Elite Plaza, City A, 19:00;

"Eat up, dear!", Luo Youyou laughed, passing another bowl of noodles to Jiang Yue, "Don't feel shy."

Both the Xi family and the Jiang family had gathered together that delightful evening for a casual dinner. The families needed to get along on an amiable note for the days to come for the sake of their children. Xi Fang and Jiang Yue were back together and they'd marry one day, eventually. Even though Jiang Yue's father, Jiang Qiyang knew that Xi Fang intended to wed his daughter after his elder brother's wedding, the Xi family elders were yet to know of the same.

Xi Fang frowned as his mother chatted with the girl in such a benevolent manner. Lately, both his parents had been oddly warm to him. Checking on his meals every once in a while and keeping track of his regular working hours, ensuring that he'd get some rest. They'd even send over the family doctors to advise him to not overwork himself, for they knew he wouldn't even bother listening to them. Almost as if they'd suddenly remembered that they had a child. How pretentious...

Had they acted like that since his childhood, he might've fallen for their show. But wasn't it too late now? A man who had never spoken to him about anything but his desire to see his son obtain the seat of Xi Corps's CEO was, out of nowhere, a changed person, a concerned father? Did they take him for a fool!?

"Youngsters these days no longer eat nutritional food just to maintain their body.", the woman resumed, glancing at Jiang Yue's mother, "But it is important for girls to have a healthy body in order to bear babies in the future. Don't you agree, Mrs. Jiang?"

Jiang Yue's mother, Deng Changying nodded slightly, a gentle smile across her lips, "Yue has always been a picky eater. I can only hope for Fang to change this habit of hers.", she said then, turning to the young man sitting next to her daughter, "And as far as babies are concerned, let's not rush them. They both have a lot of time."

"Even so, I can't wait to become a Grandmother.", Luo Youyou pointed out ebulliently.

As Jiang Qiyang and Deng Changying smiled vaguely, Xi Chongkun and Li Chungah exchanged glances among themselves. They'd known Xi Chonglin and Luo Youyou for years now and hence were no strangers to all their foxy tricks, their behavior tonight wasn't any exception. They were planning on stripping Xi Yuan off his powers in Xi Corporations, clearly.

The rush to get Xi Fang married to the Jiangs couldn't possibly be their only desire. The couple wished to use Jiang Yue and her status in both the families as an element for argument in winning over all the major shareholders in the Xi Empire. Lu Wei and Ningtao's firm approach a few days ago was bound to make them realize the strength Rong Xinghe would procure after getting wedded to Xi Yuan. The woman was already at such a high status in Country X, regardless of her family background. Xi Yuan would simply go on to become straight-up undefeatable with the Superfamily's succour, years down the line if they were to ever put on a fight for Xi Fang.

Sigh... their greed. Where did it end?

"Stop embarrassing my to-be Sister-in-law, Mom.", Xi Wei said, smiling at Jiang Yue assuringly. The man had returned from his Hawaii vacation but a day ago, and still had been hauled to this boring family get-together by Xi Ying despite his cries for help. But as much as he hated all the elderly talk, he was fond of both the ladies his two brothers had chosen. Both Rong Xinghe and Jiang Yue got along well with him and tolerated his craziness without any complaints. That's all he needed from his Sisters-in-law, really.

It was now that Xi Fang's phone, placed next to the plates, rang up. As Xi Yuan's name popped up on its screen, the man picked it up quickly, bringing it to his right ear, "Is everything alright, Brother?", he asked, worried. The man had been waiting for an update on the assassin who'd been hired by their business rival for quite some time now.

"Xinghe handled it.", Xi Yuan replied solemnly, "I called you for something else. Could you mail me all the details you have on Arkady Kuznetsov?"

"Sure.", the man gave a faint nod, "But is Sister-in-law fine?"

"Hmm.", the man on the other end responded, "She is sleeping. Oh, also, pass the phone to Mr. Jiang. Let me greet him."

"How did you--", Xi Fang gasped, taken aback, "You know what, forget it." The man then leaned a bit forward, handing the phone over to Jiang Qiyang, smiling helplessly. The old man raised his brows, pressing the device to his ear, he then laughed eagerly, "The King of the Business World, is it?"

Xi Yuan chuckled, adding a pinch of salt to the bowl of mixed vegetables in front of him, "Apologies for the absence, Mr. Jiang.", he said, his tone sincere, "Please accept a small present on my and Xinghe's behalf for that."

The man in his mid-forties knit his brows, looking around him, only to realize the restaurant's manager approaching him from the left. The man distributed all three bags in his hands to Jiang Qiyang, Jiang Yue, and Deng Chingyang one by one. Upon unveiling the 'presents' as the young man had claimed them to be, the Jiangs were, for a minute, rendered speechless. A Franck Muller Aeternitas Mega 4 watch for the man, a Hermes Birkin Bag by Ginza Tanaka for his lady, and the world-renowned 'Coeur de Gloire' necklace for his precious daughter. There was no way any of these things priced below the range of 1 to 1.5 Million USD, Jiang Qiyang's years of experience told him.

"I picked out the watch myself.", Xi Yuan said as he listened to the astounded gasps through the other side, "While Xinghe was the one to select the bag and the neckpiece."

"Mr. Xi...", Jiang Qiyang cleared his throat, unknown of how to recommence the conversation any further, "This is too much. It is embarrassing to accept gifts from someone so young, honestly."

"This is not just a gesture to show our apology, Sir.", Xi Yuan laughed, "I intended to thank you as well. For my brother to have someone like you backing him up is a huge honor for the Xis. I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that Fang would grow more alongside Yue under your blessings.

"And as far as these presents are concerned, everything that belongs to you and Mrs. Jiang will eventually belong to your daughter one day, right? So it stays in the Xi family, one way or the other. And this way, both me and Xinghe seem filial. It's a win-win for me, you see."

At the man's words, the old man couldn't help but laugh out, stunned, "Quite the Businessman you are!", he remarked, looking at Xi Fang approvingly, "Of course, I will look after him."

Xi Yuan disconnected the call shortly after he was done exchanging the pleasantries with the man, fixing his attention back to the bowl by the kitchen sink. He didn't need to be in Country X to look through his Uncle and Aunt's intentions.

If Xi Fang were to ask him directly, he would resign from his position at that very moment. That was how dear his brother was to him.

But what he despised the most were such crafty and duplicitous schemes being engineered behind his back. He had never been obsessed with the Xi Corps's throne the way his family elders had been all their life. To him, it was but a legacy left behind by his Grandparents which needed to be looked after. It never was 'his' to own, he believed. He had simply been watching over it for the past few years.

But his honor and reputation were for him to protect.

With or without Xi Corporations, he was a King. Of that, he was confident. He was certain of his abilities to uplift any business from the scratch, and turn it into something much powerful than the Xi empire itself. But such was the thing about true Kings. They couldn't bow to their enemies and let them have the satisfaction to burn their integrity into ashes. Even if he was to leave the Xi Corps someday, he'd do it with his head held high. That was the goddamned bottom line.