Even sitting in the private lounge of the business jet, Lin Zhishui’s face remained calm and filled with a quiet pity, showing no subtle changes in expression.
She was like this when leaving, and the same on the way to the outskirts of Sicheng City.
Ning Shangyu pushed open the door after finishing the pile of official documents accumulated overnight.
The first thing that caught his eye was her figure—dressed in a soft green satin long dress, its hem falling just past the knees, perfectly concealing her slender ankles.
The sky outside the cabin had not cleared up, leaving the atmosphere chilly.
His footsteps approached slowly and then stopped beside her, the cold fir-like aura drifting over first.
Lin Zhishui’s eyelashes twitched lightly.
Through the window glass, she clearly saw Ning Shangyu’s tall figure.
She had decided not to acknowledge him the entire way until, by chance, her eyes caught the few words “Lin Corporation research background check list” displayed on the screen in front of him.
She froze for a second, then instinctively leaned forward for a closer look, only to remember she was still upset and furrowed her brows with some hesitation.
Ning Shangyu’s long fingers casually handed over the silver-white tablet.
Then he smiled mysteriously: “It seems, Miss Lin, our benefactors tend to be forgetful.”
Her heart, long dominated by his assertiveness, almost forgot about it. T
he little flame of anger inside her instantly dissipated.
Ning Shangyu added, “No longer interested?”
Seeing him hand it over and then as if about to take it back, Lin Zhishui quickly grasped Ning Shangyu’s wrist bone tightly, like a cat’s sharp teeth holding onto a fish—no chance of escape.
“Even if I forget, I’m no match for President Ning’s skills.”
She tried to sound a little tough, but before the words fell, her body honestly clung on tightly.
Lin Zhishui generously shared a small corner of the wide soft cushion behind her waist with Ning Shangyu, then boldly used his broad shoulder as a pillow for her head.
Her fingers then swiped open the screen, smooth as a mirror.
This background check list was even more detailed than the Lin Corporation’s knowledge of its own research staff over the past decade.
It was clearly created by the Ning family.
It also showed that Ning Shangyu’s true nature in business was to master control, strong and unforgiving of mistakes. Every massive project he handled never ended in loss.
The Qin family’s small tricks to poach two of Lin Corporation’s research members at inflated prices were naturally no secret to him.
Everything had already been thoroughly background-checked.
Lin Zhishui spent over twenty minutes going through the information, then suddenly asked, “I guess you also have a Qin family one on hand. Can I have a look?”
Ning Shangyu’s teasing look faded slightly, but the tone of mockery remained: “Have a look?”
Lin Zhishui was using the background check to gauge who could not be entrusted with important responsibilities, to avoid being stolen by Qin Yian—the sly fox.
Her mind worked a little faster, and she found Ning Shangyu’s attitude extremely intriguing.
A man like him, driven solely by profit and ambition, always seated steadily behind the scenes controlling the whole game of fame and power.
Once the balance of power tipped in his favor, the rival was destined to be eliminated.
Coincidentally, Lin Zhishui knew from his decision to allow the two families to compete fairly—from the newly established alliance to the cutting-edge pharmaceutical technologies—the Lin family held the advantage…
Since the balance of power had already shifted.
Why not press the advantage and add a little more weight?
Her porcelain-white face rubbed against the smooth fabric of his suit jacket, unable to tell which was smoother.
Then, like a little questioning machine, she kept asking: “You’ll choose my family, right?”
Ning Shangyu, who subjectively never showed favoritism, said clearly, “May the capable win.”
“Oh…”
Lin Zhishui’s voice softened and lengthened like a spoiled child.
The next second, she jumped away from the cold topic and gently rested her chin against his suit shoulder: “How about I perform a little cat kneading for you tonight?”
Ning Shangyu lowered his head, warm breath suddenly fanning over her like the heat of that rainy night.
“Where’s the little cat?”
“No?”
Lin Zhishui blinked, not dodging, mischievously extended a slender, soft finger and poked him: “Looks like this big bastard has forgotten.”
She relied on the fact that the “big bastard” wouldn’t act recklessly on this business jet—after all, just one door away outside were several highly alert elite secretaries.
Any change in the air’s scent or the slightest ambiguous crease on Ning Shangyu’s meticulously tailored suit would immediately be noticeable.
So after poking, Lin Zhishui prepared to sit properly.
Unexpectedly, it was Ning Shangyu’s turn to remain expressionless as he caught her wrist.
His gaze was indifferent, but the pressure was heavy, leaving red marks on her fair skin in an instant.
Lin Zhishui’s eyes flickered slightly, her heartbeat quickened.
She whispered, “It was my finger misbehaving. Can I sincerely apologize with my mouth?”
Ning Shangyu’s tone slowed, “Oh? And how does Miss Lin plan to apologize with her mouth?”
“Of course, by talking it out…”
But when her gaze met his quiet amber eyes, she was so stunned that dizziness washed over her. She held her breath lightly.
One second, two seconds passed.
The room was silent.
Lin Zhishui’s eyelashes trembled slightly with tension, then, without hesitation, she suddenly called out to the outside, “Xi Yan, President Ning is calling you!”
Almost immediately, Xi Yan’s deliberately steady footsteps echoed.
Ning Shangyu smiled slightly, his long fingers releasing her wrist.
The outside world said that Ning Shangyu’s appearance could capture one’s soul, but his smile was even more striking—beautiful in an uncanny way, an irresistible aggression that pierced straight into the fragile heart and lingered for a long time.
After arriving in Sicheng.
Lin Zhishui suddenly changed her mind and didn’t go back with him to the Metasequoia residence, knowing that if she did, the night would almost certainly involve a “clear division of rewards and punishments.”
Taking advantage of Ning Shangyu’s busy schedule, she had Xi Yan send a driver to take her back to the hydrangea garden villa.
In the following days, Lin Zhishui stayed at home without wandering around.
The sapphire anklet on her ankle was worn continuously—through sleeping, bathing, and eating, never removed.
The villa was quiet, and occasionally, the soft, pleasant sounds she made running down the stairs could be heard.
The next morning, before going to sleep, Lin Zhishui asked the housekeeper to prepare a morning business and political newspaper from the Hong Kong district.
Upon waking, she wrapped herself in a white silk ankle-length robe and sat at the dining table, leisurely enjoying breakfast while reading the front page.
Ms. Sheng Mingying, holding great power managing the Lin Corporation, had always been notorious for her ruthless methods.
The research members who could be swayed by Qin family interests naturally had to be dealt with quietly.
Lin Zhishui privately sent her the background check list to avoid further incidents with the Ning family’s cooperation.
Two days later, Sheng Mingying found time to send a big gift to Qin Yian, directly pushing him out of the negotiation table.
A media outlet in the Hong Kong district, covertly instructed, reported that the Qin family had fabricated medical technology data over ten years ago.
Although the case was too old to verify, the partial evidence exposed dragged Qin Yian into a whirlpool of negative public opinion.
Lin Zhishui lowered her lashes, concealing the emotional ripples in her clear eyes.
Her fingers folded the paper a few times, then slowly tore it open from the middle.
The gray-white fragments silently slipped through her fingers like butterfly wings broken and fragile, scattering across the classical patterned wooden table.
Ning Shangyu finished an extremely busy work schedule, and his last task was a serious reminder from Li Jin to return to the old family residence.
If it wasn’t for the once-every-March family gathering or the patriarch’s special summons, Ning Shangyu rarely found time to come back.
This time was clearly the latter.
At dusk, as the sunset faded, the rouge-colored afterglow mixed with the flickering lantern light, tilting onto Ning Shangyu’s suit trouser legs as he stepped steadily into the house.
His appearance nearly silenced the usually lively main family branches and their members.
Though their smiles were friendly, no one dared to crowd around him.
Everyone knew that apart from showing deference to the patriarch, who had retired but still held power behind the scenes, Ning Shangyu’s nature carried an inherent arrogant sharpness.
He had a difficult-to-approach air toward everyone.
Ning Shangyu didn’t even glance at the varying reactions of those present and walked straight up to the tea room on the second floor.
Li Jin and others stopped at the corridor.
Inside, Ning Shangyu saw the patriarch with graying temples sitting by the chessboard, playing against Ning Shuyu, who was oddly dressed in a dark blue robe.
The atmosphere fell silent for half a second.
“Your elder brother has arrived. Let him come,” Ning Hui Zhao said, pointing to a neatly prepared redwood chair.
Then he spoke kindly to Ning Shuyu, who now had dazzling new golden short hair.
He was always gentle when teaching the younger generations privately, patiently coaching Ning Shuyu at chess.
He also knew Ning Shangyu had severe cleanliness obsessions.
Ning Shangyu, expression unchanged, walked over.
Ning Shuyu glanced at him quickly with a guilty look, then hurried away, acting like a scolded dog—clearly he had just lost a yacht or luxury car in a drunken gambling session or spent all his living expenses.
Ning Hui Zhao didn’t mind the young grandson’s departure.
Instead, he turned to Ning Shangyu, who was already seated, eyes lowered studying the black-and-white chessboard.
As if chatting familiarly, he asked, “Shangyu, I heard you’ve pushed the Qin family out?”
The choice of the word “pushed” was extremely subtle.
Ning Shangyu placed a chess piece and said lightly, “Is the old man trying to defend Qin Yian?”
Ning Hui Zhao slowly turned the Hong Ma Nao Ring on his hand and said, “The Qin family has depended on the Ning family for many years, always loyal and without ill intent. When you took power and considered replacing them in the pharmaceutical industry, that move easily put all the families relying on us on edge.”
Ning Shangyu’s lips curled into a mocking smile, so faint it was almost invisible: “He only has no ill intent toward the old man.”
Ning Hui Zhao’s fingertip paused for a moment.
No one else knew, but the two of them clearly understood why Qin Yian could poach competitors’ research personnel to cheat his way into the market and had been favored by Ning Hui Zhao all these years.
It was because of one crucial reason:
The incomplete data for the addiction suppressant he once submitted.
It indirectly helped Ning Corporation quickly solve a serious illness of the family head’s trusted aide.
Though Ning Hui Zhao couldn’t use it on his eldest son Ning Chenqi, Ning Shangyu had been using the drug for years.
Recalling this, he pondered for a moment, then finally brought up the real purpose of summoning him back:
“I originally gave you the power and told you to take in Qin Yian’s daughter because the original suppressant data came from their family. Your marriage alliance with the Qin family was meant to be a good story.”
Who would have guessed.
Ning Shangyu remained expressionless and arrogantly refused to accept Qin Wanyin, not even giving a reason, despite inheriting all the family’s defeated factions.
Ning Hui Zhao was shrewd and worried that the suppressant couldn’t be improved, and though Ning Shangyu had great abilities, if he weren’t in power, it would be fine.
But now that he was, having used the drug for many years, it would inevitably lose efficacy eventually.
To ease this hidden danger, choosing a marriage partner was a good plan.
Ning Shangyu finally made his choice.
It was the Lin family’s youngest daughter, who had been quietly nurtured for years in the Hong Kong district.
Ning Hui Zhao continued slowly turning the ring, picking up the previous thread:
“Since you set your fiancée and brought Lin family’s youngest daughter to live in Sicheng, your use of the suppressant has actually increased. Shangyu, your grandfather never forces you to do anything, but don’t make me worry too much.”
The Ning family had many descendants. Ning Hui Zhao didn’t need to coerce anyone. If one wanted to rise and join the core circle, they had to voluntarily contribute to the family.
Only then could one stand atop the power chain like a lion and boast their strength.
After the patriarch’s sigh, Ning Shangyu made the last move, then raised his face.
His clear amber eyes reflected the light without fear of being read.
His calm voice said, “I know what I’m doing.”
The game ended, and he left.
Ning Hui Zhao remained seated, staring at the black pieces.
Until the old butler carrying a cup of strong tea walked around the screen, past the lush butterfly orchids, cyclamens, and kalanchoes on the round table, stopping beside him.
Handing over the porcelain cup, he asked, “Has the old man settled things with Young Master Shang?”
Ning Hui Zhao looked at him, “With Shangyu’s temperament, he’s likely to follow in his father’s footsteps.”
The butler shuddered, “No way…”
Having served the family for many years, he could understand the implication in a single sentence.
When Ning Chenqi inherited his maternal grandfather’s genes and suffered from addiction, there was no suppressant then.
Luckily, he and his wife Bai Yinke were childhood sweethearts from compatible families. Their marriage was arranged early by elders.
But Bai Yinke devoted her life to music, almost to the point of obsession.
Ning Chenqi often pitied her health and avoided suggesting frequent intimacy.
He also refused to keep understanding mistresses to relieve himself. So he often traveled abroad, accompanying her on grand musical stages, driven more by love than lust.
Until the plane returning to Sicheng for Ning Shangyu’s birthday suddenly crashed into a glacier.
Just barely…
Ning Hui Zhao always regretted it deeply—if only the suppressant had been developed sooner.
The atmosphere froze for a long moment.
The butler, still holding the tea, came back to his senses and reminded him, “Old man, the tea’s getting cold.”
Ning Hui Zhao took the cup, sipped the hot tea, warmth spreading through his throat and lungs, briefly warming his old body.
Then he added, “Qin Yian’s daughter is quite scheming. She guessed the Lin family’s youngest daughter could marry into the Ning family but doesn’t expect her to run the household. She naturally hopes to occasionally substitute as the suppressant. If the alliance with the Qin family doesn’t bear fruit, she plans to study a new type of drug…”
Qin Wanyin dared not overstep and, before acting, had formally sought Ning Hui Zhao’s permission.
The butler thought to himself, “Who can get along with whom is the hardest thing to judge… In my opinion, the more calculating Miss Qin is, the less Young Master Shang will like her.”
Who wouldn’t want their closest partner to be sincere and straightforward rather than always wearing a gentle mask hiding twists and turns?
But seeing Ning Hui Zhao silently sipping tea without responding, the butler mused:
If Miss Qin really had the ability to follow in his father’s footsteps and painstakingly develop a new drug, then if the Ning family accepted her, the treatment would be very different from the incomplete data given years ago.
That night, Ning Shangyu returned to Lin Zhishui’s residence.
Passing through the hydrangea garden, the scent clinging to his luxurious high-quality suit was faintly fragrant.
He didn’t have the butler turn on the lights, slipping quietly upstairs in the darkness.
Lin Zhishui had already fallen asleep according to her routine.
But half asleep, she heard the anklet making soft, pleasant little sounds that disturbed her rest.
She rubbed her face against the pillow, then opened her eyes just enough to see the man beside the bed.
It was Ning Shangyu.
His suit was tightly wrapped around him, impenetrable and flawless, moving slowly as he gently placed her kicked-off foot back under the covers.
Unexpectedly, Lin Zhishui woke and stared at him for a moment, then boldly said, “Do you like it? It’s for you.”
Ning Shangyu’s expression softened as he asked quietly, “Sleeping confused?”
Lin Zhishui shook her head.
The news she read during the day about the Qin family sinking into negative public opinion and losing the ability to compete with the Lin family had put her in a good mood.
The one holding life-and-death power over the two families clearly had some part in it.
She was pleased.
As a gentle and understanding fiancée, she naturally wanted to make Ning Shangyu happy.
Lin Zhishui was very fair and just in her dealings.
Her hand slid like a cat’s tail from her palm over his slender wrist bone, then through the sleeve, she slowly traced the dangerous black line of his tattoo, inch by inch, until it rested on his chest at the heart position.
Ning Shangyu’s heartbeat was vigorous and fast, so fast…