After Marrying the Aloof Beauty, I Totally Fell for Her - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – I Already Have a Lover

After getting the marriage certificate, An Ning’s life carried on as usual—except she no longer had to skip training to dig up sweet potatoes in the mountains.

Mr. Iron Tree posted a new Weibo update—no caption, just a photo of a marriage certificate. It stayed on the trending list for an entire day. Many speculated that he had fallen into a blissful married life and could no longer paint anything soul-stirring.

As one of only two people who knew the truth, An Ning simply commented in her heart: Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread them.

In her WeChat message list, the cactus icon never lit up again. Although her father had told her to keep in touch with Teacher Mu more often, she honestly didn’t know what they could talk about. Teacher Mu was a renowned artist, while the only painters An Ning knew were the ones mentioned in high school history books. She couldn’t exactly strike up a conversation about badminton, right?

Time passed in this state of hesitation, and the longer it dragged on, the harder it became to reach out.

After the National Day holiday, the freshmen selected for the university badminton team officially joined. The coaches held a welcome orientation in a large classroom so everyone could get acquainted. All currently enrolled players were called in, and the room was packed.

The freshmen sat in the front rows. As a sophomore, An Ning sat in the second row. Behind her were seniors like Chen Ying. The fourth-year students were either already signed with clubs and flying around for competitions or fighting to join the national team—very few of them showed up.

“These freshmen are really lively,” whispered her teammate Ren Tiantian, nudging An Ning. “And pretty good-looking too. Look, that girl over there is apparently this year’s campus belle.”

Ren Tiantian was one of Yunda’s main doubles players. Her name meant “sweet,” and it fit her well—sweet-looking, bubbly, and a bit of a chatterbox.

“We were about the same when we were freshmen,” An Ning replied, glancing in the direction Ren Tiantian had gestured. Just then, she locked eyes with one of the new girls whispering to her friends.

That group of girls seemed to be talking about her. One of them was pointing in her direction, and the others were listening with great interest. When they noticed her looking, they didn’t shy away—instead, one stuck out her tongue playfully and looked away. But the most striking girl among them held An Ning’s gaze with a bold, almost heated look.

An Ning turned back, frowning slightly. “Is there something on my face?”

Ren Tiantian shrugged dramatically. “Badminton is all about aura, Ning Ning! If she looks at you, look right back! Anyway, she’s cute, so it’s not like you’re losing anything. Also, when are you finally going to start dating? Do you know how many love-struck admirers I fend off for you every day? They even call me ‘Queen Mother’ now!”

Actually, I’m already married—though it’s fake, An Ning muttered silently, then reached over and affectionately patted Ren Tiantian’s fuzzy head. “I’ll treat you to lunch tomorrow.”

These freshmen really were livelier than their batch. It took the coach yelling for a full thirty seconds before the classroom quieted down.

“Being a PE teacher really wears out your throat,” the coach grumbled, chugging tea. He pointed to the first boy sitting in the front row. “Alright, all the new kids—come up one by one and introduce yourselves. Name, hometown, when you started playing badminton, what you’re good at, and who you’ve got your eye on among your seniors. Go, go, go!”

Most athletes, no matter their personality, tended to be action-oriented. The named boy got up without fuss and confidently began introducing himself.

“When you introduced yourself back then, I turned around and saw a few senior guys looking at you like hungry wolves,” Ren Tiantian giggled.

An Ning couldn’t help laughing. She remembered how, not long after starting university, one senior had arranged a heart-shaped display of candles beneath their dorm building to confess his love—only to be mercilessly extinguished by the dorm manager’s fire extinguisher.

Fortunately, after more than a year of relentless rejections, most people had stopped bothering her.

Just as An Ning was thinking how peaceful it was now, she noticed that same girl from before—still staring at her—had stepped onto the stage.

Why is she still looking at me?

An uneasy feeling crept up in An Ning’s chest.

“I’m Jing Tong. I’m from Yun City. I started playing badminton in first grade, although it wasn’t exactly formal training,” the girl began confidently. But her eyes stayed glued to An Ning the whole time. Even Chen Ying, sitting behind An Ning, sensed something off and kicked the back of her chair.

“I specialize in singles and my goal is to become a professional player. And most importantly, the person I admire most in badminton is sitting in the audience today. Senior An Ning, I’ve liked you for a long time. Will you be my girlfriend?” the girl said, cheeks flushing red but voice unwavering.

The room fell completely silent. An Ning saw the coach frozen mid-sip, tea trickling down his neck and soaking into his polo shirt.

She sat motionless in her seat, not particularly emotional—just a little mentally fried.

This was probably the first public confession in the badminton team’s orientation history. No one could tell if the girl was just extremely bold or ready to face social death if she failed.

After a moment of stunned silence, the classroom erupted into deafening cheers.

No one could resist a good drama—especially a crowd of energetic young athletes.

The chaotic shouting and whistling soon morphed into a single unified chant.

“Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!”

The thunderous chorus bore down on An Ning like a blade. She found it annoying. Gently patting Ren Tiantian’s hand off her sleeve, she turned to give Chen Ying a reassuring look, then stood up.

At her movement, the room fell silent again. Some watched with anticipation; others, sensing her expression, started smirking and looked toward the girl on stage with sympathy.

An Ning looked at the girl’s blushing face. As their eyes met, the excitement in the girl’s gaze began to fade. Her confidence started to waver.

I’m sorry.

“Thank you for your affection. But I already have a partner, so I can’t accept your confession.”

Even though her marriage to Mu Yan was a mutually beneficial arrangement, the certificate was real. At least for now, she was technically in a relationship.

An Ning silently apologized to Mu Yan’s face in her mind.

After a short silence, the classroom burst into murmurs again. But this time, it wasn’t cheers—it was a rising tide of hushed gossip.

Everyone began to speculate about who the campus belle belonged to. No one paid attention to the girl on stage anymore.

Perhaps that was a blessing for her.

An Ning met the girl’s tearful eyes and gave her an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry,” the girl whispered, nodding before fleeing the stage and burying her face in her arms.

An Ning felt a twinge of guilt. She didn’t like being confessed to in front of a crowd. In those moments, the attention lifted her onto a pedestal—but once she rejected someone, it was the other person who ended up there, vulnerable and exposed.

She didn’t want to hurt anyone, even if they had caused her trouble.

“Hmph. Already has a lover? More like being kept by someone,” a snide voice suddenly rang out among the whispers.

Silence fell once more as everyone turned to the speaker.

It was another tall girl, dressed in pricey designer brands, decked out like a walking alphabet. She sat with a provocative smirk, looking straight at An Ning.

It was none other than the women’s singles seed player of the PE department—Hong Tianjiao.