"Did you actually sleep with the Ji family's little girl?!"
Fu Xiao jumped three feet off the sofa. He stared at the man sitting calmly on the cushions and began to question his entire reality. Uncertain, he asked again, "Lili?"
"You mean the Lili from the Wucheng Li family who only returned to her ancestral home two years ago?"
Fu Xiao grabbed a handful of his freshly dyed chestnut-brown hair. The sky was falling—or rather, Ji Huaiyan's world was collapsing.
Shang Che stubbed out his cigarette, his eyes flashing with a hint of impatience. Amidst Fu Xiao’s complex expression—a mix of shock and schadenfreude—he spoke in a cold, low voice:
"Let me correct you."
"She was the one who slept with me."
"Is there a difference?" Fu Xiao spread his hands, threw himself back into the sofa, and grinned with malicious glee. "You’re done for."
He crossed his legs and pointed at Shang Che. "You’re truly fucked, man. Before we left Hong Kong City, Brother Yan specifically told you to take care of his little girl."
Well, that was ruined now. Shang Che, that animal, had slept with the family's prized ancestor. It was laughable. "Just wait. If Ji Huaiyan doesn't kill you when we get back, I'll change my last name to yours."
Lili—that was the ancestor whom the Ji family, the wealthiest in Hong Kong City, had pampered and held in their mouths like a precious jewel for over a decade. So what if she was an adopted daughter? It didn’t matter; everyone in the Ji family was wrapped around her little finger. The Wucheng Li family was nothing; if it weren't for the fact that their ancestor Lili wanted to return, the Ji family never would have let her go.
Shang Che leaned back into the sofa, toying with his lighter, his expression unreadable. After a while, Fu Xiao heard him let out a faint "Hmm."
"I am done for."
...
"Hiss—ah—"
Lili turned over in her sleep and gasped in pain. Her waist hurt, her legs ached, her backside was sore, her throat felt raw, and even her chest throbbed. She was aching all over... It was killing her.
Through her hazy consciousness, the debauchery of last night flooded back into her memory...
"Lili, look closely at who I am."
The dim light, the floor-to-ceiling windows streaked with rainwater, the madness, and the haze.
Lili lifted her gaze, her scarlet eyes reflecting a face that was both strange and familiar. The man had sharp, rugged features, and his expression was terrifyingly cold. In the midst of the searing, agonizing torment, Lili briefly regained her senses and placed his face from her memories.
The Wucheng business news had just reported it today: Shang Che, the second son of the prestigious Shang family in Wucheng, would be returning to the country in a week.
When people thought of the Shang family, their first thought was always of the eldest son and heir, Shang Yang. He was a business prodigy, famous from a young age, known for being calm, self-restrained, humble, and polite—the golden child that everyone respected.
In contrast, Shang Che was entirely unfit to be seen in polite society. He was dissolute, reckless, and perpetually mired in scandals. It was rumored he even had a homicide case on his record, leading the Shang family to exile him five years ago to Jingcheng, a lawless wasteland. Calling him a degenerate was an understatement.
The two Shang brothers were like heaven and hell. If the old man of the Shang family hadn't fallen critically ill, this degenerate, Shang Che, would likely have been completely forgotten in that godforsaken, cutthroat hole in Jingcheng.
The moment she confirmed his identity, Lili’s tightly wound heart relaxed. As her reason crumbled, she thought: *Sleeping with Shang Che... at least I won’t feel any psychological burden.*
Rain poured down. Lili gave up struggling and wrapped her arms around the man's waist. The woman’s delicate perfume mingled with the intoxicating, sickly-sweet scent filling the air.
By her ear, she felt his hot breath. Lili hooked her fingers around his neck and whispered every word clearly: "Shang... Che~"
Searing, scorching kisses rained down upon her. Above her came the man’s low, hoarse voice: "My little girl, since you’ve delivered yourself to my doorstep, you aren't allowed to cry if I hurt you."
Lili was tossed onto the soft mattress, losing all control over the game...
The spring rain poured all night, and the debauchery sank deeper and deeper, time and time again. Rainwater slid down the glass, and the shadows flickered incessantly.
"Lili, call my name."
"Shang Che..."
"Shang Che, you bastard."
"Shang Che, it hurts."
"Shang Che..."
"Shang Che?!"
Sunlight flooded the bedroom, and Lili bolted upright, her chest heaving. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with nothing but disbelief and a sense of absurdity.
"I slept with Shang Che?"
Under the pouring sunlight, those beautiful, lively eyes showed a flicker of brief shock. Immediately, the corners of her eyes curled upward, and she collapsed back into the soft mattress. "So what if I did."
Lili’s eyes were heavy with languor as she rolled over in the silk quilt, her long, fair legs gleaming slender and bright in the sunlight.
The top trending topic on Weibo was: *#The Eldest Son of the Shang Family and the Eldest Daughter of the Li Family are engaged today#.*
Lili lowered her eyes and gave a mocking smile. She was the legitimate daughter of the Wucheng Li family. Her mother had never liked her; when she was five, her own brother had lost her, and the Li family had claimed to the outside world that she had wandered off on her own.
She had thought Madam Li favored boys over girls, but she hadn't realized that the moment she disappeared, Madam Li had adopted a daughter, raising her with infinite pampering. Madam Li loved that girl to the bone, and the eldest son of the Li family treated her like the apple of his eye.
At eighteen, she returned to the Li family. Instead of an apology from her brother, she was met with her mother’s disdain, who complained that she was too flamboyant and headstrong, refusing to provide for her. Her biological brother felt she shouldn't have returned to steal the affection meant for the adopted daughter, targeting her at every turn and only acknowledging Li Xiang as his sister to the outside world.
Lili sneered and went to stay in Old Madam Li’s courtyard. She had returned solely to be with her grandmother.
Lili never wanted to fight with the Li family, but they treated her like a thorn in their side, targeting and guarding against her at every turn. Whatever the old lady gave to Lili, Madam Li would double it as compensation for the adopted daughter, Li Xiang.
The old lady had taken a liking to Shang Yang, the eldest son of the Wucheng Shang family, for his humble nature and his standing as a leader among the younger generation. She had personally secured the marriage between the two families. With the wedding date approaching, Madam Li took advantage of the old lady’s illness to snatch the engagement away and give it to Li Xiang.
Lili had questioned more than once if she were actually the one who had been picked up, but several DNA tests had left her disappointed—she was, unfortunately, their biological daughter.
The marriage to Shang Yang was something she had personally begged her grandmother for, and it was the only thing she had wanted to fight Li Xiang for. Li Xiang had invited her to discuss the matter, but had drugged her behind her back.
Lili checked the time—three hours left until the afternoon engagement banquet.
*I have to go join in on the fun,* she thought.
Tossing her phone aside, Lili stretched out in the bed, her bones popping and settling as her beautiful face took on a look of lazy indifference.
Suddenly, a lazy laugh drifted from beside her.
The person on the bed went on high alert, her almond eyes flashing with anger as she glared in that direction.
By the door, a man in a suit was leaning against the frame, his long legs crossed, holding a plastic bag. His messy fringe fell over his forehead as he looked at her lazily. "The little ancestor is awake?"
Lili stared at the man before her—the wicked corners of his eyes, the thin, cold line of his lips. Everything about him radiated an unbridled, devil-may-care vibe.
Shang Che, the degenerate that everyone in Wucheng sneered at. His face was a masterpiece of nature, and the man himself was both bewitching and sinister.
From the time she was little, the only person who called her "little ancestor" was Ji Huaiyan.
Perhaps it was because Shang Che’s voice was so unique—unhurried, with a teasing, lazy rasp—that a phrase suddenly popped into her mind: *Little ancestor, call me brother and let me hear it.*
"Little ancestor" was what Ji Huaiyan called her when he was coaxing her helplessly. At their first meeting, Shang Che had heard it and followed suit, using the phrase to mock both the brother and sister.
Lili was stunned, finally realizing why Shang Che looked familiar. It wasn't because of the financial papers; it was because, a long time ago, she had seen Shang Che by Ji Huaiyan’s side.