Pinky Ring
It was early September in Yuncheng, at Wuchuan International Airport.
A girl strode ahead with a cold expression. Several bodyguards in black and sunglasses followed close behind, one of them towing a large cream-colored suitcase covered in colorful stickers.
The wheels rattled as passersby glanced over again and again, their eyes fixed on the girl surrounded by bodyguards. They wondered which family’s heiress had just arrived with such a grand escort.
The girl looked young and pretty, with an unmistakably student-like air. She had an oval face, big eyes, and neat bangs. Her glossy black hair fell to her chest, sweeping through the air in an arc as she hurried along.
A beige, dropped-shoulder sweater, a brown pleated skirt, slouchy socks, and brown platform combat boots.
She wore white wired earphones, with an orange bird hairpin clipped to one side of her hair. A bright, colorful chain dangled from her phone case. She wore no other accessories.
A luxury car was waiting outside the airport. The driver stood beside it and opened the door as she approached, bowing respectfully. “Miss, please.”
Xue Ling glanced to the side. The bodyguards who had escorted her all the way here had already loaded her suitcase into another car.
She lowered her eyes and got into the back seat.
Before starting the car, the driver made a phone call. “Madam, we’ve picked up Miss.”
“Mm.” Cartoon voices and a child’s laughter sounded from the other end. The woman’s lazy voice came through the speaker. “Did she cry?”
The driver checked the rearview mirror. Xue Ling met his eyes, her expression blank.
“No.” He looked away and replied, “Miss seems to be in good spirits.”
“As long as she’s in good spirits. She’ll need to save her energy for dinner with her father tonight.”
The last sentence was clearly meant for Xue Ling.
The woman hung up. Xue Ling gripped her phone and said nothing, keeping her face cold all the way from the airport to the city.
At three in the afternoon, the car entered a gated residential community and pulled up in front of a mansion.
Xue Yulan waited at the entrance, dressed in a champagne-colored silk nightgown with a new cashmere shawl draped over it. Her freshly permed waves fell over her shoulders as she idly played with the rhinestones on her long manicured nails.
A nanny stood beside her, holding a chubby little girl.
Before the driver could get out to open the door, Xue Ling stepped out on her own.
As soon as one leg emerged, Xue Yulan’s well-kept face lit up. She came forward affectionately to greet her. “Lingling…”
Xue Ling looked straight ahead, walked past her, and headed toward the nanny a short distance behind. “Where’s the bathroom?”
The nanny instinctively looked to Madam. Xue Yulan’s smile didn’t falter as she turned around. “Ask Mom. Mom will tell you.”
Xue Ling ignored her and went inside to look for it herself.
After searching around, she returned to the living room and walked over to the woman playing with the child on the sofa. She stiffly gave in. “Mom.”
Xue Yulan hummed, pleased, and asked the nanny to show her the way.
After Xue Ling came out of the bathroom, the nanny kindly led her back to the living room.
Xue Yulan pulled her down beside her and wrapped an arm around her, making her look at the camera before taking a photo.
Then she let her go and began writing a post for her social media. “Your father will be home tonight. Remember to call him Dad.”
“Can’t.”
Xue Yulan looked up at her. “I’ve already arranged it with him. One million for each time you say it.”
“Still not doing it. I won’t sell my soul for money.”
“So noble. You must not be short on money, then. How much do you have?”
Xue Ling didn’t answer.
Xue Yulan gave a scornful laugh. “Can you even make a living off those few romance comics of yours? Do you know how many artists in this country starve to death…”
Xue Ling cut her off. “That’s none of your business. I don’t spend your money. I can support myself.”
Xue Yulan smiled. “I’m your mother. Whose money are you going to spend if not mine?”
Xue Ling pointed at the little girl beside her. “Aren’t you her mother?”
“I’m mother to both of you! I don’t have to be a mother to only one of you.”
Xue Ling sat in the corner of the sofa and lowered her eyes to her phone. “You can just be her mother. There’s no need to call me back here to get in your way.”
“…”
Xue Yulan took a deep breath, left both her daughters in the living room, and went upstairs alone.
The bright, colorful chain hanging from Xue Ling’s phone was very appealing to children. The little girl crawled over from the sofa and knelt beside her, blinking curiously at it.
Xue Ling curled her hand around the chain, hiding it from view.
The little girl thought for a moment, then politely introduced herself. “Hello, big sister. I’m Cheng Fei. My nickname is Rongrong.”
“Don’t call me big sister. I don’t know you.”
“What’s your name? Dad says when strangers exchange names, that means they know each other.”
Xue Ling looked at her. “Did your dad ever teach you not to talk to strangers?”
“He did.”
“Then keep quiet.”
The little girl really did stop talking, sitting quietly beside her.
Three years ago, when Xue Ling graduated from university, her mother married her new boyfriend after getting pregnant.
That same year, Xue Ling went abroad. She hadn’t been in touch with her family for three years.
It seemed Xue Yulan had finally lost patience and sent people to bring her back.
When Xue Ling first saw the tall bodyguards in black outside her home, she’d nearly panicked. Once she learned her mother had sent them, all she felt was speechless anger.
Xue Yulan had a new family and a new life. Xue Ling could leave her alone.
She’d had the sense to move out on her own. Why drag her back home?
As she scrolled on her phone, she accidentally opened her social media feed. Xue Yulan had posted something half an hour ago.
It was the photo of the two of them, with a caption saying she wanted to set her eldest daughter up on a date. She was looking for a handsome, eligible man from a well-matched family, local to Yuncheng. Anyone with a suitable prospect should make an introduction right away.
“Mom!”
Xue Ling stormed upstairs to find her.
She was doing perfectly well living on her own. There was no way she’d stay in Yuncheng to get married.
She had someone she could never have in her heart. She’d long since decided to stay single for life, and would never settle for another man.
*
In the suburbs of Yuncheng, at a private, fully enclosed mountain racetrack, a supercar party was underway.
Young heirs from half the city’s elite circles had gathered. Night swallowed the winding track, and the engines of modified supercars worth over a hundred million each roared like growling beasts, setting everyone’s adrenaline pumping.
It was one of the few large-scale gatherings in their circle. A few well-connected people had brought everyone together, and the venue was privately owned, so they could do whatever they liked without breaking any rules.
The racers were fully focused, competing with their cars, their wits, and their skill. Those who weren’t racing clustered in small groups to chat and cheer them on. Designer clothes and accessories had been tossed together in a heap: jackets, hats, sunglasses, all hopelessly mixed up, with no way to tell whose was whose.
“Brother Zhuo isn’t racing? He brought the car but not himself?”
“The young master’s just being considerate. If he raced, how would anyone else have fun? Everyone would be watching him show off.”
“Then where is he?”
“Haven’t seen him. He was here a little while ago.”
In a relatively quiet corner of an open space at the foot of the mountain, the scratch of pens against paper came to an end. Both men signed at the same time.
Cheng Guangyuan stood, buttoned the single button of his suit jacket, and shook hands with the young man across from him.
“Thank you for Tianxing’s trust and support. I look forward to working with you, Mr. Xu.”
“Likewise. Thank you for making the trip, Mr. Cheng.”
“It’s no trouble. That’s how business goes, isn’t it? If the mountain won’t come to me, I’ll go to the mountain.”
Xu Jingzhuo smiled. “Then you’ve misunderstood, Mr. Cheng. My first appointment tomorrow morning is with Guangyuan Technology. I just didn’t expect you to be in more of a hurry than I was.”
Cheng Guangyuan thought to himself, how could he not be in a hurry when money was at stake?
Anyone passing by would have taken a second look at this peculiar business meeting.
This was a place for pure entertainment. Every other table was covered with skewers, drinks, snacks, dice, playing cards, and ashtrays. This one alone was spotless, with a laptop open and a tableful of printed documents.
Cheng Guangyuan was over forty-five, while the other man was a young CEO in his twenties.
Cheng Guangyuan had come in a suit, specifically to discuss business. Xu Jingzhuo, on the other hand, had been called away in the middle of having fun, dragged from his Koenigsegg One:1 without even changing his clothes.
A black-and-white motorcycle jacket, a solid silver dragon-bone chain hanging over his collarbones, and an expensive, dark pigeon-blood red earring in his left ear.
His natural black hair fell carelessly over his forehead. His features were striking and sharply defined, with a high nose bridge and a clean jawline. His brows held an innate arrogance, but the pure, dark brilliance in his eyes kept it in check. He didn’t come across as disrespectful or frivolous. He just looked like a guy with an irresistibly cool kind of handsome.
He looked to be at least 1.87 meters tall, with a straight back and broad shoulders.
He was outgoing, and when he smiled, two small canine teeth showed. Three parts well-behaved, seven parts wild.
He drove a car worth over a hundred million and discussed deals worth tens of millions.
If Cheng Guangyuan hadn’t known what Mr. Xu was capable of, he would have taken him for an immature kid and dismissed him at a glance.
Being handsome didn’t put food on the table.
That was what people in the industry had thought a few years ago, but they soon changed their minds.
Among this generation of heirs in high society, Xu Jingzhuo was one of the few who had earned the respect of both the older and younger generations.
At twenty-six, most heirs his age still had fathers who hadn’t retired. Even if they did well in the family business, they were only called junior executives. Xu Jingzhuo was the only one who had taken power into his own hands right after graduation, using his formidable skills to sideline his parents entirely.
The Xu family’s Zhongqi Group controlled Yuncheng’s largest internet technology company, with businesses spanning gaming, music, e-commerce, and many other fields. After generations of accumulated wealth, its assets had grown to a staggering sum no one could even count. It was, without question, a top-tier wealthy family.
Xu Jingzhuo had been involved in the family business before he came of age. His father was the eldest son, and he was the eldest grandson. No one in the family could compete with him, and no one dared try.
Mr. Xu had boundless energy and connections everywhere, and his knack for making money was extraordinary. Under his leadership, the group’s profits had doubled year after year. No one else in the family came close to matching him.
After taking over as CEO, Xu Jingzhuo had made a point of expanding the group’s share of the gaming market, with a particular focus on Tianxing, its game studio. In recent years, the studio had concentrated mainly on developing online games.
Cheng Guangyuan’s Guangyuan Technology was a digital security company. Its work included data risk management, server protection, and, most importantly, combating cheats in online games.
Tianxing had long worked with Shuo’an Technology, an established name in the industry. But rumors had recently surfaced that the two companies had fallen out and ended their contract. Security companies across the industry were now eyeing Tianxing, eager to take over.
That was why Cheng Guangyuan had gone out of his way to catch Mr. Xu at a gathering full of young people. He’d seized the chance to pitch his company’s strengths and get Guangyuan Technology considered for the job.
With his distinguished background, his success at such a young age, and his looks and abilities, Mr. Xu should have been the perfect match for any number of heiresses, at the very top of the marriage market.
If only…
Cheng Guangyuan’s gaze passed over the lonely platinum pinky ring on Xu Jingzhuo’s left hand.
This young master was known to everyone as a man who intended to stay single for life.