A Beijing socialite stole my boyfriend; she went crazy after I got married.

Huamao International Financial Center.

Headquarters of Qi's Real Estate Group.

Qi Yuanhang sat in his office, browsing the messages sent by his assistant.

He is twenty-six years old, with a handsome appearance, wearing glasses, and looking very refined.

Qi Yuanhang didn't know much about Xie Qingyang, only that she was the only daughter of the leader of Tianyu, a top student, and grew up in the United States.

He had occasionally appeared at a few top-tier celebrity gatherings before, and he always attracted a lot of attention.

...although mainly because of his status.

It's not that she's not good-looking; she's certainly a beauty, but compared to her status, that's nothing.

Qi Yuanhang had previously shown some kindness at the dinner party.

Xie Qingyang was neither warm nor cold to him, but he didn't push him out the door either—in his view, this was already leaving him an opening.

Now, given the other party's status, the fact that they took the initiative to ask him for something and even offered him benefits makes this an extremely worthwhile deal in Qi Yuanhang's eyes.

Snipe the bid for Gao Zhuzhan from the Yu family? A piece of cake.

The final decision on which to host the exhibition at the China World Trade Center is still pending, leaving plenty of room for maneuver.

The Qi family has connections with several heads of the review committee; it would be too easy for them to prevent someone from winning.

Qi Yuanhang pondered for a few minutes, then quickly made a decision. Full of confidence, he called his assistant and began to arrange the specific actions.

"Go tell the judging committee that there are several financial data points in Yu's bidding materials that do not meet the qualification requirements of the organizer. Ask the reviewers to refine the verification standards and raise the bar higher..."

Halfway through the conversation, the office door was pushed open from the outside.

A middle-aged man walked in from outside.

That was Qi Jianbin, the CEO of Huamao. He had slightly graying temples and a kind face, but his eyes were very sharp.

"dad."

Qi Yuanhang stood up, looking somewhat excited.

Qi Jianbin was holding a briefing he had just received from within the group. "What are you doing?"

"Guess what!" Qi Yuanhang grinned. "Now there's a great opportunity. In the bidding for the Gaozhu Exhibition at Huamao, as long as I kick the Yu family out of the final list—"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Snapped!

A slap landed squarely on Qi Yuanhang's face.

His glasses were knocked off, his cheeks were swollen, and his head was buzzing.

Qi Yuanhang steadied himself on the table, staring up at his father, speechless, not quite understanding what had happened.

"dad?!"

"Shut up."

Qi Jianbin slammed the document he was holding onto the table. "Do you know what's in my hand?"

Qi Yuanhang covered his face, took a breath, and said, "...Huh?"

"It was a special approval order for cooperation issued directly by the president's office of Tianyu Group."

Qi Jianbin opened the document, pushed it in front of his son, and spoke in a low voice, enunciating each word clearly.

"Their private banking division and global asset allocation center jointly signed a strategic cooperation agreement—the highest level—with Yu's Jewelry Group. Three core commercial real estate projects under Tianyu's name opened prime locations to Yu's, waiving deposits. Tianyu Trust directly injected capital into Yu Haisheng's auction house."

Qi Yuanhang stared at the document, his eyes widening little by little.

"Was it sent this morning?"

"Personal signature, and you're all set."

Qi Jianbin sighed, "Do you know what this means, Yuanhang? It means that Yu's is now a project personally favored and protected by Xie Jing himself. Have you ever seen the chairman of Tianyu provide this level of support to an ordinary partner?"

Qi Yuanhang was speechless.

"No," Qi Jianbin answered for him, his voice completely somber. "This isn't normal business cooperation logic at all. This is someone Xie Jing himself wants to protect. Whatever the reason, the Yu family is practically under Tianyu's seal right now."

Qi Yuanhang swallowed hard. "But—"

"You," he tapped Qi Yuanhang's forehead, "are you planning to help some ignorant idiot kick this iron plate?"

Qi Yuanhang completely lost his earlier confidence. "...Xie Qingyang called and asked me to help with this."

His voice lowered considerably as he stammered, "She said she could help me get those new energy projects introduced to Tianyu Investment Department..."

"Xie Qingyang?"

Qi Jianbin stared at his son for a full five seconds.

Then he took off his glasses, slowly pressed his temples, and said, "Have you been sold out and are you foolishly helping them count the money?"

"What do you mean?"

Qi Jianbin put his glasses back on his nose and spoke clearly, "Tianyu Group's legal department previously issued an official letter stating that any of her personal business activities have no connection with Tianyu Group. Tianyu does not endorse or guarantee anything. Guess what that means?"

Qi Yuanhang's mind began to overload with this series of information.

"Then, she said she'd help me get introduced to someone..."

"You believe her just because she says so? I could say I'm Qin Shi Huang."

Qi Jianbin coldly interrupted, "What makes her think she can recommend me?"

Qi Yuanhang was speechless.

"The only bargaining chip she has right now is that her surname is Xie." Qi Jianbin tossed the document to him, turned, and walked towards the door. "But... there are plenty of people in the world with the surname Xie."

Qi Yuanhang was slightly taken aback. "Dad, what do you mean?"

Qi Jianbin paused at the door without turning his head. "From now on, before you answer anyone's call or work for anyone, find out how deep the water is behind them before you open your mouth."

The office was extremely quiet.

Qi Yuanhang looked out the window.

The winter sky over Beijing was filled with low-hanging, leaden-gray clouds, making one feel incredibly stifled.

He picked up the documents on the table and began to examine them carefully.

-

Jiang Chu received a text message from a junior student just before get out of class ended.

Yu Wanzhou said he wanted to invite her to dinner.

She figured Xie Jing wouldn't be home too early today, so she agreed.

The junior schoolmate sent me a cheering emoji.

After class, the two of them met in the parking lot.

"Senior," Yu Wanzhou looked at her with admiration, "there's something I want to ask you. Did you help—"

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly turned around warily.

Jiang Chu looked over together.

Xie Qingyang and several other students came out of the elevator, but Wei Jing was not with them.

"..."

Jiang Chu rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Xie Qingyang also quickly spotted the two people in the distance. His gaze lingered on Yu Wanzhou for a moment, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Miss Yu," Xie Qingyang smiled, "I didn't recognize you last time, it's my fault for having a bad memory."

Yu Wanzhou looked at her expressionlessly, "If you have something to say, just say so. If you want to fight, you can just say so too."

Just as Xie Qingyang was about to speak, his phone suddenly vibrated.

She took out her phone, looked at Yu Wanzhou, and said, "...This is CEO Qi from Huamao International Financial Center."