Xu Yumo arrived at Yingyue Pavilion half an hour early.
She chose a secluded private room by the window, where the faint scent of sandalwood burned within, shutting out the clamor of the bustling streets.
For this negotiation that would determine her fate, she had deliberately changed into a cream-colored high-neck cashmere dress, paired with a crisp, structured dark gray overcoat.
This outfit washed away the lingering traces of girlishness about her, adding a touch of mature, capable sharpness, while making her delicate, unadorned face appear all the more refined and lovely.
She sat upright in the rosewood chair, clutching the project documents she had stayed up all night to compile and print. In her mind, she repeatedly weighed and rehearsed every word she was about to speak, trying to make this meager bargaining chip seem more persuasive.
But before she could fully steady herself, the rosewood door behind her was gently pushed open by the server.
He Linxi had arrived early as well.
Xu Yumo's heart gave a violent lurch, and she instinctively rose to her feet.
All the composed opening lines she had rehearsed countless times vanished completely the moment they met the man's deep, dark eyes.
"You… why are you here so early?"
"Aren't you early too?"
He Linxi raised an eyebrow, leisurely removing his overcoat and hanging it on the wooden coat rack nearby.
"…I was afraid of traffic, that I'd make you wait." Xu Yumo glanced at him nervously.
She wondered if he had attended some important occasion beforehand—beneath his coat, he was wearing an exquisite bespoke suit, his tie impeccably knotted, even his shirt buttons neatly fastened all the way up to just below his Adam's apple. He looked even more formal than she did.
"I thought the same, but the roads turned out to be surprisingly clear today."
He Linxi gave a faint smile, pulling out the chair across from her and sitting down with a relaxed, unhurried ease.
He casually picked up the purple clay teapot on the table, poured a cup of hot tea, and slid it in front of her.
Only then did Xu Yumo realize that as the host who had arranged this meeting, she had been so nervous she hadn't even thought to pour tea for her guest.
She grew even more flustered, murmured a quiet "thank you," and stiffly sat back down.
After taking a sip of tea to mask her unease, Xu Yumo steadied her heartbeat, pushed the thick stack of documents in front of her toward him, and cut straight to the point:
"What I said on the phone earlier was too abrupt. These are the documents I organized last night—an asset valuation of the two core forging patents currently held by Xu Heavy Industries, as well as a framework for deep collaboration with Matrix Technology over the next five years…"
He Linxi narrowed his eyes slightly.
His gaze didn't fall on the stack of papers stamped with red seals. Instead, he leisurely lifted his lashes and looked at her: "What I heard on the phone earlier didn't sound like the words 'deep collaboration.'"
Xu Yumo's breath caught.
She bit her lower lip, and under his pitch-black gaze, steeled herself to explain: "M-marriage is, in fact, a form of deep commercial collaboration. If you're willing to marry me, you can directly obtain exclusive licensing rights to those two patents from Xu Heavy Industries. This is crucial hardware support for Matrix Technology's full-scale entry into the deep-sea exploration sector…"
She tried her utmost to make her tone sound like that of a mature, rational businesswoman, using cold, calculated interests to mask the shame of being the one to propose to a man.
When she finally finished, stumbling over her words, He Linxi extended his slender fingers and casually flipped through the documents. His expression was indifferent, as if his interest wasn't particularly high.
The private room fell into an agonizing silence, broken only by the faint bubbling of the purple clay teapot in the corner—gurgling, gurgling, tugging at her nerves.
Xu Yumo's heart sank little by little.
Of course.
This kind of bargaining chip, in the eyes of He Linxi, who commanded a trillion-yuan business empire, probably wasn't worth much at all.
"Are you done?" He Linxi suddenly spoke, his voice low and magnetic.
"…I'm done." Xu Yumo lowered her head, her voice so soft it seemed a gust of wind could carry it away. "I know the Xu family's financial situation isn't great right now, so this bargaining chip might…"
"The bargaining chip is good. I'm interested."
He Linxi cut her off cleanly and decisively.
He leaned forward slightly. That ever-present cold sandalwood scent closed in on her instantly, carrying an intensely invasive pressure that forced Xu Yumo to lift her head and meet his eyes.
A hint of an unreadable smile rippled in the man's gaze as he tapped his fingertip lightly on the rosewood tabletop. "But Miss Xu, you haven't even prepared a proper proposal. And you expect me to marry you?"
Xu Yumo was completely stunned.
First, she hadn't expected him to actually take an interest in the Xu family's somewhat thin exchange of interests. Second, she hadn't anticipated that what he truly cared about was this lack of ceremony.
In her panic, her brain completely short-circuited.
All the meticulously crafted business rhetoric she had prepared turned to waste paper. She opened her mouth, stammering as she tried to salvage the situation: "Then… then He Linxi, would you… would you be willing to marry me?"
"Marry?" He Linxi raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying an unmistakable hint of amusement.
"I mean… would you be willing to marry me?" Xu Yumo's face flushed crimson in an instant, the heat spreading all the way to the tips of her ears, so red it looked like it might drip blood.
"And then?" He watched her with leisurely composure, like a hunter with infinite patience.
"Th-then…"
She frantically searched her mind for vows she'd seen in movies or novels, only to find her mind completely blank at this moment.
Finally, with a thin layer of sweat beading on the tip of her nose from sheer desperation, she squeezed out the most plain-spoken promise in a dry voice:
"I'll be good to you for the rest of my life."
"For the rest of your life, is it?" The corners of He Linxi's lips curved upward. That trace of a smile seemed somewhat unreal behind the wisps of steam rising from the teapot.
Thinking he was concerned about the length of this business marriage, Xu Yumo quickly straightened her expression to explain: "What I mean is, if we really do get married, I will take this marriage absolutely seriously during its duration…"
"And in the future, once I have the ability to break free from the Xu family's control, if you meet someone you like and want a divorce, I can leave with nothing—I won't take a single cent of advantage from you or the He family."
Hearing this, He Linxi's gaze unexpectedly darkened.
The faint pleasure in his eyes withdrew completely, replaced by a deep, unfathomable emotion.
He stared at her for a moment, then lazily leaned back against his chair and drawled out a meaningful line: "Let's talk about the future when it comes."
"So you mean… you're willing now?" She looked at him cautiously, a hint of anticipation flickering in her clear eyes that she herself hadn't noticed.
He Linxi didn't answer. Instead, he slowly extended his left hand toward her.
Xu Yumo lowered her lashes, looking at that hand with its clearly defined knuckles suspended in midair, momentarily at a loss.
Seeing her frozen in place, the man finally lifted his eyelids and said in a tone so flat it sounded utterly matter-of-fact: "Where's the engagement ring?"
"…"
Xu Yumo was stunned again.
She had assumed that to a pure capitalist like him, marriage was just a business deal laid out on the negotiating table—sign a contract, stamp a seal, done. It had never occurred to her that she'd need to prepare something so ceremonial.
"Wait a moment."
In her desperation, a flash of inspiration struck. She quickly tore off a strip of blank paper from the last page of that thick stack of documents and began rapidly folding and tucking it on the tabletop.
In just over a minute, a somewhat crude origami puppy ring took shape in her palm.
Bearing the weight of He Linxi's scrutinizing gaze, she steeled herself, grabbed his hand, and clumsily slipped the little ring folded from white paper onto his ring finger.
"I'll… definitely get you a proper one later." The more she spoke, the more guilty she felt, her voice shrinking to barely a whisper.
He Linxi lowered his eyes.
He quietly stared at the paper puppy with its two little upright ears perched on his ring finger for a while, then spoke in a low, measured tone: "Why a puppy?"
Xu Yumo bit her lip awkwardly: "Because… it's the only thing I know how to fold. The diamond-shaped fold is too complicated—I never learned it."
He Linxi looked at the slightly comical paper dog and couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.
He didn't remove the cheap paper ring. Instead, he curled his fingers inward, catching her slightly cool fingertips—which hadn't yet withdrawn—and clasping them within his warm palm.
His low, slightly husky voice drifted through the private room:
"Then here's to a pleasant cooperation, Mrs. He."
Walking out of Yingyue Pavilion, the afternoon sunlight poured down.
The accumulated snow melted at the edges of the black roof tiles of the courtyard house, making a fine pattering sound. The street was wrapped in this thin layer of winter sun, exuding a faint, illusory warmth.
Xu Yumo squinted slightly against the glare of the sunlight, that overwhelming sense of unreality clinging to her like a shadow.
He Linxi had actually agreed, just like that, so casually.
That man standing at the very pinnacle of power in the Beijing circle had not only readily accepted this nearly absurd transaction, but had even worn that ridiculous paper ring she'd folded on a whim.
She unconsciously slowed her pace, her gaze drifting involuntarily toward the man beside her.
He Linxi was walking with one hand in his pocket, head bowed, scrolling through his phone with the other. The sunlight traced the sharp contours of his profile—prominent brow bone, straight nose—still radiating that aloof, refined coldness that kept people at a distance.
"Why are you sneaking peeks at me again?"
He Linxi casually dismissed an incoming call and turned his face toward her without warning. His low, magnetic voice rippled past her ear, the tail end carrying a barely perceptible hint of amusement.
Xu Yumo snatched her gaze away as if burned. She covered it up with a dry cough, her voice sounding a bit hollow: "I… I wasn't looking at you. I was just checking if there were any empty taxis at the intersection."
He Linxi let out a low laugh, a note of teasing creeping into his tone: "You're Mrs. He now. You think I'd let you hail a cab on the street by yourself?"
Those three words—"Mrs. He"—rolled through his husky voice, inexplicably giving rise to a sticky, ambiguous illusion.
Xu Yumo's cheeks instantly burned. She could only lower her head and mumble softly, "I was worried you might still have important business at the company…"
"What business could I possibly have during New Year?"
He Linxi turned off his still-vibrating phone and casually tossed it back into his coat pocket, completely ignoring the barrage of calls from the He family. His tone left no room for argument. "Where are you headed? I'll drive you. It'll help pass the time."
Xu Yumo hesitated for a moment before answering honestly, "I want to go to the West Suburb Villa and tell my parents… about us getting married."
He Linxi raised an eyebrow. "So you came to propose to me today, and your parents don't even know? Planning to ask for forgiveness rather than permission?"
Xu Yumo nervously clutched her bag strap and explained in a soft voice, "If you had said no, there would have been no point in telling them beforehand. But since you agreed, with the He family's standing, my father absolutely couldn't have any objections. So…"
"You've thought this through quite clearly."
He Linxi let out a light chuckle, pulled the car keys from his pocket, and pressed the button with his slender fingers.
The Aston Martin parked nearby flashed its headlights twice.
"Come on, get in."
Half an hour later, the car came to a smooth stop in front of the ornate wrought-iron gates of the Xu family villa.
Xu Yumo unbuckled her seatbelt and was about to push open the door when she noticed He Linxi in the driver's seat also turning off the engine and stepping out of the car.
She couldn't help but freeze for a moment. "…Where are you going?"
"Since I'm already here, I should go in and pay my respects to my future in-laws, shouldn't I?" He Linxi rested one arm on the car door and tilted his head. A lazy smile curved at the corner of his lips, and his tone was matter-of-fact. "Even if it's a marriage of convenience, the proper etiquette and formalities shouldn't be lacking."
"Don't you think so, Mrs. He?"
"…"
Xu Yumo was silent for two seconds, then nodded with a subtle, complicated feeling. "Suit yourself."
This engagement was, after all, a transaction where each party got what they needed, so she had originally planned to keep things as simple as possible—skipping the whole meeting-the-parents process if she could.
She never expected that he, the partner being proposed to, would be even less bothered by the hassle than she, the one who initiated it.
Maybe he really was just that bored during the New Year, so he decided to pass the time with her.
Xu Yumo grumbled inwardly as she stepped up the stairs and pressed the video doorbell.
Seeing her on the screen, Xu Zhengming stormed out of the villa and shoved open the courtyard gate, all the anger that had been building up all night bursting forth in an instant: "Xu Yumo! You finally remember to come home?! Do you have any idea that the Zhao family—"
His roar came to an abrupt halt the moment he saw the tall, imposing man standing beside Xu Yumo.
He even let out a short, off-key sound from his throat as he cut himself off too abruptly, his expression freezing solid.
He Linxi stood at the foot of the steps, the winter sunlight stretching his tall silhouette long and casting an oppressive shadow that fell at Xu Zhengming's feet.
He gave a slight nod, his tone calm yet carrying the proper courtesy of a younger generation: "Hello, Uncle. I'm He Linxi, Yumo's fiancé. I apologize for dropping by unannounced today—I've come to wish you and Auntie a belated New Year."