The Heiress's Game

The international video conference lasted an hour and a half, but Bai Junze's attention was only half on the screen.

The marketing director was reporting quarterly data from the Southeast Asian division through the earphones. He nodded when he was supposed to and asked questions when he was supposed to, and no one noticed anything unusual.

But the other half of his thoughts had already drifted elsewhere before the meeting even began.

He was thinking about his parents' marriage.

Zhuo Shengnan and Bai Jingchuan were childhood sweethearts, growing up together in the Bai family mansion.

At that time, everyone thought it was a match made in heaven—they were well-matched in terms of social status and affection. Even his grandfather said that Shengnan marrying Jingchuan was the thing that put his mind at ease the most in his life.

But what happened in the end? Both of them have strong personalities. They started to work on their relationship after marriage, and it took many years. Their sharp edges didn't diminish at all; instead, they became even sharper with each passing year.

Later, his father encountered an accident at sea, was stranded in Taicheng, lost his memory, remarried, and returned with another woman.

Childhood sweethearts, innocent and carefree, yet this is the only ending they could have.

If that shipwreck hadn't happened, would they have survived to the end?

Bai Junze felt he couldn't answer that question either. Perhaps he could—there are plenty of marriages between wealthy families that last a lifetime; if both partners are patient and prioritize responsibility, living together for a lifetime isn't difficult.

But "can" and "good" are two different things.

He had witnessed this from a young age and knew that beneath the polite and respectful relationship between his parents lay countless unspoken arguments and grievances.

Most of the marriages in the previous generation of the Bai family were like this.

The eldest uncle's marriage was arranged, the third uncle's marriage was arranged, they were always very polite at the dinner table, and the couple always maintained social distance.

Only Fourth Uncle Bai Jing'an—Tianyi's father—was a little different.

Fourth Uncle was also not very ambitious. He held a nominal position at the company and rarely went to work. His biggest hobbies were fishing and growing orchids.

Auntie Si came from a wealthy family and was a cheerful and straightforward person. She ended up with Uncle Si, a good-for-nothing, and they lived a very fulfilling life together.

The two of them constantly complained about each other—the fourth aunt scolded the fourth uncle for being lazy, and the fourth uncle complained that the fourth aunt was nagging—but every time Bai Junze went to their house for dinner, he could feel an atmosphere that was completely different from the other Bai family dinner tables.

Auntie would put food into Uncle's bowl, and Uncle would complain that she had put too much in his bowl, then silently eat it all.

Bai Tianyi lives such a carefree life largely because he grew up in a truly warm family.

As Bai Junze thought about this, Bai Tianyi's words from that afternoon suddenly flashed through his mind—"Brother, marriage means the two of you will spend your whole lives together. You'll see her every time you open your eyes and every time you close them."

If he and Gu Yunjin were to marry and live like his uncle and aunt—busy with their own lives during the day, returning to their own rooms at night, occasionally appearing together at family gatherings, raising their glasses and smiling respectably yet distantly, like two partners nominally affiliated with the same project—would that really be possible?

He used to think it was possible.

The essence of marriage is cooperation, and the core of cooperation is mutual benefit; feelings are an optional byproduct.

He even used this logic to convince himself to accept the arranged marriage.

But despite both being arranged marriages, the fourth uncle and fourth aunt lived a warm and loving life, while the eldest uncle and third uncle had a cold and distant partnership.

The forms may be the same, but the quality can be worlds apart.

Does he really want to remain a stranger to Gu Yunjin for the rest of his life?

Even if the marriage started as an exchange of interests between the two families, for decades to come, they will live under the same roof, eat at the same table, share the same bed, and even raise children together.

If we're always strangers, how are we supposed to get through this?

What's more, Gu Yunjin took the initiative to ask him out today.

She didn't put on airs, nor did she wait for him to come after her.

She messaged him to ask him out for a walk, took the initiative to start a conversation, talked about her past, asked him what he liked and disliked, and maintained just the right amount of positivity throughout the process.

Without flattery or pretense, but with a clear attitude: I'm trying to understand you.

She had already taken the first step, so what did he do? He completed the "preliminary familiarization" within two hours, finished work on time, and returned to the hotel without even buying a cup of milk tea.

Tomorrow he and his grandfather will fly back to Yunjing.

Tonight is his last chance before leaving after the wedding is finalized with Gu Yunjin.

Despite knowing that Bai Tianyi and Zhang Zhuoran were both at the barbecue stall, he chose to come back to hold a video conference.

Video conferences can be held anytime; you can just glance at the financial data before boarding.

But Gu Yunjin felt that if he didn't even have this most basic sincerity, it would be difficult to make amends later.

Bai Junze typed his last instruction in the meeting interface: "Send today's data report to my email. I'll receive it before boarding tomorrow morning." Then he took off his headphones and picked up his phone from the table.

He called Bai Tianyi.

I answered the phone after it rang twice.

The background noise was loud and lively, with a cacophony of voices mixed with the sizzling of barbecue and the crisp sound of spatulas hitting the hot plate.

Bai Tianyi answered the phone with something in his mouth, his voice muffled: "Brother? You've finished your meeting?"

"Send me the address." Bai Junze stood up, picked up his coat and car keys from the sofa, and walked towards the door while putting them on.

The other end of the phone suddenly went silent, and the noisy background noise was pulled back a few seconds.

Then Bai Tianyi burst into an excited scream: "You're really coming?! Wait, wait, I'll send it right away—Zhang Zhuoran, move over there and make room for my older brother! Yun Jin, I'm telling you, my older brother is coming! He's actually coming!"

Bai Junze hung up the phone amidst his cousin's shouting, glanced at the address on his phone screen, and went outside.