The venue bustled with activity while a fine rain fell outside.
Every so often, an elegantly dressed woman would stroll into the venue on the arm of the man beside her.
At noon, a tall, slender young man arrived carrying an umbrella, with two or three assistants following behind him.
He was elegant and long-limbed, dressed in a well-fitted beige casual suit. His black shirt made his long, fair neck stand out all the more. He carried himself with a calm, restrained air, and gold wire-rimmed glasses rested on his straight nose.
A gleaming black-and-gold ring on his hand spoke of exceptional wealth and status. Everything about him exuded an innate nobility.
A member of the reception staff bowed respectfully and gestured inside. "Hello, Mr. Lin. Please come this way."
"All right, thank you." Lin Jingchen inclined his head slightly.
Hearing that form of address, everyone turned to look.
Several middle-aged men approached Lin Jingchen, their faces full of ingratiating smiles.
"Hahaha-Mr. Lin, it's been a while! I hear you're determined to win this bid too!" said a middle-aged man with a beer belly and a large gold tooth, smiling broadly.
"That's right. I hear even the Gu Group can't compete with you, Mr. Lin," another middle-aged man chimed in.
"Not at all. The results won't be announced until later. It's far too early to say that." Lin Jingchen maintained a perfectly measured smile.
"It's practically a done deal. I heard there was a problem with the Gu Group's bid proposal last time. They've been run off their feet lately. How could they possibly secure that plot?" None of the three believed him.
They were positively delighted. The Gu Group was finally going to be brought down. What went around really did come around, and they had actually thought they could compete with the Lin Group for that land.
They had even boasted that the land would definitely be theirs. Now they were getting what they deserved.
They had kept bragging about how talented their son was and how thorough his proposal had been. Yet someone had still found a loophole this time.
And the losses were no small sum. They would be in the red for years. What a wastrel.
The more the three men thought about it, the happier they became, each harboring his own ulterior motives.
They had all been burned by the Gu Group before. Everything had been agreed upon, only for the Gu Group to suddenly go back on its word, costing them a better opportunity.
A few years ago, the Lin Group's shares had been performing poorly. At the time, they had business dealings with the head of the Lin Group.
They had originally intended to invest in the Lin Group, but the Gu Group had lured them over with exceptionally favorable terms.
As it happened, the Gu Group had been thriving then, with the Xiao Family backing it as well.
At the time, it had the strongest foothold in G City.
Just when everyone thought the Lin Group was finished, its leadership changed.
And the new head was Lin Jingchen, who had no experience whatsoever.
Everyone had thought the Lin Group was simply giving up, but the outcome proved them all thoroughly wrong.
Not only had he turned things around in just a few months, he had also sent the company's shares soaring.
Moreover, he had never lost a single bid he entered. He was nothing short of a business prodigy.
Looking at the three men, Lin Jingchen knew exactly what they were after.
They merely wanted a piece of the action now that the Lin Group was flourishing.
But Lin Jingchen was no fool. He still remembered hearing, while studying far away in Country S, that those uncles who were close to his grandfather had all invested their money in the Gu Group.
They might have forgotten, but Lin Jingchen had not.
All three of their companies had gotten off the ground entirely thanks to the Lin Group's help.
That had happened during the Lin Group's most difficult year. It would have been one thing if the three had simply refused to help, but they had secretly kicked the company while it was down.
As a result, his grandfather had fallen ill and never recovered, eventually dying with an exhausted heart.
Lin Jingchen had never forgotten that grudge. It simply was not time to settle it yet.
He would wait a little longer, until they willingly handed the evidence to him themselves.
With a smile that never reached his eyes, Lin Jingchen walked straight to the front row and sat in the chair bearing his name.
Seeing his expression, the three men began to feel uncertain. They suspected he would not agree to their proposal, but they were unwilling to give up so quickly.
They wanted to speak to Lin Jingchen again later.
Their seats were toward the back, many rows away from Lin Jingchen.
The bidding venue had plenty of rules. Even the seating was divided into a strict hierarchy.
Even companies and families that were not participating in the bidding generally attended if they received an invitation.
The very front row was reserved for members of the four great families. If the heads of those families were unavailable, they would send younger family members to observe.
The younger generation would fight tooth and nail for that opportunity.
Life in a wealthy family was nowhere near as easy as ordinary people imagined. The waters ran deep.
The waters of the four great families were deeper still, each more treacherous than the last. Once someone became entangled, there was no escaping unscathed.
Lin Jingchen sat slightly turned to one side, his left hand resting casually on the chair back and his posture upright. Although his pose was not entirely formal, it was clear that he had received rigorous etiquette training.
After a while, someone sat down beside him.
"Mr. Lin, it's been a while." A sweet, gentle female voice rang out.
A tall, strikingly beautiful young woman had taken the seat beside Lin Jingchen, with a knitted cardigan draped over her knees.
Today, she wore a skirt ensemble she had put together herself: a white short-sleeved V-neck blouse paired with a black suit skirt. The look was polished, simple, and tasteful. Her long hair was pinned meticulously behind her head, completing the image of a capable professional woman.
"Yes, it has, Ms. Xiao." Lin Jingchen nodded slightly.
"Are you confident you'll win this bid, Mr. Lin?" Xiao Li asked in a neutral tone.
"The results aren't out yet. How could I know whether I'll win?" Lin Jingchen replied.
After that, both fell silent.
The woman idly adjusted her hair. "The Gu Family has been terribly busy these past few days. I wonder what's going on?" She spoke as though it were a trivial matter.
It sounded like a question, but she already knew the answer.
Lin Jingchen chuckled softly, his eyes cool. "Every family has its share of petty troubles. Our Lin family went through the same thing once. Didn't we get through it?"
"What worries me is whether they'll get through it too." Lin Jingchen spoke blandly, an inscrutable smile lingering on his lips.
The woman likewise pretended to know nothing. "True. I hope they get through it 'safely.' After all, they are my 'eldest sister's' in-laws."
The woman was the Xiao Family's youngest daughter and its current head: Xiao Li.
The Xiao Family had three daughters. The eldest, Xiao Muling, had married the Gu Family's second son, who was Gu Cheng's father.
The second daughter, Xiao Han'er, was flourishing in the entertainment industry and never took part in the family's disputes.
It was not that the Xiao Family had no male descendants. Those men were simply useless.
They could make a complete mess of any project.
Xiao Li had once had a younger twin brother named Xiao Zhao.
He had been exceptionally intelligent, with all the makings of a good family head. Unfortunately, he had died young, assassinated while abroad.
The elderly patriarch of the Xiao Family had nearly been consumed by rage. The heir he had painstakingly raised had died overseas for no apparent reason.
And they could uncover no trace of what had happened.
Old Master Xiao had selected Xiao Zhao and Xiao Li from among the younger generation.
Because the two were so intelligent, he had asked their parents to let him take them into his care.
How could their parents refuse? They were overjoyed that the old man had taken an interest in their two children.
The children had lived up to expectations too, growing ever sharper under the old man's guidance.
But after Xiao Zhao died...
Before his own death, Old Master Xiao had no choice but to entrust the Xiao Group to the equally intelligent Xiao Li.
The youngest daughter had only just entered her second year of university when she took over as family head. Since she had been appointed in a crisis, many collateral branches of the Xiao Family deeply resented her.
They had once plotted to get rid of her in secret, believing that an inexperienced little brat like her could know nothing.
Who could have guessed that Xiao Li had prepared for them long before? That very year, she had rooted them all out in one sweep.
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