The Heiress's Game

When Gu Zhenxing returned to his old house, it was already past 10 p.m.

The maid took his suit jacket and brought him a bowl of warm pear and white fungus soup. He drank it as he walked upstairs. When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw Wang Manyun come out of the bedroom to greet him.

She wore a beige silk robe, her hair loosely draped over her shoulders, giving her a gentle, homely air.

She took the empty bowl from his hand and handed it to the maid, then took his arm and went into the bedroom.

Gu Zhenxing sat on the sofa, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

Wang Manyun sat down opposite him and watched him finish half a glass of water before speaking.

"By the way, what do you think of Zhou Qiwen, the eldest son of the Zhou family in Yongli Industrial, whom I mentioned to you last time? He graduated from Cambridge and has become the vice president of Zhou's. Mrs. Zhou has a very good impression of Yun Jin."

If you agree, I'll arrange for the two of them to meet.

Gu Zhenxing leaned back on the sofa and said, "The Zhou family is too small and not worthy of Yunjin."

"Don't even mention the Hengtai Sun family. I checked; they had a previous marriage in the US. A daughter of the Gu family would never marry a divorced man."

Wang Manyun's smile remained on her face, but the curve of her lips was slightly stiff.

She suggested two more names, one the grandson of a long-established shipping magnate, and the other the heir to a Singaporean Chinese business family, but both were rejected by Gu Zhenxing in a few words.

"We don't need to find anyone else for Yun Jin's marriage."

"I already have arrangements. The eldest grandson of Bai Lingfeng, the Bai family of Yunjing, is Bai Junze."

Wang Manyun stood there, holding the cup, her expression undergoing a complete transition in an instant, from shock to disbelief to desperately suppressing her emotions.

"The Bai family of Yunjing?"

"Is it the Bai family?"

"Um."

Wang Manyun took a deep breath. Bai Junze himself built his company into the Fortune Global 500 without relying on his family, making him one of the most outstanding third-generation or even second-generation entrepreneurs.

Such a family and such an heir, placed in the entire Chinese marriage market, are like the diamond set at the very top of the pyramid.

Of course, she wanted Gu Yunjin to get married as soon as possible—the farther away the better, preferably abroad.

In this way, her son Gu Yunxuan will not have a worthy opponent in the Gu family in the future.

Gu Mingcheng was the eldest son born to the first wife. Now she has figured it out: Gu Mingcheng's position as heir is already secure, and she can't shake it, nor does she want to.

But Gu Yunjin is different.

Gu Yunjin was born to Su Wanning, but she was frighteningly intelligent. Every day Wang Manyun stayed in the Gu family, she felt more uneasy.

But to her utter surprise, Gu Zhenxing personally stepped in and chose a top-tier family for Gu Yunjin that was twice as high as the ceiling she had expected.

It's like she wanted to move an eyesore of furniture to the storage room, but Gu Zhenxing ended up moving that piece of furniture into the Louvre.

"What are the conditions from the Bai family?" Wang Manyun forced herself to maintain her composure, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

Gu Zhenxing leaned back on the sofa. "Old Master Bai spoke to me personally on the phone. If the two children meet and are compatible, the Bai family will give Yun Jin three percent of Bai's shares as a dowry."

Wang Manyun's hand suddenly trembled.

A few drops of water splashed out of the teacup.

Three percent.

She wasn't an ordinary woman who had never seen money before; her own family was also influential in political and business circles.

But three percent of Bai's shares—she quickly did the math in her head and came up with a number that made her scalp tingle.

That's a market value of tens of billions.

It's not a betrothal gift, it's a dowry.

These assets belong entirely to Gu Yunjin and have nothing to do with her family.

"Three percent..."

"Yes." Gu Zhenxing looked at her. "I've already reached an agreement with Grandpa Bai on this matter. Cancel all the others you approached before."

Wang Manyun cursed Gu Yunjin mercilessly in her heart, but her face still wore that gentle smile.

"That's good," Wang Manyun's voice even carried a hint of polite satisfaction.

"A family of Bai's social standing is a perfect match for Yun Jin. This girl looks gentle and kind; she'll definitely be well-liked by her in-laws after she marries into the family."

Gu Zhenxing nodded, clearly satisfied with his wife's reaction.

"There's something else I need to tell you. I received a very confidential message from above—the higher-ups are going to get serious about He Daheng. He's already been taken into custody, and an announcement will be made soon."

The entire real estate industry will be shaken up, and the upstream and downstream capital chains, debt chains, and credit chains will be affected in a chain reaction.

Winter has arrived, but most people don't yet realize how quickly the temperature will drop.

Wang Manyun's expression changed.

Coming from a family with a long history in politics and business, she has a much keener sense for this kind of news than the average person. Gu Zhenxing spoke with such certainty that he was definitely not exaggerating.

"Then let's—"

"We're fine," Gu Zhenxing said calmly.

"I already told Mingcheng to withdraw the seven or eight billion yuan he invested in that project beforehand. We recovered every single penny."

Wang Manyun closed her eyes briefly and let out a long sigh of relief.

Seven or eight billion—if that were lost, the Gu family wouldn't be crippled, but it would certainly leave a significant wound.

"But you can't just look at this one thing."

Gu Zhenxing looked at her calmly, "He Daheng's misfortune itself has no direct impact on the Gu family, but his downfall will drag down the entire real estate sector as well."

Real estate is one of the pillar industries of the Gu family. Can you expect our commercial real estate projects to have the same profits next year as this year?

Do we expect the pre-sale permits for new housing developments to be issued on time? Do we expect banks to be begging us for loans like they did a few years ago?

"When winter comes, it's inevitable that the entire industry will shrink. The only difference is who prepared winter clothes in advance and who is still standing shirtless in the wind and snow."

"What is the main focus of the Bai family now? It's new energy, technology, and the fields that the country will pour all its resources into over the next ten years."

Bai Junze's own company, which has become one of the world's top 500 companies, focuses on new energy and AI, which are completely unrelated to the cyclical nature of the real estate market.

With the Gu family's other ventures and the Bai family's technological reserves, the potential for the future is in the trillions.

This is a strategic complementarity, not an ordinary marriage between wealthy families.

In other words, if the Gu family wants to survive this harsh winter, and even thrive, we must hold onto the Bai family as our ally.

Wang Manyun remained silent for a long time. She wasn't a woman who didn't understand business; it was precisely because she did understand that she couldn't refute a single word Gu Zhenxing said.

But the resentment in her heart grew wildly like weeds—Gu Yunjin married well for the sake of the Gu family and for the future of the Gu Corporation.

But what about her Yunxuan? Gu Yunxuan is studying at a university abroad. By the time he returns, will the best things in the Gu family have already been distributed?

"I understand what you mean," Wang Manyun said.

"Therefore, this marriage is not just about Yun Jin, but the fulcrum of the Gu family's entire strategic transformation."

"That's not all." A rare, complex expression appeared between Gu Zhenxing's brows.

"You know Yun Jin's temper. She said she didn't want to marry into the Pei family, but she still dared to come and talk to me about it."

Her attitude towards marriage is that she chooses for herself, and no one can force her.

If she doesn't agree, there's really nothing I can do.

She is no longer the fourteen-year-old girl I could send abroad.

She's now wealthy, owns a company, and is capable. If you force her, she truly means it when she says she won't marry.

He looked at Wang Manyun and said, "So the Bai family's sincerity alone is not enough; our Gu family also needs to show sincerity."

"What do you mean?" Wang Manyun's eyelashes trembled slightly.

"I plan to give three percent of Gu's shares to Yun Jin as her dowry."

The air in the study felt as if it had been sucked out.

Wang Manyun sat motionless on the sofa, her mind filled with what seemed like fireworks.

Three percent of Bai's shares are worth over 10 billion, and another three percent of Gu's shares are worth over 10 billion. This means that once Gu Yunjin gets married, her dowry alone will exceed 20 billion in personal wealth.

This doesn't even include future dividends and capital gains.

"Yunjin's dowry is much more generous than Mingyue's back then."

"Mingyue is marrying Zhao Zongheng," Gu Zhenxing said calmly.

You know what kind of person Zhao Zongheng is. Giving him more is like throwing meat buns to a dog.

But Yun Jin married Bai Junze, and the Bai family contributed real money and shares. If our Gu family is stingy, what kind of strategic marriage can we talk about?