Jiang Luo liked another boy and had rejected him. After that, the two went their separate ways and originally, they shouldn’t have interacted more. However, who would have thought that many years later, Jiang Luo would be abandoned by a scumbag. At her lowest, she happened to run into Ye Yuan Nian again. Coincidentally, Ye Yuan Nian had already divorced Xia Jin at the time. After a turn of events, they ultimately got together with the help of their respective families.

All these years, Ye An had rarely returned to the Ye manor and had few interactions with Jiang Luo. Jiang Luo’s attitude toward her was mild and had never purposely made things difficult for her. Of course, to say that Jiang Luo liked her was a stretch. 

Her sudden friendliness today could only be due to the Xie family. It seemed like her marriage must’ve been sold for a hefty price.

Ye An sneered and followed the driver who was busy carrying her luggage upstairs. 

Who was using whom; it wasn’t  certain yet.

    —

After all her luggage was brought up into the room, Ye An politely declined others’ help and arranged the room by herself.

Soon, all of these things would have to be transported to the Xie manor, so there was no point in unpacking.

After settling down, she closed the closet and was about to have a glass of water before taking a break. As she turned around, she suddenly saw Ye Man leaning against the doorway with a hostile expression.

Ye An paused. If her relationship with Jiang Luo could barely be considered amicable, then her relationship with this stepsister was a little difficult to describe.

Ye Man hated Ye An since she was a child and always felt that she was going to steal her Dad away. Every time she saw her stepping foot here, she was like a hedgehog.

Who wanted to steal a middle-aged man?

Ye An sneered in disdain and ignored her. She walked to the table beside her and picked up her cup.

Suddenly, a voice sounded from behind, “You’re marrying Xie Shuo gege?”

?

Xie Shuo gege?

Ye An jolted and turned around, feeling like things weren’t  that simple.

Ye Man stared at her with a weird expression. The hostility in her eyes seemed to have intensified.

    ……

A brat who hadn’t even graduated from middle school yet wanted to fight with her over a man?

Ye An inexplicably wanted to laugh. She leaned against the table with arms crossed and arched a brow: “What about it?”

Ye Man stared at her hatefully and snorted. “If Xie Shuo gege wasn’t blind, there’s no way he would marry you!”

This phrase was spoken somewhat loudly and was coincidentally heard by Ye Yuan Nian as he was walking over.

“Man Man!”

Ye Yuan Nian’s complexion changed. He hurriedly pulled her away and looked at Ye An.

Ye An leaned on the table and smirked, her gaze cold. “But someone keeps begging me to marry him.”

“Who begged––”

“Man Man! Be quiet…”

Ye Man had wanted to say something, but was dragged away by Ye Yuan Nian and handed to Jiang Luo.

Ye Yuan Nian returned and explained to Ye An, “Man Man’s still young. Don’t take her tactless remarks to heart.”

His tone included a few degrees of cajoling. 

Ye An’s expression was indifferent, and she remained silent. After taking a sip of water, she took out her phone from her purse and laid down on the sofa to play some games.

Ye Yuan Nian was unable to read her mood. Looking at her for a moment, he suddenly said, “An An, about your marriage… do you want to tell your mother about it?”

Ye An’s fingertips paused. After a while, she looked up and sneered coldly–a drastic change from her previously indifferent nature. “If you want to destroy this marriage, then go ahead and tell her.” 

Ye Yuan Nian’s complexion turned dark then pale for a while as if paint was constantly overturned back and forth. Feeling guilty, he said, “Then you go and have a good rest. I’ll call you to come down when it’s dinner.”

After Ye Yuan Nian left, Ye An stood there alone for a while.

She opened her contacts and stared at a certain number for a while, but ultimately did not call.

  —-

She didn’t know what Ye Yuan Nian and Jiang Luo had said to Ye Man privately, but after that first day, Ye Man was strangely well-behaved and didn’t bother her.

Ye An lived in peace at the Ye Manor until the wedding.

At the beginning of April, the wedding day arrived.

With Xie Shuo’s current circumstances, she naturally didn’t expect there to be a grand wedding ceremony. Going to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a marriage license and having a simple family dinner should complete all the procedures. 

Perhaps Ye Yuan Nian was afraid of both families losing face and being talked about by others because he prepared a fairly generous dowry for her. It even included some shares of the hotels under the Ye family.

Ye An accepted it with no qualms. Money that was gifted should not be rejected without reason.

The family dinner was to be held at the Xie residence near Zhao Feng Yuan*.

Zhao Feng Yuan – This is most likely a scenic place or a park in this novel’s universe.

Around five that morning, Ye An–still half-asleep–was pulled from bed to change clothes and to have her makeup done. 

The makeup artist applied makeup on her face skillfully while her eyelids drooped with sleepiness.

It was extremely easy to finish preparing. On the way out of the house, Ye Yuan Nian must’ve struck a nerve and suddenly held onto her hand. He said downheartedly, “An An, take good care of yourself in the future…”

Ye An shuddered, goosebumps rising and scaring her to the point where she was no longer drowsy.

Were all old men this sentimental?

The springtime scenery outside was beautiful. The flora was enshrouded in the warm sunshine and was flourishing.

The Xie family’s car had been waiting outside; the chauffeur opened the door for her with gallantry.

Ye An originally thought that with Xie Shuo’s “Eldest Young Master” temperament, he would definitely not come over in person. Who knew that she would unexpectedly see him sitting upright inside after getting into the car? Of course, his appearance remained cold and solemn.

To avoid hurting his eyes from the sunlight, he wore a pair of sunglasses. With that paired with his solemn expression, he looked a bit like… a mafia boss.

As soon as this thought came about, Ye An immediately thought of the movie scenes where the mob boss appeared coupled with the background music. She couldn’t help but chuckle.

Xie Shuo frowned at the sudden laughter. “What are you laughing at?”

Ye An stifled her laughter. “Nothing. You’re very handsome today.”

Xie Shuo: “….”

Unlike before, Xie Shuo was dressed formally today. He wore a white dress shirt with a black suit. His collar wore a Windsor-knotted tie and his cuff links were exquisite. His perfectly straight dress pants had no wrinkles, appearing poised and noble, which was very pleasing to the eye. 

It was just that his expression was a little off-putting. He appeared as if getting married was as good as going to the execution ground.

Ye An admired the feast for the eyes in front of her for a while. She suddenly leaned in, asking, “Hey, you should reciprocate my compliment. I called you handsome; shouldn’t you call me beautiful?2”

Xie Shuo knitted his eyebrows and ignored her. 

He was blind. How would he know if she was pretty or not?

Guessing what he was about to say, Ye An lowered her voice as she spoke, “Are you trying to say that your eyes can’t see, so how would you know if I’m pretty or not?”

Xie Shuo turned towards her and clenched his jaw. 

“You obviously don’t have enough social awareness. Complimenting a girl’s looks is a part of a man’s natural EQ. There doesn’t have to be a reason to do so nor do you need to actually be able to see her. It doesn’t matter if she’s pretty or not, just give a compliment. I’m a bride today, so even if I’m ugly to the point where the mountains fall and the earth splits, you still need to say that I look like a deity that has descended from heaven.”

Xie Shuo: “…”

Ye An finished speaking but didn’t forget to emphasize, “Of course, I’m not at all ugly.”

Until now, Xie Shuo had never met such a talkative and narcissistic woman. Moreover, he even had to marry her. It was an indescribable feeling. He clenched his jaw and returned back to facing forward, once again resembling a sculpture.

Ye An smirked and she silently uttered: boring. 

Her gaze shifted downwards and caught sight of a wedding band on his ring finger. 

His slender fingers complimented the delicate wedding ring well.

Ye An was dazed for a while before looking down at the empty space on her left hand finger.

Two days earlier, the Xie family had sent a wedding ring over, but she was busy dozing off earlier when she was getting her makeup done and totally forgot about it.

For the family dinner tonight, they should still put in the effort to keep up appearances. 

Ye An grabbed her purse and searched through it for a while before pulling out a small and exquisite ring box.

She took out the ring, and just as she was about to put it on, she glanced at the cold-faced man next to her and suddenly paused. 

Her bright red lips slyly smiled, and her eyes glimmered.

Xie Shuo sat upright in his seat and before he even had the chance to react, a small ice-cold object was shoved into his hand. He subconsciously frowned.

Ye An grinned as she stretched her hand out in front of him. “Put it on for me.”

Xie Shuo nudged it with his finger and recognized it as the wedding ring. He gave her a cynical look and passed it back to her. “Do it yourself.”

Ye An frowned and muttered under her breath, “Scumbag!”

Xie Shuo: “?”

“No proposal, no wedding photos, no ceremony. You won’t even help me put on a ring. I might as well have married a piece of paper.”

Xie Shuo: “….”

The chauffeur was sitting in front, and it was unclear whether he heard them or not.

Xie Shuo was silent for two seconds. Perhaps he was afraid of escalating the situation, but he ultimately picked up the ring and raised his hand toward her.

Ye An immediately converted her anger into a smile. She put her left hand in his palm, and since he couldn’t see, she arched her brows in triumph.

Xie Shuo looked down and lightly held her hand. He traced her hand starting at the pinky finger and felt sideways ending at the ring finger before sliding the ring on slowly. 

He couldn’t see so his actions were extremely slow. His fingers brushed against her knuckles and the sensation of each touch was gradually magnified as if the warm wind of spring blew against the water surface creating undulating ripples. 

Ye An couldn’t stand his cold face and originally only wanted to tease him, but she suddenly felt a strange feeling in her heart.

It was said that the ring finger was connected to the heart; could it really be that mystical?

She looked up slightly and caught a glimpse of his drooping lashes and pursed lips. To her surprise, there was a little warmth on the usually stern face.

Her heart jumped.

Uh oh, it seemed like her heart was racing.

~

Author’s note: currently editing, so it’s later than usual. Sorry~

~

They finally got married; scattering flowers~

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