Chapter 3: Departure

After packing her luggage, Cheng Yiyi was ready to leave.

She didn’t like dragging things out. Getting things done as soon as possible was her style.

“Mom, Dad, aren’t you coming along?”

“We’re not going,” her mother answered. “They did invite us over the phone, but no matter how you look at it, your father and I are outsiders.”

“I wasn’t planning to go either. I still have work,” her father chimed in. “This trip is also a good chance for you to practice being independent.”

“Once you’re inside the Shen family, try to get in touch with Shen Anyue. She seems to be my biological daughter. If you get the chance, take a photo and bring it back. I’d really like to see what she looks like.”

“Mm, okay.”

She agreed, but Cheng Yiyi didn’t feel confident at all.

From what she knew, most rich girls had bad tempers and were spoiled since childhood. They were hard to talk to.

Even worse, Shen Anyue was the only daughter of the Shen family, with three older brothers. She had definitely been the center of attention her whole life.

Besides, she had watched the news and had a rough idea of how the big families in the capital operated.

It was said that someone had merely pestered Shen Anyue for two and a half minutes, and her brother had beaten his legs until they broke…

At the thought, Cheng Yiyi shuddered.

“It’s getting late, let’s go.”

Her mother gave her head an affectionate pat. “Someone will come to pick you up at our door soon, then you’ll transfer to a plane…”

Her mother rambled on.

She stressed a lot of things to be careful about.

She also warned Cheng Yiyi not to be fooled by men outside. Many boys were just liars.

But this mother didn’t realize that she had never emphasized to her daughter the distance between them. (At first glance, this sentence seems off. But look closer… it’s even worse than it looks.)

Before long, her father received the call from earlier again.

After a brief exchange, he put his phone away. “Go on out. Someone is already waiting for you downstairs.”

Cheng Chengyuan didn’t doubt what the other party said. Because just now, a large sum of money had mysteriously appeared in his bank account.

During the conversation, the other party had also made it clear that this was the payment for Cheng Yiyi’s upbringing.

It wasn’t meant to sever ties with the family. It was simply a way to express gratitude.

“What is this, a convertible?”

When Cheng Yiyi glanced sideways, she caught the eye of a strange man beneath the carport.

“Miss.” Li Zhiheng had already seen her photo in advance, so he naturally recognized the person in front of him at a glance.

He walked over, looked her over, then gave a slight nod. From his expression, he was quite satisfied.

“You do share some resemblance with the master and madame. Looking at this, there shouldn’t be any mistake.”

“By the way.”

“My name is Li Zhiheng.”

“I serve as the steward.”

“Our itinerary is to go to the private airport, then fly directly to the capital.”

“Miss, is there anything you still need to take care of?”

“If so, I can accompany you.”

“But I hope you won’t spend too much time, otherwise some matters won’t be settled by the time we arrive in the capital.”

Steward Li’s tone was gentle, and his attitude toward Cheng Yiyi was respectful. There was not a hint of condescension toward this girl from an ordinary background.

“I’m fine. Let’s go directly.”

“Very well, please get in.”

Li Zhiheng opened the car door and placed her luggage in the trunk himself.

He had his reasons for driving a convertible this time.

It wasn’t to show off wealth. He just worried the real heiress might get carsick. With the top down, the air would flow and ease the symptoms.

The drive went smoothly along the way.

No other cars on the road dared to cut in.

The car Steward Li was driving was obviously worth a fortune.

If you cut someone off, you’d bear full responsibility, and insurance wouldn’t cover it.

Even a light scratch could leave you with a loan bigger than a mortgage.

So nobody was stupid enough to try.

Even the cars following behind kept a safe distance.

“Shen… Miss Cheng.”

“I’d like to ask you something. Of course, whether you answer is entirely up to you.”

“Also, I won’t ask anything too private, so if possible, please tell me the truth.”

“Go ahead and ask.”

Cheng Yiyi sat in the passenger seat and loosened her seatbelt a little.

Honestly, the belt was wedged between two mountains, making it hard for her to breathe.

Her size wasn’t small, so the seatbelt was hard to manage.

Any higher and it would choke her neck.

Any lower and it wouldn’t protect her.

So all she could do was loosen the seatbelt.

Other than that, there was no choice.

She couldn’t exactly risk her own safety.

“Since you are the biological child of the Shen family, the Shens are worried that you might be a person of bad character.”

“For that reason, we conducted a background check on you in advance. Please don’t mind.”

“It’s fine. If I were in their shoes, I’d do the same investigation.” Cheng Yiyi watched the scenery racing backward outside the window, her heart full of mixed feelings.

She had never left this city since she was born.

She had even thought her first departure would be to go far away and work.

Because her grandparents’ generation hadn’t been very supportive of her schooling.

So she had never imagined she’d have the chance to step through a university’s door.

But the most unexpected thing was that this time, she was leaving her hometown as the daughter of the Shen family…

At that thought, Cheng Yiyi rubbed her head in frustration.

Even though her grades were good, it didn’t mean she didn’t like novels.

The thought that the plots from those novels were about to happen to her gave her a headache.

“Have you… ever been in a relationship?”

Beside her, Li Zhiheng asked in a tentative tone.

Whether someone has been in a relationship is something you can’t find out from a background check.

Some people date through all of high school and keep it hidden even from their own classmates.

Although Cheng Yiyi didn’t look like someone who had been in a relationship, Li Zhiheng still had to ask.

Honestly, he was afraid Cheng Yiyi might be something like a player.

You should know, Cheng Yiyi’s three biological brothers were all very handsome.

They were the kind of handsome that, even if you casually tossed them out on the street, a rich woman would find and keep them.

With that kind of looks, it was hard for any normal woman not to be tempted.

Plus, Cheng Yiyi had never lived with them day and night. In fact, since they had never met, the genes that prevent close relatives from falling in love might not be very effective.

This kind of thing concerned the family’s honor.

The Shen family absolutely, absolutely, absolutely must not have any incest happen!

“Never been in one.”

Cheng Yiyi stared out the window and answered quickly.

Steward Li, still fairly young at over thirty, was incredibly good at reading people.

He could tell at a glance that Cheng Yiyi was telling the truth, and that she didn’t seem to care much about this kind of question.

“Then may I ask, why don’t you date?”

“Is it because you haven’t found a man to your liking?”

“I simply don’t want to.” Cheng Yiyi answered as quickly as ever. “Those guys are dumb, with even dumber heads. Just looking at them makes me feel gross.”

Cheng Yiyi wasn’t attacking all the boys in her class indiscriminately. She was just stating the facts.

The high school she attended wasn’t a key school, and her class wasn’t even a top class.

Because key schools were expensive.

Even in a regular high school’s top class, there were always extra lessons, and those fees were too expensive.

Put simply, Cheng Yiyi’s family didn’t have much money.

Besides, China’s education pressure was already seriously over the top. Cheng Yiyi didn’t need extra classes or top-tier teachers to show off her talent.

She simply stayed at the top of her grade in her ordinary class and collected scholarships.

Because the class she was in wasn’t good, the people around her didn’t look like they were studying. All day long, they were dating and playing on their phones.

A mixed bag… actually, no, a mix of worms and snakes. There was no one worth trusting.

Some even smoked, drank, and went to bars.

Would Cheng Yiyi ever fancy someone like that?

Impossible!

Even if there were some decent people, Cheng Yiyi still didn’t like them.

How to put it?

Anyway, she just wasn’t interested.

“Oh…”

Li Zhiheng’s anxious heart finally settled down.

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