The top floor of Lu Group Tower overlooked nearly all of Cloud City.
Floor-to-ceiling windows stretched from one end of the executive office to the other, revealing a skyline bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun.
Unlike the extravagant offices of other CEOs, this one was almost austere.
Dark walnut shelves.
A single bonsai.
A calligraphy scroll that simply read:
Patience Wins.
The only sound was the rhythmic turning of paper.
Behind the massive desk sat a man whose presence alone seemed capable of lowering the room's temperature.
Lu Jingshen.
At twenty-nine years old, he had transformed Lu Group from one of the city's five great families into the undisputed leader of commercial development.
He wasn't famous because he was wealthy.
He was famous because he almost never lost.
Negotiations.
Investments.
Auctions.
Hostile acquisitions.
His record bordered on unbelievable.
One wrong prediction could cost billions.
He simply didn't make them.
A knock sounded at the office door.
"Enter."
The door opened quietly.
His executive assistant, Xu Chen, stepped inside carrying a black folder.
"There has been an update regarding Parcel E-17."
Lu Jingshen didn't look up.
"The western consortium?"
"No."
"The Shen family?"
"No."
"The Qin family?"
"They've increased their reserve fund, but that's expected."
Only then did Lu Jingshen lift his eyes.
Xu Chen had worked for him for nearly six years.
He knew that expression.
Something unexpected had happened.
"What is it?"
Xu Chen placed the folder on the desk.
"Our monitoring team flagged an unusual registration inquiry this afternoon."
Lu Jingshen opened the file.
"A university student?"
"Yes."
He turned another page.
"Sang Yaoyao."
"Age twenty-one."
"Business Administration and Finance student."
"Current intern at Xinghe Group."
The room fell silent.
Xu Chen waited.
Normally the report would have been dismissed immediately.
Students researched auctions all the time.
But not this auction.
Not E-17.
Not after seven years of preparation.
"What drew your attention?"
Xu Chen answered honestly.
"Nothing at first."
"But she spent over three hours in the Municipal Planning Archive today."
Lu Jingshen's fingers paused.
"Doing what?"
"Researching transportation proposals."
"Land records."
"Historical infrastructure plans."
"Utility corridors."
Every answer made the silence heavier.
Xu Chen continued.
"She requested documents most professional investors never think to ask for."
A faint smile tugged at one corner of Lu Jingshen's mouth.
The first smile Xu Chen had seen all week.
"Interesting."
⸻
Several moments later...
Lu Jingshen stood before the enormous city map covering one wall of his office.
Red pins marked dozens of properties.
Roads.
Warehouses.
Factories.
Vacant lots.
Together they formed a pattern.
A pattern no outsider had successfully deciphered.
Until now.
"She found the corridor."
Xu Chen nodded.
"We believe so."
Lu Jingshen folded his arms.
"Most investors look at the land."
"They never study movement."
"Cities don't become valuable because of buildings."
"They become valuable because of how people move through them."
His finger rested on Parcel E-17.
"This..."
"...is the city's future front door."
⸻
At that same moment...
Across town...
Yaoyao stepped out of the archive building.
The evening breeze carried the scent of rain.
General stretched lazily.
"So..."
"Did smart books help?"
She smiled.
"They helped me realize how much I still don't know."
General blinked.
"That's...good?"
"It means I have room to grow."
Mochi floated proudly beside her.
"My host is becoming terrifying."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should."
⸻
Back inside Lu Group Tower...
Xu Chen hesitated.
"There is one more thing."
"Hm?"
"Our background investigation."
He handed over another report.
"Her financial records don't make sense."
Lu Jingshen looked down.
Scholarship income.
Part-time work.
Internship stipend.
Everything appeared ordinary.
Until...
Three recent deposits.
Twenty-one thousand eight hundred sixty-four yuan.
Three hundred thirty-seven thousand one hundred forty yuan.
No identifiable employer.
No loans.
No inheritance.
No investment profits.
Xu Chen frowned.
"We've verified the transactions are legal."
"But we can't determine their source."
Lu Jingshen closed the folder.
"Then don't."
Xu Chen blinked.
"...Sir?"
"Money has many explanations."
"Character has only one."
He walked back toward his desk.
"What interests me isn't where the money came from."
"It's why she looked at E-17."
⸻
Elsewhere...
Inside the Ye Estate...
The family dining room was unusually lively.
Chairman Ye set down his newspaper.
"So..."
"Our youngest almost failed another driving test."
Ye Jing'an sighed dramatically.
"The instructor lacks vision."
"The instructor values survival."
Ye Yichen laughed into his tea.
Ye Chengzhou barely looked up from the financial report in front of him.
Across the table...
Madam Ye remained strangely distracted.
She barely touched her meal.
Her gaze drifted repeatedly toward the garden.
Toward the blooming night cereus.
Chairman Ye noticed immediately.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
She forced a small smile.
"I had another dream."
The table grew quiet.
"What kind of dream?"
Madam Ye lowered her eyes.
"A little girl."
"I couldn't see her face."
"But she kept calling..."
"...Mother."
The room became still.
Even Ye Jing'an stopped joking.
Only one person remained perfectly composed.
Ye Mingyue.
She reached across the table and gently held Madam Ye's hand.
"Mom."
"It was only a dream."
Her smile was warm.
Comforting.
Perfect.
No one noticed the brief flash of fear hidden behind her lowered eyelashes.
Except...
The family butler.
Old Master Lin had served the Ye family for over thirty years.
He watched everyone quietly.
Especially Miss Mingyue.
For just a heartbeat...
He thought he had seen something unusual.
Then it disappeared.
Perhaps he was imagining things.
⸻
Later that evening...
Ye Mingyue stood alone on her private balcony.
The warm smile she'd worn all through dinner vanished.
She gripped the railing tightly.
"No..."
She whispered.
"It can't be."
Twenty-one years.
Everything had been quiet.
Safe.
Forgotten.
So why...
Why had Madam Ye started dreaming now?
She looked toward the distant lights of the city.
Somewhere out there...
Something had begun to move.
She could feel it.
And she hated uncertainty.
⸻
Meanwhile...
Lu Group Tower.
Night had fallen.
Most of the building had emptied.
Xu Chen remained standing near the office door.
Awaiting instructions.
Lu Jingshen looked once more at Sang Yaoyao's file.
A scholarship student.
Raised in an orphanage.
Outstanding academic performance.
No wealthy background.
No influential connections.
No reason...
To be looking at E-17.
He closed the folder.
"Xu Chen."
"Yes, President Lu."
"I want to know who she is."
Xu Chen nodded.
"We'll begin immediately."
Lu Jingshen's voice remained calm.
"No."
"Not who she appears to be."
He rested one hand lightly on the city map.
"I want to know how someone with no resources learned to think ten years ahead."
He looked once more at the name printed across the report.
Sang Yaoyao.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
He had the distinct feeling that this young woman was about to change far more than one auction.
His instincts had never lied to him before.
And they weren't lying now.
"Find out everything."
⸻
Far below...
Yaoyao stood at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change.
She had no idea that one of the most powerful men in Cloud City had just ordered an investigation into her.
Instead...
She was looking at a tiny golden screen floating before her.
⸻
Weekend Opportunity Mission Updated
Current Progress: 18%
New Hint Unlocked
"Sometimes the greatest opportunities are hidden behind impossible entry fees."
⸻
Yaoyao frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
Mochi smiled mysteriously.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow."
She sighed.
"I wish you'd stop speaking in riddles."
"I tried being straightforward once."
"It was boring."
General yawned.
"I vote for fish."
Neither of them listened.
The traffic light turned green.
Yaoyao stepped forward, completely unaware that with every step she was drawing closer to two families...
One that had lost her.
And another that would one day fight to keep her