My Goal Is Just a Secure Post

Cen Kangning, a recent college graduate, had his grad school offer rescinded and got crushed in the job hunt. After 22 years of grinding like a workhorse, he was exhausted and just wanted to lie flat like a salted fish. Right then, his family set him up on a blind date. As an adoptee, Cen Kangning had seen this coming, so he showed up. On the day, an auntie arrived—no sign of the actual match, who was seven years older than him. Cen Kangning wasn’t thrilled. No matter how low he thought of himself, he wouldn’t sell himself for a 200,000 dowry, right? Until the auntie casually dropped the match’s current situation: "Due to family reasons, they need to marry ASAP. Originally a professor abroad, they’ve returned home. To secure them, P University is offering a spouse a library administrator job—permanent staff." Cen Kangning: "?" "Auntie, it’s not that I’m into job security, but I’ve always had a thing for older men." "Husband, right? Say something." He turned with a smile to the cold, bespectacled man sitting nearby, his shirt buttoned meticulously to the top. Qi Zhao, who’d been watching the whole time: "Hmph." — Qi Zhao thought Cen Kangning was flippant and shameless—who calls a stranger "husband" on first meeting? Yet months later, he’d move heaven and earth just to hear that word again.