C5 Then He Would Stop Pretending

Catching Lin Shuyu's gaze, Xia Ming was momentarily taken aback.

Had his secret been blown?

Had she figured him out? His wife was just too clever, wasn't she?

No point in pretending anymore!

"Yes, I am indeed a super-rich second generation! Truth is, my family is extremely wealthy. My allowance alone could buy a hundred of your family's companies... When it comes to wealth, nobody has more than me!" Xia Ming took a deep breath and earnestly confessed to Lin Shuyu.

Xia Ming had intended to keep things under wraps, but now that he'd been found out, he decided to come clean. After all, Lin Shuyu was his wife and was bound to uncover this secret sooner or later.

Lin Shuyu watched Xia Ming's earnest demeanor for a full three seconds before bursting into laughter. "You? A super-rich second generation, scion of a wealthy family? Don't make me laugh! However, I am genuinely surprised that you managed to get a wealthy classmate to invest in the company. We should invite your classmate to dinner soon to express our gratitude properly!"

She didn't believe him?

Xia Ming felt a twinge of frustration as he touched his nose. He was telling the absolute truth!

The Xia family was the most powerful family on Earth, and Xia Ming was the legitimate young master. Although he had an older brother, his brother was too naive, and their grandfather had long decided that the family business wasn't suited for him.

Thus, Xia Ming was effectively the sole heir to the Xia family.

A temporary allowance of ten billion yuan was nothing to him!

And she didn't believe him?

Well then!

It looked like he had to keep up the facade of being poor a while longer.

"Come on, no more daydreaming! Now that the company's financial issues are resolved, let's go shopping for a couple of outfits! But just to be clear, we're not spending more than ten thousand yuan. We may have weathered the storm, but that's no excuse for extravagance!" Lin Shuyu's spirits were lifted with the resolution of the company's crisis, and she instinctively reached out and linked her arm with Xia Ming's.

This was an unprecedented gesture!

Even though Lin Shuyu had been living with Xia Ming since she was fifteen, her feelings for him weren't particularly strong.

Her marriage to Xia Ming was more a fulfillment of her grandfather's wishes than anything else.

Over the past three years, Xia Ming had never pressured Lin Shuyu into anything, and she had never initiated any intimate contact with him.

Xia Ming had nothing but respect for Lin Shuyu!

"Uh, Shuyu, what are you doing?" Xia Ming halted and glanced meaningfully at his arm.

Lin Shuyu's cheeks turned a shade of pink as she turned and playfully chided, "What's wrong? Can't I link arms with my own husband?" After a brief pause, she faced Xia Ming earnestly. "Xia Ming, thank you! Back at the KTV, you stood up for me so fiercely. It really moved me, and it even cost you your job... How about you come work at my company starting tomorrow?"

Women are indeed enigmatic beings. Their emotions can be hard to decipher; a trivial matter might deeply touch them.

Yet, just as easily, a minor incident could spark their ire!

Seeing Lin Shuyu's expression, Xia Ming realized that the once impenetrable door to her heart had begun to open. He knew he had to keep striving to fully win over Lin Shuyu's heart.

"No, I think I'm better suited to the KTV job! Don't worry, I'll have a classmate speak to the KTV boss. I'm sure I can continue working there!" Xia Ming reassured Lin Shuyu with tenderness.

Lin Shuyu didn't press the issue further, simply conceding, "Okay then, as you wish!"

Together, they selected two dresses for Lin Shuyu at the mall, and she reciprocated by buying two T-shirts for Xia Ming. Hand in hand, they left the mall.

Xia Ming was carrying the clothes in his left hand and the earrings he had purchased for his grandmother in his right, as they headed towards the parking lot.

Out of nowhere, a man sporting a cap and a mask charged from the side, brandishing a steel pipe and aiming it at Lin Shuyu.

Xia Ming's gaze hardened as he swiftly turned and shielded Lin Shuyu in his embrace, ready to take the blow on his back. "Watch out, honey!"

The steel pipe grazed Lin Shuyu's body and came crashing down, but thankfully, she was unharmed. The cap-wearing assailant, having missed his target, smugly flipped the middle finger at Xia Ming and Lin Shuyu before leaping into an unmarked van and vanishing without a trace.

"You're insane!" Xia Ming released Lin Shuyu and blurted out a curse, "Wife, are you okay?"

It was the second time Xia Ming had put his life on the line to save her. Lin Shuyu's eyes brimmed with tears as she gazed at him. "I'm fine, darling!"

Deep down, Lin Shuyu had been reluctant to marry Xia Ming.

He was unremarkable in appearance, an orphan with no apparent significant talents – the type to go unnoticed in a crowd. Lin Shuyu had felt it was a slight to be married to him.

Yet today, after Xia Ming had repeatedly risked his life for her, she felt deeply moved.

Throughout their three-year marriage, Lin Shuyu hadn't allowed Xia Ming to lay a finger on her, and he never uttered a word of complaint. Reflecting on it now, she realized how unfair she had been to him.

She resolved to be kinder to him!

"Thank goodness you're safe!" Xia Ming released Lin Shuyu and straightened the tote bag in his hand. His face turned pale when he noticed the fallen gift bag, "Oh no, Grandma's gift!"

Lin Shuyu's brow furrowed in concern.

That was a million yuan!

Now, with only a little over two hundred thousand yuan in savings, Lin Shuyu couldn't afford to replace the earrings with another million yuan!

The once beautifully packaged box was now a tattered mess.

In that moment, Xia Ming and Lin Shuyu realized the truth: the man's attack on Lin Shuyu was a ruse, and the real target had been the earrings.

Xia Ming picked up the ruined box to find the exquisite jade pendants inside shattered into fragments, none left whole.

"Damn it, it's definitely that scoundrel Lin Feng's doing!" Lin Shuyu exclaimed in anger, stamping her foot on the ground.

A fierce look flashed in Xia Ming's eyes. Lin Feng was truly despicable.

Before Xia Ming could respond, a blue BMW pulled up with a screech.

Lin Feng leaned out of the car window, feigning shock at the sight of the shattered box in Xia Ming's hands, "Oh, brother-in-law, what a shame. Did you just break the earrings you bought? Oh dear, how unfortunate. I just told Grandma you got her a pair of million-yuan earrings. You've been so careless. She's going to be heartbroken tomorrow..."

"You... despicable, shameless! You must have been the one to send someone to sabotage the earrings, am I right?" Lin Shuyu's face was livid with rage.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was likely Lin Feng. Who else would have a reason to tamper with a gift box?

Lin Feng drummed his fingers on the car door. "Sister, how could you accuse your own brother like that? I was just showing a little concern for you... Haha, it's only a million, isn't it? Aren't you the CEO of the company? You better start making more deals quickly, or you might not have the chance later on..."

As his words hung in the air, Lin Feng floored the accelerator, and the car sped off with a roar.

Xia Ming furrowed his brow, turning to his wife. "Honey, there's more to Lin Feng's words than meets the eye. Wasn't the company's crisis averted? How come you might not be CEO anymore?"