Chapter 1: Her Name Is Chi Mo, Guan Yizhou's Girlfriend

Qin Yan was worked over until the second half of the night. When she woke, her waist ached and her legs were weak.

There was a document pouch on the nightstand.

She opened it. The first thing that hit her eyes was "Divorce Papers." No names filled in, but stamped with the military government's official seal.

She put it down and went to wash up.

After breakfast, Qin Yan went upstairs to change, getting ready to head to the newspaper office. Her gaze caught the divorce papers again.

She put them back in the pouch and locked it inside her vanity drawer.

"Aide Qian, where is the Young Marshal?"

Coming downstairs, she ran right into Cheng Tianxun's aide and asked.

She'd been married to Cheng Tianxun for a year.

Over this year, Cheng Tianxun spent most of his time at the garrison, only occasionally coming back to the city.

After the wedding, Qin Yan didn't live in the Commander's Mansion, nor the old Cheng family estate. She lived in Cheng Tianxun's private villa. Cheng Tianxun was rarely home, so she lived alone. Very comfortable.

Every time he had leave and came back to the city, Cheng Tianxun would come to this villa first.

He had over a dozen trusted men. As usual, they'd hold a meeting on the third floor first, taking up several hours.

When it ended, he'd come back down to the master bedroom on the second floor. Qin Yan's room.

Qin Yan waited for him, no matter how late.

That was what a wife should do.

The two of them didn't talk much. Cheng Tianxun was ruthless when he did things. Last time, he even snapped a leg off that Western iron bed.

Last night's meeting ended early. Cheng Tianxun was in a rare good mood, joked around with Qin Yan a bit, praised her pale purple nightgown as bewitching.

They got hungry afterward. The two of them ate some small wontons, drank a little wine, recovered their strength. He went back up to the third floor to handle some more official business. Qin Yan sorted through the newspaper office's recent documents.

He came downstairs at one in the morning. Qin Yan still wasn't asleep.

Somehow, his finger hooked the hem of her nightgown. He asked her, "What jewelry do you want?"

Qin Yan said she didn't lack jewelry.

"I want to see you wear a diamond necklace," he said. "Wear nothing but a diamond necklace."

Clothes stripped away, Qin Yan was pinned by him, leaning back against the sofa, feeling a bit dizzy.

It was an extremely entangled night.

At dawn he left. Qin Yan's body still bore the lingering traces of last night's passion, yet he left her a set of divorce papers.

It made her feel slightly confused.

As a wife, Qin Yan was very qualified.

Cheng Tianxun had plenty of romantic scandals. Her mother-in-law was determined for her son to outshine his eldest and third brothers, so Qin Yan helped cover things up.

She never asked where Cheng Tianxun went, even though there were several times he returned to the city without coming back to the villa.

As long as he came back, she always ordered the maids to prepare his clothes and food properly, waiting for him to come downstairs no matter how late.

The two of them weren't some free love match.

It was a marriage "arranged" by the Commander.

They met twice before the wedding.

His gaze lazily sized her up. He asked her, "Can you handle being a wife?"

Qin Yan answered, "I can."

"Tell me then, how do you plan to do it?"

"Play deaf and dumb."

So, Cheng Tianxun met her a second time. He told her that if his mother could accept it, he could listen to the Commander and marry Qin Yan.

The Commander's wife was very stern. At first sight, she wasn't satisfied with Qin Yan.

But the Commander said from the side, "Chief of Staff Lan's daughter."

Marrying her meant gaining a source of support within the army. It was greatly beneficial to Cheng Tianxun.

The Commander's wife asked her even more sternly, "Being Tianxun's wife isn't easy. Do you have confidence?"

Qin Yan said, "I am a traditional, conservative person. Naturally I will be gentle, respectful, frugal, and fulfill my duties."

The Commander's wife frowned deeper. She was in charge of the military government's diplomatic work, had gone abroad to study alone at ten years old. She was a new-style woman.

"Are you mocking me?" she asked Qin Yan.

Qin Yan said she wouldn't dare.

"If you don't like her, forget it. Find another one," the Commander said.

Qin Yan didn't know what considerations the Commander's wife ultimately had, but she agreed.

This marriage came attached with an alliance of factions within the military government, plus the approval of the Commander and his wife.

Last night they went at it thoroughly twice. Cheng Tianxun didn't say anything about being unhappy.

Qin Yan's heart wasn't on Cheng Tianxun, and Cheng Tianxun might not be willing to look at her twice either. It was originally just such a perfunctory marriage. Both knew it clearly. Neither would be disappointed in the other. Why suddenly get a divorce?

Qin Yan wasn't unable to accept it. She was just a bit baffled.

"...Young Madam, the Young Marshal went to the military government for a meeting." Aide Qian answered Qin Yan, pulling her thoughts back.

Qin Yan: "I'm going to the newspaper office. Contact the Young Marshal. I'll wait for him tonight for dinner. If he has anything to say, he can talk to me face to face."

If Cheng Tianxun told her face to face, even if the reason was complete bullshit, Qin Yan could cooperate and go speak to the Commander and his wife with him.

Relying on this marriage, she had already gotten what she wanted. Divorcing or not, it was fine.

The newspaper Qin Yan founded was called *Vernacular Times*. It was on Hongxia Road, a rather prosperous area in the southern city. The neighboring street had several dance halls famous across East China, lively and booming.

The paper covered everything: current events, entertainment, even gossip tidbits.

Just written in vernacular Chinese.

Qin Yan was promoting vernacular writing. At first she faced quite a bit of resistance, but in less than two years she captured the market. Her newspaper sold extremely well, recruiting and cultivating four nationally renowned lead writers.

She had a secretary named Ling Manyun, a classmate from when she studied in Port City. A Guangzhou native who ran away from an arranged marriage.

"Cheng Tianxun has another scandal. You really don't need it? Reporter Sun got photos," Ling Manyun asked.

Qin Yan: "Tell him to sell them to other papers. Make some private income."

She never opposed her subordinates making side money, as long as they were dedicated to their main jobs.

"What a shame," Ling Manyun said. She briskly sorted the documents into categories, brought a cup of freshly brewed coffee to Qin Yan's hand, and withdrew.

Qin Yan wouldn't profit off Cheng Tianxun's gossip. Her mother-in-law would slaughter her.

However, Cheng Tianxun himself didn't mind. He occasionally brought back some tabloid papers.

After reading them, he'd even comment, "What rotten penmanship. Written so poorly, not as good as those vernacular papers."

His friends nearby would say, "You can only understand vernacular, right?"

In short, he wasn't too angry. Only then would he comment, and only then would the people around him dare to joke.

The newspaper office was the same as usual.

A morning passed, and Qin Yan stopped obsessing over asking why Cheng Tianxun wanted a divorce.

She had lived twenty-three years. Most of the suffering in her life had descended without any reason at all. Nobody ever gave her an explanation.

Maybe divorce was the same.

"When you're free, come look at mansions with me," she told Ling Manyun.

Ling Manyun: "You're buying a mansion?"

"Getting divorced."

Ling Manyun was stunned: "Those lead writers under you curse this person and that person without restraint. Without the military government's protection, the elites will assassinate you at any moment. Are you tired of living, getting a divorce?"

Qin Yan: "..."

"There are two mansions for sale on Hongxia Road. Once you've decided, I'll contact the real estate broker for you. Are you free to go look at noon today?" Ling Manyun added.

Qin Yan: "..."

By mid-afternoon, Qin Yan bought a mansion. The price was on the high side.

She didn't lack money.

Her secretary, Miss Ling, was swift and decisive, sharp in both work and speech. Qin Yan wasn't a dragging personality either. After meeting and talking with the owner for half an hour, Qin Yan signed the check.

The follow-up deed paperwork was handed over to the secretary to handle.

Walking out of the mansion, Qin Yan and Secretary Miss Ling Manyun stood before the large wrought-iron gate with intertwined branches, looking at it for a while.

"'Number Four Hongxia Road.' Isn't that unlucky?" Qin Yan realized belatedly.

Ling Manyun: "In Western musical scales, 'four' is 'fa'. You'll have wealth luck this year."

Qin Yan: "..."

"Your neighbor is coming out."

Someone came out next door. Qin Yan hadn't noticed. Ling Manyun quietly poked her.

Qin Yan turned her head.

The mid-afternoon weather in early autumn wasn't dry. The young man wore a white shirt, a brown vest, brown striped suit trousers, his jacket draped over his arm.

His hair was combed neatly, his features extremely handsome. His skin was fair, and the irises of those eyes were also on the lighter side. When he looked at people, it carried a detached coldness.

He looked at Qin Yan, facing the mid-afternoon sunlight directly. His eyes were plated with a layer of pale gold by the blazing sun.

Qin Yan's reunion with Luo Qisheng was so sudden that her brain went blank for a moment.

Luo Qisheng looked at her, seemingly just to see clearly whether it was really her. His brows furrowed slightly.

"Hello sir, do you live here..."

Amidst Ling Manyun's greeting, he turned and walked away.

Ling Manyun's words were only half spoken, suddenly falling empty, receiving no response at all.

But Miss Ling never sought out trouble for herself. She turned back and said to Qin Yan with certainty, "He's deaf."

Qin Yan: "..."