The Heiress's Game

The Daheng Dance Troupe does not perform in any publicly accessible theaters.

After driving for nearly an hour, we turned from the main road in the city onto a private road lined with plane trees on both sides, and then passed through a gate with security guards before finally entering a park surrounded by high walls.

Gu Yunjin looked out the car window. The streetlights illuminated the meticulously manicured lawn in a dark green light, and several low-rise buildings were scattered around the artificial lake in the distance, brightly lit.

There were no signs, no directional signs, and no external signage.

But the row of neatly parked black cars and their license plates at the entrance speaks volumes more than any signboard about who's there tonight.

Today, Wang Manyun wore a navy blue silk cheongsam with a jade brooch at the neckline, and her hair was neatly styled.

Before getting out of the car, she took out a powder compact from her handbag to touch up her makeup, examined herself in the small mirror for two seconds, snapped it shut, and turned to look at Gu Yunjin.

"The Mrs. He I'm introducing you to tonight is the wife of the chairman of the Daheng Group."

The Daheng Dance Troupe was founded by her; most people can only dream of seeing it. Today is a gathering hosted by Mrs. He, and all the guests are ladies from various families. Follow me, speak less, and smile more.”

Gu Yunjin nodded obediently. Tonight, she wore a light lotus root-colored knitted dress, her hair loosely draped over her shoulders.

She looked like a freshly picked gardenia.

"Daheng Group is quite remarkable now," Wang Manyun said as she walked.

"You know that big name in the domestic real estate industry, right? That new development called Yuhai Tianxia? They sold out as soon as they built the first gate."

So many people are queuing up with money but still can't get a number. These days, if you've gone this far in real estate, you've really become incredibly arrogant.

Gu Yunjin widened her eyes slightly, revealing a perfectly timed expression of surprise.

"They sold out after only one gate was built?"

"What do you think?" Seeing that she was listening attentively, Wang Manyun became even more enthusiastic.

"Let me tell you, any one of these girls from the Daheng Dance Troupe could easily outshine any of today's female celebrities in terms of looks."

Graduates from professional schools, either studying folk dance or ballet, are also provided with dedicated posture teachers and makeup teams.

They stayed in hotel-style apartments owned by Daheng Group and ate individually prepared meals. Each person received an extra five-figure allowance for each performance, which, over a year, amounted to a down payment on a house.

During holidays and festivals, there are also holiday greetings—gifts personally selected by Mrs. He, such as Hermès scarves and Tiffany necklaces, one for each person, never missing one.

"Wow, it's so tall!" Gu Yunjin's tone was filled with a bewildered amazement.

"That's not all. I heard that if you work there for five years, Daheng will directly help you find jobs for your family members."

Those whose parents are unemployed will be given jobs in property management companies, and those whose younger siblings are applying to university will receive recommendation letters. Therefore, these girls are desperate to get in; it's even harder than taking the civil service exam.

Wang Manyun paused here, a slight smile curving her lips into a smile that only she understood.

"But in the end, this is more than just a song and dance troupe. Mrs. He knows how to manage a household."

Wang Manyun's words were perfectly worded, sounding both like she was praising Zhou Tai's abilities and like she was saying something else entirely.

But whatever it means, it doesn't matter.

She simply kept nodding, perfectly portraying a naive and innocent girl who had never seen the world.

When I entered the performance hall, the lights had already been dimmed.

The performance hall is not large, only able to accommodate about fifty or sixty people, but the decoration is extremely exquisite, with dark solid wood wainscoting on the walls and a carpet so thick that it covers the pattern on the soles of shoes.

The seating wasn't the kind of theater chairs in rows, but rather sets of sofas, with a low table in front of each set of sofas, on which champagne and fruit platters were already laid out.

The front row, right in the middle, is a sofa that is noticeably larger than the others, and it's currently empty.

The ladies took their seats in twos and threes. Wang Manyun greeted Gu Yunjin and several other ladies she knew, and then chose a sofa to sit down.

The lights dimmed again, and the curtain on the stage slowly opened.

Gu Yunjin's gaze swept over the faces of the ladies in the front row—their makeup was exquisite, their jewelry sparkling, and every single one of them would occasionally glance at the empty sofa in the very center.

Mrs. He came in before the performance started.

She was probably in her early fifties, very well-maintained, with skin so white it was almost translucent. She wore a dark green velvet cheongsam, and around her neck was a string of evenly sized South Sea pearls, each one gleaming with a warm, silvery light.

She walked to the sofa in the very center of the front row and sat down. The ladies bowed and greeted her one after another, and she nodded slightly in response, her smile just right, neither too much nor too little.

The performance was wonderful. From the very first act, Gu Yunjin understood why the Daheng Dance Troupe never performed for the public.

It's not that it's not presentable, it's that it's too presentable.

Every girl on stage was so beautiful they seemed unreal, with long legs, a slim waist, and a long neck, and their movements were so synchronized it looked like they had been measured with a ruler.

The costumes were custom-made, from the blue and white porcelain cheongsam in the first program to the Dunhuang flying apsaras in the third program. The embroidery on each set was so exquisite that you could see the texture of the petals.

The lighting, stage design, and music arrangement all clearly involved a significant investment.

But what truly interested Gu Yunjin was an interlude at the end of the first half.

The lights came on, halftime break.

The ladies, holding champagne glasses, stood up and walked around in twos and threes, ostensibly to stretch their muscles, but in reality, their formation quickly changed—several ladies subtly moved towards Mrs. Zhou's direction.

Gu Yunjin remained seated, holding her juice, but her ears were perked up the whole time.

"Mrs. He, your song and dance troupe is getting more and more wonderful every year. My husband, Mr. Li, has been talking about it several times since we got back. He said that after seeing Daheng's performance at the last anniversary celebration, all the other shows just don't seem to compare."

The speaker was a lady sitting in the second row, wearing a champagne-colored suit, whose smile revealed genuine warmth in the lines around her eyes.

Mrs. He waved her hand with a smile. "Not at all, it's just part of the company culture, nothing serious."

"Mrs. He, you're too modest," another woman chimed in, her voice carrying a carefully controlled warmth.

"My husband, Lao Zhao, said that Daheng is now a role model in everything he does. By the way, Mrs. He, I heard that the next Zhaoyang Association event is scheduled for Sanhai?"

Old Zhao has been saying he wants to find an opportunity to communicate more with Daheng's team.

Mrs. He picked up her champagne glass, swirled it gently, and spoke in her usual warm tone.

"The affairs of the Zhaoyang Society are all handled by the men; I never get involved. I don't interfere in Lao He's affairs at all. I just manage this song and dance troupe for fun."

She subtly steered the conversation towards the dance troupe's performance plans for next year. The ladies, not wanting to press further, could only praise the troupe in return.

Gu Yunjin saw all of this. It wasn't that Mrs. He didn't want to get involved, but rather that she wouldn't do so in front of so many people.

The second half of the show was even more spectacular than the first. The grand finale was a solo dance, featuring only one girl on stage, dressed in a white dress, performing modern ballet.

Bathed in the spotlight, her body resembled a petal blown by the wind, each landing so light it was almost inaudible. The audience was utterly silent; even the sound of champagne glasses being raised had vanished.

When the performance ended, the ladies applauded in unison. Mrs. He stood up, turned to face everyone, smiled, and said thank you for your support.

On the way back, Wang Manyun's conversation hadn't died down.

"See that? This is what the Daheng Group looks like now."

She gave a thumbs-up, leaned back in her seat, and her expression was flickered by the streetlights flashing past the car window.

"You saw Mrs. He; she's incredibly meticulous. So many women wanted to get in touch with the Zhaoyang Society through her, but she turned them all down with a simple 'I won't interfere.'"

However, to be fair, they have the resources to back it up. Their business is so large now, how many people are just following along and getting a piece of the action?

"What is Zhaoyang Society?" Gu Yunjin asked, her tone carrying just the right amount of curiosity.

"A circle. A small investment group composed of several big names in the real estate and finance industries, including Lao He from Daheng, Zhang Mingyuan from Zhang's Real Estate, and three or four others of similar stature."

They called it a gathering of friends for tea, but it was actually a group investment scheme.

If you invest in a project and I invest in it too, we have strong negotiating power, and banks are more willing to lend money to us.

The projects they've invested in over the past few years have all yielded good returns, and outsiders are scrambling to get a piece of the pie.

At this point, Wang Manyun suddenly changed her tone, shifting from popular science to something more suggestive.

"Speaking of which, your older brother also joined the Zhaoyang Society last year."

Gu Yunjin tilted her head slightly, her expression maintaining just the right amount of surprise.

"Did your older brother go in too?"

"It's all thanks to your dad's connections. The Gu family and Daheng have business dealings, and your dad's influence in the industry still carries weight."

Wang Manyun's tone was as calm as if she were talking about the weather, but her eyes were constantly fixed on Gu Yunjin's face.

"Your older brother is now the youngest member of the Zhaoyang Society. Has he mentioned this to you?"

Gu Yunjin lowered her head, her eyelashes drooping, and the corners of her mouth pursed slightly.

The duration of that expression was precisely controlled—just enough for Wang Manyun to catch a glimpse of disappointment, and just enough for that glimpse of disappointment to be quickly withdrawn after being caught.

"No." Her voice was very soft. "My brother probably thinks I wouldn't understand these things."

Wang Manyun reached out and patted the back of her hand, the warmth of her palm passing through her skin.

"Don't take it to heart. Your older brother is a deep thinker; he keeps everything to himself. He's your older brother, so he should take care of you more, but given his position, he has many concerns."

She sighed, as if she genuinely felt sorry for Gu Yunjin.

"Your father poured so many resources into him, and he, on the other hand, didn't even tell his own sister about such a big thing as joining the Zhaoyang Society. As his stepmother, I can't say much, but—"

"Mom, you don't need to worry about me." Gu Yunjin looked up, a sweet, innocent smile already on her face.

"My brother must have his own reasons. I'm just someone who just came back from abroad and I don't know anything. I'll learn slowly in the future."

Wang Manyun looked at her, and for a second her gaze lingered on Gu Yunjin's face, as if trying to find a crack in that obedient mask.

Then she smiled, a satisfied and relaxed smile.

"It's good that you think that way. You're a sensible person."

The car continued towards the Gu family's residence. Gu Yunjin turned her gaze to the window.

The city's night view flowed past the car window, the light of the streetlights flashing across her face one after another, with brightness and shadow alternating.

She already knew about the Zhaoyang Society that Wang Manyun mentioned.

She didn't find out about it in China, but in London. She even knew that Gu Mingcheng had joined the Zhaoyang Society.

Gu Yunjin closed her eyes briefly.

She heard the meaning behind every word Wang Manyun said tonight. She just watched everyone's moves a little slower—so slowly that she knew where the piece would land before they even made their move.