"Name?"
"Su Xi."
"Age?"
"I just turned eighteen!"
In front of the Qin family mansion, Su Xi looked at the woman standing before her with a hint of fear. This woman was around forty, wearing black-framed glasses. Throughout the questioning, she maintained a very serious expression.
The woman glanced at Su Xi with a meaningful look, then casually took something from a box beside her and handed it to her, saying, "Go in."
Without a word, Su Xi quickly grabbed the object and walked past the woman towards the large hall. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably as she moved.
This was Jingyuan, the home of the big boss behind the Qin financial conglomerate—Qin Zhiyuan!
Mention Qin Zhiyuan, the wealthiest man in the world, and almost everyone would know of him. Rumour has it that he has a hot-tempered and bloodthirsty personality, is ugly, and sinister. Those who offended him met with ruin and death. Those who have seen his real face have not lived to tell the tale. Hence, people have nicknamed him "Underworld King."
A few days ago, an invitation from the Qin financial empire was delivered to the Su family. It implied that Qin Zhiyuan was seeking a wife, and that every family who received an invitation must send a daughter who is at least eighteen years old and a virgin.
Out of fear for his power, the unfortunate Su Xi was selected to join the "reserve wives" and participate in the seven-day wife-selection competition.
As soon as Su Xi entered the grand hall, she was startled by what she saw.
There were many beautiful women in the hall, dressed in beautiful gowns, adorned with dazzling jewelry, and wearing exquisite makeup. What was even more exaggerated was that some were even wearing white ballet shoes and performing ballet in the hall.
Su Xi, who had been extremely nervous moments before, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. With so many beautiful women on display, the "Underworld King" might be ugly, but he was certainly not blind. There was no way he would choose her.
Therefore, she decided to treat this entire journey as a "Seven-day tour of Jingyuan," filled with food, drink, and fun!
"Everyone, please quiet down!"
Hidden in a corner, completely overlooked, and daydreaming, Su Xi was jolted back to reality by the middle-aged woman's voice and followed the sound—
The woman with black-rimmed glasses who had been asking about everyone's background at the doorway was standing on the staircase. Seeing the attention of everyone shift to her, she nodded satisfactorily, then continued.
"Hello everyone, I am the host and chief judge of this wife-selection contest, you can call me Sister Liu. Enough of the small talk, let me tell you the rules of choosing a wife."
As Sister Liu spoke, she raised an item in her hand, "you should all have received your number plates, right?"
Number plates? Only then did Su Xi remember the item she had been given earlier. Her number plate was marked with the number '14', quite an unlucky number.
"The wife-selection contest will last for seven days, with corresponding inspection items each day. Based on your performances, scores will be given. The top three scorers will have the opportunity to meet our young master. It will be up to our young master to decide who is worthy to be the mistress of the Qin family!"
After allowing the women below to converse for a while, she coughed and said, "Tomorrow's competition will be a talent show and a poetry contest. You may prepare in advance."
Before her voice fell, the hall erupted into chaos. Su Xi sniffed, a talent show wouldn’t be a problem, but a poetry contest? It sounded nothing short of terrifying!
What era was this? Still have poetry contests, huh.
However, she didn’t know that something even more terrifying was yet to come.
The evening sun shone diagonally on the back hill of the tranquil garden, coating everything on the mountain with a golden halo.
"Qin Zhiyuan, what's the matter with you!"
Huh?
"What is he? Of course, he is a human!"
Qin Zhiyuan frowned slightly, gently closed the book in his hand, sat up and looked under the tree—a round head with a simple ponytail was the first thing that caught his eye.
The woman under the tree was Su Xi. She rubbed the red needle holes in her arm. The thought that the sole activity on the first day of the wife selection was a blood test filled her with indignation.
Even though Sister Liu explained that a woman with an illness could not be Qin Zhiyuan's wife, even if her score was high, Su Xi was still angry.
Her anger was so great that right after she had her blood drawn, she crossed the "Bridge of Helplessness" between the two villas in Jingyuan and came to the deserted hillside. She faced the vast sea and shouted angrily, completely oblivious to the fact that there was a man sitting in a giant tree next to her.
"Dammit, Qin Zhiyuan, why should others draw my blood? You're bloodthirsty, you can drink your own blood!!"
There was no one around, so she let loose with her scolding.
She didn't feel better after swearing, so she bent down to pick up a stone from the ground and threw it hard, as if she wanted to hit Qin Zhiyuan.
"Choosing a wife? Choosing your head! When people call you 'Lord of Hades', you actually take yourself as a king! You have the audacity to hold a wife selection meeting, even composing and responding to poems, which really makes me wonder what era you were born in, probably wearing ancient long robes and Mandarin jackets!"
While swearing, an image suddenly appeared in her mind of a man in a gray Mandarin jacket, wearing a pair of shabby glasses, and speaking in an outmoded style—
"Hahaha..." Su Xi was amused by her own imagination, she couldn't help it and started to laugh out loud, hugging her belly without concern for her image.
The man in the tree frowned even more, clenched his fists, and leaped down agilely!
The sudden noise frightened Su Xi into stopping her laughter abruptly. She turned around quickly, only to see a tall man with a silver mask on his face, revealing only a pair of icy eyes, was approaching step by step.
The shape and pattern of the silver mask were very unique. Under the setting sun, it shone like a specter, emitting a cold light, coupled with those icy eyes...
She couldn't help but shiver. A cold sweat broke out on her back. She stared at the man who was gradually approaching. Her body sensed danger from him, and her feet instinctively stepped back.
"Ah-"
Suxi had not realized she had already retreated to the edge of the mountain. Her foot went empty and with a chilling, shrill scream, her body uncontrollably fell down the mountain!
It was over! She was going to die!
She closed her eyes in despair...
Just in the nick of time, the man's figure moved swiftly forward, his large hand swooping in to clutch her mid-fall. He reeled back with her momentum, causing the tiny woman to crash hard into his chest.
The man regained his senses as if he'd been scalded and shoved her away with a touch that was a bit too forceful. Thankfully, he didn't push her far enough to tumble back down the mountain.
Still in shock, Suxi patted her chest heavily, taking several deep breaths before she could sufficiently recover. She finally lifted her head to look at the man standing not far away.
Even though she was scared, Suxi, out of courtesy, bit her lip and mustered up the courage to thank her savior. "Thank you!"
Qin Zhiyuan did not respond. He just stood there, looking down at her coldly. The setting sun stretched his shadow long across the ground, making his already tall frame appear even more imposing, giving off an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Seeing his displeasure, she misunderstood and rapidly explained, "I don't really hate your master as much as it seems. I just had blood drawn, and I was feeling agitated, so I came here to clear my mind. Please, don't be angry, okay?"
His left brow twitched a little before he finally spoke. His voice was as cold as if it came straight from the South Pole: "Who do you think I am?"
