Chapter 702 468: Happy for Nothing?

After a full day of meetings at the office, Chen Yuan was heading home to yet another one.

This time, however, it was a family meeting.

His mood was nothing like the tension of his workday. Instead, his face was wreathed in smiles, the corners of his mouth turning up every so often.

To an outside observer, Chen Yuan's grin was so wide he almost looked like Venom.

As the lights of Linzhou dimmed, he rushed back to Mingzhu City, clutching an extremely important document. He was ready to solemnly break the news to Jiangg Ning.

If they went abroad to a country with more flexible marriage laws, perhaps all her worries would be easily resolved.

Chen Yuan couldn't wait to see her reaction.

...

That evening.

Chen Yuan pushed open the door to Jiangg Yao's hospital room, a bubble tea with light ice and regular sugar in one hand and a salted egg yolk lava pastry in the other.

Jiangg Yao was sprawled across the bed playing on her phone, her feet, clad in a pair of white seamless socks, dangling in the air.

She turned her head alertly at the sound of the door opening.

"Young Master, you're back!" Jiangg Yao's eyes lit up as she spoke with delight. "I was just about to text you and ask when you were getting here."

"I made a little detour," Chen Yuan said with a gentle smile, holding up the treats he'd brought for her. "I went to get you something to eat."

"Bubble tea!"

Jiangg Yao immediately tossed her phone aside, sat up straight, and reached for it. Judging by the sparkling "bling" in her eyes, she'd been craving this for a long time.

She had zero resistance when it came to bubble tea.

And Chen Yuan had even bought her favorite kind.

This hospital was great in every way—the environment was beautiful and the location was quiet. But being so far from the city meant no food delivery. After eating nothing but hospital-catered meals all day, she felt like her mouth had lost all sense of taste.

For Jiangg Yao, who was used to eating snacks all day, it was utter torture.

Now, with the bubble tea in hand, she didn't forget to flash a sweet smile and say to Chen Yuan in the gentlest voice, "Thank you, Young Master. You're the best."

"Of course."

"And my favorite lava pastries, too! Wow."

"Happy now?"

"Of course!"

Jiangg Yao bobbed her head, looking completely satisfied.

She didn't look like a woman in her late twenties at all; she looked more like a little girl.

If she had a tail, it would be wagging so hard it would be a blur.

Chen Yuan had deliberately come to Jiangg Yao first instead of Jiangg Ning for two reasons. First, he'd brought her snacks, and he couldn't let Ningning see them. It wasn't that he was afraid she'd get jealous, but if Ningning casually remarked, "No wonder you're gaining weight eating that stuff," Jiangg Yao's happiness would vanish, and she wouldn't enjoy her treat. Chen Yuan wouldn't have noticed such details in the past, but now he was intimately familiar with them. The second reason was that he planned to tell Jiangg Yao about the documents first. They could discuss it, and he could also get a sense of Jiangg Ning's likely attitude.

He wasn't entirely confident, and he certainly didn't understand the older sister as well as Yaoyao did.

"Actually, it's not just snacks. I also brought some good news," Chen Yuan mentioned casually.

"What good news?" Jiangg Yao mumbled, her mouth on the straw.

"I've found a solution for our marriage!"

Chen Yuan grabbed Yaoyao's shoulders and gave her a little shake. Seeing her dazed and confused expression, he quickly explained.

"This morning while I was in Linzhou, my dad had someone deliver this to me. With this, I can legally get engaged to and marry both you and Ningning, without having to worry about any repercussions in our future life... Surprise!"

Of course, Jiangg Yao wasn't nearly as happy as he was. She managed a strained smile.

"Is... is that right?" she said stiffly.

"Whether we go abroad or stay here, both options are viable. We need to discuss this seriously. Yaoyao, how do you think I should tell your sister? Do you think she'll be happy, too? After all, just a few days ago she was asking me what we would do about having kids if she were to marry me..."

Seeing the irrepressible excitement on Chen Yuan's face, Jiangg Yao's gaze drifted.

She stared at the documents he had placed on the bed.

'She really hadn't expected Chen Yuan's father to solve the problem so ridiculously fast, or to dote on him this much. As she recalled, the engagement had only been brought up a short while ago. How did he agree to it so quickly?'

'An only son... the sole heir. The sheer weight of that title was truly beyond what an ordinary person could comprehend.'

She wasn't unwilling, but based on the facts, she couldn't help but throw some cold water on his excitement.

"It is good news, but my sister is worried about more than just that, isn't she? If we both marry you, there are still a lot of practical problems to solve..."

"Like what? What other problems?"

"For example, the three of us would have to sleep in the same bed. We'd both be expected to have your babies. We'd both be your legal wives. Anyone would have psychological hang-ups about that... Even I would have to do a lot of mental preparation."

Jiangg Yao spoke earnestly, trying to see it from her sister's perspective for a moment before listing several issues.

"I know that, but we have to take the first step, don't we? We can solve future problems together as they come. And if you think about it from another angle, it's me facing the two of you. I'm under a lot of pressure, too." Chen Yuan's expression was serious, but his words made Jiangg Yao lose her composure.

She spat out a mouthful of bubble tea with a "PFFT!"

Chen Yuan didn't manage to dodge. He froze for a moment before grabbing a tissue to wipe his face.

"Pressure your ass..." Jiangg Yao scowled. "The truth is you're probably so happy you'll be hiding under the covers, giggling to yourself in the middle of the night."

Chen Yuan wasn't lying; he really did feel the pressure.

'One wife he could handle as an equal. But two... that would be exhausting. After they were married, he'd have to strategically retreat now and then. His back wasn't made of steel, after all.'

"Stop shooting me down. Your sister's next door, right?"

"Yeah, she's studying."

"Alright then. Time for our meeting."

With that, Chen Yuan went next door to get Jiangg Ning, his steps unusually light. He couldn't wait another second to tell her the news.

...

Since Jiangg Yao had injured her foot and couldn't get around easily, Chen Yuan didn't want to move her from the bed to her wheelchair. So, the three of them decided to hold the meeting in her room.

A short while later, the documents were laid out on the table. Chen Yuan and Jiangg Ning sat on the floor, while Yaoyao watched intently from her bed. Their first, unconventional family meeting had begun.

"As you can see, Ningning, this first document is a proposal and development plan from corporate headquarters for me to work in Qatar. The laws there fully support our personal situation, and we would be legally protected."

He continued, "The second document contains two legal identities and birth certificates for me. This also guarantees our arrangement would be fully legal and compliant, ensuring no future problems, and would allow us to remain in Huaxia... I believe these are very thorough solutions. I wonder, do they resolve the issues you were worried about, Ningning?"

His gaze was intense as he looked at her.

Jiangg Ning's eyes widened in astonishment. After a moment of stunned silence, she picked up the two sets of documents and began to scrutinize them, reading every single word with exceptional seriousness.

The solutions Jiang Zhengfeng had provided were, naturally, flawless. No fault could be found. After all, he wouldn't gamble with his own son's future.

"There's actually a way to do this..." A thousand emotions surged in Jiangg Ning's eyes.

"Like I said before, we can try to solve any problem, as long as you're willing," Chen Yuan said softly. "If you have any other thoughts, please say them. Ningning, this goes for Yaoyao, too. I want our three lives and destinies to be tightly bound together. Just like they are now, and just like they can be in the future."

"I..." Jiangg Ning paused, then looked up and asked, "Then what about our children's education? There won't be any issues, right? They'll be able to go to whatever school they want, just like other kids? They'll be free to choose other cities or countries to live in?"

"You mean if we go abroad?"

"Yes. I don't know much about Qatar."

"We can go see it for ourselves. There's no rush, right?"

'No rush...'

Jiangg Ning didn't reply. Instead, she glanced at her sister.

'Chen Yuan and Yaoyao were about to get engaged. There was no such thing as "no rush." Every day they delayed meant one less day for any other possibility.'

'At this critical point, with both sets of parents about to meet and schedule the engagement, it was impossible to cancel the date for further discussion. And Jiangg Ning wasn't willing to force them to do that.'

'But that meant she felt pressured by the engagement date to make a decision, a feeling she hated. It gave her an inexplicable sense of crisis.'

"Logically, we all know... even if it's legal and by the book, a family structure that's different from the norm is inherently unstable. It could easily lead to an unhappy marriage. The three of us could go from being the closest of lovers to enemies, forgetting all the good times we had... If that's the case, it would be better to part ways now, so at least we can keep some good memories." She kept her voice low, trying her best to restrain her emotions.

"I don't want memories. I just want you and Yaoyao," Chen Yuan said firmly, his brow furrowed.

"Even if one day we can't stand being a three-person family and things get really ugly, you still wouldn't regret it?"

"That day will never come."

"You can't know that."

"At least *I* can guarantee it."

"I'm sorry, but I can't," Jiangg Ning said, her lips pursed stubbornly.

This time, it was Chen Yuan's turn to get frustrated. He was just about to ask why Jiangg Ning was still unsatisfied when he had already presented a solution, and it seemed they were a second away from a fight.

Just then.

RING RING RING—

A phone started ringing—sharp and sudden—shattering the tense atmosphere of the family meeting.

Chen Yuan was about to pull out his phone and decline the call without even looking, but he caught the caller ID out of the corner of his eye.

It was a call from Mrs. Chen.

"I'm going to take this call outside. We'll talk when I get back. This isn't over," he said, just as stubbornly.

With that, Chen Yuan walked out the door and into the hallway to answer his phone.

...

"Nothing is ever going to satisfy you, because you don't actually want to marry him with me. Heh."

After Chen Yuan left, Jiangg Yao propped her chin on her hand and spoke with cold sarcasm.

However, faced with such a jibe, Jiangg Ning didn't retort as she usually would. Instead, her expression grew complicated, and she slowly lowered her gaze.