“Brother, when I grow up, will you marry me?”

“No way!”

“Why?”

“Because you’re too silly, and you’re as chubby as a Russian doll. My future wife has to be both smart and beautiful!”

“Brother… That’s too mean! Ningning won’t talk to you ever again, hmph!”

The clear, spoiled voice of the little girl echoed through the river of time, resonating in Jian Shuning’s mind.

She blushed instantly, wishing there was a hole in the ground she could crawl into.

So embarrassing! Why was she so shameless when she was little? Always clinging to that brother who was several years older than her, no wonder he found her so annoying.

Which boy likes having a little tail following him everywhere he goes?

Especially when that little tail isn’t even his own sister, but the neighbor’s girl.

A silly and chubby girl.

After more than a decade, this girl finally grew up into a woman, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the transformation that girls often have…

Jian Shuning lowered her head, pretending to scroll through her phone, but she was actually using the screen’s reflection to look at her face.

Her features weren’t ugly—she had bright, large eyes, moist pink lips, a cute upturned nose, and ears that were her pride, as delicate as jade.

It’s just… sigh, her cheeks were too chubby, round and plump, like a girl who hadn’t lost her baby fat.

But she was already 25 years old!

Her cheeks were chubby, her arms were chubby, and while other women could slim down to have tiny waists, no matter how much she exercised, her waist just wouldn’t get smaller. Her hips were also round, and the aunties and uncles in the neighborhood liked her, saying she was good for childbearing. If they could marry her to their sons, it would be a blessing from their ancestors.

They said that, but none of them seriously considered marrying her to their sons.

She understood. Young men rarely liked her pear-shaped figure. Kindly put, she was a marshmallow girl, but in reality… cough cough!

Not being able to become one of those trendy, slender beauties was one thing, but her brain wasn’t quick either. She was a bit foolish, often doing silly things without realizing it. As Zheng Yuanxi put it, she was stupid beyond belief!

This time, fleeing from her hometown Tainan to Taipei to seek refuge with Brother Yuanxi, was also because she did something stupid and offended someone she shouldn’t have. She had to lay low for a while.

She couldn’t let her brother know about this, or he would definitely scold her to death…

Thinking about this, Jian Shuning sighed softly. She looked up and gazed out the glass window.

She had been waiting in this small reception room for almost half an hour. Had she been forgotten?

FashionQ, a company specializing in online fashion brands, was owned by her childhood idol and neighbor, Brother Yuanxi.

Zheng Yuanxi started a website with his friends before graduating from college, investing and operating it. From a small online shop, it grew into one of Taiwan’s most famous online fashion brands, with annual sales reaching tens of billions last year.

In Jian Shuning’s eyes, he was the epitome of success and the most impressive person she knew in her small world.

She heard that he had even received the Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award a couple of years ago!

She remembered that Zheng’s mother proudly showed off a business magazine at her house, and the two older women laughed and chatted before going out to celebrate at a restaurant.

That night, she was punished by the store manager for offending a customer and had to stay late to clean up.

Indeed, comparing oneself to others can be frustrating.

That night, she took the business magazine Zheng’s mother left at her house, turned to the page featuring her brother, and reverently placed it on her altar. She was happy for her brother and chanted a Buddhist sutra with her hands folded—

All conditioned things are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows; like dew or a flash of lightning; thus we should contemplate them.

No, she shouldn’t belittle herself. She needs to open her heart and embrace the small joys in life.

Her brother is her brother, and she is herself. Her brother is strong, and she might be a bit weak, but that doesn’t mean her existence in this world is meaningless. Even a rice weevil has its own happiness.

That’s right! She is Jian Shuning, and so what if she’s a bit chubby? So what if she’s a marshmallow girl? She will strive to live a vibrant life of her own…

However, she still needs her brother to agree to take her in, or her life won’t be vibrant at all; it will become a huge ‘shock,’ haha.

Jian Shuning chuckled softly and stood up quietly.

She was now certain that she had been forgotten, or perhaps her brother was angry upon hearing she had come and was deliberately ignoring her. Regardless of the situation, she couldn’t just sit here and wait; she had to take the initiative.

Outside the small reception room was a corridor. At one end of the corridor was a spacious, open-plan office with about thirty to forty employees. At the other end were individual offices and meeting rooms.

Zheng Yuanxi was the CEO of this company, so theoretically, his office should be in the most secluded area, right?

Looking at the nameplates on the doors, Jian Shuning searched one by one until she finally arrived at the door labeled ‘Executive Office.’

OK, this is it.

Jian Shuning paused, taking deep breaths repeatedly, trying in vain to suppress her overly rapid heartbeat, but to no avail. Her palms even started to sweat.

How useless! It’s just seeing her brother and telling him she’s come to Taipei to seek refuge. Is that so scary?

Jian Shuning mentally criticized herself, but her nervousness didn’t diminish. She was helpless, so she gritted her teeth, knocked on the door, and then pushed it open without hesitation—

“Brother, it’s me! Long time no see…”

The scene inside the door made Jian Shuning wish she could bite off her own tongue.

In the neatly decorated office, Zheng Yuanxi was leaning against the large desk, his posture casual yet exuding a sense of dominance. A curvaceous beauty was pressed against him, her short skirt revealing two enticing long legs, and her red high heels were rubbing against his suit pants in a suggestive manner.

She stared at this scene in shock, her cherry lips forming an ‘O’ shape.

Brother… actually in the office… with a woman…

Jian Shuning felt her already muddled mind become even more confused, her heart pounding like a drum in her ears.

“I’m sorry!”