"Put on this dress tomorrow, doll yourself up a bit, and accompany me to meet someone."
As soon as Shen Meifang, the paternal aunt, finished speaking, she thrust a dress at Mu Qianshan.
Catapulted into action, Mu Qianshan instinctively caught the dress and scrutinized it; it was a plunging V-neck, off-shoulder, cinched waist mini dress. Without even trying it on, she knew it was the revealing type.
To go out in such a provocative dress, people who didn't know any better might mistake her for someone in a "special" profession.
She knew that her aunt had recently found her a fiancé, an utterly worthless idler from society who also happened to be a tubby twosome.
However, hearing that the other party was willing to give a dowry of 200,000, Shen Meifang, without considering her feelings, unilaterally decided to agree to this proposal, arranging for the two to meet tomorrow.
If the man liked her, he would pay half of the dowry on the spot, and the rest would be given after their "intimate contact".
Moreover, he had specifically requested that she could not bring her young brother along when she married him.
Now her aunt was making her wear such a revealing dress to meet him, how was this different from being a call girl?
Upon this thought, Mu Qianshan felt extremely wronged. In front of her aunt, she ripped the dress angrily and threw it on the floor.
"Aunt, I'm not going with you to meet anyone, and I certainly won't agree to this marriage. Just go reject it."
After saying this, before Shen Meifang could react, she rushed into her room and locked the door from the inside.
Slam, slam, the next moment, sounds of furious pounding on the door echoed through the hallway, accompanied by Shen Meifang's irate screams.
"You ungrateful girl, how dare you disrespect me this way! If you have the guts, open the door and see how I'll deal with you!"
"I'm telling you, your parents are dead. I'm your guardian now and you have to listen to me."
"Even if I arrange for you to marry a wanderer, you'll have to marry him obediently."
"You naughty girl! Open the door for me, or I'll come in with the key and tie you up. When the man comes tomorrow, you two can consummate the marriage here in this room."
Mu Qianqian, upon hearing this, trembled in shock and was filled with fear and anger.
She knew her aunt was not simply trying to scare her, given the torture inflicted upon her on a daily basis.
Suddenly, she heard her aunt's angry voice stop, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps fading away.
Mu Qianqian felt a knot in her stomach. She knew her aunt had gone to find the key to open the door.
Her greedy aunt, who had always prioritised her own interests, would do anything for a dowry of two hundred thousand.
She thought carefully and decided that she could not simply wait for her fate. She had to protect her five-year-old brother too. If she was forced to lose her purity and get married, there would be no one to take care of her brother.
With this thought, she quickly pulled out their household registration booklet from the drawer and ran out of the house.
As she stepped out of the house, her aunt's curses echoed behind her. "You naughty girl! How dare you run away? Go and die outside with your burdensome brother and never return."
Mu Qianqian covered her ears, mustered all her strength, and kept running until she had left her residential area far behind. Only then, seeing that her aunt was not chasing her, did she stop by the roadside to catch her breath and rest.
She realised that if she returned, her aunt, with her cruel nature, would only torment her and her brother even more severely.
Keeping this in mind, she took a deep breath, took out her phone, and dialed a number.
The call was quickly answered. Before the person on the other end could speak, she said: "Hello, this is Mu Qianqian."
"I wonder if you have some time. Could we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get our marriage license? I'd like to have a shotgun wedding with you today."
After a few moments of hesitation, the voice at the other end of the phone responded, "Alright. I'll meet you at the Civil Affairs Bureau in an hour."
...
An hour later.
Civil Affairs Bureau.
Mu Qianqian, holding a freshly printed marriage license walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau. As she looked at the red book in her hand, she felt as if she was dreaming.
She was married.
To a man she had only met twice.
Suddenly, a soothing, masculine voice reached her ears, "My name is on the marriage license. If you can't remember, take a few more looks."
"I remember; your name is Ji Chen."
Looking at her tall, handsome husband, Mu Qianqian felt that her decision to have a shotgun wedding was absolutely right.
Although he was ten years older than her, his looks were dashing, which was a far better fate than being forced to marry a 200kg fat man. Of course, she would choose the handsome hunk!
Moreover, her husband's familial circumstances were similar to hers; he also had a younger sister to look after, so he would naturally not reject her for bringing her little brother into the marriage.
All she needed to do from now on was to work hard to manage their little family of four.
"The address and house number have already been sent to your phone. Here are the keys. You can go home first, I have to get back to work."
Ji Chen handed the keys to Mu Qianqian and turned to leave immediately.
Holding the key, Mu Qianqian hastily yelled at his retreating back, "What time will you be off work and return home?"
She planned to prepare dinner for his return from work.
Ji Chen paused at her words. His customized trousers accentuated his tall, straight legs.
He wore a gray shirt on his upper body today, coupled with his handsome face, it gave him an air of nobleness. He was as dazzling as a movie star.
Everyone walking by him gave him surprising and admiring glances.
Ji Chen was already accustomed to these gazes from passers-by.
He did not turn back, only indifferently responding, "Not sure. I have to go to the hospital after work."
Seeing that he seemed quite busy, Mu Qianqian didn't want to delay him further because she knew that salespeople were very busy and needed to be available to attend to clients at all times.
"Alright, I understand. You go work." After saying that, she watched him leave by car.
Turning her gaze back, Mu Qianqian looked at the marriage certificate in her hand. Gazing at "Ji Chen’s" name on the document, she revealed a faint smile.
Her mind began to replay the scenes when she first met him.
The first time was at the hospital when both of them had lost their parents in car accidents.
The second time was yesterday at the hospital when she was giving a blood transfusion to his younger sister.
Had she not been pushed into a corner by her aunt, she would not have felt rushed to marry him in haste.
Even though she had only met Ji Chen twice, through these two encounters, she found him calm and responsible. She guessed that, given his age and maturity, he would likely be caring.
At this moment, her heart was very calm, feeling that life after a whirlwind marriage does not seem much different from an ordinary day.
Nevertheless, she had already mentally prepared herself to face the coming life of a newlywed.
Later on, she put her marriage certificate into her purse, and then walked to the bus stop, preparing to pick up her younger brother from kindergarten.
Just as she was about to reach the bus stop, her phone suddenly rang.
Looking at the screen, it was a call from her aunt.
After a long hesitation, she finally pressed the answer button.
As soon as the call was connected, the sharp and angry voice of Shen Meifang instantly came through.
"You disgrace! Have you had enough fun outside? The groom's family just called, saying they want to meet you tonight. You'd better come home immediately, do you hear me?"
"I refuse to meet that man. Starting from today, I will take my brother, and live outside. I will not return."
Mu Qianqian's attitude was very firm. After all, she was now married and had a place to live, she didn't need to suffer from her aunt's control and torment any longer.
"You ungrateful girl, are you rebelling against me because you have spread your wings? You'd better not let me catch you, or I will never let you go…"
Before Shen Meifang could finish her sentence, Mu Qianqian hung up the phone directly, blocked the calls from her aunt's family, and hailed a taxi to the kindergarten.
On the bus, she recollected the past year of living with her aunt, where she was treated like a slave, handling all the chores, and was driven like a servant, leaving her utterly exhausted.
Moreover, she handed her monthly salary of five thousand yuan as her brother's living expenses to her aunt, but her aunt was not satisfied and even planned to marry her off for a huge dowry.
She would naturally avoid these bloodsucking relatives as much as possible.
Although she used a flash marriage to avoid her aunt's arranged marriage, at least her new husband had a job, was handsome, and was indeed much older than her, but he knew how to take care of others.
With this thought in mind, she felt quite satisfied with her husband.
