The Heiress's Game

After leaving the second house of the Bai family, Bai Junze drove off Wutong Avenue and did not take the elevated road. Instead, he suddenly turned on his turn signal at the next intersection and turned into a side road.

Gu Yunjin leaned against the passenger seat, half asleep, and only opened her eyes when she felt the car slow down. She looked at the unfamiliar street scene outside the window and said, "This is not the way home."

"I'll take you somewhere." Bai Junze turned the steering wheel with one hand.

After driving for about twenty minutes, the car entered a parking lot in an ancient town.

This ancient water town on the outskirts of Yunjing City is not very famous, with few tourists, and it is especially quiet at night.

The white walls and black tiles on both sides of the stone-paved road stood quietly in the warm yellow light of the lanterns.

The arched bridge and the shadows of the willows on the bank are reflected on the river. Occasionally, one or two awning boats returning home late row by, the sound of oars rustling, turning the moon in the water into shattered silver.

Gu Yunjin got out of the car, took a deep breath of the night air carrying moisture, and felt that the heaviness that had accumulated in the living room of the second bedroom all night was blown away by the wind.

She stood by the car waiting for Bai Junze to lock it, but then she saw him go around to the trunk, take out a cardigan, and hand it to her.

"It gets chilly at night," he said.

Gu Yunjin took the cardigan and put it on.

The two walked slowly along the stone path.

The main street of the ancient town is not long, and the air is filled with the aroma of fried stinky tofu and grilled squid.

Gu Yunjin paused in front of a milk tea shop, then walked on, finally stopping in front of a Mixue Ice Cream shop with warm yellow lights, and turned to look at Bai Junze.

"I want an ice cream cone."

"Are you going to ruin your stomach by eating something cold at night?"

"Yes, I will." She said matter-of-factly.

Bai Junze glanced at her, said nothing more, walked over, ordered a plain ice cream cone, paid for it, and handed it to her.

Gu Yunjin took the ice cream cone, licked it contentedly, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.

Bai Junze followed behind her, carrying a tote bag. He watched her walk around, stopping and starting, holding an ice cream cone. Sometimes she would go to a stall to look at paper cutting, and sometimes she would squat on the stone steps by the river to watch the koi in the water.

He didn't rush her or ask where she was going; he just followed quietly, occasionally reaching out to support her shoulder when she forgot to look where she was going.

When they reached the arched bridge, Bai Junze asked a question.

"Were you holding it in at the dinner table today?"

Gu Yunjin paused in her licking of the ice cream cone and looked up at him.

The lantern light from the ancient town fell on her face, casting flickering shadows on her expression.

She blinked, her gentle, innocent expression mirroring her demeanor at the dinner table.

"What do I do when my husband is too smart?" she said, her tone carrying a hint of shamelessness at being exposed.

Bai Junze smiled slightly: "Bear with it."

Gu Yunjin couldn't help but laugh. After laughing, she leaned against the railing and looked at the river flowing gently under the bridge.

"Let me ask you a question first. What do you think is most important to Meng Wanqing?"

Bai Junze thought for a second: "Money."

"No," Gu Yunjin shook her head.

"Of course she cares about money, but for her, money is just a means, not an end."

What she cared about most was Bai Wenxiong. Her greatest hope in this life was not how long Bai Jingchuan would live, nor where she herself would rank in the circle of wealthy women.

Rather, it's about whether her son can establish himself in the Bai family and whether he can get a large enough slice of the pie in the Bai Group.

Bai Junze did not refute her, and waited for her to continue.

"Before I married you, I studied many people in the Bai family."

"Pak Man-hsiung is indeed intelligent, I don't deny that."

But bigger than his intellect was his ambition, and bigger than his ambition was his arrogance.

He thinks he's better than you, or rather, he feels he's just missing an opportunity.

Many years ago, when you were still with the Bai Group, you were in control of him, and he couldn't turn the tables.

Later, you left Bai's and started your own business, which became a Fortune 500 company.

He felt even worse because he realized that the distance between him and you hadn't shrunk, but rather widened.

His current position at the Bai family is neither high nor low; he looks glamorous, but in reality, he's just a high-level employee.

This resentment might lead him to make some unwise judgments.

Bai Junze listened quietly; of course he knew what kind of person Bai Wenxiong was.

But he also had to admit that Pak Man-hung was indeed very good at hiding his true intentions.

In the Bai family, besides him and Gu Yunjin, probably only Bai Wenxiong himself is sober.

"So you painted a very tempting picture for him at the dinner table," Bai Junze said.

"That was bait." Gu Yunjin looked at the moon's reflection gently swaying on the river surface.

"Hasn't Meng Wanqing always wanted to drag me down with her? First, she introduced me to resources in the film industry, and then she got the old man to speak up for her. She has a whole series of tricks up her sleeve."

I suspect her next step is to set me up so she can control me.

Bai Junze raised an eyebrow slightly: "So you taught her a lesson first."

"Yes." Gu Yunjin turned her head, her eyes clear yet cunning under the lights of the ancient town.

"She wants to control me, so I'll teach her what kind of person is worthy of controlling me."

I said those things partly for her and partly for your dad.

I want your dad to know whether I'm interested in the people his wife introduced me to.

I don't approve. I want him to know that I, his daughter-in-law, am not some greenhorn who needs to be taken by his wife to meet some directors and producers.

Her tone suddenly became lighter: "The other half—it's definitely for Bai Wenxiong to hear."

Why do you think he was so agitated? He appeared meek and submissive on the surface, but inside he was probably in turmoil.

Unicorns, with returns of forty to fifty times, I specifically mentioned them because he had looked at that project before.

We need to let them know first that there's meat in the pot, and lots of meat at that.

Bai Junze pulled Gu Yunjin closer to him.

"Bai Wenxiong smoothed things over for us at the dinner table today, not because he cares about family harmony, but because he needs to maintain the image of a well-behaved younger brother who is 'sensible and considerate of the big picture'."

Every time he showed me kindness, every time he came up to me and called me "Big Brother," it was all part of a meticulously planned scheme.

In his logic, his eldest uncle, third uncle, and fourth uncle were all inferior to his father; the Bai Group would eventually be his, and even if not all of it, it would at least be a significant portion.

Gu Yunjin looked at Bai Junze with sparkling eyes.

"Unfortunately, he doesn't know that Grandpa has already transferred all his shares in the Bai Group to you."

"I just think about how funny their expressions will be when they find out about this later."

"From now on, he will be a marginal figure in the Bai family, and this is the path I have arranged for him," Bai Junze said.

Gu Yunjin poked his arm with her hand: "That's what I mean, a marginalized member of a wealthy family."

His mother spent twenty years building up her business, but in the end, it all came to nothing.

"So all you're doing now is promoting how delicious the pie is," Bai Junze said.

"Yes! Let him smell the aroma, make him itchy, let him discover that there are ways to make money that Bai Wenxiong has never been able to find."

"You're saying that's a trap, but how tempting it is," Bai Junze corrected her.

Gu Yunjin suddenly turned her head and glared at him. Under the lanterns of the ancient town, her eyes were bright and sparkling, whether from the light or from anger, it was hard to tell.

She reached out and pinched his arm, on the most sensitive spot on the inside of his arm.

Bai Junze remained expressionless, without even frowning, and even smiled.

"You bastard," Gu Yunjin said, still not satisfied after pinching him, she poked his shoulder with her finger again.

"Seeing through things but not saying them is a basic virtue in a marriage, don't you understand?"

"I don't understand." Bai Junze took her hand back into his palm and held it tightly.

"I'm just telling the truth."

"That's not telling the truth, that's called—"

Before Gu Yunjin could finish speaking, they happened to pass by a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes. The stall owner was an old man in his sixties with a ruddy complexion and a loud voice.

The old man saw the young couple bickering next to his stall and chuckled as he chimed in:

"Young man, is your wife angry? Buy her a roasted sweet potato to appease her, it's very sweet!"

Gu Yunjin was so amused by this uninvited off-site audience member that she almost choked, and she lowered her head to suppress her laughter, her shoulders shaking.

Bai Junze expressionlessly took out his phone and scanned the QR code on the stall.

"two."

"Alright!" The old man skillfully wrapped up two of the largest roasted sweet potatoes and handed them over, then winked at Gu Yunjin.

"Girl, your husband is good; he's willing to spend money on you—many men won't even buy their wives Mixue Ice Cream, but he knows to buy them two sweet potatoes. That's good!"

Gu Yunjin took the sweet potato and laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

Bai Junze took her hand and walked towards the parking lot.

"So, have you finished your lesson?" he asked.

"That's all for now."

Gu Yunjin peeled the skin off the roasted sweet potato, took a bite, and mumbled something.

"Next, I'll use what I do best to teach them a lesson."

Gu Yunjin said a few more words.

What do you think of my idea?

"Great, fantastic, amazing! How can my wife be so smart?"

Every night, I don't want to write novels, so I go to see the red fruit and just laze around.