The antique girlfriend of a chaebol heir

The chess and card room is in the rest area on the second floor. Go up the carved wooden stairs and it's around the corner.

Next to the chess and card room is a Chinese-style tea room, which is also where Xie Shuyun wanted to take photos.

Pushing open the door, Tang Ziying couldn't help but exclaim, "This place is so beautiful!"

The interior design perfectly embodies classical aesthetics.

Against the wall stands a rustic tea table, behind which is a floor-to-ceiling display shelf, with various tea sets and books arranged in a pleasing manner.

On a large mahogany desk, there are all the necessary writing implements: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

In the corner, a guqin rests quietly on the table, its body gleaming with the patina of time, clearly indicating its high value.

Han Xiaoqian followed behind, her gaze subtly sweeping over every detail of the tea room.

She had heard about Xie Garden before.

The garden built by the Xie family at a cost of several billion yuan exudes luxury, but it is not the kind of ostentatious wealth. Instead, it is a refined elegance that has been accumulated over generations and cannot be imitated by others.

It is said that every plant, tree, brick, and tile in the garden was designed by a master craftsman, and even the carvings on the window frames were carved by old craftsmen, stroke by stroke.

If Yu Xingye and Xie Shuheng hadn't been on good terms, she wouldn't have had the chance to come to a place like this.

She looked at Xie Shuyun—the girl who was holding Shen Ci's hand and chattering about which angle would look best for taking photos—with envy on her face.

The Xie family's little princess was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Whatever you want, you'll get; wherever you want to go, someone will pave the way...

Before we knew it, more than half an hour had passed quietly.

Xie Shuyun put away her phone with satisfaction, turned around and sat down at the mahogany tea table. She handed the phone to Shen Ci beside her, her eyes crinkling as she asked her to help her choose photos.

"Youyou, come help me take a look," she pushed the screen in front of Shen Ci, swiping through the photo album with her fingertips, "I really like these photos taken at the guqin, I can't choose which ones to pick."

"This one," Shen Ci pointed to one of the photos, "the lighting is soft, and your expression is very natural."

"Wow, that's really true!" Xie Shuyun's eyes lit up, and she scrolled down a few more pictures. "What about these? Am I being too affected by holding the calligraphy brush?"

Shen Ci smiled and said, "No, it looks great, especially this one where you're looking down slightly."

Xie Shuyun happily selected nine photos.

Some of the photos were solo shots of herself, and there was also a group photo of four girls. She also picked out two solo shots of Shen Ci—one was a profile shot of Shen Ci standing by the window, and the other was a shot of Shen Ci bowing her head and playing the zither, looking focused, as if she were really playing.

The rest were photos of her and Shen Ci together, and she loved every single one of them.

Her fingertips flew across the screen as she edited the text. She bit her lower lip, thought for a moment, typed a few words, deleted them, and repeated this several times before finally pressing the send button with satisfaction.

"Done!" She slammed her phone down on the table, looked up at Shen Ci, and her eyes curved into crescents.

"Youyou, do you know how photogenic you are? Every shot looks like a picture of a person from a painting. My WeChat Moments is going to explode."

As soon as she finished speaking, her WeChat Moments exploded with activity.

Xie Shuyun scrolled down, then suddenly exclaimed "Huh!" and turned her phone screen towards Shen Ci: "Youyou, look, my brother liked it too. Aren't they playing cards? How can he have time to look at his phone!"

Shen Ci glanced at it; Xie Shuheng's avatar lay quietly in the like list on the screen, the time showing it was just half a minute ago.

She didn't speak, but simply lowered her head and took a sip of tea, the tea leaves gently swirling at the bottom of the cup.

In the other side of the card room.

Yin Kuo leaned back in his chair and wailed, "Brother Duo, Lao Xie, are you two going to make Lao Yu and me starve next month?"

He had barely finished speaking when he glanced at the cards Jiang Duo had pushed towards him, his face turning even greener. He cursed, "Damn it, I lost again."

He hasn't won in an hour.

For some reason, Duo Ge and Xie Shuheng were competing with each other today, neither willing to give in, and their playing styles were increasingly aggressive.

When Jiang Duo played his cards, his eyes were as deep as a still pool, while Xie Shuheng's card-folding motions carried a sharp edge. The two went back and forth, and the chips piled up like a small mountain on the table.

Well, that's good; his and Lao Yu's wallets are probably going to be completely ruined.

A waiter from Xie Garden knocked on the door and quietly entered to replace the tea and fruit platters.

Han Xiaoqian and Tang Ziying followed them in and sat down next to Yu Xingye and Yin Kuo respectively.

Han Xiaoqian gathered up the scattered chips for Yu Xingye, and asked him something in a low voice. Yu Xingye shook his head and gave a bitter smile.

Hearing the noise, Xie Shuheng looked up, his gaze sweeping over the card table and landing on the doorway: "Where are the two of them?"

Han Xiaoqian glanced in the direction of his gaze, then looked away: "Shuyun and the others are still chatting in the tea room. They should be able to come over later."

She could tell that Xie Shuyun was very close to Shen Ci, a closeness that was genuine and unguarded, which was clearly different from how she treated them, her "friends."

The door to the card room was ajar, and the corridor fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, a melodious piano tune drifted in from outside.

It wasn't music playing on a phone; someone was actually playing it.

The sound of the strings being plucked began with a few tentative notes, which then blended into a complete melody, like a mountain stream or the wind rustling through a bamboo forest, flowing clear and refreshing into the room.

Xie Shuheng paused in his action of drawing a card.

Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank —

It is a very classic piece for the guqin. For guqin enthusiasts, it is easy to play, but it is very difficult to play it well.

The music seemed to have wings—at the beginning, a flock of geese flew across the sky, the wind whistling; then the sand was flat and the water was far away, and the geese circled around.

"Old Xie?" Yin Kuo looked up and called out to him, "It's your turn to play, what are you daydreaming about?"

Xie Shuheng did not respond.

He slowly raised his eyes and looked at the half-open door; the music was coming from that direction.

He looked away and gently placed the card face down on the table.

"I'm not playing anymore, I'm going out for some fresh air."

The music became even clearer in the corridor.

In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, the sound of wild geese falling in autumn echoes.

As the strings fall silent and dusk descends, my heart, too, finds its harbor.

Xie Shuheng paused slightly, standing outside the tea room without immediately going in.

Only after the last lingering sound had dissipated did he gently push open the door.

Xie Shuyun was half-lying on the table, her chin resting on the back of her hand, still immersed in the music, her eyes somewhat glazed over.

Shen Ci sat in front of the guqin, her fingertips still hovering over the strings.

It took Xie Shuyun a long time to come to her senses.

She sat up abruptly, grabbed Shen Ci's hand, and her eyes lit up with an astonishing gleam: "Youyou, you're amazing—"

She paused, then suddenly leaned closer, lowered her voice, and said in a tone that was half serious and half coquettish, "I really like you. Why don't you become my sister-in-law?"

Shen Ci's fingertips trembled, and a soft humming sound came from the strings.

She looked up and met Xie Shuheng's gaze at the doorway.

He stood there, half his face hidden in the shadows of the corridor, his expression inscrutable.