For these matters, Song Yining no longer paid attention. She simply confirmed the time to meet with Zheng Yu tomorrow, then prepared to leave.
However, just as she was about to go, she unexpectedly spotted Bai Lili in the crowd outside. Following Bai Lili's gaze, wasn't it Song Boyuan standing there?
With that thought, Song Yining decided to add a bit more fuel to the fire. So, she walked straight toward Song Boyuan in a very high-profile manner. Song Boyuan had been vexed over how to deal with her; now, seeing her coming, he was about to lose his temper when she suddenly stretched out her hand:
"Dad, I need some start-up funds recently. Can you give me some money?"
Before Song Boyuan could answer, Jiang Yuan, standing beside him, already looked displeased.
"Dad, you don't want me to embarrass myself in front of President Lu and his people, do you? If I want to squeeze into their circle, I'll need some start-up funds, right?" Yining lowered her voice as she spoke.
At the mention of Lu Mingyu, Song Boyuan's expression improved noticeably. After a brief moment of thought, he said to her: "Tomorrow I'll have someone transfer five million to you."
Having achieved her purpose, Yining let the corner of her eye flicker toward Bai Lili's figure not far away, and deliberately raised her voice:
"Dad, you're the best—five million just like that!"
With that, she happily picked up her bag and left. Surely, Bai Lili had heard that.
Ever since learning that Bai Lili had borne her elder brother a child, Yining had never underestimated this gold-digger. Clearly, she had some tricks—let's see if she could manage to hook Song Boyuan.
Besides, Xu Jichen had already promised to send women to Song Boyuan. It seemed Jiang Yuan would be busy for a while.
...
The next day at the Linjiang Villa, when Zheng Yu arrived, Yining was sitting in the little garden playing with Maomao.
Seeing someone coming, Maomao immediately clutched his drawing board and quietly hid himself away.
"Maomao, could you go call your dad over?" Yining gently patted his head and asked.
The boy glanced at Zheng Yu, then obediently nodded and ran toward the main building.
Once Maomao had run off, Zheng Yu naturally took a seat beside her. With some disapproval, she said, "By adopting him, you're setting yourself against the Song family. It won't bring you much benefit."
"Don't worry. From now on, I am the Song family." Yining arched a brow at her.
Zheng Yu couldn't help feeling shocked—such bold words!
"So please, work with me boldly." Yining extended her hand toward her.
Years later, whenever Zheng Yu recalled that morning, her heart would still surge with emotion.
No one believed in an abandoned ex-wife of Xu Jichen. No one believed that a pampered heiress was truly trying to build a business. Since no one believed in the two of them, then… why not try?
What if it worked?
"Miss Song, one thing I must make clear first: I work in self-media, but you need content. Those vlogs of rich heiresses don't attract much attention anymore," Zheng Yu reminded.
Yining nodded. "Before you came, I did some research. Here's the thing: I plan to participate in the amateur racing exchange held in Shanghai three days from now."
"Racing??? You mean the event where no female racer has ever made it into the top ten???" Zheng Yu's eyes widened. While she was still reeling from shock, Yining handed her a proposal.
Zheng Yu paused for a while before taking it. She had only intended to glance through it casually. After all, in her impression, Yining's reputation as a useless socialite wasn't new. Expecting her to produce a solid proposal seemed unrealistic.
Her first reaction was: Yining only wanted to use racing to grab attention.
But five minutes later, she was clutching the proposal in silence, unable to speak.
As someone in self-media—though without a mature team yet—she knew very well the value of what she was holding.
"Miss Song, this proposal only works on one condition: you must achieve a top-ten result at this racing event. Are you confident?" Zheng Yu asked again.
Yining nodded. "I rarely do things I'm not sure of."
Zheng Yu's hands trembled slightly as she held the proposal. If Yining was telling the truth, then… she couldn't even imagine what would happen that day.
"Sis, just for this courage of yours—and this professional proposal—I believe in you!! I'll start preparing right now!" she said, then rushed off. Halfway down the path, she bumped into a dejected-looking young man.
"Sorry," he said politely, then staggered toward Yining. "Sis, what do you want from me? When will you let me out? I still have plenty of money left on my bar membership card!"
Hearing this, Zheng Yu finally realized who he was—Song Yixing, the one who had gotten someone pregnant! As she walked off, she muttered to herself, "Damn, what a waste—he actually looks handsome."
Yining patted the seat beside her and beckoned. "Brother, three days later I need to attend an event. I'll need a necklace and bracelet worthy of attention. Please finish them on time, don't delay me." She wasn't asking—she was ordering.
Yixing scratched his head, frowning. "I want to go to the bar. I only get inspiration there."
Yining sneered. "So, in your eyes, the bar is more important than me? Fine. I'll just go starve in the wind, and Mom's company can collapse altogether, is that what you want?"
"Hey, Ningning…" Yixing's hair was already a mess from scratching. His tall, thin figure trailed after her as he muttered, "Alright, alright, I'll try my best. I promise you."
"Thank you, brother." Yining glanced back and smiled faintly, then ignored him, beckoning to Maomao, who was hiding nearby, and led him off to the back garden to play.
Yixing had wanted to sneak out, but recalling what she'd said, and remembering their mother's company, he ended up slumping back to his studio to work on designs.
...
That evening, while Yining was reading some documents, she received a WeChat message from Zheng Yu.
"Song Yining, rumor has it that Liang Shen will also be participating. Do you know him? From what I know, he's your brother's best friend—and last year's ninth place finisher.
I think if your brother learns you're competing, he'll definitely ask Liang Shen to trip you up. Here's Liang Shen's profile, I'm sending it to you so you can be mentally prepared."
After reading through the string of messages, Yining thought for a moment, then replied with a single line:
"Xiaoyu, may I call you that? If it's convenient, could you help spread the word that I'll be attending the race?"