A Self-Cultivation of a Stand-in [Transmigration GL] - Chapter 9

Just as the banquet was about to begin, Assistant Li finally managed to pick out a suitable pair of rings.

“These are the works of an internationally renowned designer. There’s currently only one pair like this in the country… The previous newlywed couple ran into some financial issues recently, so these happened to be available… Here is the brochure, the maintenance manual…”

The explanations went in Yu Zhezhi’s left ear and out the right. She took the ring out of the exquisite small box, held it up to the light—it wasn’t bad—and casually slid it onto her ring finger.

There was zero sense of ceremony, but Yu Zhezhi didn’t care. Much like the contract marriage itself, it was merely a tool to her. As long as it achieved her goal, her personal likes or dislikes were secondary.

Yu Zhezhi pushed open the car door and stepped out. She straightened her hem and walked into the hotel lobby. Girls coming her way smiled and greeted her one after another. She returned the gestures with equally appropriate, faint smiles, appearing calm and as steady as a mountain.

The host of the evening, Miss Zhong, was wealthy enough to book the entire hotel, though only one floor was actually decorated. Upon entering, someone guided Yu Zhezhi toward the center of the ballroom.

Miss Zhao and Miss Zhong were standing near the podium, holding wine glasses and chatting in low voices. When they turned and saw Yu Zhezhi, both were somewhat surprised.

Unlike most of the socialites present who were waiting for arranged marriages, Yu Zhezhi was one of the few with actual power. There were plenty of female executives in their circle, but those as young as Yu Zhezhi who held the position of chairperson were few and far between. Even disregarding gender, among her peers, Yu Zhezhi stood out like a crane among chickens.

She had turned the tide when her company was on the brink of bankruptcy, restoring its former glory in just a few years—even taking it a step further. Very few men, even older ones, could match her level of excellence. Among the young misses of her generation, Yu Zhezhi was a legendary figure.

Naturally, there were those who liked and admired her, and those who disliked or looked down on her.

Miss Zhong didn’t have much interaction with the Yu family; she wasn’t particularly warm toward Yu Zhezhi, nor did she dislike her. However, Yu Zhezhi was a figure of her generation that simply couldn’t be ignored. At the suggestion of her friend Zhao Xinyan, Miss Zhong had sent an invitation, inviting her to this informal bachelorette party.

At this hour, the topics most popular among socialites with free time were luxury goods and marriage prospects. Miss Zhong was no exception. She had a healthy self-awareness regarding her own nature—someone who preferred indulgence and play over study. Even though she had received a response to the invitation, she hadn’t actually expected Yu Zhezhi to show up.

But now that she had arrived, it was a pleasant surprise. Being able to say she could invite “President Yu” gave her quite a bit of prestige.

Miss Zhong greeted Yu Zhezhi, then nudged her friend with her elbow and stepped aside.

Zhao Xinyan, the second daughter of the Zhao family, hadn’t been at her family’s company for long, but she already carried the aura of a future successor. In this regard, Yu Zhezhi was her senior. Although they were similar in age—Yu Zhezhi being only a year older—their achievements and status were worlds apart.

The Zhao family had recently been in talks with the Yu family regarding a collaboration, and the elders had encouraged Zhao Xinyan to interact more with Yu Zhezhi. It would facilitate future cooperation and allow their successor to learn something from this young, legendary figure.

Zhao Xinyan had only sent the invitation as a tentative gesture; she hadn’t expected Yu Zhezhi to agree so casually. This was, of course, a good thing. Since both sides were interested in connecting, they hit it off immediately after a few polite exchanges.

Miss Zhong tactfully withdrew to chat with other friends about the latest fashion trends. Nearby, others who had been secretly watching them gradually shifted their topics toward their respective companies. Some complained about their incompetent brothers, while others expressed gratitude for their parents.

Further away, in a corner, some people whispered with expressions of disdain.

“So opportunistic… When my sister invited her for her thirtieth birthday, she wasn’t this proactive. She even made an excuse about being busy…”

“Don’t even mention it. If it’s not someone she can talk business with directly, she doesn’t deign to speak to them.”

“She’s only standing here talking to us because she has the Yu Corporation behind her and knows how to use certain ‘methods.’ Otherwise, it wouldn’t be her turn.”

The conversation eventually turned into pure sour grapes. A passing girl joined in, but she rolled her eyes and countered.

“Then why don’t you use those ‘methods’? Surely it’s not that you just enjoy watching your spendthrift brother ruin your family company while you sit by and wait for the joke?”

The girl who spoke first was choked by the words. Her face flushed as she glared back. “Cheng Zhu! Whose side are you on?!”

The girl named Cheng Zhu raised her glass and said lazily, “I may not like Yu Zhezhi, but I can’t be so unreasonable as to erase someone’s talent and achievements. If we go by what you said, if you didn’t have a good father, forget standing here—even getting a meal might be a problem for you.”

The rhetorical question left the girl looking even more embarrassed. She gripped her glass, trembling slightly, unable to find a comeback. Seeing the situation turn sour, others rushed in to smooth things over. One pulled the girl away with low-voiced comfort, while another led Cheng Zhu in the opposite direction.

Once they were further away, someone joked, “So, it sounds like you actually admire President Yu quite a bit?”

Cheng Zhu knit her brows in discomfort, saying with some annoyance, “I don’t. I just hate her personality—the way she can use anything for the sake of profit.” She looked away and happened to see Yu Zhezhi chatting with Zhao Xinyan. She quickly looked back, swirled the wine in her glass, and said with a hint of pity, “The girl who married her is truly pitiful.”

A confused voice came from behind: “Married? A girl?”

The group turned and saw a woman in a navy-blue gown standing behind them. She looked to be in her early twenties, but her demeanor was one of forced maturity, and she looked displeased. However, her dissatisfaction wasn’t directed at them.

Cheng Zhu and the others recognized her and greeted her: “Hello, Sister Ning-shuang.”

Xu Ningshuang didn’t even offer a smile. She gave a stiff nod and immediately followed up: “Who got married?”

Cheng Zhu tilted her chin toward Yu Zhezhi on the other side of the room. A waiter was approaching the two women; Yu Zhezhi reached out to take a glass of wine, a faint smile on her face as she turned back to Miss Zhao.

However, the diamond ring on her ring finger was dazzling. Her slender finger, paired with the brilliant diamond and silver band, looked incredibly harmonious under the ambiguous light reflected by the pale red wine. It added a touch of radiance to this beautiful woman who otherwise looked somewhat “plain” in her adornments.

Xu Ningshuang saw the ring instantly and realized who they were talking about.

“Who did she marry?” Xu Ningshuang asked repeatedly. “When did she get married? Why didn’t I know about this?”

Her rapid-fire questions sounded aggressive. Cheng Zhu glanced at her and didn’t speak again. Someone nearby answered in a small voice.

“We don’t know either. She hasn’t brought the person out to meet anyone. It must have happened recently.” The person who answered was blunt; having heard some rumors, she instinctively treated it as gossip. “I heard she was being hounded by some young master and just found a woman to marry—”

Before she could finish, Cheng Zhu nudged her hard. The girl rubbed her side in annoyance, but seeing Cheng Zhu’s warning glance, she suddenly realized her mistake. When she looked back, Xu Ningshuang’s face was indeed unpleasant.

There wasn’t much gossip about men circulating outside; Yu Zhezhi had deliberately suppressed the news, and few people had the guts to broadcast it. But no wall is completely airtight, and some whispers had leaked out. The most common guess was the eldest young master of the Zhou family, Zhou Junyao.

It was said that when the Yu family was still in decline, Yu Zhezhi had just started accompanying her father to social events. Zhou Junyao fell in love with her at first sight at a cocktail party and subsequently took the lead in cooperation between the two families, officially beginning his pursuit.

However, Yu Zhezhi’s feelings for him were lukewarm. Once she gained a firm footing, she couldn’t wait to shake him off. But the Zhou family’s influence was not to be underestimated. With Young Master Zhou persisting, Yu Zhezhi couldn’t openly break off relations, so she took a roundabout path—marrying a woman to keep at home so Young Master Zhou would give up hope upon his return.

Of course, this was only part of the rumor. The girls present were mostly from the group that rarely touched family business directly, so they had less guard when talking about the “other” part of the gossip. This led the girl to almost forget the relationship between Xu Ningshuang and the Zhou family.

Xu Ningshuang was the cousin of the other party involved, Young Master Zhou. She had been raised in the Zhou family since childhood and was as close to him as a biological sister. Whether those rumors were true or she simply disliked Yu Zhezhi, Xu Ningshuang had caused her plenty of trouble in the past.

Yu Zhezhi, likely out of respect for the Zhou family’s past kindness, never took it to heart. This made Xu Ningshuang even more emboldened to interfere in the rumors between her “brother” and Yu Zhezhi. She used to be convinced that Yu Zhezhi was deliberately seducing him. Now that he was out of the picture for a moment and Yu Zhezhi had turned around and put a woman in her home, she didn’t feel relieved; instead, she felt even more incensed.

She felt Yu Zhezhi was deliberately provoking her—how could anyone truly be indifferent to her brother’s passionate pursuit?

Xu Ningshuang gripped her glass so hard her knuckles turned white. She glared at Yu Zhezhi’s direction. “That bitch!” she cursed under her breath.

Anyone who knew the rumors could guess what she was thinking. Once Cheng Zhu understood, she just wanted to roll her eyes. She truly didn’t like Yu Zhezhi, but compared to these socialites whose heads were filled only with romance and drama, the former was a rare “normal person.”

“I don’t think so,” Cheng Zhu said, replying to her friend. “It looks more like it’s for business.”

Xu Ningshuang was deaf to their discussion. Her mind was filled with nothing but dissatisfaction for Yu Zhezhi. After standing there for a moment, she walked toward her.

The remaining girls were curious about Cheng Zhu’s statement. “What business?”

“The government has a collaborative project recently. The director in charge of approval is a lesbian, and she was one of the first people to publicly marry a same-sex partner.”

Someone in Cheng Zhu’s family worked in a government department and had some contact with that director’s office. Thus, she knew more. Seeing her friends’ curiosity, she paused and explained the cause and effect from the beginning.

It had only been a few months since the same-sex marriage law was formally implemented. Before that, there had been a long struggle and effort, and even today, there were plenty of voices of resistance. That director was not only among the first to marry and come out but was also one of the key figures who pushed for the law’s establishment.

Regardless of whether there was a real emotional foundation, Yu Zhezhi—who was seeking government cooperation—stepping forward now to announce her marriage to a same-sex partner would undoubtedly face some pressure. But upon careful consideration, the pros outweighed the cons. The director was rumored to be upright, but under equal or similar conditions, this tiny bit of shared identity might become a crucial bonus point.

After Yu Corporation’s transformation, the brand with the most momentum was the sub-brand Yu Zhezhi created herself, mainly targeting young people. And young people were currently the most open-minded group. Such a “brave” public act by Yu Zhezhi would surely win her a group of powerful supporters. As for the risks, she had likely considered them thoroughly; with her ability, she could minimize them. Compared to the gains, the losses would be negligible.

Cheng Zhu had only pieced this together after hearing her elders talk about it. There might be other reasons, but those were unknown. If she had Yu Zhezhi’s mind for maximizing profit, she might have become a “second Yu Zhezhi” long ago.

The rumors about dodging Young Master Zhou’s pursuit weren’t necessarily false, but they probably accounted for less than ten percent of the reasoning. Marrying a woman solely to end a pursuit wouldn’t bring Yu Zhezhi more profit. Therefore, it definitely wasn’t because of Young Master Zhou.

It was for “business.” For profit.

“Emotion” and “Profit” should be antonyms. But in a marriage, can someone truly discard “emotion” entirely? A person who prioritizes profit as absolutely as Yu Zhezhi might be able to. But what about the other girl, who might still have illusions about love?

That was why Cheng Zhu said the girl who married Yu Zhezhi was truly pitiful.

Yu Zhezhi caught Xu Ningshuang walking over with a face full of rage out of the corner of her eye and felt an immediate headache. But she remained unruffled, shifting the topic of her conversation with Zhao Xinyan with a smile.

Zhao Xinyan suspected nothing and turned to find her friend, Miss Zhong, who was running over. Just as Miss Zhao turned away, Xu Ningshuang rushed up aggressively, asking point-blank: “Are you married?”

The smile on Yu Zhezhi’s face didn’t change. She lightly swirled her wine glass, ensuring the other woman could clearly see the ring on her finger. She nodded slightly without changing her expression. “That’s right…”

Seeing her so decisive, Xu Ningshuang became suspicious. Noticing no one was around, she lowered her voice and warned: “Don’t you think of playing hard-to-get. I won’t fall for that. Xiao Yao finally has a chance to enter the management level; he absolutely cannot be ruined because of you!”

Yu Zhezhi remained silent—not out of guilt, but because she was speechless. She had long since witnessed Xu Ningshuang’s bizarre logic, so she wasn’t going to lose her composure over such a small issue. But after many times, even if one didn’t care, it became annoying.

Yu Zhezhi looked down at Miss Xu. She was more than half a head taller than the other woman. The act of looking down was easy. For a split second, the smile vanished from her face, replaced by polar ice.

Xu Ningshuang’s heart skipped a beat. Her complaints got stuck in her throat, and she instinctively took a step back—an instinctive movement akin to running away.

“I have no interest in meddling in the Zhou family’s internal affairs,” Yu Zhezhi said calmly. “But… it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Miss Xu either, does it?”

A simple statement, but it struck directly at Xu Ningshuang’s sore spot, making her face flush with embarrassment.

Strictly speaking, Xu Ningshuang was merely an orphan whose parents had died, living under someone else’s roof. Her mother was Old Master Zhou’s cousin who had eloped with a “Phoenix Man” (a man from a poor background who marries up) years ago, breaking ties with the family and driving her parents to an early grave. Life after eloping was naturally not easy. A few years later, the couple died in a car accident while fighting on the road, leaving behind a five-year-old Xu Ningshuang.

Old Master Zhou happened to be on a business trip nearby and, seeing how pitiful she was, took her home to raise as a daughter, though he didn’t change her surname. The intent was for her to remember her biological parents, but a five-year-old already remembered things. She had no affection for her indifferent parents; instead, she felt insecure, fearing the Zhou family would throw her out at any moment. Since the Zhou couple was busy with work, she spent all her time pleasing her younger brother, eventually coming to view him as her own property.

While the Zhou family treated her well, she was still an outsider. When it came to company matters, she was absolutely unable to interfere. Yu Zhezhi didn’t lower herself to argue with her only out of respect for the Zhou family. But given the current cooperation between the two families, if Yu Zhezhi were to file a complaint with the Old Master, Xu Ningshuang couldn’t be sure he would protect her.

Heaven knows where her thoughts drifted, but Xu Ningshuang’s face turned slightly pale and her lips trembled. It was unclear if she was angry or afraid, but in the end, she couldn’t say a word.

Yu Zhezhi didn’t care to investigate. She had no plans to waste time on this rarely-seen Miss Xu. The surge of anger in her heart dissipated mostly; she suddenly softened her expression and gave a charming smile. In the blink of an eye, she was the gentle and polite President Yu again.

“Perhaps there is some misunderstanding,” Yu Zhezhi said, touching the ring on her finger. “However, I am a person with a family now. Certain things should not be said recklessly.”

She looked at Xu Ningshuang. Her tone was gentle, but the warning was equally obvious. “If people find out Miss Xu is a gossip, that’s one thing. But I don’t want my lover to be unhappy because of such baseless rumors.”

The beauty with bright eyes and white teeth smiled slightly, appearing tender and deeply in love—as if she truly adored the “lover” who existed only in her words.

Even Xu Ningshuang, who had once firmly believed Yu Zhezhi was deliberately seducing her brother, wavered for a moment.

“You… you really got married?” Xu Ningshuang asked, still somewhat in disbelief.

“Do you need me to show you my marriage certificate?” Yu Zhezhi retorted with a gentle irony.

“It’s not because you want to get Xiao Yao’s attention?” Xu Ningshuang asked one last time, unwilling to give up.

“Of course it’s because I love her,” Yu Zhezhi said without blinking an eye.