In these five years, the imperial capital had experienced minor tremors, with the upper-class elite still reveling in feasts and dances, unaware that the second wave, a tsunami that would shake the entire capital, would arrive so suddenly, directly disrupting the hierarchical order of all elite families.
The Bai family was bankrupt.
Scandals and tax evasion were successively exposed. Moreover, a fatal accident occurred on a piece of land they had recently acquired. In an instant, the Bai family's stock market plunged, causing panic. The head of the Bai family, also Bai Shuyan's elder brother, immediately fainted in his office and was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
It was the elderly Patriarch Bai who emerged from the shadows to forcibly stabilize the fractured Bai family. He issued a series of methodical directives in an attempt to cut their losses.
As in-laws of the Bai family, the Tang family's substantial investments and projects were also affected by the Bai family's downfall. Thus, the head of the Tang family anxiously worked to mend the damage for the Bai family, while other observing families watched to see who would emerge victorious from this sudden upheaval.
It wasn't that they didn't want to get involved and seize an opportunity, but the Tang family was, after all, a prominent clan. This turmoil might at most cause the Bai family to drop from the top tier to the bottom of the third tier, while the Tang family would only suffer financial losses and remain standing.
However, what no one expected was that the Tang family also fell.
Like the first domino toppled, its push towards other aligned dominoes sealed the fate of the entire elite circle.
Madame Tang sold all her valuable jewelry, cars, and houses to fill the bottomless pit of the Bai family's financial deficit. The head of the Tang family, in a desperate gamble, arranged meetings with members of other families, ostensibly for marriage alliances, but everyone knew that such alliances now were tantamount to selling their daughters.
Tang Sui was aware of her father's intentions. When her father, in his haste, dressed her up to meet someone, she didn't refuse. Instead, she changed into a small dress and obediently followed her father into the reserved private room.
Listening as her father marketed her like an object, Tang Sui sat at the table with a smile, even taking the leisure to serve herself food.
The head of the Tang family, eager to sell his daughter for a good price, failed to notice the subtle expressions of disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost, on the faces of the Lan family's father and son when they saw Tang Sui after their arrival.
The previously rebellious young man instantly became well-behaved upon seeing Tang Sui. As he listened to the head of the Tang family babbling to his father about arranging a marriage alliance between their two families, he couldn't help but glance at the nonchalant Tang Sui and whisper, "You... does he still not know?"
The fact that Tang Sui was the mastermind behind the downfall of the Bai family and the attempted takeover of the Tang family had become an unspoken secret among many families – a shared knowledge that no one bothered to reveal to the Tang and Bai families.
Tang Sui, when asked, looked up at him innocently, her eyes curving into a smile, and replied, "I don't know."
Meanwhile, the head of the Tang family, who had been subtly observing them, noticed the two children communicating, his frown deepening. He smiled heartily at the head of the Lan family and said, "Old Lan, don't the children seem to get along well? If you feel my proposal is too hasty and requires further observation, perhaps the children could get engaged first?"
Upon hearing this, the young man couldn't hold back. He would rather go street racing than marry Tang Sui, that little harbinger of doom!
Before he could erupt, his father did.
"Old Tang," the head of the Lan family stated frankly, "with all due respect, even if it weren't me meeting you today, anyone else would absolutely refuse your marriage proposal." He, too, could no longer contain himself.
He had come today intending to broaden his son's horizons and show him examples of other families' daughters. However, the other party was fixated on marriage alliances from the start, and it was already close to being finalized!
This was a ridiculous proposition, akin to inviting a wolf into the fold.
The smile on the head of the Tang family's face froze as he failed to grasp the meaning of the head of the Lan family's words.
The head of the Lan family, however, ignored him and turned directly to Tang Sui. With an apologetic tone towards Tang Sui, he said, "I apologize, Miss Tang. I had hoped to forge a good relationship by coming today, but we truly have no aspirations of marrying up."
Marrying up?
What did marrying up mean?
They were speaking Chinese, yet when the words were put together, he couldn't understand them.
Amidst the confused expression of the head of the Tang family, the head of the Lan family, dragging his unaccomplished foolish son, made his exit.
The private room was suddenly left with only the head of the Tang family and Tang Sui.
"Suisui, what did they mean by what they just said? Why did they show you so much respect?" The head of the Tang family was not unintelligent. He immediately adopted a stern, paternal demeanor, scrutinizing Tang Sui.
Tang Sui leisurely put down her chopsticks and smiled at her father, maintaining her docile and harmless appearance. Her words, however, made the head of the Tang family's heart stop: "Because Xin Chuang Group is my business, Father."
Xin Chuang Group!
The head of the Tang family's mind reeled, and his brain began to slowly form equations.
Xin Chuang Group = The mastermind behind the downfall of our Tang and Bai families = My daughter has ruined our own family.
"You—!" He abruptly stood up from his seat, but perhaps due to the suddenness, his vision blurred, and a sharp pain in his chest made him clutch his heart and struggle to utter two words—
"Rebellious... daughter..."
Tang Sui, fumbling for her phone, tilted her head, "I believe that leaving you alive until the end and helping you call 120 is already my greatest filial piety. Otherwise, you would have disappeared with Tang Lian a month ago."
Tang Lian was the name of her cheap brother.
Upon hearing this, the head of the Tang family's eyes widened, and he tremblingly managed to force out two words through gritted teeth: "It... was... you..."
"Bang—!"
Unable to bear the chest pain any longer, the head of the Tang family collapsed to the ground in agony, his limbs twitching uncontrollably, his condition appearing dire.