Chapter 2: 002

Chapter 2

In the rented black Volkswagen sedan, Fu Mingshi looked at the small road ahead through his sunglasses.

It was a cement road that could barely accommodate half a sedan, winding ahead in an endless hilly basin. The reform and opening up had brought earth-shattering changes to most cities in China, but for these hilly areas, the biggest improvement was probably this narrow cement road.

Old Master had said that Zhen's family lived in a remote mountain valley. Fu Mingshi had imagined some deep mountainous area where villagers would have to climb over mountains and cross rivers or take boats to get there. But now that they were here, he realized the situation was better than he had expected. Judging from the number of bread trucks that passed by occasionally, the local residents here at least had no issues with food and clothing.

Now the car drove into a small village. A group of ducks was waddling across the road ahead of them, so they had to wait.

As his gaze swept past several local onlookers nearby, Fu Mingshi closed his eyes again.

He felt a little tired. They had set off in the morning, flown for three hours, then driven by car for five hours after getting off the plane. He was told there was still half an hour's drive to the destination. It was already past three o'clock in the afternoon. If he could not persuade Zhen Bao to return with him to the capital today, he would have to stay overnight here and continue persuading tomorrow.

His body was tired, and so was his heart.

Zhen Bao was indeed very beautiful, but she had dropped out of school after finishing junior high. What common topics could he, a woman with only a junior high education, have with him? For his marriage partner, Fu Mingshi did not have high standards, but she should at least have gone to college, right?

Speaking rationally, Fu Mingshi did not have any hope for his marriage with Zhen Bao. But Old Master's illness was urgent, and Fu Mingshi did not dare to defy him. He had to fulfill Old Master's long cherished wish. However, Fu Mingshi did not want to make a hasty decision about his own marriage...

He tapped the briefcase on his lap and slowly opened his eyes. Behind the sunglasses, the man's dark eyes were deep and calm.

Because of similar congestion caused by "ducks" on the road, it was past four o'clock in the afternoon when the black Volkswagen finally drove into an even smaller village. The village was surrounded by rolling hills, high and low. The dozen or so families were sparsely scattered about. There were some small two-story tiled houses, as well as some two-story brick houses. The local climate was damp and hot, so most residents lived on the second floor.

"President Fu, that is Zhen's house."

The driver stopped the car and pointed to the two-story brick house with some history in the northwest corner, saying, "Is Miss Zhen home?" He was also one of Old Master Fu's bodyguards. It was him who had flown here from afar and secretly taken those photos that Fu Mingshi had seen earlier. Naturally, he was here to guide Fu Mingshi this time.

Fu Mingshi hmm-ed.

The driver coughed awkwardly and explained, "President Fu, the dirt road over there is hard to walk on. We can only go over on foot." Reêad latest novels at novelhall.com

Fu Mingshi glanced at him but did not say anything. He picked up his briefcase, pushed open the door and got out of the car.

The man's polished leather shoes shone brightly. As soon as he stepped onto the only gray cement road here, a thin layer of dust immediately settled on them. Fu Mingshi paid no attention to it and followed the driver off the cement road, walking towards their destination.

The Zhen residence had a fence made of rattan. The rattan was not even as tall as Fu Mingshi's legs. Fu Mingshi stopped at the gate and swiftly surveyed the small farm yard. Vegetable plots were planted on both sides, and a few native chickens lay scattered about the yard. Seeing them, the chickens did not panic but just turned their necks.

The door of the main house on the first floor was open, so the owner should be home.

Without Fu Mingshi saying anything, the driver called out loudly, "Miss Zhen!"

The two of them had looked Fu Mingshi over as they approached. Zhen Bao gave Fu Mingshi a faint smile. "President Fu." The man was very tall and his face shape was probably quite handsome too. But Zhen Bao did not like the sunglasses on his nose. She felt that people who did not take off their sunglasses even when greeting others were a bit arrogant.

"How long are you staying this time?" Zhen Bao chatted with the "photographer" enthusiastically. Last time he had taken a few photos of her and said before leaving that he would mail a copy back to her. Zhen Bao had waited for a long time without receiving anything, and was disappointed. She had forgotten all about it until now that he had come again.

Her eyes were clear. Although the driver did not know the girl was still looking forward to getting the photos, he felt bad about continuing to lie to her. Scratching his head, he looked to his boss for guidance.

"You go wait down the mountain first," Fu Mingshi said, taking off his sunglasses and looking at the driver.

Without another word, the driver immediately left.

Only then did Fu Mingshi turn to Zhen Bao. Very formally, he extended his right hand to her, his dark eyes fixed on hers. "Miss Zhen, I'm Fu Mingshi. My grandfather and your grandfather were comrades-in-arms in the same platoon during the War of Resistance. I have come to visit your family this time as entrusted by him to call on the descendants of his fellow soldier."

But as soon as Zhen Bao saw him take off his sunglasses, she was dumbstruck!

Old Lady Zhang next door had a small black-and-white TV. Zhen Bao had seen the big stars on TV, but compared to the man before her now, those stars really seemed to turn black-and-white. Only this Mr. Fu was in color, even though he wore an all-black suit. His whole body was black except for his red lips...

Ever since elementary school, Fu Mingshi had always been popular among girls. After taking over the conglomerate, even more women were attracted to his face. So he was not the least surprised by Zhen Bao's astonishment, and waited calmly for her to regain her composure.

Her calf was nudged by Hei Dan, and Zhen Bao felt itchy. Only when she lowered her head did she see that the man still had his hand outstretched. She immediately blushed and hurriedly shook his hand. The man's palm was warm, but as soon as it touched Zhen Bao's hand he jerked it back as if shocked, and put it behind him, wiggling his fingers. She was not shy around strangers, but was not used to physical contact with men.

Wait... what did he say earlier?

Expecting that she had not heard clearly, Fu Mingshi repeated what he had said, his voice low and clear, extremely patient.

Zhen Bao suddenly understood. So it turned out he was her grandfather's comrade-in-arms. When she was little, Granny often told her stories about when Grandpa was a soldier, and said he had been a platoon leader. If not for his early sacrifice, he surely would have become a high official.

"Thank you for his kind recollection of us. And thank you President Fu for taking the trouble to travel all this way. It must have been a long ride?" Thinking of her grandfather, Zhen Bao felt quite emotional. Since he was an old acquaintance, she also suddenly felt a faint sense of kinship with Fu Mingshi, and their conversation became natural.

"It was fine," Fu Mingshi said, not mentioning his own hardship. Looking at Zhen Bao, he got straight to the point, "Miss Zhen, there is another thing I must tell you." He calmly explained the situation of the two old men arranging this childhood betrothal, including Old Master Fu having liver cancer and hoping for their two grandchildren to marry.

Zhen Bao listened in puzzlement, taking a long time to point at Fu Mingshi and herself in disbelief. "The elders..."

What era was this? There was still such a thing as a childhood betrothal?

"Since we are meeting for the first time, I know this marriage will put Miss Zhen in a difficult position. But Old Master is suffering from liver cancer and needs to relax for treatment. So I sincerely ask Miss Zhen to do me a favor and pretend to be my wife for a period of time. After Old Master's health improves, or he... passes on, I will divorce you and give you your freedom back."

Fu Mingshi's tone was steady, as if discussing business. He then took out a prenuptial agreement from his briefcase and handed it to Zhen Bao, "Here is a prenuptial agreement for you to look through first. Feel free to ask me if you don't understand anything."

It was a prenuptial agreement, and also an employment contract. Her only duty was to act as his wife. Afterwards, he would give Zhen Bao a generous amount of assets as compensation for her lost youth. During the marriage, he would also not force her to fulfill the duties of a wife. The two of them would each mind their own business, with no interference from each other.