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“Yundai, how about Auntie discusses your marriage with you?”
Su Yundai’s dark pupils widened instantly.
Huh?
Discuss marriage with Aunt Lin?
Was she talking about her marriage with Wei Lin?
Her face flushed red in an instant.
Lin Xiao opened a few boxes in front of her. Inside, they were filled with bright red stacks of cash. She added, “Check your messages, Auntie also transferred money to you. It’s a gift, just for you. Your brother is really busy, so it’s unfair to you. Let’s first talk over the engagement. Once it’s decided, we’ll just inform him.”
Su Yundai glanced at her phone. Sure enough, there was a message:
【China XX Bank】 On X month X day, at 16:07, Lin Xiao transferred RMB XXXXX…XX into your account ending in 3099. Current balance: XXXXX…XX.
So much money.
They were serious?
After losing her parents, she had lived in Wei Lin’s house for fifteen years.
She had always called him “Brother Wei.”
Now his family actually wanted her to marry him?
When it came to prenuptial security, of course she thought it would be a good thing.
Without that kind of protection, the chances of one’s child beginning life in hardship would greatly increase.
But to be given this much… it still caught her off guard.
The Wei family had always been wealthy—ever since she first entered their home.
Now, even more so. Wei Lin was extremely capable. He graduated from Qingda’s computer science department, but instead of inheriting the family’s traditional industries, he started working on games in college. He developed a global hit, and the company now earned tens of billions annually.
Lin Xiao beamed. “When you’re free, we’ll go pick out a house. Pick whichever you like.”
Su Yundai’s thoughts felt hazy. She hadn’t seen Wei Lin for days, and now she suddenly found out they were getting engaged?
She curved her lips and asked with a sweet smile, “Auntie, does my brother know about this?”
Just then, a car door slammed shut outside.
Su Yundai looked out the window. Rain misted the capital that day. Through the drizzle appeared Wei Lin, in a black hoodie. His tall, unrestrained figure looked like a mountain ridge emerging from clouds, towering into the mist.
Even though he was now worth billions, he always preferred hoodies. The hood was loosely pulled over his head, his eyebrows and lashes dampened by the slanting rain. He didn’t care, carrying himself as calm and confident as ever, free and unrestrained, bold and untamed.
At twenty-six, 187 cm tall, a Qingda graduate, a young man who rose to fame early. In the early summer rain, he was brilliant and accomplished, yet still full of youthful vigor.
And he was about to get engaged to her…
Su Yundai’s heart thudded wildly.
“Why didn’t you bring an umbrella? It’s pouring! Look at you, soaked.” Lin Xiao fussed.
“Brother, you’re back,” Su Yundai followed.
Wei Lin raised a brow. The damp mist made his face even more striking, like an ink painting. With a smile, he dismissed Lin Xiao’s worry: “It was just a few steps. Am I made of paper? A drop of water and I’d melt?”
Lin Xiao laughed and brushed the water off his shoulder. “Why didn’t you stay at the office?”
“Just came to grab something before heading back to work.”
As he brushed past Su Yundai, Wei Lin casually pressed his wet palm to her crown, greeting her in his familiar way.
Then his gaze shifted to the boxes of red bills on the coffee table. His lips curled into a teasing smile. “Mom, what’s all this? Missing old Mao Zedong?”
Su Yundai’s heart lurched. Her fingers curled slightly at her sides, lashes trembling as she lowered her gaze.
He didn’t know yet.
This engagement—Aunt Lin had decided it on her own.
Lin Xiao’s smile widened, her lipstick bright. “This is for Yundai. You two should be engaged already.”
Wei Lin froze, his smile stiffening.
In an instant, the cheerful atmosphere plummeted into something heavy, obscure, unsettling.
Su Yundai sensed it. She lifted her eyes to him.
She didn’t know why, but even though his expression showed only shock, for a moment, she felt that his gaze on those boxes was lifeless, like a weathered stone statue, his pale face cracking with fractures.
A sharp pang shot through her chest. Her blood seemed to freeze, her whole body turning cold.
Her heart plunged off a cliff, the freefall leaving her terrified.
Wei Lin’s gaze shifted from the money to her.
Their eyes met.
Time froze.
Then, after a pause, he loosely clenched a fist by his lips, coughed lightly, and the curve at his mouth slowly returned. “Guess I’ve been too busy and got careless.”
He grinned, cocky and careless, tilting his head as he looked at her through half-lidded eyes. “My bad, huh?”
Relief washed through Su Yundai. She smiled and shook her head.
He chuckled, ruffled her hair, then turned to Lin Xiao, regaining his usual playful tone. “Mom, you’re in such a rush. Yundai still has three years left in college. And you didn’t even tell me first!”
Lin Xiao huffed, dissatisfied. “Hmph. You’re never home, practically living at the company. By the time Yundai graduates, she’ll have suitors lined up three blocks long. You’ll be crying then. Her phone’s already full of boys trying to woo her.”
Su Yundai: “…”
Wei Lin turned his gaze on her, unreadable. “Who’s chasing you?”
Her heart jumped. She denied quickly, “I’m not dating anyone.”
She did have many pursuers. Recently, two of them kept bothering her even after repeated rejections. They called so often she’d sometimes answer just to tell them to stop. Aunt Lin must have seen those calls by accident.
Wei Lin muttered, “These boys finally make it to college and instead of studying, they waste time chasing girls.”
Lin Xiao snorted. “Now you’re worried? You’re so busy you basically live at the office. If it weren’t for Yundai being so obedient and understanding, you’d already be a mess.”
“I’ll make it up to her after this busy stretch,” Wei Lin said quickly. “But right now I need to take some documents for a meeting at five-thirty. I have to go.”
He hurried upstairs, then came back down. Passing by Su Yundai, he asked, “By the way, did you pass the transfer exam?”
She bit her lip and shook her head.
She hadn’t.
She was studying Life Sciences at a 985 university, but wanted to transfer to Computer Science.
Her GPA last semester hadn’t met the school’s threshold. And Computer Science was the school’s strongest major, with extremely limited transfer slots.
It was practically impossible.
Hundreds applied, but only a handful succeeded.
She thought she had worked hard, but at this level, it was like thousands crossing a single-plank bridge. The odds were slim.
Wei Lin said casually, “It’s fine. I’ll prepare some materials for you to self-study. After graduation, I’ll arrange a job for you. You won’t need a diploma as backing.”
Yundai lowered her eyes. Of course she knew, with Wei Lin’s status now, finding her a job would be effortless. But studying was the one thing she was good at. Failing at what she was best at, while surrounded by so many brilliant people, made her feel useless.
Wei Lin smiled. “Any company, you can pick. Just focus on learning. I’ll set you up with an internship this summer.”
He flipped up his hood and walked back into the rain.
Behind him, Lin Xiao called, “Will you be back tonight? You rascal, you don’t even come home on weekends! Planning to live at the office forever?”
Wei Lin’s voice floated back with the rain. “Not tonight. Maybe in a few days!”
Not coming home tonight.
Blood seemed to chill in Yundai’s fingertips.
Normally, if he didn’t come back, she didn’t think much of it—she knew he was busy.
But tonight…
What about the engagement?
She stared blankly at the hazy neon blurred by the taillights, her heart adrift like the drifting mist in the rain, without an anchor.
This whole scene had been so abrupt. She never expected marriage to be brought up so soon.
She and Wei Lin had lived together for more than ten years. They were very close, and he treated her well. But with their age and gender differences, there was always some distance.
He had been so busy the past two years that they barely saw each other. Even living under the same roof, they had never talked about anything like this.
She didn’t know what he really thought.
She didn’t even consider them to be in a romantic relationship. Yet now, suddenly, they were engaged?
Lately, all she thought about was her studies, the pressure overwhelming. She rarely examined their relationship.
But now, the engagement forced her to. What exactly were they now?
They’d never hugged, never kissed, still kept that distance. Yet he hadn’t refused the engagement—just brushed it off as being too busy, as if it was only natural.
It was all… so unclear.
Su Yundai felt lost, even a bit unreasonable. She had received so much money, yet she felt disappointed, even aggrieved.
At school, couples around her were in the throes of passionate love. But for her, this didn’t feel like romance at all…
And yet, in her eyes, Wei Lin was still the very best.
“This workaholic is just too boring.” Lin Xiao huffed indignantly. “I’ll have a proper talk with him later. He’s almost about to start a family—he can’t go on like this.”
Su Yundai snapped back to her senses.
She curved her lips into a smile, gently coaxing Lin Xiao:
“Auntie, let’s wait until my brother comes back to talk about it.”
No matter what, the engagement still needed Wei Lin’s clear attitude.
Did he actually like her?
Did he actually want to marry her?
Su Yundai went for a walk around the neighborhood.
The Wei family lived in one of Beijing’s famous villa communities, surrounded by thousands of acres of former imperial gardens—vast, magnificent, and breathtakingly scenic.
Nearby were top schools like Tsinghua. When the Wei family first moved in, Uncle Wei had said cheerfully:
“With the kids in school later, it’ll be so convenient.”
It did turn out convenient—for Wei Lin.
But she hadn’t made it.
Even so, it only helped him for a few years. Now, the drive from here to his company took at least half an hour one way, so after he set up his office, he came home less and less.
When was the last time he returned?
Two weeks ago?
He’d come back for one dinner, then said a new game was about to launch and it was the busiest period, so he had to rush back to work overtime at night.
Su Yundai realized she was always circling back to thoughts about him. She inhaled a lungful of the damp air, closed her eyes, and listened to the patter of rain.
Raindrops struck her transparent umbrella in chaotic, arrhythmic taps—pat, pat—oddly soothing.
“Yundai!”
A couple approached, walking hand in hand. The man held a huge black umbrella, tilting it toward the woman.
They were neighbors in the villa district. There were fewer than a hundred households here, most of them wealthy elites of Beijing. Families often interacted. The woman, Bai Shu, was about Wei Lin’s age, and her mother was close friends with Lin Xiao.
Su Yundai smiled and greeted, “Taking a walk after dinner?”
Bai Shu teased, “I heard you’re about to get engaged to Wei Lin. Congratulations, congratulations.”
Su Yundai’s breath hitched slightly.
Auntie Lin had told her mother?
So everyone in the neighborhood already knew?
Her heart sank, weighed down. Perhaps Lin Xiao had been asking Bai Shu’s mother for advice since she’d just gotten married, but Yundai disliked how the news was spreading before anything was settled.
Bai Shu asked with a smile, “When’s the engagement banquet? This summer? July or August?”
Su Yundai was still young, still in university. Bai Shu knew it was too early for a wedding, but if the engagement was set, a banquet might come first.
Engagement banquet?
Su Yundai truly had no idea.
Seeing her hesitate, Bai Shu looked puzzled. Yundai gave an ambiguous reply:
“Nothing’s been decided yet.”
Bai Shu assumed she meant the date. In truth, Yundai wasn’t even sure about the marriage itself—Wei Lin’s stance was still unclear.
Bai Shu smiled, “If you need any help, just call me.”
Yundai nodded. “Thank you, jiejie.”
The couple passed by. As they drifted away, their voices mingled softly with the rain:
“Is Wei Lin’s fiancée really this young? She looks barely an adult.”
“She just started university. The Wei family promised her father they’d take care of her for life. And for life—of course that means marrying Wei Lin.”
“What happened to her father?”
“He was Uncle Wei’s secretary back then, saved his life.”
“Ah… The Wei family is pretty loyal. Usually, people just offer some compensation for that kind of thing…”
The voices grew fainter, swallowed by the rain. Yet the discomfort in Yundai’s chest only grew heavier, as though the downpour was flooding her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath.
To them, her father was merely an employee.
But to her, he had been so much more: a Tsinghua graduate of that era—bright, athletic, handsome, with a voice that sang beautifully.
She knew from her own college entrance exams just how hard Tsinghua was to get into.
He’d originally entered the tax bureau, fully capable of holding a respectable job. But when her grandmother fell ill and needed a costly heart transplant, followed by lifelong immunosuppressive treatments, the medical expenses were crushing.
He desperately needed money. Just then, he met Uncle Wei, whose pay was generous, and so he became his secretary.
But only two years later, he died young.
He was only thirty. A man at his prime, brimming with energy and experience, full of possibility—yet his life ended, fixed forever in place.
She hated how people, even unintentionally, diminished his worth.
But hating it—what could she do?
That kind of dismissal wasn’t like a raindrop stinging the eye, something you could rub away. It was like the merciless passage of time, beyond her control. Like the fickle weather, impossible to predict. Like gravity itself—unseen, yet inescapable.
Being close to the wealthy often made the gulf feel even wider. Even after living in the Wei household for fifteen years, she never forgot she was just an ordinary girl. Unlike her wealthy peers, she had no inheritance, no backing. Wei family’s fortune wasn’t hers.
She had to earn her own money, prove her own worth.
Her phone buzzed repeatedly.
It was Wei Lin, sending her a flood of study materials. Over a dozen zipped files.
He even pulled her into a small WeChat group with just the three of them.
[Wei Lin]: This is Dr. Xu. Add her on WeChat. Ask her if you don’t understand anything. Don’t feel shy.
Dr. Xu was warm and enthusiastic. To reassure her qualifications, she even sent over her CV—already a PhD from Tsinghua at just twenty-seven, with impressive publications and achievements. She told Yundai that self-study might actually be more efficient than a transfer, skipping useless courses and focusing on what mattered. She said industry knowledge far outpaced what schools taught.
Su Yundai could hear she was trying to comfort her after failing the transfer exam.
But staring at that dazzling résumé—her beauty, her brilliance, her youth—Yundai’s mood only sank further.
This kind of top-tier woman was just one of Wei Lin’s employees.
And she couldn’t even pass a mid-tier 985’s transfer exam.
Her lips pressed into a line. After replying politely in the group, she quickly left it. Her long black hair curtained her face, enclosing her in a suffocating, shadowed space.
Wei Lin had sent her countless files. She tapped through them in silence, watching the loading circles spin slowly, one by one.
She stayed in their private chat window, a vague restlessness gnawing at her.
Then she saw it—
The other party is typing…
Her breath stalled.
Her heart leapt wildly.
Was he going to bring up the engagement?
[Wei Lin]: Ask anything you don’t understand. I’ll give her a raise.
Her lips flattened into a straight line. She waited, almost as if expecting something more. Only when the downloads finished a few minutes later did she finally reply:
[Su Yundai]: Okayyy, thanks, ge.
She dimmed the screen, afraid of waiting in vain for another message.
But within a minute, she couldn’t resist reopening WeChat.
The “typing…” notification was gone. Nothing.
She shoved the phone back into her pocket, a little lost. Wei Lin thought it didn’t matter if she couldn’t transfer into computer science, that she could self-study—but could she really handle learning both life sciences and computer science at once?
Her school’s life sciences program was one of its strongest, ranked among the best in the nation, with fierce competition. If her GPA slipped badly, it would hurt her future prospects for grad school or jobs.
Yet focusing only on life sciences meant years of study, likely a PhD, before it would pay off.
That was too long.
She longed to be independent now, to feel valuable now.
She didn’t want to rely on the Wei family’s support until nearly thirty.
But if she tried to do both, what if she ended up mastering neither?