Page 22 of He Is My Bride
“Yeah, you’re absolutely filthy, that’s what only the ultra-wealthy would say.”
Hanjun frowned. He felt like Li Ying was making fun of him. He remembered how Li Ying had called him spoiled when he used to have a maid and revealed he couldn’t as much as cook for himself. Li Ying had been joking then, but now Hanjun worried whether Li Ying’sperception of him had changed after learning his true net worth. Whether Li Ying saw him as undeserving due to him having inherited his wealth, or thought them ill-matched because the difference in their social classes was greater than he’d known.
But then Li Ying revealed the true cause of his concerns:
“I’m just worried that I won’t fit in with them. That I’ll look like a social climber, a gold digger! How could your uncle accept someone like that?”
“Listen,” Hanjun said, “Uncle Yiheng will have no choice but to come around, since he has a problem in his hands: I told you he’s not keen to let Cousin Hanrong lead, while Hanrong’s younger brother, second cousin Yiyi, is too young. But I have two other cousins from the Wang side of the family as well, cousins whom my uncle absolutely doesn’t want taking over the company.”
“You never talked about these Wang cousins.” Li Ying suspected there had to be a reason.
“The Wangs are minority shareholders and after the company for a total takeover,” Hanjun explained. “Uncle has kept them out of the board of directors, to limit their influence, but if either me or Cousin Hanrong don’t continue the family line, the Wangs will try to vye for control, seeing as they already have an heir: one of them has married and has a son that will be of age soon.”
Li Ying mouthed a silent ‘wow.’ To him, this was sounding more and more like a historical C-drama plot, and his head was spinning. “Should I fear political assassination as well?”
“Nonsense. Next year, I will turn thirty-one already. Uncle won’t have much room to negotiate when I present you as the one I want to marry. If he wants a Wu heir to compete with the Wangs, that is.”
“Has your uncle tried to arrange a marriage for you?”
“There have been… prospects.”
“You turned them all down, huh? Lucky me.” Li Ying chewed his lower lip and trailed his finger in circles over Hanjun’s chest. “Why does your uncle want to keep the Wang cousins out of the board? Whywon’t he just let them lead the company, if they want to take over so badly? Is it only about the family name?”
Something about the way Hanjun’s expression grew cold told Li Ying this was going to be juicy.
“There’s been a rift in the trust between the families lately. It wasn’t always so: my paternal grandmother’s father was an influential landlord and head of the Wang family during the days of my great-grandfather, the company founder,” Hanjun began. “The Wangs lost almost everything since, but his son, my grand uncle, brother to my Grandmother Linming, who was married to the head of Wu Pharma, approached my grandfather. Not only did he invest the remainder of the Wang’s wealth in the company, but his ruthless visionary arguably saw us through the hard times of the mid century. He used to serve as the CEO for a number of years, before grandfather appointed my father to the position and demoted him.”
“Hmm, I can see how that might have caused bitter feelings between the two families,” Li Ying mused.
“Great uncle is now dead. He was much beloved by my grandmother Linming, and I don’t remember him being unkind when I was a child.”
“Then why doesn’t your uncle like his mother’s side of the family?”
“Unlike great uncle Wang, his son, Wang Guosheng, my first cousin once removed, has never hid his ambition. He’s entitled and seems to think he’s owed a higher position in the company due to what his father did for us back in the day. He would push his own sons and grandson as the new company heirs, to take over instead of me or Cousin Hanrong. He’s never liked either of us, probably as a result of our grandfather pushing his father aside years ago.”
“So, Wang Guosheng is the one I don’t want to be seated next to at a banquet?”
“He’s dangerous, as ruthless and clever a businessman as his father was, but more charismatic. And it seems his goal is not to simplysurvive, either, but grow. Whether he would lead Wu Pharma to a new era of growth or attempt an acquisition, destroying our legacy to fuel his own conglomerate as revenge for the past, who knows. Uncle would do anything to keep him from getting too much power within the company to prevent that.”
“So, to protect the family business’ legacy from Wang Guosheng’s revenge, your uncle wants you to marry well and have an heir?”
“Correct. As I mentioned, Wang Guosheng has two sons: my second cousins Wang Jian and Wang Hao, out of which Wang Jian is the one who has a son. The boy will turn eighteen next year. If uncle wants to keep the Wangs at bay and ensure that a Wu inherits the company, he will bless our marriage and hope that we…”
“Get a baby soon?” Li Ying purred, rubbing his leg against Hanjun’s thighs. Hanjun’s cheeks could be seen getting red even in the dark.
“…Yes.”
“Should we practice?” Li Ying grinned.
All jokes aside, now Li Ying realized how much was at stake for Hanjun: his filial duty to his family demanded a good marriage, and a child.
The plan had to work. If Li Ying were to marry Hanjun, he had to succeed.
Chapter 5: The Birth Of Miss Li
Time flew by for Li Ying moving towards December as he prepared for Shanghai.
Amidst schoolwork, he allotted plenty of his time to learning how to walk and talk like a woman.
