Chapter Text
“Thank you, Maomao!” The plum hair of a certain heiress waves up and down, as the girl continuously bows to her best friend. Said best friend sighs but keeps her eye on the prize.
White truffles.
The rare fungus only grows in certain places and is extremely expensive, way too much for Maomao’s research salary, but not for the rich heiress of Shi Corporation, who happens to be in need of a favor. A favor that calls for such a sumptuous reward. The short woman can only sigh at her own insatiable desire for such plants. The white truffle is not only delicious but it’s good for human health and she wants to know if it has other benefits like many other fungus she works with but-
“I’ll get you those white truffles if you do a good job, okay? Here’s the address and here’s my card, if he doesn’t pay, except he really should since he’s supposed to be stinking rich-“
Maomao stops paying attention to what Loulan is saying once she hears ‘white truffles’ again but she takes the paper and card, assuming herself what they are.
“And please make sure to run him off. I can’t stand these men my dad is trying to set me up with. I just want to study bugs! You’d think some men would be put off by that but they think they can change me! I hate it all so much!” The girl's face twists into anger, “Why can’t I just continue living my life as it is?”
“Because you’re a spoiled princess.” Maomao interjects.
“Hmph! If he wanted a male heir so badly he could’ve just kept having kids! Ew wait let’s stop talking about that I don’t want to think of my father doing that! Okay, his name is Jinshi and he has purple hair and eyes, actually I’ve heard he’s devastatingly attractive, so don’t go falling for him, okay MiaoMiao?!”
Said girl gives her a blank stare, “My only love in life is medicine.”
Loulan giggles, “I know, so don’t let me down if you want those truffles!”
—-
Maomao doesn’t dress up. She doesn’t wear makeup and she only wears what is comfortable and appropriate for her work. However, she knows many things from her older sisters, who worked as escorts throughout her childhood and continue to do so till this day. She knows how to completely transform herself to become unrecognizable, which makes her perfect for the favor Loulan asked of her.
Loulan is a very eccentric girl with a love for insects Maomao can’t understand but she’s a kind hearted and smart woman, or else Maomao wouldn’t consider her her best friend. Even so, she really is only doing this for the truffles, she’d hate to have the attention of anyone, especially a rich guy. Loulan’s father, Shishou, head of one of the most successful companies in the country, has continuously expressed his desire for her to find a good man and pop out a few kids. Loulan obviously hates the idea and chases away any of the matches her father sets her up with.
Maomao understands, as the old lady who made her sister's escorts always tries to persuade her to start too, causing the short woman to ensure she has a good job to stifle the old hag’s pestering. Maomao has always had an affinity for medicine and experimentation, an insatiable curiosity that sometimes blinds her to do outrageous things.
Like this.
Her dark green hair is loose except for the two buns on either side, both being held by glistening gardenia clips, her bangs and two parts of her hair frame her face. Her lips are painted like a strawberry, accompanied by a dusting of rogue on her cheeks and eyelids. She’s not built like any of her sisters, with a heavy chest and tall physique, but the pink dress she’s wearing doesn’t look bad in her opinion. Thin straps hold it up, the dress stopping just short at her mid thigh with an overlap that reminds her of two flower petals. There’s a thin white shawl around her arms. Maomao wouldn’t wear something like this or choose to at all but Loulan forced her into it, along with the strappy pink heels adorning her freshly pedicured feet.
Arriving, she almost passes out in disbelief. ‘There truly is a canyon between the ones above and us down below…’ Maomao thinks as she is taken up an elevator, the glass walls giving her a view of the skyline, glowing white stars decorating the background. Once the doors open to her stop, she’s once again shaken to her core at the extravagant decor and cleanliness of the restaurant.
She arrives a couple minutes before the designated meeting time because as much as she dislikes this entire plan, Maomao follows orders if they’re beneficial to her, and for those truffles, this is detrimental. ‘Hmm, I’m definitely getting something expensive with Loulan’s card.’ Her blue eyes skim through the menu, ‘Ugh, but I want to leave as soon as possible. Wait, maybe this man will be turned off by a wife who eats like a pig.’ The high end beef is calling to her when a figure swiftly passes her and plops down onto the chair across from her.
Maomao blinks and lets her gaze fall on the newcomer. Their purple hair flows down like a waterfall across the expanse of their shoulders, pale skin as shiny and smooth as a pearl, with piercing orchid eyes. A graceful smile is painted on cherry blossom lips as they beam down at her. Maomao doesn’t think she’s ever seen such a beautiful person, not even her sisters or any of their coworkers, but the only thing she thinks is, ‘Why is this woman sitting with me?’
“Are you Loulan?”
The green haired woman is shocked to hear a deep voice coming from the lady, however the honey tone she takes evens it out. Blinking, she nods, “Yes?” ‘How does she know who I am? Well, not me, but that’s even more concerning.’
“I’m Jinshi, your blind date.” He holds out his hand for her to shake but her blue eyes are burning holes into his face. A perfectly smooth face, no single sign of facial hair, long and luscious eyelashes, Maomao gapes.
“You’re a man?”
The man bristles and stares at her, mouth dropping as if he can’t believe what she just said. “Y-Yes! Wh-What…” He groans in indignation, his hands coming up to cover his face, and she is about to apologize before she remembers what she’s here for. Maomao isn’t an actress, okay, but the thought of white truffles gets her going and she knows she has to pull this off.
“Well-“
“Whatever. Let’s get married.” He’s completely different from the nymph-like aura he exuded just a second before, now his lips are set in a line and his eyes are staring directly into hers. ‘Oh he’s upset- wait-‘
Any thought Maomao has instantly fades, her mouth unable to close as she stares the man down. No, no, no, no, no, this is- no, what? No. ‘Calm down. Think rationally. He is an heir to a massive company and hasn’t even bothered to ask me anything other than my name and for my hand in marriage. He’s clearly doing the same thing Loulan wants me to do, to drive me away. However…’ Her eyes look him up and down, ‘That’s a risky play, with the way he looks. What woman, or man at that, could say no?’
“What? No.”
Well, Maomao doesn’t count. Sure he’s attractive but she doesn’t even know him, and she doesn’t care to either. They’re complete strangers and if they have the same exact goals then she doesn’t have to bother with acting like a sex crazed lunatic, which was her original plan. She’s relieved actually, this will make things a million times easier and she can get her white truffle, Loulan and Jinshi don’t have to get married, and everyone will be happy.
However, Maomao believes she celebrated to early when Jinshi’s eyebrows furrow, lips turn downward and he sits up, “What do you mean ‘no?’”
Now Maomao feels her own eyebrows furrow, “I mean no, why would I marry you?” Why is he fighting this? He should just take her answer and leave so they can all be happy!
“Wh…“ The purple haired nymph is genuinely speechless, Maomao notes, but she herself is confused.
“That’s the whole reason for this date, is it not?” Jinshi manages to ask. He’s as still as a statue and staring at nothing but her, truthfully she’s getting a bit uncomfortable under his gaze. But his words make her more confused.
“Yes… but you wouldn’t ask someone to seriously marry you when you first meet them unless you're absolutely screwed in the head.” Maomao continues, “You’re clearly well bred and need to have a good head on your shoulders to run a company so I don’t believe you’re an idiot, unless I’m wrong?”
Jinshi blinks, “I…”
Maomao wonders how she would react if you told her she would be getting proposed to by a guy who doesn’t even know what she looks like standing up. How did she get into this situation? Her eyes light up, right! The truffles!
“Listen, Jinshi, I don’t want to get married and I’d appreciate it if you never contacted me again, okay? Please don’t even acknowledge me if we ever meet in the future, which should never happen because we will never be in contact, right?” She needs to wrap this up quickly, she has work tomorrow.
Her words seem to finally get through to the dumbstruck man as he leans back a little bit and simply says, “No.”
Maomao wants to rip her hair out, she’s so confused. ‘Ok think again.’ She’s been staring at him for the past five minutes going through different expressions and she can say he’s always radiating beauty no matter what face he makes, ‘He is devastatingly gorgeous, and he’s the heir to a big corporation apparently.’ That's all she knows, but it makes sense why he’s so confused now.
“You’ve never been told no, have you?” She’s staring right at him now. A rich heir, perfectly cared for hair, skin, nails, she believes if he opened his mouth she’d see pearly white teeth and a golden spoon down his throat.
“Your looks are beguiling and you have all the money and power in the world, there’s no way anyone can really say no to you, huh?” She feels a sudden flare of irritation at the thought, rich people truly have every advantage in life, but it’s quickly subdued as it is not the time to think about that.
Maomao gives the man a chance to speak but he stays quiet, of course she got it right. Looks and power are all someone needs to bring the world to its knees, this man seems to have been born for that exact purpose, but Maomao swears she’s never seen him before. Not that she is wealthy herself or pays attention to celebrities, but Loulan and Xiaolan keep her pretty filled in a lot of celebrity gossip, who exactly is this guy?
Jinshi clears his throat and finally relaxes in his chair, “So why won’t you marry me?”
Maomao freezes, ‘He’s still on that?’
His eyes pierce into her, “I have money and I have looks, I’m perfect husband material. As my wife you would have to worry about nothing.”
Truthfully, the offer sounds good. Too good to be true, actually. She doesn’t know this man and has never heard about him. What if he’s some serial killer? Or what if he’s a cheater? Maomao doesn’t necessarily feel like he’s the type but that’s the thing, she doesn’t know him, and she’s not one to only go on gut feelings. There are limited facts she knows about this man.
“I don’t know you and you don’t know me. You can’t marry a person you just met.”
“You can if it’s true love.” He retorts.
At that, Maomao can’t hide the look of disgust on her face aimed directly at him, and it gets worse when she swears she can see his eyes light up. ‘Is this guy mentally okay? Did he just imply that he fell in love with me with one look?’
“Love at first sight isn’t real.” She says, trying to find a way to leave the conversation.
“Hm, how can you prove that?” His lips tilt upwards slightly. Maomao absolutely loves experimenting, particularly with medicine, but she begrudgingly admits he’s right. Love is one of the universe's most confounding emotions, and really all emotions themselves are irrational, so that makes love all the more tricky. Familial love, love between friends, love between lovers, it’s all different, and you believe that it’s always a positive thing but then there’s people who are in abusive cycles or use love as an excuse to hurt the other… love can be love but it also can’t, which is confusing to think about in itself, and who is Maomao to say people can’t actually fall in love at first sight when the emotions is clearly so complex.
Jinshi understands that he got her and sips the complimentary water that was served, twirling the ice with a flick of his wrist.
Maomao glares at him, “Okay, you’re right, but you can’t have fallen in love with me enough to marry me, that’s a serious commitment, you don’t know me.” Her voice is absolute, and she almost feels like she’s trying to convince him… ‘What the hell is this man’s problem?’
Jinshi’s gaze doesn’t falter even when he says, “Is that all?”
Sapphire eyes blink, “What?”
“You keep saying ‘you don’t know me, I don’t know you’ and you’re right, so why don’t we continue to go on these dates and get to know each other. It would get our families off our backs about marriage and we’ll see if I’ve actually fallen in love, right?” His honeyed voice echoes in Maomao’s head.
No. No, no, no, no, this isn’t how this is supposed to be going.
“No!” She exclaims, “We aren’t getting married and we’re never meeting again.” The truffles! How did this happen? Why is this man so annoying?
“So I can tell your father I’m interested?” He’s not even listening! Maomao feels a great unease spread through her body, she’s not going to get those truffles… No! She can’t let them go.
She uses the final excuse she can think of, “I’m not into men! I love women!” He can’t want her now, right? They wouldn’t be able to reproduce and that’s what their families want. Yes, this should work.
Jinshi pauses and brings a finger to his chin, “Hm, that would be troubling… but you said yourself that I pass for a woman as well, right? You can just imagine me in that way, if you’d like.”
Maomao doesn’t think she’s ever felt so bewildered. She can’t see a way out of this, she can’t make any connections that seem to make sense, she doesn’t understand this guy. She’s usually so calm and rational, why is he making this so difficult?
“Oh, what I meant was that I love men, a lot! I’m obsessed with them.” At this point she has tuned out any rational thought going through her head, her heart beating is all she can hear. She doesn’t register what she’s said until no response meets her ears. This time, Jinshi’s face is completely blank, his orchid eyes do nothing but stare. ‘Let’s go back to the sex crazed lunatic strategy.’
“In fact,” Maomao lowers her head, eyes piercing into Jinshi as she licks her lips, “Why don’t you and I get a room?” She can see his adam’s apple bob up down and she smirks. The old hag did say she was capable of being an escort once she put in the effort. However, he must be turned off by this, right? No man of his caliber would have sex with such an important date, one who could become his wife at that.
But before Maomao knows it, her pink heels are clicking against the marble white floors of a grand hotel lobby, stopping as the man she has been trying to dissuade walks to the counter. Her perfectly manicured nails tap against her arm, ‘Think, Maomao. Ok, he’s going to get a room but what am I going to do? Is he actually going to expect something? No way. He’s fine with a woman who wants sex- well he did ask me to marry him when I barely said two words. This is all my fault isn’t it- wait. His back is turned. He wouldn’t notice if I left right now!’
Maomao whirls around, dizzy at the speed but her steps are determined. She’s walking back to the doors of the hotel where she’ll begin to run, making sure she’s out of sight before hailing a taxi. Maybe she’ll have to tell Loulan to hold on to the truffles for a moment-
Maomao hisses as a burning pain engulfs her scalp and she turns around to face her aggressor. There stands a tall woman, one hand on her hip and the other clawing into her green strands, “What the hell?”
“You! You were just with my boyfriend weren’t you?!” The woman’s outcry sends confusion coursing through Maomao. ‘Boyfriend? Jinshi?’
“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about, please let go of me.” There’s truly nothing the scientist wants more than for this night to be over, why did this have to happen now? She had to escape that man and now this crazy woman is ruining everything! The woman’s frown deepens, anger swimming in her eyes.
“You liar! I saw-“
“Excuse me,” There’s the sound of a honey voice above Maomao and then the pressure from her scalp is gone, “Is there a problem here?”
The short woman didn’t think she’d ever say it but she’s relieved to see Jinshi. Her nails rub her head, soothing the ache on her scalp. Purple strands cascading down broad shoulders blocks her view of the other woman, and she’s grateful for it. It makes her, strangely enough, feel safe. She moves to the side of the imposing man to peer at the crazy woman, but still stands close enough to hide if the woman tries anything again.
“That whore of a girl was just here two hours ago with my boyfriend!” In her hands is a phone displaying the picture of two people, one that strikingly does look like the scientist from the back. Her hair is done the same way and their outfits are eerily similar. Maomao stares at it in disbelief while Jinshi gives her a quirk of his eyebrow, but she quickly shakes her head.
“Ma’am, you have the wrong person, this type of hairstyle is common and this outfit is in style, I promise you that wasn’t me.” Her voice is calm, she’s explained herself, but the woman is blinded with rage. She goes to hurt Maomao again, who begins to flinch back, but a calloused hand grabs the woman’s before she can continue.
“Shouldn’t you be reigning in your boyfriend? There’s a possibility that she’s not that woman. It takes two to cheat.” Jinshi speaks. Maomao is in awe at the venom laced in his words, and if she’s being truthful the words make her admire him. She doesn’t stay in a daze for long as her date takes her hand, guiding her to the front doors.
The cool night air feels good against her heated skin. ‘What the hell just happened? Me? Cheating? As if… Wait,’ Her ocean eyes catch sight of the celestial nymph a couple of feet in front of her.
“You see? I just love men, I don’t mind having two, three, even four at a time.” She smirks. This plays in her favor. Everything else she’s tried has not gotten through to Jinshi, but this blessing from the universe paints her in a horrible light. Who would want a cheating wife?
Lilac eyes narrow, “You were denying it pretty hard in there.”
“Well of course. You can’t just admit to your playthings girlfriend that you’re cheating. Part of the fun is the risk of being caught.” She feels gross saying it but the truffles are on the line! Maomao herself thinks cheaters are disgusting, so this has to make him lose interest, right?! She’s embarrassed enough as it is. ‘Please, Jinshi, lose interest in me.’
He doesn’t answer, instead bringing his phone up to his ear and saying, “Basen, I’m outside of the lobby, bring the car around.”
“Ah, that definitely turns you off, huh? Well, I’m sorry, but if we get married this is what you’ll have to deal with.” She shrugs, a smirk painting her lips. ‘Ah, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.’
Jinshi hangs up the phone before crossing his arms, “That is to say, if I let you have the chance to.”
Maomao blinks and her voice is quiet when she asks, “What?” He’s towering over her now, a stormy purple overtaking his irises.
“Who’s to say I won’t lock you up in a penthouse and throw away the key? I’m quite a possessive man. As my wife, you’d be devoted to me.”
A shiver of disgust wracks the lithe frame of the scientist as she sends him a hateful glare, “I-“
“Hey! You cheating bitch!” There’s a clicking of heels behind the couple and they turn to see the woman who accused Maomao of cheating running straight at them. Blue eyes widen with panic and she turns to Jinshi.
“Please don’t contact me ever again, goodbye!” She doesn’t care to wait for a response, running as fast as these damned heels can let her. ‘Ugh, I knew I should have worn flats.’
She doesn’t care for anything the man has to say, her only concern is vacating the premises, so much so she doesn’t see the headlights coming her way. Only at the last second she makes eye contact with the driver and the car is able to stop, but Maomao barely has time to stop and apologize, as she hears the woman catching up to her.
Ocean eyes catch sight of a taxi and she quickly calls for it, just barely escaping the crazed woman following her. Maomao gives the driver instructions on where to go, leaning back in the cool leather seat, finally able to breathe properly. Jinshi just saw Loulan get accused of cheating, chased by said accuser, and completely ditch him. Her lack of manners were highlighted perfectly, there’s no way he’ll want to marry her anymore.
Maomao sits back, happily humming as she ponders what to use the truffles for.