Chapter 1

This was my eighth blind date of the year.

Mom said she’d break my legs if I came home alone for the New Year again.

Hilarious. Did she think a thirty-five-year-old, highly paid tech-industry drudge like me would be scared of that?

Then my director avoided my eyes and said we’d have a talk after the holidays.

Let’s revisit the question: would a thirty-five-year-old tech-industry drudge about to be “optimized” out of his job be scared of that?

Yes. Yes, he would.

If I really got laid off after the New Year, home would be my last refuge. I couldn’t defy my parents.

So I sat in a café, discussing our circumstances with an impeccably made-up woman from my hometown.

We’d both been forced into blind dates. The plan was to meet a few times and get our marriage-obsessed relatives off our backs over the holidays.

We’d just agreed to visit my family on New Year’s Day and hers the next day when a beautiful silver-haired youth suddenly sat beside me.

Both of us stared at him in shock.

She was stunned by his beauty.

I wanted to ask whether he’d sat at the wrong table.

But a second later, he gently linked his arm through mine and pouted. “Honey, why are you going on blind dates behind my back? Don’t you like me anymore?”

Me: ???????

Dude. Do we know each other?

Before I could open my mouth, the woman opposite flung a cup of coffee in my face and shouted, “Gay men who trick women into marrying them can go to hell!”

“…”

Fuck! Since when was I a gay man trying to trick a woman into marriage? I didn’t even know this guy!

She wouldn’t listen to a word of explanation. She shoved her chair aside and left, stomping so hard her heels nearly went through the floor.

I wiped the coffee off my face and turned to the silver-haired youth, who had resumed his icy aloofness. “Who are you?”

He watched my misfortune with delight, then bared his teeth in a sudden sneer. “The Fox King. Here for revenge.”

I distinctly saw several sharp canine teeth in his mouth. His pupils turned gold in an instant.

Just before I fainted from terror, a hazy thought passed through my mind: Those features look familiar…

When I woke, I was still in the café. The spot above my upper lip hurt like hell. Who’d pinched it so hard?

A crowd surrounded me. The table was covered in desserts and drinks, nearly all of them finished.

“He’s awake! He’s all right!” The onlookers sighed in relief.

Cream still clinging to his mouth, the silver-haired youth put down his strawberry cake. He theatrically squeezed out two tears and flung himself onto me. “Boo-hoo! Honey, you’re finally awake! You scared your poor baby to death!”

Pain shot through my chest. His weight nearly stopped me breathing. “Get… off… me…”

He immediately sat up and waited obediently beside me, looking anxious.

I heard someone whisper, “Poor handsome boy. That scumbag deceived him, and he’s still devoted to him…”

“Exactly! Going on dates with women without even breaking up with him. Shameless!”

God, I’d have been better off staying unconscious!

What had I done to become a scumbag? I’d never even had a partner!

The youth widened his eyes and defended me. “Don’t talk about my husband that way! He’s wonderful to me!”

What a waste of acting talent. He should have gone into show business.

The crowd was infuriated by his refusal to stand up for himself, but they finally withdrew.

I got up to leave. A quick-thinking waiter blocked my path with a smile. “Sir, you haven’t paid your bill.”

“How much?” I asked weakly.

“Nine hundred and thirty-two yuan.”

The hand holding out my payment code trembled. “How much did you say?”

He indicated the tableful of desserts and drinks. “Your boyfriend ordered a few more things.”

Standing beside me and tugging my sleeve, the youth looked helpless. “Sorry, honey. Did I eat too much?”

But I distinctly saw the satisfaction of a successful prank in his eyes.

“…”

I was going to cough up blood. Even working overtime until five in the morning last month hadn’t made me want to cough up blood this badly!

Nine hundred and thirty-two yuan! I’d only had one fucking thirty-two-yuan coffee! If it weren’t for this date, I’d have ordered a seven-yuan Snow King ice-cream drink!

I was so mad I could squeak!