A full minute of deathly, frozen staring.
On the floor, Tang Nan coughed twice and laboriously sat up. Tang You turned and bolted. Only after she got back to her own room did she tremblingly send text messages, desperately trying to maintain her vicious white-lotus persona.
Tang You: “Wuwuwuwu I was just playing a wrestling game with my little sister earlier~”
—Nope. You saw everything. I was straight-up one-sidedly beating her.
Tang You: “I really wasn’t bullying her, okay?”
—Yes I was bullying her! And after bullying I’ll still play the victim! That’s exactly how evil this white lotus is!
Tang You: “Please please don’t misunderstand me, I’m so sad…”
—Please misunderstand me! I’m begging you to hate me! Fly into a rage! Break off the engagement!
After sending several messages, Tang You racked her brain trying to think of ways to make him hate her even more. Then the notification chimed—she had a reply.
She rolled upright, crossed her legs, hands shaking as she tapped it open.
Scum Xiao: “Nice moves.”
Scum Xiao: “Trained before?”
Tang You didn’t dare reply. She let out a wail, shoved her phone under the pillow, yanked the blanket over her head.
She vaguely felt that “Xiao Weijing’s” recent behavior… didn’t seem like someone who wanted to break off the engagement at all…
The thought plunged her into massive panic.
The next morning, Tang Xiao brought a listless Tang Nan over to apologize to her.
Tang You had already prepared herself for the possibility that Tang Nan would run crying to Tang Xiao, so this actually surprised her quite a bit.
The slap marks on Tang Nan’s face were heavily covered with thick foundation and concealer. She hung her head dejectedly: “I’m sorry, Sister… I shouldn’t have done that yesterday. I was wrong…”
Tang You immediately took her hand, overflowing with tender affection: “Silly little sister, I know you were just joking around.”
Her fingers precisely landed on the exact half of Tang Nan’s face that had been slapped last night. Tang Nan sucked in a sharp breath of pain.
Tang You smiled sweetly, brimming with motherly kindness: “Our sisterly bond is so strong—how could something this small affect us?”
Her words moved Tang Xiao deeply. “Youyou, you’ve really grown up. You’re so much more sensible than before.”
Tang You gave a soft, delicate laugh: “It’s all thanks to how well you taught me, Dad.”
Beside them, Tang Nan sucked in several more sharp breaths.
After the lecture on Tang Nan was done, Tang Xiao finally pulled Tang You’s hand with a face full of guilt: “Last night, if Mr. Xiao hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have even known that Tang Nan bullied you…”
Tang You was slightly stunned.
At least Xiao Weijing still had a shred of conscience.
At least he knew to protect her a little.
She didn’t respond. Tang Xiao studied her expression, remembered how Xiao Zexing had casually brought up Qixing yesterday, and swallowed the words he’d been about to say.
No rush.
The marriage wasn’t set in stone yet. Once Tang You married Xiao Weijing, then they could start making plans.
For now, let Tang Nan start at the entry level of Qixing, rotate through some departments, get some “experience.”
Tang You saw the hesitant, conflicted look on Tang Xiao’s face but showed no reaction.
She guessed Xiao Weijing must have said something again.
On the ride back, Tang You was in Jiang Chenting’s car.
She hadn’t slept well last night. Her head drooped; exhaustion made tears well up in her eyes.
In a daze, she suddenly heard Jiang Chenting speak: “You don’t want to marry Xiao Weijing?”
The words instantly chased away her sleepiness. Tang You’s eyes flew open. She stared at him and denied it immediately: “How could that be? I like him so much—how could I not want to marry him?”
Jiang Chenting curved his lips in a small smile. “Tangtang, you don’t have to lie to me.”
The car wasn’t going very fast. A sleek black Maybach flashed past them—that was Xiao Weijing’s car. Jiang Chenting had just seen him yesterday.
Jiang Chenting said: “Don’t worry. As long as you don’t like him, Gege won’t let you marry into that family.”
The sun outside was quite bright. Tang You picked up a book, opened it, and placed it over her face.
“…Mm… I understand, yes, Uncle Wang, I get what you mean…”
Miao Jiaxi had just walked in carrying strawberries. Seeing Tang You on the phone, she quietly set the strawberries down and tiptoed back out.
She gently closed the door behind her.
Tang You sat on the sofa, lightly pressing back down the corner of her face mask that was about to slip off.
She tilted her face upward, expression unsmiling, voice soft and gentle: “Uncle Wang, I know you have your own considerations. I also understand the current situation and don’t want to trouble you too much. I just want to ask you for one favor—if Jiang Tao and her daughter really try to join the board, could you please stand on my side? Is that possible?”
The person on the other end agreed, then sighed. “Youyou, I watched you grow up. Back then Director Su always took good care of me, so let me give you a piece of advice—if you really want to get into Qixing, your best bet is still to ask Xiao Zexing to step in. He’s your fiancé’s second uncle, and right now he’s in charge of Mingjian. One word from him is worth more than anything else.”
Right after he finished speaking, Wang Yu saw a tall, upright man approaching surrounded by a crowd. He hurriedly added: “Alright, Youyou, that’s all Uncle has to say for now. I have something to handle—let’s talk next time.”
As he spoke, the person had already reached him.
Wang Yu put away his phone and smiled as he went forward: “Mr. Xiao, we finally managed to invite you here.”
Xiao Zexing was dressed in a dark suit, which made him look even taller and more imposing.
The light cast a faint shadow across his refined, noble features. He smiled: “I heard you weren’t feeling well a while back. You look much better now.”
Wang Yu never expected Xiao Zexing to actually remember him. Overwhelmed with gratitude, he laughed: “I’ve been fine for a while now. Thank you for your concern.”
This whole thing was originally a setup by the Chen family. Wang Yu was just a small fry tagging along, hoping to see if he could snag some benefits for Qixing while he was at it.
After a few rounds of drinks, Wang Yu—still thinking about that order—tentatively brought it up.
Xiao Zexing calmly set down his wine glass. “You mean Director Su’s Qixing?”
Wang Yu nodded.
Someone nearby noticed Xiao Zexing’s glass was empty and hurriedly refilled it with eager attentiveness. Xiao Zexing raised a hand in a light, blocking gesture and smiled. “Speaking of which, I actually have a bit of a connection with Qixing.”
The words instantly drew every ear in the room.
Xiao Zexing spoke slowly and deliberately: “It won’t be long before Director Su’s daughter marries into our family.”
Wang Yu’s eyelid twitched. He thought to himself:
What perfect timing.
He had just finished advising Youyou to cozy up to Xiao Zexing, and now Xiao Zexing himself was dropping this line.
The subtext was crystal clear. Right now the chairman of Qixing was Tang Xiao—but Xiao Zexing deliberately referred to the late former chairman, Su Yuan, and emphasized that Su Yuan’s daughter, Tang Youyou, would soon marry into the Xiao family.
The protectiveness was blatant.
Everyone present was sharp as a tack. They had vaguely heard before that Xiao Weijing didn’t particularly like Tang Youyou, but since both Old Master Xiao and Xiao Zexing were firmly on her side, there wasn’t much anyone could say.
Now that Xiao Zexing had openly shown his stance, who would still dare side with Jiang Tao and her daughter?
A huge weight lifted off Wang Yu’s chest. He felt incredibly relieved.
Youyou had never once considered asking Xiao Zexing for help.
She didn’t dare wade into the murky waters of the Xiao family. Since she had already resolved to cut all ties with them in the future, she absolutely shouldn’t go looking for more trouble now.
But Old Master Xiao clearly didn’t see it that way.
When she received the call from the old man, Youyou was buried in the spreadsheets she had compiled—methodically ticking boxes next to each Qixing director based on how close their relationship was to her, how friendly their attitude, and so on.
During Tang Xiao’s tenure as chairman, the entire management team had basically been overhauled. The few people her mother had trusted back then had either resigned, left, or retired.
It was proving quite difficult.
Just when she was at her wits’ end, Old Master Xiao called her himself.
His voice boomed energetically: “Youyou, there’s still some time before school starts, right? Come out and play these next couple of days. Want to go deep-sea fishing?”
No, she did not.
Though the old man phrased it as a question, his tone made it sound like an order.
Even if Youyou had already started school, he would have forced her to take leave and come anyway.
Youyou smiled sweetly in response: “Sure, Grandpa Xiao! Where are we going?”
“You young girls all love surprises, don’t you? Let’s keep it a secret for now,” Old Master Xiao was in high spirits and made the decision on the spot. “It’s settled then. Tomorrow I’ll send someone to pick you up—we’ll be gone about two or three days. Pack some essentials, or make a list and call A-Xiang. I’ll have everything prepared for you.”
Old Master Xiao had spoken; he hated having his decisions questioned. With that, he gave Youyou no room to refuse.
Though he hadn’t said it outright, Youyou knew perfectly well that this outing was most likely another attempt to matchmake her with Xiao Weijing.
Youyou let out a deep sigh, closed her notebook, and rubbed her eyes.
Soldiers come, generals block; water comes, earth dams it.
She couldn’t push back against the old man directly—so she’d have to start from Xiao Weijing’s side.
Old Master Xiao personally sent a car to pick Youyou up. On the way to the airport, chatting with the driver, she finally understood the full scope of his arrangements.
The old man had gone all out to pair her with Xiao Weijing: he had chartered an entire small island, complete with a yacht for going out to sea. Worried the two of them might feel awkward alone, he had also invited a bunch of people around their age to join.
“There are quite a few people coming this time. Besides several Mr. Xiaos from the main family, he invited a lot of close friends—Mr. Deng Jue, Mr. Hao Yun…” The driver carefully listed all the names and smiled. “Unfortunately, none of the cousin misses could make it, so they won’t be joining.”
The Xiao family was famously male-heavy and female-light—that was also why Old Master Xiao doted on Youyou so much. With no daughters or granddaughters of his own, he treated her like his own granddaughter.
Youyou, however, felt indifferent. She had zero interest in socializing or networking. All she could think about was how to make herself thoroughly unappealing to Xiao Weijing.
But there was a hiccup after boarding: Xiao Weijing was taking forever to show up.
By the time they reached the destination, she had no choice but to board the yacht first. En route, the driver received a phone call and his expression turned grave.
The person on the other end said that Xiao Weijing had refused to come accompany Miss Tang Youyou on the sea trip and had instead gone to the hospital to keep Wen Ling company while she got treatment.
They instructed the driver to calm Miss Tang Youyou’s emotions right now, keep the matter hidden for the time being, and wait until Madam personally called Miss Tang to explain.
The driver agreed, but inwardly felt sympathy for Youyou.
Everyone in the Xiao family knew how coldly indifferent Xiao Weijing was toward his fiancée. What a pity for such a beautiful, sensible girl like Miss Tang Youyou…
Distracted, when they arrived at the yacht, the driver went to fetch the room key and accidentally grabbed the one for Xiao Zexing’s room instead.
His mind was elsewhere; he didn’t notice and absentmindedly handed it to Youyou.
Youyou never received a call from Zhao Manlan.
Instead, a Xiao family maid secretly tipped her off: Today Xiao Weijing had gone to accompany Wen Ling. He probably wouldn’t be boarding the yacht at all.
Youyou was over the moon—practically exploding with joy.
Old Master Xiao had deliberately arranged for her and Xiao Weijing to share a room—his intentions were obvious. But after boarding the yacht, Youyou had realized the painful reality: since she was dead set on breaking off the engagement, she absolutely did not want any kind of physical entanglement with this man.
She had been worrying about exactly that when this heavenly news arrived. She immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The yacht had already left the dock by now—he wouldn’t be able to board anymore.
Youyou relaxed and took a long, leisurely bath. When she finally emerged, humming a tune, her cheeks were flushed a soft pink from the hot water. She loved the feeling of padding barefoot across the thick, plush carpet.
She flopped onto the bed, routinely scrolled through videos of vicious female antagonists pulling their schemes, and drowsily fell asleep.
In a haze…
A strong hand pinched her waist hard. Youyou jolted awake from the pain. Opening her eyes, she was caught completely off guard—
Xiao Zexing was right there.
She froze.
Aaaaaaaaah!!!
Why the hell was this man on the yacht?!
His white shirt was unbuttoned at the top two buttons, collarbones sharply defined. Xiao Zexing was leaning over her, gazing down with lowered eyes.
His face was half-shadowed in the dim light, but his clear, bright eyes reflected Youyou’s panicked expression staring back at him.
The faint scent of alcohol mingled with a cool, subtle fragrance.
He was clearly drunk—eyes narrowed slightly as he stroked her cheek, as if trying to confirm who she was.
Three seconds later, he accurately called her name: “Youyou?”
One hand still rested on her waist; the other pinched her cheek. He lowered his head and kissed her lips directly.
Youyou’s mind buzzed like it was about to explode.