The day after Lin Muyi’s birthday banquet, Shen Xiying was sitting in her office leisurely drinking tea when she received a call from the front desk.
Lin Quan had brought Lin Muyi to apologize.
Shen Xiying leaned back against her chair, a faint smile curving at her lips. Just as expected.
She told the front desk to bring them to the reception room and that she would be there shortly.
After hanging up, she set her phone down on the desk.
Crossing her legs, she finished the tea in her cup before unhurriedly rising and walking out of the office.
When she entered the reception room, Lin Quan immediately stood up upon seeing Shen Xiying arrive.
A fawning smile hung on his face: “Xiying, about what happened last time—it was really Yiyi being thoughtless.”
“This time I’ve brought her here specially to apologize to you. I hope you won’t take it too much to heart, won’t hold it against her, and certainly won’t let it affect the cooperation between Fuying and the Lin Corporation.”
As he spoke, Lin Quan reached out his hand, intending to shake Shen Xiying’s.
Shen Xiying glanced at it and directly ignored it.
Then she pulled out a chair and sat down to the side.
Lin Quan’s suspended hand froze in mid-air for a moment before he withdrew it after two seconds.
He forced another smile onto his face: “Yiyi, come over and apologize to Xiying.”
Lin Muyi stood off to the side, her expression sullen, extremely reluctant.
But with Lin Quan pressuring her relentlessly, she bit her lip and finally walked up to Shen Xiying.
In an impatient tone, she said, “I’m sorry. What happened last time was my fault.”
Lin Muyi’s words came out fast—hurried, restless, and flippant.
Shen Xiying’s gaze rested on her for two seconds before shifting to Lin Quan. In a casual tone, she said, “If President Lin hadn’t said Miss Lin was here to apologize, I would have thought she’d come specially to pick a fight with me.”
Lin Muyi’s face turned deathly pale. She looked up, glaring at Shen Xiying with disgust: “Shen Xiying, don’t be so shameless—”
Before she could finish, Lin Quan patted her on the shoulder.
Lin Muyi was forced to swallow the rest of her words back down her throat.
Lin Quan looked at Shen Xiying, his smile somewhat strained.
“Xiying, Yiyi just talks like that. Don’t take it to heart.”
As he spoke, Lin Quan pulled a contract from his pocket, placed it on the table, and slid it in front of Shen Xiying.
“As a gesture of apology, this is a contract I’ve redrawn.”
Shen Xiying lowered her head and flipped through the contract.
In the previously signed contract, Fuying had agreed to supply all its jewelry to the Lin Corporation at five percent below cost.
In this new contract, Fuying was no longer required to give up that five percent.
Instead, the Lin Corporation would purchase all of Fuying’s jewelry at cost price going forward, as a form of atonement.
She had expected Lin Quan to bring a new contract, but she hadn’t expected him to directly forgo that five percent.
Shen Xiying raised an eyebrow in surprise and readily accepted the new contract.
After the contract was signed, Lin Quan carefully put it away before asking tentatively, “Xiying, can you forgive Yiyi for what happened last time?”
Shen Xiying curved her brows and smiled: “Of course. It was a trivial matter to begin with.”
Lin Quan nodded with a smile as well, the weight in his heart finally lifting.
After the contract was signed, Lin Quan didn’t linger at Fuying. After sitting for a while, he left with Lin Muyi.
Only after they walked out of Fuying did Lin Muyi’s emotions fully erupt.
She snatched the contract from Lin Quan’s hand and flung it to the ground.
Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her chest heaved with fury: “Dad, what right do you have to grovel like that in front of Shen Xiying? Behind her is nothing but the Shen family—why do you keep giving in to her?”
“She ruined my birthday banquet that day and made me a laughingstock in the entire circle, and then today you forced me to come apologize to her! Why?!”
“Do you know what my friends think of me now?!”
Lin Quan frowned at Lin Muyi’s words, a flicker of displeasure passing through his eyes.
But it was quickly suppressed.
He reached out, took the contract from Lin Muyi’s hand, and said with a hint of impatience: “Lin Muyi, can you be clear-headed for once?”
“The Shen family really isn’t much. But what’s behind her isn’t the Shen family—it’s the entire Shang family.”
With that, Lin Quan clutched the contract and walked toward the car.
His fingers gripped the contract so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“But Shang Ruzhou doesn’t even like her!”
Lin Muyi’s voice trembled as she spoke: “Shen Xiying is just lucky—she stumbled into getting the marriage certificate with him by accident.”
Lin Quan frowned at Lin Muyi’s words.
He took a deep breath and said, “This isn’t about whether he likes her or not. As long as Shen Xiying is part of the Shang family, Shang Ruzhou will protect her.”
Lin Muyi looked at Lin Quan, and a malicious smile suddenly curled at her lips: “Then what if they get divorced?”
Lin Quan paused, glancing at Lin Muyi.
He let out a sigh, and his tone finally softened:
“Yiyi, don’t meddle too much in the Shang family’s affairs. That’s not something we can interfere with just because we want to.”
“Dad knows you have a grudge in your heart, but there’s no helping it. This is a concession we have to make.”
Lin Muyi pressed her lips together, her eyes fixed on the grayish ground ahead.
After a long moment, she finally moved her lips and spoke in a very soft voice: “Shang Ruzhou’s white moonlight is about to come back.”
Xu Nianyu was about to return to the country.
Shang Ruzhou really wouldn’t divorce her?
Lin Muyi didn’t believe it.
During the three years Shang Ruzhou spent abroad, everyone assumed he simply wanted to expand his influence overseas.
But Lin Muyi knew the truth.
It wasn’t just that—it was also because Xu Nianyu was abroad too.
At the thought, Lin Muyi curled her lips into a faint smile.
Now that Xu Nianyu was back, how much longer could Shen Xiying keep up her arrogance?
After Shen Xiying finished handling matters at Fuying, she stepped out of the building to find the sky already dimming toward dusk.
On the way back to Zhongyu Palace, the driver passed by a cake shop.
Shen Xiying glanced at it and said, “Stop the car.”
The driver pulled over.
Shen Xiying walked into the cake shop, and a nearby sales associate greeted her, asking, “Miss, what would you like to buy?”
“Do you have lemon cheesecake here?”
“Yes, we do!” the sales associate said with a smile. “We just happen to have the last one left.”
“I’ll take it,” Shen Xiying said. “Thank you.”
After paying, the sales associate handed Shen Xiying the neatly packaged cake.
Shen Xiying took it, then opened the car door and got in.
On the way, she held up the lemon cake, looking at it from one side, then the other.
It looked decent enough—she wondered if it tasted good.
Shang Ruzhou really loved lemon cheesecake. She wondered if this one would suit his taste.
The car pulled into Zhongyu Palace, and Shen Xiying got out, walking into Villa No. 19.
At this hour, Shang Ruzhou still hadn’t returned.
Shen Xiying carefully placed the cake in the refrigerator, then settled contentedly onto the sofa in the living room.
Phone in hand, she idly began scrolling through videos.
A notification popped up on her screen, and she glanced down at it.
#Xu Family’s Adopted Daughter Xu Nianyu to Return Soon—The White Moonlight of Shang Corporation’s CEO Is Back…#
Her brows furrowed slightly as she read it, and she was just about to tap in for a closer look.
The door opened.
Shang Ruzhou was home.