Chapter 10: Sister?

Right on cue, Song Yan walked in carrying armfuls of nutritional supplements. The two on the bed were still snuggled up like nobody else existed in the world.

My heart instantly hammered with wild excitement. *Here it comes! The glorious moment of exposing this fateful betrayal has finally arrived!*

To my absolute shock, the man didn’t look the least bit guilty. He casually greeted, “Song Yan, you’re back.”

The woman pouted with affectionate reproach. “Look at you, leaving your future sister-in-law here all by herself while you wandered off.”

Song Yan replied nonchalantly, “Didn’t I come right back? Besides, she insisted on taking care of you—I couldn’t stop her if I tried.”

I stood there, totally petrified.

Song Yan finally turned to me, introducing them with agonizing slowness: “This is my cousin, and this is my brother-in-law.”

Me: “…”

Dear God in heaven!!! So from start to finish, I was just putting on a solo drama performance all by myself?!

—

That evening, Song Yan drove me back home. The second we stepped through the front door, I socked him right in the chest. “Were you playing me?!”

“Ouch,” Song Yan clutched his chest, knitting his brows in a tragic act of playing the victim. “How was I playing you? Didn’t you say you wanted to nurse someone through her post-baby month? I even drove you there personally.”

“You clearly knew I misunderstood!”

“Misunderstood my cousin for my girlfriend?” Song Yan leaned down, gently squeezing my waist as he pulled me flush against him. “Isn’t my girlfriend standing right in front of me? You knew you were overthinking things, yet you refused to ask for an explanation!”

He broke into a low chuckle. “You really are generous, aren’t you? Volunteering to nurse the ‘other woman’ through her postpartum recovery… I’m starting to think you’ve attained enlightenment and have holy relics floating around in your brain.”

“…Fine, you’re the boss. I won’t lower myself to your level.” I huffed, trying to push him away.

Song Yan caught my wrist and yanked me right back into his arms. “Yu Sisi, I don’t want to be your boss anymore.”

I blinked, startled. “You’re firing me?”

“No.” He locked his gaze onto mine. “I want to trade my entire net worth for a marriage certificate with you.”

“Dream on,” I curled my lip. “How much net worth can a fresh college grad even have?”

Song Yan gritted his teeth, letting out a laugh. “I’ve been paying you thirty thousand a month for this long. Roughly calculated, that’s enough to keep you comfortably provided for for decades.”

Hearing the word money, my heart instantly fluttered, but I managed to hang onto my sanity. “No way. It’s too fast. I haven’t even graduated, and I haven’t started working yet. What if I make way more money than you in the future? When that day comes, I could just throw down thirty grand to hire a handsome college boy to be my boyfriend.”

“Keep dreaming.” Song Yan leaned down, resting his forehead against mine. “I want an official title.”

“You’re already my boyfriend.”

“Not the contract kind.” He leaned in closer, his hot breath brushing against the tip of my nose. “The real kind.”

Before I could reply, his lips softly pressed against mine. My mind instantly went blank. By the time I snapped back to reality, my ears were burning hot.

“Song Yan… do you really not mind that I’m obsessed with money?”

“I wish you were even more obsessed.” He chuckled softly. “That way, when I bring my entire net worth to propose, you won’t have the heart to say no.”

—

Shortly after, Song Yan graduated. Instead of joining his stepfather’s company, he threw himself into launching his own software startup. Naturally, his family cut off his allowance cold turkey.

Meanwhile, my luck miraculously surged. A few stocks I’d bought randomly back in the day suddenly went parabolic, and the numbers in my bank account kept rocketing upward. I immediately snapped up a couple of rental properties, leisurely collecting rent while preparing for grad school exams.

Compared to me, Song Yan was noticeably broke. The stark contrast left him feeling perpetually insecure. He hit the gym religiously every single day, terrified that one fine day I’d actually take my money and go hire a younger guy.

On the night of our second anniversary, he wrapped his arms around me, letting out a long, dramatic sigh: “Sisi, what am I going to do? You’re so young and already a little boss lady. Now you definitely won’t care about my tiny net worth.”

I nodded with brutal honesty. “Yep, don’t care at all.”

Song Yan fell silent for a long moment before saying dead-seriously, “Then I’m quitting software.”

“Huh?”

“What do you think of my stepfather’s assets? If they look good to you, I’ll just go home and inherit the family empire.”

I burst out laughing. “You really know how to bend with the wind, don’t you?”

“I have no choice.” He pulled me tighter into his chest. “My girlfriend is way too rich. I have to pull my weight.”

I rested my chin in my hand, mulling it over. “How about this? I’ll hire you to be my boyfriend.”

His eyes lit up instantly. “So you’re the boss from now on?”

“Yup,” I nodded. “A two-year probationary contract. If you perform well and don’t get fired, you get converted to full-time.”

“Deal!”

—

From that day on, Song Yan started his very own notebook titled: Boss Lady’s Preferences. He took it absurdly seriously, filling page after page with tiny, neat handwriting.

One day, he flipped the notebook open to show me, sighing, “Look at that. I’m way more professional than you were back then.”

Intrigued, I took it to skim through, only to discover that the first few pages had been written two full years ago. Each entry was just a few short lines:

Turned out I’m not the only one who sucks at dating. Today Yu Sisi actually went on Google to search ‘how to comfort your boyfriend.’

*Our first picture together. For some reason, I feel like I’m out of her league in a bad way.

Waited all day for Yu Sisi to post us on her feed. Finally lost my patience and posted it myself. First time soft-launching a relationship, kind of nervous.

Got dragged by my cousin to buy a gift for Mom today and ran into Yu Sisi. The second she saw me, she threw on dark sunglasses and bolted. So weird.

Yu Sisi wore makeup today. Drop-dead gorgeous.

Was already in a bad mood today, and then Yu Sisi forced me to sign a contract. Annoyed as hell.

Paraded classmates in front of her for days, yet Yu Sisi didn’t even bother to comfort me. She just put on dark sunglasses and ran away again when she saw me. Is this what VIP treatment looks like? Yu Sisi, those are sunglasses, not an invisibility cloak!

Finally got to hug Yu Sisi today. Instantly stopped being mad.

Planned to confess, but ended up blurting out a one-year contract extension instead. Whatever, building up experience first.

Yu Sisi cooked for me today. Delicious.

Watching horror movies with Yu Sisi is the best. When she gets scared, she crawls into my arms on her own.

Flipping through a few more pages, it was wall-to-wall sappy nonsense. I had officially confirmed it: I had picked up a total simping idiot.

“Stop reading!” Song Yan’s ears flushed bright red as he lunged forward to snatch the notebook back. “It didn’t sound this cringe when I wrote it!”

I doubled over laughing. “You should change the title.”

“To what?”

“Boss Lady’s Preferences sounds too basic. Young Master Song’s Wife-Simping Diary fits much better.”

“This is called professional work ethic,” he defended himself with absolute righteousness. Then he fixed his gaze on me. “I showed you my entire diary. Now it’s your turn.”

I immediately shook my head like a rattle drum. “Not a chance.”

“Just a peek.”

“No.”

“I’ll pay you.”

“Not for sale at any price.”

Because inside my diary, there were only two New Year’s wishes written down:

May Yu Sisi have a bright and prosperous future.

May Yu Sisi and Song Yan stay together for a long, long time.