Chapter 7

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Ji Xi wants to marry her?

Shu Shirun hadn’t expected such a condition, her face full of shock.

A matter involving tens or even hundreds of billions, and his move was actually to marry her?

Shu Shirun was both astonished and a little annoyed.

He knew full well that she had just witnessed her boyfriend with another woman, and yet he proposed marriage at this moment?

How could he say that out loud?

The road they were on didn’t have much traffic, but from time to time a few cars passed by; only they remained stationary.

The sound of vehicles driving in the rain was louder—approaching from afar, then receding.

For a moment, those sounds and the pattering rain around Shu Shirun’s ears all vanished.

Seeing her silent, Ji Xi frowned. “You’re still attached to someone like that?”

There was a trace of sarcasm and incomprehension in his tone, as if mixed with some inexplicable anger.

Shu Shirun flared up at his words. “What does that have to do with you?”

Ji Xi’s eyes darkened.

Shu Shirun wasn’t usually someone to take out her frustrations on others, but Ji Xi’s tone struck a nerve.

Fearing he might genuinely believe she was still hung up on Yan Yi, she added coldly, “What is there to miss about someone like that?”

The moment she saw it, she made her decision—without hesitation.

Ji Xi responded with a light chuckle.

Ji Xi: “That’s good then.”

Shu Shirun was even angrier at his laugh, shooting him a glare.

What was so funny?

Her eyes were still red, her lashes slightly wet, drenched hair clinging to her face.

In short, a rather dispirited glare.

Ji Xi’s eyes sparkled with amusement at her glance, then slowly softened.

“Since you’re not attached anymore, think about my proposal. Time is also crucial for Wan Ling.”

Shu Shirun lowered her eyes, jaw clenched tight.

A gust of wind blew through, carrying away the warmth trapped in her soaked clothes and hair; only then did she feel the chill.

Her mind had been unsettled on the way here, and she had left her coat in Wu Tianqi’s car.

A single rainstorm had brought an early chill of autumn.

Ji Xi glanced at her and said, “Get in first.”

The car door opened.

Shu Shirun hesitated for a few seconds, then closed her umbrella and got in.

**

The car started moving again through the rainy night.

It wasn’t so cold once inside.

Shu Shirun pressed her lips together, remaining silent.

“Put this on.” Ji Xi handed her a suit jacket.

He himself wore a white shirt.

The rain was heavy; the short distance she walked without an umbrella had soaked her hair and clothes thoroughly. Even later under the umbrella, some raindrops still fell beneath it.

Her beige silk blouse, wet and clinging to her skin, was somewhat sheer.

She had just brushed the hair stuck to her neck back behind her shoulders, leaving the front area uncovered and noticeably see-through.

Only after his reminder did Shu Shirun realize this, her face flushing as she accepted the jacket.

Putting on something wet and sticky was uncomfortable; she draped the jacket over herself instead.

After a few seconds, she said stiffly to the man who had just made a bold and improper proposal, “Thank you.”

Ji Xi: “No need to thank me.”

Shu Shirun looked at him.

He paused briefly, then explained, “After all... I have intentions toward you.”

His kindness was not without reason; he was waiting for a return.

Shu Shirun clenched the jacket in her hands. “You—”

She remembered there was a designated driver ahead and didn’t continue.

Ji Xi understood, instructing the driver to find a spot on the roadside where they could avoid the rain.

The car stopped by the roadside; the driver got out with his phone to shelter from the rain, leaving only Shu Shirun and Ji Xi inside.

The jacket was draped a bit high on her body, the collar brushing her jaw, tickling slightly.

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She lifted her chin, pressing it gently, then spoke: “You want to use my background?”

After a brief shock, she figured out why Ji Xi wanted to marry her.

Just as Zheng Tingyan had said before, no matter how capable Ji Xi was, if he wanted to thrive in the highest social circles of Nancheng, he still lacked the recognition of status.

Marriage was the quickest, easiest way.

Ji Xi looked at her for a few seconds, raised an eyebrow lightly, then looked away, his fingertips tapping the armrest as he said, “You came to him. Regardless of whether he can solve it or not—even if he can reach the investment institutions, it doesn’t mean the negotiations will succeed. If it were that easy, your uncle wouldn’t be in such a hurry.”

He didn’t deny it, effectively confirming Shu Shirun’s guess.

She also knew it couldn’t be that simple, or her uncle wouldn’t have asked for her help.

Ji Xi added, “Or, are you going to ask your family for help?”

His tone suggested he was certain she wouldn’t want to.

They had been parked by the roadside for some time.

The car’s hazard lights blinked rhythmically in the rain.

Shu Shirun indeed didn’t want to.

His question was a deliberate reminder that her options were limited.

Unabashedly, he was practically wearing the words “I’m taking advantage of your situation” on his face, adopting a profit-driven stance.

Usually good-natured Shu Shirun was now so provoked she wanted to curse.

Shameless!

Suddenly, her phone rang, lighting up the screen.

Ji Xi glanced at it.

It was Yan Yi calling.

Shu Shirun frowned and immediately hung up, switching the phone to silent.

Ji Xi withdrew his gaze. “He’s no good.”

Shu Shirun retorted, “Are you?”

Ji Xi sneered, twitching his mouth. “Still better than him.”

Shu Shirun: “...”

Ji Xi: “You can think it over.”

“Where do you live? I’ll take you back first.”

He behaved with great patience, as if conducting a smooth negotiation, knowing when to advance and retreat.

**

Shu Shirun lived at Chuan Song No.1, an apartment by the riverside.

She arrived home and showered, it was already past ten.

Exhausted in body and mind from the day, she sat on the sofa and picked up her phone.

There were four missed calls—all from Yan Yi.

His messages on WeChat too.

—Yan Yi: “Ranran, have you been to Stay?”

—Yan Yi: “Did you see it?”

Two more messages sent ten minutes apart.

—Yan Yi: “Ranran, can you answer the phone?”

—Yan Yi: “Let’s talk.”

Shu Shirun exited the chat screen and searched for news about Wan Ling, seeing plenty about stock acquisitions and hostile takeovers.

The more she read, the heavier her heart grew.

A call interrupted her.

She looked at it for a few seconds and answered.

“Ranran.”

Shu Shirun put the call on speaker, placing the phone on the sofa, answering coldly: “What do you want to talk about?”

“Ranran, I’m sorry,” Yan Yi said with guilt.

Shu Shirun was impatient with his apologies, finding them hypocritical and laughable.

“Was that your first love?” she asked.

“Yes,” Yan Yi replied.

Shu Shirun knew Yan Yi had a first love, a university classmate.

Having a past was normal; she hadn’t paid much attention to it before.

“When did it start?”

Yan Yi: “No, I met her in Beicheng.”

No wonder one time when she called him, he didn’t answer, and when he called back, something felt off.

Shu Shirun: “You broke up.”

There was silence on the phone for a few seconds; Yan Yi didn’t deny it.

“I heard about Wan Ling. Did you contact me today because of Wan Ling?”

“It’s none of your business anymore.” Shu Shirun was about to hang up.

Yan Yi: “I’ll do my best to help Wan Ling.”

He paused, then added, “Don’t make things difficult for her.”

He wanted to use helping Wan Ling as a bargaining chip with her.

Shu Shirun was so angry she laughed bitterly, her head aching from fury.

After knowing him so long, he actually thought she would trouble his first love for him.

“Stop pretending to be sentimental. If you’ve always been hung up on your first love, why chase after me?”

Before he could answer, Shu Shirun said, “I know why you chased me. For my family background and connections.”

Yan Yi: “I really wanted to have a good life with you. I did have feelings for you.”

Shu Shirun felt nauseated. “And then your first love came back?”

“Why would you think I’d go crazy for you and make things hard for others? If anyone I’d make things hard for, it’d be you.”

At this, Shu Shirun sneered: “Besides, what right do you have to bargain with me?”

Yan Yi: “Sorry, Ranran.”

Shu Shirun didn’t want to say another word.

“We’ve said all there is to say, and we’re broken up. Don’t contact me again.”

She picked up the phone and hung up.

Silence filled the room.

Shu Shirun tossed down the phone, rubbed her hair tiredly, leaning back on the sofa to let the anger subside.

Receiving that call, her anger and disappointment outweighed her sadness.

A few seconds later, she looked up at the suit jacket hanging there.

She had taken it off after getting out of the car.

Earlier, when Yan Yi told her not to make things difficult for his first love and that he’d try his best to help, she thought back to just hours ago by the roadside when Ji Xi rolled down his car window and said he could help.

Compared to Yan Yi’s “try my best,” Ji Xi was so confident and certain.

She had always known Yan Yi stayed with her partly because of her family background, but she didn’t care.

To her, marriage wasn’t about romance; it was about some exchange.

She wanted someone who knew her roots, someone steady to build a good marriage with—yet what she got was him rekindling an old flame with his first love.

Wan Ling was her mother’s hard work, one of the few things her mother left behind. She had to protect it.

Both Ji Xi and Yan Yi valued it.

By comparison, Ji Xi was at least more honest.

And what she could gain from Ji Xi was more tangible.

**

In China, the night until early morning coincides exactly with the US stock market trading hours.

In another riverside apartment, Ji Xi sat in his study, two screens before him flashing red and green—the rises and falls of various stocks, market volumes, US stock indices, and so forth.

He was on voice chat with Luke, currently in Manhattan.

“Jaziel, what’s up with you today?” Luke asked. The market had just opened, but he already sensed Ji Xi’s distraction.

Ji Xi glanced indifferently at his watchlist on the secondary screen. “Nothing.”

After a few seconds, he said, “I did something impulsive today.”

Luke: “What?”

Ji Xi tapped his fingers lightly on the desk, offering an analogy: “When a company I was dealing with hit a rough patch, I took advantage of the situation and made an outrageous demand.”

Luke: “So what? Making demands isn’t illegal. Don’t we do that all the time?”

Ji Xi paused, then said, “I’m afraid of being rejected.”

Luke didn’t quite understand. “That just means their situation isn’t urgent enough yet. You can push harder. It’s a necessary tactic.”

Ji Xi said nothing.

His phone rang once.

“Enough about that.” Ji Xi leaned back lazily in his chair and picked up the phone.

Suddenly, his eyes flickered, and his fingers froze abruptly.

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