Urban Love Story: Partnership Marriage
The connections between people can be incredibly strange. Take Yang Jiaming and Li Huiyuan, for example. One moment they were complete strangers, and the next, they were discussing marriage.
It all started with a post Yang Jiaming made on a local forum— “Who is willing to accept a partnership marriage?” Yang Jiaming’s goal was clear: he was looking for a marriage partner with no intention of involving love. Most netizens thought it was a joke, but Li Huiyuan took it seriously.
Yang Jiaming had a very wealthy father. Years ago, his father divorced his first wife and married a younger woman, soon having a young son. Since then, Yang Jiaming had rarely been in touch with his father. But recently, his father reached out to him again. It turned out that his younger brother had passed away, and the family business needed an heir.
Yang Jiaming was undoubtedly the only choice. No one could resist the allure of an inheritance falling into their lap, so Yang Jiaming decided to return to his father. However, there was a condition: his father required him to be married to claim his inheritance.
Ever since witnessing his mother being abandoned, Yang Jiaming had sworn off marriage. After some contemplation, he came up with the idea: if he had to get married, why not find a girl to form a partnership to complete this task? Of course, his conditions included a prenuptial agreement and a post-marriage financial separation. Besides the marriage certificate, there would be no other ties between them.
On the seventh day after posting, Li Huiyuan reached out to him. She got straight to the point: “We can work together.” Yang Jiaming was initially worried, unable to believe a girl could accept such conditions, but once he met Li Huiyuan, he understood.
Li Huiyuan explained clearly, “Marrying you is just to give the baby in my belly a legitimate name.” She didn’t wait for Yang Jiaming to ask; she detailed her situation: she had been deceived by a married man and only discovered the truth after getting pregnant. She broke up with him but couldn’t bear to abort the child. “As long as you let me have the baby, you can divorce me immediately after. I can even pay you,” she said sincerely, and Yang Jiaming felt relieved. He thought this deal was worthwhile.
Of course, they kept all this from his father. Yang Jiaming fabricated a convincing story: he and Li Huiyuan had been dating for a long time, and now that she was pregnant, they decided to marry. His father met Li Huiyuan once and was very satisfied with his daughter-in-law. Thus, a grand wedding was quickly held.
After the wedding, Yang’s father bought them a 240-square-meter fully furnished house and gave Yang Jiaming 100,000 yuan to hire a nanny to take care of Li Huiyuan. Naturally, Yang Jiaming didn’t give that money to Li Huiyuan.
Since the marriage, they split all expenses evenly, even for a cabbage. Yang Jiaming thought that if Li Huiyuan ever went too far, he could always find an excuse to divorce.
To his surprise, Li Huiyuan never crossed the line. She followed their marriage contract strictly, going out early and returning late even in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy. As she promised, she would bear the delivery costs herself.
Watching Li Huiyuan move slowly, Yang Jiaming sometimes felt a fleeting sympathy, but it was just sympathy. To avoid his father suspecting the marriage was a sham, Yang Jiaming went to the hospital when Li Huiyuan gave birth. “It’s a boy,” the doctor announced with a smile.
Yang Jiaming sat unmoved, thinking, “Whether it’s a boy or a girl, what does it have to do with me?” But he didn’t expect his father to be so thrilled that he rushed to the hospital that evening and put a 100,000-yuan bank card under Li Huiyuan’s pillow. Li Huiyuan handled it gracefully, immediately returning the card to Yang Jiaming after his father left.
Yang Jiaming felt a bit embarrassed, guessing she must have seen how anxious he had been earlier. Feeling awkward, he bent down and said to the baby in the crib, “Baby, I’ll use this money to buy you gifts in the future.”
Suddenly, he heard Li Huiyuan cough loudly. Yang Jiaming looked up, breaking out in a cold sweat—his stepmother was just pushing the door open. After this scare, Yang Jiaming never dared to call himself “uncle” in front of the child again.
The child’s nickname was Pengpeng, given by Yang’s father. After Li Huiyuan was discharged from the hospital, the old man suggested that they move into his villa. Yang Jiaming was once again frightened; if they really moved in, it wouldn’t be long before the truth came out! Fortunately, Li Huiyuan declined Yang’s father’s invitation and returned to Yang Jiaming’s house with Pengpeng.
Yang Jiaming was very satisfied with Li Huiyuan’s behavior, but gradually, he became uneasy again. His father was too affectionate towards Pengpeng, visiting every few days and constantly calling him “good grandson.” He suddenly worried that if the truth ever came out, his father wouldn’t be able to handle it. What scared him even more was his father’s lawyer hinting that the old man might leave part of his inheritance to Pengpeng.
Yang Jiaming made an important decision: divorce. He thought that as long as he got divorced, all the trouble would be resolved. To his astonishment, Li Huiyuan refused to divorce, adamantly so. Not only did she refuse, but she also tearfully took Pengpeng to plead with his father to intercede for her.
Yang Jiaming was stunned. He yelled at Li Huiyuan behind closed doors at home, and she clung to the child and begged him, “I have no job now. If we divorce, Pengpeng won’t even have a place to live. Please, can’t you temporarily shelter us, mother and son?” Even worse, when his father found out he wanted a divorce, he blew up and scolded him, “If you divorce, I’d rather have a grandson than a son!”
Helpless, Yang Jiaming temporarily gave up the idea of divorce. However, Pengpeng staying at home for a long time would definitely cause problems. After thinking it over, Yang Jiaming decided to find Pengpeng’s biological father, hoping that once the man knew Li Huiyuan had given birth to his son, he would want to take his child back.
He carefully recalled what Li Huiyuan had said before, vaguely remembering that Pengpeng’s biological father was a department manager named Tian Zhao at Beijing New Century Company. Yang Jiaming traveled to Beijing and indeed found New Century Company.
However, after asking around the entire company, no one knew anyone named Tian Zhao. When he inquired about Li Huiyuan, the receptionist told him, “Miss Li resigned two years ago.”
The story was false. Remembering Li Huiyuan’s adamant refusal to divorce, Yang Jiaming shuddered: could it be that their encounter was not by chance but premeditated? Yang Jiaming was truly frightened.
Upon returning from Beijing, Yang Jiaming questioned Li Huiyuan about her life before marriage. This time he was more attentive and noticed she answered very nervously. A fraud! Li Huiyuan must be a fraud! He had no other option but to resort to a paternity test. Yang Jiaming thought, once his father saw the test results, he would tell the old man that Li Huiyuan had betrayed him, and by then, no one would help her if she tried to play tricks.
Unexpectedly, before he and the nanny could reach the paternity testing center with the child, Li Huiyuan caught up with them. She must have anticipated the consequences of the test, her face turning pale with fear. Despite her strong opposition, Yang Jiaming was determined that the test must be done!
He didn’t expect that before he could find another opportunity, two days later, while he was at work, Li Huiyuan burst in, disheveled: “Please, Yang Jiaming, I agree to the divorce, as long as you give me back the child.” Yang Jiaming was stunned. Had she gone mad? What did she mean by giving back the child? Wasn’t Pengpeng at home with her? Crying her heart out, Li Huiyuan finally made him understand: Pengpeng was missing.
The nanny said she was playing with the child in the small garden downstairs, and when she turned around for a moment, the child was gone. Li Huiyuan was convinced that Yang Jiaming had taken Pengpeng. After repeatedly begging him in vain, she stumbled to the police station to accuse him of kidnapping her child.
The scam was exposed, and Yang’s father was furious. He ordered Yang Jiaming, “Alright, now I know Pengpeng isn’t a descendant of the Yang family. You quickly return the child to Li Huiyuan and get the divorce finalized.”
Li Huiyuan kept pleading, “I truly know I was wrong, Yang Jiaming. I admit I was lying before, but I never coveted your family’s property. I just wanted to find a father for Pengpeng and give my child a home!” Even with all his explanations, Yang Jiaming couldn’t clear his name. But he really hadn’t kidnapped Pengpeng!
Li Huiyuan finally revealed the whole truth: there was no Tian Zhao. Her lies were only to make Yang Jiaming believe she wouldn’t cause trouble. And Pengpeng was actually conceived through artificial insemination.
Yang Jiaming was shocked: “Why did you do this?” Li Huiyuan said that as an older single woman, she had been under pressure from all sides. Before turning thirty, she still held some hope for love. After thirty, she was completely disillusioned. To avoid being alone in old age, she decided to have a child, hence the artificial insemination. But when she successfully became pregnant, Li Huiyuan realized how cruel it would be for the child to be born fatherless.
At that moment, she saw Yang Jiaming’s marriage ad. To give the child a nominal father, she signed a contract marriage with Yang Jiaming.
After the child was born, Li Huiyuan was embarrassed to find that even though there was no love between her and Yang Jiaming, she deeply craved the warmth of a home. Because of this, she began to have regrets. But she never expected the child would go missing. Clinging to Yang Jiaming’s leg, she cried, “I was too greedy. I know I was wrong. Please return the child to me, and I’ll divorce you immediately.”
Despite Yang Jiaming’s repeated denials, no one believed him. If it weren’t for a photo from the “Weibo Snap to Save Abducted Children” campaign that Yang Jiaming saw, he wouldn’t have been able to clear his name. Seeing the photo, he immediately informed Li Huiyuan, and Pengpeng was quickly rescued. Li Huiyuan cried loudly while holding the child, and Yang Jiaming felt a pang of sadness.
As he was about to quietly leave, a childish voice called out behind him, “Mom, I want daddy to hold me.” Yang Jiaming turned around to see Pengpeng, covered in dirt, waving his little hand at him with a smile.
At that moment, an inexplicable feeling surged in Yang Jiaming’s heart. Over the past few days, he had been busy explaining and searching, never realizing how much he actually cared for Pengpeng. Otherwise, why would his tears fall uncontrollably now as he held the child?
That night, while packing her things, Li Huiyuan apologized to Yang Jiaming. After this ordeal, she realized that the most important thing in the world was to be with her son. So, she agreed to the divorce.
Yang Jiaming stared blankly as Li Huiyuan packed. Pengpeng’s little hands clung tightly around his neck. When the child fell asleep, Yang Jiaming felt a deep sense of fulfillment. But when Li Huiyuan took the child, his heart suddenly felt empty.
Over the years, he had refused to enter the “marriage fortress” because of his parents’ tragic marriage. But now, watching his once warm home become suddenly empty, he found it unbearable. At that moment, he realized that despite his avowed belief in staying single, he longed for the warmth of a home, just like Li Huiyuan, and feared loneliness.
As Li Huiyuan was about to leave, Yang Jiaming hesitated as he watched her carry Pengpeng out the door. Her small and frail figure made the large house seem even emptier. He suddenly felt like an abandoned child. Especially Pengpeng’s tearful eyes, which reminded him of his younger self. Silently, he followed the mother and son downstairs.
Just as Li Huiyuan was about to get into a taxi, he finally grabbed her: “Don’t go.” Surprised, she turned around. Yang Jiaming, blushing, took the child from her arms and said deliberately, “I can’t bear to part with Pengpeng. If you really want to leave, then go alone.” Laughing and crying, Li Huiyuan followed him back.
That night, after Pengpeng fell asleep, they hugged each other like a couple who had been through thick and thin. With tears in her eyes, Li Huiyuan asked, “Doesn’t your father know everything now? Won’t he be angry with you?”
A moment of panic flashed in Yang Jiaming’s eyes, but he quickly steadied himself. His father indeed knew that Pengpeng wasn’t his biological grandson, but as long as he treated Pengpeng as his own, wouldn’t his father still love Pengpeng as before? Regardless, his father’s original intention was surely to see him happy. After going through so much, Yang Jiaming realized that his happiness couldn’t be achieved without Li Huiyuan and Pengpeng.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
