Song Xinya’s work as general manager was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Because Qin Yuhe had previously hired Yuan Jingcheng, Yuan had dismissed all of Zhao Yinian’s trusted associates. Those who remained were diligent, capable employees, making Song Xinya’s management work go twice as smoothly.
At the same time, she actively participated in events held by the International Education and Training Association, steadily becoming part of the organization regarded as the highest authority in the education and training industry.
That day, she was invited to attend a banquet hosted by the association.
Zijin Huafu, walk-in closet.
Song Xinya stood before the mirror in a classic little black dress inspired by Audrey Hepburn. Its elegant off-the-shoulder design was utterly captivating, while the black velvet fabric accentuated her graceful curves. Her sleek, long hair was pinned up high, revealing the delicate, slender lines of her shoulders and neck. She looked like a noble, elegant black swan.
As she was getting ready to leave for the banquet, she called Qin Yuhe.
“Darling, I’ll be back after the banquet. It’ll be quite late.”
“I’ll be home late too,” Qin Yuhe replied.
Curious, Song Xinya asked, “Why will you be home late today?”
“Because I’m going to attend the banquet with you.”
“Huh?” Song Xinya exclaimed. “Aren’t you going to Hebei, the neighboring city, for an entrepreneurs’ forum today? Isn’t the conference supposed to last three days?”
“I’ll attend the meetings during the day, then drive back to Beijing from Hebei at night.”
Staying intensely focused through an entire day of meetings was exhausting enough. Driving all that way afterward would certainly be less comfortable than lying in a hotel bed.
“Darling, you really don’t have to come back,” Song Xinya said.
“I do. Everyone else will have a family member on their arm at the banquet. I can’t let you go alone.”
Song Xinya smiled. She knew he was only thinking of her, but she couldn’t help worrying about him rushing back and forth.
“Honestly, I can handle it on my own.”
“Life isn’t meant to be merely endured. I want every day of yours to be wonderful.”
Song Xinya’s eyes curved like crescent moons. “All right, then. Drive slowly and don’t rush. I’ll wait for you at home.”
“Don’t wait.”
“Why not?”
The door to the dressing room suddenly swung open.
Qin Yuhe stood in the doorway, tall and handsome in a sharply tailored black overcoat, the hem dusted with winter frost.
He held his phone to his ear as he gazed at her and said, “Because I’m already home.”
His deep, magnetic voice reached Song Xinya’s ears both through the air and through the phone, sending an electric, tingling sensation straight through her heart.
Qin Yuhe put away his phone and opened his arms. “Come here. Let me hold you.”
Song Xinya gave him a haughty smile. “I’ve already changed into my evening gown. You’ll wrinkle it.”
“Come here. Don’t make me beg.”
Her shoulders shook with laughter as she hurried toward him and threw herself into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist.
Qin Yuhe circled both arms around her lower back and tilted his head, pressing his cheek against her ear.
“Hugging me that tightly—aren’t you worried about wrinkling your dress?”
“If it wrinkles, it wrinkles,” Song Xinya replied. “Nothing is more important than hugging you.”
Qin Yuhe was amused into laughter by her.
After they had held each other for a while, Qin Yuhe went to change into the suit he would wear to the dinner.
Once he was dressed, Song Xinya slipped her arm through his and headed outside with him.
“Wait,” Qin Yuhe said.
“Wait for what?”
Qin Yuhe pulled a square gift box from his suit pocket. Inside was a necklace of large South Sea white pearls, each one dazzlingly lustrous and warm in its radiance.
With his long, slender fingers, he lifted the pearl necklace and fastened it around her neck.
The pearls’ pristine white formed a striking contrast against the black velvet of her gown, complementing one another beautifully. Together, they gave her an air of serene grandeur—as if she sat high above the clouds, calmly observing the shifting tides of the world.
It suited her perfectly.
“How did you know I’d be wearing a black evening gown today?” Song Xinya asked.
“Even if you weren’t, you could still wear this necklace, because you…”
He took both her hands in his, warming her cold fingers with his own body heat. His deep, captivating eyes gazed at her as he said:
“No matter what you wear or what you put on, you look incomparable.”
………
At the dinner venue, the association president kept glancing toward the entrance.
This was the first dinner he had hosted since being elected association president.
Everyone else thought he was the guest of honor, but he knew better. The real star of the evening was Song Xinya.
He was merely a brick, while Song Xinya was jade.
His presence was meant to cast light on her brilliance.
The dinner had been arranged at Qin Yuhe’s request. Every prominent figure in the educational and training industry had been invited. The purpose was to announce to the world that Song Xinya had officially been admitted as a member of the International Educational and Training Association.
This was the first step in Qin Yuhe’s carefully devised plan: announcing Song Xinya’s membership in the association.
The next step would come six months later, when they would announce her election as association president.
Everything was proceeding under Qin Yuhe’s control, advancing with precision and leaving no gaps.
The association president had kept craning his neck toward the entrance for so long that he had practically turned into a giraffe. After an hour, he was on the verge of developing cervical spondylosis.
Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from behind him.
“Hello, President.”
The association president turned around and saw two unfamiliar women, one young and one older.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Zhang Yingying,” the younger woman replied.
“My name is Li Cuirou,” said the older woman.
The association president still could not remember who they were.
“I’m the general manager of Rouying Education Technology Co., Ltd.,” Li Cuirou explained.
“I’m the deputy manager,” Zhang Yingying added.
“Rouying Education Technology? Is there such a company?”
“It’s the same company as Yating Education Technology Co., Ltd.,” Li Cuirou said.
The association president remembered them then.
“I know who you are now.”
Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying’s lips curved upward in a smile.
The association president continued, “That company used to be the most capable enterprise in the educational and training industry. After the two of you took over, it went downhill and became a second-rate outfit. Just how incompetent do you have to be to run a perfectly good company into the ground?”
The smiles fell from Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying’s faces.
Seeing that the two women were still blocking the entrance and obstructing his view of Song Xinya, the evening’s main attraction, the association president asked, “Is there something you want to discuss with me?”
Li Cuirou and Zhang Yingying, worried that their words alone wouldn’t be enough, pulled Song Xuanli over.
Song Xuanli put on an affected, authoritative air. “Here’s the situation. After Mr. Yuan resigned, a spot opened up in the association. Why not let my daughter, Zhang Yingying, become a member?”
The association president stared at him. “Am I your father?”
Song Xuanli froze and looked at the association president, who was even older than he was. “Of course not.”
“Then am I your son?”
“Of course not either. You’re only a few years older than me.”
“Then why should I help you? Because you have one nose and one mouth? Because your face is as big as a basin? Or because your skin is thick enough to be shameless?”
Song Xuanli’s face turned the color of pig liver. “If you don’t want to help, President, then don’t. Why do you have to put it so harshly?”
It was because the association president had looked into Song Xinya’s family situation and knew that the man in front of him was her irresponsible old scumbag dad.
When you accept someone’s money, you have to solve their problems.
Since he had accepted President Qin’s favor, he naturally had to speak up for President Qin’s wife, Song Xinya, and stand on her side.
After being rejected, Song Xuanli, Li Cuirou, and Zhang Yingying walked over to a corner.
Zhang Yingying said, “What’s that old chairman so pleased with himself about? He sure knows how to be nasty. He sounds like he’s been eating shit.”
Li Cuirou said, “Judging by how firmly he refused us, he probably already has someone in mind for the association membership.”
Song Xuanli said, “If even my daughter, Zhang Yingying, isn’t qualified to become an association member, then who is?”
