Chapter 27.1

◎ Public Display of Affection ◎

Fan Qi had two exams in the morning and one in the afternoon. The remaining one, in futures trading, didn’t affect her ability to get her stock trading license, so she’d take that next week.

After finishing, she felt the tests weren’t too difficult. Most of it was multiple choice and true/false, which, given her formal education and years of experience in the field, she could practically do with her eyes closed. As for the essay questions, she just had to avoid regulations or techniques that hadn’t yet been implemented. The trickiest part was identifying old-school hand signals for buying and selling—those had only been phased out in Hong Kong a few months ago, and she’d never seen them before. She probably got a few of those wrong.

She flipped through her review booklet. Should be fine… right?

It was only 2 p.m., still a while before the market closed, so she returned to the Yaohua office.

She saw Miss Xiang chatting with a cute round-faced girl—it was the receptionist from Changxing. The girl greeted her with a bright smile and two dimples: “Miss Fan!”

“Hey, how are you?”

Miss Xiang, knowing she had just finished her exam, asked, “How did it go?”

“I filled in everything. Felt pretty good. But let’s wait for the results to be sure,” Fan Qi replied modestly in front of her colleagues.

“If you filled everything, that’s already impressive.” Miss Xiang hurried over. “Ailai Electronics surged earlier and is pulling back now. Should I sell while I’m still ahead?”

“I’ll take a look.”

Fan Qi went downstairs to the trading floor and sat beside Liao Yazhe, grabbing the data sheets from his side.

He asked, “How’d it go?”

“Most likely…” she paused.

“You’re about to call me grandpa?”

Fan Qi typed in a string of commands and pulled up the chart for Ailai Electronics. It had broken past its previous high, and trading volume spiked sharply today. It was currently in a pullback phase. She called Miss Xiang: “Hold on to it for now. They didn’t push it this hard just for a small gain—this isn’t their target.”

After hanging up, she turned to Liao Yazhe and smirked: “Get ready to call me grandma! One lot, four thousand shares of Ailai Electronics—at one dollar and two cents.”

Liao Yazhe placed the order for her. “You really passed the exam?”

“Most likely,” Fan Qi replied as she scanned today’s top stocks. “What moves did you make earlier?”

Liao Yazhe handed her the documents and gave her a quick rundown. Fan Qi checked a few data points on a stock. “Buy Xingmei at two dollars and thirteen cents, two hundred lots.”

After the Xingmei order went through, Fan Qi kept watching the market. Just then, an assistant hurried over to her side. “Miss Fan, Miss Xu from Changxing is here to see you.”

Fan Qi froze for a moment. She hadn’t even spoken to this Miss Xu last night—and she’d made it very clear she was married and had no interest in Feng Xueming. So why was she coming to see her?

Liao Yazhe hung up a client call and immediately dialed Feng Xueming. “Xu Miao’er just came to see Fan Qi. You’d better get over here and clean this up—now.”

After hanging up, he told the assistant, “Have Miss Xiang invite Miss Xu to the conference room. Tell her Miss Fan stepped out for coffee.”

“She can see the ground floor from upstairs.”

“Still, just say what I told you,” Liao Yazhe said.

The assistant gave a helpless nod and headed upstairs.

Liao Yazhe exhaled deeply. “What a mess. Feng Xueming broke things off with her today. He had his father talk to the Xu family. Their wedding was originally set for the end of the year—the dress and traditional outfits were already ordered.”

“Why did he break up with her? Did Xu Miao’er get in the way of his womanizing?” Fan Qi was baffled. From the memories she inherited, Feng Xueming had been linked with several celebrities. Whether Xu Miao’er tried to control him was one thing, but whether she could was another.

“Fan Qi, do you really not get it?” Liao Yazhe asked, seeing her large, sincere eyes looking at him with such genuine confusion, her face basically saying No clue, mate.

He sighed and explained seriously, “Your husband is Liu Xiangnian’s biological grandson, right? Feng Xueming told his grandfather that in order to help your husband build a good relationship with Old Mr. Liu without any emotional baggage, he’d step away from Tianhe. But doing that makes him and Xu Miao’er no longer an even match. The Feng family doesn’t have the same standing, and he has a younger brother—three years younger—whom their father already plans to hand the family business to. So after discussing with his grandfather, they had his dad go and cancel the engagement with the Xu family.”

“That’s the fakest-sounding selfless excuse I’ve ever heard. I don’t buy it,” Fan Qi scoffed. Then she paused, as a new thought struck her. “Wait—don’t tell me the playboy suddenly decided to settle down for someone he actually likes? Wants to give his true love a title? That can’t be it. He was still flirting with me just a few days ago. What, now he’s found his soulmate? Is he using me as a shield to cover for his actual girlfriend? That’s way over the line. We’re not even close—why should I play decoy for him?”

“He has decided to settle down,” Liao Yazhe said. “And the woman he wants… is you. He called off the engagement for you!”

“Me?!” Fan Qi nearly lost it. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Does he think I’m blind? Feng Xueming was only ever playing around. I never even gave him the time of day. And I’m worth him giving up a well-matched engagement with deep family ties over? No way. I’m not carrying the blame for that.”

“It’s because you ignored him. The more he can’t get you, the more he wants you. After I dropped you off last night, he called me. I told him what you said—that if your husband rejoined the Liu family, you’d divorce him. That really got to him. He said if you actually divorced, he’d marry you.”

Fan Qi was speechless at the warped logic. “Is he insane, or does he think I’m insane? I said I’d divorce if my husband acknowledged his roots—so that means I’m eager to marry Liu Xiangnian’s grandson?”

“He thinks he understands women better than your husband does. He’s convinced he’ll win your heart.”

“He’s incredibly full of himself.” Fan Qi rubbed her forehead. “Even if he has this delusional fantasy, what’s that got to do with Xu Miao’er?”

Liao Yazhe looked a bit awkward. “He called me around noon today. We were talking about the breakup and about you… and Xu Miao’er overheard everything. Came straight here looking for a confrontation.”

Fan Qi was stunned. She hadn’t done a thing and was already being painted as the other woman? She cursed in Shanghainese, “Cè nà^[1]“册那” (cè nà) is a Shanghainese swear word used to express frustration or anger, similar to “damn it” or “what the hell.”! I should thank his whole damn family!”

Liao Yazhe didn’t understand her dialect, but he did hear her fury. “He’s serious this time.”

Fan Qi snapped back in plain Cantonese, “Serious, my ass!”

An assistant rushed in. “Miss Fan, Miss Xiang is at the entrance.”

Fan Qi saw Miss Xiang waving frantically outside the glass doors and hurried out to meet her.

Miss Xiang leaned in. “That Xu Miao’er is in the reception area, loudly accusing you of seducing her fiancé…”

In her past life working in investment banking, Fan Qi had witnessed dramatic scenes where full-time housewives stormed offices to confront mistresses. Those usually ended with the mistress getting slapped and fired, while the cheating man went right back to playing happy family.

She never understood it—sure, the mistress is trash, but isn’t the man garbage too? Why do these women act like the trash is treasure worth reclaiming?

Back then, she found the drama entertaining. Now that it was happening to her, all she felt was exasperation.

As she walked with Miss Xiang, she noticed her colleague’s hesitant expression. Wait… does sister Xiang also think there’s something between me and Feng Xueming?

They arrived at reception. Xu Miao’er, wearing sunglasses, sat arrogantly on the sofa.

As Fan Qi walked in, the reception staff watched her closely. She sat directly across from Xu Miao’er. A receptionist came over and whispered, “Miss Fan, would you prefer the conference room?”

Fan Qi shook her head. “Since Miss Xu is making this so public—mixing personal and professional—then I’ve got nothing to hide either. Let’s resolve this openly.”

Xu Miao’er took off her sunglasses, her face stiff and stormy. Her eyes were sharp as a hawk’s, as if ready to tear Fan Qi to shreds.

“Open and honest?” Xu Miao’er scoffed. “Or is it just calculated coyness? Playing pure and innocent—do you really think he’d give up everything for you? That he’d run off into the sunset with you?”

Her tone wasn’t loud, but it was razor sharp.

“Who are you talking about?” Fan Qi asked lazily as she took the coffee the receptionist brought her and leaned back on the couch.

“You’re seriously asking that?”

“Why not? Last night at the banquet, I said clearly: I’m married. Even if you didn’t hear it live, surely you’ve read today’s paper? As the saying goes: The governor has his wife, and Luo Fu has her husband. Why would I be involved with your fiancé? Your delusions are really something. Maybe you should get your head checked.”

Fan Qi’s words carried the weight of rising anger.

“Wasn’t it you who told Liao Yazhe that if your husband returns to the Liu family, you’d divorce him? Didn’t you intend to leave your husband and marry Feng Xueming?”

The newspapers and TV broadcasts from last night’s banquet had been filtered before release, so even though the event caused a stir, the fact that Liu Xiangnian recognized his biological grandson through the necklace on Fan Qi’s neck remained gossip circulating only among the socialites who attended the event. It hadn’t yet made it into the media.

So, those present were still unaware of this explosive revelation. Upon hearing this, someone had already dragged colleagues over to eavesdrop on this juicy upper-crust drama.

“So what?” Fan Qi looked at her with a mocking smile. “I’m not even interested in being the Liu family’s young madam. You think I’d care about Feng Xueming, an illegitimate grandson of the Liu family?”

“You’re cunning and calculating. Even if your husband is a Liu by blood, has he received a proper education? Was he groomed as the heir? Can he really compare to Feng Xueming?” Xu Miao’er rolled her eyes so hard they nearly flipped over.

Just then, Feng Xueming rushed in and caught her saying that. Before he could stop her, Fan Qi had already stood up and was staring at Xu Miao’er with a serious expression:

“My husband is the great-grandson of patriotic businessman Chen Jicang and the grandson of Chen Wanyin. A family legacy is more than just wealth — it’s about character and upbringing. I said if he recognizes Liu Xiangnian as his grandfather, I’d divorce him because I trust that he wouldn’t acknowledge a man who is disloyal and lacking in integrity.”

Then she turned the same condescending glare on Feng Xueming:
“What kind of problem would I have to dump a well-mannered, handsome, gentle, and devoted husband for you? Your grandfather had a mistress, your father followed suit — your family tradition is practically hereditary! And you? Always caught in rumors with starlets. That’s your so-called appeal?”

Everyone knew the Liu family’s past. And now, linking this with what was reported yesterday — that Fan Qi was already married, and to the grandson of the former master of Fanyuan, the Chen family heiress’ son — the crowd started putting the pieces together.

“Where does your confidence even come from? You really think he’d give up the Liu family for you?” Xu Miao’er sneered.

“That confidence comes from the tacit understanding between husband and wife — something you’d never understand,” Fan Qi replied coolly, landing a direct blow to Xu Miao’er’s pride.

Xu Miao’er bit her lip until it turned white, clutching her handbag tightly as she looked to Feng Xueming. But Feng Xueming’s face remained calm, clearly signaling that whatever existed between them was over.

Seeing the scene, Fan Qi couldn’t help but pity Xu Miao’er — why chain herself to a crooked tree like Feng Xueming?

“Fan Qi.”

A familiar voice called out. Fan Qi turned around and saw Chen Zhiqian standing a few steps away. Behind him were Xu Xia, Xu Miao’er’s father, as Liao Yazhe had pointed out the night before, and a younger man who seemed powerful and confident — and who was quietly smirking.

Fan Qi immediately turned on the acting skills she’d inherited from the original host. She stood up, sweetly walked over, and looped her arm around Chen Zhiqian’s:

“Husband~”

She looked up at him, imagining he was the teddy bear she’d once seen. The affection in her eyes was almost too real to be fake.

Chen Zhiqian, flustered by her gaze, muttered: “Stand properly.”

Fan Qi let go and stood straight, only to be pulled close again by him. He gave Feng Xueming a bland glance before turning to Xu Miao’er:

“Miss Xu, I already spoke with Mr. Liu Xiangnian this morning. I had no relationship with him before, and I won’t have any in the future. If Mr. Feng Xueming broke off your engagement on the grounds that your families were no longer a good match because he might lose his inheritance at Tianhe — then that’s no longer an issue. You two are free to get back together.”

Xu Miao’er was being stared down by her father, whose face was icy. She had no time to process what Chen Zhiqian had said. Clutching her purse, knuckles white, she stammered:
“Dad… I…”

“We’re going home,” Xu Xia said coldly.

At that moment, Liao Jiqing — just out of a meeting and told about the disturbance in the reception area — came out and saw his old rival’s face looking worse than it had at his own mother’s funeral. Beside Xu Xia was none other than Rong Yuan, founder of the MFY Fund on Wall Street and principal of Linlong Capital.

Liao Jiqing had always wanted to work with Rong Yuan, but Mr. Rong happened to be distantly related to Xu Xia, so he’d always gone through Changxing Group instead. Liao Jiqing never had the chance to collaborate directly.

Sensing an opportunity, Liao stepped forward and greeted Rong Yuan:
“Mr. Rong, it’s rare to see you.”

“Yes, I’ve been shuttling between the U.S. and Germany,” Rong Yuan replied.

“How long are you back for? Why not come to my office for tea?” Liao Jiqing offered.

Rong Yuan turned to Chen Zhiqian and said:
“Zhiqian, Mr. Liao is a veteran in the industry. Why don’t you hear his thoughts too?”

“You’re the expert — I’ll follow your lead,” Chen Zhiqian responded.