{"id":3146,"date":"2026-05-08T02:34:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/daily-life-of-a-secret-marriage-with-a-child-03\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T02:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:34:27","slug":"daily-life-of-a-secret-marriage-with-a-child-03","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/chapter\/daily-life-of-a-secret-marriage-with-a-child-03\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Life of a Secret Marriage with a Child 03"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 3

Another beautiful day. The sky was dotted with fluffy clouds that looked just like the cotton candy Si Xiaotie loved to eat.

Two-thirty in the afternoon.

The translation team entered the conference room ahead of time. Lin Ke brought along Ma Chanchan, who was so nervous she could barely speak, for one final discussion with Shen Wan, the person in charge of the Entropy Domain project, about today\u2019s meeting flow and key points.

At 2:55, someone arrived at the door.

\u201cPresident Si,\u201d Shen Wan greeted with a smile and a nod.

Lin Ke turned around and saw the man she had parted with that morning.

Today, he was still dressed in a black suit. The sharp tailoring outlined his broad shoulders and narrow waist perfectly. A black onyx cufflink flashed briefly at his wrist, the only decoration in his entire outfit.

The man possessed flawless features and a tall frame. Influenced by his genes, three-and-a-half-year-old Si Xiaotie was also several centimeters taller than children her age, and the little face that resembled him by fifty or sixty percent was praised by everyone who saw her.

To be honest, Si Xiaotie resembled him more.

Although only half her features looked like his, her mannerisms and expressions were eighty or ninety percent similar\u2014especially when she acted fearless. That unafraid aura toward anything and everything was exactly like him.

Lin Ke\u2019s gaze lingered only briefly before she nodded politely. \u201cHello, President Si.\u201d

Si Yuming\u2019s gaze swept past her without lingering, and he walked inside.

Thinking it was their first meeting, Shen Wan comforted her kindly. \u201cAlthough President Si isn\u2019t exactly approachable at work, he separates public and private matters clearly. No need to be nervous.\u201d

Lin Ke smiled lightly. \u201cOkay.\u201d

The meeting was about to begin, and Lin Ke and Ma Chanchan sat down at the interpreters\u2019 seats.

Consecutive interpretation meant the speaker talked for a segment first, then the interpreter translated afterward. It was usually used in situations requiring high translation accuracy and demanded strong speaking skills and professional expertise from the interpreter.

Lin Ke hadn\u2019t expected him to come.

Setting everything else aside, just his mere presence sitting there was intimidating enough.

She glanced sideways. Sure enough, the young woman beside her was trembling so badly her hands shook visibly.

Lin Ke spoke softly to comfort her. \u201cDon\u2019t be scared. Even if you make a mistake, it\u2019s fine. They don\u2019t understand Russian anyway, so whatever you say sounds correct.\u201d

Ma Chanchan\u2019s tense mood immediately relaxed, and she laughed. \u201cSister Ke, that actually makes so much sense.\u201d

\u201cThis is only the first meeting. Most of what they\u2019re discussing has already been communicated beforehand. As long as the important numbers aren\u2019t wrong, there won\u2019t be major issues.\u201d Lin Ke held her hand gently. \u201cIf there\u2019s a sentence you\u2019re uncertain about, just kick me under the table. I\u2019ll translate that part.\u201d

Strength once again returned to Ma Chanchan under Lin Ke\u2019s gentle gaze.

\u201cI understand now, Sister Ke. I\u2019ll do my best.\u201d

\u201cGood luck.\u201d

After speaking, Lin Ke raised her eyes, only to meet a seemingly casual glance from the man seated at the head of the table. She quickly lowered her head and focused on the documents.

The other company connected on the large screen. The room fell silent, and the meeting officially began.

The first half of the conversation mainly consisted of greetings, compliments, and expressions of anticipation for cooperation. Ma Chanchan handled it well enough. But once they entered actual business negotiations, she clearly began struggling more and more, with increasingly long pauses before her translations.

The first mistake appeared when the Moscow side introduced their market share.

Ma Chanchan translated thirteen as thirty.

No one noticed.

But Lin Ke instinctively looked over, and sure enough, the man seated at the head of the table had already furrowed his brows deeply.

Ma Chanchan had noticed her own mistake too. Panic-stricken, she froze after the other side finished their next segment.

Lin Ke couldn\u2019t care about anything else and immediately stepped in.

The rest of the hour-long interpretation was completed entirely by her.

The meeting ended, and the other side disconnected.

Lin Ke looked up and once again met that deep gaze, as though it had been resting on her for quite some time.

A moment later, the man slowly looked away and lifted his hand to adjust his cuff. The watch face on his wrist reflected a cold blue glow under the lights.

That single simple action caused the people chatting around the conference table to subconsciously fall silent, waiting for whatever instruction he might give next.

Shen Wan\u2019s warning before the meeting hadn\u2019t been without reason.

Lin Ke had never worked with him directly before, but during her two weeks at Entropy Domain, she had already heard plenty of stories about how decisive and terrifyingly strict President Si was at work. People said even employees who had worked there for over twenty years had once been questioned by him so harshly on the spot that they couldn\u2019t step down gracefully.

So now, even Lin Ke felt nervous, afraid he might seize upon the mistake and make an issue of it.

The man cast another indifferent glance over.

\u201cManager Lin worked hard.\u201d

His low voice carried no emotion.

Lin Ke finally let out a breath of relief and immediately pulled Ma Chanchan out of the meeting room.

Five-minute break.

Xu Lin replaced the man\u2019s water with a fresh warm cup.

Shen Wan, seated to his right, stepped forward to speak. \u201cPresident Si, what do you think?\u201d

Originally, she had only wanted to ask how he felt about the other company after today\u2019s initial probing meeting.

But the man lifted his dark eyes slightly and instead asked first, \u201cWho recommended the translation team?\u201d

Shen Wan had worked there nearly six years and knew exactly what kind of person this boss was. He would never ask such a question for no reason.

Her mind quickly spun through possibilities. The only explanation she could think of was Lin Ke suddenly taking over the interpretation midway through the meeting. Most likely, Ma Chanchan had made some kind of mistake.

Shen Wan hurriedly explained, \u201cThey\u2019re from Wanxiang Smart Translation, a company we\u2019ve worked with before. Lin Ke is their top Russian translator. After these two weeks, I personally think Manager Lin\u2019s team has been excellent. As for earlier… Ma Chanchan only graduated recently… President Si, from now on I\u2019ll try to arrange for Manager Lin to handle the meetings.\u201d

Si Yuming lifted his cup and took a sip before setting it down gently.

There was no blame in his voice.

\u201cNo need. Let Manager Lin arrange things herself.\u201d

\u201cUnderstood.\u201d

…

16:05.

The meeting ended half an hour earlier than expected.

Once they returned to the twenty-third floor, Ma Chanchan finally gathered the courage to speak after holding back her guilt the entire way.

\u201cSister Ke… I\u2019m sorry…\u201d

\u201cIt\u2019s okay. This isn\u2019t some huge mistake. There\u2019s no translator in the world who never makes mistakes.\u201d Lin Ke spoke seriously. \u201cBut Chanchan, in our profession, the worst thing you can do after making a mistake is let your mind go blank. No matter how many mistakes you make, you still have to persist until the meeting ends.\u201d

Ma Chanchan\u2019s eyes turned red. \u201cI understand now, Sister Ke.\u201d

\u201cAlright, go adjust your mindset. Next time, you\u2019re still the one going up.\u201d

\u201cHuh?!\u201d Ma Chanchan wiped her eyes and hurried after the woman striding ahead like the wind. \u201cI\u2019m still going?\u201d

\u201cYes. Until you successfully complete an interpretation session.\u201d

\u201cO-Okay then…\u201d Seeing how fast Lin Ke was walking, she asked again, \u201cSister Ke, aren\u2019t you going to pick up your daughter?\u201d

\u201cNot today. Let\u2019s organize the content from earlier and go over it again together.\u201d

Ma Chanchan let out another tiny \u201cAh.\u201d

They stayed busy all the way until five-thirty. Fortunately, nobody came looking to cause trouble for them.

Still, Ma Chanchan was part of her team after all.

Before getting off work, Lin Ke sent him a message.

\u3010Today was my mistake. I promise something similar won\u2019t happen again next time.\u3011

He didn\u2019t reply.

Lin Ke packed her things and left work.

Unfortunately, they ended up in the same elevator again. The difference this time was that the elevator was crowded.

Lin Ke was almost the last person inside, squeezed near the doors.

A moment later, her phone suddenly chimed with a message notification, instantly breaking the overly tense atmosphere created by the boss\u2019s presence in the elevator.

Embarrassed, Lin Ke glanced down at the screen.

\u3010You didn\u2019t pick up Xiaotie?\u3011

She thought for a moment and didn\u2019t reply.

A few seconds later, another message arrived.

\u3010We\u2019re going back to the old residence together later.\u3011

Everyone in the elevator immediately looked toward her.

Except for Xu Lin, who had noticed earlier that the boss had been typing on his phone the entire time.

Lin Ke hurriedly muted her phone this time before replying.

\u3010What are we going back for?\u3011

\u201cDing\u2014\u201d

This time, the notification sound came from the boss\u2019s phone.

Lin Ke nearly died from fright. She didn\u2019t even care whether he replied anymore and no longer dared look at her phone.

…

Only after getting into her car did Lin Ke suddenly remember.

Today was Si Yuming\u2019s older sister Si Yun\u2019s birthday.

From the generation of the great-grandfather onward, the Si family had been filled with military achievements. His grandfather had been an untouchable figure whose name couldn\u2019t casually be mentioned, and Si Yuming\u2019s father had once held immense influence as well. Unfortunately, when Si Yuming was around ten years old, an \u201caccidental\u201d car crash took both his parents\u2019 lives. After that, Old Master Si no longer allowed Si Yuming to enter politics.

With their parents gone, the eldest sister became like a mother.

At that time, Si Yun was already an adult. She took care of the elderly grandfather, took care of her younger brother, and carried the responsibility of the Si family on her shoulders.

To Si Yuming and the entire Si family, Si Yun was someone whose importance could never be erased. When Old Master Si passed away, Si Yuming\u2019s decision to move out and leave the old residence to her already explained enough.

But Lin Ke\u2019s relationship with Si Yun was poor.

Her grandfather had once been a subordinate of Old Master Si, and before she turned eight, their families had lived together in the same compound. Later, her father\u2019s investment failed, and their family went bankrupt, forcing them to move away.

Then later, when Old Master Si\u2019s life was nearing its end, he specifically designated her to marry Si Yuming, pushing aside the fianc\u00e9e candidate Si Yun had originally chosen for him…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a phone call from Si Yuming.

She directly hung up and sent a message instead.

\u3010I\u2019ll go by myself.\u3011

Since she had forgotten Si Yun\u2019s birthday, she naturally hadn\u2019t prepared a gift. She needed to quickly buy one first.

She called her friend Zhang Man and briefly explained the situation. Zhang Man said she happened to have a newly arrived designer bag in stock, so Lin Ke immediately drove over.

Zhang Man had been her university classmate. After graduation, she hadn\u2019t pursued translation seriously. She worked as a tour guide for a while, and after traveling frequently between countries, she started dealing in luxury goods. Now her business was thriving.

Lin Ke took the bag and examined it from left to right without understanding anything. \u201cI\u2019m giving this to Si Yuming\u2019s sister, so don\u2019t sell me a fake bag.\u201d

Zhang Man shot her an annoyed glance. \u201cDo I look like that kind of person? Besides, if other people don\u2019t know, I certainly know how tense things are between you and your sister-in-law. Would I push you into a pit?\u201d Then she added carefully, \u201cBut Keke, this bag really isn\u2019t cheap.\u201d

The Si family was wealthy, and in recent years the Lin family could barely be considered well-off too, but none of that money belonged to her.

Aside from daily living expenses, all the money Si Yuming gave her was saved for Si Xiaotie. The only money Lin Ke personally had was what she earned from work over the past two years. This one bag alone would cost nearly one-third of her savings.

Gritting her teeth, Lin Ke handed the bag over. \u201cWrap it up.\u201d

By the time she arrived at the Si family\u2019s old residence with the gift, it was already seven o\u2019clock.

The villa was brightly lit, and laughter continuously drifted out from inside.

Lin Ke sat in the car for a while before finally going in.

The moment the door opened, the room fell silent briefly before conversations resumed again.

A younger cousin who was closer to her, Wen Miao, came over to greet her warmly. \u201cSister-in-law, you finally came! We\u2019ve all been waiting for you.\u201d

Lin Ke smiled lightly and walked with her to Si Yun, maintaining a smile the entire time.

\u201cHappy birthday, Sister.\u201d

Si Yun smiled as she accepted the gift. \u201cThank you. It\u2019s enough that you came back. Why spend money unnecessarily? Xiaotie and Manman are playing inside.\u201d

\u201cOkay, I\u2019ll go take a look.\u201d

Lin Ke seized the opportunity to leave and headed for the study on the first floor.

Manman was Si Yun\u2019s son, Qin Mancheng. He had just started elementary school this year.

Si Yun was extremely strict, so the little boy was usually very obedient and hardworking. Every time the lively and noisy Si Xiaotie went looking for her older cousin to play with, Lin Ke worried Si Yun would glare at her daughter a few more times.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Si Xiaotie surrounding the boy practicing calligraphy, chattering nonstop. The little boy sat upright with a serious expression.

The moment Si Xiaotie saw her, she shouted loudly, \u201cMommy!\u201d

Qin Mancheng looked over too and greeted politely, \u201cHello, Auntie.\u201d

Lin Ke responded and walked over to the two children. She glanced at the characters the little boy had written and immediately felt surprised.

The bold and powerful brush calligraphy on the paper had actually been written by a six-year-old boy.

\u201cManman writes very well.\u201d

Si Xiaotie tugged at her pant leg and complained pitifully, \u201cMommy, I want to write too, but Brother won\u2019t let me. He says I can\u2019t write~\u201d

Lin Ke laughed and tapped her forehead lightly. \u201cYou can\u2019t even hold the brush properly. How would you write?\u201d

\u201cBut if I don\u2019t know, I can learn! If I don\u2019t learn, how would I know I can\u2019t?\u201d Her eyes sparkled brightly. \u201cI want to be amazing like Brother too! Brother is super amazing!\u201d

Qin Mancheng\u2019s face turned red from the praise. He got up from the chair. \u201cThen Xiaotie can write.\u201d

\u201cOkay okay okay!\u201d Si Xiaotie climbed onto the chair with both hands and feet. Since she wasn\u2019t tall enough, she knelt on it instead and fully gripped the brush with her tiny hand. \u201cBrother, like this?\u201d

Seeing her brush grip, Qin Mancheng immediately developed a headache. \u201cMm. Xiaotie can practice like that first.\u201d

Si Xiaotie immediately began drawing random scribbles across the paper.

The little boy\u2019s serious face became completely impossible to look at.

After a moment, he ran off, dragged over a small stool to stand on, then held the little girl\u2019s hand and began teaching her.

\u201cXiaotie, I\u2019ll teach you how to write your name.\u201d

\u201cOkay!\u201d

\u201cSi\u2014\u201d

\u201cLe\u2014\u201d

The final character, \u201cZhen,\u201d was a bit complicated, but not difficult for a six-year-old boy. Qin Mancheng wrote it down smoothly.

But the owner of the name was already getting impatient.

\u201cBrother, this one is such a messy blob.\u201d

\u201cThis character is Zhen.\u201d

\u201cI don\u2019t like it. I want to write Xiaotie!\u201d

\u201cOkay. Let\u2019s write Xiaotie.\u201d

When the housekeeper pushed open the door, the siblings were still enthusiastically practicing together. The paper remained filled with random scribbles.

Lin Ke interrupted them. \u201cAlright, let\u2019s go celebrate Auntie\u2019s birthday.\u201d

The moment Si Xiaotie heard that, she immediately dropped the brush without hesitation, jumped off the chair, grabbed Lin Ke\u2019s hand, then after two steps turned back to grab Qin Mancheng too.

\u201cHurry, Brother! Let\u2019s go eat cake!\u201d

The living room had become even more crowded than before. Everyone surrounded today\u2019s main character in lively conversation.

A faint rose fragrance drifted subtly through the air.

Lin Ke\u2019s eyes flickered.

When she saw the unexpected owner of the fragrance, her body stiffened.

The two children squeezed into the crowd first and gathered around the birthday cake. Lin Ke followed behind and quietly stood off to the side, her gaze occasionally drifting forward.

Originally, Lin Ke hadn\u2019t known Si Yun had already chosen a fianc\u00e9e for Si Yuming.

Nor had she known who that fianc\u00e9e was.

Later, she finally understood.

It was Jiang Chengyin, who often came to accompany Si Yun.

It was Jiang Chengyin, who had gone to school with Si Yuming.

It was Jiang Chengyin\u2014the only daughter and heir of the Jiang Group.

At this moment, the glamorous woman stood beside Si Yun with a bright smile, chatting intimately with her. When she noticed the two children, she crouched down warmly to hold their hands, then pulled out prepared gifts from her bag.

\u201cManman, Xiaotie, Auntie prepared little gifts for you two.\u201d

Qin Mancheng accepted it politely and thanked her.

Si Xiaotie, anxious to eat cake, also quickly muttered a thank-you before stuffing the little gift bag into her cousin\u2019s hands and impatiently looking up at Si Yun.

\u201cAuntie, Auntie, Xiaotie wants cake!\u201d

An awkward expression flashed across Jiang Chengyin\u2019s face for a moment before quickly disappearing. She stood up, preparing to help cut the cake.

Suddenly, the front door opened.

Everyone looked over together.

From between the adults, the little girl also spotted who had arrived and squeezed out while shouting loudly:

\u201cDaddy!\u201d

Si Yuming picked up his daughter and swept his gaze around the room before walking straight toward Lin Ke.

Si Xiaotie twisted around in his arms and shifted herself into her mother\u2019s embrace instead.

\u201cMommy, I want to sing the Happy Birthday song for Auntie!\u201d

Lin Ke glanced at the man standing before her, a faint smile curving her lips.

\u201cOkay. Let\u2019s sing Happy Birthday.\u201d

…

The old residence remained lively until nearly ten o\u2019clock before guests gradually began leaving.

The two children had also long since exhausted all their energy. Qin Mancheng had gone upstairs early to shower and sleep, while Si Xiaotie had already become drowsy in her father\u2019s arms, her little head nodding repeatedly.

Si Yuming carried the child toward the garage first, while Lin Ke stayed behind to tidy up Si Xiaotie\u2019s little backpack.

\u201cLin Ke.\u201d

Her movements paused.

Si Yun walked closer, her gaze settling on the father and daughter gradually disappearing into the distance. Only after they vanished around the corner did she look back at Lin Ke and ask clearly:

\u201cDo you still remember the agreement between you and me?\u201d

Lin Ke gripped the backpack strap tightly and replied calmly:

\u201cI remember.\u201d

Five years.

After five years, the agreement would end.

And so would the marriage.<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3146","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3147,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3146\/revisions\/3147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}