Chapter 4: Registration
After Ding Meng tucked away the contract and returned home, she found a safe place to hide it. Right after the deed was done, her ringtone suddenly rang. Ding Meng almost jumped in fright.
She picked up her cell phone and saw that it was Jiang Nanqing. Filled with a guilty conscience, Ding Meng exhaled a big breath and answered the phone, “Nanqing ah, what’s up?”
“Ding Meng Meng, aren’t you being too inconsiderate? Your grandma got admitted into the hospital and you didn’t even say anything to me? I only learned this from your friend!”
The reproach in Jiang Nanqing’s voice pulled Ding Meng together. These past two days she was so busy with the matter of marrying Qiao Yichen that she really had neglected to tell Nanqing. “My bad, I kept forgetting to tell you….”
“You forgot? What have you been busy with?”
“I….” Ding Meng thought for a bit and ultimately decided to tell Jiang Nanqing the whole story. “Today I went with Qiao Yichen to sign a contract.”
Jiang Nanqing’s eyebrows astutely wrinkled. “What kind of contract?”
“A marriage contract.”
After Ding Meng finished speaking, she shut her eyes, waiting for the roaring on the phone to begin. Sure enough, two seconds later, Jiang Nanqing’s thunderous voice entered her ears. “Ding Meng! Did you eat so much pig lard that your mind can’t think straight? You’re actually going to run off to get married with him!”
Ding Meng sniffled and pitifully responded, “You didn’t see this, but the sight of my grandma laying on the hospital bed, asking about my marriage plans…”
This extremely wronged tone of voice made it hard for Jiang Nanqing to continue ranting, although she knew Ding Meng was most likely over exaggerating.
She breathed in deeply and suppressed her inner rage. “Are you at home right now? Wait a moment. I’m coming over now to find you.”
One hour later, Jiang Nanqing stood inside Ding Meng’s bedroom carrying a large backpack. Ding Meng smiled a winning smile, looking just like a child who had made a mistake. “I need to make something clear first. I didn’t make this decision impulsively. I looked this up online and found that there are plenty of cases where people are in marriages for show and are able to live their lives independently and harmoniously.”
Jiang Nanqing’s eyebrows stood up. “So you still think you’re doing the right thing? What kind of a contract did you get? Take it out for me to see.”
Ding Meng was well-prepared and obediently passed it over.
Jiang Nanqing scrutinized it extremely carefully. The more she looked, the more complicated her expression became. Ding Meng saw this and nervously asked, “What’s wrong?” Could it be that there was some sort of trap written in there that she didn’t notice?
Jiang Nanqing lifted her eyes to glance at her, saying, “That middle school classmate of yours, is he secretly in love with you?”
Ding Meng, “…. Why?”
“This contract was almost entirely written for your benefit. Especially item 6. That’s just basically him raising you for half a year for nothing in return. You don’t even have to help him with household chores.” This must be true love ah. “What a great guy. If he isn’t actually secretly in love with you, remember to introduce him to me when the two of you divorce.”
Ding Meng, “….”
Then Jiang Nanqing completely switched the topic of discussion, “However, regardless of whether you two have signed a contract or not, men are beasts. You still need to make some preparations.” As she said this, she placed the backpack on the table and removed the contents one by one. “This is pepper spray. Originally I wanted to get you a Taser rod, but since I was worried that he could steal it and use it against you, I prepared this for you instead.”
From the backpack she grabbed a handful (That’s right! It was really a handful) of multicolored screeching devices and stuffed them all into Ding Meng’s hands. “The seller said each of these can reach 130 decibels. You just need to pull open this metal piece to make it scream. When the moment comes, you can act like it’s a grenade and throw it towards his body. If it can’t scare him to death, it can annoy him to death.”
Ding Meng, “…..”
So heavy-handed.
“Also, remember to lock your door. If there’s nothing important, don’t go to the living room. If you have to go to the living room, remember to cover up with clothing.”
“Okay……”
Jiang Nanqing thought deeply to see if she had overlooked anything. Her eyes glanced over the contract on the table and smiled. “However, the final item in this contract of yours is pretty interesting ha.”
Ding Meng immediately felt rather awkward, quickly walking over to grab back the contract. Her eyes couldn’t help but glance over the last item.
Item 9, if both parties develop real feelings and both parties agree to not implement item 7, both parties will become husband and wife in not only name but also reality.
Ding Meng’s eyes flickered. Then she hid away the contract once more.
Two days later, Qiao Yichen and Ding Meng went to the civil bureau to register their marriage. When they stopped at the hospital to see Grandma Ding, Grandma Ding was so happy that she almost cried. The next day after that, Ding Meng had a discussion with her parents and moved into Qiao Yichen’s home.
Qiao Yichen helped Ding Meng carry her large suitcase and walked into the elevator with her. “You only have this much stuff?”
“Yeah, in any case I’m only living here for half a year.”
Qiao Yichen suddenly laughed out loud. “Why does it feel like you’re coming to my place to rent a room?”
Ding Meng, “…..”
It really did seem like that.
Qiao Yichen’s home was located in a high rise apartment building. Ding Men followed him inside and looked around with astonishment. “Looks like my grandma was right! You really must be a successful person to have bought such a big home. It even has two floors.”
She stood in front of the flight of stairs and looked up. Qiao Yichen put down her suitcase and walked up to her. “This is the key to the gate downstairs. This is my house key. The password is my cell phone number’s last six digits.” He placed the keys into Ding Meng’s hand and brought her to her room. “Here’s your room. Both keys are already inside. Keep them safe.”
“Okay, got it.” Ding Meng clasped the pile of keys in her hand, mentally repeating which one was for which lock.
“I need to return to work in a bit. Go ahead and get settled in. The fridge has food to eat so help yourself if you get hungry. There’s need to wait for me.”
“Okay.” Ding Meng pulled her luggage and curiously asked, “What’s upstairs?”
“The second floor has some simple recording equipment. I usually write music up there.”
“Ah….” So it’s a workplace. Then she won’t casually go up there.
She dragged her luggage into her room and Qiao Yichen got ready to head to work. When he reached the door, he turned his head back and spoke to her, “I will find a time to bring you to meet my parents as soon as possible.”
Ding Meng was froze for a moment and then proudly responded, “Rest assured. I will put on a great act!” Goudan performed so well in front of her family. It was time for her to return the favor!
Her attitude made Qiao Yichen laugh out loud. Then he turned around and left.
Ding Meng put her things in order and started to clean the house.
Even though the contract said she only needed to clean her own room, she still tidied up the living room and kitchen.
After cleaning, she lay down on the sofa exhausted. She happily discovered that, wow, the sofa was really comfortable.
She gleefully rolled around a couple times until her stomach started to protest. Ding Meng reluctantly crawled up, entered the kitchen, and opened the fridge.
There was a lot of food in the fridge, and it seemed like it was recently restocked. Not only were there vegetables, there were also snacks.
Ding Meng’s mouth curved upwards. She definitely did not think these were specially prepared for her by Qiao Yichen!
She continued looking for a bit and then selected some cabbage, eggplants, tomatoes, and eggs.
After half an hour, a plate of fish-fragrant eggplant, a plate of tomato and scrambled eggs, and a bowl of cabbage soup appeared on the table.
Ding Meng ate her fill and sealed the leftovers tightly with plastic wrap. Then she returned to her room, making sure to lock her door.
Her bedroom had its own bathroom. She searched inside her closet to find her Doraemon pajamas and hummed a song as she went to take a bath.
Qiao Yichen returned before nightfall. When he entered the house, he noticed the dishes on the table and froze for a second.
He stared absentmindedly before realizing that they were left there by Ding Meng.
A strange feeling rose up in his chest. Qiao Yichen couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but it wasn’t bad.
Ding Meng heard the sound of Qiao Yichen returning so she opened her door and stuck her head full of damp hair outside just in time to meet Qiao Yichen’s gaze.
She gently laughed a bit and spoke to Qiao Yichen, “I made those dishes on the table just now. You can eat them if you heat them in the microwave for a bit.” Ding Meng spoke up to this point and paused for a second. Then she continued, “But if you’ve already ate dinner, help me put them into the fridge. I’ll finish them off tomorrow.”
Qiao Yichen slightly raised his brows. “I haven’t eaten yet. Thanks.” He picked up the plate on the table and glanced at Ding Meng. “Since you’ve taken a bath, hurry up and go blow-dry your hair.”
“Okay.” Ding Meng tucked her head back in, only to poke it out again. “Oh yeah! I took a bag of your potato chips.”
Qiao Yichen laughed, carrying the plate into the kitchen. “It was originally bought for you anyways.”
This wasn’t the first time Qiao Yichen bought things for Ding Meng to eat.
In middle school, at almost every break, Qiao Yichen would use his elbow to nudge Ding Meng’s chubby arms. “Let’s go to the shop stand to buy food.”
Ding Meng was focused on working through the problems in her exercise booklet. Her eyes didn’t even look up. “Not going.”
Qiao Yichen replied, “I’ll treat you.”
“Let’s go! o(*≧▽≦)ツ┌═┐” Ding Meng threw down her booklet and marched off to the shop stand with Qiao Yichen.
Thinking those past events, Ding Meng covered her face in shame. How could she have been so easily tempted in the past.
But even at present, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed. She ate another potato chip in distress.
Before going to bed, she inspected the door and window to make sure they were securely locked. Only after placing the screeching device and pepper spray within arm’s reach did she close her eyes with ease.
Then the phone suddenly went off.
Ding Meng placed a hand on her chest over her frightened heart and opened the unread text message.
Dear Ms. Ding Meng, Congratulations on passing the Heavenly Voice casting auditions! You have been invited to participate in the preliminary round tomorrow afternoon at 2PM. Please prepare to sing a song acapella and arrive at least half an hour prior. Address: Xing Guang Media, Broadcast Building 1, 3rd Floor.
Ding Meng jolted upright from her bed.
Last week while passing by Xing Guang Square, she noticed a crowd of people lining up. Only after asking around did she discover that a singing competition was holding auditions. Since she had liked singing from a young age, she couldn’t help but sign up. At the time, the staff simply had her fill out a form and sing a couple lines. Then they told her to head back and wait for the news. If she passed, she would be informed over text message.
She had been eagerly looking forward to hearing back, but the big events of the past couple days had pushed this matter far out of her mind.
It seemed she had passed?
This was too awesome! Now that her family was no longer forcing her to get married, she could completely focus on preparing for this competition!
Ding Meng emotionally rolled on the ground a couple times before opening up her closet and falling deep into thought.
For the preliminary round tomorrow, what kind of clothes should she wear? Wait no, shouldn’t the question be, what song should she sing?
Chapter 4: Registration
After Ding Meng tucked away the contract and returned home, she found a safe place to hide it. Right after the deed was done, her ringtone suddenly rang. Ding Meng almost jumped in fright.
She picked up her cell phone and saw that it was Jiang Nanqing. Filled with a guilty conscience, Ding Meng exhaled a big breath and answered the phone, “Nanqing ah, what’s up?”
“Ding Meng Meng, aren’t you being too inconsiderate? Your grandma got admitted into the hospital and you didn’t even say anything to me? I only learned this from your friend!”
The reproach in Jiang Nanqing’s voice pulled Ding Meng together. These past two days she was so busy with the matter of marrying Qiao Yichen that she really had neglected to tell Nanqing. “My bad, I kept forgetting to tell you….”
“You forgot? What have you been busy with?”
“I….” Ding Meng thought for a bit and ultimately decided to tell Jiang Nanqing the whole story. “Today I went with Qiao Yichen to sign a contract.”
Jiang Nanqing’s eyebrows astutely wrinkled. “What kind of contract?”
“A marriage contract.”
After Ding Meng finished speaking, she shut her eyes, waiting for the roaring on the phone to begin. Sure enough, two seconds later, Jiang Nanqing’s thunderous voice entered her ears. “Ding Meng! Did you eat so much pig lard that your mind can’t think straight? You’re actually going to run off to get married with him!”
Ding Meng sniffled and pitifully responded, “You didn’t see this, but the sight of my grandma laying on the hospital bed, asking about my marriage plans…”
This extremely wronged tone of voice made it hard for Jiang Nanqing to continue ranting, although she knew Ding Meng was most likely over exaggerating.
She breathed in deeply and suppressed her inner rage. “Are you at home right now? Wait a moment. I’m coming over now to find you.”
One hour later, Jiang Nanqing stood inside Ding Meng’s bedroom carrying a large backpack. Ding Meng smiled a winning smile, looking just like a child who had made a mistake. “I need to make something clear first. I didn’t make this decision impulsively. I looked this up online and found that there are plenty of cases where people are in marriages for show and are able to live their lives independently and harmoniously.”
Jiang Nanqing’s eyebrows stood up. “So you still think you’re doing the right thing? What kind of a contract did you get? Take it out for me to see.”
Ding Meng was well-prepared and obediently passed it over.
Jiang Nanqing scrutinized it extremely carefully. The more she looked, the more complicated her expression became. Ding Meng saw this and nervously asked, “What’s wrong?” Could it be that there was some sort of trap written in there that she didn’t notice?
Jiang Nanqing lifted her eyes to glance at her, saying, “That middle school classmate of yours, is he secretly in love with you?”
Ding Meng, “…. Why?”
“This contract was almost entirely written for your benefit. Especially item 6. That’s just basically him raising you for half a year for nothing in return. You don’t even have to help him with household chores.” This must be true love ah. “What a great guy. If he isn’t actually secretly in love with you, remember to introduce him to me when the two of you divorce.”
Ding Meng, “….”
Then Jiang Nanqing completely switched the topic of discussion, “However, regardless of whether you two have signed a contract or not, men are beasts. You still need to make some preparations.” As she said this, she placed the backpack on the table and removed the contents one by one. “This is pepper spray. Originally I wanted to get you a Taser rod, but since I was worried that he could steal it and use it against you, I prepared this for you instead.”
From the backpack she grabbed a handful (That’s right! It was really a handful) of multicolored screeching devices and stuffed them all into Ding Meng’s hands. “The seller said each of these can reach 130 decibels. You just need to pull open this metal piece to make it scream. When the moment comes, you can act like it’s a grenade and throw it towards his body. If it can’t scare him to death, it can annoy him to death.”
Ding Meng, “…..”
So heavy-handed.
“Also, remember to lock your door. If there’s nothing important, don’t go to the living room. If you have to go to the living room, remember to cover up with clothing.”
“Okay……”
Jiang Nanqing thought deeply to see if she had overlooked anything. Her eyes glanced over the contract on the table and smiled. “However, the final item in this contract of yours is pretty interesting ha.”
Ding Meng immediately felt rather awkward, quickly walking over to grab back the contract. Her eyes couldn’t help but glance over the last item.
Item 9, if both parties develop real feelings and both parties agree to not implement item 7, both parties will become husband and wife in not only name but also reality.
Ding Meng’s eyes flickered. Then she hid away the contract once more.
Two days later, Qiao Yichen and Ding Meng went to the civil bureau to register their marriage. When they stopped at the hospital to see Grandma Ding, Grandma Ding was so happy that she almost cried. The next day after that, Ding Meng had a discussion with her parents and moved into Qiao Yichen’s home.
Qiao Yichen helped Ding Meng carry her large suitcase and walked into the elevator with her. “You only have this much stuff?”
“Yeah, in any case I’m only living here for half a year.”
Qiao Yichen suddenly laughed out loud. “Why does it feel like you’re coming to my place to rent a room?”
Ding Meng, “…..”
It really did seem like that.
Qiao Yichen’s home was located in a high rise apartment building. Ding Men followed him inside and looked around with astonishment. “Looks like my grandma was right! You really must be a successful person to have bought such a big home. It even has two floors.”
She stood in front of the flight of stairs and looked up. Qiao Yichen put down her suitcase and walked up to her. “This is the key to the gate downstairs. This is my house key. The password is my cell phone number’s last six digits.” He placed the keys into Ding Meng’s hand and brought her to her room. “Here’s your room. Both keys are already inside. Keep them safe.”
“Okay, got it.” Ding Meng clasped the pile of keys in her hand, mentally repeating which one was for which lock.
“I need to return to work in a bit. Go ahead and get settled in. The fridge has food to eat so help yourself if you get hungry. There’s need to wait for me.”
“Okay.” Ding Meng pulled her luggage and curiously asked, “What’s upstairs?”
“The second floor has some simple recording equipment. I usually write music up there.”
“Ah….” So it’s a workplace. Then she won’t casually go up there.
She dragged her luggage into her room and Qiao Yichen got ready to head to work. When he reached the door, he turned his head back and spoke to her, “I will find a time to bring you to meet my parents as soon as possible.”
Ding Meng was froze for a moment and then proudly responded, “Rest assured. I will put on a great act!” Goudan performed so well in front of her family. It was time for her to return the favor!
Her attitude made Qiao Yichen laugh out loud. Then he turned around and left.
Ding Meng put her things in order and started to clean the house.
Even though the contract said she only needed to clean her own room, she still tidied up the living room and kitchen.
After cleaning, she lay down on the sofa exhausted. She happily discovered that, wow, the sofa was really comfortable.
She gleefully rolled around a couple times until her stomach started to protest. Ding Meng reluctantly crawled up, entered the kitchen, and opened the fridge.
There was a lot of food in the fridge, and it seemed like it was recently restocked. Not only were there vegetables, there were also snacks.
Ding Meng’s mouth curved upwards. She definitely did not think these were specially prepared for her by Qiao Yichen!
She continued looking for a bit and then selected some cabbage, eggplants, tomatoes, and eggs.
After half an hour, a plate of fish-fragrant eggplant, a plate of tomato and scrambled eggs, and a bowl of cabbage soup appeared on the table.
Ding Meng ate her fill and sealed the leftovers tightly with plastic wrap. Then she returned to her room, making sure to lock her door.
Her bedroom had its own bathroom. She searched inside her closet to find her Doraemon pajamas and hummed a song as she went to take a bath.
Qiao Yichen returned before nightfall. When he entered the house, he noticed the dishes on the table and froze for a second.
He stared absentmindedly before realizing that they were left there by Ding Meng.
A strange feeling rose up in his chest. Qiao Yichen couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but it wasn’t bad.
Ding Meng heard the sound of Qiao Yichen returning so she opened her door and stuck her head full of damp hair outside just in time to meet Qiao Yichen’s gaze.
She gently laughed a bit and spoke to Qiao Yichen, “I made those dishes on the table just now. You can eat them if you heat them in the microwave for a bit.” Ding Meng spoke up to this point and paused for a second. Then she continued, “But if you’ve already ate dinner, help me put them into the fridge. I’ll finish them off tomorrow.”
Qiao Yichen slightly raised his brows. “I haven’t eaten yet. Thanks.” He picked up the plate on the table and glanced at Ding Meng. “Since you’ve taken a bath, hurry up and go blow-dry your hair.”
“Okay.” Ding Meng tucked her head back in, only to poke it out again. “Oh yeah! I took a bag of your potato chips.”
Qiao Yichen laughed, carrying the plate into the kitchen. “It was originally bought for you anyways.”
This wasn’t the first time Qiao Yichen bought things for Ding Meng to eat.
In middle school, at almost every break, Qiao Yichen would use his elbow to nudge Ding Meng’s chubby arms. “Let’s go to the shop stand to buy food.”
Ding Meng was focused on working through the problems in her exercise booklet. Her eyes didn’t even look up. “Not going.”
Qiao Yichen replied, “I’ll treat you.”
“Let’s go! o(*≧▽≦)ツ┌═┐” Ding Meng threw down her booklet and marched off to the shop stand with Qiao Yichen.
Thinking those past events, Ding Meng covered her face in shame. How could she have been so easily tempted in the past.
But even at present, it doesn’t look like anything’s changed. She ate another potato chip in distress.
Before going to bed, she inspected the door and window to make sure they were securely locked. Only after placing the screeching device and pepper spray within arm’s reach did she close her eyes with ease.
Then the phone suddenly went off.
Ding Meng placed a hand on her chest over her frightened heart and opened the unread text message.
Dear Ms. Ding Meng, Congratulations on passing the Heavenly Voice casting auditions! You have been invited to participate in the preliminary round tomorrow afternoon at 2PM. Please prepare to sing a song acapella and arrive at least half an hour prior. Address: Xing Guang Media, Broadcast Building 1, 3rd Floor.
Ding Meng jolted upright from her bed.
Last week while passing by Xing Guang Square, she noticed a crowd of people lining up. Only after asking around did she discover that a singing competition was holding auditions. Since she had liked singing from a young age, she couldn’t help but sign up. At the time, the staff simply had her fill out a form and sing a couple lines. Then they told her to head back and wait for the news. If she passed, she would be informed over text message.
She had been eagerly looking forward to hearing back, but the big events of the past couple days had pushed this matter far out of her mind.
It seemed she had passed?
This was too awesome! Now that her family was no longer forcing her to get married, she could completely focus on preparing for this competition!
Ding Meng emotionally rolled on the ground a couple times before opening up her closet and falling deep into thought.
For the preliminary round tomorrow, what kind of clothes should she wear? Wait no, shouldn’t the question be, what song should she sing?
