The Guide to Rising to Power: The Ultimate Schemes of a Green Tea Beauty

Xue Huaiqing turned his head and looked at her face.

There was no surprise or doubt in those eyes, only a quiet love that had been waiting for a long time.

Shen Yao lowered her head, placed her palm on his fingers, and slowly and deliberately guided them out:

"I have something to tell you. You can be angry after hearing it, you can not forgive me, but I don't want to hide it from you."

Before she could utter any harsh words, she first spread her hands out.

Under the cover of night, a small rabbit carved from white jade lay prominently in her palm, its smooth, translucent surface a perfect work of art.

"If... the little rabbit you love, the little rabbit that was carved just for you and exists only for you, she is greedy and wants you to stay by her side forever and never let you leave."

"But she also wants you to allow her to go out and have fun, and not to lock her up. Are you still willing to do that?"

She handed the gift to him.

"If you agree, then accept her; if you refuse, that's okay too. The little rabbit will always have you in her heart."

The gift might not be expensive, but ever since she learned that Liang Xiheng had taken Xue Huaiqing's wooden rabbit, she knew that Aqing would be sad.

This one, which she carved herself after many years, might just reach his heart.

But the price is that he has to promise in person that she will never stay for just him.

The man stretched out his large, well-defined hand, took the jade rabbit, and held it up to the moonlight through the lustrous jade.

The rabbit's body was bathed in the moonlight, reflecting the beauty of the full moon.

Have I ever told you that I love you?

Xue Huaiqing looked at the rabbit in his palm, then looked up at her.

"You know, I love you."

Shen Yao looked at the man who had been a part of most of her life and met his eyes:

"I know. In the darkest year of my life, someone worked hard to rebuild a new world for me."

"I am always grateful, grateful to him, and grateful that after shattering his life, fate still gave him back to me."

She looked at him and said gently but firmly:

"I want to be with him forever."

Xue Huaiqing smiled, a quiet and relieved smile.

"Okay, as long as you're happy."

He's fine with anything.

She's fine with anything.

_

Once Shen Yao has made up her mind, no one can stop her.

Her ultimate goal—to hook men—has become clear.

Having witnessed too many broken relationships, Shen Yao never dared to stake her entire future on a man's love. Even when their true feelings were right before her eyes, she dared not let her guard down completely.

Now that Xue Huaiqing is no longer a constraint by her side, given her current status, position, and wealth, it is almost impossible for her to go back to being the Shen Yao who had to be subservient to others.

But she still wanted to put on a final layer of insurance for herself.

The Jianghehui project tied her to Fang Yunci, Xie Yunzhou, and Qin Fang on the same boat of shared interests;

The shares she acquired when the Xiao family ran into trouble made her an indispensable figure on the board of directors of Saint-Novozymes.

She is not anyone's appendage; she is the one sitting firmly at the table.

What Shen Yao wanted was to use the affection and goodwill these men had for her at the height of their love to forge an unbreakable alliance of interests.

She will become the most crucial knot in the spider web of Yanjing, and she doesn't mind being called a social butterfly; that's her skill.

She has the ability to act as a go-between, facilitating cooperation among these people and making herself the point where all the interests converge.

To touch her would affect the interests of countless people.

Only after everything was settled did Shen Yao stop dealing with these men before her birthday.

The tension that had been building for over twenty years has finally eased, and my heart has become stronger and more composed.

While busy pursuing her lifelong goals as president, Shen Yao had already begun discussing her most important birthday celebration with Xue Huaiqing and Zhou Jingyan.

She was twenty-five years old.

Shen Yao called her maternal grandparents.

They will naturally come back on her birthday.

This time, no matter what they said, the Wei couple refused to let Shen Yao's birthday be treated perfunctorily again.

The two elderly people flew back to Yanjing from the United States, their suitcases filled with bags and packages, all of which were for her.

On the day she picked someone up at the airport, Shen Yao saw her grandmother's bodyguard pushing a luggage cart from afar, while her grandfather carried two bags behind him.

He walked breathlessly, still grumbling to his wife, "We agreed to bring less, look at this pile."

Without turning her head, Madam Wei said, "What do you know? Yao Yao is all alone in Yanjing; she can't even buy these things herself."

"Grandma, I have money, I can buy anything." Shen Yao greeted her, smiling as she took her grandmother's arm. "Are you two moving?"

Grandpa put the bag down on the ground, put his hands on his hips to catch his breath, and looked at her seriously: "You've lost weight."

"No, my face has gotten rounder."

With money, good looks, power, and influence, how could they not eat and drink well?

"What do you mean by round?" Mr. Wei frowned. "You've just lost weight. We're not here, who are you trying to fool?"

Old Madam Wei held Shen Yao's hand, kneading her knuckles, but didn't respond to the question about whether she was thin or not. She simply said gently:

"Twenty-five is a good age. More solid than twenty, more agile than thirty. Yao Yao, your grandfather and I have seen every step you've taken during this time."

"What do you two think about things in America? It's across the Pacific Ocean."

"You're not looking with your eyes," Old Madam Wei patted Shen Yao's hand. "Look with your heart."

Mr. Wei added from the side:

"Birthdays are not to be taken lightly. Do you know how big a spectacle your Aunt Zhenxing made for her birthday? She wouldn't stop until the whole of Yanjing was lit up and her name was plastered all over the street!"

"...Poor Mianyue..."

As he said this, his voice suddenly dropped, as if he had been poked by something.

Speaking of Zhenxing, who was pampered and spoiled since childhood, how can one not feel sorry for his daughter Mianyue, who has suffered too much since childhood?

Shen Yao leaned on her grandmother's shoulder, her eyes slightly moist.

Only she knows the whole truth.

My mother, Mianyue, did not have a good life; my aunt, Zhenxing, also did not have a good life in her later years.

She didn't say anything.

Grandpa laughed first, then added:

"I wanted you to experience that kind of excitement too. But in the end, it's up to you. Don't worry about what we old folks think; we just came back to see you and support you."

Old Madam Wei glared at him: "You're so good at talking."

"I'm telling the truth."

Shen Yao buried her face in her grandmother's shoulder.

She hadn't felt for a long time that people could interact without scheming, without plotting, and without endlessly deducing the nature of each relationship.

Simply put, some people wait for her to grow up, and some people fly back from across the ocean just to see her blow out a candle.

Her maternal grandparents were bickering in front of her.

Shen Yao fell two steps behind, watching the two elderly people's backs swaying unevenly in the airport lights, and suddenly felt—

Twenty-five years old would probably be a great start.