Lingling, you're not wrong, it's my fault...

Cao Cheng's playful banter had Lingling giggling beside him, leaning into him as she laughed.

But Cao Cheng wasn’t lying.

He really was busy.

Otherwise, in the freezing cold of winter, with the "Great Cold" solar term approaching, he likely wouldn’t have come to the capital just for Lingling.

At most, he’d show up on New Year’s Eve to accompany her performance and take her away afterward.

Coming early meant there was business to attend to.

Some things just couldn’t be spoken about.

Tang Xin would also be returning to the capital soon for the New Year, and Cao Cheng still had to find time to pay respects to his father-in-law and the "big sister" of the family.

……

Finally, he managed to placate the fourth sibling.

Cao Cheng left the broadcasting station with Lingling, only to be swarmed by reporters again.

Not one to steal the spotlight, Cao Cheng took a half-step back with a smile, letting the reporters interview Lingling while he stood guard.

Whenever a question veered into uncomfortable territory, he smoothly stepped in to shield her.

But Lingling wasn’t naive—she was just kind.

Having grown up in this industry, she was far more media-savvy than people assumed.

However,

one female reporter asked a personal question that flustered her.

The reporter asked, "There’s been a lot of talk about you being the ‘nation’s first love.’ Do you have any response for your fans? They’re very concerned about your well-being and thoughts, and they’re curious… have you ever had a first love?"

Lingling blushed, stealing a glance at Cao Cheng.

Or at least, she thought it was subtle.

But this girl couldn’t hide her feelings to save her life.

The sheer adoration in her eyes was practically spilling over.

How could the sharp-eyed reporters miss it?

Cameras clicked away.

Cao Cheng sighed and intervened, "Come on, folks. My little sister here is still young. You’re making her shy with these questions. First love? She’s been practicing piano since she was a kid—when would she have had time for romance? If she’d been dating, she wouldn’t be where she is today."

The explanation was reasonable enough.

It could pass off Lingling’s glance as her silently pleading for Cao Cheng to bail her out.

But reporters were crafty.

A picture was worth a thousand words—or in this case, a whole romance novel.

And if they framed it ambiguously, letting readers read between the lines?

That was guaranteed engagement.

Still, they gave Cao Cheng some face after his intervention.

But then Lingling suddenly spoke up.

"Actually… there is someone I like," she murmured, her cheeks flushed—though whether from the biting winter wind or something else was unclear.

Whoosh—

Click! Click! Click!

The reporters erupted with excitement.

Cao Cheng rubbed his temples. This girl… if this blows up, I won’t make it to my father-in-law’s place today.

Tang Xin was easygoing, but her father?

Very protective.

Lingling wanted to sneak another look at Cao Cheng’s reaction—she was curious.

But she knew better than to stir trouble now.

So she resisted the urge and instead told the reporters, "Back in school, I liked someone… but I never confessed. They didn’t know."

"After graduation, I threw myself into competitions."

She didn’t reveal anything concrete.

And it was the truth.

She had liked someone in school and only confessed later.

Every word was technically accurate.

But strung together, it easily gave the impression she was talking about a classmate.

"Can you tell us more about this person?" the female reporter pressed.

"No," Lingling shook her head firmly. "I don’t want to cause them trouble. They… have a girlfriend now."

The reporters buzzed even louder.

This was big.

Cao Cheng waved them off. "Alright, alright, that’s enough. My sister’s still young, and it’s freezing out here. Cut her some slack. Hey, you—"

He gestured to an assistant from the media company’s entourage.

"Go get everyone some hot coffee to warm up."

With Cao Cheng’s intervention, the reporters backed off. They knew when to quit.

Besides, Cao Cheng wasn’t just some celebrity or CEO—he was the richest man in the country.

When someone like him gave you an out, you took it.

They’d need his cooperation for future interviews, after all.

Every time they’d crossed paths before, hadn’t he always indulged them with a few quotes?

This was all about maintaining goodwill.

Still,

thanks to this little exchange, no one connected the dots back to Cao Cheng. They assumed Lingling had a crush on some college classmate.

……

Back in the car.

Lingling whispered, "Brother… did I cause any trouble? Will Tang Xin-jie overthink it?"

"???"

Cao Cheng stared at her.

Wow, Lingling.

City life had corrupted her.

If he didn’t know her better, he’d think she was pulling some masterfully teasing act right now.

That line reeked of mischief.

With a sigh, Cao Cheng ruffled her hair roughly, loosening her braid in the process.

Lingling mumbled, "Brother, I’m sorry."

"You’re not wrong. I’m wrong…"

Cao Cheng sighed dramatically. "I’m just too damn charming. I know. My crime is being born with good looks, a sense of humor, wealth, a great body, a stellar personality—honestly, I’m the perfect man. How could you resist? No one blames you."

"Frankly, is there a woman alive who wouldn’t fall for me?"

"Sometimes I look in the mirror and can’t help but swoon over myself."

"Ahhh, the burden of perfection~~~"

"……"

Lingling blinked, then burst out laughing. "Brother, you forgot one more virtue."

"What?"

"Your thick skin."

"Hey, you little—"

……

Inside the car, playful bickering.

Outside, the clamor of the world.

The dawn of the internet age had arrived, and the most immediate change was the speed of information.

In the past, news traveled from subject to reporter, to media outlet, to the public—a process that took at least two days, if not longer.

Some stories were already half a month old by the time they reached people.

Now, the internet compressed that timeline to a single day.

Especially for high-profile news.

Cao Cheng was a walking headline.

Lingling, the piano prodigy, had her own legion of fans.

Combine the two?

And this was their first public appearance together as siblings.

Fans were floored.

"Our goddess had a crush? Who the hell was lucky enough for that?"

"That guy probably never even knew. Who could reject Lingling?"

"LMAO, imagine finding out now that a literal angel once had feelings for you. That dude’s gonna regret it for life."

"Thank god it was just a crush. Our Lingling is still pure."

"Big Bro Cao is so protective. Without him, the reporters would’ve dug up way more."

"Big Bro Cao? Oh right, he’s her brother."

"Lingling’s my wife, so Cao Cheng’s my brother-in-law."

"No, mine."

"All of you, scram..."

Not too many people were perceptive.

But some were.

Like this comment: "Is no one else noticing the way Lingling looks at Cao Cheng? There's something off about it."

"Are you out of your mind?"

Only a few replied to him.

The topic didn't gain traction.

......

Back at the hotel.

Cao Cheng said, "You don’t have many assistants or managers around you. Why not sign with my company? Even though we don’t have strong channels for piano-related work, at least we can provide you with staff—assistants, managers, bodyguards, you name it."

Lingling beamed with joy. "Sure."

She couldn’t care less about channels.

Since her debut, she’d never signed with any company.

Her family already had their own connections—she didn’t need much external help.

As long as her skills were solid, success would come naturally.

So,

right now, Lingling only had a makeup artist, a stylist, a small assistant, and a driver!

She rarely went out, so she didn’t need much security.

But when Cao Cheng extended the invitation, she accepted without hesitation.

Channels? Protection? None of that mattered as much as being closer to Cao Cheng.

"Brother, let’s go hike the Great Wall tomorrow?"

"Are you insane? The Great Wall in winter? Might as well die up there," Cao Cheng snapped.

Lingling pouted. "Oh, come on, just wear an extra layer of down. We never got to visit it properly during our last trip."

"We did go, though," Cao Cheng shot her a glance.

"But it was so crowded back then! We barely took a few steps before turning back. That doesn’t count, brother~~~" She dragged out the last word in a whine.

Cao Cheng surrendered instantly.

"Fine, fine, we’ll go… Just don’t freeze to death, or Grandma will have my head."

What could he do? She was family—spoiling her was inevitable.

It was the same way his sisters doted on him, Cao Cheng.

And deep down, his heart wasn’t made of stone. He did feel a little guilty toward the girl.

Even if, rationally, he knew emotions didn’t work like transactions—just because someone confessed didn’t mean he had to reciprocate. There was no real debt.

But…

Cao Cheng was a romantic at heart.

He didn’t want to truly break her heart.

Hurting a girl who had a crush on you? That was just bad character.

Also, she was pretty.

If she’d looked like that meme girl, Cao Cheng would’ve buried her ten thousand miles away.

......

......

Meanwhile.

At the L'Oréal Group’s Asia-Pacific R&D center, the formula test results were in—again.

"Still a failure?"

"How is this possible? The formula was verified as sound."

"Why can’t the finished product match the effects of X Essence?"

"Where did we go wrong?"

"The formula must be real—otherwise, TC wouldn’t have offered such a high bounty. Maybe we messed up somewhere."

"..."

"Useless."

When the Asia-Pacific president received the report, he cursed the researchers as incompetents.

After all this time, repeated verifications, and not a single success.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t produce anything—just that what they made paled in comparison to X Essence.

The president ordered, "Check the progress of other companies. They have the formula too. We can’t afford to fall behind."

"Yes, sir." The secretary left.

This time, the spy had double-crossed them.

Instead of handing the formula to their employer, they hid it.

Then, using a dark web platform, they split the formula into at least ten parts, selling each to major corporations for millions—racking up over a billion dollars in profit.

No one dared refuse.

No one wanted to lag behind.

Yet…

After all this time, there was still no breakthrough.