Chapter 2
The cute-kitty sticker spun round and round before my eyes.
I sent a random greeting sticker and fled the chat.
Then, with trembling hands, I opened my private conversation with Fu Yan and tried to sound casual. “Babe, your loyal little lackey looks kind of familiar.”
Fu Yan replied instantly. “He’s a little excitable. Did he scare you?”
“His name is Cheng Qian. He’s the president of Tiansheng Technology. Your family has business interests everywhere, so maybe you’ve seen him before.”
My mind was a tangled mess.
While replying to Fu Yan, I began searching the other group members online one by one.
And just like that, my last shred of hope died.
Sheng Jingze, youngest son of real-estate magnate Sheng Guoqiang, currently studying in the United States.
Song Cheng, second son of the founder of Nanyang Construction—a genuine, certified trust-fund heir…
My brain had stopped functioning on its own.
My fingers typed Fu Yan’s name into the search bar without conscious thought.
The results appeared almost immediately.
Fu Yan, eldest grandson of the founder of Dingyan Group, its youngest board director, driving the company’s innovative transformation, with a net worth exceeding…
I counted the zeroes.
Then I sucked in a breath and nearly passed out.
Back in the group, “Fu Yan’s Loyal Little Lackey” was still clamoring away.
“Sis, Sis, how exactly did you two meet?”
“I’m so curious. Come on, tell us!”
Fu Yan: “We met online. How else do you think we met? On the internet.”
Fu Yan’s Loyal Little Lackey: “Could you perhaps be a little more specific…”
Online dating is dangerous!
For the first time, I truly understood how important that warning was.
I had met Fu Yan because of a help post that came up in my feed.
“Question: Why does one grilled sausage cost three yuan, but two cost five?”
The poster struck me as funny, so I casually commented, “I bet you don’t even know the first thing you’re supposed to do after buying the 9.9-yuan membership.”
He replied almost at once. “Right, right! I got that one wrong too!”
He called me smart and said I was amazing.
In twenty-four perfectly ordinary years of life, no one had ever praised me so directly.
My interest was immediately piqued, and I started discussing the matter with this stranger.
As we kept talking, we eventually added each other on WeChat.
We weren’t particularly close at first. Then he discovered I played a wildly popular mobile game.
He asked me, “Is it fun?”
I answered enthusiastically, “Yeah! Want to play? I can carry you. I’m really good.”
“Sure. I’ll set up an account… I know the game pretty well, but I’ve never actually played. I might be bad at it, so don’t get mad.”
…
After three months of gaming together, I realized that although his skills were average, he had manners, never cursed at people, had a lovely voice, remained emotionally steady—and wasn’t an idiot!
My opinion of him soared, so I began making the first moves…
Once Fu Yan and I officially became a couple, our conversations gradually grew more relaxed.
I had to admit, this man was exactly my type!
Except that sometimes he said the most absurd things.
When his mother called him home for dinner, he said, “I’m heading back to the family estate to dine with the old matriarch.”
He had a friend who was a civil servant, so he said, “A close friend works in government. It’s rather inconvenient for him to socialize.”
When he rejected the blind date arranged by his family, he said, “I’m not interested in an alliance between clans.”
I learned from him.
And I quickly learned to improvise.
When my friends came over for cards and needed a fourth player, I said, “It’s a gathering of old-money heirs. Nobody makes a move until I arrive.”
When I went to a concert for a celebrity I liked, I said, “I’m visiting a child I’ve sponsored for years.”
When I ordered a discounted group meal, I said, “I’m investing in an online food-service venture with several partners. The risk is considerable.”
Fu Yan thought that made perfect sense.
“It seems our lifestyles are remarkably similar.”
I sent a “cheers” sticker.
“We’re truly made for each other.”
…
I always assumed Fu Yan and I were simply two weirdos committed to the same bit.
I never doubted it.
Until today, when my entire worldview collapsed.
Wait. Was I the only one joking this whole time? How did all of you turn out to be genuinely powerful?!