The day for the formal proposal was ultimately set for the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
In the early morning, the villa district where the Xu family resided gradually stirred awake amid the low, lingering rumble of engines.
To prepare for the He family's visit, Xu Zhengming had turned down nearly all his business engagements and social obligations over the past few days, his nerves wound taut.
Not only had he had the entire villa cleaned until it sparkled, he had even personally supervised the removal of withered branches and fallen leaves from the lawn outside, afraid that the slightest oversight might slight his distinguished guests.
At exactly nine o'clock in the morning.
Eight pure black Rolls-Royce Phantoms, like a silent and imposing shadow, pulled up one by one outside the Xu family's front gate.
The doors opened in succession.
He Linxi stepped out first.
His bespoke pure black suit accentuated his tall, straight frame. The casual, languid air he usually carried had been entirely set aside, replaced by an unusual solemnity and composure in his brow. He seemed to have been recast in a layer of cold, sharp brilliance, his presence so commanding that the very air around him seemed to thicken.
Following close behind was He Wanshan.
Dressed in a dark gray tailored suit, his steps steady and his bearing authoritative, every gesture carried the calm and pressure that only those long accustomed to power could command.
Wen Lanxia wore a qipao embroidered with subtle patterns, draped with a pure white fur shawl. Her makeup was exquisite, her demeanor graceful and dignified. There was a measured warmth in her eyes, yet it still made one hesitate to meet her gaze directly.
Even He Linxuan, usually the most restless of the family, had today, for once, properly changed into a navy blue suit, his expression so serious it was almost unfamiliar.
Behind them came an entire professional ceremonial team.
All in black uniforms and white gloves, each member carried a lacquered red wooden gift box with steady arms.
The lacquer gleamed warmly, the brass locks exquisitely crafted, catching the faint winter sunlight with a quiet, weighty luster—like the accumulated heritage of an old family, understated yet breathtaking.
The gift boxes were carried into the hall one by one and arranged neatly in the center of the spacious living room.
The first to be opened were the tea and wine gifts.
The deep, fragrant aroma of premium Da Hong Pao slowly wafted through the air, mingling with the mellow scent of fifty-year-aged national banquet liquor sealed in its jar, almost instantly filling the entire room.
In this circle, such items never symbolized mere wealth—they represented status and standing.
Next, the jewelry box was slowly opened.
In an instant, the room seemed to glow.
A complete set of old-mine glass-type emerald jewelry lay displayed, the green so deep and intense it was almost startling, as if an entire deep pool had been sealed within the jewelry case.
Following that, century-old wild ginseng, premium double-headed dried abalone, top-grade blood bird's nest, and other precious dried delicacies were presented one by one.
Any single item would have been enough to serve as the grand finale gift in an ordinary wealthy family's proposal, yet here, they were merely accents among the room full of betrothal gifts.
And the betrothal list that He Wanshan personally presented afterward made the entire Xu family hold their breath.
Beyond the visible lavish gifts, it separately listed ten million in cash gifted to Xu Yumo, along with the property deed to a standalone villa.
Xu Yumo sat to the side, watching it all unfold, feeling as though even her breathing had grown lighter.
She had originally assumed this would be nothing more than a respectable show put on for outsiders.
Who would have thought the He family would simply deliver a mountain of gold to her doorstep?
She instinctively clenched her hands on her knees, her fingertips turning pale.
How was she supposed to repay all this later?
Should she find He Linxi afterward to sign a prenuptial agreement?
Just as she was growing restless with anxiety, a warm, large hand suddenly covered hers from beside her.
The palm was broad, carrying an undeniable heat, gently pressing down on her trembling fingers.
Xu Yumo froze for a moment, instinctively lifting her head.
He Linxi's expression remained as refined and composed as ever, calmly responding to the elders' pleasantries. His brow was serene, betraying no hint of anything unusual.
As if the hand quietly holding hers did not belong to him at all.
Only the scorching warmth on the back of her hand reminded her that this was no illusion.
That subtle, silent reassurance was like an unspoken strength, and strangely, it began to steady her precarious nerves bit by bit.
She supposed that was true.
After all, the He family stood at the very pinnacle of the pyramid.
What she saw as an extravagant display might, in their eyes, be nothing more than standard protocol.
Even if someone else were sitting here today instead of her, the treatment would likely be no different.
All she needed to do was follow He Linxi's earlier instructions and go through the motions.
Whatever came later, she would deal with then.
With that thought, Xu Yumo let out a soft breath, moved her fingers, and prepared to withdraw her hand.
But before she could pull back even an inch, the man's hand suddenly tightened.
His palm closed around hers, firmly gathering her hand within his grasp.
Xu Yumo's breath caught.
The indoor heating was turned up high, and within moments, a fine layer of perspiration had formed between their intertwined palms.
The heat spread slowly from their touching skin, like tiny sparks, silently burning into her heart.
She could only keep her head down, staring at the teacup on the table, not daring to look at the elders at the gathering, and even less daring to look at the person beside her.
She had almost no experience with holding hands.
Especially not in a setting like this, being held so firmly, almost forcefully.
She couldn't even figure out why he refused to let go.
It wasn't until the marriage proposal was finally drawing to a close.
He Linxi leaned slightly closer, near her ear, and spoke in a low voice that only the two of them could hear.
"The elders were all watching just now."
There was a faint hint of amusement in his voice.
"If you suddenly pulled your hand away, wouldn't I lose face?"
Warm breath brushed past her ear.
Xu Yumo felt as if her earlobe had been lightly scalded, the heat rushing up almost instantly.
A blush spread from the tips of her ears all the way to the side of her neck, impossible to suppress no matter how hard she tried.
And the instigator merely curled his lips ever so slightly.
Then he straightened up leisurely, slipping his hand back into his suit trousers pocket.
His expression was as calm as ever, as if that teasing remark from a moment ago had merely been a figment of her imagination.
As the distinguished convoy of black cars slowly drove away, many neighbors who had been watching from a distance gathered around. They offered words of congratulations, but in their eyes was nothing but envy for the mountain of bride price.
Next door to the Xu family villa, Zhou Zhen stood at his own front gate with his hands clasped behind his back.
Through the low hedge of greenery, he watched the overflowing wealth in the Xu family courtyard, his feelings a tangled mess.
The Xu family had clearly been showing signs of decline recently, their capital chain nearly broken. Who would have thought that Xu Yumo, that quiet and gentle girl, would silently climb straight up the towering tree of the He family?
"Congratulations, Old Xu. I really didn't expect your Yumo to be getting married so soon."
Zhou Zhen stepped forward, smiling without sincerity. "With all these years of friendship between our families, I'd always thought she would end up with my Shiye."
Xu Zhengming's face was glowing with pride, his eyes brimming with uncontainable satisfaction.
Hearing this, he walked over and patted Zhou Zhen on the shoulder, drawing out his words lazily, yet hiding a sharp blade beneath them: "Old Zhou, matters of the heart can't be forced. Yumo and Shiye just weren't destined to be bound in marriage. But in the end…"
He paused, each word landing like a slap on Zhou Zhen's old face, "It's still Shiye who had his sights set too high and failed to see our Yumo's worth. Naturally, he wouldn't know how to cherish her. Now that she's in the He family, Linxi treasures her dearly—just now at the table, he was afraid she'd be wronged in the slightest."
Zhou Zhen's chest tightened, his face cycling from green to purple.
Xu Zhengming was openly spitting on his son, calling him blind and unworthy of Xu Yumo. He was furious, but had no way to refute it, so he could only return home with a cold face.
The moment he stepped inside, seeing his wife Lin Ya sitting on the sofa leisurely filing her nails with an indifferent, detached air, Zhou Zhen's anger flared even more.
"Look at the Xu family! With this son-in-law, they've completely turned their fortunes around!"
Zhou Zhen flung his coat heavily onto the armrest of the sofa: "That bastard Zhou Shiye spends all day running around with those trashy women! He had Xu Yumo—a girl we know inside and out, an outstanding one at that—right there for the taking. Now look what's happened. He Linxi picked up what he left behind, and our family has become the laughingstock of the circle!"
Lin Ya didn't even lift an eyelid at his words.
She blew on the powder from her nails and let out a cold laugh: "What are you getting so worked up for? Shiye's wild ways—he takes after you, his father. The flag at home stays flying while the banners outside flutter in the wind. When the father doesn't set a good example, what do you expect the son to learn?"
Zhou Zhen's face darkened. He pointed at Lin Ya's nose and cursed: "Don't you give me that sarcastic attitude! As if you're so clean yourself. You think I don't know you've been keeping that pretty-boy artist on the side behind my back?!"
Hearing this, Lin Ya finally set down her nail file.
She rose gracefully, looking at the man she'd shared a bed with for over a decade but never truly loved, her eyes full of mockery: "Zhou Zhen, don't you feel guilty saying that? Who was it that first betrayed this marriage, running off with his secretary? I'm just following your example. We each play our own games—no one should call the other dirty."
"You!" Zhou Zhen's hands trembled with rage.
"Enough." Lin Ya couldn't be bothered to look at his furious face any longer. She turned and headed upstairs. "Yumo marrying into the He family is her fortune and her ability. Stop being so sour about it. If you want to complain, go complain to your precious son. He probably still doesn't even know his little childhood sweetheart is getting married."
As night deepened, Zhou Shiye returned to his hotel suite in Jiangcheng, carrying a body full of exhaustion.
There had been some issues with the Jiangcheng business before the new year, and right after the Spring Festival, he'd flown over without a moment's rest to deal with them.
Outside the window, a drizzling winter rain was falling. The heating inside the room was turned up high, and in that dry, stifling heat, he inexplicably felt his chest tighten and his heart race wildly.
He loosened his tie with one hand and was about to head to the bathroom for a shower when the phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
"Ye-ge, something huge has happened!"
The moment the call connected, Lin Yuhang's voice came through the line, still carrying an unshaken shock and disbelief. "Mo-mo is going to marry He Linxi."
Zhou Shiye's fingers, which were unbuttoning his shirt, froze mid-motion.
The next second, as if he had heard some absurd joke, he let out a cold laugh. "Who spread that gossip? You actually believe such nonsense? With her personality, she'd suddenly run off and marry someone?"
"I'm not making this up!" Lin Yuhang's voice was so frantic it had gone hoarse. "The He family went to the Xu residence this morning to propose! Half the villa district saw the whole spectacle—chests of betrothal gifts were carried in one after another. The entire Beijing circle is buzzing with it now!"
The curve of Zhou Shiye's lips gradually stiffened, then froze solid.
An unprecedented sense of absurdity mixed with panic surged up from the soles of his feet, burning so fiercely that his temples throbbed.
He didn't listen to Lin Yuhang's rambling any further and hung up the call directly. With slightly trembling fingers, he scrolled through his contacts to find Xu Yumo's number and dialed it.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable…"
Every time he called, the same cold, mechanical female voice answered him. He refused to give up and tried several more times, but the result was always the same.
"Damn it!"
Zhou Shiye's eyes reddened as he cursed under his breath and hurled his phone heavily onto the bed.
The phone bounced once on the mattress, then vibrated again—still Lin Yuhang.
Zhou Shiye, eyes bloodshot and jaw clenched, picked up. "Talk."
"Ye-ge, calm down first. I just asked around and found out—around Chinese New Year, Uncle Xu arranged for Mo-mo to go on a blind date with Zhao Yuwen of the Oceanic Trading Company…"
Zhou Shiye's face instantly darkened. "Zhao Yuwen? That piece of trash? He's not even worthy of her."
"Exactly! Everyone knows that bastard has dirty hands. I heard that on the day of the blind date, Mo-mo slapped him right across the face, and the two of them ended things on terrible terms. So my guess is, Mo-mo had no other choice—Uncle Xu pushed her too far, and that's why she suddenly decided to marry someone."
Lin Yuhang paused, then continued in a puzzled tone. "But what I can't figure out is, when did she ever get involved with He Linxi? Those two never had any connection before, right?"
Zhou Shiye stared at the dense curtain of rain outside the window, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists, the joints turning deathly white.
After a long moment, he deflated like a punctured balloon and forced out a single sentence: "…The new business partner her company found—that's He Linxi's Matrix Technology."
Lin Yuhang was silent on the other end for a while before speaking hesitantly. "So she didn't use that supplier business card I gave her on your behalf last time?"
"No."
Zhou Shiye lowered his head, his voice laced with an undeniable sense of defeat.
He had arrogantly assumed that as long as Xu Yumo ran into trouble, she would eventually come crawling back to him, just like she always had in the past.
"It looks like Mo-mo has really given up on you this time."
Lin Yuhang couldn't help but sigh on the other end of the line. "Before, when she said she only saw you as a friend, I thought she was just angry with you. Who would've thought she'd actually go and marry someone else so cleanly and decisively?"
Zhou Shiye said nothing, but the fire building in his chest burned hotter and hotter, until a web of red veins spread across his eyes.
"Ye-ge, be straight with me." Lin Yuhang hesitated for a long time before finally putting it bluntly. "Do you have feelings for Mo-mo beyond friendship? I've watched the two of you for all these years—I don't believe you've never had a shred of genuine affection for her."
In the dim hotel room, a deathly silence fell.
Only the white noise of rain pelting against the window could be heard.
After a long while, Zhou Shiye slowly raised a hand and covered half of his face.
He curled the corner of his mouth in a self-deprecating smile, his voice carrying a weary coldness. "Don't you think the feelings between a man and a woman are actually quite fragile?"
"I don't want the day to come when my relationship with Mo-mo gets worn down by time into something like my parents'—full of mutual resentment, each finding the other repulsive."
He paused, as if trying to convince the other person, or perhaps to numb himself. "So it's better to stop before I fall too deep."
"At least then, we can still be good friends for a lifetime."