Chapter 3: Send Me 5000 First to Show Your Sincerity

Shi Zhen’s eyes lit up—did she really just get this lucky?

She hesitantly sent her payment QR code.

Zhenzhen: [Bro, I just took five photos. How about you send me 5000 first to show your sincerity?]

Xie Qian didn’t say a word and scanned the code. Not long after, Shi Zhen’s phone buzzed with a notification—5000 yuan received.

Saying she wasn’t shocked would be a lie. Shi Zhen hadn’t expected this “big brother” to act so fast—the money arrived in less than a minute.

She thought it over. She was definitely happy, but underneath that happiness was a nagging feeling of guilt.

Seriously, who would just randomly send that much money to a stranger? No one’s that nice without a reason—if they are, they probably have ulterior motives.

Shi Zhen had a very reasonable suspicion: this guy might be using her to launder money. Maybe after some time, he’d ask for it back.

Given her current situation, she would probably spend the money in a few days, and by then, she wouldn’t even be able to return it if she wanted to.

Zhenzhen: [Bro, I was just joking.]

Xie Bro: [I’m not a scammer. I gave you the money, so keep it. If it’s not enough, just let me know.]

And with that, Xie Qian exited the chat.

Today just happened to be the day Lan Yudie returned to the country, so he sent a message to the driver, Old Li, to take him to the airport at 5 PM.

Ms. Lan was a big believer in ceremony. She had been in France for an art exhibition, and it had been three months since mother and son last saw each other.

Her plane would land at 6:30, and he planned to arrive an hour and a half early—definitely before Xie Longhui.

Xie Qian had it all planned out. When he saw Xie Longhui arrive, he’d throw a few sarcastic jabs his way.

Just imagining Xie Longhui’s darkened expression made Xie Qian feel extremely satisfied.

*

Meanwhile, Shi Zhen sent Xie Bro a few more messages, but got no reply.

Looks like he went offline.

She grabbed a mop to clean up the spilled soy milk on the floor.

Watching her balance jump from 74.3 to 5074.3, the money had come too quickly, and Shi Zhen felt uneasy.

She figured she shouldn’t keep it. Like the old saying goes—trying to snatch a small bargain might lead to a bigger loss. She decided that once Xie Bro replied, she’d return the money.

After making a pack of instant noodles, Shi Zhen turned on her computer and started typing.

Her part-time job at the milk tea shop went from 8:30 in the morning to 2:30 in the afternoon, so she had just enough time in the evenings to work on her own stuff.

Shi Zhen knew why her full-length scripts weren’t selling. She wanted to make fast money, so she started writing short dramas.

But short dramas catered to the lower-tier markets. A script had to be completed within a month, actors had to be found quickly, filmed, and released. The entire process couldn’t exceed two months.

Shi Zhen’s writing leaned more toward realism, a bit like art films, with slow pacing.

She tried to write something faster-paced, but found herself completely incapable.

She just couldn’t do it!

After struggling to come up with an opening, Shi Zhen looked at her screen. In the scene, the domineering male lead mistreated the female lead because of his feelings for his first love—the ever-elusive “white moonlight” in his heart.

She couldn’t help but roast the plot—if the female lead came from such a powerful family, why would she degrade herself like this over a man?

Shi Zhen thought that if she were rich, there’s no way she’d hang herself on this crooked tree. There were so many young, fresh, handsome guys out there—weren’t they better?

One in each hand, one in front, one behind… cough—wasn’t that more fun?

Just as she was daydreaming, her phone suddenly rang.

Shi Zhen picked up—it was a call from Shi Tingwan.

“Zhenzhen, how’s the script going? Any cute guys at the milk tea shop?”

Shi Zhen looked at the 1049 words on her Word document, tapped the delete key, and watched them vanish at lightning speed.

“No progress on the script. No cute guys at the milk tea shop either.” She paused for a second before adding, “Wanwan, can I get your opinion on something?”

Shi Tingwan: “Tell me! Don’t tell me our little solo queen of twenty-two years is finally blooming?”

Shi Zhen winced. She had delicate features, with a pair of striking, expressive eyes—she wasn’t short on admirers.

But due to emotional pickiness and high standards, she had never met someone who truly moved her heart.

Sometimes, she thought that if she ever met someone she genuinely liked, she wouldn’t mind that he had loved someone else before.

But liking someone in the first place—that was the hard part. Shi Zhen suspected her heart was made of stone. In twenty-two years, it hadn’t beat for anyone.

“This stone flower’s not blooming anytime soon, but I did run into this Northeastern bro today. Without a word, he transferred 5000 yuan to me, and then just disappeared.”

“A scammer. Definitely a scammer! There are so many scammers these days,” Shi Tingwan started, but suddenly stopped mid-sentence. After a brief silence, her excited voice rang out, “Wait a second! Is he hot? Is he tall? How old is he?”

The classic triple threat of questions from Miss Shi Tingwan.

Shi Zhen replied helplessly, “I don’t know if he’s hot or tall. His profile says he’s twenty-nine, but who knows if it’s true.”

“Whoa, a forbidden romance with a mature older man?”

Shi Tingwan burst into a mischievous giggle on the other end of the line.

Shi Zhen didn’t really care about age. She asked, “Is twenty-nine considered old?”

Shi Tingwan clicked her tongue. “You just don’t get it. A twenty-nine-year-old man and a guy barely in his twenties—there’s no comparison.”

There was some static noise on the other end. After a while, Shi Tingwan’s voice came through again, “Zhenzhen, gotta go. Met a cute guy the other day and he’s asking me out to dinner.”

Shi Zhen quickly said, “Bye-bye.”

Unlike Shi Zhen, Shi Tingwan was a liberal at heart. Since childhood, she had yearned for the outside world. After finishing high school, she never pursued further education.

Shi Zhen greatly admired Shi Tingwan’s vitality. Since the age of eighteen, Shi Tingwan had been working part-time jobs. After saving up for a few months, she would go traveling—if she saved more, she visited more places; if less, she traveled on a budget.

In short, every year, Shi Tingwan made sure to see parts of the world she had never seen before. This cycle repeated again and again.

Marriage, children, building a career—none of these were within Shi Tingwan’s scope of consideration. All she cared about was freedom.

Because of this, her relationships never lasted long—unless someone was willing to wander and drift with her.

But who would be willing?

Shi Tingwan had a bad temper and was used to doing whatever she pleased. When angry, she would leave behind a note and walk away without looking back.

The notes often said things like: “I’m outta here. You should get lost too.”

Thinking of Shi Tingwan’s various escapades, Shi Zhen couldn’t help but laugh. Thankfully, Shi Tingwan had a much better temper when it came to her friends.

Annoyed just by looking at the computer, Shi Zhen decided to completely relax.

She rolled over on her bed and stared at the balance on her phone.

Torn between repaying or not, Shi Zhen chose to sleep.

*

Xie Qian arrived at the airport, striding quickly to the arrival gate with his long legs.

From a distance, he saw Xie Longhui. He was dressed in a fitted blue suit, with custom-made crocodile leather shoes, and sapphire cufflinks—clearly a birthday gift from Lan Yudie the previous year.

Xie Longhui held a bouquet of fresh flowers in his hands, and his hair was obviously styled with a lot of wax. Who knows how long it took to create that hairstyle.

Xie Qian walked up beside him. Neither father nor son said a word.

The driver, Old Li, followed behind Xie Qian, carrying a delicate gift bag—undoubtedly the gift Xie Qian had prepared for Lan Yudie.

Behind Xie Longhui stood the housekeeper, Zhang Cheng, who also carried a gift bag in his hand.

Old Li and Zhang Cheng exchanged a silent glance. They had seen this situation so many times that it no longer surprised them.

After a while, Xie Longhui sneaked a glance at the gift Xie Qian had prepared and snorted coldly in his heart.

What a bachelor who’s never been in love. What kind of gift was that? His wife had stopped using that skincare brand three years ago.

Xie Longhui raised his head even higher in pride.

Half an hour later, Lan Yudie finally appeared within their sight.

She wore a pristine white French-style dress with a light brown trench coat over it, and on her feet were the latest M&H black patent low-heeled leather shoes from their runway collection.

As she walked, a light breeze lifted her skirt. Lan Yudie stepped lightly and smiled softly.

As she approached, both Xie Qian and Xie Longhui unconsciously stepped forward a little.

Xie Qian glanced at Xie Longhui: This time Mom will definitely hug me first.

Xie Longhui rolled his eyes: Dream on, my wife will hug me first for sure.

When it came to competing for her affection, both men were completely serious.

“Babies, I’m back~”

Lan Yudie smiled slightly and opened her arms, pulling both of them into a hug, gently patting their backs.

“Mom, you have no idea how someone was making a huge fuss while you were gone…”

Before Xie Qian could finish, Xie Longhui kicked him.

“Wife, don’t listen to this brat’s nonsense. You know what a bad temper he has…”

Just as it looked like the yearly complaint competition between son and father was about to begin again, Lan Yudie made a “shh” gesture.

“That’s enough. Let’s go home first. Be good, both of you.”

She then took the bouquet from Xie Longhui’s hands, smiled warmly, straightened her posture, and walked ahead.

With her status in the art world, reporters were bound to be waiting to snap photos after her exhibition overseas.

She certainly didn’t want the media to catch two grown men clinging to her and bickering—if her girlfriends saw it, they’d never stop teasing her.

The competition between Xie Qian and Xie Longhui continued from the airport into the car, and eventually shifted to the dining table.

When the three returned home, the table was already set with Lan Yudie’s favorite dishes.

Xie Longhui placed a piece of foie gras on her plate. “Wife, was the exhibition tiring? I’ll give you a nice massage tonight.”

Then, glancing deliberately at Xie Qian, he added, “Some people don’t appreciate the family fortune of an old man like me. Tonight, let’s work hard and make another baby—he’s not getting a cent.”

Lan Yudie accepted the soup from a servant and lightly tapped Xie Longhui’s forehead with her delicate finger. “You… you’re too old to be bickering with your son.”

She didn’t even need to ask—clearly, the father and son had quarreled again during her absence.

Xie Qian snorted and retorted, “Like some old peacock, spreading his tail as soon as he sees Mom come back.”

Xie Longhui, instead of getting angry, burst into laughter. “Well hey, at least I have a wife to flaunt to. Some people don’t even know who to show off for.”

Xie Qian’s hand paused slightly as he picked up food—Xie Longhui had definitely hit a sore spot.

Lan Yudie gently patted his hand and said softly, “That’s right, Qian Qian. When are you going to bring a girlfriend home? I think that girl from the Jin family is nice—you grew up together, and she likes you too…”

“Enough!” Xie Qian said sharply. “I’m done eating. Going upstairs.”

He had completely lost his appetite. One was showing off their love, and the other was pushing him into a relationship.

Xie Qian walked to the alcove and opened an old chest, pulling out the birthday gift Lan Yudie had given him. Then he headed upstairs.

When it came to love, Xie Qian wasn’t in a rush. He believed in fate.

If fate existed, two people from opposite sides of the ocean could still fall in love. Without it, even if they lived on the same street, they might never meet.

He felt nothing for Jin Zishu, the only daughter of the Jin family. At first, he had only seen her as a childhood playmate. When he realized she liked him, he began to distance himself.

He had always been clear-cut when it came to people he didn’t like.

To keep someone hanging without feelings—giving them candy one day and a slap the next—wasn’t something a decent person would do.

Xie Qian couldn’t bring himself to act that way. He only knew how to treat the one he liked well.

He unwrapped the beautifully packaged birthday gift from Lan Yudie, revealing a dark gray jewelry box.

The box looked old and had a thin layer of dust on it.

Opening it, he found a stack of papers and a jade bangle.

The bangle was a full green, flawless with no cracks or impurities—excellent quality and nearly impossible to come by.

Xie Qian recognized it immediately. It was the one his grandmother had left to his mother. Lan Yudie had once told him that this bangle would one day be given to his future wife.

Now that she was giving it to him, the meaning was crystal clear.

Xie Qian carefully put the jade bangle away and opened the stack of papers.

As he skimmed through them, his pupils slightly widened and his wrist trembled. The papers slipped from his hands and gently landed on the floor.

At the signature section at the bottom, the name “Xie Longhui” was boldly written in powerful strokes—his father’s unmistakable handwriting.

And the title read: “Equity Transfer Agreement.”

Xie Longhui had officially handed over the Xie family business to him. The real authority was now in Xie Qian’s hands, and all that was left was a press conference to make it public.

Xie Qian’s heart ached as he gazed out the window, unmoving for a long while. His eyelashes drooped slightly, hiding his eyes.

Moonlight spilled through the window, casting a faint shadow. On the dark brown floor, a glimmer like flowing water traced its way across.