NOVEL NEXT 07
Chapter 7: The Simple Male
Ellis read through the marriage plan Xi Tian gave him three times. The four main points were: prenuptial agreement, engagement, property notarization, and marriage. Each sub-point explained the reasons and objectives.
Engagements only had legal force between underage males and adult females. For adult males and females, engagements were more of a moral constraint; only actual marriage registration was legally binding.
So, what difference did it make whether they got engaged or not?
He hadn’t even asked the male if he intended to take a lord or servant as spouse. After all, the two differed greatly in terms of status, legal standing, and obligations.
After marriage, female lord still had considerable freedom, while female servants often acted as unpaid housemaids, not allowed to work outside.
Xi Tian’s plan included a note under the prenuptial agreement: in non-special circumstances, males would not interfere with the female’s work.
That was highly appealing.
But why would such an excellent single male, offering such favorable marriage terms, want to marry him?
Marry a completely ordinary female with nothing to offer.
Ellis searched for “bride price ceremony” in the search engine, finding the term in an inconspicuous place under the marriage section.
The bride price ceremony referred to an old custom where the male’s family would send a bride price to the female’s family. It was popular about two hundred years ago during the peak of technological civilization on the zerg star.
It was a specific ritual for taking a female lord and was rarely seen in modern times.
Ellis woke up Angie, who was dozing on Owen’s bed. Angie, Owen, and Ellis had been college classmates and were assigned to the same unit after graduation. The three were inseparable.
Owen was outgoing and enthusiastic, while Angie was the opposite—reserved and introverted.
Angie was waiting for Owen, who was out training new recruits and hadn’t returned yet, and had fallen asleep in the meantime.
Ellis, with no sympathy, woke Angie. Owen had a fierce temper when woken up and would angrily wrestle with anyone who disturbed him, something Ellis had experienced a few times.
But Angie was different. He rubbed his eyes and softly asked, “Ellis, what time is it? Has Owen come back?”
“He hasn’t,” Ellis replied. “I need your help with something.”
“Huh?” Angie was still a bit groggy.
Ellis explained the entire blind date situation in detail to Angie, who initially listened drowsily. By the time Ellis finished, Angie’s eyes were sparkling.
Angie said, “Are you saying a suitable single male wants to marry you as his female lord and even agrees to let you work? That’s great news! Why wouldn’t you agree?”
Ellis: “But I feel like this isn’t reliable at all! Think about it, with his conditions, he could choose anyone. Why me?”
Angie: “Why couldn’t he choose you? Because you think you’re ordinary? Or that you have no market? Come on, your looks are very popular.”
Ellis: “That aside, it seems like the male isn’t really eager to get married. When I asked him, he said he ‘wants to escape his current environment.'”
Angie: “What environment?”
Ellis: “He currently lives in public housing in the new district and relies on unemployment benefits.”
Angie: “Wait a minute, unemployment benefits… that reminds me of something.”
Angie said, opening up the terminal projection screen and starting to search.
Soon, he pointed at a line of text: “Regarding the period of receipt, for unemployed individuals whose accumulated payment period with their previous employer is between 1 to less than 5 years, the maximum period to receive unemployment insurance benefits is 12 months.”
Angie: “How old is this guy?”
Ellis: “He’s 22 years old.”
Angie: “Typically, zerg university graduates finish around age 20. He might have worked for a year and then been on benefits ever since. So, he is…”
Ellis struggled to say, “Because he can’t receive insurance benefits anymore and has lost his source of income, he wants to get married.”
Angie and Ellis looked at each other.
There was a moment of silence in the air.
Ellis: “Did I stumble upon a simple-minded male?”
Angie: “Not stumbled upon, you lucked out and found a male who doesn’t yet know how to play the game of males proficiently. After all, some males pretend to marry to deceive females for their property.”
Ellis murmured weakly, “So, should I seize this opportunity?”
Angie pointed out the window, pretending to be expressionless, “Don’t flaunt it in front of me. You might as well jump off the building, I’d feel better.”
Ellis actually walked to the window, opened it, and jumped down.
Angie rushed to the window and shouted, “Ellis, are you crazy? This is the fifteenth floor!”
Just as Ellis was about to touch the ground, he quickly spread his wings and soared upwards.
The air split from bottom to top, swirling around him with a whistling sound.
He faintly heard Angie’s voice, but couldn’t make out the words.
Below, the new recruits who were still training stopped and looked up.
The recruits became tiny green dots, and the scenery of plants became a green haze.
He opened the terminal, activated the projection, and his fingers trembled slightly from the dropping temperature.
Recipient: Xi Tian
“Let’s get married.”
Looking up into the distant sky, vast and boundless, birds freely soared amidst the clouds.
—
**Author’s Note:**
This is my first attempt at a long story, and the chapter lengths were all over the place. I’ll try to stabilize the word count in the future, orz