T/N: Someone volunteered to be the editor of ARIWATM~ Please give a warm welcome to Emeralz. Editing will be slow going, but I hope this will make reading more enjoyable.
After successfully passing the security check, Fang Jiawen and Lin Zimao boarded the civilian starship bound for planet Feige, Ning City.
Half an hour later, the starship took off on time. The voyage will take one week.
The starship passed through the atmosphere and lifted off quickly. After a short time, the starship entered a fixed course with a rumbling sound.
They booked a first-class rest cabin with a separate double bedroom. After pressing the button on the display screen, the bed and desk slide out automatically, making the spacious room narrower. There is a simple bathroom next door.
Lin Zimao is lying on the edge of the window, curiously looking into the darkness of space.
Five minutes later, a beautiful stewardess comes over in person and asks what they want for lunch.
The stewardess hands out a menu, and Lin Zimao glances over it without much concern before saying: “I’ll order whichever is the most expensive. I’d like some red wine, a steak, Cola, Sprite, and some orange juice.”
The stewardess says yes. She is not surprised1見怪不怪 (jiàn guài bù guài): to keep one’s calm in the face of the unexpected; not to wonder at strange sights; not be surprised by anything unusual; become inured to the unusual; be used to uncommon goings-on., there will always be people like this on planet Alpha.
Fang Jiawen felt that Lin Zimao looked like someone who never saw the world and he wanted to cover his face in embarrassment. However, when he considers that Lin Zimao has never left planet Alpha since he was a child, it’s no wonder he is like this.
Lin Zimao didn’t seem to sense Fang Jiawen’s embarrassment, as he stared out of the window, his eyes showing reluctance for the place where he grew up. He casually asks Fang Jiawen: “Assistant Fang, I heard there is still a space jump. Will it be uncomfortable?”
Fang Jiawen says: “Don’t worry, civilian starships now have shockproof functions. As long as you don’t get flying car sickness, there won’t be an issue. It will be over in a while.”
Remembering something, Fang Jiawen turns on his communicator and sends a holographic dynamic photo to Lin Zimao.
After receiving the photo that Fang Jiawen sent to him while they were still face-to-face, Lin Zimao feels a bit strange.
This dynamic photo belongs to a person, too beautiful to be real. The photo was taken in secret. The person was reading a book in the library, with his left fingertips resting on his forehead and his right hand turning a page of the book. He seemed to notice that someone was taking pictures of him, so he closed the book and got up, with indifference written on his brows and eyes. The eyes that looked around did not have any warmth. What caught Lin Zimao’s eyes the most was his beautiful face, carefully carved by God—he was too handsome.
“Who is this?” Lin Zimao looks up at Fang Jiawen, feeling a little puzzled. Fang Jiawen sent him a photo of his father’s current family of five before, but they did not bear any resemblance to the man in front of him.
Fang Jiawen is one of the assistants of Lin Zimao’s father, Lin Bei. As an assistant who is usually responsible for picking up and dropping off children, he is more or less aware of the family affairs of the Lin family. About this photo, when he came to pick up Lin Zimao, the boss made a key point before he set off.
He said according to the boss: “He is your fiancé. After returning to Ning City, you will marry him.”
Lin Zimao sat on the edge of the bed, crossed his legs, and blinked in confusion: “My fiancé?”
Fang Jiawen patiently repeated it again: “Yes, your fiancé, after returning to Ning City, you will marry Young Master Jiang Xuan.”
Lin Zimao was silent for a moment: “Real marriage or fake marriage?”
“Naturally, a real marriage. The two of you will be legally married.” Fang Jiawen noticed Lin Zimao’s silence and wondered if the sudden arrival of his fiancé startled this young boy who had just grown up. He must be very confused now.
Lin Zimao, who came back to his senses, tilted his head, with an unknown smile in his eyes: “Real marriage. Why did I suddenly have a fiancé?”
Fang Jiawen didn’t tell Lin Zimao that it was actually a business marriage2聯姻 (lián yīn): (of two families) form a matrimonial alliance; form an alliance by marriage; be united by marriage; form partnership; cooperate (harmoniously); to connect by marriage (families, work units).. His job is only to tell Lin Zimao that he will get married soon, so that he is psychologically prepared.
Lin Zimao opened the holographic dynamic photo again and touched the person in the photo with his fingertips. He turned the person to face him. This person is indeed very eye-catching, and it wouldn’t be a loss to marry him.
After that, Lin Zimao didn’t talk to Fang Jiawen about his fiancé. He wanted to ask, but each day they went through a space jump. As a result, Fang Jiawen was dizzy and vomiting. He lay pale on the bed every day, inhaling the dizzying air to ease his mind. He didn’t have the energy to tell Lin Zimao more about his fiancé. Besides, he knows very little about it.
On the other hand, Lin Zimao is very energetic every day. He walks around the starship, only returning to his room when he sleeps, so as not to disturb his father’s right-hand man’s rest. However, every time Fang Jiawen woke up, he would find that Lin Zimao looked at him with some pity.
As if to say, ship sickness, what a pity.
After getting off the starship, Fang Jiawen finally came back to life and Lin Zimao’s curiosity about new things resurfaced.
They got into the flying car parked by Fang Jiawen at the starship parking field. A flying car that was smaller, faster, and more exaggerated than theirs, flew past his eyes.
Below them are towering buildings. The holographic screens on the top of the buildings display huge LOGOs and advertisements of major companies. There are energy-saving buses and rail transits on the ground, a green avenue, and pedestrians that can’t be seen clearly.
However, now is not the time to study which flying car model is smoother and cooler. Fang Jiawen turned on autopilot, freeing his hands, as he introduced the situation of the Lin family to Lin Zimao.
Lin Zimao has a big brother above him. He’s the child of Lin Bei and his first wife, but after ten years of marriage, they divorced due to emotional discord, and the child stayed in the Lin family.
Lin Zimao is the child of Lin Bei and his second wife, Xu Qiujie, but the couple divorced after less than three years of marriage. Afterwards, Xu Qiujie took Lin Zimao back to her hometown, planet Alpha, a relatively low-level planet.
After Lin Bei divorced Xu Qiujie, he soon had a third wife. The relationship has been maintained until now, and they had two children. Including Lin Zimao, Lin Bei has four children in total.
It stands to reason that Lin Zimao, who has never lived in Ning City, shouldn’t be responsible for the marriage. However, this is because of Lin Bei’s eldest son, Lin Zifeng. Lin Zimao’s elder brother’s mother is from the Lu family, and Lin Zifeng has a very good relationship with them.
To avoid offending the Lu family, it was impossible for Lin Bei to choose Lin Zifeng as a candidate. As for the other two, they are under the legal age. The only candidate is Lin Zimao, who has been living in the countryside and whose mother passed away two years ago.
As for why the Jiang family accepted it, Lin Zimao didn’t quite understand either, but he has to live in Ning City now. He has no other choice and has no chance to refuse. Lin Bei has arranged his destination before taking him back to Ning City.
However, Fang Jiawen didn’t mention this. After spending a few days with Lin Zimao, he also thinks it’s good that Lin Zimao doesn’t know about the business marriage.
Fang Jiawen was lost in thought. He didn’t notice that Lin Zimao, who was looking out of the window, made an imperceptible sneer.
The flying car parked smoothly in the parking lot of the Lin family.
The robot butler unloaded two large suitcases from the flying car. Fang Jiawen didn’t understand how Lin Zimao could pack so many heavy and numerous items from only four bare walls for a home3家徒四壁 (jiā tú sì bì): lit. with only four bare walls for a home (idiom); fig. very poor; wretched; have nothing in one’s house but the bare walls―be utterly destitute. either. At the back, there is another cage. Inside is a weak and dispirited silver-grey round-faced cat. It looked even dizzier than the ship-sick Feng Jiawen. Seeing the familiar owner, it let out a weak-sounding meow twice.
The Lin family had already learned the date and time of Lin Zimao’s arrival from Fang Jiawen. It happened to be around six o’clock in the evening when Lin Zimao arrived at the Lin family’s residence.
Lin Bei has come back from work and is waiting at home. His current wife, Bai Meiying, is in the kitchen arranging dinner for Lin Zimao’s return. Her two children had already come home. Her son is playing holographic games in the room, and her daughter is acting coquettishly beside Lin Bei.
After Fang Jiawen and Lin Zimao changed their shoes and entered the house, Fang Jiawen said: “Mr. Lin, the Second Young Master is here.”
Lin Bei, who was listening to his daughter tell him interesting things about school, raised his head and looked at Lin Zimao who was carrying the cat cage. Seeing the sleepy pet cat, he was a little displeased, but this was the first time the father and son met after more than ten years, so he immediately suppressed this dislike.
The housekeeper knew that Lin Bei didn’t like pets, so he immediately stepped forward to take the cage for Lin Zimao. Lin Zimao said lightly: “I’ll have to trouble you.”
Lin Bei asked Lin Zimao: “Zimao, did you have a good trip?”
Lin Zimao said without much enthusiasm: “Not bad, it’s just that there is no scenery.”
Lin Bei said: “Space also has space scenery, if you have a chance in the future, you can go to appreciate it.” He turned to Lin Ziyi and told her, “Go upstairs and ask Zihua to come down.”
Lin Ziyi said yes obediently, then smiled at Lin Zimao. It’s unknown how much of the smile was real.
Then Lin Bei’s current wife, Bai Meiying, came out of the kitchen. She is a typical gentle beauty, well-maintained, unlike a mother of two children and she didn’t speak too loudly. Lin Bei took the initiative to introduce her to Lin Zimao: “Just call her Auntie.”
She glanced at Lin Zimao up and down, and said softly: “Zimao, was it hard on the road? Was it okay when you passed the jump point?”
Lin Zimao repeated that it was okay.
Lin Zihua, who came down from upstairs, has just entered the first year of high school. He’s in his rebellious period, so there is unconcealable disapproval in his eyes. He only felt that Lin Zimao, who was wearing a white shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of worn-out sneakers, was too rustic to fit in with their upper-class family. He really doesn’t want to admit that this person is actually his second brother.
Lin Bei proudly introduced him to Lin Zimao: “This is your fourth brother. He just won the first prize in the city’s math competition, isn’t he amazing?”
Lin Zimao pulled out a light smile. Without any extra emotion, he responded: “Amazing.”
Lin Zihua lifted his chin and proudly called him second brother.
Lin Bei patted Lin Zihua’s shoulder, but the other party ignored Lin Bei and turned his head to the kitchen. Lin Bei said very lovingly that the child was in his rebellious period, and then said to Lin Zimao: “Your elder brother needs some time to come back from school, he’s a graduate student this year.”
As soon as the words fell, a slender young man walked in. He handed a gift box to the housekeeper and gave some instructions. It was a chestnut cake, their after-dinner dessert tonight.
He looked at Lin Zimao, whose complexion was too pale: “Arrived?”
Lin Bei said: “He just arrived. Zimao, I still remember when you left that year, your elder brother was still crying. He was so angry that he didn’t eat for two days.”
Lin Zimao quietly looked at this elder brother who was a head taller than Lin Bei. He was quite intimidating.
Lin Zifeng glanced at Lin Bei, and said directly to Lin Zimao: “I’ll take you to your room after dinner.”
Lin Zimao nodded: “Okay.” He has no memory of everyone here. He left Ning City when he was just over one year old.
This dinner was quite cordial; it was a welcome dinner.
After dinner, Lin Zifeng took him to his new room as promised. The overall layout is very similar to the Mediterranean style of the house. The room is spacious and bright; neat and clean. The floor is covered with expensive beige carpets and the two large, badly worn suitcases he brought with him stand in the middle like clowns who have strayed into an elegant music hall.
Lin Zifeng said to him: “If there’s something you don’t like, tell the housekeeper.”
Lin Zimao nodded: “Um, thank you Brother.”
The housekeeper brought the round-faced cat to Lin Zimao, and the other party was kind enough to give the cat a fragrant bath. When Lin Zimao received Jiaoyan, it smelled like shampoo, but now it’s more wilted than a frosted eggplant.
Jiaoyan doesn’t like to take baths.
Lin Zimao’s face darkened: “Why did you give it a bath? It just arrived in an unfamiliar environment and will get sick.”
The housekeeper said: “Second Young Master, the Lin family has never had pets before. Your kitten is too dirty; I don’t know how many germs are on it. I also washed it for you and your family’s health, and gave it a dose of insect repellent.”
Lin Zimao looked straight at him and said: “But you have to at least consult to me first.”
Lin Zifeng saw the cat and took a step back. He was a little afraid of small animals: “Uncle Luo has good intentions.”
Lin Zimao raised his eyes and remained silent. He gently scratched Jiaoyan’s chin to ease its tension.
Housekeeper Luo realized that the second young master who had just arrived was a bit tough, so he apologized first: “I’m sorry, Second Young Master, I was also unintentional, next time I definitely won’t make my own decisions4自作主張 (zì zuò zhǔ zhāng): to think for oneself and act accordingly (idiom); to act on one’s own initiative; to make decisions without consulting others beforehand..”
Just as Lin Zifeng and Housekeeper Luo thought that Lin Zimao would say ‘Forget it’, he said: “I consider Jiaoyan as my family. It’s very important to me that this is not to be repeated5下不為例 (xià bù wéi lì): not to be repeated; not to be taken as a precedent; just this once..” After Lin Zimao finished speaking, he went back to his room to rest with Jiaoyan in his arms.
Lin Ziyi, who was standing in the stairwell at some point, saw everything just now, smiled at Lin Zifeng. It’s unknown whether she doesn’t understand, or is pretending not to understand. She asked him: “Brother, the second brother came back from planet Alpha, I heard that the quality of the people there is very low.”
Lin Zifeng acted as if he didn’t hear it. He walked around her and went back to the room without saying a word.
In the planetary Alliance, planets are divided into five grades. The fifth-class planets at the end are also called garbage planets. Due to a lack of resources, planet Alpha belongs to the fifth-class planet.
It was tiring to stay on the starship for a week and deal with a hypocritical family. Lin Zimao was a little sleepy after taking a shower, but he still managed to reply to a few messages with his communicator.
No matter what the Lin family thinks of him, this night he smelled the shampoo on Jiaoyan’s body and slept soundly.
The next morning, he was woken up by Jiaoyan’s wet nose rubbing his nose.
When he opened his eyes, he was still a bit uncomfortable with the morning sun of the first-class planet. It was too dazzling.
Housekeeper Luo was holding some new clothes in his hand. He put away yesterday’s negligent mood and today, introduced tailor-made clothes to Lin Zimao one by one. After he explained that they had been washed and could be worn directly, he put them all in his room.
He got up late and everyone else was gone.
Lin Bei didn’t go to the company today, so after Lin Zimao had breakfast, Lin Bei called him to the study.
When Lin Bei faced Lin Zimao today, he lacked the gentleness of yesterday and his tone was more commanding: “Tonight I’ll take you to have a meal with Uncle Jiang and the others. Assistant Fang should have mentioned Jiang Xuan to you.”
Lin Zimao said: “Mentioned.”
Lin Bei said: “Your Uncle Jiang hopes that you will get your certificates in the near future.” He deliberately omitted the part about it being a business marriage.
Lin Zimao was playing with a Pixiu ornament6貔貅擺件兒 (pí xiū bǎi jiàn ér): Pixiu is a mythical animal that brings luck and wards off evil, having head of a dragon and lion’s body, often with hoofs, wings and tail; fig. valiant soldier.
on Lin Bei’s desk, tossing it around: “Why so urgent?”
Lin Bei was worried that he would drop his antiques, so he grabbed the Pixiu and put it in the drawer.
He said in his heart that it wasn’t that they were in a hurry, but that he was in a hurry, but then pushed the matter to the other side: “Your Uncle Jiang is a bit superstitious, Jiang Xuan was not in good health when he was young. He is hoping that by marrying you to him, it will have the effect of a warding-off wedding7衝喜 (chōng xǐ): (dated) to arrange a “warding-off” wedding (arranged for a dangerously ill young man in the hope that the wedding would ward off imminent death); a kind of folk belief behavior in Asian countries, let marriage chase the bad luck and diseases away, and be reborn..”
Lin Zimao got goosebumps from the ancient and superstitious saying ‘warding-off wedding’. At the same time feeling a little amused by Lin Bei’s poor excuse, he nodded carelessly8漫不經心 (màn bù jīng xīn): be careless (about); be casual; be negligent; indifferent; absent-minded.: “Okay, I know.”
Lin Bei was surprised, he thought Lin Zimao would argue with him, but he didn’t expect Lin Zimao to be so obedient. Instead, the step of persuasion was saved and the tough threats prepared early in the morning were all blocked in his throat.
Just when he thought the matter was easy to settle, Lin Zimao suddenly asked Lin Bei before leaving the study: “Dad, can you give me some money? I want to buy my fiancé a decent meet-and-greet gift9見面禮 (jiàn miàn lǐ): gift given to sb when meeting them for the first time..”
Lin Bei: “…It should be.” The kid didn’t seem to call him dad yesterday?
Hi~ This is my second translation project, please notify me if there’s inconsistency, thank you!
The title of this chapter is an idiom, 囊中羞澀 (náng zhōng xiū sè): be short of money; ill afford; to be embarrassingly short of money; to have financial difficulties.
Actually, all the chapter title of this novel is a four-character words, just like most Chinese idiom, but most isn’t Chinese idiom.
A few words from our new editor~
Hi I’m Emeralz. This is my first time as an editor and I’m excited to start working on ARIWATM! I hope you guys enjoy reading the story!
Ko-fi Link for Emeralz:
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