Chapter 13 Got The Certificate Tomorrow

Nanjin City was the south gate of Jincheng. It only took an hour to get there.

On the highway, Victoria Tan was sitting with no thoughts, head empty. She forgot the man sitting next to her. The news from Bryan Song was the only one in her mind.

If there was a last chance, tomorrow would be the day. Once Frank Lu and Ashley Tan got the certificate, she wouldn’t have a shot left with him.

The Tan was a strict family. When she was a child, she might be foolish, but she knew her principles well. She never made a scene nor embarrassed her family. The only time she ever lost control over herself was because of Frank Lu.

Did she have to beg Frank Lu not to break up? Or, did she have to beg Ashley Tan to get over her feelings?

In her sweetest years with Frank Lu, Ashley Tan was her most patient listener. Victoria Tan would always tell her everything happened between her and Frank Lu. She’s a romantic. She had her prince charming Frank Lu and an intimate female fellow better than a family Ashley Tan.

Therefore, Victoria Tan subconsciously thought that Ashley Tan should be the witness of her love process and a comforter instead of being a rival turning her six years or relationship into a ridiculous joke.

The past was still vivid in her mind. She was abandoned by her family and her lover at the same time. She felt like she couldn’t get out of this cage.

Victoria Tan didn’t see the exit of the highway clearly. The man in the co-pilot immediately grabbed the steering wheel. The car trembled, returned steady, and managed to drive forward smoothly.

She was frightened that she sweated. She sat up straight and looked at her co-pilot man. His eyes were looking straight ahead and his face was calm.

“Thank you. I’m a little distracted.” she started talking to distract her mind, but she didn’t know what to say, “I still don’t know your name.”

The man looked at her, didn’t speak, and suddenly motioned her to give him her phone.

She unlocked the phone with her fingerprint and handed the phone to him. It was a miracle that the phone survived through wind and rain.

The phone had a yellow case with a little duck on it. From the shape, it was obvious that it was a couple made case.

The man typed on the phone for a while and suddenly, a string of robotic voice echoed from the phone, “My name is Oliver Jiang. I just returned to China less than two months ago. I came back from the airport and was kidnapped. Thank you for saving me in Yan Mountain.”

The robotic voice sounded steady and serious. Victoria Tan didn’t expect that he could come up with such a way to convert words into sounds as a substitute for his voice. The tone was a bit funny.

“Oh, is your throat uncomfortable? Is it always like this or is it caused by being kidnapped for months?” she asked.

After listening to the sentence, Oliver Jiang carefully looked at Victoria Tan and found that she didn’t mean any discrimination. Only then did he type it out and let the software read it out loud, “It was not born with it, but I did have an illness. I couldn’t say a word since I was little.”

After the software finished reading the sentence, he looked at Victoria Tan’s face again. She didn’t have any abnormal reaction, only a little sympathy, “Well, after you go back to Jincheng, you can visit a doctor. Anyway, where is your home? Where should I send you?”

He suddenly pursed his lips. As a stranger, she had nothing to do with him and probably she couldn’t wait to distance herself from him. Those pleasant words were nothing but polite gestures.

He lowered his head and typed again. He stopped for a long time, “I have no place to go in Jincheng for the time being. I have been studying abroad for years and now, I’m preparing to start my own business. The process is not smooth, my partner turn on me and something happened. I don’t know how I am involved with the kidnappers and I am very confused now. If you feel inconvenient, you can drop me in any police station in Jincheng.”

When she heard the word ‘any police station’, she could feel that the man was not very happy. It was almost like he ridiculed her for dropping him there.

She smiled, “I didn’t expect that we share the same fate. I just went back to Jincheng and I have nowhere to go. I cannot go home either.”

Her mother lived in the Tan’s old family manor in the west side of Jincheng. Although the Tan was a huge family and it was impossible for them to let the member of the family stranded on the street, how could the seventh lady of Tan who failed dare to come back?

“Moreover, I cannot go to the police station like you.” she joked and asked, “Don’t you have any friends here or classmates? You just returned from abroad, you can’t be so miserable, can you?”

The car drove out of the highway and there was a huge billboard there. Fei’s fashion advertisements were everywhere. The model was wearing a huge-red mermaid dress. It was beautiful, dignified, and fascinating to the eye.

She couldn’t get rid of the shadow of Ashley Tan and Frank Lu from her mind. The brand Fei seemed to be celebrating its chief designer’s wedding. This season they used the theme of ‘in the mood for love’.

‘Meeting you in the mood for love was the best gift for me’ was the tagline of the advertisement. It was a love letter from Ashley Tan to Frank Lu.

She retracted her eyes from the harsh red color on the billboard. Suddenly, the car accelerated on a sharp turn. It was a bumpy ride.

Oliver also saw the billboard. When he was hesitating to say something, she asked out of blue, “Are you married?”

Oliver was stunned. Yesterday in the hotel’s restaurant, she dragged his arm and repeatedly said she wanted to marry him.

His heart skipped a beat when he remembered this. He shook his head. She asked again, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

He shook his head again. His body stiffened. He had a hunch that she was going to say something.

Sure enough she did, “Let’s make a deal.” She looked straight ahead and mentioned the deal without a pause, “Let’s sign a fake marriage contract for a year. Aren’t you going to start a business? I can inject 5 million Yuan capital money. You can regard this as a compensation. I don’t care if your business is going to succeed or fail, I will not ask for a division of property. If you think this is feasible, I will draw up a contract.”

Listening to Victoria Tan’s transaction detail, he put his eyes on the road ahead. He felt like something exploded in his ears and his eyes became terrible.

It’s been a while and she couldn’t wait for his answer, she turned to look at him and saw that he looked dignified and seemed to be thinking. Only then she smiled, “It’s okay. Take your time. Feel free to agree or disagree. You don’t have to think that you owe me something just because I save you.”

In the city area, the traffic became more packed. It was weekday in the morning. The car could hardly move for a few meters. Fortunately, they were not in a hurry. There was enough time.

The robotic voice from the phone sounded, “Why me?”

She understood what he meant. Since it was a contract marriage, why did she choose to marry him? Didn’t she have more choices?

“Well, I saved you. So, it’s like a little favor to you. Also, you’re more trustworthy than other strangers. One more thing, you don’t talk too much. After all, it’s a contractual marriage. We can maintain each other’s space. We won’t interfere with each other’s freedom. In short, you match my requirement. As simple as that.” she explained with a smile.

A young girl who cried in her sleep calling another man’s name had such a cool attitude toward marriage and even chose to settle with a contractual marriage.

The way she chose her partner was really special and well-founded. His slurred-speech had become the reason of why he was chosen. He really wanted to thank her for flattering him.

Oliver was silent again.

She didn’t care and didn’t force him at all, “If you feel embarrassed, you can just forget it. I can find someone else. 5 million may not be able to buy love, but it can buy a year of marriage. I believe it’s not too difficult. What do you think?”

His hands clenched into fists. He finally let go and the look on his face slowly eased. He typed a line on the phone and the robot read it, “Okay, deal. You’re right. This 5 million is an easy money. It’s just what I need now. Let’s help each other out.”

Hearing the robot agreed, she lowered her eyes and glanced at him and her phone.

She thought that Frank Lu would be the one proposing to her. She thought that Frank Lu would give her a perfect marriage proposal and wedding. Now, she found herself a partner who couldn’t even speak normally. Instead of him proposing, it was the robot who did the deed.

It was her begging and transitioning. She brought it on herself.

Her eyes were a little warm. She blinked her eyes and looked at the packed traffic and endless crowds. Finally, she managed to suppress her emotions.

She breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slowly, “Well, maybe my request is a bit too much, but I’m running out of time. I’ll see you tomorrow at Civil Affairs Bureau at 9 AM. Can you get your materials ready? If you don’t have time to prepare, it’s okay to call off the deal. I’ll fine someone else. Before we sign the contract, we’re unrelated, but after you sign it, you need to fulfill the terms. I will write them down and you will see them then.”

She said in a detail and reasonable way. Oliver listened carefully.

When the car arrived at an intersection, he suddenly unfastened his seatbelt and motioned her to stop the car. He wrote a line and showed it directly to her, “I’ll see you at the Civil Bureau Affairs by 9 AM. I have to get going. Drive carefully.”