Contract Marriage

Chapter 3

After finishing his shower, Helian Qing came out to see Han Yang—once again—nesting in his original position, writing something. The clip that held up his hair had already been taken off, the hint of childishness he had before, was no more. Once again, he transformed into the cautious fellow he was when they had first met.

On the dining table, and still steaming hot, laid his dinner. The spread had egg-fried rice, and greens along with a saucer of cucumbers mixed in a soybean paste. Next to those were a bowl of hot chicken soup, as well as, egg-fried rice with peas and carrots mixed in. Judging by the color alone, it all looked quite good.

Those kinds of simple dishes arranged on the dinner table, appeared exceptionally warm an fragrant, allowing the originally cold mien worn on the man's face to soften.

After drinking two mouthfuls of soup the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach calmed down. Helian Qing then tasted a bite of the fried rice, the flavour was extraordinarily good.

Indeed, it was just as the information gathered about Han Yang said, he was truly a very good cook.

Helian Qing used the spoon to scoop yet another bite of rice.

At that moment Han Yang, still focused on his work, began, "There were no more ingredients, so you'll have to make do by eating this little right now. The soup was made this afternoon though." After saying that he stopped at once, then raised his head to look at Helian Qing, "Sorry, I... ...forgot you were coming back today."

After that last sentence was spoken, Helian Qing's smoothed brows once again creased. He took the rice filled spoon to his mouth, leisurely chewing then swallowing, then somewhat mockingly spoke, "You simply didn't remember?"
　
Han Yang was speechless, he really was, but this time all he could do was lower his head in silence. He didn't know what he should say, after all, the two were still unfamiliar with each other. Even if he could say something he wouldn't know how or what to. All he knew of Helian Qing was just a brief introduction he found in a Finance magazine, and the impression he got when he signed the contract that day.

Seeing him once again lower his head, Helian Qing felt a bit agitated. The delicious egg fried rice from just a moment ago, suddenly became tasteless. He looked towards Han Yang, "Have you forgotten who you are?"
　
You haven't forgotten who you are.

The man's words to Han Yang made his heart turn in circles, the corners of his mouth slipped slightly, pressing themselves together even tighter.
　　
Who he is?

Yes of course, who he is, was Helian Qing's contracted wife.

At that time as payment of the debt, Han Yang believed he was sold to Helian Qing to be a form of labour and such, but in the end the contract's contents startled him. It was not that of a labourer, but one of a marital relationship.

Although same sex marriage was allowed by the law since two years ago, and if both parties were willing, they could use medical methods to extract sperm to have their own children, Han Yang had grown up in a small village. There, for such matters like marriage, the understanding of it was quite traditional. It was always about the balance between Yin and Yang, and he had never thought about the same sex in that way. In fact, strictly speaking, Han Yang cannot be said to be homosexual or heterosexual, he simply never liked anyone. Whether be it man or woman, in his lifetime, feelings of affection for another were totally nonexistent.

He spent almost twenty years just studying and making money. Although he thought that later he would marry a cute, clever, and kindhearted girl but that too was nothing but a short lived idea. What he wanted to do the most, was to keep that old man--who for many years took care of him--by his side, giving that Grandpa Sun a peaceful place to stay for the rest of his life.