Chapter 37: A Twist of Fate

"What are you doing?" Lin Mu stared at Sun Qian with displeasure, his anger reaching its peak.

"Mr. Lin, it was an accident."

No matter how much Sun Qian despised Su Mian, she dared not make a sound after seeing the look in Lin Mu's eyes.

"The investment direction Su Mian mentioned earlier is indeed excellent. I have also reviewed this proposal; it has development potential, and we can consider proceeding with it."

After some discussion, Huo Beihan, who was sitting at the head of the table, spoke at the right moment, effectively finalizing the project.

After speaking, he stood up and left, heading to the office with Lin Mu.

Once inside, Lin Mu closed the door and dropped his "Mr. Lin" persona. He ran over to Huo Beihan with a smile, fishing for praise: "See that? This is all the result of my training. Aren't you going to compliment me properly?"

"Get lost." Huo Beihan raised his hand and punched him in the chest.

"Ouch, why are you returning kindness with ingratitude? If I hadn't trained her so diligently, you wouldn't have heard such a brilliant report and speech today." Lin Mu feigned pain, clutching his chest.

"Alright, stop acting. I didn't say it wasn't your achievement."

Seeing Huo Beihan’s attitude shift, Lin Mu smiled, pulled up a chair next to him, and sat down.

After the company executives left, Su Mian finished organizing the meeting materials. Just as she returned to her desk to contact Wen Ke-ning, her supervisor brought over new documents.

Placing them in front of Su Mian, the supervisor said earnestly: "Both Mr. Lin and Mr. Huo think highly of you. Study these materials carefully, organize them, and then combine them with what you said today to create a new proposal."

"Alright, I understand." Su Mian took the proposal and began to re-examine and annotate it.

She became so busy that she lost track of time; three hours passed in the blink of an eye. Su Mian looked up and stretched her neck.

Her phone rang just then, and only upon seeing the caller ID did she snap back to reality.

"Ningning, I'm so sorry. I have something I need to take care of here; I really can't get away."

As soon as the call connected, Su Mian apologized hurriedly. The person on the other end seemed to be walking, as the sound of wind could be heard.

"I know you're busy, so I specifically picked a crowded place. I'll go by myself; there won't be any danger."

"I'm really sorry, babe!" Su Mian whispered apologetically into the phone. The person on the other end sounded very carefree.

"Oh, what's the big deal? It's a small matter. Don't worry, just finish your work. I'll tell you about it once I meet the person."

"Okay."

After Wen Ke-ning hung up, she headed straight to the restaurant in the mall. Once inside, she glanced at her phone.

It said Table 6, so Wen Ke-ning went to look for the table number. Because the table number was placed manually and was quite far away, Wen Ke-ning mistook Table 9 for Table 6 when she looked over. Seeing someone sitting at Table 9, she assumed it was her blind date.

"Hello, I'm Wen Ke-ning."

After sitting down, Wen Ke-ning reached out her hand to the person across from her. Shen Tingzhou, who had been playing with his phone, was startled when he saw someone reaching out to him. He looked up instinctively and politely shook her hand.

Once he had shaken her hand, Wen Ke-ning sat down and began her introduction.

"You should already know what I said before. My requirements are very simple. I think your appearance and physique are quite good, so we can just get married."

Hearing this, Shen Tingzhou, who had been sipping his coffee, choked violently.

"Cough, cough, cough... what?"

Seeing this, Wen Ke-ning thoughtfully pulled a tissue from the box on the table and handed it to him.

"Don't worry, I'm not a crazy person. I don't mean a real marriage; it's a fake marriage."

Hearing this, Shen Tingzhou understood everything. It seemed the person in front of him had mistaken him for her blind date. If this were any other time, he would have clarified things immediately. But looking at the bright and lovely woman in front of him, he suddenly felt intrigued.

"But I'm very poor—no car, no house, no savings, and my job is mediocre. Does that still not matter?"

Wen Ke-ning’s expression didn't change much when she heard Shen Tingzhou say this. Shen Tingzhou kept his eyes fixed on her face the whole time he spoke. If there had been even the slightest sign of abnormality in her expression, he would have ended this game.

"So what? I came to find you just to fulfill an obligation. The reason I chose you is because you're quite good in all aspects."

"So even if I have nothing, it doesn't matter?"

Shen Tingzhou didn't understand what "good in all aspects" referred to. Wen Ke-ning just glanced at him, and that look made Shen Tingzhou feel somewhat unnatural; he didn't want to immediately grasp her meaning. However, what Wen Ke-ning said did attract him. Both were just going through the motions, and this woman was quite interesting—certainly better than the ones his family kept pushing on him.

"If you don't mind that, then what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go register."

Wen Ke-ning nodded in agreement. However, once they were outside the mall, Wen Ke-ning suddenly remembered something and pulled her hand away.

"Wait a second."

Shen Tingzhou looked at her in confusion. "What's wrong? Do you regret it already?" Although he found her interesting, her reaction now made him think she was a bit timid.

Wen Ke-ning shook her head and took a pre-prepared fake certificate out of her bag.

"No, it's just that I just remembered I already have it ready. We just need to take a photo with a red background and stick it on."

Seeing the fake certificate, Shen Tingzhou paused, his lips curling. "So this is the kind of 'fake marriage' you meant?"

"Yeah! I'm all alone, and while I don't mind you, I'm afraid of holding you back, so this is the best way. Besides, didn't we agree on this before we came?" Wen Ke-ning looked at Shen Tingzhou in confusion.

Shen Tingzhou realized that their meeting was a pure misunderstanding, and he began to find excuses to cover the lie. "Right, right. But I didn't bring my phone earlier, let's exchange contact information again."

Immediately after, the two went to a nearby photo studio.

"Are you sure you want to keep it this simple?" At the entrance, Shen Tingzhou pulled her back. He had thought they were really going to register, but he hadn't expected the whole thing to be a fabrication. This kind of non-binding "marriage certificate" actually suited his current situation quite well.

"What? Are you scared?"

He shook his head. Watching Wen Ke-ning’s excited and impatient demeanor, he didn't say anything more and walked into the photo studio.

A few minutes later, two photos with red backgrounds were produced. Wen Ke-ning thoughtfully took double-sided tape from her bag, applied it to the back of the red photos, and carefully stuck them into the frame.

Once she was done, she looked at the fake marriage certificate and smiled with satisfaction.

"Although this doesn't have a seal, it's enough to fool people!"

"Are you sure this will fool anyone?" Although he didn't know who she was trying to fool, Shen Tingzhou remained skeptical about something so obviously fake.