"Let's register our marriage tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Wait for me at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau."
"Alright."
Every child who lacks love, when they grow up, they all have a simple and ordinary dream - to have a home of their own.
As soon as Ling Wei received her graduation certificate, she accepted her boyfriend, Wen Mingrui's marriage proposal.
No wedding ceremony, no wedding dress, and she didn't even notify any relatives or friends— she foolishly and hastily got married.
Was it worth it?
Any regrets?
Perhaps there might be some, but compared to those commercial marriages, being able to marry a man she loves and who loves her in return, isn't that a kind of happiness?
Some say that love is a long wait and a distant hope.
Time ticked by, minute by minute, with the sunlight glaring brightly, and the weather becoming uncomfortably hot. As sweat broke out from her body, the long white dress she was wearing clung tightly onto her damp skin, making Ling Wei feel extremely uncomfortable.
Not long after, a heavy rain suddenly poured down.
Pedestrians ran to hide under eaves, Ling Wei's clothes were soaked, but she refused to leave. She stood at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, patiently waiting, longing for Wen Mingrui to arrive.
"You know, even if the heavy rain overturns this city, I would hold you in my arms…”
The ringtone of the cell phone rang, and Ling Wei's heart leapt with joy. Pressing the answer key, words of urgency spilled out of her mouth, "A'Rui, where are you now? Why aren't you here yet? I've been waiting for you here for a long time. Do you know that it's raining here and my clothes are all soaked through? When will you be here, do you still want to go through with this wedding?"
"Little Wei..." A chill voice came over.
Ling Wei's face stiffened, she glanced at the incoming call display on her phone, it was an unfamiliar phone number. She awkwardly said: "I'm sorry, I thought you were my boyfriend."
"What are you doing?" the strange voice asked, the tone of his words lingering, filled with a familiar and intimate emotion.
Ling Wei asked: "May I ask who you are?"
"Li Zhenglin."
Li Zhenglin, a figure in the commercial world of city S, a famous rich young master, the dream lover of all women, Ling Wei's stepmother Li Meilin's younger brother; ten years older than her, mature and stable, a man who is both gifted in intelligence and handsome in looks.
Ling Wei was taken aback: "…"
"Where are you now?" He asked.
"Do you need anything?" Ling Wei asked coldly.
He sighed slightly on the other end, "Your father is sick, do you know?"
As soon as Ling Qiyang, her father, was mentioned, Ling Wei felt a suffocating feeling in her heart.
Right before her college entrance exams, she inadvertently found out the secret about her origins, which led to her dismal performance due to her low spirits. She barely got a passing score. Ling Qiyang spent a lot of money trying to get her into a University in city S, but Ling Wei didn’t comply with his arrangements. Determinedly, she chose to study in City Q, her birth mother's hometown. Ling Qiyang was furious, threatening to sever the father-daughter relationship if she dared to go.
Throughout the four years of her college, Ling Qiyang didn't give her a penny for tuition and living expenses, not even a single phone call.
Ling Wei also stood firm, she hadn't gone home once in these four years, nor did she ever ask him for money.
"I know, I will make time to go see him." With these words, Ling Wei hung up the phone.
The rain came down harder and the chilly wind beat against her, causing her to shiver incessantly.
Ling Wei dialed Wen Mingrui's number.
"Sorry, the user you are trying to reach has turned off their mobile."
The last thing Ling Wei had expected was for Wen Mingrui's phone to be switched off.
You’re the one who proposed marriage, and you asked me to come here and wait for you. I’m here, where are you?
All the promises you've made, all the unyielding companionship you vowed for, still echo in my ear. Why aren't you here? Why?
Ling Wei couldn't hold back any longer, and the tears fell like rain.
At five o'clock, the civil affairs office closed.
Wen Mingrui never showed up.
Feeling desolate and lost, Ling Wei wandered the bustling neon-lit streets. A piece of news displayed on an LED screen of some high-rise building stopped her in her tracks.
"Qi Cheng Group’s President, Ling Qiuyang, has been hospitalized due to illness. His daughter, Ling Fei, is temporarily taking over the company. Ling Fei has been an insightful and diligent learner since her childhood. When she was 16, she scored the highest in the high school exams in city S and went to study in the UK. During her stay abroad, she interned and worked in several corporate groups, thereby gaining a wealth of experience..."
Ling Fei came back from England and even took over dad's company?
Dad has always been so partial to her!
"Why can’t you be more understanding as the elder sister, why can’t you give in to your younger sister a bit, why must you compete over everything with her?"
"Shifting the blame onto your younger sister after making a mistake, Ling Wei, you really disappoint me!"
"Ling Wei, you've disgraced me completely! Look at how well-behaved and understanding your sister is, why must you be so mischievous?"
"Do you know how much money I spent to enroll you in S University, and all the efforts I made? You dare to tell me you don't want to go? Fine, you think you've grown wings? If you're so capable, just leave! I'll consider that I never had a daughter like you."
"Daddy, it's not my sister's fault. She didn't snatch my toy or pinch me. I accidentally hurt myself. Um, um, um, Daddy, don't be angry. It's not my sister's fault, it's all my fault."
"You're a thief, a liar, a bad child. I don't have a sister like you. Uncle's favorite person is me, and so are grandpa, grandma, daddy and mommy. No one will ever like you, Ling Wei."
"Ling Wei, you'll never compare to me, never..."
Some memories, even if you want to forget, you can't. Instead, they constantly resurface in your mind, causing pain at the slightest touch.
As Ling Qiyang's eldest daughter, the young lady of Qicheng Group, Ling Wei has always been deliberately ignored since childhood. However, Ling Fei, has always been the favorite one, the one who received all the love. The treatment of the two sisters is as different as heaven and earth.
At that time, she didn't know she wasn't Li Meilin's biological daughter. To attract their attention and care, she had done many foolish things and carried the can many times for Ling Fei!
She hated it. Hated their neglect, her own incompetence, her father's bias, and the expectation she still held for her father, Ling Qiyang.
The Qicheng Group was a company founded by Ling Qiyang and her biological mother, Cheng Ying. Yet Ling Qiyang handed the management of it to Ling Fei and she received nothing.
Ling Wei was unwilling. Absolutely unwilling.
"... The following is a speech by Mr. Wen Mingrui, the spokesperson of Qicheng Group..."
Anxin Tong could hardly believe her eyes as she looked dumbfounded at the handsome man speaking fluently on screen.
She didn't see it wrong; that man was indeed Wen Mingrui, her boyfriend whom she took over three years to win over, and almost got married to.
He called her yesterday and said that they were going to register for marriage today.
She waited for him all day, but he appeared in S city, and as the spokesperson for Qicheng Group.
Ling Wei was stupefied, completely baffled by everything.
