Elsewhere, the 12 scarred men watched Lin Xi’s car drive off into the distance, cursing Ye Huan silently for his shamelessness. Despite being so formidable—disabling all twelve of them in under a minute so they couldn't even stand—he had acted as though he didn't know a single martial art when dealing with the fifteen bodyguards earlier.
Utterly shameless!
"Let's go. Back!"
The scarred leader fought through the agonizing pain of his fractured sternum, trembling as he forced himself to his feet.
The other eleven young men, nursing their broken arms and legs, also struggled up, shaking all over.
Just as they were heading toward their cars, a dozen off-road vehicles suddenly roared up, and a massive crowd of people poured out.
"Hong, Hongluan?"
Seeing the glamorous beauty wearing a peaked cap leading the group, the twelve scarred men were completely dumbfounded.
She was none of them other than Hongluan, one of the eight Country-Protecting God of War of Huaxia!
"You twelve are truly lucky. You offended that person and somehow weren't killed."
Hongluan cast a cold glance at the twelve men, then gazed toward the end of the road, her brow furrowing deeply. Of all places that pest could have gone, why did he have to come to Huaxia?
"What, what do you mean? Even if the twelve of us held knives and tried to grab someone, breaking the law, surely it doesn't warrant someone of your stature as a Country-Protecting God of War to come out and arrest us personally, does it?" the scarred leader asked.
"The one who beat you up is the Underworld King!"
Hongluan replied casually.
The Underworld King?
That human beast who stood at the absolute pinnacle of global wealth, martial might, political power, and influence?
The twelve scarred men nearly pissed themselves with terror, their minds ringing numbly. They had actually gotten into a fight with the Underworld King and survived to tell the tale? Holy crap, they could brag about this for the rest of their lives!
"Arrest me! Please, arrest me right now and throw me in prison for life! Hurry, take me away..."
Regaining his wits, the scarred leader shrieked in absolute panic.
He was now terrified that the Underworld King might turn back around and finish him off. To him, the rest of his life behind bars suddenly seemed like the safest place on earth.
"Take them all away. Interrogate them thoroughly. I want results before dusk."
Hongluan commanded. She knew that when she had blended into the crowd at the airport arrivals, the Underworld King must have spotted her; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered merely beating up these twelve thugs and left it at that.
The Underworld King was clearly expecting her to handle the interrogation!
"No need to interrogate us! We'll confess, we'll confess everything..."
The twelve men screamed in absolute terror.
***
Guided by Lin Xi, Ye Huan retrieved the household registration booklet from her home, and the two of them headed straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
On the way there, Lin Xi had already sent out the finalized marriage agreement.
So when they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, her lawyer was already waiting at the entrance with the documents in hand.
"Sign and put your thumbprint here!"
Lin Xi immediately flipped straight to the final page of the agreement, blocking the rest of the text so only the signature and fingerprint lines were visible, and issued her command.
"I haven't even read the agreement yet!" Ye Huan protested.
Lin Xi glared at him. "Just sign where I tell you to sign! Stop asking so many questions!"
She certainly didn't dare let Ye Huan read the contents of the agreement, afraid that if he did, he would refuse to sign or press his thumbprint!
"Fine!"
Ye Huan shrugged and signed his name, pressing his thumbprint onto the paper.
In truth, he didn't care in the slightest if Lin Xi was pulling some trick with the agreement. As the Underworld King, there wasn't a single nation on earth whose laws could constrain or punish him!
A mere piece of paper was no different from toilet paper in his eyes.
Even so, he was genuinely a little curious about what was written inside.
"Let's go, time to get our marriage certificate!"
Waiting until Ye Huan had signed and pressed his thumbprint, Lin Xi suppressed her surging excitement, handed one copy of the agreement to the lawyer, kept two copies for herself, and marched into the Civil Affairs Bureau.
"Hey! The agreement was made in triplicate—you, me, and the lawyer each get a copy. Why did you give one to the lawyer and not me?"
Ye Huan hurried after her.
"I'll give it to you after we get the certificate!" Lin Xi said without looking back.
"Alright then."
Forced to suppress his curiosity about the contents of the agreement, Ye Huan cooperated with Lin Xi and completed the registration process.
When the two of them finally emerged from the Civil Affairs Bureau holding their marriage certificates, Lin Xi could no longer hold back her laughter. Her laughter was filled with the sweet, exhilarating triumph of sweet revenge.
Ye Huan blinked. "What's wrong? Having an epileptic fit?"
"Scumbag, you've fallen right into my trap!"
Stopping her laughter, Lin Xi put on the expression of a villain whose master plan had succeeded, and crowed triumphantly:
"From now on, you are my plaything in the palm of my hand. I am going to toy with you slowly until you wish you were dead!"
"Toy with me until I wish I was dead?"
Ye Huan's eyes lit up, and he said with eager anticipation:
"Oh, I'd love that! No matter how many times a night you want, I'll keep you company till the very end. My kidneys are top-notch—every woman I've ever slept with calls me the Eleven-Time Champion!"
Lin Xi's pretty face turned pitch black instantly. She whipped around, shoved a copy of the marriage agreement into Ye Huan's chest, and said icily:
"You're overthinking things. Take a good look at this agreement!"
So this girl really had pulled some tricks with the agreement... Ye Huan picked up the dropped marriage agreement and began to read.
***
### Chapter 4: Take Your Dog Claws Off Me
Lin Xi watched Ye Huan's facial expressions with eager anticipation.
In her mind, once Ye Huan finished reading the marriage agreement, he would surely be driven to a frenzy of rage, consumed by bottomless regret for having taken advantage of and insulted her, and would ultimately drop to his knees and beg for her forgiveness!
"Interesting!"
The moment Ye Huan read the first clause of the agreement, he grew excited—and the more he read, the more thrilled he became.
*Clause 1: After marriage, neither the husband nor the wife shall interfere with the other's work or personal life.*
*Clause 2: After marriage, the husband and wife shall sleep in separate beds.*
*Clause 3: After marriage, the wife has the absolute right to command the husband's time.*
*Clause 4: After marriage, the wife has the right to order the husband to do anything, and the husband has no right to refuse.*
*Clause 5...*
There were dozens more clauses listed below.
And the very final clause read: *If the husband violates any single clause of this agreement, the wife has the right to immediately dissolve the marriage, and the husband shall leave with nothing.*
This marriage agreement wasn't a marriage contract at all; it was a indenture of servitude!
"Why are you looking so excited?"
Lin Xi could hardly believe her eyes. She simply couldn't fathom why Ye Huan was reacting with such joy after reading an 'indenture of servitude'.
This defied all logic!
Didn't he understand that having this marriage agreement meant his personal freedom and dignity were entirely under her control? Even if she ordered him to eat shit, he would have to do it; otherwise, he would be in breach of contract and would lose everything.
What on earth did Ye Huan's sudden excitement mean?
"Stop putting on a front. I know you must be furious right now, panicking, and regretting signing this agreement more than anything in the world."
Convinced she had seen right through his facade, Lin Xi bluntly exposed him.
"I'm suddenly starting to look forward to married life!"
Ye Huan said with a look of eager anticipation.
Gazing intently at Ye Huan's expression and his eyes, Lin Xi suddenly realized that his joy and anticipation were completely genuine. While this made her realize just how abnormal and prone to masochism he truly was, it also filled her with immense fury—this was not the result she had wanted.
What she wanted was to see Ye Huan realize the truth about their contractual marriage, experience fury and remorse, and drop to his knees begging her to let him off the hook.
"Just you wait, you psycho! I'll make you wish you were dead!" Lin Xi said through gritted teeth.
"When does it start?" Ye Huan asked expectantly.
"Right now!"
Lin Xi thought for a moment and said:
"According to Clause 4 of the agreement, the wife has the right to order the husband to do anything after marriage, and the husband has no right to refuse. I now order you to walk on your hands all the way to the parking lot, and sing while you walk!"
*This* was supposed to make him wish he were dead?
Ye Huan curled his lip, immediately dropped into a handstand, and began walking on his hands while singing at the top of his lungs:
*"Oh, little sister sits upon the head of the bed, while big brother climbs right over the garden wall, our love is so sweet the big bed rocks and sways..."*
Seeing Ye Huan walking on his hands, Lin Xi felt a momentary rush of vengeful satisfaction. But the instant she heard the lyrics he was belting out, her face turned black.
This wasn't her punishing Ye Huan at all—it was pure torture for her own ears!
She immediately barked, "Stop singing that song! Pick a different one."
Ye Huan: *"Little conch blows blindly, blindingly, seagulls fly about blindly, blindly; little conch blows blindly, blindingly, penguins go hehehe..."*
Lin Xi: "..."
Back inside the car!
"Shut up!"
Seeing that Ye Huan was still going strong with his singing, Lin Xi grabbed a tissue and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
She finally understood: Ye Huan knew he couldn't do anything about the marriage agreement, so he was pulling these bizarre stunts just to gross her out and deliberately go against her.
*Hmph, just wait. I've still got 108 kinds of tortures lined up for you!*
Ye Huan pulled the tissue out of his mouth and asked, "How was my singing? Did it give you a nice, moisturized feeling inside?"
"You..."
Lin Xi's anger meter instantly maxed out.
Noticing that Lin Xi was about to blow a gasket, Ye Huan hurriedly changed the subject. "Where to next?"
Glowering at him and fighting down the overwhelming urge to claw his face off with the Nine-Yin White Bone Claws, Lin Xi said:
"Me proposing a contractual marriage to you was only one of my objectives. The other was to shake off the marriage partner my grandfather arranged for me."
*The marriage partner your grandfather arranged for you is me, you know...* Ye Huan bit his tongue, stopping himself from spilling the truth. He planned to wait until they met Lin Tai to catch Lin Xi completely off guard.
Unaware of what was going on in Ye Huan's head, Lin Xi continued:
"Right now, my family is waiting at Shangyang Restaurant to welcome the man my grandfather arranged for me. We're heading over there now, and you're going to help me break off this marriage. You understand what I mean, right?"
Ye Huan nodded. "Understood! Don't you worry, my acting skills are top-notch!"
Lin Xi shot him a look of utter disgust and said no more.
More than half an hour later, the two of them arrived at Shangyang Restaurant. As they reached the door of the private dining room where the Lin family was gathered, Ye Huan suddenly reached out and took Lin Xi's hand.
"What are you doing?"
Lin Xi jerked her hand back as if she'd been electrocuted, glaring at him in a low hiss.
With a completely deadpan expression, Ye Huan said, "Clause 10 of the marriage agreement: In front of the wife's family, the husband must act deeply and passionately in love with the wife. I'm just following the agreement!"
With that, he slipped an arm around her slender waist.
"Take your dog claws off me!"
Shoving him away, Lin Xi whispered fiercely, "We don't need that yet. Once we go inside, wait until I introduce you, and *then* we can fake being lovey-dovey."
"Alright!" Ye Huan shrugged.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Xi pushed open the door of the private room with a practiced smile.
*Swish!*
The moment the door swung open, the gazes of Lin Xi's parents inside the room locked squarely onto Ye Huan trailing behind her. Their faces instantly plastered with expressions that clearly screamed: *Is this really the pile of cow manure that our flower Lin Xi is about to be stuck into?*
"Where's Grandpa?"
Noticing that her grandfather wasn't in the room, Lin Xi asked.
"He went outside to take a call!"
Lin Xi's father, Lin Canglan, said, "Xixi, is this the person your grandfather told you to pick up from the airport?"
"No!"
Lin Xi shook her head.
"His name is Ye Huan. He's my husband. We just got our marriage certificate a little over half an hour ago."
Ye Huan immediately played along, reaching out to pull Lin Xi's slender waist back into his embrace.
Lin Xi's body stiffened for a fraction of a second. Fighting down the urge to chop off Ye Huan's paws, she forced herself to look relaxed, even squeezing out a shy, rosy blush for effect.
This display filled Ye Huan with genuine admiration. *Damn,* he thought, *this girl's acting skills are phenomenal. How on earth did she pull off that shy blush on cue?*
Hearing Lin Xi's introduction and witnessing the public display of affection between her and Ye Huan, her parents' expressions instantly went slack, as if they had both just been struck by lightning.
"Xixi, you—you're joking, right? When did you even start dating? How come we never heard a word about this?"
Regaining his wits first, Lin Canglan asked in shock.
The blush on Lin Xi's face deepened convincingly. "Ye Huan and I were upperclassmen and underclassmen at Harvard. We got together during my sophomore year. Even though Ye Huan went to work on Wall Street after graduation, it didn't affect our relationship at all. When I graduated and came back to China, we started doing long-distance. When he found out Grandpa was forcing me to marry a total stranger, he flew straight over..."
Dumbfounded, Ye Huan stared at Lin Xi as she spun this elaborate web of utter nonsense. *If this girl doesn't write novels or screenplays,* he thought, *it's a massive loss to the literary and artistic circles.*
"So that's how it was!"
Hearing this, Lin Xi's parents suddenly understood, though they still found it hard to digest the sudden marriage registration.
Lin Canglan asked, "What do you do on Wall Street, Ye Huan?"
Ye Huan was just about to announce that he was in the slaughterhouse business and had already climbed to the very top of the global meat-processing industry.
Before he could get a word out, however, Lin Xi jumped in to answer for him:
"Ye Huan founded a company on Wall Street, and its valuation has already reached ten billion US dollars. It's about to go public!"
A wave of annoyance washed over Ye Huan—Lin Xi had severely lowballed his net worth!
Meanwhile, the expressions of Lin Canglan and Lin Xi's mother, Li Meiya, as they looked at Ye Huan underwent a dramatic transformation. They looked at him as if inspecting a piece of unpolished jade, growing more satisfied the longer they stared.
A Harvard graduate just like Lin Xi, plus a Wall Street business tycoon—the man Lin Xi had chosen for herself was simply outstanding! He was infinitely better than whatever wild, nameless fiancé Old Master Lin Tai had dug up for her.
"Little Ye, why are you still standing? Sit down, sit down..."
Lin Canglan stood up and greeted him warmly, pouring out his satisfaction with this new son-in-law through his effusive hospitality.
***
### Chapter 5: Oh No, Our Cover is Blown
"Thank you, Uncle!"
Putting on his best dramatic persona, Ye Huan sat down with an air of practiced nervousness.
He flawlessly portrayed the awkwardness and timidity of a young man meeting his partner's parents for the very first time. His acting was so stellar it was easily Oscar-worthy!
"You and Xixi are already legally married, why are you still calling me uncle?" Lin Canglan feigned displeasure.
Ye Huan seized the opportunity smoothly. "Dad..."
Lin Xi was utterly defeated by Ye Huan's shamelessness. *This guy's skin is truly thicker than the city walls,* she thought. *If you used his face to make body armor, not even an atomic bomb could blast through it.*
"Ah... good son-in-law, what a good son-in-law!"
Lin Canglan hurriedly acknowledged the title, then grabbed Ye Huan's hand and poured out endless praises.
Meanwhile, Lin Meiya stood by, acting as the perfect hype-man to her husband's enthusiasm.
Standing quietly to the side, Lin Xi watched Ye Huan's performance. *Since Mom and Dad like him so much,* she figured, *and since we've already registered our marriage, the three of us form a united front. Surely Grandpa won't force me to marry that wild fiancé of his now, right?*
Ye Huan was practically ready to throw up from Lin Canglan and Li Meiya's honeyed flattery. He knew very well that the two of them didn't like *him* at all; they were enamored with the prestigious resume Lin Xi had fabricated for him—Harvard graduate and founder of a ten-billion-dollar pre-IPO company on Wall Street.
*Creeeak...*
Just then, the private room door pushed open, and Lin Tai walked inside.
Instantly, the harmonious laughter filling the room came to a dead halt. Lin Xi, Lin Canglan, and Li Meiya looked toward Lin Tai with guilty, racing hearts.
They could already picture how furious Lin Tai was going to be once he found out that Lin Xi and Ye Huan had gone behind his back and registered their marriage!
"So you little rascal has already arrived!"
Seeing Ye Huan, Lin Tai broke into a warm, grandfatherly smile.
"Just got here a moment ago!"
Ye Huan stood up, smiling as he shook hands with Lin Tai.
This scene left Lin Xi, Lin Canglan, and Li Meiya exchanging baffled glances, their faces plastered with question marks.
Lin Tai actually knew Ye Huan? That completely caught them off guard.
But immediately afterward, Lin Canglan and Li Meiya let out massive sighs of relief.
"Oh! Dad, you already know Ye Huan? Well, that makes things so much easier, haha..."
Lin Canglan said with a relieved, beaming smile.
Li Meiya chuckled along with him.
In their eyes, Lin Tai and Ye Huan were old acquaintances, and Lin Tai clearly seemed to take a liking to the young man. That being the case, even if Lin Tai found out that Ye Huan and Lin Xi had already tied the knot, he wouldn't blow his top, let alone try to tear them apart.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi was experiencing a mix of utter shock and crushing embarrassment!
Shocked because her grandfather actually knew Ye Huan;
Embarrassed because if her grandfather was an old acquaintance of Ye Huan, he must know him inside and out. That meant the elite background she had completely fabricated for Ye Huan was about to be exposed on the spot.
Damn it, getting slapped in the face happened so fast she didn't even have time to brace for it!
"So your name is Ye Huan, eh? Known each other for so many years, and I'm finally learning your name!"
Lin Tai bantered with Ye Huan before turning to Lin Canglan with a puzzled look. "What do you mean by 'that makes things so much easier'?"
Feeling profoundly guilty, Lin Canglan forced himself to press on:
"Well, Dad... today, Xixi and Ye Huan went and got their marriage certificate. Just now, her mother and I already got a good look at Ye Huan's background. Anyway, we are both extremely satisfied with this son-in-law. As for that marriage candidate you picked out for Xixi, let's just drop it, hehe, hehehe..."
Li Meiya chimed in: "Dad, as the old saying goes, 'It's better to tear down ten temples than ruin a single marriage.' Xixi and Ye Huan have been in love for years and are deeply devoted to each other. Please give them your blessing and let them be. Don't force Xixi to marry some stranger anymore!"
Seeing her parents backing her up, Lin Xi mustered her courage and said:
"Grandpa, I'm sorry. I refuse to marry the stranger you picked out for me. I don't even know his name, what he looks like, what he does for a living, or what his personality is like. I won't find happiness marrying a man like that."
With that, she locked her arm tightly around Ye Huan's, putting on a defiant display of absolute refusal to marry anyone else, and signaled for Ye Huan to back her up.
Without missing a beat, Ye Huan planted a heavy kiss right on Lin Xi's cheek, and while fighting back laughter, said to Lin Tai:
"Nobody is tearing me and Lin Xi apart!"
Lin Xi was practically ready to gag from Ye Huan's forwardness, but she was deeply satisfied with his attitude.
Lin Tai stood there completely dazed. It took him a good long while to process everything. Then, looking at Ye Huan, he laughed and scolded:
"You little rascal! Before this, I was actually worried that Xixi would stubbornly refuse to marry you, which is why I had her pick you up from the airport—to give you two a chance to break the ice and build some chemistry. Who would've thought you two had already hooked up ages ago *and* gone behind my back to get married?"
"That word 'hooked up' is an exceptionally accurate way to describe the relationship between me and Lin Xi!" Ye Huan said, suppressing a grin.
The corners of Lin Tai's mouth twitched. *This kid certainly doesn't know how to filter his words,* he thought.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi, Lin Canglan, and Li Meiya were trapped in a state of utter bewilderment.
"You're the person Grandpa told me to pick up from the airport?"
Lin Xi stared blankly at Ye Huan, asking the question aloud.
"That's right!"
Ye Huan nodded, flashing a wide grin.
"I'm the man you were supposed to marry. Surprised? Shocked?"
With that, he looked at Lin Xi with a beaming smile, waiting to watch her expression change.
This was the exact moment he had been waiting for all along!
In his mind, once Lin Xi found out the truth, she would surely fly into a rage, lose her mind, and deeply regret registering their marriage with him.
However, he was met with disappointment.
Lin Xi's expression remained completely serene, giving him the frustrating sensation of punching a pile of cotton—he was profoundly let down!
"You're not surprised at all? Not shocked in the least?"