Shen Ruolin sat gracefully behind the mahogany teak desk that adorned her private office atop Shen Tower. The Yonghe sunlight filtered through the large glass windows, illuminating her perfectly coiffed hair and accentuating the lines of her beautiful yet cold face. Her sharp gaze conveyed a cunning and calculating air, as if every tick of the clock in the room were part of some grand plan she was hatching. To the outside world, she was a predator in the stock market, but to the person on the other end of the line, she was merely a loyal and passionate pawn.
"Oh? Tell me about it," Shen Ruolin said, her voice slightly seductive yet still brimming with alert intelligence. On the other end of the line, Wei Yan explained his plan concisely and concisely. He not only wanted to donate, but he also wanted full access to the database of new students at Yonghe National High School. Wei Yan insisted that class assignments for certain individuals must be under his absolute control. Hearing this unusual request, Ruolin smiled faintly, already imagining the chaotic and intriguing game her "husband" was preparing.
As soon as the call ended, Ruolin's gentle expression vanished, replaced by an intimidating professionalism. She pressed the intercom button on her desk and summoned her personal secretary. "Immediately disburse one million to Yonghe National High School as a development grant," she ordered matter-of-factly as the secretary stood before her. "Ensure that the grant agreement grants our company special access to student administrative data and authority over class arrangements. I want all the paperwork completed before sunset."
After her secretary hastily left, Ruolin didn't immediately return to work. She leaned back in her oversized chair, fiddling with her phone for a moment before an idea struck her scheming mind. She picked it up again, her fingers dancing across the screen, searching for a very specific contact. With a knowing smile on her lips, she intended to call the eldest sister to discuss Wei Yan's new venture into the outside world.
---
The nightlife in Yonghe City pulsated under the glittering neon lights of one of the largest KTVs in the city center. The muffled bass music thumping from behind the soundproof walls created an atmosphere filled with artificial excitement, but that atmosphere was instantly shattered as one passed through the double doors into an exclusive private room on the top floor. There, an eerie silence replaced the festivities outside, leaving only the scent of expensive cigars and a stifling tension.
Inside the spacious room, dozens of men in black suits lined up neatly on either side like ministers before a throne. In the center of the human corridor, a man in a thug's uniform knelt trembling, his face smeared with blood as he repeatedly banged his head against the floor, begging for mercy in a hoarse, almost exhausted voice. He was but a small insect who had just made a fatal mistake in the wrong territory.
Seated serenely in the throne-like main chair was Li Yuantong, the supreme leader of the Black Rose Gang—the largest and most feared underground faction in all of Yonghe City. Her figure was stern and direct; clad in a black silk dress that hugged her athletic frame, she exuded the cold authority of an empress who wielded the power of life and death. There was no hesitation in her piercing eyes as she stared down at the begging man at her feet; her every movement conveyed an absolute authority built on a foundation of iron and blood. In this room, the bustle of the KTV was but a distant noise, while her word was unwavering law.
In front of her sight, the man in the middle of the floor repeatedly begged for mercy, his voice cracking between sobs and blood dripping from his nose. "Please, Chairman Li... give me one more chance! I swear I won't repeat this mistake!" However, Li Yuantong simply sipped her drink calmly, her cold eyes betraying no trace of emotion.
"Since you were wrong and negligent, you should know the consequences," he said flatly, his voice low but resonating with deadly authority. He slowly set his glass down and gestured with his chin to the two burly guards beside him. "Take him. Feed his body to the fish on the pier."
At the command, the man's face turned pale. "No! Don't! Chairman, I beg you! Have mercy!" he screamed hysterically as the guards began to drag him roughly. "Let me go! Bastards, let me go!" His writhing and heartbreaking screams slowly faded away, disappearing behind the tightly closed double doors, leaving an even more terrifying silence in the room. The other subordinates in line remained frozen, holding their breath so as not to attract the attention of the underground empress.
A moment later, the silence was broken by the vibration of a cell phone on the marble table beside Li Yuantong. She glanced at the illuminated screen, revealing the caller ID stored there. The stiff lines on his face relaxed slightly when he saw that it was from his second sister. With graceful yet swift movements, she picked up the phone, realizing that if Ruolin was calling her at a time like this, it must have something to do with the man at the center of their world.
Li Yuantong made a cold hand gesture to the row of men in black suits before him. "Get out. Leave me alone," he ordered curtly. Without a word, the underground ministers bowed deeply and hurried out of the room, leaving silence to envelop the empress amidst the dimly lit KTV. After the door closed firmly, she swiped her phone screen and held it to her ear.
"Yes, Sister Ruolin?" Yuantong greeted. His previously steely voice had softened, though traces of firmness remained.
"You sound busy, Yuantong. Am I disturbing you?" Shen Ruolin's voice came over the phone, accompanied by the soft clink of coffee cups on the glass table in his luxurious office.
Yuantong leaned back, massaging his temples for a moment, and glanced at the floor where the blood had just been cleaned. "Not really. There was just a small garbage problem in the southern region. It's just been permanently resolved," he replied bluntly, offering a brief explanation without going into detail about the atrocities that had just occurred. "What's wrong? It's rare for you to call during working hours like this."
On the other end, Ruolin chuckled softly, a sly expression she only showed to her sisters. "Our husband just contacted me. He wants me to invest one million into Yonghe National High School. It seems he's already started moving his chess pieces there."
At the mention of Wei Yan's name, Yuantong's originally sharp gaze instantly turned warm and longing. She rose from her seat and walked to the large window that overlooked the twinkling lights of Yonghe City, seemingly bowing to her feet. "So he's already chosen his area? Typical of Wei Yan, always one step ahead in plotting destiny," Yuantong murmured with a faint smile that was rarely seen.
Ruolin replied with equal enthusiasm, "Yes, and he wants complete control over the students' information. I've already arranged everything."
Yuantong picked up his leather jacket from the chair, her eyes gleaming with determination and affection. Her desire to return to the man's side suddenly surged, overpowering her desire to handle the bloody affairs of the underworld tonight.
"Then there's no reason for me to stay in this boring place," Yuantong said as he walked toward the exit. "Let's go home. We'll discuss it with our husbands later. Besides, I miss him so much."
----
In another side, Wei Yan strode between rows of steaming stalls on the outskirts of Yonghe Market. The aroma of sesame oil, fried spices, and splashes of boiling water filled the air. He stopped in front of a small stall with a wooden board blackened with soot.
"Uncle, one bowl of hand-pulled noodles. Use coarse wheat, no artificial flavoring, and add a few slices of beef," Wei Yan said in a flat but sure tone.
The vendor, a man with a white towel draped over his shoulders, glanced at Wei Yan, his eyes squinting from the steam. "Young man, you know how to order properly. The coarse wheat is harder to pull, but the texture is much better for your health. Wait five minutes!" the uncle shouted as he began slamming the noodle mixture onto the wooden table with a rhythmic smack-smack sound.
"Here's your order. Be careful, this soup is made from real bones, not the instant broth sold in supermarkets," the uncle said, handing him a large, steaming porcelain bowl. Wei Yan just nodded slightly, accepted the bowl and began to eat quietly amidst the din of people shouting bargains around him.
However, Wei Yan's attention was drawn to the stall across the street. There, a middle-aged woman was busy wiping the counter with mechanical movements, her shoulders slightly hunched under the weight of life. Suddenly, Wei Yan's gaze turned melancholy. Memories locked deep within her soul—memories she'd held since she was still in the womb—replayed like a painful old movie.
She remembered her mother's shudder of fear when she became pregnant out of wedlock, a secret that sparked a great tragedy. She recalled how her husband and their family were wiped out in one dark night, leaving her as the sole survivor, yet considered a disgrace to the family. The culmination of that pain was when her mother, with tears streaming down her cheeks, was forced to abandon her in front of an orphanage to protect her from the pursuit of her past enemies.
Wei Yan slowly put down her chopsticks, feeling the pulsation of Yang energy within her that responded to her emotional turmoil. The woman, now weary in the market, had no idea that the fetus she had saved had now grown into a ruler of dimensions capable of shaking the world.
Getting up from his seat and leaving a few bills on the table, Wei Yan looked at the woman's back one last time before disappearing into the crowd. He muttered in a very low voice, a promise that resonated among the laws of fate he was weaving.
"Just wait, Mother. Soon, I will be back and you will recognize me."