Please Marry Me (GL) - Chapter 2

The rain outside had barely stopped before it began again, growing heavier by the second until it became a torrential downpour.

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yi stepped out to find Song Rao’s parents had already prepared a meal. They insisted she join them at the table. Unable to refuse their warmth, she agreed. One invitation led to another; they mentioned it had been too long since they’d seen her and, given the storm, hoped she would stay to chat.

Because of the weather, Song Rao couldn’t return to the lab. After giving her students some instructions, she sat down on the living room sofa.

“What were you talking about? You’re laughing so hard,” Song Rao asked.

A gentle smile played on Jiang Yi’s lips. “We were talking about the time you were chased by a dog when you were little.”

Mrs. Song couldn’t stop laughing. “You came to me crying your eyes out, saying a dog bit you. I went to look, and it was a two-month-old puppy that hadn’t even finished growing its teeth!”

Song Rao’s expression soured immediately. Refusing to listen further, she strode back into her room.

By 9:00 PM, the elders had gone to bed. Jiang Yi received another call from Shen Siyun and stepped out onto the balcony to answer it. Outside, the wind howled and the rain lashed down. Shen Siyun’s voice drifted through the receiver.

“Why haven’t you gone back?”

Jiang Yi immediately thought of the bag Shen Siyun had bought. Insisting she sign for it in person was just a way to force her to return—to go back to a place where Shen Siyun could control her.

Pushing down her discomfort, she explained slowly, “The rain is too heavy to travel. Besides… I wanted to spend some time with my best friend.”

“Heh, so many little tricks.”

A cold sneer. Jiang Yi’s face turned deathly pale. “What… what do you mean?”

The voice on the other end turned chillingly indifferent. “I didn’t expect you to learn how to play hard to get. Are you trying to make me jealous, or trying to force me to agree to marriage? Save your breath. You are nothing more than my—”

Halfway through the sentence, the woman seemed to realize her words were too hurtful and stopped herself.

“Nothing more than your kept lover, right?” Jiang Yi finished for her. A bitter, ugly smile tugged at her lips. She tried her best to maintain her composure and not cry, but a sob accidentally slipped through.

“Jiang Yi…” The woman remained silent for a few seconds, her tone softening slightly. “Can’t you just be obedient?”

The only response was the sound of the call disconnecting.

Wiping away her tears, Jiang Yi turned to go back inside. Remembering Song Rao was in the room, she turned toward the bathroom to process her grief in private. Before she could move, Song Rao opened the door. Seeing Jiang Yi’s red eyes and the phone in her hand, Song Rao’s brow furrowed and her face darkened. She pulled Jiang Yi into the room.

“Did she say something horrible again?” Song Rao sat her down on the edge of the bed.

Jiang Yi recounted everything. Shen Siyun’s words felt like a ball of cotton stuffed in her throat, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

“She speaks to you like that—why do you still like her?” Song Rao was utterly baffled.

Jiang Yi took the tissue offered to her, her tears flowing uncontrollably. At the question, she dazed out, her memory rushing back to her college days.

Shen Siyun was the heiress to the Jiayu Trading Group. She had once come to Jiang Yi’s university to give a presentation on corporate culture and campus recruitment. At the time, Jiang Yi had been deeply captivated by the confident, glamorous woman on stage. Everyone was buzzing about who this young lady was; upon hearing she was the eldest miss of Jiayu Trading, they were even more intrigued.

While everyone else was discussing going to the recruitment fair the next day to get close to her, Jiang Yi was already in Shen Siyun’s bed. Perhaps it was youthful impulsiveness, but with one beckon from Shen Siyun, Jiang Yi had followed her, losing her soul in the process.

After that night, Shen Siyun seemed to have developed a taste for her and wanted to maintain the relationship. She brought a contract for Jiang Yi to sign. Seeing the word “sponsorship” (sugar baby arrangement), Jiang Yi managed to claw back some logic and didn’t sign immediately.

“I’m unmarried, I don’t have a partner, and you’re the first.”

Jiang Yi had to admit Shen Siyun was a master at enchanting people. Those words echoed in her ears; within two days, she signed the agreement as if possessed, staying by Shen Siyun’s side for two years with the lucky thought that “she was the exception.”

…

Returning to the present, Jiang Yi looked at the wind and rain outside and closed her eyes tight. “Maybe… I was just possessed back then.”

Song Rao couldn’t empathize. “So what are you going to do? Just keep enduring it?”

Jiang Yi shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Jiang Yi, I have an idea.” Song Rao took a sip of tea from an old enamel mug and laid out her plan unhurriedly.

“How about… we have a marriage of convenience?”

Jiang Yi had heard the term before. In fact, before same-sex marriage was legal, some gay people chose “fake marriages” with the opposite sex to appease their families.

“If you want to actually marry me, that’s fine too. In my view, the end goal of love is just two people partnering up to live their lives.” Song Rao put down the mug she’d used for over a decade and pulled over a chair, choosing her words carefully.

“Look, she doesn’t care about your feelings at all. To put it bluntly, she might just be playing with you. I know you still harbor a sliver of hope for her. If that’s the case, let’s put on a show for her. If she truly cares about you, the show will have meaning, won’t it? Besides, I need a marriage to shut up my parents and relatives.” It would save her from people gossiping that she was an unmarriageable researcher.

“But what if she flies into a rage? I still have a contract with her,” Jiang Yi worried.

“How many years are left?” Song Rao asked. “What’s the buyout?”

Jiang Yi bit her lower lip. “Only a few days. The original contract was for two years.”

She was afraid Shen Siyun wouldn’t want her anymore and wouldn’t renew, or would replace her. But she was also afraid of being asked to renew—because a renewal meant they would always be just “patron and lover,” with no chance of moving forward. This was the source of her internal conflict.

Song Rao pondered. “Think about it for a few days. If you decide to go with my plan, we’ll get the certificate on the day your contract ends, and hold the banquet the next day.”

“Is that really okay?” Jiang Yi felt uneasy.

Song Rao stood up and placed her hands on Jiang Yi’s shoulders. “Trust me. I’ve done so many experiments; I know every parameter. This will be no exception. There won’t be a problem.”