Chapter 4: You'll Pay for the Button

North of the Capital, the Sui family.

If the Xie family was the Capital's top-tier wealthy elite family, then the Sui family was at best second-rate.

Old Master Sui had started out in industry back in the day, then caught the good times. The family fortune was solid enough—in the eyes of ordinary people, an untouchable wealthy elite family.

But next to a capital giant like the Xie family, who controlled the lifeblood of the national economy at will, they were nothing worth mentioning.

The Sui family's biggest trait wasn't money—it was cowardice.

From top to bottom, old to young, the whole Sui family was famous for their good tempers.

Old Master Sui believed in "taking a loss is a blessing" when doing business. Two generations of Sui men never once raised their voices in the business world—when conflict came, they retreated if they could, endured if they could. Their whole philosophy was harmony breeds wealth.

The Capital business circle's private assessment was: the Sui family has everything going for them, except they're too timid to handle anything big.

At this moment, in the Sui family living room, the atmosphere was heavy as a funeral.

Sui Nuo sat on the sofa, clutching half a cup of cold grapefruit tea, her whole body shrunk behind a cushion with only half her face showing.

She was nineteen this year, and even cuter than in her photos.

A round little face with almond eyes, thick curled lashes, a nose with a slight fleshy tip, naturally pink lips—she looked like a fluffy little cub that made you want to reach out and pat her head.

But right now, this little cub's expression was pure confusion.

She'd just gotten home from school, hadn't even put down her backpack, and was stunned by the heavy atmosphere filling the room.

Her mom sat across from her, eyes red-rimmed, clearly just done crying.

Her dad sat beside her mom, looking guilty, eyes darting around, not daring to look at anyone.

Her older sister Sui Xu stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, hugging a pillow, knuckles white from gripping it, lips trembling slightly.

Sui Nuo blinked and asked cautiously, "Um... who died?"

Her mom, Mrs. Qin, slapped the coffee table with a smack—not loud, but in this quiet room it rang out especially sharp:

"Sui Yuanshan, you explain it to your daughter!"

Sui Nuo's father, Mr. Sui Yuanshan, forty-five years old, chairman of a listed company,

was currently sitting with his head down, hands on his knees, like a schoolboy called into the principal's office.

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and let out a sound like a small animal's whimper: "Woo..."

Mrs. Qin got even angrier: "What are you wooing for! Talk!"

Sui Yuanshan glanced up at his older daughter Sui Xu. Sui Xu immediately turned her face to the window, pretending to admire the scenery.

He glanced at his younger daughter Sui Nuo. Sui Nuo gave him a well-behaved smile—pure and harmless, like a freshly bloomed daisy.

Sui Yuanshan felt even guiltier.

"Nuo Nuo," he finally spoke, his voice carrying the tragic dignity of a man resigned to his fate,

"Dad has let you down."

Sui Nuo blinked: "Huh?"

"A few days ago... the Capital Chamber of Commerce held some kind of young entrepreneurs networking event, sent over a registration form, said each family should submit their eligible children's information, to make some... some 'Capital Socialite Compendium.'" Sui Yuanshan's voice got quieter with each word,

"I figured it was just a routine information collection, everyone would join, so I submitted both you and your sister's info."

Sui Xu turned from the window, her voice thin as a mosquito: "Mine too?"

Sui Yuanshan nodded.

Sui Xu's face paled, and the pillow in her arms was squeezed out of shape.

Mrs. Qin took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress her anger: "And then?"

"And then..." Sui Yuanshan swallowed,

"Today they got back to us. Said someone selected Nuo Nuo, told our family to prepare, to discuss marriage."

The living room went silent for a full five seconds.

The grapefruit tea cup in Sui Nuo's hand made a crack—her fingers had tightened and accidentally squeezed the plastic cup.

A small spurt of grapefruit tea shot out of the straw hole, splashing onto her cream-white dress.

She looked down, instinctively tried to wipe it, wiped twice before it registered what she'd just heard.

"What?" Her voice was soft and light, like stepping on cotton, "Marriage?"

Mrs. Qin's eyes went red again:

"I called to ask. They said it was the Xie family's choice.

The Xie family. That Xie family. You know the one, right?"

The pillow slipped from Sui Xu's hands.

Sui Nuo blinked twice, her brain still processing.

The Xie family. The Capital's Xie family. That Xie family? Of course she knew—everyone in the Capital knew the Xie family.

That family controlled assets that could buy half the city, with unshakable influence in both politics and business.

That was a true top-tier wealthy elite family—the kind of giant that second-rate families like the Sui family only ever saw in the news.

A family like that... chose her?

Sui Nuo's first reaction wasn't delight, wasn't flattery—it was: why?

She was the second daughter of a second-rate wealthy family. To date, she'd killed seventeen succulents. The one still alive wasn't doing well either—yellowing leaf tips. She was currently worrying about whether to repot it.

She couldn't even keep a succulent alive, and she was supposed to marry into the Xie family?

That didn't seem right.

"Mom," Sui Nuo's voice was soft and cottony,

"Could there be a mistake? Maybe someone with the same name?"

Mrs. Qin shook her head: "No mistake. They said it specifically—Sui Yuanshan of Sui Industries' second daughter, Sui Nuo, nineteen years old. They even sent the photo over."

Sui Nuo remembered. That photo was from when her mom forced her to go take it, said it was for some family archive. She'd even changed into a newly bought cardigan because the color was gentle and made her skin look fair.

She'd been nervous as hell during the shoot. The photographer told her to look at the camera, and she did—but she didn't know that to others, that look came across as timid, well-behaved, easy to handle.

She was just plain scared of cameras.

"The problem isn't whether there's a mistake,"

Mrs. Qin shot to her feet, pacing back and forth across the living room, her heels clicking sharply against the marble floor,

"The problem is, who gave you the right to submit your daughters' information? Sui Yuanshan, is your brain waterlogged?

You think you can just hand over information at an event like that? Don't you know it's essentially a matchmaking directory?"

Sui Yuanshan shrank his neck:

"I thought it was just routine information collection... everyone submitted... I didn't think I'd get selected..."

"You didn't think? There's plenty you didn't think of!

Last time you said you thought that financial product was principal-protected—how much did you lose?

The time before that, you said you thought that business partner was reliable—and the guy ran off with the money!

Sui Yuanshan, how many things have you 'thought' in your life? Don't you have any idea?"

Sui Yuanshan lowered his head even further, practically burying it in his knees.

Sui Xu quietly scooted from the window over to Sui Nuo's side. The two sisters sat shoulder to shoulder like two small animals huddling for warmth.

Sui Xu leaned close to Sui Nuo's ear and whispered, in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Nuo Nuo, do you think Mom's going through menopause?"

Sui Nuo whispered back: "Sis, keep it down. Mom's got sharp ears."

Mrs. Qin indeed heard. A knife-sharp glare flew over, and both sisters shrank their necks simultaneously.

Sui Yuanshan lifted his head. Suddenly, struck by divine inspiration, his eyes lit up: "How about... we run?"