1970s–1980s, Haicheng Wharf.
A massive ocean liner returning from overseas was docking.
The usually bustling dock fell into an instant, eerie silence.
Then the crowd erupted like a pot boiling over, stretching their necks to see.
“Wow, whose car is that? So grand!”“Is that a Hongqi sedan? Ordinary people can’t afford that!”
A sleek black car rolled slowly to a stop by the pier.
But that wasn’t even the most shocking part.
What really made people’s eyes pop were the two military-green trucks following right behind the sedan.
The trucks were fully loaded, covered with tarps, but the corners revealed their contents: camphorwood crates.
Two whole trucks of camphorwood crates!
The car doors opened, and a few men in black suits—bodyguards—swiftly jumped down, respectfully pulling open the rear door of the sedan. Someone even held up a lace-trimmed parasol.
A foot in a white lambskin high heel stepped lightly onto the dusty ground.
Then, a dazzlingly white leg appeared, smooth as a peeled lychee.
Bai Luoluo stepped out of the car. (female, heiress of the Bai family)
She slightly wrinkled her delicate nose, then lifted a hand in a white lace glove to cover it elegantly, like a scene from a movie.
She wore a pale purple silk dress, cinched tightly at the waist, the skirt fluttering slightly in the sea breeze, with subtle embroidery glinting wealth in the sunlight.
In an era when most people wore simple fabrics, some patched, she was like a white swan among ducks, breathtakingly beautiful yet utterly out of place.
“Is that the Bai family’s eldest daughter who was sent abroad?”“I heard her name is Bai Luoluo; she just returned from studying overseas.”“Wow, look at this setup—two whole trucks of luggage. Did she just move an entire department store from overseas?”“Capitalist daughters are so pampered… who can handle that here?”
The crowd murmured with envy, jealousy, and a touch of anti-rich bitterness.
Bai Luoluo heard them but didn’t even lift her eyelids.
As the sole heir of the overseas Bai family, she had grown up used to this kind of gaze.
Her attention was fully on the slightly aged man in front of her.
“Dad,” she whispered softly, her voice gentle like a drizzle in southern China in March.
Old Master Bai looked at his tall, elegant daughter, his eyes instantly reddening.
He trembled as he reached out to touch her head, but hesitated, afraid his rough hands might mess up her carefully styled hair.
“Luoluo, it’s good that you’re back… it’s good that you’re back…”
His voice choked, but deep in his gaze was a lingering worry.
Bai Luoluo noticed immediately.
In his telegrams from abroad, he only said he missed her and urged her to return.
But with the Bai family’s wealth, if he simply missed her, he could have flown overseas to see her—why rush her back?
She hadn’t even finished her studies abroad.
“Let’s go home first,” he said cautiously, eyeing the curious onlookers, lowering his voice, and leading Bai Luoluo into the car.
The moment the doors closed, the outside noise was blocked.
Bai Luoluo leaned against the leather seat, watching gray buildings fly past, her unease growing.
This homeland, though vibrant, carried a suffocating pressure.
The car drove into the Bai Mansion in the concession district.
The mansion still preserved its former grandeur: garden villas, fountains, sculptures—a lonely island amid chaotic times.
The two trucks of luggage were carried into the house by workers.
“Be careful! That crate has my perfume; if one bottle breaks, you’ll pay for it!”“That’s my bathtub! Don’t bump it!”“That’s a Simmons mattress! Don’t drag it on the floor!”
Bai Luoluo directed the servants, her pampered voice echoing through the empty hall.
She had grown up pampered in a honey pot, and life felt impossible without these refined possessions.
By the time everything was settled, dusk had fallen.
In the study, the atmosphere was tense, almost palpable.
Old Master Bai sat behind a rosewood desk, looking ten years older instantly.
He stubbed out the cigarette in his hand; the ashtray was piled high.
“Luoluo,” he said hoarsely, “the Bai family… is in trouble.”
Bai Luoluo paused, her hand holding an English-style teacup.
“Is it because of our money?” she asked straightforwardly.
Old Master Bai nodded bitterly.
“Money moves people’s hearts. Our overseas assets, and the tech blueprints we just brought back, are being watched by too many.
“Although the higher-ups intend to protect us, some people below… have dirty hands. They want to seize the Bai family’s piece of meat while the situation is chaotic.”
“This is called liquidation.”
Old Master Bai trembled as he spoke the words.
Bai Luoluo set down her teacup.
Though pampered, she was not foolish.
She knew all too well what the word “capitalist” meant in this special historical period.
It was a mark of original sin.
Without a strong protector, the Bai family’s vast wealth would become a curse that could cost them their lives.
“So?” Bai Luoluo looked up, her grape-like eyes shimmering with a maturity beyond her years. “You didn’t rush me back just to tell me this, right?”
Old Master Bai dared not meet his daughter’s gaze.
He took a deep breath, summoning all his resolve.
“The organization… has provided a solution.”
“A political marriage.”
The two words fell like a death knell, plunging the study into absolute silence.
Bai Luoluo lowered her eyelids; her long lashes cast shadows on her cheeks.
As expected.
Throughout history, when wealthy families faced crises, their most common solution was to sell their daughters.
Even in this new era, the method still worked.
“Who is it?” she asked.
If it was a transaction, she needed to know the opponent’s offer and bargaining chips.
“Lei Li.”
When Old Master Bai spoke the name, his tone carried both respect and helplessness.
“The eldest grandson of the Lei family in the capital city, currently the youngest military district commander. Decorated, with limitless potential.”
“Only the Lei family, only the guns he commands, can intimidate those schemers who covet the Bai family’s wealth.”
“This is a political marriage… as well as a form of protection and supervision by the organization over the Bai family.”
Instantly, Bai Luoluo conjured an image in her mind:
A broad-shouldered, coarse, unkempt man, face full of ruggedness, speaking like thunder, always carrying the scent of sweat.
This was her stereotype of a soldier, especially one who had spent years on the battlefield.
She instinctively frowned, shrinking back as if she could already smell the suffocating aura.
“Can I refuse?” she asked quietly, hoping for a miracle.
Old Master Bai closed his eyes painfully and shook his head.
“Luoluo, if you refuse, the Bai family won’t survive three months. Your perfumes, dresses, high heels… everything will be confiscated. We might even be forced to sweep streets and live in cattle sheds.”
Bai Luoluo went pale.
Sweep streets? Live in cattle sheds?
That was worse than death!
She was a pampered rose; without her greenhouse and nutrients, she wouldn’t survive a day.
As she hesitated, suddenly:
A cold, emotionless mechanical voice exploded in her mind, without warning.
【Beep——】【Host life signs detected. Multi-Child Blessing System activated.】
Bai Luoluo jumped, dropping her teacup, which shattered on the floor.
“Who… who is speaking?”
She looked around frantically.
Only she and her father were in the study.
Old Master Bai, startled, asked, “Luoluo, what’s wrong?”
Bai Luoluo ignored him. The voice continued, projected directly into her consciousness.
【Host, do not panic. This system exists to help the host continue her family’s fortune and enhance national luck.】【Current situation: extremely dangerous. Host family faces total annihilation.】【New mandatory task: Within three days, bind a marriage with the luck-bearing son, Lei Li.】【Task reward: beginner’s gift pack (includes divine beauty pill and physical enhancement potion).】【Failure penalty: host will be eliminated, Bai family completely destroyed.】
Eliminated?!
Bai Luoluo’s pupils contracted sharply.
The word was too heavy, too bloody.
She didn’t know what this “system” was, but the chilling sense piercing her soul told her it wasn’t a joke.
It could really take her life.
With the family crisis looming like a wolf ahead and the system’s elimination like a tiger behind, Bai Luoluo had no way out.
She looked down at the shattered porcelain pieces on the carpet—fine bone china, delicate yet fragile.
Just like herself.
If she didn’t find a hard protective box to enclose herself, she would be ground to pieces.
Lei Li.
The man she had never met had now become her only lifeline.
Even if he was rough and savage, even if he was a ruthless devil who kills without blinking, she would marry him.
Not just to survive, but to continue living her pampered life of silk dresses and perfume.
Bai Luoluo took a deep breath, forcing down her fear and resentment.
She lifted her head. The terrified little white rabbit expression was gone, replaced by a determined, all-or-nothing resolve.
“Dad, I will marry him.”
Her voice still trembled slightly, but every word was crystal clear.
Old Master Bai froze, clearly not expecting his daughter to agree so quickly.
“Luoluo, are you sure? Lei Li has a terrible temper, I heard he’s a cold-faced devil, never understanding a lady’s delicacy…”
“I’m sure.”
Bai Luoluo stood, smoothing the folds of her skirt.
She walked to the mirror, looking at the pale, beautiful, radiant girl staring back at her.
This face was her greatest weapon.
Since this was a transaction, she might as well maximize the benefits.
Didn’t the system say “many children, much blessing”? Didn’t it say she had to “bind” someone?
Then she would use every trick in her book to win over Lei Li.
Once she became Lei Li’s woman, once she bore his children, who would dare lay a finger on the Bai family?
“Dad, if I’m going to marry, I’m going to do it in style.”
Bai Luoluo turned around, a glint of cunning flashing in her eyes.
“Notify the Lei family—I want a meeting. And as for my dowry, besides the technical blueprints, I’m taking all of my luggage.”
“If even one item is missing, I won’t marry.”
Old Master Bai stared at his suddenly assertive daughter, slightly dazed.
It was as if he was seeing a younger version of himself, decisive and ruthless in the business world.
“All right! All right!” Old Master Bai replied repeatedly. “I’ll arrange it immediately!”
Bai Luoluo looked out at the dark night.
Lei Li, huh?The luck-bearing son, huh?
This young lady was coming to meet you.
Hopefully, your bones are as hard as your reputation.
…
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in the Southwest Military District.
Night was as dark as ink, and rain poured down in torrents.
There were no bright lights or city luxuries here, only the cold, deadly wind and the scent of wet earth and blood.
A special operation exercise codenamed “Falcon Hunt” was at its most intense stage.
Through the muddy forest, a black shadow darted like a panther.
It was Lei Li.
But he had no idea that a delicate little canary had sharpened her claws and was preparing to fly into his territory.
His troubles were only just beginning.