The Heiress's Game

As they left the dessert shop, Bai Junze carried several takeout containers of unfinished desserts and walked slowly alongside Gu Yunjin along the tree-lined street.

Bai Junze walked on the outside, taking slow steps to keep pace with her. He carried the sugar water box steadily in his hand, and the plastic bag occasionally swayed gently with each step.

He was silent for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before speaking.

"If there's anything you need me to do in the future, just tell me directly, no need to beat around the bush."

Gu Yunjin was looking down at her half-finished brown sugar pearl milk tea when she heard this and glanced up at him.

"I thought you were going to say next, 'Marriage is about resource integration, don't expect me to invest my feelings and time.'"

Bai Junze frowned slightly: "What?"

"It's that kind of thing—" Gu Yunjin changed her tone, imitating the cold, aloof manner of a domineering CEO in a short drama.

"Miss Gu, our marriage is a business partnership between our two families. Please know your place and don't try to win my affections. From now on, I won't bother with you, and you shouldn't bother with me either."

She laughed first after she finished speaking, and the laughter echoed under the quiet sycamore tree.

"Then we were like those arranged marriages, living separate lives during the day and going back to our own rooms at night. We maintained a respectable image as a married couple in public, but behind closed doors we didn't even eat together."

In a few years, other women might come knocking on my door to annoy me, and I'll put on another dramatic show of the wife tearing apart the mistress—is that the script?

You know, it's the kind of melodramatic soap opera that's all the rage in our industry.

She said this with a smile on her face, as if she were telling a joke she had seen on a short video, but the content of the joke was so real that it felt tangible.

There are too many marriages like this in their circle—glamorous on the surface, but cold on the inside, with each spouse doing their own thing, having affairs outside while keeping the home fires burning.

Bai Junze stopped walking. Gu Yunjin took two steps forward before realizing he hadn't followed. She turned around and saw him standing under the streetlight, his expression hard to describe.

It wasn't anger, nor was it being offended; rather, it was a feeling of helplessness—being defeated yet forced to explain.

"Short dramas are fine to watch," Bai Junze said, his tone admonishing.

"But watch it sparingly, and don't let it affect your life."

Gu Yunjin blinked. "But isn't this kind of arranged marriage just a source of material for short dramas?"

"That's the screenwriter's problem, not the marriage."

Bai Junze started walking again and walked to her side.

"A top performer in their career must possess high basic intelligence and judgment."

A partner who is worth choosing is a valuable resource in itself.

Why would a smart person treat their future partner in the most foolish way? It doesn't align with the logic of maximizing self-interest.

He continued, "Those people are either unable to control their base impulses, or they are so narcissistic that they think the whole world should revolve around them."

To put it bluntly, you're either stupid or sick. You're the partner I chose myself, and I'm not that kind of person.

Gu Yunjin was stunned for a moment.

She only meant to tease him, but he unexpectedly presented a complete business analysis logic.

She laughed at this logic, her laughter ringing out clearly under the quiet sycamore tree.

"What are you laughing at?" Bai Junze asked.

"No," Gu Yunjin stopped laughing and looked at him seriously.

"I just think your logic is pretty good, really."

Bai Junze continued, "What is the essence of the situation you described—being indifferent after marriage, keeping other women outside, embarrassing the wife, and creating unnecessary internal strife in the family?

It increases your own risk, creates enemies, wastes your energy, damages your reputation, and destroys a long-term cooperative relationship that could have been steadily growing.

Anyone with basic logical training can see the difference: using the same time and energy to build a good family, in exchange for a stable home and sustainable emotional support, is the option with the highest return.

Gu Yunjin lowered her head, smiled again, then raised her head again and continued walking forward side by side with him.

Perhaps it was the night, perhaps it was because her smile was so vivid, or perhaps it was the old saying, "A beautiful woman looks more beautiful under the lamplight"—the warm yellow light of the streetlights poured down from above, falling on her profile and outlining her features with exceptional softness.

Tonight she was wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts, her hair casually tied in a low ponytail, and her skin had a natural, warm glow under the light.

When she smiles, her eyes curve first, followed by the corners of her mouth. The unfolding of her expression has a natural rhythm; it's not exaggerated or pretentious, but it's very infectious.

Bai Junze suddenly realized that Gu Yunjin was really beautiful.

It wasn't the kind of beauty he'd seen before at cocktail parties and dinners, meticulously adorned with haute couture gowns and expensive jewelry, but rather a more casual beauty that needed no embellishment.

"You stared at me for several seconds," Gu Yunjin turned her head and met his eyes.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about the short drama you mentioned." Bai Junze withdrew his gaze without changing his expression, his tone as calm as ever.