The contract was written in black and white on a blank sheet of paper, containing approximately ten clauses.
1. During the contract period, both parties should not have excessive emotions towards each other;
2. Party B shall not ask Party A too many personal questions;
3. During the pretend-couple period, all items purchased by Party A belong to Party B, and there is no need to return them;
4. Outside of the pretend-couple period, Party B shall not contact Party A for any reason;
…………
10. Party A shall pay Party B a monthly compensation of 20,000 yuan. This amount does not include additional expenses.
Chen Ju read each clause silently in his mind. His body, which had just warmed up, gradually cooled down until he saw the last one. He paused for a few seconds, making sure he hadn’t misread it before raising his head.
“Mr. Chen, is there anything you’re not satisfied with?” Secretary Liu smiled.
Chen Ju clenched his fist tightly and remained silent for a while. Finally, he shook his head and said, “No.”
“Okay, then please sign your name on the contract, Mr. Chen.” Secretary Liu smiled and gestured.
Chen Ju picked up the pen. His palm was sweaty, and his handwriting came out crooked, as if written by a child.
Since dropping out of school, he rarely picked up a pen. There was a time when he could write beautiful ornamental calligraphy, but now, just writing his own name looked ugly like a bug.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Jtfc Ae qea vbkc atf qfc jcv ibbxfv jkjs, cb ibcufg ibbxlcu ja atf mbcagjma. Lf rajgfv ja tlr tjcv qjiw lcrafjv.
Vfmgfajgs Ole abbx atf qjqfg, uijcmfv ja la, jcv rjlv, “Xbbv, fnfgsatlcu rffwr olcf. Ktja klii yf jii obg abvjs. Ds atf kjs, atlr qtbcf lr ulnfc ab sbe ys Tbecu Zjrafg. Pa tjr tlr mbcajma cewyfg, jcv tf klii rfcv sbe j afza wfrrjuf ktfc cffvfv.”
Chen Ju looked up and saw a brand-new mobile phone placed in the center of the table. Jiang Zhou knew he didn’t have a mobile phone, so he bought it specially. Even if he understood that Jiang Zhou did it for the convenience of contacting him, he still felt a suppressed sense of joy.
This is the first gift Jiang Zhou gave him and also his first mobile phone. He would definitely take good care of it.
After Secretary Liu left, Chen Ju did not leave the mall immediately. Instead, he wandered around for a while. Finally, he saw a recruitment notice posted on a glass window.
“Recruiting shopping mall security guards, on duty during the day. From 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monthly 2,500 yuan salary. Contact number: xxxxxx.”
Great! The timing was perfect to avoid his evening job. He could rest for a few hours after getting off work at 5:30 p.m. Chen Ju was so happy that he forgot about his new mobile phone, and walked around the first floor of the shopping mall for a long time before finding the security office.
Although Chen Ju was thin and weak, he was 175 centimeters tall, with a slender figure and a fair complexion. Most of the security office men were spiritless uncles. The security leader was very optimistic about young people like Chen Ju. Without chatting a few words, Chen Ju was asked to come and report for duty tomorrow.
Coming out of the shopping mall, Chen Ju was so happy that he didn’t even feel tired at all. He calculated his earnings while walking back. With the salary from his night job and his daytime job combined, he would have a total of 8,500 yuan. After deducting food expenses, he could still keep 8,000 yuan. In six months, he could save over 40,000 yuan. Added to the money given by Jiang Zhou, he would have a little bit left in his hands.
In this way, after picking up his mother, he could use the remaining money to rent a house and move out of that place.
His joyful mood disappeared instantly when he saw his belongings piled up at the back door. Chen Ju ran over in a hurry, finding his clothes, shoes and quilts thrown on the ground as if they were a heap of unwanted rubbish.
Chen Ju hurriedly sorted out the things on the ground, folding the quilt neatly. He stuffed clothes and shoes into the large schoolbag, leaving behind some miscellaneous items. There were a few tattered books and an empty iron box. Inside the iron box, there was a broken photo frame with cracks running through the faces of him and his parents, separating them.
Plop! A drop of water landed on the smiling faces in the photo as if it were raining. Drop by drop, they fell.
His vision was blurred, and suddenly there was a faint sound behind the door. Chen Ju immediately lowered his head and quickly wiped away his tears with his sleeves.
The door opened with a click, and Chen Yifa folded his arms and stared down at Chen Ju with a triumphant expression on his face. He said: “Take your garbage and get out of here. Don’t bother people.”
Chen Ju clenched his fists and stared at Chen Yifa without saying a word.
Chen Yi showed a disgusted expression, rolled up his sleeves, and said, “You dare to stare at me. Are you courting death?”
“Little brother! Stop talking, go upstairs to do your homework!” A middle-aged man’s voice sounded, reprimanding Chen Yifa. Chen Fu walked out from behind the door and saw a warm smile on Chen Ju’s face.
“Xiao Ju, your aunt threw away all your things. You also know your aunt’s temper. Uncle, I have no choice but to wrong you.” Chen Fu sighed, reached into his pocket, and took out a crumpled fifty yuan bill, handing it over. “Take it, call a car to take away your things. Uncle can only help you this far.”
“Dad, why are you giving him money? You might as well leave it for me to buy breakfast!” Chen Yi said discontentedly.
Chen Fu glared at Chen Yifa, waved his hands as if driving him away and said, “Go back and do your homework. The things here have nothing to do with you!”
After that, he turned his head, with a smile on his face, and said, “Can you handle moving these things by yourself, or do you want Uncle to help?”
Chen Ju withdrew his gaze, without responding to Chen Fu or even looking at him. He carried the large schoolbag on his back and put the thin quilt on top of it. After tying it with a few rounds of rope, making sure it was tightly fastened, he bent down and picked up the iron box on the ground. He straightened his back, turned around, and left that place step by step.
Dingling, Dingling! The sudden ringtone of his mobile phone awakened Chen Ju from his sleep. He curled up on a park bench, with the quilt and backpack neatly arranged beside him.
He was so sleepy, and his head was a mess. It took several seconds for him to realize that the ringtone came from his own pocket.
Chen Ju hurriedly took out his mobile phone and saw the name “Jiang Zhou” displayed on the screen. His heart skipped a beat. He took a deep breath before pressing the green button with trembling hands.
“Where are you?” Jiang Zhou didn’t offer any greetings; his first words were this question.
Chen Ju hesitated for a few seconds, stammering: “I’m… I’m at home, sleeping. Is there something wrong?”
“Clean up, I’ll pick you up.” Jiang Zhou’s tone was unquestionable, making it impossible to refuse him.
Chen Ju looked at his large bag and quilt, and in a panic, he hurriedly said: “Now… I’m not quite available right now. How about you send me the meeting address, and I, I will go there by bus?”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds. Chen Ju tightly clenched the hem of his clothes, his heart pounding in his throat.
“Okay,” Jiang Zhou said. “You are not allowed to be late before five o’clock.”
Chen Ju caught a glimpse of a mother pushing a baby carriage not far away, and the cry of the baby could be heard from afar.
“Alright! T-Then, I’ll hang up first.” After hanging up the phone, Chen Ju heaved a sigh of relief. It was too thrilling. He almost got caught lying by Jiang Zhou just now.
Jiang Zhou stared at the disconnected call, his gaze darkening.
**** Thank you, VitaB and Escape, for treating me to Ko-Fi. I truly appreciate your generosity.
Also, I sincerely apologize for not being able to update on Saturday. 🙇
I despise Chen Ju’s aunt’s family. 😀 Every single one of them. I hope they rot. ☺
Why’d the emojis turn out like that what 😭
your choice of emojis >>>>
😭😭
I want Chen Ju’s aunt and her family to rot in hell
😭
That so-called family of his keeps getting inhumane chapter by chapter 🔪
I’m waiting for the day that he’ll kick all of them out of his house 🙏
Even as a reader and passer-by of this story, my heart is alredy aching upon reading the contract. It must’ve hurt more for Chen Ju to read it. Sigh… How can someone be so unfortunate, la?
IT’S JUST A STORY IT’S JUST A STORY IT’S JUST A STORY IT’S JUST A STORY IT’S JUST A STORY.
I’m waiting for the day where his aunt family will beg my baby.
Im quite curious if the ML has tracking on that new phone and saw the park location…. I have so much curiosity about how much he knows or doesn’t know about what the Mc is going through
So… Chen Fu is his uncle? And Chen Yifa is his other uncle? Anyw so grateful to Chen Fu he’s so kind