“Give me one year of your life and I’ll give you the money you need.” Feng Mian is a normal and down to earth modern woman. She just wanted an ordinary life, an ordinary job and find an ordinary man to marry in the future. (Yes, all should be ordinary). But when family matters took a turn for the worst, she faced a huge dilemma called shortage of money. Suddenly, a contract came due to a series of coincidences. Zhang Liang was fed up with his father's (yes, father not mother) matchmaking schemes for him. He wanted to have a peaceful year because this was his chance to expand his business overseas, yet his father didn’t seem to get the message. When an ordinary fresh graduate employee in his company accidentally saw a scene, he decided to take the chance. “Since she has a normal background with nothing remarkable, nothing should go wrong, right?” Browsing through the contract, Feng Mian gritted her teeth. 'Fine. It was just one year of my life anyway. I wouldn't lose a lot.' But was it true? Or would that one year turn out to be a ride full of ups and down for both of them? ... Story set in modern era in fictional country. This story is purely fiction, any similarities with real life's event is purely coincidence. Special thanks for CatarinaM2811 for making the cover Word count: 900-1800 words/chapter Discord: https://discord.gg/pBy2wGB ... Thorough the Years' Series: 1. 1 Year of Beginning [complete] 2. 2 Years of Restarting [complete] 3. -Work in Progress- 4. -Work in Progress- 5. -Work in Progress- 6. -Work in Progress- 7. -Work in Progress- The series are all STANDALONE, meaning you don't have to read the other series in order to be able to follow this story. You can just read one and you still didn't lose anything. Each of the series have different main leads but they all happen in the same universe (and similar timeline, some are overlapping but mostly not) ... Other novels: -Flowers Bloom from Battlefield [complete] - Under the Veil of Night [complete] - 7 Path of the Lilies [on long hiatus] - Villain Lady [complete] - Science and Fantasy [complete] - Forgotten Legend of the Bloodied Flower [on going] - The Quiet Empress [on going] ... Note for those who read Sorahana's other novels: This novel took a different approach compared to my other novels because it focused heavily on romance and also in main lead's perspective. follow me on IG: @sora100518
Zhang Liang brought Feng Mian to the room next door. It was a spacious room where they could move around however they wished without any furniture blocking their way. Butler Lou came while bringing a music box.
"Let's start. You don't need to think about anything and just follow my lead."
Feng Mian looked at Zhang Liang worriedly. She didn't want to accidentally step on his feet when they danced. However, as the song began to play, Zhang Liang guided her carefully. She found out that it was so easy to move.
"Straighten your back," Zhang Liang whispered near Feng Mian's ear.
Feng Mian's face flushed a bit, but she did as she was told.
"Relax."
"Uh."
"Just follow my lead."
Looking up, Feng Mian could see Zhang Liang's face near her. His black eyes stared straight to her eyes. She could see her own reflection in his clear eyes. It was apparent that she looked nervous in front of him.
Zhang Liang smiled lightly. "There's nothing you need to worry about. You only need to follow after my lead."
"En…."
Butler Lou watched from the side as the two of them danced. When Zhang Liang was young, he was the one who taught the boy. But now, there was no longer any need for that. Zhang Liang could manage everything by himself. He was even capable of teaching Feng Mian on his own.
The two of them didn't last long. Feng Mian's physical condition didn't allow her to train dancing for a long time. As it was already night time, the two of them headed to rest after they had finished.
…
The next morning, Feng Mian woke up thanks to the alarm once more. Her head turned to the side and saw the pillow beside her. She felt glad that neither one of them had bad sleeping habits. No one crossed to the other side of the bed at night at all.
"Awake?"
Feng Mian looked up and saw Zhang Liang yawning. His voice when he just woke up always sounded so sexy to the point she wondered how it could sound so tempting. Fortunately, she didn't dare to think of anything more.
"Yeah."
"Prepare yourself, we're going to Hotel Cupcake."
"Right."
Feng Mian sat up and stretched her arms. Thinking of the party made her mood soured. She truly didn't want to attend that kind of party. It would be much better for her if she could just stay at home and rest all day rather than coming to such a high profile party.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't be possible.
It didn't take long for the two of them to prepare and ate their breakfast. Afterwards, Zhang Liang drove the car with Feng Mian to the hotel. They only wore simple attire because they would only start dressing up after they had arrived in the hotel.
"Here's the list of names you need to remember."
"Eh?" Feng Mian accepted the paper. There were pictures on the right side and also the name and description on the left. She eyed the paper suspiciously before she turned her head to look at Zhang Liang. "This is?"
"When I greet them, sometimes they might want to talk to you. It'll be better if you can memorize their names to avoid awkward situations."
Feng Mian: "…" don't you know I'm bad at memorizing names?
Knowing that debating wouldn't give her any result, Feng Mian lowered her head and began to read the names and matched with the faces. The journey would take some time, so she had more than enough times to memorize their names. It's just…. Why are their names so similar?
She wanted to cry just thinking of how the words were so similar with each other. Internally, she hoped that she would not mix the names.
That would be embarrassing.
Zhang Liang didn't speak on the route at all. He drove silently while Feng Mian was busy memorizing the names of the guests. They were all important people in this country in many aspects. Some were related to Zhang Liang's business while the others were just important.
"We've arrived."
Zhang Liang's voice brought Feng Mian back to reality. Her eyes showed her nervousness. She looked at Zhang Liang. "Are you sure you want me to be here today?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"There's a deal I want to get from overseas. He's one of the guests Old Zhou invited to the party and also an important figure. In his country, marriage is seen as a sign of stability, so he's more inclined to accept proposals from people who have been married rather than not," Zhang Liang explained.
Feng Mian blinked her eyes. She had heard that some countries did think of marriage that way. Even though her knowledge over other countries was lacking, she still has some basic knowledge.
"Uhm, do I need to memorize that country's culture too?"
"No need. I don't want to look that desperate to gain his favor," Zhang Liang replied. "There's a limit to what we should show and not. Sometimes, showing too much of an interest will just make them suspicious of you, so you should practice restraint."
"Ah, ok."
Feng Mian lowered her eyes and began to memorize the names again. Zhang Liang drove the car to the basement and parked it there. He pulled the paper from Feng Mian's hand.
"Keep it in your bag for the time being. You can continue reading after we arrive in the room."
"Alright."
Following Zhang Liang to the lift, Feng Mian noticed that there were a lot of cars around them. It seemed that the hotel always has a lot of guests in their place no matter the time and season.
Ding!
The lift arrived. Feng Mian's eyes widened when she saw the lift's interior. It was made of mirrors on the back along with golden lines at the edge. The carpet was purple in color with some complex embroidery. If she had to say, this must be the most expensive lift she had ever seen in her entire life.
'Sometimes, I often forget how we lived in different lives.'
Seeing Zhang Liang looked unperturbed, Feng Mian smiled bitterly. Zhang Liang always acted normal on the daily basis. She couldn't even differentiate him from ordinary people who worked every day. The only difference would be the scale of his work and also his work time.
But times like this always reminded her that they lived in a completely different world. A world that was not supposed to cross with each other.
"Mian'er."
"Ah? Sorry."
She was too busy thinking that she forgot to get in. Feng Mian hurriedly stepped inside. She looked at Zhang Liang's confused expression and flashed a smile. "It's nothing. I'm just daydreaming."
"Oh."
Zhang Liang didn't say anything else as they waited for the lift to arrive in their designation.