The door closed.
Inside the car, Ding Ding had already been waiting for a while. Seeing her get in, she leaned over and asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t look too good.”
“Chen Suyun insisted I drink some congee, and I accidentally knocked the bowl over.”
“That woman really knows how to keep her composure—top-notch patience. Anyone else would have lost their cool by now.”
“Someone who’s climbed to her current position is hardly an ordinary person.” Xu Jingshuang leaned back in her seat, buckled her seatbelt, her tone indifferent.
Chen Suyun had originally been a tea-picking girl at the Jiangcheng Tea Plantation. After divorcing her husband, she struggled to get by while raising Xu Jingwei. When Gu Mingzhu went to Jiangcheng to inspect the tea plantation and saw that she was capable and honest, she brought her back to Beicheng to work as a maid. Gu Mingzhu treated her quite well—she paid for Xu Jingwei’s schooling and gave them the best conditions.
But the moment Gu Mingzhu passed away, before even the seventh-day mourning period was over, Chen Suyun had already become Mrs. Xu.
A seamless transition.
Xu Jingshuang didn’t want to dig into it—she just found it disgusting.
“But aren’t you afraid she’ll dislike you?” Ding Ding asked.
Xu Jingshuang curled her lips. “Plenty of people dislike me. She’ll have to get in line.”
“I never waste energy on self-doubt. Her disliking me is her problem. I just love watching them be annoyed by me yet unable to do a thing about it.”
Ding Ding nodded in agreement and gave her a thumbs-up. “A true role model!”
The century-old hotel in Beicheng sat in an alley near Chang’an Street.
The car came to a stop, and Xu Jingshuang and Ding Ding walked into the lobby together.
Ding Ding said she was going to the restroom and told her to go in first.
A waiter quickly approached and made a gesture of invitation. Just as she was about to reach the corner, the sound of footsteps came from ahead.
Xu Jingshuang instinctively looked over.
As she reached the turn in the corridor, the sound of orderly footsteps came from ahead. A group of people in dark executive jackets walked with steady strides, while the hotel manager bowed and led the way with the utmost deference.
At the center of the crowd, a tall, striking figure stood out. The man wore a custom-made black suit, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, his posture as straight as a pine. He tilted his head slightly, listening to the report of the man beside him, his features cold and sharp, his presence commanding.
The people accompanying him were all prominent figures in Beicheng, yet they all revolved around him.
This wasn’t just wealth—this was power.
Xu Jingshuang’s fingertips tightened around her handbag chain.
It was him—the man from Lin Yong Pavilion last night?!
Just as the two groups were about to pass each other, the man turned his head, his gaze landing in her direction.
His dark eyes lingered on her for less than half a second, but Xu Jingshuang felt as if she’d been scanned from head to toe.
He raised an eyebrow, then looked away and continued walking, as if nothing had happened.
In the second they passed each other, the crisp scent of woody tea drifted into her nose again—exactly the same as last night.
Acting like he doesn’t know me. Xu Jingshuang rolled her eyes inwardly. Last night when he pinched my earlobe, he didn’t have that look on his face.
At the end of the corridor, the footsteps gradually faded.
Ding Ding came out of the restroom. “What’s wrong? Why are you standing here?”
Xu Jingshuang snapped back to reality. “Nothing.”
Beicheng was so big, yet she’d run into him again the very next day.
When they reached the private room, their partner, President Li, stood up to greet them with a smile, dressed in a dark green qipao. “Miss Xu.”
Xu Jingshuang put on a polite smile and returned the handshake. “President Li, hello. I’m Xu Jingshuang.”
President Li held her fingertips and smiled graciously. “How is Elder Gu’s health? Back in Jiangcheng, he did me a great favor.”
“Grandfather is in good health. He’s just been thinking about the cooperation with you on this end.”
Xu Jingshuang sat down and took the prepared cooperation proposal out of her bag. Just a few thin pages—she had spent two weeks revising it repeatedly, condensing it down to only the core content.
“Grandfather said that President Li is a veteran in Jiangcheng’s tea industry, and told me to learn more from you.”
“Your grandfather was the real expert back in the day.” President Li closed the proposal. “This deal doesn’t need such detailed discussion.”
“What do you mean, President Li?”
“According to what was previously agreed with your grandfather, I’ll handle the Jiangcheng distribution channels, and you’ll break into the Beicheng market. As for the profit-sharing ratio, your grandfather has the final say.”
“Then let’s do it according to Grandfather’s wishes.”
President Li picked up his teacup and took a sip. “The tea industry is not like those financial theories you studied abroad—the waters run deep. Are you prepared?”
Xu Jingshuang raised her eyes. “I’m not one for empty slogans. But what my grandfather could accomplish, I can accomplish too.”
President Li looked at her for two seconds, then smiled. “Elder Gu has high standards. Anyone he trusts to pass the torch to can’t be mediocre.”
Xu Jingshuang breathed a quiet sigh of relief, though her expression betrayed nothing. “Thank you, President Li.”
After a round of negotiations, the cooperation was successfully settled, with the formal signing scheduled for the following week.
After seeing President Li off, Ding Ding teased with a smile, “A great start—now you can relax.”
Before she could even enjoy the moment, her phone rang.
Caller ID: Xu Guoting.
Her smile faded slightly. She picked up, and the voice on the other end carried barely suppressed excitement: “Shuangshuang, come home quickly. The Rong family is here. Dinner at home tonight.”
Xu Jingshuang frowned. “What are the Rong family doing here?”
Xu Guoting’s voice was smug: “What else? Proposing marriage!”
The call ended.
Xu Jingshuang held her phone, completely stunned.
Last night at Linyong Tower, hadn’t she made herself clear? That person wasn’t Rong Anmin, but he should still be from the Rong family, right? She had made so many harsh remarks—how could the other party possibly still come to propose marriage?
Ding Ding saw her expression and leaned in. “What’s wrong?”
“My dad wants me to come home. The Rong family is there to propose marriage.”
“What?” Ding Ding’s eyes widened. “Didn’t you say you’d handled it?”
“I thought I had.”
The car stopped at the entrance of the Xu family villa.
Xu Jingshuang got out and took a deep breath.
The entrance hall was lit up, and several cars were parked in the courtyard. She recognized one of them—a black Golden Sunflower state gift car with sequential plates. She had just seen it last night.
The moment she pushed open the door, she was stunned by the scene in the living room.
Xu Guoting sat upright in the seat of honor, his face glowing with happiness. Chen Suyun sat beside him, wearing a gentle smile. In the center of the living room were piles of lavish gift boxes. Over a dozen attendants in uniform stood in neat rows, each holding a redwood tray—the sense of ceremony was overwhelming.
And on the other side of the sofa, the man who had unsettled her, was lounging lazily. His long legs were crossed, and his black suit gave him an imposing presence.
When Xu Guoting saw her enter, he immediately stood and waved her over. “Shuangshuang, come quickly. Let me introduce you—this is Rong Jingchen, the current chairman of the Rong Group, and your fiancé.”
Xu Jingshuang walked closer step by step, staring at the man on the sofa, her lips trembling slightly. “You… you’re not Rong Anmin?”
Rong Jingchen raised his eyes to look at her, his dark eyes calm and unrippled, without a trace of surprise.
That one sentence left Xu Jingshuang completely speechless.
She turned to look at Xu Guoting, her tone filled with disbelief. “Dad, isn’t the person I’m betrothed to supposed to be Rong Anmin?”