The Heiress's Game

At seven o'clock in the evening, Gu Yunjin's car stopped in front of an inconspicuous villa in the east of the city.

This area is an old neighborhood left over from the early concession period. The plane trees on both sides of the road provide shade, the streetlights are dim, and occasionally cyclists slowly pass by.

The entire street was so quiet, like a corner forgotten by time, completely out of place with Zhou Ji's style of stirring up trouble in the financial market.

Ye Ming opened the door. She was wearing a loose linen loungewear dress, her hair casually clipped behind her head, and her hands still covered in flour. She smiled when she saw Gu Yunjin: "You've come at the perfect time. The last dish will be ready in three minutes."

Gu Yunjin changed into slippers and walked into the living room. She greeted Zhou Ji and then collapsed onto the sofa—literally collapsed, her back sinking into the cushions.

He leaned back on the sofa, staring at the old-fashioned crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and remained silent for a long time.

In this place, she doesn't need to put on airs.

Zhou Ji sat on the single sofa to the side, holding a tablet and looking at a document. He glanced up at her, then looked down again and continued reading: "How did the talk with Wang Manyun go?"

"I told her I wouldn't marry her, but she didn't seem to care," Gu Yunjin's voice rolled lazily from her throat.

"She thinks I just can't accept it right now, and I'll be fine in a couple of days."

"Of course she would think that way," Zhou Ji put down the tablet.

"In her mind, a socialite saying she won't marry is like a child saying she won't eat—make a fuss, coax her, and she'll eventually sit down at the table."

"She's just looking down on me." Gu Yunjin pulled the cushion out from behind her and hugged it to her chest, her tone carrying a rare hint of childish annoyance.

"She thought I was no different from those socialites. She thought I was just the kind of... spoiled rich girl who had never seen the world."

Arranged marriages are something that can be made a fuss about and then blown over; in the end, everyone will obediently comply anyway.

Ye Ming came out of the kitchen carrying a large bowl of hot soup. Upon hearing this, she placed the soup on the dining table.

While untying her apron, she said, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this now. Yunjin, wash your hands and eat."

There weren't many dishes on the table, just four dishes and a soup, all home-style.

Sweet and sour pork ribs are Gu Yunjin's favorite, while cold black fungus salad is Zhou Ji's must-eat dish—Ye Ming always says he has high cholesterol and should eat more black fungus.

The three people sat around the dining table, with no servants standing by. There were no formalities; the sound of chopsticks hitting the rim of the bowls and casual conversation mingled together, creating the closest sound to "home" in the city.

Halfway through the meal, Gu Yunjin put down her chopsticks.

"Let me tell you, if I had hundreds of billions of dollars like Gu Zhenxing, the first thing I would do is short the Gu family stock—smash the Gu Group's stock price, then kick open the boardroom door with the acquisition agreement and make them kneel down and sing 'Conquer'."

Wang Manyun knelt on the left, Gu Mingyue and Gu Mingcheng knelt on the right, and my father sat on the platform. I asked him to personally pour me tea.

Zhou Ji was putting a piece of pork rib into his mouth when he heard this, his hand trembled, and the rib fell back onto the plate.

Ye Ming's hand holding the soup bowl wobbled, and the soup almost spilled.

The two of them laughed at the same time.

"And then?" Ye Ming asked with a smile, "What version of 'Conquer' did you have them sing? The rock version or the ballad version?"

"Sing a cappella, no auto-tuning, no lip-syncing, one person per verse, Gu Mingyue is in charge of the chorus."

Gu Yunjin expressionlessly picked up a bite of food, put it in her mouth, chewed it twice, and then added,

"Unfortunately, I don't have that much money. Not only do I not have hundreds of billions of US dollars, but I don't even have hundreds of billions of RMB."

And I also want to get my hands on Gu Zhenxing's money—do you think there's anyone in this world more miserable than me?

"That's so tragic," Ye Ming put down her chopsticks, wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, and her tone was full of exaggerated sympathy to match her performance.

"A 26-year-old girl who amassed a fortune of over 10 billion RMB on her own is not even qualified to make her former stepmother and stepsister kneel down and sing 'Conquer'."

"Are you even speaking human language? We working-class people just want to take your job away from us."

"Is over 10 billion a lot?" Gu Yunjin put down her chopsticks, spread her hands, and made an exaggerated expression of pain.

"What can 10 billion do? You know better than me how much money it would take to short the Gu Group."

The combined market value of Gu's medical and real estate sectors is close to 200 billion yuan. Even if you only short one of these sectors, you wouldn't be able to break through their defenses without several hundred billion yuan in ammunition.

"My current wealth is nothing compared to the Gu family—it might buzz a couple of times, but to bite me and draw blood? Dream on."

After laughing, Zhou Ji became serious again, "That's not how it works. You've amassed a fortune of tens of billions in ten years, which is unprecedented and unparalleled in this industry."

Have you ever seen a 26-year-old girl who didn't rely on inheritance, marriage, or connections to gain resources?

To build something this big from scratch? Heaven has truly blessed you with almost supernatural intelligence.

"Zhou Ji is right." Ye Ming, unusually serious, put aside her joking expression and looked at Gu Yunjin earnestly.

"Do you know what I was thinking when I first met you? A sixteen-year-old girl, with eyes like knives, and not a single word she said wasted."

I thought to myself then, this kid will either achieve great things in the future, or he'll drive himself crazy—now it seems to be the former.”

"But that's not enough." Gu Yunjin leaned back in her chair, looking up at the warm yellow chandelier on the ceiling.

"What I need now is more than just enough. I need to crush him—to make him unable to ignore me, unable to belittle me, unable to dismiss me with a simple 'little girl throwing a tantrum'."

Do you know how much money I need? Not just enough to get by, but enough to fight a war.

Ye Ming and Zhou Ji exchanged a glance. The glance was brief, but it contained so much—heartache, understanding, and an unconditional pledge of allegiance.

They are also among the few people in this world who are truly considered family by Gu Yunjin.

"Are you under too much pressure today?" Ye Ming reached out and poured out the cold tea in front of Gu Yunjin, replacing it with a hot cup and pushing it towards her. "It's rare to see you say so many discouraging things."

"I'm not saying this to discourage you," Gu Yunjin said, taking the teacup with both hands, her palms pressed against the warm rim of the cup.

"It's the truth. On my way here today, I've been thinking about one thing—I've been calculating for over a decade, and I've foreseen every step, except that they wouldn't follow my timetable."

I thought I had at least three more months, but they won't even give me three days.

Zhou Ji was silent for a moment, then said, "So you need to go see Gu Zhenxing ahead of time."

"I'll go tomorrow." Gu Yunjin placed the teacup on the table.

"I don't have time to wait any longer. Wang Manyun has already relayed his message today—the Pei family is urging us to hurry, the sooner the better."

If I don't go soon, the engagement invitations might be printed by next week.

"Then let's go," Zhou Ji said.

Ye Ming's voice was gentle yet firm: "Yun Jin, when you go tomorrow, remember one thing—you don't need to make yourself sound like you're being wronged."

All you need to do is show him that you and the Gu Yunjin he thinks you are are not the same person.

Gu Yunjin looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and then nodded.