Beloved Bride: Captured by the Top Playboy

Unemployment coupled with a breakup, a double whammy, left Suxin utterly miserable, and she felt extremely exhausted. As soon as it got dark, she went to sleep, only to wake up later because of hunger.

Thinking about the delicious dishes Liu Haoran cooked for her every weekend, the braised pork, the steamed fish, the flavorful seafood soup—tears involuntarily rolled down her face at the thought of those meals she no longer had, now belonging to another woman!

"Cheng Suxin, can you not be so weak? It's just a man gone, what's there to be sad about?" Wiping the tears from her face haphazardly, Suxin grabbed the black-framed glasses from the nightstand and put them on. Her hair was carelessly put up, fastened with a hairpin, and then she rushed to the kitchen.

The sound of clattering echoed in the kitchen as she rummaged through the fridge, cupboards, and rice bin, but found nothing edible.

"But what if I'm really hungry?" Suxin said with a droopy face, clutching her stomach, as she could hear it "gurgle" with hunger pangs.

She checked her phone—it was one in the morning. Where could she go to buy food at this hour?

Having no choice but to hope that sleep would take over, she wished that by the time she woke up, it would be morning.

The electronic alarm's "beep beep beep" sounded by her ear. The noise wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Suxin tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep, as the "beep beep beep" kept sounding in her ears.

"Who's pressing the buttons on my door?" Suxin sat up in bed, alert, her heart racing. The doors were code locked, and the electronic alarm meant someone had entered the wrong password three times.

"Could my luck really be this bad? Am I dealing with a burglar?" Suxin muttered quietly, and at the thought of a "thief," all the hair on her body stood on end.

"What should I do? What should I do?" Now completely tense all over, it didn't even occur to Suxin to call the community security.

In an instant, she switched on all the lights in the house, yet the "beep beep beep" of the alarm continued.

Suxin carefully tiptoed towards the front door.

A loud "thud" made Suxin jump back several steps, as something hit the door.

Moving closer slowly, she peered through the peephole to see a man's face enlarged before her eyes.

"A burglar? Is it really a burglar? What do I do now?" Panicking, Suxin ran to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife.

"111456? Isn't that the password?" Chen Ziqian muttered outside the door, slightly drunk, his head a bit muddled. He shook his head to clear it a bit, then continued to press the buttons,

"Beep beep beep, click," and the door opened, "It turns out I got it wrong because my hand was shaking!"

Chen Ziqian lifted his foot to enter the house. "Weird? Is it an illusion? Why are all the lights on inside the house?" He rubbed his eyes in confusion, looked again, and the lights were still blazing brightly.

"Stop right there, little thief!" With a whoosh, Suxin jumped out from the side, pointing a kitchen knife straight at Chen Ziqian. Yet her hand couldn't stop trembling violently. Could someone tell her why she was so unlucky? Unemployed, heartbroken, and now, by a stroke of bad luck, what if she couldn't overpower the thief? Wasn't she about to lose her life?

When Chen Ziqian turned his head, what he saw was this scene: a woman in plain, loose pajamas, her hair a mess and clumsily clipped up; big black-framed glasses perched on her face, holding a shiny kitchen knife pointed at him. Who could tell him what was going on right now?

The two of them faced each other like this, all the lights in the house on. Even if Suxin was scared to death, she could now clearly see the little thief's face. Tall with a good build, and looking at that face—wow, so handsome! But why would such a good-looking guy choose to be a thief in her house? Being a gigolo would surely be more lucrative than thievery!

"Hey, lady, what are you up to?" he said, his voice indifferent and unhurried.

"What? Did you just call me a lady?" Suxin was truly agitated. "Boy, take a good look. Do I resemble a lady in any way?" Suxin stood there, her hand brandishing the kitchen knife and shaking it at Chen Ziqian.

"You..." Chen Ziqian gestured up and down at her. "Aren't you exactly like a lady with that get-up?"

"How do I look like a lady? Do I look old?" Suxin walked over and grabbed the collar of Chen Ziqian's shirt.

"Oi, lady, your... hand..." Chen Ziqian brushed Suxin's hand away. "Let's talk this out properly!"

"What's there to talk about properly? You've come to burglarize my house, what else is there to say? Come on! We're going to the police station!" It was only then that Suxin remembered the pressing issue at hand—that the man in front of her was a burglar. She said the words, but her heart was pounding. Would the thief meekly comply and accompany her to the police station? And if he refused and they came to blows, could she overpower him? If she couldn't and lost the fight, would she be erased without a trace? With these thoughts, Suxin could feel her legs starting to shake.

"Who's a thief? You're saying I am?" Chen Ziqian found it to be the funniest joke of the century. He straightened his clothes and struck a cool pose. "Tell me, where have you seen a thief as handsome as me? With so much style?"

Suxin pushed up her glasses and made a disgusted expression. "If you're not a thief, why did you enter my house's passcode and break in? In the dead of night, if you're not a thief, then what are you insinuating?" Suxin tightly gripped the kitchen knife and brandished it at Chen Ziqian, pretending to chop down.

"This is your house?" Chen Ziqian asked in surprise.

"Guaranteed genuine!" Suxin seriously nodded while looking at him. "Today's your unlucky day—burglary and not even savvy about it, getting caught red-handed. Come on, we're going to the police station!" Suxin held the kitchen knife with a defensive posture. Although she appeared composed on the outside, her heart was pounding fiercely on the inside. She hadn't even ever caught a chicken before; the man was tall and muscular. What if he turned violent and they fought? Could she really overpower him with the kitchen knife? No, even if she couldn't win, she had to appear formidable; otherwise, the thief would see through her. With that thought, she gripped the handle of the knife even tighter.

Chen Ziqian looked at the house in front of him. That's right, this was the very house he had bought, its interior and decor exactly the same. Besides, hadn't he just entered using the keypad lock? How could it be a mistake?

"Lady, if I was a thief, how could I have guessed your house's passcode at once?" Chen Ziqian asked confidently, the confusion sobering him up.

"You guessed the passcode right, that was just dumb luck!" Suxin watched him warily.

"Lady, please, that password lock isn't limited by the number of digits. There are so many combinations. Try it yourself and see if you can guess it at once."

Thinking about it like this, Suxin also began to doubt. Right, logically speaking, the chances of guessing it right on the first try seemed indeed very small.