After the pair had eaten their meal, Zhao Yingyue had finally managed to gather her hectic thoughts so that she could confidently answer.

Back when their food had arrived, she'd been pleasantly surprised. Everything he had ordered her had been her favorite dishes from the restaurant. On top of that, he didn't limit what he ordered, he made sure to get her more food than she could possibly eat.

Typically, her parents and Gu Yan underfed her so as to avoid having her put on any weight. It had been the first time she'd actually eaten until she was full in a very long time. She'd almost forgotten how great it felt and even took a moment to let the feeling sink in.

It was also the first time she was on a blind date and the other party didn't try to get her to indulge in a little alcohol. She felt great knowing that he wouldn't try to coerce her or manipulate a situation with it. He had only asked if she preferred it and left it alone after she said that she preferred not to drink. His only response was that it was good since she could make a better decision with a clear mind.

That little bit of considerateness had, in her mind, actually given the man brownie points. It played to the fact that he had said he'd take care of her. So far, he'd already made sure that she was taken care of and even checked up to make sure everything was okay multiple times throughout the dinner.

'How sweet,' she'd thought.

Realistically, this deal would benefit her greatly. She would be able to live a life free from the control of another person and take the first step toward her dream. Some could call marriage a cage, but their marriage would be the key to the one that she'd lived her whole life in. She would no longer have to hide who she really was or what she loved to do. She could show the world who the true Zhao Yingyue was.

Still, she wouldn't let herself be taken advantage of in any way at any point in this deal, no matter how far her imagination had already taken her down that path.

"Liu Haoyu, I'll accept your proposal, but only with a few conditions. And these conditions are nonnegotiable."

Liu Haoyu smiled.

"I'm listening."

Zhao Yingyue said, "First, there will be no intimate touching without my explicit consent. I don't believe that there should be anything like that when we have no true feelings for each other. One day down the line, that could change. But for now, we've only just met."

Liu Haoyu nodded along and replied, "Fair enough."

Zhao Yingyue didn't hesitate as she stated her next term, "Second, we shouldn't go public with our relationship just yet. I think it wouldn't look good if I was announced as a new player for Q5 while also being announced as your wife. People will think bad things about me, you, and our ethics. I'll also probably be the one to get the worst of it because of the differences in who we are."

Lie Haoyu nodded.

She didn't wait for a verbal reply as she said, "Third, should you break any of the above rules or fail to be a proper husband in all other respects, I want to be able to get a divorce. The consequences of that won't compare to me being humiliated otherwise. I won't stand for being mistreated, so you had better keep the promises that you preached earlier."

Liu Haoyu didn't hesitate before saying, "I accept your conditions. All of them. I would like to say, however, that while our marriage will start off in name only, I reserve all rights to properly chase you down and win your heart as time moves on. I don't intend to have a loveless marriage for my entire life and hope that won't be our sad fate."

Zhao Yingyue smiled and replied, "Neither do I, so go ahead and chase all you want. Just know that I am not so easy to please as I may seem."

Liu Haoyu smiled.

"So it looks like we have a deal then."

In return, Zhao Yingyue smiled and nodded.

Liu Haoyu looked at the woman in front of him, happy with the turnout of tonight's blind date. Now, he had a load taken off of him, knowing he wouldn't have to worry about Q5 disbanding or having to deal with a mediocre sharpshooter. And he genuinely could see a future with the woman from what he'd already seen.

"Now, let's talk about timelines."

"Next season is about three and a half months away from its start. Right now, Q5 is on its break for the next half a month, then we dive into three full months of our usual training routine. Only this time, the training will be harder, knowing that we have to adjust to a new sharpshooter and that there will be new pressures that come with knowledge of the International League. We must be prepared for anything this season."

"Therefore, we need to have sorted out our marriage and all other formalities before then. That gives us about two weeks for that. After that, we will both need to move into the dorms that are based in Shenzhen."

Zhao Yingyue calmly nodded her head.

"Alright, I understand."

Liu Haoyu was satisfied with this. It seemed things would be easy on the communication spectrum at least. He didn't have to explain the urgency of their situation to her.

"Tomorrow, I'll come over to meet your parents and officially ask for their blessing. The day after, I'll pick you up to meet my parents. Two days later, we'll bring our two families together over a nice dinner. We'll plan our engagement party within the next week after that and only extend it to close family and family friends. The day after the party, we'll head over to the Civil Affair Bureau and officially get married. Are you alright with that?"

Zhao Yingyue nodded her head.

"It makes sense to me. I'm still kind of shocked that I'll be officially married in less than two weeks after having dodged it for so long."

It was almost laughable now that she had come up with so many schemes to avoid it in spite of her parents. Now, she was diving straight into it and skipping most of the waiting period.

Liu Haoyu replied, "You'll be married, yes. But you'll also soon be able to be your own person, which seems to be what you crave the most, Zhao Yingyue."

Zhao Yingyue didn't know what came over her at that moment, but she could feel her cheeks heating up with a light blush. Maybe it was the fact that no one had ever taken what she wanted into consideration and now someone had not only seen it, but also promised her it. How could she not get emotional?

This time, her voice wasn't the same calm and almost emotionless one. It was soft and mixed with complex emotions as she looked the man sitting in front of her in the eye and said, "Thank you so much Liu Haoyu."

He smiled and asked, "Why don't I walk you out? The bill has already been settled."

Liu Haoyu got up and walked behind Zhao Yingyue, pulling her chair out as she got up. Now that they had decided they were going to do this, he'd do it right. He'd make sure to treat his wife the way that she should be treated and better. Nothing in the world would harm her if he had anything to say about it.

The pair then walked out of the restaurant and then the hotel. As they passed, most people couldn't help but take notice of the two individuals as they were both famous in their own rights and extremely good-looking.

"Do my eyes deceive me? Those are the daughter of the Zhao family and the son of the Liu family, right?"

"I'm pretty sure it is. Life sure is unfair. Why do some people just effortlessly look so good?"

"Are they dating?"

"Two good-looking people sure would have some good looking babies."

Zhao Yingyue paused when she heard that comment. Babies? She hadn't thought about babies, but it was only fair that she should expect that in the future, right? Now that the one-child policy was gone, she could have many. But how many would he want? How many did she want? Would they be able to agree on a number?

She could feel her mind spiraling further and further away the more she thought about the topic. How could she forget about something so important? Married couples were supposed to have kids!

While she was distracted, Liu Haoyu had noticed her stop and was able to guess why. He heard the same comment and agreed with it, but he could tell from how red Zhao Yingyue's face was that she was utterly embarrassed and hadn't thought about it herself.

Silly girl, did she forget that of course that would play a part in their marriage? Only later down the line though, when they had truly fallen in love with each other.

Liu Haoyu couldn't let this opportunity pass to tease her a little bit as he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Our children will be quite good-looking, won't they? But don't worry, you won't have to worry about that just yet, my dear."

By the time she registered what he said, she turned as red as a tomato before stammering out, "L-Liu Haoyu!"

However, Zhao Yingyue didn't know what to say and left it at that before continuing to take quick steps out of the building. She had never been so embarrassed by someone else's words before and childishly, she didn't want to talk to him anymore and aimed to escape the embarrassment.

One day, she vowed, she was going to get him back for his teasing words.

As Zhao Yingyue stepped outside, she felt herself shiver a bit. Having changed her clothes, she forgot that she didn't have her blazer anymore to protect her from the weather, the little that it had done in the first place.

She looked around for Gu Yan in hopes that she'd call Yang Zimo soon to bring the car around. Just as she was pulling out her phone, she felt a slight pressure on her shoulders followed by warmth.

When Zhao Yingyue turned around, she was met with Liu Haoyu's brown eyes staring down at her.

"It's cold. You shouldn't be out here without a jacket. I don't want you getting sick."

Zhao Yingyue smiled softly.

"Thank you," she murmured as she pulled the jacket tighter over her shoulders.

Was it her or did he seem to change immediately after she agreed to become his wife? They weren't even married yet and he was treating her extremely well and even surrendered his jacket to her.

Liu Haoyu then said, "I just realized that we forgot to exchange numbers. Let's do that now."

Zhao Yingyue nodded quickly and handed her phone over to Liu Haoyu. He put in his number under the title of 'Captain H' and texted himself through her phone.

When he handed it back to her, she looked up at him.

"Captain H?"

Liu Haoyu smirked, "It stands for Captain Hubby. Remember that I'll not only be your captain, but I will be your hubby, too."

Zhao Yingyue then turned back around to hide the embarrassment on her face and made eye contact with Gu Yan. She only muttered a quick goodbye before quickly walking toward Gu Yan. She was never necessarily happy to see Gu Yan, but she could admit that she was relieved just this once.

What she didn't know was that Gu Yan witnessed the entire scene from the moment Liu Haoyu placed his jacket over her shoulders. She wouldn't tell Zhao Yingyue this, but she made sure to text Zhao Yingyue's parents about this turn of events.

Zhao Yingyue was ushered to the car as soon as she reached Gu Yan, and they were off back to the mansion in no time. But Zhao Yingyue's thoughts still remained on the man whose jacket hugged her form and smothered her in warmth.