ACMS 56

Chapter 56 – How to Handle It

The stack of examination reports and expert consultations was thick. Qiao Le didn’t think much of it when he picked it up, but only remembered the agreement was mixed in when it slipped out—And it was seen by Wu Huilan on the spot.

What’s a contractual marriage? Obviously, it’s a fake one.

But neither he nor Shen Hechuan dared to say that aloud and could only remain silent.

When Shen Zhenghe heard the words “contractual marriage,” he asked aloud, “What does that mean? What kind of contractual marriage?”

Wu Huilan tossed the agreement in her hand at him. “Read it yourself.”

Shen Zhenghe skimmed through the agreement quickly, then looked up at the silent Shen Hechuan and Qiao Le and asked calmly, “Can one of you explain this to me?”

“What is there to explain!”

Wu Huilan said angrily, not even bothering with the reports scattered on the floor. She looked at the two children she adored, her disappointment plain. “Just to deal with our pressure to get married, you actually came up with a fake marriage agreement? You even lied to me and said there was a pregnancy—why don’t you two just ascend to heaven?!”

Qiao Le: “…”

Shen Hechuan: “…”

“We didn’t lie—” Shen Hechuan tried to explain.

Wu Huilan waved her hand. “With this huge contract right here, you still want to deny it? Are you going to tell me it’s fake?”

Shen Hechuan: “…No, it’s real.”

That made Wu Huilan even angrier. Shen Zhenghe tried to calm her down. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s hear what they have to say.”

“What is there to hear?” Wu Huilan snapped. “I was genuinely happy, went through all that trouble to arrange your engagement banquet, and it turns out you pulled a fake marriage on me!”

“Fake marriage?” Old Master Shen, who had been listening from the side, was thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about? What happened? Xiao Man is still here, don’t scare the child.”

Even though Qiao Man didn’t understand what had happened, seeing Wu Huilan angry, he still reached out to tug on her hand and softly pleaded for her not to be upset.

Ever since she learned Qiao Le was pregnant, Wu Huilan had been thrilled and excited. The sudden discovery of the marriage agreement shattered her joy in an instant. Rage, fueled by betrayal, rushed to her heart.

Especially when it was her own son and the junior she liked who had deceived her.

Pregnant, really?!

Two grown men—pregnant?! Was she out of her mind to have believed such nonsense?!

She looked at Xiao Man, took a deep breath to calm herself, patted the child’s hand and said, “It’s fine, darling. Don’t be afraid. You go back to your room first.”

Qiao Man instinctively looked at Qiao Le, who walked over and took his hand. He also called for Aunt Yang, who was in the kitchen preparing lunch, and asked her to take Qiao Man back to his room.

Shen Zhenghe handed the contract to Old Master Shen. Shen Hechuan didn’t stop him—since it was all out in the open anyway, they might as well let everyone read it.

The old man opened the document, his eyes widening. He let out a surprised “Ah!” and looked at Shen Hechuan, stunned. “You actually—”

Wu Huilan worried he’d get too worked up and raise his blood pressure. “Dad, don’t get excited—”

“Only gave ten million?!” Old Master Shen exclaimed in disbelief. “So stingy!”

Wu Huilan: “…”

Shen Zhenghe: “…”

Shen Hechuan: “…”

Qiao Le: “…”

The living room fell into an awkward silence. For the first time, Shen Hechuan realized the old man actually had a sense of humor.

The previously tense and stiff atmosphere was completely shattered by that one sentence, and now it was borderline comedic.

“It was a bit little, but—” Wu Huilan was speechless. “Dad, is that really the point?”

Old Master Shen: “Isn’t it? That’s way too little. What a disgrace.”

“It really was too little,” Shen Hechuan agreed. “The agreement was for five years, and he only asked for two million, just to pay off his family’s debts.”

With that one sentence, he explained the reason Qiao Le signed the contract with him.

“Two million? For five years?” Wu Huilan frowned. “That doesn’t even come out to five hundred thousand a year. What can you even do with that?”

Her maiden family was just as wealthy as the Shen family. Raised in luxury, to her, even five hundred thousand couldn’t buy a decent set of jewelry.

But to Qiao Le at the time, it was an enormous sum.

Shen Hechuan said, “It wasn’t enough, so I raised it to ten million—”

“Ten million still isn’t much.” Wu Huilan cut him off and gave him a dissatisfied look. “If I hadn’t added more items to the engagement gift list, it really would’ve been embarrassing.”

“Oh, speaking of the gift list—Lele didn’t take any of it.” Shen Hechuan added, “The house hasn’t been transferred, and the card is still with me.”

Wu Huilan was stunned. “What do you mean?”

Shen Hechuan said as if he’d just remembered, “And the watch you gave him when he first visited? It’s with me too.”

During the engagement, Wu Huilan had prepared an extravagant gift list for Qiao Le. Aside from the large bride price, there was also a riverside villa and a pile of jewelry.

She personally handed everything to Qiao Le, but now Shen Hechuan said it was all still with him—and the house wasn’t even transferred.

“Why didn’t you take it?” Wu Huilan asked Qiao Le. “You didn’t like it?”

Qiao Le answered truthfully, “It was too expensive. I couldn’t accept it.”

At the time, his relationship with Shen Hechuan hadn’t developed to its current stage. After the engagement banquet, he returned everything to Shen Hechuan.

Shen Hechuan figured there was plenty of time and didn’t force him to accept.

But Wu Huilan hadn’t known what was going on between them.

“Too expensive”—those were words she heard every time she gave Qiao Le something.

She had always thought Qiao Le was just being modest, but now she realized it was probably because his relationship with Shen Hechuan was contractual.

“Expensive? So what?” She picked up the contract and tapped a clause with her finger. “Isn’t it written clearly here? During the contract period, anything given by Shen Hechuan or his parents belongs to you.”

That clause was indeed written in black and white. The entire agreement favored Qiao Le from beginning to end.

But even so, he couldn’t bring himself to accept what Wu Huilan and the others gave.

“Because I’ve already received so much,” Qiao Le said softly. “If it weren’t for the money Shen Hechuan gave me, I wouldn’t have gotten out of my situation so quickly. I wouldn’t have been able to return to school, and Xiao Man wouldn’t have been able to attend such a good kindergarten.”

That money had pulled him out of hardship and given him a better life, better resources, and care and love he never should’ve had in the first place.

Everyone looked at him, and he continued, “It’s true that we were the ones who deceived you first. I know that no explanation can really make up for it. I’m sorry.”

No matter how their relationship had developed now, the marriage had indeed started with deception.

If the contract hadn’t fallen out, the elders might never have found out. But now that it had been exposed, he couldn’t help feeling guilty toward those who had always cared about and valued him.

He glanced at Shen Hechuan and went on, “I hope you won’t blame Shen Hechuan either. He just didn’t want you to worry.”

Although Wu Huilan was still angry, hearing Qiao Le apologize made her heart ache.

In hindsight, if she hadn’t pressured Shen Hechuan so much about getting married, he wouldn’t have dragged Qiao Le into this. And the whole agreement had been Shen Hechuan’s idea in the first place. Why should Qiao Le be the one to apologize?

Especially at a time like this—Qiao Le was still trying to take the blame for Shen Hechuan.

What a considerate kid, Wu Huilan couldn’t help but think.

Hearing Qiao Le defend him, Shen Hechuan’s gaze softened. He reached out, took his hand, and said gently, “It wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to apologize.”

“He’s right. Why are you apologizing?” Wu Huilan said. “You just took the money and did your job—fulfilling the contract. If anyone should apologize, it’s this unfilial son of mine.”

To Shen Hechuan, apologizing didn’t hurt. He was about to go along with her when the old man cut in.

“Apologize? What for?”

“Dad!” Wu Huilan exclaimed. “He fooled us all! What’s wrong with asking for an apology? Just keep spoiling him, why don’t you?”

“Tch, it’s not even a big deal.” Old Master Shen said nonchalantly, “It’s just a contract, isn’t it? What’s the problem? The marriage is real now—just destroy the contract and it’s all settled.”

A single sentence struck everyone like a bolt of lightning—once again, Old Master Shen caught them all off guard.

Wu Huilan and Shen Zhenghe exchanged a glance, and their thoughts suddenly cleared: That… actually made sense.

The marriage was already real, and they genuinely liked Qiao Le. As long as the contract was gone, wouldn’t that be the end of it?

There’s a saying—“Those who aren’t family don’t walk through the same door.” When it came to handling this, the Shen family was remarkably like-minded.

And this solution was exactly what Shen Hechuan and Qiao Le had been thinking too.

The two exchanged a look, then tentatively said, “Destroy the contract?”

But Wu Huilan misunderstood their intent. Her expression darkened. “What? You’re still unwilling? Still thinking of getting a divorce after five years?!”

“Of course not!” they both replied in unison. “We don’t want to divorce.”

“That’s more like it.” Wu Huilan’s expression eased. “I don’t care about the agreement—this marriage is already real. If you want to get divorced, I’ll be the first to object!”

Shen Zhenghe added, “I’ll be the second to object!”

Old Master Shen joined the chorus, “I’m the third to object!”

Shen Hechuan said too, “I object as well.”

After the whole family had spoken, they all turned to look at Qiao Le. Surrounded by four pairs of expectant eyes, Qiao Le felt his scalp tingle. He quickly said, “I object too.”

Shen Hechuan’s lips curled faintly as he gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“That’s more like it,” Old Master Shen said with a broad grin. “See? Problem solved.”

Wu Huilan was satisfied too, but she didn’t forget to remind Shen Hechuan, “Hurry up and give Lele his card back. And transfer the house too. How long has it been? You still haven’t taken care of such a small thing.”

Qiao Le said, “The house isn’t necessary. I won’t be using it—”

“What do you mean, won’t be using it?” Wu Huilan glared at him. “Having extra houses is convenient! Next time you and Hechuan argue, you’ll have somewhere to go.”

Shen Hechuan’s forehead twitched. “We won’t argue, Mom. Don’t teach him bad ideas.”

Qiao Le lowered his head and chuckled softly, not refusing again.

“Alright then, now that it’s all settled, let’s eat.” Shen Zhenghe picked up the reports from the floor and handed them back. “It’s just a contract marriage, what’s the big deal? But pretending to be pregnant just to fool us? I can’t believe you two thought of that. Take this back already.”

Clearly, just like Wu Huilan, he thought the pregnancy was part of the agreement too.

“No—” Qiao Le said, half-laughing, half-exasperated. “That part wasn’t a lie.”

Wu Huilan scowled. “Still not done acting? If you keep it up, I’m really going to get mad!”

“It really wasn’t a lie,” Shen Hechuan said. “The agreement was real. But so is the pregnancy. Two months. Twins.”

Wu Huilan: “……”

Shen Hechuan was dead serious, and Qiao Le didn’t look like he was joking either. Wu Huilan felt her heart lurch. She snatched the documents from Shen Zhenghe’s hands and quickly found the ultrasound report.

Name: Qiao Le

Ultrasound Results: Early pregnancy, twin gestation, estimated 8 weeks along.

She read the results over and over, making sure she hadn’t misread anything. Then, a tidal wave of joy exploded in her chest. Her hand trembled as she clutched the report.

“He really is pregnant!” she said excitedly. “He really is!”

Shen Zhenghe: “You—”

Before he could finish, Wu Huilan grabbed his arm and said, almost incoherently, “He really is! You’re about to be a grandma!!”

Shen Zhenghe: “……”

Uh, wait.

If I’m going to be a grandma… what does that make you?