Chapter 1

The aging population is becoming increasingly severe. The A-country government is forced to implement a new policy: if you haven’t married by the time you graduate from college, the state will assign you a partner.

Want to refuse?

Unless you can afford to pay a daily single tax of up to ten thousand.

Ye Xingguang firmly believed that as the campus beauty of C University, she would never fall into the tragic state of needing the state to assign her a partner. However, on the day of her graduation, her boyfriend, who had promised to get the marriage certificate with her, dumped her.

Without a marriage certificate, the school would not issue a graduation certificate, and no employer would hire her. This was A-country’s strictly enforced law. Unable to afford the single tax, she could only get on a coach organized by the school and head to the civil affairs office to draw lots for a partner. 

Before she entered the civil affairs office hall, she heard a bewitching voice coming from the speakers:

“Who are we?” “Single dogs!”

“Why can’t we find our own partners?” “Because we enjoy solitude!”

“Say it again!” “Because we’re ugly!”

Ding Dong——

The doors of the civil affairs office hall slowly opened…

Ye Xingguang touched her gorgeous features, mustered her courage and walked in. After completing a series of procedures, she stood in front of a computer, took a tense breath. Would her lifelong happiness really depend on a lottery system?

What if she draws a rotten apple?

Ye Xingguang hated her ex-boyfriend to death. He should have ended their relationship earlier, not wait until graduation day, leaving her without time to choose a desirable suitor before she was rushed to the civil affairs office by the school!

She could’ve chosen from the multitude of boys who pursued her in school. How blind could she have been to date that jerk?

That lousy man had screwed her big time!

If she ended up with a man who smoked, drank, gambled, and was abusive, even in death she wouldn’t let her ex off the hook!

“Quit dragging your feet! You can’t find a partner on your own, and the state kindly assigns you one, why are you hesitating? Hurry up and draw a number.”

The rule for drawing a partner was: The computer randomly displayed ten numbers, and the drawer picked one from them. Each number corresponded to a person.

Looking at those ten numbers, Ye Xingguang felt like swearing, could you please tell me, each number represents a person, their height, weight, age, education, family background, advantages and disadvantages, bad habits and so on…

No information was available, only a cold number. How was she supposed to choose?

“Hey, I mean you, if you don’t actively pick a number within thirty seconds, the system will automatically do it for you, and then you’ll have no room for regret.”

The official popped sunflower seeds in her mouth and kindly reminded.

Unfortunately, the warning came too late. Before she knew it, thirty seconds had passed and a number was auto-selected by the computer.

[Congratulations Miss Ye Xingguang, your state-assigned partner is no. 1314521. Please collect 1314521’s identification information from the service desk. We wish you a happy marriage, hopefully with two children within a year.]

Ye Xingguang: “!!!”

Shut up, I am not a baby-making machine!

But, 1314521, it looks like a lucky number!

Unfortunately, no matter how good it is, they still treat me like a baby-making machine!

What she should do now is to complete the procedures as soon as possible, find her partner, get the state-matching certificate, and then get her graduation certificate from the school with it. After all, she needed both the match certificate and the graduation certificate to secure a job at the employment market!

Once she starts earning, she could possibly pay divorce tax and choose her ideal lover again.

“Miss Ye, here is the information regarding your match. Please keep this. We have notified your match to come over, and you can process the procedures together. According to our country’s laws, you have to live in your match’s house for the next year. A civil affairs office official might visit any time.”

Ye Xingguang nodded gloomily, took the information, glanced at the name of her match, and was suddenly taken aback.

Ye Junqing?

This name, why does it sound so familiar?

Ah! She remembered!

Isn’t that the name of the super-rich man on Forbes’ rich list?

Ye Xingguang’s eyes widened. Could the state have assigned her a super-rich husband?

How could it be possible? Did she really have that kind of luck?

Chapter 2

While waiting in the civil affairs bureau, Ye Xingguang had sweaty palms, engrossed in a gossip website discussing the hottest topics— “Unveiling the top ten cancerous bachelors of country A’s commitment-phobic diamond bachelors list!”

You have to admit, those on the list are truly the top ten outstanding young talents of Country A in terms of looks, wealth, and capability, every girl’s ideal marital prospects. Unfortunately, all of them are staunch bachelors and ruthless, formidable forces.

For instance, the first on the list: Ye Junqing.

He once arrogantly proclaimed during an interview: Whoever draws me, I advise you to prepare a grave for yourself right away!

Ye Xingguang was so scared her legs were trembling; she immediately implored the staff for help.

“Can I reshuffle?”

“Absolutely not. I see that you’re a pretty girl, why don’t you have a partner? You have high standards, don’t you? I’ve witnessed many of these pretty yet partnerless girls, thoroughly indecisive, until they are left behind. Even upon arriving at the civil affairs bureau, you haven’t changed this bad habit?”

Ye Xingguang really wanted to retort, I just got dumped today, and just had a heartbreak. But wouldn’t that be more embarrassing?

It would be better to say that she was left behind because of high standards, that would save her face.



“The person I drew has the same surname as me, maybe he is my relative within three generations, which is unfavorable to eugenics.”

But the staff isn’t buying her excuse: “Trust the state, it won’t arrange your match randomly. For you singles, the state has carefully matched based on birth characters, personality, family background, education, values, appearances, spouse selection criteria, etc., through big data analysis, it has selected ten most suitable candidates for you to choose. Any one of them would be a good match.”

“!!!”

Which eye did this big data see that she and Ye Junqing are a match?

Ye Xingguang was anxious to tears: “Can’t I really choose again?”

“No, unless you can afford a penalty of ten million! But let me tell you, refusing the official match is not as simple as paying a fine. It will also go on record, becoming a lifelong stain. Not only will you lose your political rights for life, even your credit will be affected. Future loans, airplane and high-speed train travels will be rejected. Think about it, can you bear such consequences….”

What? Is it that serious?

*

Hiss— Hiss— Hiss— 

Eleven low-key luxurious Rolls-Royce vehicles, like the palaces on wheels, are dashing towards the civil affairs bureau.

The indescribable aura has been intimidating from afar.

But what is more shocking is the arrogant Ye Junqing sitting in the sixth car; his aura is so overwhelming, giving people the irresistible urge to bow down.

However, his anger has already reached the boiling point, his beautiful visage expressing gloom more than a city shrouded by dark clouds.

The nervous Fu Zhuo, sitting in the co-driver’s seat, didn’t dare to breathe. He wished he could atone with his life.

He was so busy that he forgot to pay the ‘single tax’ for his boss, Ye Junqing, resulting in such a miserable situation of being drawn at the civil affairs bureau.

Master Ye’s ‘single tax’ is paid annually which happened to be due today. He was just three hours late for the extension, and this happened…

“Master Ye, punish me. If I hadn’t forgotten to pay the single tax, you wouldn’t have been drawn. But rest assured, I have already informed Lawyer Xi to handle this at the civil affairs bureau. There must be a solution.”

“How to solve it?”

The man’s voice was deep and domineering, directly speaking out the predicament at hand, “My brother is currently in a critical stage of his presidential election. If I refuse the state-arranged match at this moment, I don’t know how many political enemies will take advantage of this…”

Fu Zhuo felt even more guilty, and gritted his teeth to ensure, “Master Ye, don’t worry, the public does not yet know about this….”

Before he could finish, a push message came in from his phone:

[Bombshell! The number one cancerous bachelor of commitment-phobes — Ye Junqing, has been drawn at the North District Civil Affairs Bureau in the Imperial capital!]

Fu Zhuo twitched in his eyes violently. How did the media find it out so quickly? Did they want him to apologize by his death?

...Chapter 3...

Fu Zhuo couldn’t resist mourning for himself. At this point, he could only place his hopes on Lawyer Xi, hoping that the man could be of some help!

*

Civil Affairs Bureau, a comparatively quiet reception room on the second floor.

Lawyer Xi was pulling out all the stops, hoping to discourage Ye Xingguang.

“Miss Ye, I am Mr. Ye’s lawyer, my surname is Xi. In regards to your lottery draw with Mr. Ye, I’m fully responsible.”

“First of all, let me inform you about Mr. Ye’s situation. Even though he’s currently single, Miss Xia Yanyan will soon become his fiancée. However, the Civil Affairs Bureau, unaware of these circumstances, has randomly selected him due to his upcoming bachelor tax.”

“I believe, without even needing me to tell you, you would know who Miss Xia Yanyan is, wouldn’t you? I also believe that given Xia Yanyan’s special status in Country A, you wouldn’t dare to overstep your bounds and take away her betrothed, right?”

On the way to the Civil Affairs Bureau, he had already received a call from Miss Xia Yanyan, instructing him to, by any means, settle this matter with Ye Xingguang.

Miss Xia said that there isn’t a girl in the world who would dare to take away her man, and if necessary, he could use her name without hesitation.

Lawyer Xi also believed that taking on Miss Xia meant courting disaster, and should one offend her, they could face the wrath of the netizens, enough to virtually kill her. 

In Country A, Miss Xia Yanyan is indeed widely adored.

Years ago, scientific researchers in Country A discovered a mermaid fossil. They ambitiously launched a mermaid transformation project, aiming to extract mermaid genes from the fossils and inject them into human embryos, hoping to produce a beautiful mermaid, a species long thought to be extinct.

This project required numerous sacrifices, but finally, Miss Xia was born, a globally acclaimed and unique mermaid. Her body could transform into a beautiful mermaid with a tail when in water, and when out of water, she had normal human legs, it was simply miraculous.

The moment of her birth made Miss Xia a national treasure.

Now, Miss Xia’s name is consistently at the top of the “Country A’s Most Desired Women List.”

Any girl who coincidentally drew Mr. Ye’s lottery should know when to fold.

“Miss Ye, the best course of action now is for you to voluntarily pay a penalty and refuse this official matchmaking, then redraw. Rest assured, Mr. Ye will pay the penalty you have been fined, and in addition, Mr. Ye would also offer you a compensation sum of one million, what do you say?”

Ye Xingguang wanted to laugh after hearing this. Originally, she regretted having drawn Ye Junqing and was quite willing to find a way to break the official match, but…

What did Lawyer Xi mean by using Xia Yanyan to scare her?

She hadn’t forgotten what the employees had said earlier; refusing the official match would result in losing political rights for life, inability to apply for loans, participate in elections, take high-speed rails and flights, and it would even affect her credit score…

Ye Xingguang propped herself on the couch inside the reception room, lazily throwing her legs over the armrest: “Are you sure this is the best solution? It seems so troublesome to me. Since Mr. Ye is wealthy, why doesn’t he pay the penalty himself?”

How could Mr. Ye be the one to pay the penalty?

Miss Xia Yanyan had strictly instructed him that the person who must actively decline the matchmaking could only be Miss Ye!

Lawyer Xi was resolute and would not tolerate being bargained with by this unknown entity: “Miss Ye, the one who must voluntarily reject the official matchmaking can only be you. If you feel that the compensation sum of a million isn’t enough, you can name your price.”

“That’s not the issue here.” Ye Xingguang flatly refused.

“Then what is the problem? You surely don’t believe that with a slightly pretty face, you can match oneself up with Miss Xia, do you? We’ve already investigated your family situation. The daughter of a remote island fisherman, compared with Miss Xia, is like comparing heaven and earth!”