Contract Wife

Propose marriage

Grandma Gu looked at the floor full of expensive gifts, but she still pursed her lips and said, "Don't think that buying these things can make up for the disgrace you've brought upon us! You might not care about losing face, but I do! Zhenzhen’s future parents-in-law are coming to ask for her hand in marriage tomorrow. If anything goes wrong, all of you, get out of my house! The Gu family can't afford to be embarrassed like this!"

Gu Xixi didn't want to listen to her grandmother's scolding anymore, but she hadn't achieved the goal of her visit.

Gu Xixi took a deep breath and said, "Grandma, I came back this time to discuss my marriage with you. These gifts are from my future husband to show his respect for you. The man who delivered the gifts is his driver."

With those sentences, Gu Xixi reignited her grandmother’s anger, but she also extinguished it completely in the very next breath.

A grandson-in-law who could afford so many expensive items and even had a driver was definitely richer than that good-for-nothing Zhao Zegang.

Grandma Gu's eyes flickered as she instantly calculated in her heart.

"This child is so thoughtful. But when discussing marriage, shouldn't both parents be present? Doesn't he even understand basic etiquette?" Grandma Gu's eyes glinted as they darted between Gu Xixi and the pile of gifts littering her living room floor.

"He does, Grandma. I just came back to discuss it with the family first. I believe it won't be long before he comes to visit you in person." Gu Xixi replied with her head lowered.

Gu Zhenzhen, Gu Xixi’s cousin who had been standing by quietly, suddenly interjected, "This man is really generous! Gu Xixi, you are quite capable! In such a short time, you’ve hooked up with a rich guy! I wonder if this future brother-in-law is a bald uncle or an ugly man with a flat nose?"

"You'll see when he comes to formally ask for my hand in marriage." Gu Xixi coldly retorted.

Although Little A wasn't present for everything that happened in the house, he heard it all.

Little A reported everything that happened to Yin Sichen.

Yin Sichen looked at the information sent by Little A, his eyes flickering with an indiscernible emotion.

Yin Sichen immediately dialed Little A's number, listening to what was happening inside the room.

Back inside the house, Gu Xixi’s words made Gu Zhenzhen furious.

"Grandma, Gu Xixi wants to get married, but so do I! And even when it comes to marriage, shouldn’t we go in order? My fiancé is coming to formally propose tomorrow! Grandma, you promised me! You promised you’d let me marry first! All the dowry in the family was prepared for me. Gu Xixi can’t have it! " Gu Zhenzhen turned and clung to Grandma Gu, acting spoiled, afraid that Gu Xixi's marriage would divide the dowry and she would lose her share.

As always, Grandma Gu favored Gu Zhenzhen.

Hearing this, she said to Gu Xixi, "Xixi, since your future in-laws are so rich, you must not care about the dowry. As an older sister, you shouldn’t fight with your younger sister. Your uncle and aunt saved this dowry for many years. You know your parents are incapable. If you want money, ask your fiancé for a larger betrothal gift."

Gu Xixi sneered internally, but her face remained calm."I wasn't going to fight with Zhenzhen over it."

She didn't desire anything in this house! Not one bit!

"Good. Zhenzhen's future parents-in-law are coming tomorrow. You're free anyway, so help your mother with the chores. It wouldn’t do for the Gu family to appear disrespectful when Zhenzhen is trying to make such a good marriage.” Grandma Gu said with satisfaction. "Zhenzhen has never had to do any chores, she’s not good at any of this! Since you're the older sister, you should help her out."

Of course the dowry she had prepared for Gu Zhenzhen couldn't be shared with Gu Xixi. How could a stray, a bastard she took in out of the goodness of her heart, be qualified to receive even a penny of the dowry?

She didn't care if the man Gu Xixi was going to marry was rich or poor, as long as he was willing to give a generous betrothal gift, that was all that mattered.

Gu Xixi sneered in her heart. Did they really think they could force her to do anything she didn’t want to do?

She had seen through this family. Each and every one of them, they were nothing but vampires! Leeches who would suck them dry and not rest until she and her mother were used up and worthless.

Little A dutifully relayed everything that happened in the house to Yin Sichen. Yin Sichen held a goblet, gently swirling the wine inside. "The future Young Mistress of the Yin family should never be treated worse than anyone else," he muttered, his voice cold. " Let it be known: when we make our formal proposal tomorrow, we will do so in a manner that leaves no doubt of our sincerity… or our status."

The next day, before the sun had even risen, Gu Xixi and her mother were woken up by Grandma Gu.

"What are you waiting for?!” she shrieked, her voice shrill as she rushed into the room they shared, rousing them from their sleep. “The guests will be here soon. Get to work! Start preparing to welcome them! And if you ruin Zhenzhen's engagement, get out of my house!"

Gu Xixi didn't say a word. She silently got up, washed her face, and began helping her mother with the housework.

If she didn't help, all the work would fall on her mother's shoulders.

No one else in the house, not even her aunt and uncle, seemed interested in helping them prepare for the arrival of Gu Zhenzhen’s future in-laws.

If everything went smoothly today, the rest of the family would be only too happy to bathe in the reflected glory of Gu Zhenzhen’s good fortune.

But if anything went wrong, Gu Xixi knew they would place the blame squarely on her mother’s shoulders.

Gu Xixi had long seen through their true colors. If her mother wasn't so determined to stay in this house, she would have taken her away from this terrible place.

Gu Xixi had just put down the mop when she heard firecrackers exploding outside.

Firecrackers… just for a marriage proposal? Were they trying to alert the entire world?

Grandma Gu came rushing out again, pointing at Gu Xixi as she ran toward the door.

"What are you standing there for, you useless girl?" she screeched. “Go and welcome the guests!”

Gu Xixi didn't even stop to catch her breath before rushing to the door to welcome the guests.

As soon as she stepped outside, she saw a black Santana 2000 parked right in front of the house, blocking the gate.

Gu Xixi frowned. Parking like this, it made it difficult for people to pass by.

As if to emphasize his presence even more, the driver revved the engine unnecessarily before getting out of the car.

It was just a Santana 2000. Was this showboating really necessary?

None of her colleagues at Yin's Group drove a car worth less than twenty thousand dollars.

As they liked to say, driving a car under twenty thousand dollars was an insult to their status at the company.

The driver, a tall, lanky young man dressed in what looked to Gu Xixi like cheap, bargain-bin clothing (she’d bet anything it cost less than three hundred yuan), swaggered out of the car and said to the woman next to him, who was so obese she reminded Gu Xixi of a ball, "Ma, is this really the place? Are we really giving them thirty thousand yuan as a betrothal gift?"

"Thirty thousand is more than enough! It’s not easy to make money these days! Don’t you worry about the money, dear. It’ll all be ours sooner or later! Besides, they can’t exactly refuse to give us a dowry, can they? Not after we’ve been so generous.”

They were already scheming? Before they were even married? How greedy could they be?

"Hello, Auntie," Gu Xixi stepped forward, deciding to pretend that she hadn't heard anything. "I'm Gu Zhenzhen's older sister. Grandma asked me to come and welcome you. Please, come in."

The obese woman snorted but did not acknowledge Gu Xixi, choosing instead to waddle past her towards the house. The young man, however, shot Gu Xixi an appraising look before following his mother.

Gu Xixi led the guests inside, only to be immediately pushed aside by her aunt and uncle, instantly transforming her into an invisible woman.

Grandma Gu, her aunt, and her uncle were unbelievably enthusiastic towards their guests, treating her mother no better than a servant while ordering her to serve tea and refreshments.

Gu Xixi felt sorry for her mother. Before Gu Mama could move, Gu Xixi had already poured the tea and set the refreshments down on the table.

The look on Gu Zhenzhen’s face when the guests mentioned the thirty thousand yuan betrothal gift was enough to tell Gu Xixi that she was quite pleased at the sum.

The average betrothal gift in their area was twenty-one thousand eight hundred yuan. The guests' willingness to offer thirty thousand made the Gu family feel like they had gained face. They were now even more courteous and respectful than before.

Gu Xixi and her mother stood to the side like a pair of wallflowers. No one offered them a seat, let alone a cup of tea.

Gu Xixi had just served the tea when she was immediately ordered back to the kitchen by Gu Zhenzhen's parents to help cook.

Gu Mama, nervous and flustered, accidentally broke a teacup. Before she could even apologize, Grandma Gu grabbed another teacup and hurled it across the room at her.

"It’s a good day! Why do you have to ruin everything?!” she screeched. “What terrible sins did the Gu family commit to deserve a woman like you in our home? You’re not beautiful like Zhenzhen, and you want to have the same fate as her? You're shameless! Zhenzhen’s lucky. She was able to find a man with money! You should try it sometime! But oh right, you're so ugly! You could barely find one decent man willing to marry you, but you ran away with a scoundrel! Did you really think you could make a better life for yourself? The Gu family has been cursed! Cursed with a daughter-in-law who can't have children and a granddaughter who brings shame upon us! We must have been truly wicked in our past lives!"

Gu Xixi reacted instantly, pulling her mother out of harm's way just in the nick of time. The teacup smashed on the ground where Gu Mama’s head had been a split second before.

Seeing that Gu Xixi had dared to defy her, Grandma Gu flew into a rage. Brandishing her walking stick like a weapon, she advanced on them, ready to strike.

But before she could land a single blow, a man began frantically pounding on the courtyard gate.

"Grandma Gu!” he hollered. “Congratulations! Congratulations to your family!"

What was going on? That sounded like Village Head Li.

The visitors thought smugly to themselves: maybe word had spread through the village about them driving here for the marriage proposal. Perhaps everyone was coming to congratulate the family.

They had known driving over in style would make an impression.

Grandma Gu hurried to the gate, her anger momentarily forgotten.

“Village Head Li!” she said, her voice sweet as honey. “What brings you here today?”

Village Head Li was so excited he was practically hopping from foot to foot.

"Grandma Gu," he said, grabbing her by the arm, "You are so very lucky! Your granddaughter is going to marry well! The Gu family is blessed! Truly blessed! Your ancestors must have performed great deeds to earn you such fortune!"

Grandma Gu assumed he was talking about Gu Zhenzhen. Beaming with pride, she replied, "It's true. Our Zhenzhen is a lucky girl, we’ve always known it!"

"No, no, no,” he sputtered, “Not Gu Zhenzhen! It's Gu Xixi! I've never seen so many fancy cars! They’re asking for directions to your house, saying they've come to propose marriage!"

What? Fancy cars? Asking for directions?

Everyone in the house froze, certain they had misheard.

Gu Xixi's face blanched. They… They were here? Already?

A line of luxury cars slowly came into view at the end of the road.

Leading the procession was a Rolls-Royce Silver Charm, followed by a Bentley, Maybach, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Aston Martin, and more - a seemingly endless parade of some of the most expensive and sought-after cars in the world.