This was a carefully arranged meeting set up by both families’ elders.
Tang You had already been sitting here obediently for nearly two hours, but her fiancé, Xiao Weijing, still hadn’t shown up.
This kind of embarrassing situation wasn’t new to her anymore. She was used to it.
Her delicate fingers pinched the corner of her skirt, where subtle camellia embroidery bloomed softly and gently.
During these two hours of waiting, Tang You counted 453 petals on the rose arrangement on the table, 15 of them incomplete; the tea had been changed eighteen times, and the fruit plates five times.
“Youyou, I’m really so sorry. Weijing said he has something to do and can’t make it tonight.”
Xiao Weijing’s mother, Zhao Manlan, spoke to Tang You with full sincerity and apology.
The quiet, well-behaved girl lifted her face and looked at her with a slightly dazed expression, as if trying hard to process what she just heard. Her hands slowly dropped, fingers twisting together nervously. A faint glimmer of water appeared in her innocent doe-like eyes.
But in just a moment, it quickly disappeared.
Zhao Manlan’s heart felt like it was being crushed by that single glance.
Tang You forced a small smile, her voice light and soft:
“It’s okay, Auntie. Brother Weijing is busy with work. I’m fine.”
Zhao Manlan felt even more guilty.
Tang You was personally chosen by Old Master Xiao as Xiao Weijing’s fiancée. Back when they first got engaged, Tang You was still in school.
Although the Tang family had been declining in recent years, Zhao Manlan didn’t understand the old man’s decision at first. But after spending less than two days with Tang You, she completely fell in love with this sweet, obedient, and adorable girl. She wished Xiao Weijing would marry her and have babies with her as soon as possible.
But Xiao Weijing strongly opposed the marriage. He never hid his disdain and embarrassed Tang You in public on many occasions. To avoid the arranged engagement, he even ran off to Europe with his uncle Xiao Zexing for four whole years and didn’t come back even for Chinese New Year.
The project finally ended, and he returned to the country today. Zhao Manlan had gone through great effort to arrange this meeting between the two young people tonight—only for Xiao Weijing to stand her up completely, leaving Tang You waiting here alone for over an hour.
Not even one word of explanation.
Zhao Manlan vaguely heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone. Before she could ask, Xiao Weijing impatiently hung up.
In her heart, Zhao Manlan scolded her clueless son over and over. Looking at how obedient and gentle Tang You was being, her heart ached even more. She looked at the girl with pity and asked softly,
“Youyou, since Weijing really can’t make it because of work, how about we just eat first? What would you like?”
Tang You’s eyes were already red at the corners, filled with grievance, but her voice remained exceptionally gentle:
“Anything is fine, Auntie. I’m not picky.”
After saying that, she even tried hard to give Zhao Manlan another small smile.
Zhao Manlan was deeply moved by the girl’s softness and thoughtfulness. In her mind, she cursed her foolish son another eighteen hundred times.
Look at how good and sensible Youyou is! Only her silly son doesn’t know what treasure he has—he ignores a real pearl and instead holds some worthless shell in the palm of his hand… What exactly is so great about that woman that makes Weijing not even glance at his own fiancée…
Zhao Manlan gripped her knife and fork tightly. With a perfect, impeccable smile, she gently cut a piece of beef and put it into her mouth.
She was terrified that if she said one wrong word, she might make this sweet, lovely girl even sadder.
Zhao Manlan, drowning in guilt, stayed with the girl through the entire meal.
Outside, night had settled in a hazy blur, fine rain drifting down. The courtyard was planted wall-to-wall with roses at their peak bloom. One square meter of that garden reportedly cost nearly two hundred thousand yuan; the design borrowed from royal grounds—pavilions, little bridges over running water—every inch worth its weight in gold. And this was just one unremarkable property among the Xiao family’s many.
The car that had come to pick Tang You up was waiting at the gate. Zhao Manlan rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder and walked her out herself.
The damp air carried the sweet scent of roses. Tang You breathed it in deeply and asked, “Auntie, do you like roses? They’re blooming so beautifully here.”
Zhao Manlan smiled. “Second Uncle had them planted when he lived here. I saw how well they did, so I kept them.”
The “Second Uncle” she meant was Xiao Weijing’s second uncle, Xiao Zexing.
Tang You had never met him. She only knew he hadn’t returned to the country in years. Inside Tengxiao Group, factions had been quietly warring for a long time; the old master still refused to name an heir, and rumor had it he was weighing Xiao Zexing against Xiao Weijing.
None of it had anything to do with her.
Tang You got into the car, waved goodbye with a gentle smile. “Goodnight, Auntie.”
In Zhao Manlan’s relieved, pitying gaze, the obedient, soft-spoken girl climbed in, shut the door, rubbed her face with both hands, and let out a long breath. The sweet smile vanished.
She kicked off her high heels, pulled out her phone, and started replying to the messages that had piled up like an avalanche.
Miao Jiaxi: [Xiao Weijing really didn’t show?]
Miao Jiaxi: [Aaaah holy crap he spent the whole day with Wen Ling again!]
Miao Jiaxi: [As the person who’s been cheated on, any words for the public?]
Tang You typed back with utter sincerity: [From the bottom of my heart, I wish them and their dog a long, happy life together so they set me free ASAP.]
Miao Jiaxi: [You are officially the most magnanimous original spouse I’ve ever met.]
Miao Jiaxi: [If every cheated-on person were like you, family-drama writers would starve for material.]
Even with Jiaxi piling on the rainbow farts, Tang You didn’t feel magnanimous at all.
Her late grandfather and Old Master Xiao had been battlefield buddies, close enough to share pants. Before he died, her grandfather had tearfully begged Old Master Xiao to look after her.
The old man thought for a moment—sure, no big deal—and with a wave of his hand, engaged her on the spot to Xiao Weijing, who had come along for the visit.
If Tang You had been a few years younger and he’d taken her home to raise, this would’ve been a classic slow-burn sweet-pet story.
But Xiao Weijing hated arranged marriages and dragged her into it. If she’d kept warming his cold heart, it would’ve ended up as one of those “chasing-wife-crematorium” regrets.
Tang You wasn’t that masochistic.
There were plenty of fish in the sea. Why waste her energy thawing one glacier? Was freedom not sweet enough? Were good-looking guys that rare?
Her real regret was not being clearer with her grandfather.
She didn’t want to marry Xiao Weijing.
She should’ve cried harder, begged more firmly back then. Now she was stuck playing the perfect granddaughter for the elders while playing the perfect white-lotus nightmare for Xiao Weijing.
Right after the engagement, Xiao Weijing hadn’t shown much resistance. Then, within a month, he fell head-over-heels for Tang You’s arch-rival, Wen Ling.
Tang You had a mild case of romantic OCD. She didn’t want a husband who’d ever loved anyone else deeply, let alone one who kept an untouchable white moonlight or cinnabar mole in his heart forever.
Especially when that “mole” was, in her eyes, mosquito blood.
Ugh.
The real problem was how to break the engagement without blowing everything up.
The Tang family was weak and powerless. Her spineless father and snobbish stepmother practically washed her clean, wrapped her up like a gift, and were ready to ship her straight to the Xiao family without giving her a single chance to speak. Old Master Xiao’s word was law—when Xiao Weijing dared suggest breaking off the engagement the very next day, an ambulance came for him, and he spent a full week in the orthopedics ward.
Tang You was afraid of pain and couldn’t bear the consequences of angering the old master, so she had no choice but to play the perfect obedient girl on the surface while quietly gathering intel on every single one of Xiao Weijing’s pet peeves and taboos. She was just waiting for the moment he finally got so disgusted by her that he couldn’t take it anymore and voluntarily took massive emotional damage to call off the wedding himself.
Plan: flawless.
After the engagement was canceled, whatever lovey-dovey, butterfly-fluttering romance Xiao Weijing had with his beloved Wen Ling would have absolutely zero to do with her—not even a single cent’s worth.
There were thousands upon thousands of high-quality men in the world. Only an idiot would hang themselves on one tree.
Especially a crooked-necked one.
There was still one year left until graduation. For students in the School of Information and Electronics Engineering, senior year basically meant everyone was already out interning at big companies, donating fresh blood to the corporate slave army.
Tang You had no intention of working in her major after graduation. After successfully applying to move out of the dorms, she lived in the apartment she’d bought herself and casually took in her equally broke best friend Miao Jiaxi, who was also slaving away writing content for new-media platforms.
After two blissful days of living like a carefree little princess, Tang You unexpectedly received another call from Zhao Manlan.
Zhao Manlan spoke with her usual gentle, considerate tone:
“Youyou, this time your uncle and I have properly lectured Weijing. Tonight you two young people can have dinner alone. I’ve already reserved a table for you at Bishui Xiaoting—table 13, 8 o’clock.”
Tang You replied very gratefully:
“Thank you so much, Auntie. You’re really too kind.”
—Sorry, Auntie. I feel bad that you’re putting in so much effort, but a forced melon isn’t sweet. Weijing and I really aren’t meant to be.
Before heading out, Tang You rummaged through her closet until she found a pure-white little dress. Standing in front of the mirror, she carefully curled her hair into soft, gentle waves and did her makeup as mild and elegantly natural as possible—
Most straight guys love pure, innocent little white flowers, but Tang You knew one thing for sure: Xiao Weijing had a very different taste. He didn’t go for green-tea bitches at all—he preferred the bold, carefree, no-filter type.
The more he hated something, the harder Tang You leaned into that exact thing when dressing up.
Once Xiao Weijing finally reached his limit and called off the engagement, she could take the breakup compensation money and walk away freely—living a life of luxury, partying every day, doing whatever she wanted.
Money was way more fun than a dog of a man.
With the appointment time approaching, Tang You grabbed her bag, twirled twice in front of the mirror to double-check she currently looked like the most harmless little white flower imaginable, then floated out the door.
The sky was already darkening. The last traces of sunset painted a soft halo along the horizon. Street lamps flickered on one by one. In the core CBD district, most of the gleaming commercial towers had been built by companies under the Tengxiao Group.
Not far away, lights blazed brilliantly. The buildings stood in neat, imposing rows. Even the air smelled faintly of money and ambition. This was the place nicknamed the “Little Wall Street of the East”—a playground for speculators where cunning and greed walked hand in hand.
Most of the properties here belonged to Xiao Zexing.
In truth, the Xiao family member currently riding the highest wave of influence wasn’t Xiao Weijing—it was his reclusive second uncle, Xiao Zexing.
Tang You’s stepmother had always been wary of her and never let her get involved in business matters. Tang You herself wasn’t interested in that world either; she only knew the basics from hearsay.
She knew one thing clearly: you don’t mess with the Xiao family—and you especially don’t mess with Xiao Zexing.
She arrived at Bishui Xiaoting quickly. Before going up, she checked her reflection in the lobby mirror one last time to make sure her makeup was flawless, then stepped into the elevator.
Tang You didn’t come to Bishui Xiaoting often.
The weather today wasn’t great. Even though she’d been careful, the hem of her skirt still got damp from the rain. She glanced down at the wet spot and suddenly noticed the shape looked exactly like a tiny heart.
When the waiter asked if she had a reservation, Tang You blanked for a second—she couldn’t remember whether Auntie Zhao had booked table 13 or 30.
Auntie Zhao was Christian, right? She probably avoided the number 13 like the plague.
No way she’d pick 13.
Just to be safe, Tang You asked the waiter, “Excuse me, is the guest at table 30 surnamed Xiao?”
The waiter spoke into his earpiece, checked with a colleague, then nodded.
“Yes. Are you Miss Tang You?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
Perfect. The other party had specifically asked for someone named Tang You.
The waiter gave a slight bow. “Miss Tang, Mr. Xiao has been waiting for you for quite a while.”
Tang You felt a little flattered—and confused.
What happened to Xiao Weijing? Did the old master beat him again? Or did Auntie Zhao drag him here by force?
Following the waiter’s lead, she silently rehearsed how she should address him later.
“Weijing-gege” was way too cutesy and sticky—she couldn’t say it. Pass.
“Weijing-ge” felt off too. Just “Weijing” then? Or maybe just “Jing”?
…
Lost in her random thoughts, she reached the private room.
The waiter didn’t follow her inside. He knew the big boss inside disliked being disturbed. With a polite bow: “Miss Tang, please go in.”
Tang You pushed open the heavy wooden door carved with intricate, lavish roses.
She stepped across the thick, dark carpet patterned with blooming crabapple branches, rounded the screen, and her eyes landed on the man casually seated at the head of the table.
The moment their gazes met, her heart slammed wildly against her ribs.
The man’s features were strikingly handsome—deep-set yet not harsh, with an aura that was restrained and profoundly calm.
His shirt and suit trousers were immaculate; every button done up to the very top.
An effortless air of nobility radiated from him.
After a brief second of being dazzled by his looks, Tang You’s body reacted on instinct: “Mr. Xiao?”
Why did Xiao Weijing look so… refined and charismatic after four years?!
Xiao Zexing calmly studied the girl in front of him, expression unreadable.
He set his teacup down steadily. His long, pale fingers interlaced.
His voice was low and rich: “I’ve been waiting for you a long time.”
_________________________________________________________
Author’s note:
Little angels! I’ve finally started this pit at last!