Her expression, as if she wanted to vomit but couldn't, was so interesting that a smile finally broke over Qiao Chengyu's face. His serious, cold mouth curved, and it was as if the ice broke over his person for a few minutes, wreathing him in sunshine. It only lasted for a moment before that youthful sunshine was once again under wraps, and he said in a indifferent tone, "When life runs too smooth, perfect, and carefree, one inevitably becomes a little naïve."

Han Yanyan squinted at him, her eyes sparkling.

"What's the matter?" Qiao Chengyu asked, a little taken-aback.

"You look so good when you smile, so why do you always look so dour?" she raised a brow at him, one side of her red lips quirked up.

His face tightened. 

"What are your next steps?" The way he spoke was also serious, as if he were discussing a major project in a conference room.

"I'm planning on..." Han Yanyan raised her chin a little, "Playing along. If your father is going to make you an actor in a play, then we shall make his fake play real."

"Do you have any specific actionable items?"

Han Yanyan was speechless - was he really treating this like a business project?

"Well, specifically, you'll of course be pursuing me." She rolled her eyes.

Qiao Chengyu was struck dumb.

"I'm the dignified and imposing Eldest Miss Han of the Han Family. Do you think I'll marry you just because you said so?" Han Yanyan stared at him coldly, then turned on her heel and left, leaving him with a perfect view of her departing figure. "I'll be waiting~"

She sashayed away in the direction of a few other well-known ladies of her acquaintance.

If a flower could describe a person, Qiao Chengyu thought that Han Yanyan would be a peony¹, her leaves luxuriant, her petals fragrant.

Somehow, his ears and heart felt a little hot.

"Yanyan, have you and Wenxing really broken off your engagement?"

"I heard that he left home for that other woman and wants to sever his relationship with his parents, so as to force the Qiao family to recognize her."

"Yanyan, Uncle Qiao is so affectionate to you, don't tell me that he means for you and Qiao Chengyu to...?"

Familiar girls crowded around Han Yanyan, all of them scavenging for information to satisfy the need for gossip burning inside their souls.

These girls were all Han Yanyan's friends, but of course, there were no shortage of strange looks and unharmonious words.

"Maybe that's just what he means," someone laughed. "Think about what used to happen back in the day. In some rural areas, the younger brother would marry his sister-in-law if his elder brother died."

Expressions changed. Although they had all been secretly watching Han Yanyan and Qiao Chengyu, guessing at this possibility, what had just been said was simply too rude.

Han Yanyan' s full red lips curved. In a casual tone, she said, "It's fine by me if he gets replaced by Qiao Chengyu."

"What..?" Her girlfriends were all amazed. "Yanyan, you..."

Han Yanyan said indifferently, "Wenxing and I wore diapers together, and that's more or less how we feel about each other. He's more like a brother to me than a romantic partner, so it's all the same to me whether I marry him or Qiao Chengyu. I was even a bit tired of looking at Wenxing, so switching to Qiao Chengyu isn't bad at all."

She raised one finger. "First, he's handsome and in good shape."

The eyes of all the girls drifted to Qiao Chengyu and found that she was telling the truth. They were all accustomed to the young men in their circle, who were invariably smirking young dandies. It was rather refreshing to see someone serious.

Raising a second finger, Han Yanyan added, "Furthermore, he's excellent. You can see that he's an elite just by looking at his resume, right? And it's all real ability, not just future possibilities or hype."

Everyone nodded. They had all known about his accomplishments ever since Qiao Chengyu appeared in their circle. Though Qiao Wenxing had always been praised as an up and coming 'Young Elite', the bar was set quite low. Any young man in their circle who didn't do drugs, gamble or indulge in women could be referred to as 'elite'.

"And most importantly," Han Yanyan raised her third finger, "It doesn't matter to me who I marry, so long as this person shall inherit the Qiao Family."

A collective breath was sucked in. Before Number 3, One and Two were merely clouds in the sky! The Qiao Family and the Han Family were two of the largest old money families in the circle. One couldn't help but get heated up when thinking about their strong finances and firm alliance. There was both admiration and also much envy.

Unwilling to give in, the provocateur insisted, "How can you be sure that he'll be the heir? It's common knowledge how much Uncle Qiao dotes on Wenxing. This Qiao Chengyu's mother is a mistress that Uncle Qiao doesn't care about at all. Why else would he have not acknowledged him for so long? He never even gave him the last name of Qiao, I hear that he's been using his mother's last name this whole time. If I were you, I wouldn't warm up too much to this Qiao Chengyu, or what will you do when Uncle Qiao calls Wenxing back?"

Unexpectedly, Han Yanyan threw her head back and burst into uncontrollable laughter. "It doesn't matter whether or not he comes back. The man who marries me is the heir to the Qiao Family."

A hush settled over the crowd. Then everyone looked away, deliberately changing the subject. You praised my skirt, I'll praise your earrings.

Han Yanyan beckoned the waiter over to exchange her empty wine glass for a new one. She smiled as she took a sip, Han Yanyan took a mouthful of wine with a smile, watching the envy of the others around her, watching the provocateur bloat with jealousy until she nearly became a puffer fish.

If a girl must be reborn, it's best to be reborn to a wealthy father.

Spying Qiao Chengyu some ways away from her, she raised her glass to him. Glittering clothes, a life of revelry, it was like a vacation.

A few days later, Family Head Qiao's second son began pursuing the heiress of the Han family.

A marriage between conglomerates, a dispute between two brothers. It shook up the paparazzi like blood before sharks.

frostcrystal

Oooh now you've aroused the retired housewife garden enthusiast in me, Qiao Chengyu! I have a whole row of peonies and I love them. The flowers are so large that they have to be staked with special cages or they would fall over from the weight of their own blossoms. They're gorgeous flowers.

On a somewhat less romantic note, today I had to perform surgery on all my squash plants. Just as they began bearing they got infested with vine borers, the very devil of squash plants. They're the larvae of a particular moth that burrow their way into a squash plant and eat their way up the middle of the stem, eventually killing the plant. I had to cut each plant open and pick the grub out with my fingers, which was disgusting yet satisfying. (then they were fed to the birds. sweet revenge!)

May all squash vine borers be squashed!