Chapter 9: You Shameless Bastard

“Say it. What is it?” Yang Chen said as he propped one leg up on the leather seat, kicked off his rubber sandals, and dug at his toes with one hand.

When the weather got hot, it was easy to get itchy, and Yang Chen was thinking he ought to buy some ointment and rub it on.

Seeing that, Lin Ruoxi was about to speak, but the words caught in her throat. She instinctively covered her cute little nose and frowned. “Can you not do something so disgusting?”

Yang Chen just smiled carelessly. “Heh, if your feet itch, you scratch them. That’s perfectly natural. What’s disgusting about it? Why force yourself to suffer?”

Lin Ruoxi swore this was the first time in her life she had ever seen someone this shameless. She had already learned from her preliminary investigation that he was nothing more than a lamb skewer vendor, but so what? The fact that she had already given herself to him could not be changed. As for what came next, she would just have to make the best of it...

“Yang Chen...”

“Wait!” Yang Chen stopped her again.

“What now?” Lin Ruoxi was annoyed now, a flush of anger rising over her usually cold face.

Yang Chen said a little awkwardly, “Miss Lin, look, you know my name and you know I was arrested by the police. Clearly, you’ve investigated me. But I don’t even know your name, and you’re saying you want to talk to me about something. Isn’t that a little...” As he spoke, he greedily sized Lin Ruoxi up a couple of times and licked his lips.

“Lin Ruoxi. The Ruo in ruo, the Xi in stream... Can we talk now?” Lin Ruoxi suddenly felt a little regret for her decision. The man in front of her was full of lust and lewdness, completely different from the honest man she had imagined. But once she had made up her mind, she never turned back, so gritting her teeth, Lin Ruoxi still intended to see it through.

“Lin, Ruo, Xi...” Yang Chen seemed to savor the name, whispering it a few times. “Not bad. It suits you.”

“My grandfather gave it to me, but that’s not the point. I need you to do something for me now.” Lin Ruoxi felt that even her own name sounded filthy coming out of this scoundrel’s mouth.

Yang Chen looked at her warily. “Um... Miss Lin, you’re not planning to make me repay the favor of bailing me out, are you? I don’t have money. I’ve only got this worthless life.”

Seeing Yang Chen actually put on such a pitiful look, Lin Ruoxi only felt a wave of secondhand embarrassment. She couldn’t even be bothered to look at him anymore, and turned her head away. “Marry me.”

“What?!”

“Marry me...” Lin Ruoxi’s face turned so red it looked like it could drip. She repeated it, her voice so small it was barely louder than a mosquito’s buzz.

Yang Chen still suspected he had heard wrong. Cautiously leaning in, he asked hoarsely, “Miss Lin, say it clearly. I think I’m hearing things...”

“You’re not hearing things.” Lin Ruoxi seemed to have made up her mind and recovered her cold expression. “I said I want you to marry me! Get married right now!”

After each word landed in Yang Chen’s ears, he had to admit he had not misheard. He could only laugh bitterly. “Miss Lin, isn’t this a bit... too hasty? You can’t just say you want to marry me because we slept together once. Marriage is a life-changing matter that affects a person’s whole life. I think you need to think it through carefully and not act on impulse.”

This time, Yang Chen wasn’t joking. He looked directly at Lin Ruoxi and spoke with real seriousness, hoping she would understand.

But Lin Ruoxi shook her head firmly. “I’m not a child. I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m not young anymore. It’s time I got married. I just never found the right person... Of course, don’t think you’re the right person. Because of certain reasons, what happened last night...” At that, Lin Ruoxi’s pretty face flushed despite herself, but she immediately went on: “I can tell you very clearly that I’m a very conservative woman. Rather than being forced to marry some unfamiliar man I hate, I’d rather choose you. At the very least, I gave you my first time.”

Yang Chen pondered for a moment, then said with a cold smile, “Miss Lin, I understand what you mean. The marriage you want is just a facade, and as the male lead playing along with you, compared with those other candidates, I’m obviously the one you think is easiest to control, right?”

Lin Ruoxi had been seen through and inevitably felt a little uncomfortable, but she did not deny it. She nodded. “Yang Chen, I can guarantee that if you cooperate with me, three years from now, at most three years, once my career is completely stable, we’ll go our separate ways and you won’t have any responsibility to bear. And I’ll give you a huge reward, far more than you could make selling lamb skewers for ten lifetimes.”

“Miss Lin...” Yang Chen’s face had already gone cold. He said with a teasing smile, “It seems you haven’t understood one thing. I may be poor, just a lamb skewer seller, but that doesn’t mean I’d marry some woman I have no emotional foundation with for money, even if it’s fake. You can call me hypocritical, stupid, or self-righteous, but I’m a stubborn man. I have my principles. My dictionary does not contain the words ‘fake marriage.’”

“You...” Lin Ruoxi truly had not expected that a man so lowly in her eyes, a filthy lamb skewer seller who could not possibly be any lower, would actually reject her request. Even if it was only a fake marriage, did he not know how many of Zhonghai City’s favored sons had wanted to get close to her and been kept at a distance?!

Yang Chen did not stop. He continued, “If you’re really a conservative woman and can’t accept having your chastity taken by someone you don’t love, I understand that, and I’m sorry and guilty about it. If you’re willing, I’ll seriously pursue you until you can truly like me. Then we can get married. I can fully accept that. As for whether I can truly love you, you don’t need to doubt it. I think any normal man would have no reason to doubt your charm. But... if you want me to simply be a shield for your career and pretend to be your husband for three years, I, Yang Chen, won’t accept that.”

“Hmph, pursue me... What right do you have to pursue me? Your lamb skewers?” Lin Ruoxi was truly furious. This man’s arrogance made her indescribably irritated.

From childhood to adulthood, no man had ever refused any unreasonable request of hers. She had never imagined that now, a man insignificant as an ant would actually refuse to marry her!

Yang Chen seemed to slip back into that rogue expression again, grinning. “Look, I’m this handsome, this manly, and the lamb skewers I grill are delicious. I live simply and frugally, with all the virtues of a traditional good man. More importantly, I’m very good to women. And if it’s my own wife, I’d be even better...”

“Enough!” Lin Ruoxi was afraid that if she kept listening she would lose it completely. “One hundred million! I’ll buy you for three years!”

“This isn’t a matter of money...”

“Two years, one hundred million!” Lin Ruoxi lowered her demand and said angrily.

Yang Chen still shook his head. “Even a hundred billion wouldn’t work. This is a matter of principle.”

“Do you believe I can get you out of the police station and also make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison!” Lin Ruoxi’s eyes were red, her heart full of grievance, and she said hatefully.

Yang Chen burst out laughing. “On what grounds? Are you going to tell the police that I raped you last night!? I clearly remember Miss Lin taking the initiative many times...”

“You... I... I... you...” Lin Ruoxi bit her pink lips with her white teeth. Tears of grievance and pain suddenly broke loose like a dam and spilled from her eyes. “Yang Chen, you’re despicable!”