Chapter 3

After I became Zou Fengsheng‘s assistant, I came to know him better.

He could be a little underhanded as a person, but he knew exactly what he was doing as a boss.

He rejected my proposals more times than I could count.

“You’re still thinking like a student. Too much of this is based on assumption, and you don’t have enough data to support the chain of reasoning.”

During that period, I often stayed up late, crying as I revised proposals. But I improved enormously too. Before my internship was even over, I closed a deal.

To thank him, I used my commission to take him out for dinner.

It wasn’t an expensive restaurant, but Zou Fengsheng accepted the invitation readily.

He listened to my polite words of gratitude, then abruptly asked, “Xu Weiyi, are you thinking of dating anyone these days?”

I was horrified.

“Mr. Zou, are you planning to fire me, or are you trying to sleep with me?”

Zou Fengsheng said seriously, “I’m trying to court you. Will you give me a chance to be your boyfriend?”

“What happens if I say no?”

After some thought, Zou Fengsheng said, “The consequence is that I’ll be very sad.”

Honestly, who could turn down a boyfriend who was gorgeous, well-built, and loaded?

A man that handsome was worth having, even if only for a while.

“But,” I said, “I need to confirm one thing. Your girlfriends aren’t numbered, are they?”

I didn’t want enough of them to fill two mahjong tables.

Zou Fengsheng handed me his phone. “I promise you’ll make it out of my phone alive.”

My internship ended shortly after Zou Fengsheng and I began dating, and I devoted myself to graduating and looking for a job.

To avoid any conflict of interest, I applied elsewhere. My internship experience landed me a position in a core department.

My manager’s standards were brutally high, and I often worked until midnight.

Zou Fengsheng was naturally busy too. There were times when weeks passed between our dates.

Even so, our relationship went smoothly until we reached the point of talking about marriage.

That was when the conflict erupted.

Zou Fengsheng‘s mother asked to meet me.

Only as she spoke did I understand just how vast the gulf between Zou Fengsheng and me truly was.

He didn’t merely own that industry-leading company.

More precisely, the Zou family regarded businesses like that as practice ventures for the younger generation. It wouldn’t matter even if one went bankrupt.

“Miss Xu, I’ve seen your resume. You are very capable.

“But individual excellence cannot bridge a gulf that wide.”

Her words were courteous, but I understood the message: I should know my place and walk away.

Clinging to a shred of hope, I asked, “What if Fengsheng and I insist?”

She set down her coffee.

“If the two of you insist on marrying, his father and I cannot truly stop you.

“But if we compromise, you will have to give up certain things as well.

“First, you will sign a prenuptial agreement. You will have no claim to anything Fengsheng owns.

“Second, you will resign and devote yourself to supporting your husband and raising your children.

“Finally, and most importantly, you will have to learn to be Mrs. Zou instead of Miss Xu.”

I asked, “What does being Mrs. Zou mean?”

She said,

“A man like Fengsheng will never lack women eager to throw themselves at him.

“If he makes a mistake, you must forgive him and stand beside him with a smile while helping manage the scandal.

“Nor will we tolerate you making a scene about divorce.

“Miss Xu, you were not raised for a life like that, nor are you driven by grand ambitions. I am certain you could never accept it.”

Zou Fengsheng‘s mother was impeccably proper.

She was also very intelligent.

She understood me.

If I had grown up in a happy family, perhaps I would have believed that true love could conquer everything.

But I had watched my parents quarrel for as long as I could remember.

I once asked Grandma why Mom and Dad had married if they hated each other so much.

Grandma held me and said sadly, “They loved each other when they got married.”

My name was Weiyi—”the one and only”—because my parents had once seen each other that way.

Yet in the end, they had still divorced.

The vows we made in the moment might be sincere. But people change.