The sound of high heels landing on the carpet was muffled.

The noon sunlight filtered through the smart fogged glass, becoming a soft, high-grade diffused light.

Secretary Jin stopped behind the spacious desk.

Her gaze first swept lightly over the suitcase under the desk, then lingered for a moment on the slightly childish cartoon keychain hanging from it, the corners of her lips curving upward.

She did not touch the suitcase.

Instead, she took out a delicate, small velvet square box from the black handbag she carried.

She placed it gently in the most conspicuous spot on the desktop.

After doing this, she circled out from behind the desk.

Her fingertips slid slowly along the edge of the entire dark-colored bookshelf, producing a faint rustling sound.

After walking halfway around, she stopped before a seemingly solid wall panel.

She pressed the sensor area hidden within the wood grain pattern and pushed hard.

The door opened inward.

Secretary Jin paused at the doorway for a moment before stepping inside.

The light inside the suite was much dimmer than outside.

The heavy blackout curtains were mostly drawn, leaving only a crack that let in a sliver of sunlight.

A faint scent of perfume floated in the air.

Hearing the noise, the person on the bed had already sat up.

A khaki-colored long trench coat was casually tossed on the nearby sofa.

At this moment, Su Yu was only wearing an extremely form-fitting long dress, large patches of snowy, smooth skin glowing faintly in the dim light.

That face, even in this just-awakened, languid state, was still breathtakingly, defiantly beautiful.

The moment her gaze fell on the visitor, Su Yu's eyes instantly cleared.

She sneered coldly, "Why are you here?"

Secretary Jin closed the door behind her.

The door lock engaged with a soft click.

She wasn't in a hurry to answer, just slowly approached, coming to the bedside, looking down at the actress on the bed.

"Can't I come?"

"Knowing full well someone is resting inside, yet barging in recklessly." Su Yu's tone was drawn out, carrying undisguised sarcasm. "Is this your level of etiquette, Director Jin?"

Secretary Jin looked at her quietly, her expression unchanged. "If it were someone else inside, of course I would observe the most basic courtesy. But since it's you, I don't think it's necessary."

"Oh?" Su Yu's eyebrows arched high, exaggerated surprise rippling in her amber eyes. "I didn't realize I was so intimate with you, Director Jin? I'm truly flattered."

"Although I'm not very willing to admit it, in fact, we are indeed very intimate, aren't we? After all, we share the same man."

Su Yu froze, not reacting for a moment.

In her impression, Jin Meixiao was absolutely not the kind of person who would say such things.

But she quickly regained her composure, a playful and slightly deranged smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah. So it seems, we really are close, inseparable sisters. Maybe one day..." She deliberately paused, her gaze drifting provocatively upward. "...we'll even serve him together? Just thinking about it, I'm so looking forward to it."

"Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?" Secretary Jin's voice remained steady, betraying no emotion.

"Didn't you say we're very close?" Su Yu slowly rose from the bed, kneeling on the soft mattress, tilting her face up to look at her, her posture as alluring as possible. "Given our relationship, isn't it normal to chat about topics related to our shared man?"

"I just wonder if the famous Ms. Smile, when it really comes to that, would also twist her waist, sway her hips, kneel and beg like this actress..."

Her voice deliberately trailed off, her eyes filled with a kind of frantic delight.

All these years, she had been suppressed too brutally by Jin Meixiao's rules; that hatred was etched into her bones.

She wanted to see Jin Meixiao lose control, wanted to see this exquisite mask crack, wanted to see her fly into a rage from shame.

However.

It didn't happen.

Secretary Jin looked at her, at the deeply buried hatred in her eyes.

Suddenly, she let out a light laugh.

Su Yu's smile stiffened on her face, her brows furrowing. "What are you laughing at?"

Secretary Jin tilted her head slightly. "What I'm laughing at is the feeling that I seem to be very important in your heart. There's a psychological effect called 'reaction formation.' Great hatred often resembles love. Your every move towards me is filled with excessive attention and intense emotional reactions. You know what? In psychological profiling, your kind of behavior could indicate a bit of an obsession with me."

"..."

Su Yu's eye twitched violently twice, looking as disgusted as if she'd swallowed a fly.

"Jin Meixiao, have you gone mad? I never thought you could be so full of yourself!"

"I'm stating an objective possibility."

Secretary Jin ignored her insults, even elegantly turned and sat down directly on the edge of the bed beside her.

The mattress sank slightly under her weight.

Su Yu, as if electrocuted, instinctively shrank back.

"As for what you just said, those so-called bedroom performances, kneeling, begging for mercy. I don't think there's anything shameful about that, or anything that can be used as a weapon against me."

"We're all adults, all women. I also have desires, I also have reactions."

She paused, the corner of her mouth curling into a playful smile. "Oh, right... if you said that to Ms. Ouyang, she would definitely lose her composure."

"Hah, you—"

Su Yu opened her mouth, but was momentarily speechless.

This punch landed on cotton.

She had never dealt with a Jin Meixiao like this before; the contrast with the rigid, cold-blooded she-devil in her memory was too great.

Secretary Jin reached out, her fingertips lightly hooking the fallen shoulder strap of Su Yu's dress, pulling it back into place.

Covering that tempting expanse of snowy white.

"Get dressed properly. Even though there are no outsiders here, as his woman, as a public figure, you still need to maintain some decorum."

Su Yu looked at her hand, snorted softly, sat up straight somewhat irritably, and brushed her hand away. "Stop pretending to be kind. Just say it, what exactly did you come here for?"

"To give Tang Song a birthday gift."

"Didn't you already give him that suit?"

"That was just an excuse to go see him."

"You're quite honest."

"I've always been this way."

Su Yu sneered, her eyes full of mockery. "Then don't tell me you didn't know I was here before you came."

"I guessed." Secretary Jin's tone was casual. "Knowing you came to Xuanji Optical World early, I guessed you'd come here."

"Hah, you know me that well?"

"Otherwise?" Secretary Jin raised her eyes, her gaze calm as water. "Having suppressed you for so many years, having studied you inside and out... how much do you think I don't understand you?"

Su Yu's face instantly darkened, her teeth gritted. "Jin Meixiao! What exactly do you want to say? If you're here to reminisce or show off, I'm not interested. Just seeing you makes me sick."

"Weren't you just wanting to share a husband with me? Sick of it so quickly?"

"..."

Su Yu's breath hitched, choked into silence.

Secretary Jin didn't continue to press, reined in her smile, and changed the subject. "You did very well with the Qing Ning matter this time."

Su Yu was taken aback, then laughed. "Stop being so full of yourself. What I do has nothing to do with you. I did it for Tang Song. Do I need your approval?"

"Of course you do." Secretary Jin looked at her, her voice clear. "Because this is the admission ticket."

"Hah." Su Yu turned her head away, a look of disdain on her face. "Narcissist, do you really think you're the principal wife, and I have to serve you tea to enter the household?"

"The Tangjin Family Office. Do you want to join?"

Su Yu's pupils contracted, her breathing instantly becoming rapid.

But she still forced herself to maintain her pride, sneering coldly. "I'm already an LP of the Pan-Entertainment Fund now. Once Xingyun International Group goes public and Tang Entertainment expands, I'll naturally have that qualification. I don't need you to bestow it upon me."

"Is that so?" Secretary Jin chuckled softly. "Su Yu, you're considered half a person in the capital circle. You should understand that LPs are just investors, they're on the periphery. Even if you go all the way down that path, at most you'll join as an external member."

"Just like those top think tank members we absorb. They look glamorous, but in reality, they can be replaced at any time."

Su Yu bit her lower lip. "What exactly do you want from me?"

Jin Meixiao was right.

These two ways of joining were worlds apart.

One was a core decision-maker, the other a high-level employee.

If she were just an LP.

In terms of future influence, she might not even compare to Tian Jing, who manages property assets.

Let alone stand on equal footing with Jin Meixiao.

"Want from you..." Secretary Jin repeated her words, suddenly reaching out and gently stroking that breathtakingly beautiful face. "I didn't expect you to be so afraid of me."

Su Yu's amber eyes instantly flickered.

The next second, the actress mode was fully activated.

Her eyes instantly became pitiful and vulnerable, her body trembling slightly.

"Jin Meixiao, what are you doing... want to hit me?"

"If you dare... go ahead and try right now..."

Her eyes were already brimming with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"If you lay a hand on me, Tang Song... he will definitely, definitely protect me!"

Secretary Jin watched her performance quietly.

No anger, no mockery.

Just leisurely appreciating it.

After waiting a while, seeing Su Yu had cried enough and the drama in her eyes had reached its climax.

She nodded appreciatively. "That act was really well done. Truly worthy of a national-level actress. I suggest you slap yourself hard across the face right now. That way, the effect would be more realistic, and Tang Song might actually believe it."

"Thank you for the compliment." Su Yu's tear-streaked face instantly smoothed over, reverting to that cold, glamorous demeanor. "However, when we're in bed, he always praises my acting too. When the passion gets intense, he even can't help but slap me."

Secretary Jin's expression became slightly unnatural. "I'm not interested in the things between you and him."

"Oh?" Su Yu tilted her head, a touch more playfulness in her eyes. "Is it that you're not interested, or that you haven't tasted the meat yet and are afraid listening will make you crave it?"

The two looked at each other for a moment.

Secretary Jin directly changed the subject. "Su Yu, do you know why I've been suppressing you all these years?"

"Of course I know." Su Yu's gaze turned sharp. "Because I was the only woman, besides Liu Qingning, that he truly felt something for during those years. The songs and scripts he wrote for me came from the heart."

"You were jealous. You could also sense that the real him, the one hiding in another space, truly liked me, right?"

Secretary Jin's lips pressed together, not denying it. "Of course that's part of the reason, but it's not the main one."

"Oh?" Su Yu leaned closer, her eyes seductive as a siren. "Could it be that you actually like me? Because I love Tang Song, so you deliberately kept me from getting close to him? There's a similar plot in a script I read recently, very interesting."

"Watch less of those messy, perverse scripts."

"It was written by Xu Qing. I'll pass on your critique to her later."

Secretary Jin raised an eyebrow. "You're so boring."

"You're so dull."

"Is this interesting?"

"Is it not interesting?"

"Can you please stop constantly changing the subject?"

"What exactly do you want to tell me?"

Secretary Jin took a deep breath. "Not wanting to see you was his own decision back then. And I was merely executing his will, preventing you from causing irreversible consequences due to losing control and going crazy."

The light in Su Yu's eyes dimmed.

Of course she knew Jin Meixiao was actually talking about the other "Tang Song."

It was during the long years of pursuit afterward that she slowly came to understand all this.

If she had really charged forward recklessly back then, the consequences would indeed have been unimaginable.

Waiting until the madness in her eyes subsided a bit, Secretary Jin continued. "You may have many flaws—being crazy, uncontrollable, emotional. But you have one greatest strength. Your feelings for Tang Song are indeed deep enough, and pure enough."

"Do I need your affirmation for that?" Su Yu snorted coldly. "In this world, no one loves him more than I do."

"I won't argue with you about who loves whom more. But, regarding the potential hidden danger of your good ally, Ouyang Xianyue, with your intelligence, you must have already figured it out. How confident are you about the purity of her feelings?"

"Sister Xianyue is at least more reliable than you, and has more humanity."

"Is that so?" The corner of Secretary Jin's mouth curled into a sarcastic arc. "Then you probably don't know. Just last month, under the pretext of inspecting a project in Quancheng, she secretly went to see Tang Song's parents."

"What? She went to see Tang Song's parents?" Su Yu abruptly turned her head.

"Of course she wouldn't tell you about this. That's the kind of person she is. Hypocritical, yet extremely adept at self-justification. Her true intentions are never displayed openly, yet her actions run deeper than anyone else's. Furthermore, she has already begun planning to bind the core interests of Tang Yi Precision more deeply with her own resource system. Family line, industry line, emotional line—all advancing simultaneously."

Su Yu's face slowly darkened.

She understood Ouyang Xianyue's identity and situation very well.

The noble lady stood at the high ground where aristocratic families and capital intersected; she could neither easily show weakness nor rashly declare her love.

And this made it very difficult for her to compete with others for Tang Song.

So, caught in a dilemma, she could only find another path, taking that seemingly most traditional, most stable, yet actually most scheming family route.

Win the family first, then win the position, finally win the person.

It was an extremely clever case of overtaking on a curve.

But the potential hidden danger of doing this was simply too great.

Because once she entered the core of Tang Song's family.

With Ouyang Xianyue's skills honed over years in wealthy family politics, she would subtly and imperceptibly complete a comprehensive infiltration and encirclement of Tang Song's life.

And the real Tang Song, deep down, was a very warm, very family-oriented person.

Easily influenced by emotions.

The light in Su Yu's eyes gradually dimmed.

And what made her feel even more uneasy was...

And in her heart, there was still a knot that had never been untied.

That was Ouyang Xianyue's attitude towards her late, deceased husband.

Whenever the topic touched upon him, Ouyang Xianyue always instinctively dodged, evaded, and was reticent.

What did that mean? Unforgettable old feelings? Or a guilty conscience?

Su Yu couldn't tell.

Seeing her expression soften, Secretary Jin naturally softened her tone.

"You've seen it too. Tang Song has personally stationed himself at Xuanji Optical World. As the Tangjin System's strategy advances, the weight of Tang Yi Precision will only increase."

"That's not just an industrial layout. The subsequent industry fund will fully bet on AI computing power, underlying infrastructure, and industrial integration revolving around the large model ecosystem."

"The Stellar Convergence you've built over the years is quite good. It's clear you have talent in investing."

"Next."

Secretary Jin stood up, straightening her clothes.

"Find an opportunity to have Wen Ruan formally propose at the executive committee, nominating you to join the Tangjin Family Office. Once the proposal passes, the special fund related to the crossover between entertainment and AI will be placed under your full responsibility."

Her gaze was calm, yet meaningful.

"The rest, I don't need to teach you, right?"

Su Yu looked up, dangerous light flickering in her amber eyes.

"You want me to infiltrate her?"

"Not just infiltrate. Also keep an eye on her. I believe you wouldn't allow her to betray Tang Song either, right?"

Su Yu didn't answer immediately.

In that instant, she suddenly understood many things.

Why all these years, Jin Meixiao had subjected her to almost ruthless, all-around suppression in public and in business strategy?

In fact, without this she-devil's forceful intervention.

If she could have leveraged some of the Tangjin network, even the help of people like Wu Kezhi and Zheng Qiudong...

The scale of Tang Entertainment and Stellar Convergence Investments would have been several times what it is now long ago.

That wasn't simple suppression.

That was deliberate shaping.

Precisely because she was targeted, she won Ouyang Xianyue's deepest empathy and support.

Their "best friend bond" was bound and strengthened bit by bit in the process of opposing Jin Meixiao, this "common enemy."

All these years, Ouyang Xianyue had made many efforts to help her.

Constantly competing with Jin Meixiao behind the scenes.

Even clashing verbally multiple times in meetings over her joining the Tangjin Family Office.

In Ouyang Xianyue's script.

Su Yu was her own person, hand-raised by her, a card sharpened to a razor's edge by Jin Meixiao yet left with nowhere to turn, a natural ally.

She had fame, capital operation ability, sufficient public image and voice.

And all these years, the tragic aura of being repeatedly excluded time and again.

This meant she naturally carried a kind of legitimacy.

If she entered the Tangjin Family Office through Wen Ruan's nomination.

In terms of organizational structure and psychological identification, she would logically be categorized into the faction led by Ouyang Xianyue.

Ouyang Xianyue wouldn't just not guard against her; on the contrary, to solidify her camp and oppose Jin Meixiao, she would actively give more trust and resource allocation.

Let her participate in core projects.

Let her have decision-making power, voting rights.

Let her stand at a true power node.

This was a move prepared long ago.

Jin Meixiao had been waiting for today.

Now the hidden danger on Liu Qingning's side had been completely removed.

She had also gotten her wish and taken the final step with Tang Song.

Tang Song was about to formally appear on the front stage.

The chess game had entered the critical endgame stage.

Having figured all this out.

Su Yu slowly stood up.

She stepped barefoot on the soft wool carpet, walking step by step until she stood before Jin Meixiao.

Only half a meter separated them.

Their breaths were audible.

She raised her head, looking directly into those deep, unfathomable eyes.

"Jin Meixiao."

"You are truly terrifying."

"And truly detestable."

Secretary Jin didn't refute, just looked at her quietly.

Su Yu took a deep breath and continued. "Emotionally, I will still be hostile to you, dislike you. But when it comes to matters concerning the family office, I'm willing to cooperate with you. This isn't me opposing Sister Xianyue; it's just to hedge risks. I also won't truly stand on your side."

After a long silence.

Secretary Jin finally spoke, her voice carrying much more warmth. "I don't need you to like me, nor do I need you to understand me. I only need you to stand on the correct side, and that side, from beginning to end, has been him. Whatever he decides is correct."

Su Yu looked at her, the hatred in her eyes fading bit by bit, finally transforming into a complex smile.

"Jin Meixiao. I've discovered that you are actually also a complete and utter love-struck fool."

"It's not as superficial as you think. His significance to me far exceeds the 'emotion' as you understand it."

"Enough already. In my view, this is just being a love-struck fool."

"If you insist on thinking that way, then..."

Before she could finish.

A fragrant breeze carrying scents of sea salt and roses swept over her.

Su Yu took a step forward, opened her arms, and embraced her.

Secretary Jin seemed unprepared; her hands, originally hanging naturally at her sides, paused slightly, hovering in mid-air.

The air was quiet for a moment.

Those hands slowly came down, gently returning the embrace on her back, then letting go.

After seven years.

Between them, there was finally another embrace.

Su Yu stepped back half a step.

Her gaze fell on that familiar face.

Her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to 2017.

Their first meeting was also such a measured embrace.

Polite, restrained, yet laced with hidden barbs.

Back then.

She was the "Secretary Jin" in his mouth.

She was the "actress" in his mouth.

"Watch less of those messy, perverse scripts."

Occasionally, she would even proactively send gifts to the other party, or have a meal together.

"It was written by Xu Qing. I'll pass on your critique to her later."

During those years of trying to touch every corner of his world.

Secretary Jin raised an eyebrow. "You're so boring."

They indeed once could be considered friends.