Gui Chen brought another woman home the night before his wedding. Tomorrow he would marry Su Xingwan. For three years she had paid for his mother’s hospital care, his brothers’ schooling, his expensive hobbies, and his smile. She wanted him.
He thought that made her weak. He planned to make her weaker. At the wedding, he would give her three gifts. The first was a list of family rules, to be tattooed into her skin while she knelt.
The second was a razor, to shave off the hair she was so proud of. The third was a contract that would transfer every asset she owned into his hands. “Then she’ll be humble forever,” he said. Su Xingwan had already seen the woman he brought home.
She had already heard the plan. And she had already stopped loving him. “You want to give me three gifts? ” she whispered.
“Then I’ll give you three surprises. ”
The next morning, she stopped a street sweeper. He was dusty, broad-shouldered, and young. She didn’t remember his face.
He remembered hers. Three years ago, he had carried her into the emergency room, argued with a doctor over a bed, left money for her care, and hired someone to sit by her side. She had never known his name. He had never asked for thanks.
“How much to buy you for a day? ” she asked. He looked at her. “What for?
”
“A day as my fiancé. Tomorrow. At my wedding. ”
“Deal,” he said.
On the wedding day, Su Xingwan arrived in black. Gui Chen’s mother screamed as if she’d seen a funeral. “Black is for death! Are you cursing my son?
”
Su Xingwan smiled. “I wore black to make your son stand out. He needs all the help he can get. ”
Gui Chen didn’t catch the insult.
He was too busy playing the generous groom. “After three years of your care,” he announced, “I’ve prepared three gifts for you. If you accept them, I’ll marry you. ”
He held up the first gift: a sheet of family rules.
“Kneel and tattoo these on your body. ”
The guests went quiet. Su Xingwan looked at the paper. “A tattoo takes three days.
Do you want to wait? ”
His mother stepped in. “She can do it after the wedding. ”
“After the wedding,” Su Xingwan repeated.
“Good. That gives you time. ”
The second gift was a razor. “Shave your head,” Gui Chen said.
“I want you humble. ”
Su Xingwan picked it up. “Then I’ll shave mine if you shave yours. We’re a couple, aren’t we?
”
Gui Chen stepped back. “That’s not the same. ”
“Of course not. ”
The third gift was a property transfer contract.
“Sign this,” Gui Chen said, “and I’ll marry you. ”
Su Xingwan tore it down the middle. “I’m not marrying you. ”
Gui Chen tried to laugh.
“You’re bluffing. You love me too much to leave. ”
“The first surprise,” she said, “is that this wedding is canceled. ”
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
“The second surprise is this. ” She raised a stack of hotel records. “In the last three years, you checked into hotels 999 times. Every bill was paid with my money under my name.
Over one million yuan. ” She dropped the papers. “Pay me back, or wait for my lawyer. ”
“That money was a gift!
” his mother shouted. “Then your son can gift it back. ”
Gui Chen’s face twisted. “Who do you think you are?
I saved your life three years ago! You owe me everything! ”
Su Xingwan looked at him coldly. “You want proof of that too?
”
The third surprise arrived before he could answer. A crane rumbled overhead. The wedding tent began to rise. Inside, half-dressed and tangled in each other’s arms, were Su Weiwei and another man.
Gui Chen’s precious, pure, devoted mistress. “Your Weiwei only had eyes for you, right? ” Su Xingwan said. “She was a hundred times purer than me, wasn’t she?
”
Gui Chen made a strangled noise. “That’s not her! That’s not—”
“Everyone can see who it is. ”
He lunged at Su Xingwan.
A dusty hand caught his wrist before he could touch her. “Move and see what happens,” said Jiang Anju. Gui Chen stared at the street sweeper. “Who are you?
”
“Someone better than you,” Su Xingwan said. Then Dr. Jiao, the chief surgeon who had treated her three years ago, stepped forward. “Gui Chen didn’t save you,” he said.
“The young man who carried you into the hospital argued with me over a bed. His name is on the payment record. ”
Gui Chen went pale. “You’ve been bribed!
”
The doctor handed over a stamped hospital record. Su Xingwan read the name out loud. “Jiang Anju. ”
She turned to the street sweeper.
“You? ”
“I recognized you the moment you stopped me,” Jiang Anju said. “That’s why I agreed. ”
“Why didn’t you tell me?
”
“You didn’t remember me. I wasn’t going to use it against you. ”
Gui Chen grabbed her arm. “So what?
I stayed with you for months! I was the one who held your hand! You can’t just throw me away! ”
Su Xingwan pulled free and slapped him.
The sound echoed across the courtyard. “I should have done that three years ago. ”
Gui Chen’s mother flew at her. Jiang Anju put himself between them.
“Touch her again and find out what happens. ”
Security guards surrounded Gui Chen’s family. Su Weiwei was dragged out of the tent, still pulling her clothes together. Gui Chen’s mother screamed and scratched.
It didn’t save her. Then Su Xingwan’s mother stormed forward. “You will not marry a street sweeper,” she said. “I already lost my daughter to one liar.
I won’t lose her to a poor man. ”
“I have money,” Jiang Anju said. “How much can a street sweeper have? ” Gui Chen laughed, trying to recover his pride.
“A few coins? ”
Jiang Anju pulled out a black card. “This is a World Bank black card. There is one billion yuan on it.
”
“A fake card! ” Gui Chen’s mother screeched. “He’s a fraud, just like before! ”
Su Xingwan took the card.
“Bring the verification machine. ”
Gui Chen smirked. “Let’s see the street sweeper embarrass himself. ”
The machine lit up.
“VIP Black Gold. Balance: one billion yuan. ”
The courtyard went silent. Then an older woman stepped out of a black car at the edge of the venue.
She walked past the stunned guests and stopped in front of Jiang Anju. “That’s my son,” she said. “Jiang Anju, eldest grandson of the Jiang family. ”
Gui Chen’s mother’s face went grey.
“The Jiang family. The first of the eight great families. ”
“You’re kidding,” Gui Chen whispered. “A street sweeper?
”
Jiang Anju’s mother turned to Su Xingwan with a smile. “This girl is good. He asked her to marry him and didn’t even tell me. ” She pressed gifts into Su Xingwan’s hands: an emerald necklace, a pink diamond, three kilograms of gold, and a mining vein worth ten billion.
“This is just a small gesture. There is much more waiting for you. ”
Su Xingwan’s mother changed her tone instantly. “I only objected because I was afraid you’d been fooled.
But a Jiang? That’s a match. A perfect match. ”
Gui Chen tried one last time.
“Three years,” he said. “We had three years together. Can you forget that? ”
“You spent those three years lying to me, cheating on me, and spending my money,” Su Xingwan said.
“Yes. I can forget. ”
Jiang Anju nodded to security. “Hold him.
”
Gui Chen shoved and cursed, but the guards were stronger. A megaphone was pushed into his hands. “Tell the truth,” Jiang Anju said. “Or the police can hear it later.
”
Gui Chen’s voice cracked over the loudspeaker. “I am a liar. I am a coward. I am greedy.
I lived off others with arrogance. I am worthless. ”
His mother was dragged out after him. The crowd watched, and nobody moved to help.
Then Jiang Anju knelt in front of Su Xingwan. “This is the second time I’m asking,” he said. “This time, I have your parents’ approval and mine. Su Xingwan, will you marry me?
”
Her mother was already shouting, “Say yes! ”
Su Xingwan looked at the street sweeper who had saved her life and never asked for anything. She said, “Yes. ”
He slid a ring onto her finger.
His hands were rough from work, but his voice was steady. “I swear before the sky,” he said. “I will never deceive you. I will never use you.
I will never hurt you. ”
Her father said, “If you hurt her, I’ll break your legs. ”
Jiang Anju’s father answered, “If he hurts her, I’ll break his legs first. ”
The crowd laughed.
Someone shouted for a kiss. The old wedding tent still lay overturned on the grass, but nobody was looking at it anymore. Su Xingwan smiled, pulled Jiang Anju close, and kissed him. She wasn’t marrying the man she had to please.
She was finally marrying the one who had saved her.
