Sleepless Spring Tide - 3
Freud
At midnight, Yi Mansion was in complete uproar.
Thankfully, the second and fourth young ladies lived in the west wing and couldn't hear a thing. If they had come out to join the commotion, there would have been no calming it down.
The third young lady was away at university in Beijing, so she certainly couldn't hear either.
“...What do you mean, mainlander?” Yi Kunshan frowned and scolded her helplessly.
“Did I say something wrong? I agreed to let you handle the marriage arrangements, but how could you sell me off to Beijing! How much did the Xie family pay you?"
Yi Siling hurled her gourd-shaped cushion at Yi Kunshan. It struck him squarely, bounced off, and landed on the floor.
“Don’t tell me the Yi Family wants to expand into the mainland market, so you found the Xie Family to show you the way and then offered me up as a gift! You! Selling your own daughter! So much for your reputation!"
Yi Kunshan hadn't thought he'd done anything particularly wrong until that last accusation. He rubbed his nose, his conscience beginning to prick at him.
It was true that Beijing was far away. Even by plane, it took more than two hours.
But the rest about treating her as a gift, selling his daughter, and ruining his reputation... that was all nonsense.
The little brat knew exactly which words would hurt and kept stabbing him with them.
Still unable to meet her eyes, he gave a light cough. “You can’t put it that way... Zhaozhao, Beijing isn’t some backwater. It’s the capital. The imperial city.”
“Don’t call me Zhaozhao!”
Zhaozhao was Yi Siling’s childhood name.
She had been born at dawn, the sun rising inch by inch from the east. Yi Kunshan had stood outside the delivery room, watching the darkness beyond the window slowly give way to a sky blazing with golden light. He had never seen a sunrise so beautiful.
“Bright as the sun and moon.”
That was how Yi Kunshan had chosen the nickname Zhaozhao for the eldest daughter he held in the palm of his hand.
“Zhaozhao... Don't fight with your dad. Both of you, calm down.” Liang Yongwen stepped in to mediate.
Yi Siling wanted to keep arguing, but she was truly exhausted. When she dropped onto the sofa, her head spun and throbbed. “...If Beijing is so wonderful, why don’t you go? Why do you all insist on hiding yourselves in this tiny little corner of the world?”
Capital, imperial city, the place beneath the Son of Heaven, gathering place of the powerful and wealthy. None of it was better than Hong Kong Island. None of it was better than home.
Her emotions surged, and her eyes reddened. She picked at the crystals sewn into her dress. “I’d rather marry Zheng Qijun. At least I wouldn’t have to move halfway across the country.”
Liang Yongwen sighed. Of course she hated the thought of her daughter marrying so far away. But...
She sat beside Yi Siling and took her hand. “Baby, let me be honest with you. Among all the young masters and heirs in our circle, not one of them compares to Xie Xunzhi. And Beijing isn’t that far. Two hours by plane, that’s all. I’ll have your Daddylet you use the Falcon. You can come home whenever you want.”
Yi Siling said nothing.
“That boy from the Zheng Family has decent family background and looks, but he's arrogant, restless, and a womanizer. How would you build a life with him? Xie Xunzhi is different. That young man... he's truly exceptional."
Xie Xunzhi, Xie Xunzhi, Xie Xunzhi.
The unfamiliar name filled Yi Siling’s head.
“Do you have a photo? At least let me see what he looks like. I refuse to marry an ugly man.” She finally relented, deciding to give in one step for her mother's sake.
Something flickered across Liang Yongwen’s face, quickly hidden behind a smile. “Of course, of course... He’s a handsome young man!” She pulled out her phone and found a photo.
“Look. Isn’t he a proper gentleman?”
Yi Siling glanced at it and laughed despite herself. “A proper gentleman? You call this showing me a man? I can barely tell whether I’m looking at a tree.”
Liang Yongwen shot Yi Kunshan an awkward look.
He could do nothing but pretend to drink his tea.
The photograph had been taken by Liang Yongwen herself when she visited Xie Estate. She had snapped it quickly while no one from the Xie Family was paying attention.
She had been standing very far away. Calling it a photograph of a person was generous. It looked more like a landscape shot, with only the slightest hint of a man emerging once the image was enlarged.
Beside a pond surrounded by lush greenery, the man held a small wooden fish-feed box in one hand. His profile was strikingly handsome, his features clean and refined, his entire presence carrying the quiet elegance of a bamboo grove.
Yi Siling stared at the photograph.
Something stirred inside her, tugging at her in small, restless pulses. She could hardly imagine a stranger becoming her husband, or a distant city becoming the place where the rest of her life would unfold.
She could not accept this bolt from the blue.
"If I can't see his face, I'll assume fraud.” She refused to admit the man was handsome, looked away, and pushed the phone aside.
Liang Yongwen slapped her lightly on the thigh. “Mind your manners! I've seen him with my own eyes. No deception here."
"I'm neither a child nor an old man. You don't need to feel guilty about deceiving me."
"Such a mouth on you, wasted on that pretty face." Liang Yongwen laughed in spite of her anger and swatted her again. “He’s the Crown Prince of the Xie Family, for goodness’ sake. And you turn your nose up at him, rejecting him before even meeting him. Do you know how many women would fight for this match?”
Yi Siling didn't know much about the mainland, but she knew of the Xie Family.
Xie Xunzhi’s grandfather, Mr. Xie Renhua, was a legendary red capitalist, a man of tremendous influence during the Republican era. He had twice donated the family fortune to the state without compensation. The glory of the Xie ancestors belonged in the history books, and it had been accumulating for more than a century. Their wealth, power, connections, resources, their reach into the highest levels of society...was not something that could be summed up in a few words.
“Plenty of women who like him. Let him go find one of them. Why does he need some Mainlander girl like me?” Yi Siling scoffed.
Yi Kunshan was at the end of his rope. He set down his teacup. “Fine. Then inherit the family business. I'll arrange for you to start at the group tomorrow. Your sister can take your place in the marriage. We’ve already given the Xie Family our word. The wedding is in two months."
“Wasn’t it agreed that my second sister would inherit the Group and wouldn’t have to marry for business?”
She wanted to be a gloriously idle rich girl while her three younger sisters made the money for her. What could be a better sweet life?
“Then you marry.”
“...”
“Or I’ll arrange for you to join the Group.”
“...”
“...Old man, you're going too far!"
Yi Siling felt backed against a wall.
Forward meant marrying a man she had never met and moving to Beijing. Backward meant inheriting the family business and spending every day in a gilded prison, perhaps dying with her eyes still open.
Either way, she was doomed. Either way, it was miserable.
“Unless he's really as good as you claim, there’s no way I’m marrying that far away. If you’re so confident, let me investigate him.” A flash of inspiration struck Yi Siling, and she seized on it like a lifeline.
Yi Kunshan had absolute faith in his own judgment. After more than thirty years in business, he had an eye for people and situations. One look was usually enough for him to tell whether there was a decent man beneath the mask or a monster wearing one.
He leaned back against the sofa and took a sip of tea. “Sure. If he turns out to be a two-faced playboy, I won’t say another word.”
Hong Kong men were famous for cheating, and the richer they were, the more inventive they could get. Yi Siling had grown up watching this. She didn't believe good men existed.
Even her own father, Yi Kunshan, the wife-obsessed husband celebrated by the Hong Kong media, had been a notorious ladies’ man before marriage, surrounded by countless beauties.
Liang Yongwen's ability to tame him only proved she was more skilled than he was. It certainly didn't prove Yi Kunshan had ever been some model of fidelity.
“You only chose him because his family has power and influence. Don't think I don't know what you're scheming. You’re just bitter because Chen Weiqi's father won this term's Hong Kong Island council seat, and you got knocked out!”
Yi Siling delivered the final blow and turned to leave.
Hong Kong Island had no shortage of wealthy old-money families. But however enormous their fortunes, they were still businessmen. That was why the Xie Family was different, and Yi Siling understood that perfectly well.
A century of history, the protection of their ancestors’ legacy, capable descendants, and interwoven marriages across every corner of society. That was what elevated the Xie family into what it was today.
At the founding of the nation, when the mainland was still rebuilding, Xie Renhua established Zhongyao Company with support from the authorities. It later became the predecessor of Lanyao Group. After decades of development, it had become one of the mainland’s oldest and most powerful conglomerates.
Chen Family’s success in getting their candidate elected to this term's Hong Kong Island council had come through marriage into the Zhuang Family. The old master of the Zhuang Family wielded considerable influence in Hong Kong politics.
If the Yi Family wanted a foothold in Hong Kong politics, they needed a powerful ally. Without one, they had no chance of getting anywhere.
Yi Kunshan’s nose nearly twisted sideways with indignation. “I yielded that seat! What do you mean, I got knocked out? I’m giving you two weeks. After that, I’ll take that you consent to the marriage.”
He'd originally intended to give her a month, but the little brat had insisted on getting under his skin.
Yi Siling covered her ears and ran.
.
“The Xie Family’s position speaks for itself. Just consider Xie Xunzhi himself. At twenty-three, he led the Mplunk acquisition. At twenty-four, he founded Xunyuan Capital and invested in Maple Wealth and Lingdu Electric Vehicles. His personal fortune multiplied fortyfold in just a few years. The entire market is bullish on him.”
“And he's a man of integrity. No vices, no messy affairs with women. Not a single scandal in all these years. His record is spotless.”
“His ability and character are both first-rate, and his family background goes without saying. Otherwise, would your Daddydare let you run wild to investigate him like this?"
The voice message kept playing automatically, one after another.
Night had deepened over the mountains. Far away, waves struck the foot of the hills, and the breeze drifting through the bedroom carried the faint, brooding scent of the sea.
Yi Siling buried her face in her pillow. Her nasal passages felt stuffed with cotton, swollen and thick.
The small patch of fabric beneath her eyes was already damp.
Xie Xunzhi.
His name was everywhere.
Annoying name! Annoying man! Annoying Beijing! Annoying marriage!
Everyone kept saying how good he was, how flawless.
She refused to believe it.
The rebelliousness inside her twisted into a thousand fine threads, rising all at once, as childish and defiant as one of her fifteen-year-old sisters.
She wanted nothing more than to find this man right now and tear the mask from his face.
Over the next few days, Xie Xunzhi took over Yi Siling’s life without her realizing it. She threw herself into the investigation with frightening enthusiasm, transforming herself into Sherlock Holmes, not letting a clue, however tiny, untouched.
Unfortunately, the results were enough to drive her mad.
“I asked for photos. His personal photos. Please, what am I supposed to do with these?"
"I don't want his Baidu page. I don't have time for interviews that do nothing but praise him. I want gossip. Scandals. Affairs! A thirty-year-old man, and you're telling me he's never had a girlfriend?"
“Then dig deeper. Find out if he keeps a mistress, if he’s slept with any actresses or influencers, or whether he has some kind of medical problem or bad habit!”
“Nothing? Then he must be impotent!”
Yi Leling had long since become immune to such scenes. She calmly cut the steak for her furious elder sister.
Yi Siling put down her phone and poked at the hot towel. “Aren’t these paparazzi supposed to be good at digging up dirt? What, it doesn't work on Xie Xunzhi? Three whole days wasted and they couldn’t even dig up one decent photo!”
Yi Leling thought about it. “Apparently the Xie Family protects their heir very carefully. No media outlet would dare photograph him in public. If you really want a picture, you’d have to get one from his friend. The problem is, his friends don't run in our circles. The ones who know him aren't nearly close enough to take pictures."
Yi Siling raised an eyebrow. “Forget photos. He has no Instagram, no Weibo, no Twitter, no Facebook. He doesn’t use social media at all. What an Old Fossil!”
Yi Leling swapped the cut steak to Yi Siling's side. “He runs a major conglomerate. He barely has enough time to attend meetings every day. When would he have time for social platforms? He's not in fashion.”
She knew that better than most. She was only a senior executive at headquarters and already had more meetings and social obligations than she could count.
“He’s six years older than me...”
“That’s not too bad. I remember Zheng Qijun is twenty-eight."
“Mengmeng’s husband says he’s stodgy, old-fashioned, and boring.”
"Mengmeng's exact words were: Young Master Xie is very rigorous at work, not interested in food or entertainment, so her husband has no idea how to curry favor with him, that he hasn’t even managed to meet him once.”
Silence settled over the table.
The Michelin-starred restaurant was quiet, with few customers. The waiters’ footsteps disappeared into the thick, soft carpet as they brought over mulberry ice cream and Nanyang-style kaya toast, its rich fragrance filling the air.
Yi Siling chewed her steak absently, a huge, eye-catching leopard ring flashing on her index finger.
Until she finally sensed something off. Her fingers curled, and she glanced over. "Wait... Leling, whose side are you on?”
Yi Leling pressed two fingers to her temple. "I swear to Mazu, I'm always on your side."
Yi Siling swallowed the juicy mouthful of beef. “I suspect you sold me out.”
Yi Leling stared at her coldly. “...What exactly would I gain by selling you?”
Nothing at all. If anything, she would still have to spend her time pacifying her. “I'm already exhausted working for you. You don’t seriously think I want to run for the Hong Kong Island council too, do you?”
Yi Siling looked wounded. “...You’re bullying me.”
How could Yi Leling ever bully her? If anything, she had already lost to her.
The woman whose face was always cool and unreadable in the eyes of Group employees, distant and impossible to approach, now wore an expression of profound helplessness after being worn down by her elder sister.
She sighed. “You could look at this from another angle.”
“...Like what?” Yi Siling was getting sleepy. She propped her cheek against the back of her hand, eyelids drooping lazily. She had spent the past few days investigating Xie Xunzhi day and night, mentally and physically exhausted, barely sleeping.
“The verdict isn’t in yet. So far, this Young Master Xie is better than that scumbag Zheng." Yi Leling gave a fair, objective assessment.
Over the past three days, she had gone through every business and financial report she could find on Xie Xunzhi. It was clear that he had his own his own approach in the business world, bold and decisive, willing to cut straight through a problem. Only his character and private life remained to be verified. If those two things held up as well, this marriage would actually be a good one.
At least in theory.
Yi Siling stared at her without speaking, biting lightly at her lip.
Yi Leling hissed. She really couldn't stand it when her sister put on that spoiled, coquettish face. She tapped her fingers against the table. “Here's an idea. Why don't you go to Beijing and inspect the goods yourself? That’s got to be better than sitting here hunting for his photographs.”
.
By the end of October, autumn had settled fully over Beijing. The sunlight carried a touch of desolation, and the willow trees around Houhai were beginning to turn yellow.
A black Maybach emerged from the underground garage on the southeast side of Xie Estate and turned into the narrow hutongs beyond.
Bainiao Hutong was one of the longest hutongs in the area, and one of the least populated. A passerby passing through stopped, staring enviously at the Maybach.
The huanghuali garage door descended at a steady pace, sealing away the last narrow sliver of the world inside.
Only then did passersby notice that the entire right side of the hutong belonged to a single household.
Blue-brick walls rose high and stretched for more than a hundred meters. Inside them, greenery and reeds formed a second, even taller barrier.
There was no way to see what lay beyond. At most, one could glimpse fragments of the grand residence through the high walls and the occasional upturned roof eave.
It was an enormous traditional courtyard hidden in the heart of the city. Such a location, such grandeur. Even the words wealth and privilege hardly seemed adequate.
The lane was narrow, so the Maybach moved slowly. Nearly six meters of car body gave it more presence than ordinary vehicles. If not for the need to navigate hutongs, where length was a liability, this car would warrant a yellow license plate.
In the back seat, Xie Xunzhi listened to the scolding coming through his phone with a calm expression. He didn't look impatient, though neither did he sound particularly invested.
His long fingers pressed the window control. “You need to be more proactive. You were in Hong Kong on business last week. You could have met Siling. Why didn’t you? The wedding is in a few months and you haven't even met your fiancée in person. Does that sound right to you?”
"I showed you her photo. I asked if she was suitable. You said yes. That's why I arranged this match. When it comes down to it, you agreed to this yourself... Don't tell me you changed your mind?”
Yang Shuhua wasn't normally a talkative woman. But on this subject, she couldn't help herself.
Xie Xunzhi lowered the window all the way. “I haven’t changed my mind. Don’t overthink it.”
Yang Shuhua was even more displeased. “Then get your attitude straight. This time, you need to receive her properly. Make Siling feel you're a man she can rely on. Don't let her first impression of Beijing be a bad one."
Xie Xunzhi’s brows drew together slightly. After a pause, he asked, “She’s in Beijing?”
Yang Shuhua was now thoroughly dissatisfied with him.
His own fiancée had come to Beijing, and he apparently knew nothing about it.
“She flew in yesterday. She should have arrived by now. We don’t know which hotel she’s staying at, your future mother-in-law didn’t say. Send someone to find out. Her food, accommodation, places to visit... and a driver. Arrange everything.”
Xie Xunzhi considered this for a moment. “There’s no need to rush. We don’t know why she came. If she’s in Beijing for something else, arranging all of this without asking will only be presumptuous.”
His words were perfectly reasonable, but Yang Shuhua had no interest in reason.
Her voice rose. “If she didn’t come for you, then who did she come for? You’re really something, making the girl take the initiative!”
Perhaps she had come to Beijing on holiday with her boyfriend.
The thought surfaced in Xie Xunzhi’s mind without warning. His eyes shifted slightly, then the thought disappeared.
Dwelling on it would only make him look foolish. He had better things to do than worry about how many boyfriends she had.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it.” He closed his eyes to rest for a moment.
Just then, a red Ferrari came toward them from the opposite direction. The hutong was narrow, the two cars nearly brushed against each other.
All Yang Shuhua heard through the phone was the roar of an engine. “I couldn’t hear you. Son, what did you just say?”
Outsider cars rarely came down this lane.
Xie Xunzhi held the phone loosely and lifted his eyelids, glancing out the window.
The Ferrari had its top down. It was brand new, still bearing temporary plates.
A young woman sat behind the wheel, the autumn sunlight spilling over her long, glossy curls.
She wore big tortoiseshell sunglasses that hid her eyes but revealed a smooth forehead, a delicate jawline, and a vivid, full red mouth.
Probably unfamiliar with the roads, she drove while checking navigation. When she turned her head, a slender length of neck came into view.
The road ahead was a dead end.
It had been built specifically to give vehicles access to Xie Estate’s side entrance, paid for by the Xie Family.
“Uncle Mei, slow down.”
Xie Xunzhi narrowed his eyes, lowered the phone, and gave the driver a quiet instruction.
The Maybach slowed.
Xie Xunzhi turned his upper body to look back.
The Ferrari had discovered there was nowhere left to go and stopped.
After switching off the engine, the woman did not get out immediately. She bent over inside the car, apparently occupied with something. Perhaps she was changing her shoes. Perhaps she had dropped something.
Then the door opened.
A long, slender leg emerged first, the Achilles tendon sharply defined, the instep pale and delicate.
Her sandals were gold, extravagantly intricate. Straps encrusted with rhinestones wound from the top of her foot to her ankle, resembling beautiful instruments of torture, or golden serpents winding around her skin. There was something broken, uncomfortable, almost unhealthy about the sensuality of them.
Xie Xunzhi’s brows tightened.
Those shoes... were they really necessary?
The woman leaned casually against the sports car, tilted her head back, and studied the tall gray brick wall for a long moment. Then she raised her phone and moved it from side to side, up and down.
Most likely taking photographs.
What was there to photograph about his family's wall, he couldn't guess.
A few ginkgo leaves landed on her shoulder and slipped slowly down.
The call was still connected. Yang Shuhua was calling him again. “Son? Son... Xie Xunzhi!”
Xie Xunzhi withdrew his gaze and straightened. His impeccably tailored suit remained perfectly neat, not a crease out of place. He raised the phone to his ear. "I'm listening."
Yang Shuhua scolded him for his perfunctory attitude. “Put work aside for a few days and spend time with her. She's new here and doesn't know anyone. Don’t let her feel wronged. Your future in-laws will think we have no manners.”
A faint smile touched Xie Xunzhi’s lips. For once, he didn't simply agree with his mother. “You’re worrying too much. She’s so formidable. Who would dare to wrong her?”
---
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