Winter in Beijing, snow was falling.
As dusk slowly settled over the sky, a plane glided to a halt at the brightly lit international airport.
Su Zhaotang disembarked and walked out slowly, pulling a large suitcase. Compared to the crowds of people rushing through the vast airport, she was a striking sight.
She had a palm-sized face with a pair of limpid, sparkling eyes. Her naturally curled eyelashes and cherry-red lips were moist and beautiful even without makeup. Her skin, white as milk, made her shine as bright as a diamond in the crowd.
Dressed in an avocado-green dress that accentuated her slender waist, she revealed a section of her slim, straight calves. Her porcelain skin seemed to glow under the airport lights; she was beautiful to the extreme.
Su Zhaotang had only walked a few steps when her phone began to chime incessantly with messages.
She picked it up and saw they were almost all from her best friend, Zhao Xi, and her younger brother, Su Haoxuan.
Before she could look closely, her brother’s call came through. “Sis, have you gotten off the plane yet? I’m right here in the arrival hall. I guarantee you’ll see your ‘world’s most handsome’ brother the moment you step out,” Su Haoxuan said narcissistically.
Su Zhaotang couldn’t help but laugh. Her smile bloomed like a flower, causing a man walking nearby to nearly trip because he wasn’t looking where he was going.
“Alright, stop being so full of yourself. I see you, my dear ‘great handsome’ brother.”
Su Zhaotang’s gaze landed on the tall, upright young man. Lacking a formal posture due to his youth, he stood there lazily. His features were handsome, and his overall appearance looked incredibly wild and unrestrained.
She walked over and, before her brother could speak, she directly pinched his ear. “Dye this blue hair back immediately, do you hear me?”
To accommodate her height, Su Haoxuan had to bend over as he was being pulled.
“Ow, ow, ow! Give me some face in public, Sis! Even Mom and Dad aren’t nagging me about my hair, yet here you are.”
“They aren’t managing you, so I’ve come back to do it. You’re really acting out during this winter break of your freshman year of high school, aren’t you? Dye it back before school starts, do you hear me?”
Su Haoxuan relented. “Fine, fine, fine. Let’s go quickly before the traffic gets bad. Mom and Dad are waiting for you at home.”
He took the suitcase from Su Zhaotang and led the way out. In his hand, the large suitcase seemed light as a feather.
The driver drove quickly, and they arrived home in less than an hour. Their home was located in Tianyu Bay, a secluded luxury villa district in the city center. There were only ten villas there; their family had acquired the land early, and now, even with money, it was nearly impossible to buy into the area.
Su Zhaotang handed her luggage over to her brother and ran into the house with light, cheerful steps. A bright smile lit up her face as she shouted, “Dad, Mom, your little baby is back!”
As soon as Su Dad and Su Mom saw Zhaotang, they both rushed forward to embrace her. Her mother couldn’t help but shed tears from missing her.
“I missed you so much, Zhaozhao. You must be exhausted after such a long flight. Go get settled and rest in your room in a bit. I’ll have Aunt Zhang make your favorite dishes tonight. Did you not eat well abroad? You’ve lost weight, baby.”
“No I haven’t, Mom. I ate very well. I’m actually three pounds heavier than when I left,” Su Zhaotang replied.
Hearing this, Su Dad laughed and chimed in, “Alright, stop chatting. Go back to your room and rest first. We’ll have a nice dinner with your father and mother tonight.”
Su Zhaotang leaned softly against her parents’ shoulders, acting spoiled for a while before dragging her feet slowly back up to the third floor.
The entire floor belonged to her private domain, including a walk-in closet, a dance studio, a gym, and a massive luxury master bedroom. The decor followed a style she had specifically requested from a designer. It was no exaggeration to say she was the little princess of the Su family.
Back in her room, she collapsed heavily onto the bed. Her nose was filled with a familiar scent, and the exhaustion from the long flight hit her instantly. She fell asleep just like that.
That evening, while everyone was eating dinner together, Su Dad took the opportunity to mention, “Zhaozhao, do you still remember your brother Zhou Lingjing, who used to play with you when you were little? Both families were thinking that since you’re back, we should find time for us all to have dinner together. Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhou looked after you for a while when you were young.”
“Oh, sure,” Su Zhaotang agreed without thinking much of it.
“That’s good. After all, you’ll be marrying that young man from the Zhou family soon. It’s better to spend some time together beforehand. When you were little, you used to follow him around calling him ‘Brother’ all the time, haha,” Su Dad laughed heartily.
Su Zhaotang was shocked, her chopsticks nearly falling from her hands. “When did I get a marriage contract with him? Why didn’t I know? How did this suddenly happen?”
“Oh, it was actually settled by your grandfather’s generation shortly after you were born. It was a childhood betrothal. The plan was that if neither of you had a partner by the time you were of age, you would fulfill this agreement. Now, the elders of the Zhou family are seeing that Lingjing is nearly thirty and still hasn’t planned on finding a partner, so they remembered this. Besides, Lingjing is a young talent and very successful. He runs that massive family business so brilliantly. In our city, countless socialites are fighting over him,” her father, Su Zhiyuan, explained.
Seeing his daughter’s look of disbelief, he comforted her, “It’s fine. You two just spend some time together first. You used to love it when he carried you and played with you when you were small.”
Su Zhaotang recalled that when she was three, she indeed loved playing with Zhou Lingjing. Combined with her lifelong habit of being attracted to good-looking people, she had been a total clinger to him. However, he was probably even more handsome now…
At the thought, a flush of crimson gradually spread across her face.
“Oh ho, what’s this, Su Zhaotang? You’re actually blushing? You haven’t even met him yet and you’re like this. Have you had a crush on him since you were a kid?”
Su Zhaotang stood up from her chair in a fluster, her face red with embarrassment. “If you say another word, I’m going to hit you, Su Haoxuan!”
“Fine, fine, fine, I’ll stop. My mouth is zipped. But Sis, I have to say, Zhou Lingjing really is a top-tier talent in the Beijing circle, and his status is like this—” He said, holding up a thumb.
After hearing their words, Su Zhaotang sat back down against her chair, her fingers toyed with her slightly wavy long hair. She lowered her eyes, her thoughts unknown.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window onto Su Zhaotang’s fair, translucent face. She was sleeping so deeply she seemed to be dreaming of something, her lips slightly pouting in a charming manner.
The phone rang at an inopportune moment. The persistent ringing caused Su Zhaotang to frown. She opened her eyes impatiently and saw the caller’s name. Ugh, that brat Zhao Xi.
“You’d better have a good reason for this, or you’re going to suffer the wrath of waking me up.”
Ah, I forgot this little ancestor needs her beauty sleep.
“Zhaozhao baby, you’re the best, hehe! I just wanted to tell you that we should all get together with the girls tonight. We haven’t seen you in so long, I missed you to death!” Zhao Xi said giggling on the other end of the phone. “It’s settled then. You absolutely have to come tonight. I’ll send the location to your WeChat later.”
Without waiting for Su Zhaotang’s reply, Zhao Xi quickly hung up. After all, she didn’t want to give the young mistress a chance to refuse.
Su Zhaotang was long accustomed to Zhao Xi’s ways. She tossed the phone back onto the bed, rolled over, and went back to sleep.