Chapter 1
A heavy rain poured down.
The rushing sound of the rain hammered fiercely against the ground, which only made the silence at the scene more intense. Everyone in sight was dressed in black clothes, soaked and disheveled from the rain.
The person leading them stood with a slender, upright back. Even though the rain came down violently, she never bent her spine until the man beside her slowly approached, lowered his head, and held an umbrella over her. The umbrella tilted, fully covering her. Everyone around stood quietly, forming a circle around her, without a word.
“Xiao Wan, don’t be too sad. It’s almost over.”
The one called Jiang Shangwan gave a soft hum of acknowledgment. She quietly stared at her parents’ tombstone. Everything seemed to have happened too suddenly. She had just celebrated her 30th birthday and returned from a business trip in Paris, only to receive the news that her parents were both involved in a car accident. After being sent to the ICU, they were soon declared beyond rescue.
Jiang Shangwan’s lips were pale. Her delicate face, wet from the rain, looked somewhat haggard, as if she had long hidden a feeling called sorrow. In just a few days, she calmly completed all the formalities. Not only did she smoothly take over the Jiang Group, but she also inherited the sky-high trust fund worth billions left by her parents. Now she was truly the youngest and richest female CEO in Jiangcheng.
“Second Uncle,” Jiang Shangwan’s eyes were calm, “Do you think Mom and Dad can see us?”
Her parents had been passionate about charity work while alive. Early on, her father had established two charitable foundations: one to support students in poor areas, the other to help families with serious illnesses. Jiang Shangwan’s recent trip to France was to negotiate a project cooperation and profit-sharing deal, with all the benefits from this project going to student donations.
“They can see,” Jiang Mu sighed. “Not long ago, a teacher from the mountain region sent me news. Two of the children helped by this batch of donations have been especially outstanding—the best grades in recent years. They might even have a chance to get into Tsinghua or Peking University.”
“That’s good.”
Jiang Shangwan withdrew her gaze, took the large black umbrella, and turned to leave.
—
Inside the private room, the lights flickered dimly. Jiang Shangwan leaned sideways against the sofa. Her long hair was tied up, with slender diamond earrings hanging down to her snow-white shoulders. Around her delicate neck hung a necklace with a pigeon blood ruby pendant, silently displaying her noble status in the shifting light.
“Shangwan, I’ve heard everything… don’t be too upset.” Her best friend Qiao Yuqing filled the wine glass in front of her with red wine and gently pushed it over. “There’s a popular new costume drama called Nanlou Yanyu — I just signed the male lead. Want me to introduce it to you, maybe help take your mind off things?”
Jiang Shangwan took the glass and only sipped lightly, saying nothing.
“Hey, I also know a model who looks pretty good. My brother just invested in a brand—188, a blond, blue-eyed Italian mixed-race guy.” Shen Luo whistled and opened a bottle of
[efn_note]XO brandy refers to a type of high-quality, aged brandy. XO stands for “Extra Old”, which is a classification used mainly for Cognac (a type of French brandy). It means the youngest eau-de-vie (distilled spirit) in the blend has been aged for at least 10 years in oak barrels, resulting in a richer, smoother, and more complex flavor..[/efn_note]
XO brandy, frowning as he called out, “Who’s drinking from such a small amount? Open three more bottles of Louis XIII.”
Very soon, the private room was once again filled with bottles of alcohol. Jiang Shangwan slowly straightened up from the sofa she was leaning on. As she moved, her wide skirt slipped down with her motion. In the dim lighting, her expression was unclear, and only her tired voice could be heard:
“I’m really fine. It’s already the 25th this month. Hasn’t your dad’s card maxed out yet?”
“Tsk, I’m here to keep you company,” Shen Luo spread his hands, full of roguish charm that made it hard to believe he had just returned from completing a PhD in Manchester.
He had an older brother handling work at the company, so after graduating and returning to the country, he had plenty of free time. However, his family kept a tight leash on him, giving him a monthly allowance limit of only 200,000 yuan to stop him from messing around.
“I’ll cover the bill later,” Qiao Yuqing rolled her eyes gracefully and kicked a wine bottle that had rolled near her feet aside. “All the films and dramas I invested in recently became hits—it was worth it.”
“Speaking of which, I have to thank Shangwan’s sharp insight. There was this romance film I almost invested in, but after hearing her opinion, I pulled out last minute. Otherwise, I would’ve lost everything.”
“Hehe, Sister Qing is the best. But this is getting boring. Wanna play some golf later?” Shen Luo asked again.
“No,” Jiang Shangwan leisurely set down her wine glass, her fingernail tapping lightly against the rim. “I have some business to handle.”
—
Four hours later, Jiang Shangwan landed at Haishi Airport.
“Dear Miss Jiang, welcome. Please head to the first-class lounge and wait patiently. Your private car will arrive shortly. Thank you for flying with us…” The soft voice of a flight attendant interrupted Jiang Shangwan’s fragmented dream. She frowned slightly, put on her sunglasses, and prepared to disembark.
Haishi wasn’t as warm as Jiangcheng, where spring lasted all year round. Even though it was early spring, there was still a bleak chill in the air, and even the atmosphere carried a faint unfamiliar sharpness.
She was still wearing the black dress that smelled faintly of alcohol from the club, wrapped only in an old monogrammed shawl to cover her thin figure. She sniffled lightly. Her assistant followed behind, pulling a suitcase.
“President Jiang, the car is here.”
Jiang Shangwan lay back in the business vehicle and looked out the window at the passing scenery. Spring in Haishi was dull, just like the unpredictable weather here. Most of the roadside trees were bare branches—uninspiring. She asked calmly, “How long will it take to get to the school?”
This trip had also been a very sudden decision. From the moment she decided to cut off her rest and entertainment and switch into business mode, to choosing to personally visit the mountain school in Haishi, it all happened in the blink of an eye—right after she downed her last sip of wine.
In truth, this kind of on-site school inspection was completely unnecessary for her. The foundation had staff dedicated to these tasks. All she needed to do was sign the papers and provide the funds.
She had just suddenly remembered what her second uncle said—that among the students they supported at this school in Haishi, there were two who had become the best-performing students in recent years.
If her parents knew, they would’ve been so happy.
The assistant paused briefly and replied, “We need to transfer from the provincial capital to a county-level city, then to a town. It’ll take about six hours.”
“…” Jiang Shangwan closed her eyes.
—
After the arrangements were made, they didn’t actually arrive at the school until 6 o’clock the next morning. The early morning in Haishi was particularly cold. Jiang Shangwan hadn’t expected such a big difference between day and night temperatures here. Because the departure had been so sudden, her assistant hadn’t had time to prepare any warm clothes. Shopping in the township was inconvenient, so she was still wrapped in that thin shawl, shivering lightly.
“Good morning, President Jiang!” The school leadership had arrived early to greet her. The principal at the front wore a black suit that had been washed so many times it had faded to grey. He looked a bit nervous and uneasy. “Thank you to your group for the continued help and support you’ve given to the children. The students have been studying very hard and making progress lately. Thank you for coming all the way to Haidi High School. Let me show you how the kids are doing…”
Jiang Shangwan gave a slight nod in acknowledgment.
This school was already the best high school in the township, with around 500 students, all of them from poor mountain areas. Every year, around 20 of them made it into top universities (985 and 211), which, given the underdeveloped teaching resources in the region, was an impressive achievement—and the reason they received financial support.
The economy in Haishi was relatively underdeveloped, with a large number of people leaving to work elsewhere. Most of the children were “left-behind kids,” sent to school through their families’ combined efforts. Just making it to high school was already very difficult for many of them.
Getting accepted into a university was their only and best shot at changing their lives.
Jiang Shangwan carefully examined the school environment. From the greenery and the sports field, it was clear that someone had put in effort to maintain things. Although the place was worn and outdated, the school was clearly doing its best to provide a decent living and study environment for the students.
She looked toward the teaching building. The pale wall paint was peeling off in patches. She asked casually, “Has this semester’s scholarship already been distributed?”
The principal quickly responded, “Yes, yes, President Jiang. We awarded them at the start of the semester based on the previous term’s grades.”
“Add ten more motivational scholarships—give them to the hardest-working students. Also, I’ll contact the person in charge later to help with some campus repairs and renovations.”
“Thank you, President Jiang! Up ahead is our school cafeteria. Let me show you around. Some of the aid funds go directly to the students’ meal cards.” The already hunched old principal bowed even lower.
Jiang Shangwan pulled her shawl closer. The cold wind had turned the skin behind her ears red, but she still maintained a calm expression as she slowly walked forward.
“The first floor is the student cafeteria, and the second floor is for the staff. Right now, the kids are having breakfast. Since there’s morning reading, some of them pack their food to take to class, so it’s usually pretty quiet…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud crashing sound rang out—sharp and sudden, like metal colliding violently with flesh. It jolted everyone’s eardrums.
Someone had clearly caused a commotion. A silver metal tray had been hurled forcefully into the crowd in a certain direction.
“Are you crazy?!”
“Pfft, so what if you have good grades? Acting like you’re better than everyone. You even dare to hit me?” The young man who’d been hit clutched his head in disbelief. The pain in his forehead was sharp and very real.
“You seriously just hit me? F*ck!” He rolled up his uniform sleeves, picked up the tray, and got up to throw it back.
The young man across from him didn’t say a word. He simply stared at him calmly. But in the blink of an eye, he moved swiftly and firmly grabbed the other’s wrist, stopping him from lashing out again.
From a distance, the young man looked tall and lean, yet well-built—clearly stronger than the average student, as if he worked out regularly. Unlike the usual scrawny look of most students, his physique stood out.
It was hard to make out his facial features from afar, but the outlines of his face seemed especially sharp. And even though everyone was wearing the exact same school uniform, his presence was striking—standing out from the entire crowd effortlessly.
The zipper of his school uniform was neatly pulled all the way up to the top, but his actions were swift, clean, and ruthless. He grabbed the other young man’s wrist and yanked hard, throwing him to the ground with a single decisive move—so hard that the young man couldn’t get up again.
The young man and the metal tray hit the floor together with a loud clang, drawing gasps from the watching students. They all stopped eating and crowded around to watch the commotion, completely ignoring the group of people entering from the other side.
The principal hadn’t even finished his sentence and stood there, mouth half open in shock. He turned to Jiang Shangwan with a trembling expression, then looked at the young man who had just thrown a punch. His eyes widened even more in disbelief. He coughed awkwardly twice, unsure how to continue the conversation.
“Get lost,” the young man said coldly.
It had been a one-sided takedown. The young man who was thrown down hadn’t even had a chance to fight back. After a long moment, he finally came to his senses and cried out in pain, clutching the ground and grimacing as he scrambled up and ran off. Around them, the crowd was abuzz, murmuring and whispering among themselves.
Jiang Shangwan calmly withdrew her gaze.
It was normal for passionate young students to have minor conflicts. A scuffle like this didn’t change her impression of the school. The foundation’s background checks were extremely thorough, and rather than reacting emotionally to a fight, she trusted the data—objective and reliable, not something that could be faked.
She shifted the topic naturally and said with a light smile, “Principal, let the children eat in peace. Why don’t we go take a look at the self-study classrooms instead?”
Turning around, Jiang Shangwan didn’t notice the sharp gaze that had locked onto her from behind—watching her intently, tracking her figure. But it was too late. The moment had already passed, and all that was left to see was her graceful back as she walked away, surrounded by people like stars circling the moon.
She wore an elegant shawl with elaborate patterns that felt slightly out of place, her long hair swept to one side, revealing the soft curve of her pale neck. Her long skirt swayed gently with every step, making it seem like lotus flowers bloomed beneath her feet. She stood there so casually, and yet she effortlessly became the center of attention.
Shi Yu’s first impression of Jiang Shangwan was this brief, breathtaking glimpse. And at that moment, he didn’t even know who she was.