The Heiress's Game

The dining room in the Gu family's old house is very large, large enough to fit a long table for twelve people, so large that if you speak a little softly, the person sitting at the other end won't be able to hear you.

But no one is sitting at the other end tonight.

Gu Yunjin sat by the window. She had just been picked up from the airport and her suitcase was still in the entryway. She was invited to the dinner table first.

A table full of delicious dishes, each one meticulously prepared, like a welcoming feast that had been prepared in advance.

Gu Yunjin is the third generation of the Gu family. Her grandfather's generation was a well-known industrialist, and the family business multiplied several times over when it was passed down to Gu Zhenxing.

With a family like that, possessing assets worth tens of billions, who wouldn't be tempted?

Gu Yunjin was certainly tempted. However, she never showed it on her face.

Gu Zhenxing sat in the main seat. He was over seventy years old, with high brow bones and deep-set eyes, exuding an imposing presence.

He rarely speaks while eating, and his chopsticks always pick up food according to proper etiquette.

But he spoke first tonight.

"Jin'er is back, and she's finished her studies. What are her plans for the future?"

His tone was indifferent, as if asking how the weather was today. Over the years, he hadn't exactly been particularly attentive to Yun Jin, but he hadn't mistreated her either.

He received all the money he was owed and the education he needed, up to his master's degree. But we weren't exactly close.

In the Gu family, this child was like a potted green plant placed in the corner, never fighting, never arguing, never making a fuss, and quietly growing into a graceful young lady.

"Yun Jin, what did you study again?" Gu Zhenxing asked.

Gu Yunjin looked up. "Dad, I studied finance and minored in law."

Gu Yunjin's half-brother, Gu Mingcheng, sat on a single chair to the side and raised his eyelids slightly upon hearing this.

"Finance plus law," Gu Mingcheng smiled, his tone sounding casual.

"It would be a shame if someone with your qualifications didn't join the company. I'm at headquarters, and the investment department happens to be short of a deputy director position. If you're willing, you can come and train with me for two years."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Gu Yunjin's face, his expression as gentle as that of a loving older brother who cherishes his younger sister.

That's a well-said statement.

A person who has just graduated with a master's degree is parachuted into the position of deputy director of the investment department at headquarters. This is known as a story of the second daughter of the Gu family being favored and the eldest brother helping his younger sister.

Everyone present felt that Gu Mingcheng was a good older brother.

Gu Yunjin picked up her teacup and took a sip, her eyelashes casting a small shadow under the lamplight.

She knew what was going on with that deputy director position in the investment department—the deputy director who took office three months ago was transferred to the Southeast Asian branch, a demotion in name only, because he had taken the wrong side in a cross-border merger and acquisition case and touched something in Gu Mingcheng's hands.

That position is now just an empty shell. It manages three people and all the projects it handles are peripheral businesses. To put it nicely, it's "training"; to put it bluntly, it's "exile."

Her brother won't let her touch the core business.

The Gu family's ship is too big; there can only be one helmsman.

Gu Mingcheng is the eldest son, the child of Gu Zhenxing and his first wife, and the rightful heir, while Gu Yunjin is the child of Gu Zhenxing and his second wife.

He treated his half-sister, no, he should say all his half-brothers and sisters, with utmost respect on the surface, but deep down he was more wary of them than anyone else.

The eldest brother always had a gentle and refined demeanor, treating everyone with courtesy and respect, and never putting on airs even with the servants at home.

But Gu Yunjin knew all too well that someone who could gain a foothold in a cutthroat environment like the Gu Group could not possibly be gentle at heart.

"It's a good thing that Mingcheng has this intention."

Wang Manyun spoke up.

She is forty-five years old this year. She is well-maintained, with fair skin. She is wearing a cheongsam made of Xiangyun yarn, and her pearl earrings sway gently with her movements as she speaks. She is very gentle and virtuous.

She was Gu Zhenxing's third wife and Gu Yunjin's stepmother.

"However, I have another idea," Wang Manyun said with a smile, placing a piece of food on Gu Zhenxing's plate with her chopsticks, her movements natural and affectionate.

"Jin'er is twenty-five this year, right? This is the best time for a girl. Our Jin'er is beautiful, she studied abroad, and her academic qualifications are impressive. She's outstanding in the entire industry."

She paused, as if suddenly remembering something, and her tone carried a hint of the wisdom of someone who had been through it all:

"I'm not saying she shouldn't go to the company for experience, but I'm just thinking that Jin'er has been studying for more than 20 years, which is too hard for her."

Girls don't necessarily have to struggle in the business world like men. Settling down first and finding a good family you know is also a blessing.

That was a perfectly watertight statement.

On the surface, it's about feeling sorry for Gu Yunjin and considering her marriage prospects, but what it really means is that Mingcheng is enough for the company, and Sanya doesn't need to get involved.

Gu Yunjin is the most academically gifted person in the Gu family besides Gu Mingcheng.

If she gets a foothold in the company, with her education and intelligence, her future could be anything.

Gu Yunjin had seen through Wang Manyun since childhood.

She's the kind of person who's all smiles and no action, but has a heart of stone.

She's nice to you not because she genuinely cares about you, but because it's in her best interest to be nice to you.

Born into a political and business family, she grew up immersed in the ways of the world, and being cunning and shrewd is second nature to her.

Her son, Gu Mingxuan, will be taking the college entrance examination in a year or two.

In Wang Manyun's plan, the Gu Group should belong to her son in the future. Whether it's Gu Mingcheng or Gu Yunjin, they are just stumbling blocks on her son's way to the top.

However, she won't reveal this yet.

Gu Zhenxing is still young and energetic, Gu Mingcheng is in his prime, and her son is not even eighteen years old. It's too early to take action now.

So she chose the safest strategy—to keep everyone calm, wait for her son to grow up, wait for the right time, and wait for everything to fall into place naturally.

Before that, she would play the role of a virtuous wife and loving mother, caring for her stepchildren and being gentle and considerate to her husband, hiding all her ambitions behind her ever-smiling face.

Gu Mingyue was just picking up where she left off.

She is Gu Zhenxing's eldest daughter and Gu Mingcheng's younger sister. Three years ago, she married the second son of the Zhao family of Hongsheng Industry. The wedding was grand and respectable, and the dowry alone amounted to three whole sheets of red paper.

Their married life has indeed been quite good, at least it looks good on social media.

"Mom is right," Gu Mingyue said while peeling shrimp. She called Wang Manyun "Mom" because it came naturally to her.

"Jin'er, look at me. Back then, Dad made me join the company to learn business, and I studied for two years. And what was the result?"

After you get married, you won't need any of those things. For families like ours, marriage is the most important thing.

You're twenty-five now, the perfect age to pick a partner. In two years, all the good ones will be taken, and you'll be in a rush, putting yourself at a disadvantage.

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Gu Zhenxing and added with a smile, "Dad, don't you think so?"

Gu Zhenxing didn't reply immediately, but put down his chopsticks.

This is his habit of thinking.

Gu Yunjin sat there quietly, the light falling on her face, illuminating a very beautiful face.

She resembled her mother—Gu Zhenxing's second wife, Su Wanning, a household name and a big star back then.

Gu Yunjin inherited her mother's exquisite bone structure, but her eyes also had the cool and aloof air of the Gu family. The combination of these two qualities made her very beautiful and memorable.

At this moment, she lowered her head slightly, with a demure smile on her lips, as if she was listening attentively to her elders, or perhaps she was too shy to participate in the discussion about her life's most important matter.

She wore a simple off-white knit sweater, her hair was casually tied back, and she looked neat and tidy.

"Jin'er, what are you thinking?"

Gu Zhenxing finally spoke, his gaze falling on his youngest daughter.

Everyone at the table turned their gaze towards him.

Gu Yunjin raised her eyes, first looking at Gu Mingcheng, then at Wang Manyun, and finally at Gu Mingyue, as if she was carefully digesting everyone's opinions.

Then she smiled, a clean and gentle smile with just the right amount of shyness.

"I listen to my dad and mom," she said, her voice not loud, but every word was clear.

"What my sister said makes sense. At my age, I should indeed start thinking about this kind of thing."

"After studying for so many years, it doesn't seem quite right for me to just come back and plunge into the company."

Upon hearing this, Wang Manyun's smile deepened, Gu Mingyue's eyes brightened, and even Gu Mingcheng breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief.

Gu Yunjin took in everyone's reactions without showing the slightest expression.

She picked up her teacup and took another sip. The sweet aftertaste of Longjing tea spread across her tongue, warm and lingering.

"However," she put down her teacup, as if suddenly remembering something, and looked up at Gu Zhenxing with a hint of girlish caution in her eyes.

"If Dad really introduces me to a boyfriend, don't let him find someone too boring. Although I look quiet, I'm actually quite talkative."

Gu Zhenxing smiled, a rare occurrence, after hearing her words, and the atmosphere at the table immediately relaxed.

Wang Manyun immediately chimed in, saying, "Don't worry about that, Mom will help you check." Gu Mingyue also enthusiastically began listing which young men in the circle hadn't been decided yet. Gu Mingcheng even offered to have his secretary compile a list later.

The meal was enjoyed by everyone, and everyone felt they had gotten what they wanted.

Gu Yunjin lowered her eyes, picked up a piece of osmanthus-flavored glutinous rice lotus root with her chopsticks, and chewed it slowly.

Lotus root is sweet, and glutinous rice is soft.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

It was a message from a classmate from her time studying abroad, asking if she had settled in yet, and casually mentioning—whether to continue with that thing they had agreed on before.

Without making a sound, Gu Yunjin flipped her phone over and placed it face down on her lap.

Then she looked up, smiled sweetly at Gu Mingyue who was speaking, and her eyes crinkled.

"Have you met that Mr. Chen you mentioned, sister? Is he easy to get along with?"

Seeing that she was interested, Gu Mingyue became even more enthusiastic.

Wang Manyun chimed in at the opportune moment, praising the Chen family's young master for his good family background and good character.

Gu Mingcheng leaned back in his chair, wiped his hands with a napkin, and looked relaxed, clearly satisfied with how things were going.

Only Gu Zhenxing glanced at his youngest daughter.

He couldn't explain why, but he felt that Gu Yunjin had agreed too quickly tonight.

This girl has never liked to compete since she was little. She always says "okay" to everything and gets along well with everyone.

In the first few years after Su Wanning divorced him, he had custody of her and couldn't see her, so she cried a few times.

After Su Wanning died, she cried for a few days.

Later, she stopped crying, smiled at everyone she met, and said she wanted to study abroad. She stayed abroad for more than ten years.

He studied diligently abroad, unlike other international students who smoked marijuana or had promiscuous relationships. He was so well-behaved that no one could find fault with him.

After the banquet ended, Gu Yunjin returned to her room.

Her room was on the third floor, at the very back, and it was just as it was before she went abroad. It was spotless, the sheets were freshly changed, and there was a potted asparagus fern on the windowsill, which had been taken care of all these years.

She laid her suitcase down, unzipped it, and took out her laptop, which contained a printed business plan with the name of an overseas registered company printed on the cover.

That was something she built over several years abroad.

My phone vibrated again.

It was the same classmate again, but this time there was an extra message: "Are you planning to go back to China or not? The investors here are still waiting for your reply."

Gu Yunjin leaned against the headboard, her finger hovering over the screen for two seconds before she typed and sent it.

"No rush. Let them wait."

After sending the message, she turned off her phone and reached out to turn off the light.

In the darkness, Gu Yunjin turned over and closed her eyes.

A marriage alliance? Sure.

She wanted to see who would end up benefiting whom.

A 25-year-old with dual master's degrees in finance and law, who just graduated from a top-five business school in the United States.

Her advisor was one of the people who participated in designing the North American derivatives trading rules, and her graduation thesis studied the legal loopholes and countermeasures in the equity structure of family businesses.

She did not publish this paper because the case studies used in it dismantled the shell of the Gu Group from beginning to end.

They all felt that they had won the conversation today.

Gu Yunjin lowered her eyes, concealing the faint smile in them.

What did we win?

She never once said, "I want to join the company."

She didn't even show the slightest interest in the Gu Group.

They revealed all their cards to her one by one—Gu Mingcheng's defenses, Wang Manyun's apprehension, and Gu Zhenxing's schemes.

She is 25 years old, unmarried, and has just returned from abroad. Her father and stepmother are busy arranging blind dates for her.

This means that in the next six months, she will have countless social occasions to attend legitimately and countless connections to make open and aboveboard contact with.

Her older brother, who was "devoted to the group's affairs," and her "gentle and virtuous" stepmother would happily dress her up as the most beautiful face of the family.

They personally pushed her in front of everyone they felt was worth befriending.

As for boyfriend?

Of course I need to have a boyfriend. Not only should I have one, but I need to have one that no one can find fault with.

But what kind of boyfriend to date, what to do after dating, when to get married, and what happens after marriage—

These things are none of their concern.

After all, Gu Yunjin was never a puppet to be manipulated.

She had only played the role of a good daughter for over twenty years, and she played it so well that everyone forgot that the puppet's strings could also be held in one's own hands.