Guide to Rising to Power as a Wife in Beijing's Elite Circle

The fifteenth day of the first lunar month, in Zhongzhou.

Chen Nuo sat on the sofa, hugging a cushion, staring at the ceiling. The living room lights were off, only the television was on, broadcasting the Lantern Festival Gala.

From the seventh to the fifteenth of the lunar month, eight days. During those eight days, Fang Jingxiu only sent her one message: "Go in and rest for two days. You need to take good care of your father's business." And then, nothing more. She couldn't get through on the phone, didn't reply to text messages, and her WeChat was completely dead.

She was like a headless fly, not knowing anyone to ask about his current situation, even though everyone knew. Everyone was keeping it from her. Everyone felt she shouldn't know, didn't deserve to know, and didn't need to know.

When the accident happened, I asked my father how much he knew about it. He only said, "Hold onto what you have. Hold onto your current position. Hold onto everything you can still hold onto."

Mr. Chen continued, "Fang Jingxiu got to this position not because he's smart, not because he has connections, but because he's patient. He waited so long that he outlived everyone else. He won't get into trouble so easily."

"What if?"

"If something happens, you won't be able to save him."

That's the truth; she couldn't save him. She didn't have as many connections as Fang Jingxiu, nor the power of the Fang family, nor a background that the Discipline Inspection Commission dared not offend.

She was just a lowly deputy director, a woman who climbed her way up from the film and television system, and who got to where she was today thanks to Fang Jingxiu's paving the way. She was nothing.

"Keep an eye on your father's business." She thought about this sentence a hundred times. What did it mean?

Before he went in, his last words weren't "I love you," "Wait for me to come back," or "Don't worry." They were, "Keep an eye on your father's business."

What is his relationship with Fang Jingxiu? What is his relationship with the Discipline Inspection Commission? What is his relationship with the Central Province Digital Transformation Project?

She turned over and buried her face in the blanket. His scent still lingered on the blanket, faint, as if it were about to dissipate.

"That traitor Qin Yang, he betrayed us, so be it. I've disliked him for a long time. Always smiling, who knows what he's thinking. You too, you misjudged people, didn't you? You deserve it."

She was still not satisfied and cursed a few more times.

"And your dad, he seemed so powerful. And what happened? His son's locked up, and he didn't dare utter a sound. He kept saying the Fang family couldn't get involved. What would happen if they did? Would they die? So what if they die? Who's afraid of who?"

As she continued cursing, she suddenly felt it was pointless. What was the point of cursing? Even after she finished, he still wouldn't come out.

"I'm just a pig," she muttered. "I don't understand anything, and I can't do anything. I believe whatever people say, and I do whatever they tell me to do. Look up documents, I look up documents; write reports, I write reports; attend meetings, I attend meetings. How could a straightforward woman like me understand all these complicated rules?"

She suddenly missed him terribly. She missed his broad shoulders, his warm palms, the faint scent of soap on him, and the way he called her name in her ear while they were in bed.

I miss Fang Jingxiu, who was 186cm tall, 23 years old, had many tricks up his sleeve, and could even pick her up and rock her.

"Fang Jingxiu," she said sullenly, "if you can't get out of here, I'll find someone else. Really. I mean it. I'll marry someone taller than you, more handsome than you, richer than you, gentler than you, better than you... never mind, I can't find anyone better than you."

She was cursing when she suddenly stopped.

business.

She raised her head, her eyes slowly widening.

Around this time last year, at Yongzhou Airport, before boarding his plane, he handed over a stack of documents, saying they were related to business.

She casually flipped through the stack of documents; they were all tables and data she couldn't understand. She asked Fang Jingxiu what they were, and he said, "Your dad's business. Keep an eye on it."

Chen Nuo suddenly stood up and rushed into the study. At the bottom of the bookcase, there was a stack of old magazines and expired documents. She squatted down and pulled them all out at once, scattering them all over the floor.

Dust flew up, making her cough. She found a large stack of documents, hugged it to her chest, and leaned against the bookshelf.

She remembered what Fang Jingxiu said at the airport the day he saw her off: "Be good when you go back to Yongzhou. Listen to your parents. Don't talk to strangers, and don't eat food given to you by strangers. Understand?"

She initially thought he was just being affectionate, that he was playing the father figure. Now she knows he was explaining himself. He knew all along that something bad would happen.

So I gave her the evidence beforehand. So I hid the details in the business dealings beforehand. So I put all my cards in the bottom shelf of her bookcase beforehand.