Su Hao opened the document folder.
The first document was an agreement for the division of marital assets…
She intended to give him half of everything she owned!
The second was a change-of-directorship agreement for her entertainment company…
She intended to give him the company as well!
The third was a letter of intent to transfer her real estate and rights to the income from her investment funds…
She intended to give him all her funds and properties too!
Naturally, all the conditions for the agreements to take effect had been written at the very beginning.
Their marriage had to be legally established first.
Su Hao’s heart began to race. No man could look at such proposals and remain unmoved.
These assets were enough to drive anyone who had spent their life outside the Yu family’s gates insane with desire.
If this had happened in the past, he would have felt no gratitude toward Yu Lingyi after tricking her out of everything she owned. He would only have thought she was stupid.
But now that he had seen Qiao Tang’s true colors, he couldn’t help feeling a little softer toward Yu Lingyi.
One woman only wanted to take and was unwilling to make even the slightest sacrifice.
The other was willing to hand half of her entire fortune over to him.
And Yu Lingyi didn’t want children. At least she had been honest about it.
Qiao Tang didn’t want children either, but she had chosen to deceive him.
The contrast was far too stark—so stark that, at this moment, Su Hao almost genuinely began to think that perhaps Yu Lingyi really did love him to the point of madness.
Yu Lingyi looked at his profile and said gently, “Brother Hao, thank you for being willing to respect my wishes regarding children.”
Su Hao’s voice caught in his throat. “Lingyi…”
Yu Lingyi lowered her eyes, looking either embarrassed or as if she had finally summoned the courage to speak.
“Actually, I know I’m not someone who’s easy to love.”
“I’m too reserved and boring. Ever since we started dating, I’ve always been rejecting you…”
“I also know there are plenty of people who like you.”
“Qiao Tang is young and beautiful. She knows how to act cute, and she worships you. She’s nothing like me. I’m very old-fashioned.”
Su Hao’s heart gave a jolt.
She knew? What was she hinting at?
But Yu Lingyi didn’t continue pressing him. She merely reached out and gently covered the back of his hand.
“But I don’t care.”
“All I care about is that, in the end, you chose me.”
“Because I truly admire you. The first time I watched one of your films, I fell in love with your talent.”
Su Hao’s heart softened, and a tingling sensation spread through him.
He had never expected Yu Lingyi to admire his talent so sincerely.
Suddenly, Su Hao remembered the first time he had picked up a camera many years ago.
Back then, he had had no capital, no connections, and no family background to pave the way for him.
He had once truly believed that he would speak through the camera, that people would see him through his work…
But the market had continued to undervalue him.
His first film had received only a 2.1 rating on the well-known review site Douban Sauce.
He knew that Qiao Tang loved his power—that she was with him because he could put her in front of the cameras and make her famous.
But Yu Lingyi…
She was actually willing to hand over all her assets, while telling him that she admired his talent.
It was impossible for Su Hao not to be moved.
He took Yu Lingyi’s hand, his voice dropping low. “Lingyi, I won’t let you down again.”
Yu Lingyi gazed at him with warm, worshipful eyes. “I believe you.”
Su Hao’s heart tightened.
All at once, he felt that he had wronged her.
His guilt was far from pure, but it was enough to make him feel an unprecedented attachment to Yu Lingyi at that moment.
A nurse walked over from the other end of the corridor.
“Patient Su Hao, you can get ready now.”
Yu Lingyi comforted him. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll wait for you outside.”
Su Hao nodded.
As he was wheeled toward the operating area, he turned back to look at Yu Lingyi one more time.
She stood where she was, her eyes slightly reddened, looking like a woman deeply in love with her fiancé who had no choice but to personally send him into the operating room.
The instant the doors closed, all the tenderness vanished from her face.
When Yu Lingyi turned around, she saw a masked doctor walking toward her.
The doctor stood around six foot three. His figure was lean, tall, and straight. The white coat looked perfectly fitted on him, not bulky in the slightest, instead emphasizing an austere, sharp-edged cleanliness.
His brows and eyes, visible above the mask, were strikingly deep-set. The corners of his phoenix-shaped eyes lifted slightly, and his pupils were as dark as ink. His gaze was cold and sharp as a blade.
As he passed Yu Lingyi, he paused for half a second.
Their eyes met briefly.
Yu Lingyi’s eyes slowly reddened, and she spoke in a small, aggrieved voice. “Please.”
The doctor said coldly, “Useless.”
After insulting Yu Lingyi, he withdrew his gaze, pushed open the operating-room door, and walked inside.
The door closed.
Yu Lingyi shut her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them again, she had already returned to being the poised and gentle Fourth Miss Yu.
She took out her phone and called her assistant.
“The training program can be arranged.”
-
Inside the operating room.
Su Hao lay on the operating table, his heart still pounding.
Although Yu Lingyi had indeed offered him more than enough, he still wanted children.
The doctor in the white coat entered and glanced down at the medical records.
Su Hao couldn’t see the man’s entire face, but after years in the entertainment industry, he could immediately tell that the man had an exceptional build and presence.
For some reason, he felt uneasy.
Although… although he felt that he had already fallen in love with Yu Lingyi, he still desperately wanted to continue his family line.
When the nurse turned around to prepare the instruments, Su Hao suddenly reached into his pocket. With lightning speed, he pulled out a red envelope and tried to slip it beside the doctor’s hand.
In a low voice, he said, “Doctor, thank you for your hard work. Just go through the motions during the operation. You don’t need to be too thorough. I’d like the option of having it reversed later.”
The air fell silent for two seconds.
The doctor didn’t take the envelope. He raised his eyes to look at Su Hao and said coldly, “As a doctor, I have professional ethics.”
Su Hao’s expression changed.
The doctor pushed the envelope back. “You’ve already signed the informed-consent form. I will perform the operation according to medical standards.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the instrument table without sparing Su Hao another glance.
Lying there, Su Hao thought about all of Fourth Miss Yu’s wealth and decided he had no choice but to go all the way through with it!
In any case, once today was over, he would be Yu Lingyi’s husband.
Yu Lingyi would make it up to him.
She would hand over to him everything those other women could never give him.
-
Elsewhere in the same hospital.
Yu Xiaxing sat on a bench, looking down at the faint red mark on the back of her hand.
That morning, she had gone out for breakfast. The porridge she bought was too hot, and she had accidentally spilled some on her hand.
It wasn’t serious—just a little red.
But at Lu Yanzhao’s suggestion, she had still come to the hospital for an examination.
Holding a cotton swab and burn ointment, Lu Yanzhao crouched in front of her. “Director Yu, please extend your hand.”
Yu Xiaxing held back for a moment, but eventually couldn’t resist saying, “Aren’t you making a mountain out of a molehill?”
Lu Yanzhao replied, “It’s still better to treat it. Some burns don’t seem serious at first, but you may discover later that the damage is much worse.”
He took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and placed it beneath her wrist.
Even while applying the medicine, he avoided direct contact with her. The tips of his fingers merely supported the edge of her wrist bone, with the handkerchief serving as a barrier.
To him, the star he looked up to was utterly beyond reach. He would never allow himself to lose his sense of propriety.
He lowered his head, dipped the cotton swab into the ointment, and gently brushed it over the red mark.
“It’ll sting a little.”
Yu Xiaxing hissed.
Lu Yanzhao immediately stopped. “It really hurts?”
Yu Xiaxing looked at him and answered sincerely, “No. But since you asked, if I didn’t hiss, it would make you seem completely unnecessary.”
Lu Yanzhao: “…”
He lowered his eyes and continued applying the medicine to her.
It wasn’t long before Yu Xiaxing pulled her hand back. “That’s enough.”
Lu Yanzhao gently held her wrist in place through the handkerchief. “Almost done.”
Just then, a burst of footsteps came from the far end of the corridor.
Yu Zheng strode over.
As he approached, the first thing he saw was Yu Xiaxing sitting on the bench. Then he noticed Lu Yanzhao half-crouched in front of her, applying medicine to her hand.
Yu Zheng’s expression darkened instantly. “Let go.”
