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

Starting the next day, Shen Yao carefully prepared the materials according to the contact information given by her senior and went to visit Professor Li.

The senior student was indeed very reliable; Professor Li had an excellent impression of Shen Yao.

After inquiring in detail about her project ideas and academic plans, and carefully reviewing the materials she submitted, the meticulous professor smiled approvingly and immediately expressed his approval:

"I've seen your abilities and potential. The competition for exchange student spots is fierce within the department, so don't worry, I'll write a good recommendation letter."

He paused, then added earnestly, "Once you go to Yenching University, be sure to seize the opportunity and study hard. When you return two years later after completing your studies, I hope you will still be my student and make even greater contributions to our college and our country!"

Shen Yao quickly stood up and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Professor Li. I will definitely live up to your expectations."

With Professor Li's verbal promise, Shen Yao became even more motivated.

Over the next ten days or so, the innovative project she had led lived up to expectations and won first prize in the school's annual evaluation.

When the news came, the entire project team was excited again, and everyone made plans to go out and celebrate.

Standing on the podium, listening to the enthusiastic applause from below, and looking at the weighty certificate in her hand, Shen Yao's heart was filled with a great sense of accomplishment and anticipation for the future.

She's going to Yenching University.

She could almost see the doors of that academic temple opening to her, and that broader, more prestigious circle beckoning to her.

The more excited she became, the more she forced herself to calm down.

She knew that the closer she got to her goal, the less she could afford to relax.

She added two more high-intensity dance classes to her schedule, sweating profusely in the practice room, using physical exhaustion and pain to suppress the restlessness in her heart, until she was completely exhausted and could barely calm down the heart that was beating wildly because of ambition.

Time slipped by quietly in a delicate and peculiar relationship that was neither intimate nor irreconcilable, and amidst the fulfilling sense of accomplishment from academic progress.

The first academic year of Shanghai University officially came to an end, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas in the height of summer.

With the arrival of summer vacation, the campus gradually quiets down.

Shen Yao didn't receive any information from Xiang Yuchuan about his holiday plans; instead, she received a text message from him:

【Yaoyao, I have to go to Beijing. Contact me by phone if needed.】

They didn't say what they were going to do, how long they would stay, or even say goodbye in person.

Shen Yao looked at her phone screen with no expression on her face. She felt neither disappointed nor sad; instead, she felt a sense of relief.

She needs some uninterrupted time to focus on preparing for her exchange program.

She casually replied, "Okay, got it," then tossed her phone aside and began planning her summer vacation.

She did not stop using her social media after Xiang Yuchuan left.

He took out his phone, tapped Xie Yuanzhu's WeChat profile picture, and sent a voice message, his voice carrying a relaxed laugh:

"Yuanzhu, I'm on summer vacation! Are you having fun in Shanghai? Have you missed me? [Cute]"

Xie Yuanzhu replied almost instantly, bombarding the chatterbox with voice messages and emojis. She chattered on about her fun experiences in Beijing, complained about the hot weather, and then whined that she missed her sister Shen Yao terribly, asking when she would come to Beijing to play.

Hearing Xie Yuanzhu's energetic voice, Shen Yao smiled genuinely.

She really liked this simple-minded and passionate girl.

On the flight to Beijing, Qin Fang leaned back in the spacious first-class seat and irritably loosened his tie.

During this trip to Shanghai, he didn't even get to see Shen Yao before it was ruined by that madman Xiao Weilin and Zhou Jingyan working together.

The more he couldn't have her, the more it itched in his heart, like a cat scratching at him. He thought about Shen Yao day and night, and her personality that he liked so much.

Sitting behind him, Xiao Weilin seemed to be able to see through his thoughts. He glanced at him coldly, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his lower lip, as if he could still feel the electric sensation from that night in the bathroom.

"Stop having those thoughts and behave yourself."

Just as Qin Fang was about to retort, Zhou Jingyan, sitting on the other side, also spoke up calmly, his tone tinged with weariness and relief:

"Wei Lin is right. Qin Fang, it's time for you to settle down. Let's leave this matter in Shanghai behind."

Finally, we can get rid of those two troublemakers.

Zhou Jingyan felt that dealing with Xiao Weichen's group was less troublesome.

Xiang Yuchuan did not travel with them; he took an earlier flight.

At this moment, he was standing in front of the gate of a secluded and imposing courtyard house in the capital.

Four years later, he finally returned to the place he had once desperately wanted to escape.

Push open the heavy vermilion wooden door and pass through the screen wall and courtyard.

In the living room, his father, Xiang Junqi, was sitting upright in a grand chair, seemingly having been waiting for a long time.

Four years had passed, and my father seemed unchanged, still with that calm and reserved demeanor.

Seeing Xiang Yuchuan enter, he put down his teacup, his gaze sweeping calmly over his son, without the excitement of a long-awaited reunion or the reproach for his four-year absence.

"I'm back." Xiang Junqi's voice was calm and indifferent.

Xiang Yuchuan nodded, sat down in the chair opposite him, and got straight to the point:

"Dad, how's the investigation going with the person I asked you to look into?"

Xiang Junqi did not answer immediately. Instead, he picked up a thin kraft paper file folder from the coffee table next to him and casually threw it onto the table in front of Xiang Yuchuan with a soft "thud".

"He hadn't been home for four years, and the first time he contacted me was because of a woman."

Xiang Junqi's tone was unreadable, but Xiang Yuchuan could sense a hint of sarcasm. "You have good taste. This girl is indeed exceptionally beautiful."

Xiang Yuchuan's heart sank. His father's tone gave him a bad feeling.

He reached for the file folder, but didn't open it immediately; he just held it tightly.

Seeing his nervous expression, Xiang Junqi picked up his teacup, took a slow sip, and then continued:

"But you've been really clueless about your relationship. You've been dating for almost a year, and you still don't know anything about the girl's background?"

Xiang Yuchuan suddenly looked up: "What do you mean?"

Xiang Junqi put down his teacup, a half-smile playing on his lips, as if mocking his son's naiveté:

"What I mean is, the girl's past isn't the point."

"Whether a family is rich or poor is irrelevant to the Xiang family."

He paused, looking directly at Xiang Yuchuan: "The only thing she did that was both the smartest and the boldest was..."

"She hired a private investigator to investigate you before your 'chance encounter' with her."

Xiang Yuchuan's blood seemed to freeze instantly.

Xiang Junqi looked at his face, which had turned deathly pale, and instead of anger, his tone carried admiration and praise for the man's intelligence:

"The private investigator she hired was someone your grandfather and I had already placed by your side. He's from the Xiang family."

"All the investigative requests she submitted to the detective, seemingly to find out your whereabouts and preferences, were actually like a meticulously prepared resume. They cleverly incorporated all the information about her being alone and helpless, hardworking and ambitious, and having a clean background."

"She's not just investigating you, Yuchuan. She's using our family's informants to put what she wants us to know on the table."

"She calculated that we wouldn't stop her, and might even be happy about it. A girl with a clean background, who has her own agenda but is smart, beautiful, and easy to control, is the perfect safe relationship for you."

Xiang Yuchuan felt a buzzing sound in his ears, and his mind went blank.

He gripped the light file folder tightly, as if it weighed a ton.

Inside was his self-righteous love, and a... conspiratorial deception.