Wooing my Bodyguard Wife

"Dad, are you still there?" Xue Ning asked cautiously, sensing that her father had fallen suspiciously silent and that was never a good sign. Did she upset him enough that he was going to pass the phone back to her mother so she could finish yelling?

"I'm still here, Xue Ning," her father replied, sighing again, "And I know that you're an adult who can make your own decisions."

Xue Ning thought that that was the end of it, but then her father continued warningly.

"While I cannot stop you from making friends, please, just make sure you are ONLY friends. That 'wife' title better be only a slip of the tongue."

"Of course! It's all fake!" She insisted, even if Sun Jingwei was trying his best to make it a reality.

She had to remind herself that she only knew him for a really short time. She had to be careful - Xue Ning didn't want to end up used and discarded.

"You've watched all those dramas with your Mom right? I'm sure you don't want to become the sad female lead that suffers for 50 episodes at the hands of her in-laws." Her father added anxiously. "That man's father isn't anyone you can mess with."

Xue Ning laughed loudly. In the living room, Jingwei stood up just so he could get a closer look at her laughing face.

Sadly, her back was facing him, so he could only see her shoulders shaking in laughter. He slumped back on the sofa, disappointed. He would have liked to see her smile. He took another look at his phone; at least the food was arriving soon.

"Dad, why do you sound like you know Sun Haowei personally?" Xue Ning asked, curious at the surety in her father's voice.

Her father coughed. "How could I? But it's not like I can't guess. I've met lots of people like him in my youth."

"Fair enough." Xue Ning nodded. "Anyway, don't worry about me, Dad."

"That's nonsense. Like I said earlier, I will always worry about you. Whatever he promised you, make sure to get it in writing! Get a contract drawn up if necessary!" Her father instructed, already prepared to send her contacts of his old lawyer friends that owed him a favour or two.

A contract? Funnily enough, that was already in the pipeline. Her father would not approve of the subject matter, but it was good to know that they were on the same page.

"Oh don't worry Dad, I'll definitely get him to sign a contract, especially about giving me the three houses." Xue Ning said. "Ge better be prepared to name his first-born after me!"

"Don't sign anything before getting another lawyer to look at it!" Her father warned. "If it's a lawyer in his employ, chances are that the contract would be skewed to benefit him. Dad will recommend some lawyers that he knows for you."

"Dad… how am I supposed to pay for a lawyer?" Xue Ning pointed out. She hasn't gotten paid yet for her job as Sun Jingwei bodyguard, because a month hasn't passed yet. Come to think about it… she hadn't signed an employment contract yet!

She had been working for free so far!

The thought shocked her so much she would have exited the room to yell at Sun Jingwei, but then her father would overhear and know that she was working as his bodyguard, and then Mom will haul her home before she even achieves her dream.

No, that cannot happen. She would not let them find out about the true circumstances of her employment. She'd rather they believe that she was Sun Jingwei's fake wife!

"Don't worry about that! These lawyers owe me," Her father said proudly. "They'll do a good job for you."

"Huh?" Xue Ning asked, confused. What, did her father save them from the brink of starvation with his noodle soup? There was no other way her father, a humble noodle stall owner, would have lawyers willing to work for free.  "Dad, how do you even have lawyers owing you?"

"...I'm very good at networking," was her father's answer. "One has to be to run a successful business."

"Right." Xue Ning said disbelievingly. The answer made sense, but she knew it wasn't the truth. "Anyway Dad, I'll take your advice. It's the lunch rush, so you shouldn't spend so much time talking to me. I'll talk to you and Mom later, when Mom calms down."

"Good good. As long as you don't fall in love with him and don't get trapped into any unfair contract, Dad will be at ease," Her father said warmly.

Xue Ning choked at his words; what was that first part about her falling in love? How did her father get that impression?

"...Right," Xue Ning repeated, too surprised to bother rebutting her father's comments.

"Then I'll hang up now! If there's anything, feel free to call or come home," her father replied. "This place will always welcome you back!"

"Yeah I got it. Thank Dad, bye." She said, then he hung up, leaving her in a silent room. Come home? No thanks. Going home now would be as good as surrendering! She hadn't done anything with her life yet so far, so how could she go home?

If anything, she would only go home when she had achieved big things with her life, just to rub in the face of her old school tormentors!

"Xue Ning, are you done?" Jingwei asked cautiously. He had peered into the room, only to see that Xue Ning was no longer laughing. Instead, her shoulders were tense and she was glaring at her phone. "Woah, why do you look so angry?"

"Huh?" Xue Ning asked, distracted. "Yeah, I'm done. And as to why I'm angry…"

There were many things she could have said, such as 'my father thinks I'm in love with you, and they don't approve', or 'they think you're a scumbag who will hunt me down once our friendship runs its course, and that somehow upsets me'.

She could even have said that 'I just remembered my oldest crush got married to my high school bully', but instead, what came out of her mouth was none of the above.

"Sun Jingwei, I just realised that I'm working for you for free!"