Chapter 1: I Accidentally Got a Husband

“Hey, did you check the global hacker rankings?”
“Nope, what’s up? You’re acting like someone just stole your lunch.”
“Oh my god—outside’s going wild! The guy who’s been #1 for eight years, Morning Sun, got knocked off the top spot!”
“What?! No way. Who the hell took him down?”
“No idea. Some new hacker—name’s… Nightfall!”

…

At that moment, Tang Yan was sprawled on a cloud-like bed, lost in a sweet dream. Then—*ring ring ring*—her phone screamed into her ear.

“Mmm?” She answered with a hoarse voice, eyes still shut, irritation dripping from every syllable.
“You still sleeping?! Big crisis! Your iron stool’s been stolen! Holy crap, get up already!” The voice on the other end was shrill—thankfully, Tang Yan instinctively pulled the phone away from her ear.

She groaned, dragging her pale, slender fingers to massage her temples. “What’s the big deal? Seriously?”

A strained breath crackled through the line—like someone holding back a tantrum. Then, low and sharp:
“Morning Sun… you’re no longer #1. You’re second.”

Silence. Absolute silence.

Tang Yan blinked slowly, wondering if her ears had betrayed her. Then, barely audible: “Huh?”

“Listen to me—you’re *second*. Got it?” The voice dropped even lower, thick with the kind of fury that wanted to punch someone through a wall.

“Second?! Impossible.” She muttered it, but her fingers were already flying across the keyboard as she yanked open her laptop.

The screen lit up. A sleek black global ranking list stared back at her.

【#1: Nightfall | #2: Morning Sun】

*Thud.*

Her hand went limp. The phone slipped from her fingers and landed on the desk with a crisp, echoing *clack*.

“Hello? Morning Sun?” The voice called again.

But Tang Yan wasn’t listening. She was staring at the screen, double-checking, triple-checking—was this rigged? Was it fake? Did someone hack the system?

Thirty minutes passed. She gave up. The rankings were real. Too real. More real than she was.

“Morning Sun,” the voice said again, softer now. “This ranking hit us hard. And earlier, someone already dropped enough evidence pointing to you being… a single woman.”

A beat.

“The organization’s concerned about your safety. For both personal and operational security, you’re ordered—within the next three months before your 25th birthday—to get married.”

Tang Yan’s eyes shot wide open. “Wait—what?! No way. I’m happy being single!”

“Orders are orders,” the voice snapped, cold and unyielding. “You think you can defy them?”

The call ended. Tang Yan clenched her teeth, ready to hurl the phone across the room—but then remembered how expensive it was. So she just glared at it instead.

Now, only three months away from her birthday, she sat on the edge of her bed, tugging at her hair like a trapped animal, face twisted in despair. “How am I supposed to find a man *now*?”

【The Li Family Mansion】

“Grandpa, you called?” Li Chuzhe stood tall in a tailored black suit, his sharp features carved like stone, fingers long and precise—radiating the icy elegance of a man who’d rather be anywhere else.

The old patriarch leaned on his cane, spine straight as a spear, eyes sharp and calculating as he fixed Li Chuzhe in place. “Sit.”

His voice was weathered, ancient—but full of power.

Li Chuzhe respected his grandfather deeply. If the request made sense, he obeyed without question.

“Chuzhe,” the old man began, “have you heard anything lately? Any rumors? Met anyone unusual?”

Li Chuzhe frowned. “What do you mean, Grandpa?”

Then the old man’s expression darkened—remembering whispers from neighbors, gossip about his grandson: *Never touches women. Is he even capable? Or is there something… wrong?* His jaw tightened.

“Chuzhe,” he growled, “when are you bringing a girlfriend home?”

Li Chuzhe sighed. He’d been getting these hints for weeks. But his mind was buried in work. Romance? Not even on the radar.

“Grandpa, I’m not ready to date right now.”

That set the old man off. Images of scandalous rumors flooded his mind. “Nonsense! Do you know what people are saying about you?!”

He slammed his cane into the floor. “In the next three months—if you don’t have a wife, I’ll break your legs myself!”

The threat hung in the air. Li Chuzhe didn’t understand why his grandfather was so worked up—but he cared too much about the old man’s health to argue.

“Alright, Grandpa. I hear you.”

【Two people with the same problem often meet on the same night.】

Tang Yan couldn’t sleep after being woken by the phone call. She threw on a jacket, slipped into slippers, and stepped outside into the cool night.

She’d planned to hit a bar and pick up some random guy—just to fulfill the “marry someone” order. But as she crossed the street, she spotted a man leaning against her Rolls-Royce, cigarette dangling from his lips. Under the cool blue streetlight, his profile looked like it had been sculpted by gods.

“Hey… looks like I just found my cheap husband. Freebie, even. Watch me charm this one.”

She switched into her most delicate, shy persona—long legs stepping forward with practiced grace.

But the man didn’t look at her. Just lifted his chin slightly, exhaled a slow stream of smoke.

The summer air was thick, humid. The smoke curled in the breeze like a whisper from an old song.

Tang Yan froze.

When he finished the cigarette, he turned to get into his car.

“Wait!”

In one motion, she grabbed his chest—*hard*.

His brows snapped together. A cold, icy glare sliced through her. “Let go.”

Low. Smooth. Unforgiving.

Tang Yan flinched—*this guy was terrifying*. She let go instantly. “Sorry! I—I just needed directions!”

(Not even a pause. Lying like it was nothing. Clearly, she’d come here to flirt.)

Li Chuzhe glanced down. The girl was shorter than him by a head—thick, dark lashes, a hint of mischief in her curled ends.

“Ask,” he said.

Tang Yan immediately tilted her head up, eyes shimmering with fake gratitude. “My house is in Lijia Community. But I just moved in—I don’t know the way.”

“Got a phone?”

“Huh?” She blinked.

“Phone. Do you have one?” He repeated, voice smooth as velvet—exactly the kind of tone that made her knees weak.

“No.” She nodded anyway.

Li Chuzhe studied her for a second—then caught sight of her slippers. Without another word, he turned and walked toward the car.

“Get in,” he said. “I’ll take you back.”

“Okay!” She grinned, her smile bright under the moonlight—warm, reckless, alive.