The Heiress's Game

After walking around the seaside promenade, Gu Yunjin said goodbye to Bai Junze in the parking lot.

She glanced at the time after getting in the car—from meeting to parting, it had been less than two hours.

She sat in the car for a while, opened a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, started the car, and drove off.

When Bai Junze returned to the hotel, Bai Tianyi was sprawled on the sofa in the suite's living room, playing video games.

"Brother, you're back? Is it hot outside—wait." Bai Tianyi suddenly pressed the pause button, looked up at the time on his phone, then looked at Bai Junze, his expression instantly changing from relaxed to confused.

"Why are you back so soon? What time is it? Weren't you supposed to meet this afternoon?"

"From two to four o'clock," Bai Junze said as he changed into slippers and walked in. "Perfect timing."

Bai Tianyi sprang up from the sofa, the game controller slipping onto the carpet without him even picking it up. He glared at Bai Junze with a look that seemed to say, "Are you out of your mind?" "Just right? What do you mean by just right? The girl asked you out, and you two walked along the beach for two hours and then broke up?"

Didn't you treat her to a meal? Didn't you take her out for dessert? Didn't you find her a place to sit?

"She didn't say she wanted to eat." Bai Junze sat down on the sofa, picked up the remote control, and turned the air conditioner temperature down by two degrees.

Bai Tianyi's eyes widened as he scanned the luxurious ocean-view suite frantically, as if searching for hidden cameras to confirm whether this was a prank show.

He opened his mouth several times, finally managing to stammer out, "I thought you were eating out tonight, so I specifically ordered takeout for one person. Why are you back already?"

He picked up the cup of milk tea that had gone cold from the coffee table. "Brother, I thought you would at least take her out for a drink."

You two walked in the sun for two hours, and then she drove home while you went back to your hotel—don't you think something's off about this date?

"It's not a date." Bai Junze picked up his thermos and took a sip of warm water.

"It's to get to know each other in advance. The marriage between the two families has already been arranged, and they will be living together in the future. Taking advantage of the time now, we can meet more often and learn about the necessary information."

"Familiarize yourself with it beforehand?" Bai Tianyi repeated these four words, his tone filled with an incredulous sense of absurdity.

"Brother, you're making it sound like you're doing due diligence for a project. Don't you have to treat people to a meal when you're doing due diligence?"

You at least arrange a business dinner when you meet clients, but you just walk along the beach for two hours to see your future wife?

"She didn't walk fast," Bai Junze stated the facts objectively.

Bai Tianyi felt that if he were to have his blood pressure checked now, the reading would definitely be outside the normal range.

He plopped back down on the sofa, rubbed his hands on his knees, and tried to organize his thoughts: "Brother, haven't I told you many times what Yun Jin likes?"

She loves racing, not the kind of person who sits in the passenger seat screaming, but someone who genuinely loves it. She's driven in the amateur category of a karting league and even did lap times on track days, with pretty good results.

There's a racetrack forty kilometers north of Dahai City. You can take her there for a couple of laps; I guarantee she'll be a hundred times happier than strolling along the seaside promenade.

Bai Junze glanced at him, seemingly showing interest in the information for a second, before resuming his calm and composed expression.

"And even if we don't go to the racetrack, shouldn't you at least take her out to get something to eat?"

Bai Tianyi counted them one by one on his fingers, becoming more and more excited as he counted.

"She likes to drink Hong Kong-style milk tea with brown sugar pearls. She likes sweets, mango pancakes, mango pomelo sago, double-skin milk pudding, and she can sit at a roadside stall and chat all night if she buys just one of these."

Last time we were at the barbecue stand, she devoured a whole plate of grilled chicken wings and two skewers of grilled buns by herself, and even taught me how to make the dipping sauce—and then you take someone like that to the beach for two hours and send her back without her eating anything? Do you think that's reasonable?

"Milk tea is unhealthy," Bai Junze said.

"It's high in sugar and trans fats, so you should drink less of it."

Bai Tianyi was completely speechless.

He leaned back on the sofa, stared at the ceiling for several seconds, and then said in a heartbroken tone:

"I knew it, I knew you were the epitome of human boredom."

You go to arrange a marriage, and the girl takes the initiative to ask you out. You actually manage to "get acquainted" with her in two hours and then finish work on time and return to the hotel.

"Dude, tell me honestly, what did you talk about with her the whole time? Annual financial reports? ESG ratings? New energy industry policies?"

"We chatted for a bit," Bai Junze said, leaning back on the sofa.

"She speaks very logically."

"Anything else?"

"I made her walk on the inside when we were walking."

Bai Tianyi sat up straight instantly, his eyes regaining a glimmer of hope: "Not bad, bro! Ten points for that detail! You even knew to let her walk on the inside—and then what?"

"And then?"

"You told her to go to the inside, and then what did you say? Like 'Watch out for cars' or 'You go to the inside'—did you take the opportunity to pull her hand? Or at least pat her on the shoulder?"

"no."

Bai Tianyi's expression visibly crumbled.

He picked up the game controller from the sofa, hugged it to his chest, and curled up into a ball, as if he was trying to process this devastating blow from his cousin in his own way.

"Brother, do you even know what marriage means? Marriage means that the two of you will spend the rest of your lives together."

For a lifetime! I'll see her every time I open my eyes, every time I close my eyes, every time I eat, and even when I'm on a business trip, I'll video chat with her.

You two aren't familiar with each other yet, so take advantage of this opportunity to get to know each other better and build a relationship.

And what do you do? When someone invites you, you treat it like a meeting.

Aren't you afraid she'll think you're too boring and go back to Gu Zhenxing and tell him she's not marrying him?

"She won't." Bai Junze's tone was very confident.

How did you know?

"With a dowry of 20 billion yuan, she's not the kind of person who would change her mind over a cup of milk tea."

"Moreover, this marriage is a strategic fulcrum for the Gu family to hold onto the Bai family's new energy vehicle business during the real estate downturn. Gu Zhenxing won't let her go back on her word, and she herself is well aware of this."

Bai Tianyi stared at him for five seconds, then got up from the sofa and walked over to Bai Junze.

He stood up straight and solemnly announced in a tone that said, "I have done everything I can; the rest is up to fate."

"Brother, you are a business genius, you are the Bai family's finest talent, and you are a ruthless person that no one on the board of directors dares to mess with."

But in the realm of dating—you're not just starting from scratch, you're in the negative; you haven't even found the starting line.

Bai Junze remained silent for two seconds.

"I'm going to get married sooner or later anyway," he said, his tone calm and rational.

"We'll have plenty of time to spend together in the future. Let's cut out these inefficient activities now; it's a way of respecting each other's time."

Bai Tianyi opened his mouth, then closed it again, and finally chose to pick up his phone and order himself another cup of milk tea.

This time he didn't order any for Bai Junze.

It took Bai Tianyi a while to recover. When he looked up, the expression on his face had changed from despair to a sense of mission that "I must save this relationship."

"Brother, listen to me. From your perspective, your idea isn't without merit."

But your relationship with Gu Yunjin isn't over after you sign the contract—you'll be eating together, attending events together, facing pressure from your grandfather and aunt to have children together, and you might even have to dance the first dance together at the Bai family's annual meeting.

If you don't build some revolutionary friendship with her now, how will you live together in the future? Are you expecting us to just go about our own business every night and not even exchange a word?"

Bai Junze glanced at him, his lips twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything.