"Sounds like an inconvenience," she frowned. Having a big wedding wasn't a deal-breaker, but she just didn't like the stress and drama that came with planning a wedding. "It's more opportunity for people to speak. I don't have the time to plan a wedding, either."
"I imagine if we add up every person we know and would have to invite, we'd have a huge list of guests. We should make peace with my mother and make it legal at the Civil Bureau Office. What say you?" Mo Qingchen made a good point.
The first rule to remaining rich was to earn like the rich but spend as little as humanly possible.
"You have my seal of approval. We'll have a short engagement. Let's get this over with, shall we?" she smiled sweetly.
"People need to believe we are in love," Mo Qingchen said suddenly. "At least that is what my family needs to believe. So…"
"It's better to keep the act on." She smirked. "People already think we look like a couple, so I don't think that will be a problem." Mo Qingchen looked confused, so she whipped out her phone and showed him the hashtags and shippers who posted pictures of them and made edits.
"This looks intrusive. Is it legal?" he asked with a hint of confusion.
"Yes, it is legal. This will help us spin a story. Use everything that should be against us to our advantage." Qian Meng's eyes gleamed with intelligence.
"Cunning shark," Mo Qingchen grumbled. "Use your trash novel reading brain to come up with a great story," he urged her.
She thought about it for a moment, revolving in her chair and looking at the ceiling for a while. She finally banged her hands on the desk and started to speak, "We were dating secretly for a while and at the time we appeared on Su Jin's show. Because of the enmity between our families, we kept it a secret. The few months together showed us that we can't live without one another and we want to get married."
Mo Qingchen looked at her with disgust. "No one will believe that."
Yun Qian Meng laughed. "People believe what they want to believe. They don't care about the truth. They only see what we will show them. Just imagine how these enemies turned lovers stories will affect our sales." She waggled her brows.
"Using your marriage for profit? So like you." He sounded proud.
"That's why you are marrying me." She winked at him.
"So, everyone in our life is going to believe that we're legitimately in love. Even the people who work for us?" It would be hard to convince them. "Apart from my secretary, nobody would be bothered. What about you?"
Qian Meng shrugged. "I bought a pair of binoculars to keep an eye on you. I've done a lot of things recently that will make Li Min shrug off the whole thing. Moreover, she doesn't really care about what happens to me as long as she gets her salary."
"That's every employee ever," Mo Qingchen agreed. "It's the family situation that bothers me," He admitted truthfully. "Mine won't be a problem, I trust you. But yours…" He paused. "If you don't want to tell them, it's okay. But I can handle that situation myself."
She smiled, feeling a little overwhelmed. "As soon as we get the prenuptial agreement sorted out and signed, we'll tell our families."
He hummed. "I understand. We will wait until this scandal has blown over and then get married. In that time frame, we have to get new clothes, the haircare products, and bank account settled."
"This went over very smoothly. There has to be a catch," she squinted at him in suspicion.
He hesitated for a moment before looking at her face carefully. "If we do this, I expect you to be monogamous to me, Qian Meng."
"Monogamous as in… sex?" her pitch was instantly higher than usual.
"Yes. Although ours is not a conventional marriage, I insist on this. You are not to engage in any sexual activities outside our marriage."
Qian Meng sat there for a while, thinking about it while Mo Qingchen looked at her, waiting patiently.
It wasn't like she was sexually active, to begin with. So the fact that he didn't want her to sleep with other people didn't affect her. However, she couldn't wrap her head around his reasoning.
Why did he care?
She wasn't sure but Mo Qingchen must have an active sex life. It wasn't fair for her to accept the term if he wasn't going to do the same.
"Does that sound fair to you? We're not actually together, but you get to go around while I am cut off sexually?" she laughed humorlessly.
He gave an understanding nod. "I am not a promiscuous man but I am a sexual man. I'll be monogamous, too."
"What a sacrifice!" she taunted.
"I am not giving up sex," he stated simply, still looking at her. She furrowed her brow as she looked at him.
He remained stoic and waited for her to figure out his meaning.
'He wants us to be monogamous, but he won't give up sex? That doesn't make sense. If he wasn't going to have sex outside his marriage then how—'
She stopped.
Her eyes widened.
"Oh," she said in understanding. Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "You want us to…?" She gestured between the two of them.
"Yes," he said with a small nod.
"Mr. Mo, I know we kissed and it was amazing, but I didn't think you are already thinking of rolling in the sheets with me."
At least, she knew that he found her attractive.
'Of course, he finds me attractive. He almost devoured me a few days ago.'
"You're one of the most attractive women on the planet. I would be honored to have you as my sole partner," he added with a smirk.
"Thank you," she said, rolling her eyes. This changed everything. "You really need to work on your delivery, though."