01: Pei Yanxiu is the kind of person who wants to control everything, from heaven to earth.

"Hey sis, you're out having fun alone? Didn't your boyfriend come with you?"

At the CR bar in Central, Shang Zhi was complaining to her best friend Lu Xingqi about her family's plan to arrange a business marriage for her, when she was unexpectedly harassed by a few drunk thugs.

"Get out of the way."

Shang Zhi didn't want to pay attention, but the man grabbed her wrist in an instant, and the smell of smoke and alcohol on him made her head ache.

"Don't rush, I'm rich. How about spending the night with me? Or, name your price? Don't worry, I won't treat you badly!" As he spoke, the thug's other hand reached for Shang Zhi's buttocks. Lu Xingqi quickly came up to pull him away, but the thug seemed even more excited and called to several other companions not far away.

"Sister, don't rush off, we haven't finished chatting yet." Shang Zhi and Lu Xingqi were surrounded by four people, and their cries for help were quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise and neon lights.

"How about it? There are so many of us brothers, little sister, you can choose one, or we can all come together~" The group laughed more and more unrestrainedly, and the more Shang Zhi struggled, the more excited the person in front of her became.

"Let go."

Just as I was worrying about how to escape, a familiar voice rang out from behind me.

Shang Zhi's breath hitched.

Turning my head, I met his dark, unfathomable eyes.

It was Pei Yanxiu, her first love, and the person her family wanted to arrange a business marriage for her.

"Mr. Pei." Some of the thugs recognized him, their voices filled with awe and fear.

"If you don't know how to use this hand, you might as well chop it up and feed it to the dogs; at least it would have some value." Pei Yanxiu's face was dark as he pulled Shang Zhi aside. His aura was so powerful that the thugs didn't dare to move on the spot.

"Mr. Pei, we're so sorry, we...we're here for the first time, we didn't know you were here, we...we won't do it again..."

The group was so frightened that they didn't dare to lift their heads. Only after Pei Yanxiu cursed them to get lost did they rush away as if they had been granted a pardon.

"Thank you," Shang Zhi whispered to the tall, slender figure in front of her.

Four years had passed, and the youthful naiveté of his had almost faded away, replaced by a restrained and profound presence with a subtle sense of pressure.

"Coming to play so late? Have you thought about what to do if you encounter danger?" When he looked down at her, he looked just like a teacher catching a disobedient student.

It's happening again! That lecturing tone from him, which only fueled Shang Zhi's anger. She remembered it all!

Four years ago, when they were together, Pei Yanxiu was the kind of person who wanted to control everything!

There's nothing he can ignore as long as his gaze can reach it!

I really want to crack open his head and take a good look. Did he study how to be a father in college?

Four years have passed, and he's still the same!

There's been absolutely no progress!

"Mind your own business!" Shang Zhi glared at him fiercely and retorted irritably.

Angrily, she grabbed Lu Xingqi and turned to leave, forgetting that she had twisted her ankle before returning to Hong Kong. She almost fell down after taking just one step forward, but luckily Pei Yanxiu caught her in his arms.

"After all these years, you're still so reckless. When will you grow up?" He chuckled and helped her up.

"You're injured? I'll take you home?" Shang Zhi snorted, which was taken as an agreement.

Lu Xingqi declined, saying that someone would be picking her up later. Pei Yanxiu then took Shang Zhi to his Rolls-Royce.

"Pei Yanxiu, why did you hurt me?" Shang Zhi said to Pei Yanxiu irritably as soon as she got into the car.

"How did I hurt you?" Pei Yanxiu didn't even look up, absentmindedly rummaging through the car.

"You want me to marry you? Isn't that just setting me up for failure?! I'm still in school, how can I marry you!"

Shang Zhi felt increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, feeling that she had been having a particularly unlucky few days.

The story begins two days ago.

She hadn't planned to return to Hong Kong these past few days. The day before yesterday, she was in Los Angeles performing her final exams, but she accidentally twisted her ankle on stage. Before she could even get it treated, she received a call from her mother saying that her father was critically ill and that she needed to come home immediately.

She returned to Hong Kong from Los Angeles as quickly as possible, and as soon as the plane landed, she limped to the hospital.

Fortunately, Dad's surgery went smoothly, and the doctor said his condition has stabilized for now.

Before they could even rejoice, their uncle came to the hospital and forced the mother and daughter to hand over the company's shares.

Shang Zhi spent half a day figuring out the ins and outs of the matter.

The Tiancui project, which the company has been focusing on for the past two years, was abruptly halted by the government. My father was so anxious that he fell ill, and the company's cash flow almost dried up. Now, groups of workers are waiting outside the company to collect their debts.

Uncle Shang Can used this as an excuse to try to get the mother and daughter to transfer their shares to his name, saying that he would share the responsibility and that they could just stay at home and enjoy their lives.

Shang Zhi was speechless. Ruikang Group was built by her father over the years, and he had only been sick for a few days, yet he was already being targeted.

Later, Yu Shiya found an excuse to send her uncle away. After watching Shang Can leave, she sighed softly and then sat down with Shang Zhi in her arms.

"Xixi, sit down. Mom wants to talk to you about something." Yu Shiya closed the door, lowered her voice, and looked like she had made a big decision.

"Although your father's surgery went relatively smoothly, he needs to rest for a while and probably won't be able to go back to the company for the time being. Your uncle is right, the company is indeed facing a big problem right now. If we can't get through this, Ruikang might not be able to survive."

"Xixi, you're still young. Actually, Mom didn't plan to tell you these things."

“But this morning, Pei Yanxiu contacted my mother and said he could help us solve our current predicament by injecting 300 million into Ruikang. Currently, in the entire Hong Kong, only Pei Yanxiu’s Wanjia can save us.”

Shang Zhi was slightly taken aback; she hadn't expected this matter to be related to Pei Yanxiu.

Their parents were old friends. Shang Zhi and Pei Yanxiu had known each other since childhood. He was eight years older than her, and she always called him Uncle Pei in private.

Four years ago, Shang Zhi was sixteen years old, and they had a love affair that caused a sensation throughout Hong Kong Island.

He was her childhood idol.

However, the girl's feelings, love and hate, were so obvious. The two ended with Shang Zhi slapping Pei Yanxiu more than a dozen times in the street, which made headlines and caused a huge uproar.

Shang Zhi hated him back then, thinking he was perfunctory, selfish, hypocritical, and a psychopath with an extremely strong desire for control. Now, several years later, she has begun to understand his predicament back then.

At that time, he had just taken over Wanjia, and both the internal and external environments were fraught with danger, leaving him with very little time for her. Young love is too intense; impulsiveness often overrides rational thought, and their breakup seemed inevitable.

You have no one to blame but yourself.

"Well, since he's willing to help us, the problem is solved, isn't it?" Shang Zhi felt a little relieved after hearing her mother's words. She had been thinking about how long it had been since she'd seen him, and wondered if he had changed his personality or what, becoming so selfless and loving. She would have to find a chance to thank him properly later.

"But he has one condition: you have to marry him before he'll invest in us."

"What?" Shang Zhi almost jumped up. She had just thought he had changed his personality!

I was too naive!

"Is he out of his mind?! What kind of conditions are these?!" Shang Zhi cursed Pei Yanxiu's ancestors for eighteen generations in her mind. Unable to contain her emotions, she stormed out of the door, feeling like she wanted to kill Pei Yanxiu as she left.

Feeling upset, she called her best friend Lu Xingqi, and the two met at CR Bar in Central, which led to the series of events that happened tonight.

Shang Zhi was sitting in the passenger seat of the Rolls-Royce, looking at Pei Yanxiu, the culprit, and getting angrier the more she thought about it.

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