Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When he first arrived in this world, Rong Yu'an felt that everything here was so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that it was terrifying. The needles piercing into his body, the medicinal liquids flowing into his body—all of it made him so nervous he didn’t dare speak.

Later, after gradually discovering that people were still friendly, he tried to talk. He simply asked where this place was and what those things he had never seen were used for.

They were clearly very simple questions, but everyone who heard them thought something was wrong with him, and some even whispered that he was crazy, which really freaked him out.

He later learned that it was a hospital, but he no longer dared to ask questions casually.

It wasn’t until he returned to the Rong family that one day a nanny came to deliver food. His second aunt told him to call her “Aunt Rong.” He asked Aunt Rong where he could find a teacher.

Aunt Rong asked, “A teacher for what?” He said a teacher to teach him knowledge. Aunt Rong said he would have to go to school or just ask Teacher Du.

He asked, “Who is Teacher Du?” Aunt Rong gave him a weird look, then said it was just an app. He asked again, “What is an ‘app’?” Aunt Rong, losing patience, told him it was in his phone.

So he found that small silver-white box everyone called a “phone.” He started trying to learn. He couldn’t spell the local characters, but Aunt Rong said he could use strokes. He knew how to write, so he tried writing with strokes—it felt okay, though he made mistakes occasionally. He also asked Aunt Rong if Teacher Du would tell others about his questions.

Aunt Rong said no, telling him not to worry.

So he actually believed her. But that night, when he asked Teacher Du some more questions, somehow when he opened the answers, a man and a woman suddenly appeared on the phone. They were intertwined and making extremely indecent sounds, freaking him out so bad he dropped the phone on the spot.

The phone bounced on the floor with the sounds still playing. He was truly panicked, so he scrambled to pick it up and wrapped it in his clothes like a burrito.

Later, when the sounds stopped, he still didn’t dare open it. But Aunt Rong had told him that this thing was very important, that money was also inside it, so he had to keep it safe. So he brought it along. At the moment, it wasn’t on him but in his suitcase.

Gu Shenhan felt that if they were to be together, they should definitely exchange WeChat contact, so he suggested, “After we finish eating, I’ll check it out for you later.”

Rong Yu'an nodded, just thinking about it made him want to sink into the floor.

But leaving this problem unsolved was like a rock weighing on his chest. And if he married Gu Shenhan, then Gu Shenhan would be the best person to help him fix it.

Gu Shenhan noticed his ears turning red and now felt like maybe he wasn't faking it, so he said, “Let's eat first. We'll talk after.”

Rong Yu'an took tiny bites, chewing as quietly as he could. When reaching for food, he took an extra piece of what he thought was delicious and asked Gu Shenhan, “What’s this beige stuff?”

It looked like some kind of meat, transitioning from light beige to light orange-yellow, kinda sweet and fresh, with a little crunch.

“Geoduck.”

“Geoduck? Is it seafood?”

“Yes, that over there is the raw one.” Gu Shenhan kindly pointed toward the ingredient area. “See it?”

Rong Yu'an looked in the direction Gu Shenhan was pointing and saw a transparent box. That thing in the tank… it looked way too… indecent!

There was still a piece he hadn’t eaten, and he couldn’t choke it down if his life depended on it.

Gu Shenhan was thinking about renegotiating with his grandmother, but seeing this, he eyed the guy across the table with amusement. “Oh, what’s got you blushing like that?”

Rong Yu'an pretended he didn't hear and didn't go near that dish again.

But Gu Shenhan was feeling mischievous, and he deliberately used the serving spoon to scoop some onto Rong Yu'an's plate. “You liked it a second ago though, didn't you?”

Rong Yu'an was so embarrassed he felt like he'd melt into a puddle, and said in a barely audible whisper, “I was just tasting it. I don’t actually like it that much.”

Gu Shenhan gave a light snort. “You're contradicting yourself. It's just food, why are you so bothered? No one's looking at you.”

Rong Yu'an didn’t respond.

Gu Shenhan got bored and asked, “What are you gonna do after we're married?”

This question let Rong Yu'an breathe a sigh of relief. He asked seriously, “Can I learn?”

He had so much he didn't know. He had heard that the Gu family had no official position, that they were merchants, they did electronics, with shipping and hotels on the side. He understood shipping and hotels, but what even is “electronics”?

Aunt Rong had explained it to him, but he still didn’t quite get it. Things like electric griddles, blenders, vacuum cleaners… he had never even heard of them.

Even if he and Gu Shenhan were only husbands in name, he couldn't be clueless about his husband's family business.

Gu Shenhan looked up, a little surprised, then continued, “No problem. I think it's better if you stay home too. If you want to learn something, I can hire a teacher to teach you. Until you learn, or until your memory comes back completely, I suggest you don’t go out randomly.”

Rong Yu'an nodded heavily.

Although it was really bustling here, dazzling to the eyes, he still felt very unsafe outside. This place was so unfamiliar to him—the sounds of cars and all kinds of music made him very uncomfortable. If he could study at home, that would be best.

Gu Shenhan suddenly felt that the other party wasn’t too brainless after all—at least better than he had expected.

The two took about thirty-five minutes to finish eating. Gu Shenhan paid with his card and prepared to leave. Rong Yu'an walked beside him and asked doubtfully, “Han, why don’t you need to pay with your phone?”

At the place they called the airport, he had seen many people using their phones to do things. He asked Xiao Ke what those people were doing, and Xiao Ke said they were watching videos, chasing dramas, playing ranked games, and paying. He didn’t understand the first parts, but he knew what “paying” meant.

Gu Shenhan said, “Phones can certainly be used to pay, but that’s not the only way to pay.”

Rong Yu'an asked, “So can I also not use my phone to pay in the future?”

Gu Shenhan gave him a look. Did he want a secondary card? But he found the other’s eyes pure and innocent, with no hint of implication. He said, “Of course, there are many ways to pay.”

Rong Yu'an asked, “Then next, should we go pay respects to the old lady? I can’t go empty-handed. But I don’t know how to pay with my phone. And that phone hasn’t been ‘cured’ by you yet, so, Han, could you advance the money for me first? Once the phone is fixed, I’ll pay you back.”

His second aunt said she had transferred money to his phone—said it was fifty thousand, which he could use. He didn’t know how much fifty thousand was. Fifty thousand taels of silver or fifty thousand of something else? He asked his second aunt, and she gave him a really exasperated look.

Still, he couldn't be rude to his elders.

But Gu Shenhan said, “The old lady has gone abroad and won’t be home for a couple of days. You’ll see her when she returns. Right now, you need to come with me to the notary office first, then to the marriage registration.”

“Get married at the notary office?”

“No, we do a prenuptial agreement at the notary office. Then we go to the marriage registry at the civil affairs bureau.”

“Prenuptial agreement?”

“It means before getting married, we split our assets clearly—yours are yours, mine are mine. But don’t worry, you’ll still get a cut of what I earn after the marriage.”

Rong Yu'an roughly understood. So he was thinking of a fake marriage to calm the old lady, then after things were settled, divorce him. At that point, he wouldn’t be able to take Gu Shenhan’s current assets, but he could take a portion of what Gu Shenhan earned later.

Rong Yu'an thought about it. Although this still didn’t guarantee a stable life for his future, it was better than the Rong family immediately collapsing and him having no one to rely on.

Fine, at least it gave him some breathing room. But since the other party didn’t intend to keep him, he had his own condition: “Then in the future, do I not have to… um, at night… that thing…”

“What thing?” Gu Shenhan had a smile on his lips, asking knowingly.

“You know, that thing.”

“If you don’t say it clearly, how am I supposed to know which thing?”

“That thing that made my phone go ‘bad’!”

"Oh, you mean that," Gu Shenhan said. "Of course, we're just business partners."

Rong Yuan let out a long sigh. Thinking about how in the future he'd be a guy who's been married twice, he felt a bit unhappy. But on second thought, it was still better than starving to death or ending up on the streets!

When they reached the parking spot, Gu Shenhan opened the trunk to get his luggage.

Rong Yuan took a canvas bag out of the largest suitcase and, like a thief, quickly sat in the back seat.

By now, Xiao Ke and Liang Zheng didn't know they had finished eating. Gu Shenhan also got into the back seat, watching Little Antique unwrap layer after layer of bundled clothes until a phone was finally revealed.

That phone would have suffocated eight hundred times if it could breathe.

Rong Yuan felt too embarrassed to look.

Gu Shenhan couldn't unlock it, so he had Rong Yuan use his fingerprint. Rong Yuan unlocked it and handed it to Gu Shenhan, like a child handing over evidence of a crime to a parent.

Gu Shenhan took it, pressed the multitasking button, and sure enough, there were some bad webpages open in the browser.

Rong Yuan stole a glance, so embarrassed his toes curled up.

Gu Shenhan closed the browser: "You've already graduated from college, why are you still so thin-skinned?"

Rong Yuan didn't speak.

He'd been taught from a young age to be reserved and self-respecting, so of course he couldn't stand seeing such things.

Gu Shenhan added Rong Yuan on WeChat: "From now on, don't just open the browser. If you have any questions, you can ask Little Dolphin."

"Little Dolphin? What's that?"

"Another app. If you have anything to ask, you can ask it first, treat it like a teacher."

"Is it... a proper teacher?"

"What do you think?" Gu Shenhan asked, and seeing the other about to get upset again, he emphasized, "Yes, it's a proper teacher. I swear, anyone who knows you would think you fell into the sea; anyone who doesn't would think you crawled out of a hundred-year-old tomb, full of old-fashioned ideas."

As he spoke, Gu Shenhan directly downloaded Little Dolphin for Rong Yuan and demonstrated how to use it. Rong Yuan tried it and felt it was better than Teacher Du's app, and clicking it didn't bring up any strange things.

"Thank you, Han Ge."

"You're welcome. Also, this WeChat—reading messages normally won't cause any issues. By the way, you remember Chinese characters, but not English and pinyin?"

"English and pinyin? What are those?"

"..."

Gu Shenhan felt a headache coming on.

Rong Yuan suddenly remembered that he still needed to buy gifts, so he handed the phone back to Gu Shenhan: "Han Ge, can you take out the money for the gifts? And also teach me how to use it."

Gu Shenhan opened WeChat: "Do you know how to scan a QR code?"

"No."

"First tap here, then here." Gu Shenhan tried to transfer one yuan to his own payment QR code as a test. "Do you remember the password?"

"What's a password?"

"..."

Luckily, fingerprint payment was set up. Gu Shenhan still taught Rong Yuan the steps.

Rong Yuan asked, "Han Ge, did you just take out the money for the gifts?"

Gu Shenhan: "..."

He had a sinking feeling: "Don't tell me you don't even recognize Arabic numerals now."

He'd been watching while Gu Shenhan did it—one yuan can't buy crap!

Rong Yuan had no idea what the other meant, but since it involved "numbers," the only numbers-related thing he could think of was that payment. And he really didn't recognize them. He bit his lip, feeling frustrated. He didn't want to admit it, but he truly didn't recognize them.

Gu Shenhan took a deep breath, genuinely feeling this was beyond his limits. He said, "Wait in the car for me for a bit. I need to handle something."

With that, he got out of the car and called the old lady.

Chen Wanzhen answered the call: "So? How'd it go? Did you pick him up?"

Gu Shenhan rubbed his temples: "I did. But are you sure you understand his current situation? He doesn't know pinyin, doesn't know English, and he can't even read numbers! You want me to marry him? When we have the wedding, aren't you afraid the guests will laugh their heads off?"

Chen Wanzhen was silent for a moment, clearly not expecting to hear such words. But after a while, she still insisted: "My terms haven't changed. You can choose to marry him, or you can choose not to."

Gu Shenhan took a deep breath: "Why does it have to be him of all people?"

Chen Wanzhen said, "I have my own reasons. I also said, you don't have to marry him."

Not marrying meant the international shipping business would fall through!

Gu Shenhan gritted his teeth: "I'll think about it."

Just then, Liang Zheng's call came in: "Still eating? That long?"

Gu Shenhan said, "Tell Xiao Ke to head straight back."

Liang Zheng became serious: "What's up? Weren't we supposed to go to the notary and then register?"

Gu Shenhan glanced toward the back seat: "No need for that."

He couldn't marry someone so uneducated and socially clueless. Even if it wasn't Rong Yuan's fault, he had his own path to follow.

Gu Shenhan hung up, got into the driver's seat, and considered whether to take the person to a hotel for the night and send him back to the Rong family tomorrow.

But from the rearview mirror, he saw the other man sitting there, eyes red, lips nearly bitten through, without making a sound. So the words to break off the engagement went around his throat three times but never came out.

He couldn't help asking Rong Yuan: "You don't remember so many things, yet you still dared to come out with Xiao Ke. Aren't you afraid I'll sell you?"

Rong Yuan, nearly in tears, said dejectedly: "There's not much difference between this and being sold. My uncle, aunt, and grandfather don't want me. I thought since the old lady specifically asked for me, I must have some use. If Han Ge thinks I'm dumb, I'm really sorry."

Gu Shenhan squinted briefly at that: "You said even your grandfather doesn't want you, and my grandmother specifically asked for you?"

Rong Yuan nodded.

That's what the family said. His uncle and aunt told him that if he didn't marry into the Gu family, they wouldn't care about him anymore, and the family couldn't afford to support him. His grandfather wouldn't care about him either, since he was already an adult. But the Gu old lady really wanted him to be her grandson's wife.

Gu Shenhan tapped the steering wheel. Rong Yuan meant that the old lady was set on taking him in no matter what.

So what if he didn't marry?

He wasn't the only single person of marriageable age in his generation of the Gu family.

Gu Shenhan turned to look and said irritably, "Alright, stop crying. A grown man crying like that—what kind of behavior is that?"

Rong Yuan tried not to make a sound, but his tears still streamed down uncontrollably.

Clearly, in his past life, he had been well-bred and cultured, sought after by many families before marriage. He never imagined he would end up like this—a genuine fool who couldn't do anything and understood nothing.

He really wanted to go home, missed his grandparents, his parents, and his younger siblings, but he had no idea how to get back.

Rong Yuan wiped his tears and said, "I'm sorry, Han Ge. Did I make things difficult for you?"

The sound gave Gu Shenhan a headache. With a sullen face, he tapped the crystal screen and said, "No, don't overthink it."

As he spoke, the smart navigation was jolted awake and asked where he wanted to go. He didn't answer, but instead jabbed the screen with the force of hitting moles in Whac-A-Mole to bring up the Civil Affairs Bureau.