Chapter 4

Xie Zhiyan’s tone was calm, yet it carried the undeniable authority of someone in a position of power.

The word "marriage" drilled clearly into Ning Yuxuan's ears; it would have been hard to mishear it.

Ning Yuxuan: "..."

She couldn't help but address him by his full name, just as she had in the past: "Xie Zhiyan, are you serious?"

Xie Zhiyan gave a faint, mocking chuckle. "Do I look like the kind of person who would joke about marriage?"

Ning Yuxuan thought to herself that he spoke as if she understood him well, but how could she know whether he was joking or not? However, since she needed a favor from him, she bit back her thoughts.

"Mr. Xie..." Ning Yuxuan struggled to regain her composure, reverting to a formal address. "Are you saying that if I marry you, you are willing to provide the investment funds?"

The condition the man proposed was so sudden and preposterous that her instinctive reaction wasn't to refuse, but to figure out exactly what he meant.

Xie Zhiyan let out an "mm." "You said you wanted to buy two of the branches, didn't you?"

Ning Yuxuan: "Yes."

Xie Zhiyan: "I can provide you with sufficient funds, enough for you to buy all four locations and renovate them. As for the dividends, we can split them fifty-fifty, as you suggested."

This time, Ning Yuxuan was truly too stunned to speak.

In fact, the WeChat message she had sent Xie Zhiyan was no different from a "get-rich-quick" scheme—letting Xie Zhiyan shoulder the bulk of the capital and risk while she walked away with half the profits. Had they not known each other for so long, and had he not helped her several times before, leaving her with the impression that he was relatively reasonable, she wouldn't have dared to make such an audacious request.

Her expectation had been that as long as Xie Zhiyan was willing to provide the money, she would concede on all other terms. She never expected him to agree outright. Of course, the additional condition he proposed was completely beyond her expectations.

After a moment of silence, Ning Yuxuan spoke: "May I have a few days to consider this?"

Xie Zhiyan: "You may."

"One last question," Ning Yuxuan said. "Why... do you want to marry me?"

The man answered nonchalantly, "Dealing with my family’s pressure to marry is too much of a hassle. It’s better to find someone suitable. My mother is very fond of you; if you are the one I marry, she will be very happy."

Ning Yuxuan was slightly taken aback, remembering that she hadn't seen Auntie Zheng in a long time.

Ning Fei and Xie Zhiyan’s mother, Zheng Xinmei, were classmates at the Film Academy and had been close friends for years. The difference was that Ning Fei had been chosen to play a lead role in a TV series right after enrolling, while Zheng Xinmei hadn't been particularly prominent in their acting class. She never entered the entertainment industry, choosing instead to marry and have children right after graduation. Later, when Ning Fei was at the peak of her career, she retired to marry and moved to Jincheng, a thousand miles away. After giving birth to a son and a daughter, she divorced and returned to the spotlight. Zheng Xinmei, on the other hand, had remained a steady full-time housewife in Beicheng ever since.

Though their life paths were entirely different, they had miraculously maintained their friendship for over thirty years. When Ning Fei moved to Beicheng with her two children after her divorce, Zheng Xinmei had helped her immensely.

Zheng Xinmei had always wanted a daughter, but she had suffered complications during her first pregnancy and had only Xie Zhiyan as a son. Consequently, she had always been very fond of Ning Yuxuan, who had been beautiful and cute since childhood, buying her gifts every holiday. However, ever since Ning Yuxuan met Gu Yunhao, she hadn't visited the Xie residence or Auntie Zheng for several years.

Xie Zhiyan’s crisp, cool voice came through the phone, pulling Ning Yuxuan out of her memories.

"What else did you think it was?" he asked.

Ning Yuxuan blinked. "Nothing."

Indeed, there couldn't be any other possibility. It certainly couldn't be that this tycoon, who made the Beicheng social circle tremble with fear, had secretly been in love with her all along, could it?

"Mr. Xie," Ning Yuxuan said, "I will give you an answer as soon as possible."

...

Hengjiang Tower, CEO's office.

Xie Zhiyan put down his phone and briefly closed his eyes. Two seconds later, there was a knock at the office door. His assistant, Liu Cheng, entered. "Mr. Xie, the documents you requested are here."

Xie Zhiyan nodded slightly. "Mm, you may head out. I will be in the conference room shortly."

Liu Cheng replied, "Understood," but hesitated for half a second before asking, "Mr. Xie, would you like me to make you a cup of coffee?"

Xie Zhiyan: "That would be fine."

Liu Cheng left as instructed. Under normal circumstances, given Mr. Xie’s swift and decisive style, Liu Cheng wouldn't have asked such a question. But this time, Xie Zhiyan had just returned from a business trip in the Southern Hemisphere, having spent over a dozen hours on a flight back to the country just yesterday. As his personal assistant, Liu Cheng had accompanied him on the trip, and his own jet lag hadn't worn off yet. He had suffered from insomnia the night before, and his temples were throbbing when he woke up this morning.

Yet, Xie Zhiyan was still acting as if nothing was wrong, even arriving at the office five minutes earlier than his assistant. There was an important meeting in half an hour, where executives from various departments would be reporting to him. Liu Cheng couldn't help but marvel; it was no wonder that among all the wealthy heirs in Beicheng, only Xie Zhiyan held such vast power at such a young age. His willpower and iron-like physical stamina were definitely beyond the reach of the average person.

...

Ning Yuxuan was still contemplating the phone call. To beat Gu Yunhao to buying those hotels, there seemed to be no better option than accepting Xie Zhiyan’s proposal. In all of Beicheng, she couldn't think of a second person who possessed both the means to buy four hotels at once and the willingness to help her. If she had to contend with Gu Yunhao and the Gu family in the future, having Xie Zhiyan’s support would certainly increase her odds of winning.

However, marriage was not a trivial matter, so Ning Yuxuan chose not to give an immediate answer. She went to the bathroom and ran a hot bath, adding rose-scented bath salts. According to the book’s description, Gu Yunhao loved "pure, innocent flowers," and his favorite was a light, elegant aquatic floral scent. In the past, whenever she went on dates with Gu Yunhao, Ning Yuxuan would soak in water lily-scented bath salts and spray the same series of perfume on her clothes.

Now, lying in the bathtub, Ning Yuxuan felt the rich aroma of roses enveloping her and felt a clarity of mind she had never experienced before.

The feeling of escaping the control of the plot was truly wonderful!

After a relaxing bath, Ning Yuxuan put on a bathrobe and picked up her phone to check her notifications. WeChat, which usually had no messages besides those from her family and Gu Yunhao, suddenly had several new notifications. The top one was from Old Master Gu, Gu Yunhao’s grandfather. In the past, she had pinned all contacts related to Gu Yunhao, and she hadn't gotten around to unpinning them yet.

The old man had sent a voice message: "Little Yuxuan, have you and that brat Yunhao had another argument and broken up? Don't be afraid, Grandfather Gu has your back. Come with Yunhao to my birthday banquet in two days, and I’ll have a good talk with that kid for you."

Ning Yuxuan listened to the message with a look of helplessness. After awakening, the only thing she felt toward Gu Yunhao was disgust. But toward Old Master Gu, she still felt respect. The old man had always been kind to her, and the very reason she had been able to be with Gu Yunhao in the first place was due to his strong support. Though he had never explicitly stated it, Ning Yuxuan could guess that the old man treated her well because of her father. After all, the old man wasn't close to her mother, Ning Fei, but every time he mentioned her father, who was far away in Jincheng, he would always have more to say.

The old man’s health was failing, and no matter how much Ning Yuxuan detested Gu Yunhao, she wouldn't easily speak harshly to an elderly man in his seventies who had always treated her well. As for the fact that they had truly broken up and weren't just having a spat, that was for Gu Yunhao, his own grandson, to tell him.

After some thought, Ning Yuxuan didn't reply to Old Master Gu directly. Instead, she sent a message to Gu Yunhao: [Your grandfather messaged me. You should tell him yourself that we have officially broken up.]

After sending that, Ning Yuxuan checked the messages from others. There were messages from her college classmates and colleagues she had briefly worked with, all with the same theme:

[Ning Yuxuan, I saw that you’re trending!]

The last time she received so many messages at once was when the show production team officially announced the guests, and everyone was surprised that she was the daughter of the award-winning actress Ning Fei. The Ning Yuxuan of the past hadn't been particularly proud of her mother’s achievements, likely due to childhood memories—in that old mansion, almost everyone referred to her mother as a "plaything," the disdain in their eyes overflowing.

For years, Ning Yuxuan rarely revealed her connection to Ning Fei, and it wasn't until the show’s announcement that many classmates and colleagues realized she was Ning Fei’s daughter. The irony was that when she learned Gu Yunhao liked a young actress in the entertainment industry, she had immediately rushed into acting herself. Now that she was awake, Ning Yuxuan found herself hopelessly foolish for valuing a man more than her mother.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late.

Opening Weibo, Ning Yuxuan saw two trending topics related to her, ranked sixth and eighth:

#Ning Fei’s daughter says she wants to be a full-time daughter#
#Ning Fei’s daughter looks exactly like Ning Fei when she was young#

Clicking on the first topic, the top result was a screen recording from the live broadcast of the teaser, the segment where she answered the staff’s questions. The second was a screenshot where Ning Fei’s eyes were filled with love, with the caption showing what Ning Fei said on the show: "If I could, I would, of course, be willing to be my daughter’s support for the rest of my life."

The comment sections for both Weibo posts were very lively.

The first post was mostly filled with netizens joking around and recommending the show.

[Hahaha, Ning Fei’s daughter is quite self-aware; she’s much better than those eye-straining second-generation stars who are forcibly pushed by the industry.]
[Regardless of anything else, just by looks alone, Ning Yuxuan kills 99% of second-generation stars!]
[If I think about it, if my mom were Ning Fei, I’d want to be a full-time daughter too.]
[This clip is quite interesting, is the show called Mother Daughter something? Kind of want to watch it.]
[It’s the mother-daughter variety show "Dear Mom"! I watched the live stream, the atmosphere in Ning’s family is super loving, strongly recommend everyone to watch!]
[Yes, yes, Ning Shiyue is also super cute in it, quite a contrast. This show is worth investing your time in!]

The second post had even more netizens expressing envy.

[I am officially envious... honestly, I’ve never seen that kind of look in my own mother’s eyes.]
[I finally understand what it means to be full of love; this gaze is the embodiment of motherly love!]
[I’m really jealous; I can’t imagine how happy it must be to be Ning Fei’s daughter!]