Beloved Bride: Captured by the Top Playboy

"Really, really, that's all it takes?" Suxin's voice rose in excitement, "I make you dinner, and all I have to pay back is twenty-eight thousand?" She had initially felt a little uneasy, but since he agreed to let her cooking count as debt repayment, she didn't have anything to worry about anymore.

Seeing Chen Ziqian nod, Suxin was ecstatic, completely forgetting about the twenty-eight thousand she still had to pay. All she could think about was that she saved forty thousand with just one meal—that was such a deal!

"Go and cook then. I'll go take a shower and come out later!"

"Okay! See you in a bit!" Suxin said, her smile brightening her face.

That smile was striking, youthful, and for the first time, Chen Ziqian felt that maybe this lady wasn't so old after all.

An hour later, when Chen Ziqian came out after his shower, he saw only one bowl on the dining table and nothing else.

"Where's the rest of the food?" Chen Ziqian asked, dumbfounded.

"This is fried rice; it doesn't need anything else!" Suxin stood with a smile, realizing she'd agreed too quickly and hadn't thought about the fact that she couldn't actually cook. This fried rice was the only dish she knew how to make.

"That simple?" Chen Ziqian looked down at the bowl of fried rice, shiny and crisp-looking. It had ham, eggs, and green peas in it, but for dinner, wasn't it a bit too simple?

"Don't underestimate this bowl of fried rice; it tastes good!" Suxin insisted, not wanting to lose the forty-thousand discount over this bowl of rice, "Try it first!" Those ingredients and rice were what she'd just rushed to buy from the supermarket at the gate of the community at rocket speed; her legs were still aching.

Chen Ziqian looked at Suxin with skepticism, then sat down and started to taste it, bite after bite.

"How is it? Are you satisfied with the taste?" Suxin asked tentatively, aware that she never cared so much about anyone else's taste buds before. But this was about forty thousand, she had to care!

"Well, I'll make do with it as I'm hungry now," Chen Ziqian swallowed another mouthful and responded. The fried rice did taste pretty good, comparable to something a chef at a hotel would make, but he was not about to let her know that!

"So does that mean it passed?" For Suxin, those words were like the sound of heaven. If he wasn't satisfied, and she had to cook something else, she really couldn't conjure up another dish.

"Let it be," Chen Ziqian said nonchalantly as he kept eating, spoonful after spoonful, while Suxin watched the fried rice in the bowl gradually disappearing until it was gone.

"I'm so hungry. Is there any more?" Chen Ziqian asked after finishing the bowl.

"No, that's it," Suxin answered honestly, "I ate what was left over."

"Pour me a cup of tea then!"

"Huh?"

"I'm thirsty; your fried rice is a bit salty!"

"Ah? Salty?" Suxin was puzzled. Was it salty? She had thought it tasted just right, but despite her thoughts, Suxin replied, "Oh, wait for me, I'll boil some water." And she rushed off to the kitchen.

"No need to go through the trouble of boiling water," Chen Ziqian stood up, making his way to the fridge, "Don't bother with the water; let's see what there is to drink in the fridge!"

And with that look, there was trouble—the fridge was practically empty, housing only a bunch of beer.

"Ah, no..." Susu hurried over to stop him, but the fridge door had already been opened. Ziqian turned to look at her and suddenly let out a wordless chuckle, "Auntie, are you planning on getting wasted again?"

"I...I am..." Suxin wanted to deny it, but when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down. He'd witnessed all of her embarrassing moments, so what was there to deny? What would it matter if she admitted it outright?

"Yes! I'm in a bad mood, is it wrong to want to drink? This time I'll drink at home, I won't be bothering anyone!" Suxin declared, taking out a can of beer from the fridge and with a "pop," she started gulping it down.

"Good, drinking beer like water isn't too bad!" Ziqian said, also casually grabbing a can of beer and starting to drink.

Suxin didn't speak anymore, just sat on the sofa, silently downing her beer alone. She didn't want to talk; she was actually in a terrible mood. Today she had run into Liu Haoran, that scumbag, and most importantly, she had discovered that the woman entangled with Liu Haoran was none other than Xu Yunhui.

Xu Yunhui, back in their days at T University, often used student council matters as an excuse to find Liu Haoran and create opportunities to be together—Suxin knew all this because Liu Haoran had told her. So she didn't feel a thing about it, as she saw Liu Haoran as open and honest, with nothing to criticize. But in their final semester, when she and Liu Haoran had their most severe breakup, Xu Yunhui had swooped in. However, Liu Haoran's heart had always been fixated on her, Suxin. Her heart wasn't made of iron, and eventually, moved by Liu Haoran's earnest entreaties, they got back together. Xu Yunhui ended up going abroad. Suxin never imagined that upon Xu Yunhui's return to the country, she would get tangled up with Liu Haoran again—this time, with Liu Haoran willingly ensnared.

Ziqian also sat on a nearby sofa, quietly sipping his beer, but drinking slowly. He leaned his head back against the sofa, and for some reason, just sitting there made him feel very relaxed.

"Hey, what's your name?" Suxin asked while drinking her beer.

"Didn't you just call me Ziqian?"

"I'm asking for your last name. What's your surname? We're roommates, after all!"

"Chen!"

"Cheng? The Cheng with a 'grain' radical on the side? What a coincidence, we might come from the same clan!"

"Eardrop Chen!"

"Oh, so your name is Chen Ziqian?"

"And you? Cheng Susu?" Ziqian remembered the guy seemed to call her Susu.

"Cheng Suxin, but my friends are used to calling me Susu."

"Suxin? Susu? Heh, Susu does roll off the tongue better," Ziqian muttered to himself before taking a sip.

"Chen Ziqian, I want to ask you, ask you a very important question!" Suxin leaned back on the sofa.

"An important question? Let's hear it!" Ziqian thought it was quite amusing. What important question could there be between him and this 'auntie'?

"You... how much do you pay for renting the master bedroom? I mean... your monthly rent?" Suxin had been wondering about this for two days now. She was renting a smaller room for three thousand a month and had to keep the entire place tidy at all times. This pretty boy rented the master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. If his rent was cheaper than hers, she'd confront the landlord and demand a refund! After all, she was now unemployed and in need of money!

"You're asking about my rent? It's free!"

Just as Suxin nodded, those astonishing and ear-piercing three words burst out.