1 The Fiancé
The summer of 2030 found Wenjay Lee steering his second-hand Geely Panda off the highway and onto a tree-lined path.
"Maplewood Town... twelve miles..." Wenjay squinted at the rusty iron road sign, nudging the accelerator to continue his journey.
The trees flanking the road thickened, and an assortment of peculiar small animals began to appear - squirrels, hedgehogs, and even vibrant snakes. They seemed oblivious to traffic rules, brazenly lounging in the middle of the road, as if daring him to swerve around them.
Wenjay carefully navigated around these "friendly locals." His spirits, previously low, began to lift. As he watched the dappled tree shadows flicker past the car window, he found himself humming an off-key rural heavy metal tune.
As dusk descended, a weathered stone tablet finally materialized by the roadside - Maplewood Farm.
Wenjay steered his car onto a narrow gravel road, barely wide enough for a single vehicle. Two minutes later, he arrived at his destination.
An old Tuscan-style building stood before him, its age likely surpassing that of his grandmother. With its grey walls and red roof, it exuded a rustic charm.
The sudden appearance of such a stylish building in the wilderness stirred a sense of thrilling wonder. Wenjay stood there for a moment, absorbing the visual impact of the East-meets-West architecture, before ringing the doorbell.
No response.
"Mr. Jow?" Wenjay stepped back and called into the courtyard, "Is Mr. Mingyoo Jow home?"
A minute later, heavy breathing echoed from inside, more akin to a wild beast than a human. Wenjay retreated a few steps, contemplating whether to fetch a wrench from the car, when the courtyard door swung open. A massive ball of fur bounded out, nearly toppling him over.
"What the***" Wenjay stumbled back several steps to steady himself, realizing that the creature that had pounced on him was a massive Alaskan Malamute. Standing on its hind legs, it was as tall as a person, its eyes sparkling and tongue lolling as it enthusiastically licked his face.
So, he was forced to endure a face full of dog slobber.
"..." Wenjay grabbed its collar and pushed it away. When his fingers brushed the tag on its collar, he noticed a small inscription: Patton.
Wenjay patted its head and noticed a key hanging from its collar. It didn't seem to be a decoration, but a real key that could open a door.
Was it here to deliver the key? Was its owner not home? Wenjay was a bit taken aback. He took the key and pushed open the slightly ajar front door to enter the courtyard.
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds. The lawns on both sides of the main path hadn't been maintained for months, with wild grass growing half a person's height. However, a few osmanthus trees were thriving. Underneath one of them was a rusty swing frame, covered in thick mud and sprouting a few mushrooms.
Wenjay considered making a mushroom soup pot with lamb the next day.
He used the key to open the main door of the house. To his surprise, the living room was bright and airy. Opposite the entrance was a row of large floor-to-ceiling windows, all with white curtains fully drawn. The setting sun's rays streamed in unabashedly, making the elm wood floor gleam as if it had been waxed. Beyond the windows was an endless forest, with layers of broad-leaved trees and the Xiyan River shimmering in the sunlight.
The breathtaking view lifted his spirits, making all his worries about unemployment, unrequited love, and visa expiration seem to dissipate. Leaning against the window, Wenjay sighed in appreciation. He was about to give himself another dose of self-encouragement when he felt a tug on his right leg. The Alaskan Malamute, named Patton, had grabbed his trouser leg and was pulling him towards the coffee table.
On the coffee table was a brown paper envelope with a line written on it - "To Wenjay."
For me? Wenjay opened the envelope to find a note inside: "The guest room at the east end of the second floor has been prepared for you. Please make yourself at home. The marriage authorization document is on the table on your room's balcony. I have signed it. Please check the signature. The courier will pick it up before six o'clock tomorrow afternoon and send it to my lawyer. Due to my job requiring political review, it will probably take three to four months before we can register at the civil affairs bureau. During this time, you are welcome to stay here without restraint."
"I understand Mrs. Yahlin Jow's intentions and appreciate your care for her son. As a token of my gratitude, you don't need to pay me anything for the marriage. Just help me take care of this dreadful dog - by the time you read this letter, it should have given you the key, right?"
"I have an urgent matter to attend to and may not be home often. This place is remote and the locals are quite bold. Please make sure to lock the doors and windows at night for your safety."
"PS, the third floor is my office and contains some confidential information. Please do not enter without permission."
The short note, though a bit sloppy, was bold and spirited. At the bottom was a strong signature: Mingyoo Jow.
Mingyoo Jow, the owner of Maplewood Farm, was also the man Wenjay was about to legally marry.
Having traveled all this way without meeting his "fiancé," Wenjay couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. As he was lost in thought, he felt a weight on his thigh. A pair of warm, furry paws wrapped around him. For some very inappropriate reasons, Patton had grabbed his jeans and was rubbing against him...
"Damn!" Wenjay hadn't expected the phrase "screwed by a dog" to become literal. He was quite distressed and it took all his strength to get Patton into his doghouse under the osmanthus tree in the yard. Only then did he have time to park his car in the garage and unpack his luggage.
The garage was spacious, but all four parking spaces were vacant. There were two tire tracks in the spot directly opposite the door, indicating that Mingyoo had driven his car away. Wenjay estimated that he drove a large off-road vehicle.
Wenjay didn't have much luggage. After resigning, he had sold most of his large furniture online. All he had left were some books and clothes. As a poor homebody, all his clothes combined only filled half a medium-sized suitcase.
So when he opened the wardrobe in the guest room, he found that he couldn't even fill the smallest corner.
This must be what it feels like to marry into a wealthy family... Wenjay sighed as he unpacked his meager belongings. The guest room on the east side of the second floor was quite spacious, with a private bathroom and a semi-circular balcony. It seemed that Mingyoo, his "fiancé," was quite considerate, probably out of respect for the help he had given Yahlin.
Yes, Wenjay was here to marry Mr. Jow. Of course, he wasn't gay, and neither was Mingyoo Jow. They were merely going through the motions, getting the civil affairs bureau to recognize their marriage. This way, Wenjay could stay in China even after his visa expired.
Wenjay was an American-born Chinese. Fifty years ago, his grandfather had emigrated from Hangzhou to Texas, where he had established a family and a business. He had then married his daughter off to a local Chinese immigrant, making Wenjay a typical ABC.
When he was five, his mixed-race father had an affair and divorced, taking his mistress and leaving Wenjay and his mother to fend for themselves. After his grandfather passed away, his mother took him back to her family home to take care of his grandmother, and the three of them ran a small Chinese restaurant.
To supplement the family income, his grandmother started a daycare at home. From a young age, Wenjay spent his days helping his grandmother take care of various naughty children. Over time, this led to his peculiar life goal. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in a teacher's college and received his early childhood education certification, colloquially known as a "nanny certificate," at the age of twenty.
Two years ago, the restaurant hired a female student from China. Wenjay fell in love with her at first sight and harbored a secret crush for half a year, but she returned to China. On a whim, he also came to China to trace his roots and visit relatives, and to continue his unrequited love.
Thanks to his American early education certificate, he easily found a well-paying job. However, after living in China for a while, he realized he was too naive. In a country where marriage required buying a house, a car, and giving a dowry, it was virtually impossible for a poor guy like him to win the heart of a middle-class, beautiful, and highly educated woman like his crush.
Before he could save enough money to make a down payment on a house, his crush started dating a wealthy man from a well-established family. To make matters worse, the preschool where he worked closed due to financial disputes. Not only did they withhold his salary for two months, but they also confiscated his nanny certificate!
Without his certificate, he couldn't find a suitable job in the short term. Without a job, he would have to return to the US when his visa expired. But if he just went back like this, he wouldn't be able to get his nanny certificate back, and he couldn't retake the exam in the US either - it was a vicious cycle!
Heartbroken and unemployed, Wenjay was so worried that he was losing his hair. Just then, a parent of one of his students offered to help him solve his residency problem.
Yahlin was a cheerful and optimistic single mother. Ever since Wenjay had helped correct her son's attention problems, she had become good friends with him and vowed to help him accomplish something big in return.
Now the opportunity had come. To help Wenjay stay in China, she suggested that he have a sham marriage with her cousin, Mingyoo Jow. Thanks to the reform of China's marriage law, same-sex marriage was now legal, otherwise she would have had to step in herself, which would have been quite awkward as a friend.
At first, Wenjay refused, but later, he didn't know if it was because Yahlin was too sincere or if he had a momentary lapse in judgement, but he actually agreed. Then, he gave up his apartment, sold his furniture, and came to Maplewood Farm.
At this moment, standing on the balcony of Maplewood Farm, Wenjay still felt a bit dazed, as if he were in a dream - as a straight man, he was about to marry another straight man!
Could such a bold decision really have been made by him, a man who had silently loved someone for two years without daring to confess?
A gust of wind blew, causing the papers on the balcony table to rustle, waking Wenjay from his wild reminiscences. He picked up the papers and carefully read through them. They were the marriage documents to be mailed out the next day. Wherever a signature was needed, Mingyoo had already signed his name, leaving only the spaces for his own signature.
To sign or not to sign?
Images of his crush's gentle face, his early education certificate, and Mingyoo's bold handwriting flashed through Wenjay's mind...
Then, as if in a trance, he signed his name on the document.
"Owooo—" As if sensing it was about to have a new owner, the Alaskan Malamute under the osmanthus tree in the yard let out a cheerful and somewhat ingratiating howl.
Years later, whenever Wenjay recalled this moment, he would wonder if he had been out of his mind to sign such a contract without fully realizing the terrifying decision he had made.
Of course, life rarely offers second chances to be foolish. For someone as clueless as him, it was probably inevitable that he would make such a mistake sooner or later.
