Du Ningyang suddenly straightened her expression. “Mu Linjiang—the clothes you’re wearing are his, aren’t they?”
Du Youling was mid-celebration when she paused, looking at her sister with confusion. Her expression shifted again and again as she waited for Du Ningyang’s face to turn to stone.
And yet, her expectations fell flat once more.
“Du Youling, I’d advise you to stay away from Mu Linjiang. You want to use him to put yourself above me in the family hierarchy—nice dream. But do you even know what kind of man he is?”
“For a prosperous family like the Mu clan to achieve complete internal and external harmony, with zero conflict, zero opposition, and nothing but absolute obedience toward him—do you really think it’s because all his rivals suddenly turned vegetarian?”
Du Youling’s smug expression gradually faded as she listened quietly.
“You minored in social psychology, so you should know better than anyone that there’s no such thing as absolute order that just appears out of nowhere. The calmer the Mu Corporation appears, the more it proves how terrifying the methods of the man sitting at the very top truly are.”
“And the peace you see isn’t because the seas are calm—it’s because he’s already eliminated everyone who ever thought about flipping the table.”
“He’s thirty-four, you’re twenty-four. The gap between you isn’t just in years. Youyou, you can’t outplay him.”
After listening to Du Ningyang’s speech, Du Youling blinked. “I know.”
Now it was Du Ningyang’s turn to freeze. “Huh?”
“But so what? He still agreed to let me pursue him!”
Getting his WeChat meant he’d agreed—yes, that was exactly what it meant.
Du Ningyang’s eyes went wide with astonishment. “Really?”
Du Youling slapped her hand down on the shoe cabinet, her tone brimming with arrogance. “Of course!”
As she spoke, she gleefully bumped Du Ningyang with her shoulder, raising an eyebrow in provocation. “Ten years’ gap, you say? That’s just enough time for him to cultivate some patience. By the time I become his wife, whether he’s stirring storms or flipping tables, at home he’ll listen to me.”
“And when that day comes, someone here will have to properly address me as ‘little aunt’! Ah, just thinking about that scene—I’ll be laughing in my dreams tonight, hahahaha!”
“Du Youling, keep on dreaming then!”
Du Ningyang made a move to pinch Du Youling’s face, but she dodged it nimbly.
“What’s the matter, Du Ningyang? Did I hit a nerve?” Du Youling said with a cheeky grin.
Du Ningyang crossed her arms and gave a light snort. “Then I suggest you hurry up and lock down Mu Linjiang, because in three months, it’s your dear big sister’s and Jingyao’s wedding.”
Other people hit a wall and knew to turn back, but Du Youling would rather smash a hole straight through it just to see what treasure lay hidden on the other side. Du Ningyang would just wait for Du Youling to come back empty-handed.
Du Ningyang rolled her eyes in exasperation, turned, and padded upstairs in her slippers, waving a hand as she went. “Wash up and get to bed early. Don’t stay up half the night giggling at some guy’s WeChat ID and disturbing people’s sleep.”
Du Youling returned to her bedroom and flopped into the sofa. She pulled out her phone and tapped open her chat with Mu Linjiang.
She stared at the conversation window for a long moment, then her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Wait—what if this old man had only agreed to add her in the car to brush her off, and the moment he got home, he’d deleted her?
At the thought, she started furiously typing.
Won Today or Not: “Mu Linjiang, good night.”
The second she hit send, Du Youling’s eyes locked onto the top of the screen.
No red exclamation mark. The message had gone through smoothly.
Only then did her little suspended heart settle safely back into her chest.
She patted her chest. “Phew, scared me half to death. Almost went home empty-handed!”
She didn’t expect Mu Linjiang to reply—after all, the ever-busy President Mu didn’t busy himself with Du Youling on a daily basis. At this hour, he’d probably already turned in following his elderly-person sleep schedule.
But just as Du Youling was about to head to the bathroom to wash up, her phone suddenly buzzed. A new message popped up on the screen.
Mu Linjiang: “Mm.”
“Holy crap!”
Du Youling shot straight up from the sofa like a spring.
He replied! He actually replied!
So what if he was thirty-four? So what if he was unfathomable?
Wasn’t the absolute order of this world exactly the kind of thing meant to be broken?
And look—the old man even responded to her?
Tomorrow, she’d start fulfilling her promise and go properly pester this ever-busy President Mu.
…
The next morning, Haicheng welcomed its first truly fine weather in a long while.
Brilliant sunlight filtered through the white gauze curtains, scattering in delicate fragments across Du Youling’s pretty face.
The moment she opened her eyes, the first thing that flashed through her mind was Mu Linjiang.
Step one of pestering the ever-busy President Mu: a morning greeting.
Du Youling grabbed her phone and started typing away.
Won Today or Not: “Mu Linjiang, good morning! (sun) The weather in Haicheng is amazing today. Hope your meetings have no traffic jams and your signature hand doesn’t cramp! (fist pump)”
The message went out, vanishing like a stone dropped into the sea.
Du Youling wasn’t discouraged in the least—this was entirely within her expectations.
After washing up, Du Youling, in a rare move, changed into a Chanel-style suit and casually tied her hair into a high ponytail.
As she passed by the restaurant, Du Ningyang was elegantly sipping her black coffee.
Seeing Du Youling dressed up so exquisitely, Du Ningyang teased, “You’ve been putting a lot of effort into your appearance lately. So love really does change people~”
“What do you know? This is called drive.” Du Youling casually grabbed a sandwich from the table, stuffed it into her mouth, and mumbled indistinctly as she left, “The future aunt-in-law is going to inspect the masses today. Farewell, niece-in-law!”
“Du Youling, have you lost your mind!” Du Ningyang’s scolding laughter came from behind.
Twenty minutes later, in the Central Business District of Haicheng.
Du Youling stood before the grand revolving door of the building, pulling down her sunglasses to reveal eyes sparkling with cunning wit.
“Hello, Miss Du.” The receptionist put on a standard professional smile. “May I ask if you have an appointment?”
“Yes, I do.” Du Youling answered with complete confidence.
“Alright, please wait a moment. Let me check the system for you.”
After a short while, the receptionist’s face showed signs of difficulty: “I’m sorry, Miss Du, but… it seems I can’t find your appointment record. May I ask which secretary you coordinated your schedule with?”
“I personally confirmed it with your President Mu last night.”
“Well… Miss Du, please wait a moment. I’ll call the executive office right away to confirm.” The receptionist quickly grabbed the internal phone and dialed Secretary Chen’s number.
Meanwhile, in the president’s office.
Mu Linjiang sat on the sofa listening to Secretary Chen’s report on the multinational cooperation proposal from this morning’s meeting.
Just then, Secretary Chen’s work phone suddenly vibrated.
After hanging up, Secretary Chen looked up at his boss and reported in a low voice, “President Mu, the front desk called. They said the Second Miss Du is downstairs. She told the front desk that she has a private appointment with you, arranged late last night.”
Mu Linjiang’s hand, which was about to flip through the financial report, paused slightly.
“Let her come up.”
“Yes, President Mu.”
Secretary Chen adjusted his glasses, suppressing the shock within him without showing any expression.
This was the executive office of the Mu Group, where even presidents of multinational conglomerates had to book half a month in advance.
Secretary Chen didn’t dare delay and quickly gave a few instructions over the phone.
In the first-floor lobby.
When the receptionist hung up the phone, she was still in a state of utter shock, as if her mind had drifted into space.
She swallowed hard, and when she looked at Du Youling again, the respect in her eyes had risen exponentially: “M-Miss Du, Secretary Chen said you can take the president’s private elevator directly upstairs. This way, please.”
“Thanks!”