Chapter 134 - 127: A Truly Prestigious Family

Chapter 134: Chapter 127: A Truly Prestigious Family

"The first two pregnancies were both boys, but my mom wouldn’t allow her to have a boy, so she had to terminate them. It wasn’t until the third pregnancy that she successfully carried a girl to term—that’s Wan Ning."

"After Wan Ning was born, my mom would often bring her over to our house to look after her. Every birthday and holiday, my mom would have a gift ready for Wan Ning. It was like she was raising Wan Ning as a second daughter. Wan Ning calls my mother ’Auntie’."

Wang Yan recounted the whole story in a very matter-of-fact tone, while Gu Heng felt like he was listening to an ancient folktale.

’What is this?’

’An Empress ruling over the six palaces?’

’Hasn’t the feudal era been over for more than a hundred years?’

At this moment, Gu Heng truly felt like his eyes had been opened.

’So this is how the truly wealthy families operate.’

’No wonder people on the internet always say that not just any woman can marry into a rich family.’

’With An Yiqing’s mindset and guts, those "little princesses" nowadays could train for another thousand years and still not hold a candle to her.’

"So in all these years, has Chairman An ever misjudged someone?"

Gu Heng asked again, "After all, people’s hearts are hard to read and greed is a bottomless pit. Surely there must have been someone who tried to break free from her control and pursue benefits they shouldn’t have been dreaming of?"

"Of course."

"I’ve even seen a woman show up at our door with a positive pregnancy test."

Wang Yan nodded as if it were a matter of course.

"And then?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow.

"And then?"

"There was no ’and then’."

Wang Yan shrugged. "All I know is that from that day on, I never saw that woman again, nor did I ever hear my parents mention her."

Hearing this, Gu Heng couldn’t help but feel a chill.

’Clearly, this was a concrete example of how even a Bodhisattva like An Yiqing has her limits.’

The matriarch of a family with tens of billions in Wealth, backed by her own equally powerful family—the resources she could mobilize were terrifying to even think about.

Usually, An Yiqing was like a vast, boundless ocean, tolerant of all things. But if someone crossed her bottom line, that same ocean could whip up a torrential storm with terrifying waves.

Even someone like Su Lei today was but a small boat before An Yiqing, to say nothing of that clueless ordinary woman.

That woman thought that by getting pregnant with Wang Junjin’s child—a boy, no less—she held a bargaining chip. She thought Wang Junjin would protect her, shield her, and fight An Yiqing for her sake.

Such thinking was, to put it simply, just so naive.

Wang Junjin had a primary wife like An Yiqing. Unless he’d been kicked in the head by a donkey, why would he ever choose to pick up a sesame seed while dropping the watermelon?

’A child?’

’Before it’s born, it’s just an embryo!’

’And even if it were born, it’s not like infants don’t die young all the time.’

’The royal family is ruthless, and so are the wealthy.’

’With tens of billions in Wealth, you could go to Africa and carve out your own kingdom. To call the right of succession a throne is no joke or exaggeration.’

An Yiqing could tolerate Wang Junjin keeping a harem, but her bottom line was that the legitimate heir’s right of succession was inviolable.

Although Wang Yan hadn’t specified whether the woman’s child was a boy or a girl, Gu Heng guessed it was most likely a boy.

Because if it were a girl, An Yiqing would have likely chosen to stay on the sidelines and let Wang Junjin make the decision.

If he chose to keep it, An Yiqing probably wouldn’t have cared.

A girl couldn’t threaten Wang Yan’s inheritance rights anyway. Plus, she could leverage Wang Junjin’s sense of indebtedness to her, gaining a greater advantage in future negotiations over assets.

If he chose not to keep it, An Yiqing wouldn’t have cared either.

Letting Wang Junjin handle it himself would serve as the best deterrent and reminder to his other mistresses, dispelling any of their restless ambitions and unrealistic fantasies, allowing her to continue sitting securely on her throne as the primary wife.

"Chairman An is truly wise!"

After hearing the full story, Gu Heng sighed with sincere admiration.

"Actually, it’s more or less the same for all the big families."

"The men expand the territory at the front, while the women secure the home front."

"Take the example of Brother Dong. After that incident, what was the first thing Milk Tea Sister said?"

"Just three words: ’I believe him!’"

Wang Yan clicked his tongue twice, a thought-provoking smile on his face.

"Why else do you think Milk Tea Sister can hold her position as the main wife so securely?"

"After the incident, her first reaction wasn’t about romantic love or feelings at all. It was to do everything in her power to stabilize the stock price, the board of directors, and public opinion."

"For people at our level, marriage has long been detached from love. It’s more like a very intimate partnership. And compared to something as ethereal as feelings, shared interests are the strongest bond."

Listening to Wang Yan’s reflections and commentary, Gu Heng couldn’t help but recall the failed marriage Jiang Man had once described to him.

Clearly, Jiang Man was the type of person who believed love was the bond of marriage.

The result was a total disaster, an utter defeat.

’If Jiang Man had followed Wang Yan’s philosophy back then and used shared interests as their bond, the person living in that hilltop villa today probably wouldn’t be him, Gu Heng.’

’Jiang Man overestimated their love and underestimated the allure of profit.’

"So what are your thoughts, Brother Yan?"

Gu Heng asked Wang Yan, "Yesterday, from what I heard from Chairman Wang and Chairman An, they seem pretty anxious about you getting married."

"What’s there to think? I’m just putting it off for as long as I can."

"Do you really think that in all these years, I haven’t met a girl I genuinely liked?"

"Of course I have."

Wang Yan sighed softly. "But the girls I genuinely liked never met their standards for a daughter-in-law."

"I used to not get it. I felt a strong sense of rebellion."

"That is, until my mother asked me two questions that completely won me over."

Hearing this, Gu Heng grew a little curious. "What questions?"

"The first question my mom asked was: ’Can you guarantee that after you marry her, you’ll never look for other women and be a faithful couple with her for life?’"

Wang Yan scratched his head and gave Gu Heng an awkward yet polite smile.

"I get it."

Gu Heng gave Wang Yan a look that said, *I understand*. "’I do genuinely like her, but I can’t guarantee I’ll only ever genuinely like her.’"

"Hey!"

"Brilliant!"

"That’s exactly it!"

Wang Yan’s eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands sharply.

"With just that one question, my mom left me speechless."

Wang Yan continued his story. "Then, my mom hit me with the second question. She asked me: ’Do you want to live a life like your father’s, or the kind of life I just described?’"

"Hahaha..."

"Chairman An is really something else."

"That one-two punch must have knocked you out completely, right?"

Gu Heng couldn’t help but laugh. After just two days of interaction, he knew that Wang Yan was definitely not the type of person who could endure a quiet, lonely life.

The choice laid out before him was like putting Daniel Wu and Xu Chang in front of a woman and asking her to pick a husband. There’s no hesitation needed.

Oh...

You probably don’t know who Xu Chang is.

He’s a friend of mine—an unremarkable, funny liberal arts guy who loves going to KTVs.

Wang Yan spread his hands. "With those two questions, my mom persuaded me, but I wasn’t completely convinced."

"Right now, I’m looking for a girl who I genuinely like and who genuinely likes me back, whose family background meets my parents’ standards, and who also has my mother’s vision and guts."

Gu Heng laughed. "Brother Yan, don’t you think your requirements are a bit of a paradox?"

"They are a bit."

"Why else do you think I’m still single?"

Wang Yan said with complete frankness.

"Didn’t Chairman Wang say he’d give you another year?"

Gu Heng encouraged him, "Let’s see if you can run into someone like that."

While the two of them were talking, Du Yujie had already prepared the bill. He had seen that Gu Heng and Wang Yan were deep in conversation and hadn’t dared to interrupt.

Now that he saw they had finished, Du Yujie approached at the opportune moment.

"Chairman Gu, the seven Birkin bags you selected later have a total retail price of 3.26 million. I’ve prepared a purchase allocation plan for you based on the minimum requirement. You just need to select another 2.08 million in allocated goods."

Du Yujie respectfully handed the bill to Gu Heng while explaining.

"Mm..."

"Go ahead and wrap up those seven Birkin bags."

"As for the 2.08 million in allocated goods, send someone out to tell Jiang Ruan to pick everything out, along with her own 350,000 allocation."

He only glanced at the bill Du Yujie handed him before casually setting it aside, then gave his instructions to Du Yujie.

"Yes, of course."

"I’ll have someone inform Miss Jiang right away."

Watching Gu Heng’s casual demeanor, Du Yujie knew he had met a true whale today, and his attitude became even more reverent...