The lecture was scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Meng Yanxi’s original plan had been to arrive early and have dinner with his girlfriend first.

It had been too long since they’d last seen each other.

But in the afternoon, a video conference suddenly came up.

In this world, everywhere follows the law of the jungle. Even a behemoth like Yunseng Group cannot rest easy. With the larger environment constantly shifting and turbulent, under the tide of history, if you don’t move forward, you fall back.

When it ended and he rushed to Sui Normal University, he arrived just in time for the lecture. Jin Zhao was waiting outside with the principal and a group of others to receive him.

What surprised her was that Meng Yanxi had even brought Lu Jingyue along. Although Lu Jingyue’s expression looked flat and indifferent, clearly not very willing, he seemed more like he had been seized by Meng Yanxi and forced to come, wearing the look of someone being coerced into prostitution.

The school side, however, was delighted—being able to invite both Meng Yanxi and Lu Jingyue at the same time.

When the two sides met, the principal and the deans stepped forward one after another to exchange pleasantries.

Jin Zhao stood in the wind, a little cold.

From mid-to-late December through the New Year period is the coldest time of the year; the temperature was nearly down to freezing. Jin Zhao was only wearing a light-colored coat, a thin cashmere sweater underneath, and a pair of slender high heels on her feet, exposing a stretch of pale ankle.

She normally didn’t dress like this. Who goes for elegance in freezing weather and still wears thin high heels? After standing for two hours of class, your feet would blister.

But this wasn’t it—she hadn’t seen her boyfriend for a whole week.

Jin Zhao missed him terribly and wanted him to see her at her very best.

She had no classes in the afternoon, yet just doing her makeup and coordinating her outfit took more than two hours.

Now she was suffering in the wind. Whether the school’s enthusiasm had warmed Meng Yanxi, she didn’t know—but it definitely hadn’t warmed her.

“Let’s go inside.” Meng Yanxi glanced at her and suddenly said.

Jin Zhao liked him even more.

Back in the warm lecture hall, Jin Zhao came back to life.

The hall was no longer just warm—it was more accurate to say it was fervent.

The academic lecture hall of Sui Normal University could hold over two thousand people. At this moment, aside from the empty first row, every seat was filled. People were even standing in the back rows and the aisles, practically a reenactment of the grand spectacle of Sui University’s donation ceremony.

Fortunately, this was Jin Zhao’s home ground. Meng Yanxi had been invited by her, and the school had reserved first-row seats for her. Not beside Meng Yanxi, but very close.

When Meng Yanxi walked in, passing by her, his fingers hooked over with lightning speed.

Like a light feather brushing past, gliding from her palm to her little finger. His thumb and index finger pressed against the pad of her finger, giving it a light—not light—squeeze.

Meng Yanxi liked sports. Despite how refined his face looked, his fingers were actually somewhat rough, with pronounced knuckles. Back then, when he deliberately misbehaved, those fingers had rubbed her to the brink of collapse.

Before the lecture began, the hall was clamorous and boiling with noise. Countless gazes fell on him as he slightly turned his head, speaking with the principal.

In a corner unseen by anyone, his fingers hooked around hers, their bodies touching—hidden—beneath the eyes of the crowd.

One second, or two. He walked past her.

Yet Jin Zhao spent the next full twenty minutes in a solitary state of inner chaos.

When the twenty minutes passed, Meng Yanxi’s speech was already nearing its end.

And within that, the principal’s opening remarks alone had taken five minutes.

Jin Zhao suddenly understood why he had brought Lu Jingyue along—to pad the time.

After all, the lecture was supposed to last a full two hours.

And he truly didn’t have much to say. Even when he donated one hundred million to Sui University during the National Day holiday, he had only spoken a few simple words.

He was quite a contradictory person—seemingly high-profile, yet not fond of the spotlight. His prominence felt like an objective fact of existence, while he himself had no real desire to share or show off.

A twenty-minute speech was already his greatest show of sincerity.

After lectures at universities, there is usually an interaction segment, where teachers and students on site can raise their hands to speak, asking questions or exchanging viewpoints with the speaker.

But Meng Yanxi clearly hadn’t planned for this segment. The moment he finished speaking, the principal immediately stepped onto the stage in tacit coordination.

The teachers and students below, however, hadn’t caught on. In an instant, a sea of hands shot up across the audience. There were simply too many; the principal couldn’t pretend not to see them even if he wanted to.

To make matters worse, someone was raising their hand while excitedly shouting, “Pick me! Big shot, pick me!”

The voice carried all the way to the stage.

Jin Zhao: “……”

This man hadn’t even planned to interact. The staff hadn’t brought out any microphones. Pick what, exactly.

The principal looked toward Meng Yanxi.

Meng Yanxi looked toward Jin Zhao.

That brief exchange of gazes was like how he had secretly touched her just now under the eyes of the crowd. Jin Zhao’s heart sped up. His expression showed no ripples, and he quickly shifted his gaze away.

He gave the principal a slight nod.

The staff immediately brought microphones into the audience.

Meng Yanxi was famously known as the God of Wealth. With the God of Wealth descending to the mortal world, regardless of whether they studied finance or not, everyone seized the chance to ask how to invest, how to make money.

The moment money was mentioned, enthusiasm soared. No one was uninterested in this topic. The atmosphere became even more heated than before, pushing things to a new peak.

Meng Yanxi went straight to the point, delivering his views with precision. His voice was low, his demeanor seemingly aloof and composed, yet his gaze swept unintentionally toward Jin Zhao’s direction several times.

Each time their eyes met, it lasted less than a second, yet every time it sent the little deer in Jin Zhao’s heart crashing about wildly.

So much so that she didn’t catch any of the practical money-making advice.

Jin Zhao suspected that Meng Yanxi was deliberately trying to stop her from getting rich.

When she finally managed to calm down and steeled herself to listen properly, the microphone was handed to a girl in the back row.

“Hello, Senior Meng. I also studied at Sui University Affiliated High School. Sorry for addressing you so presumptuously.”

The girl sounded extremely excited, her voice trembling. The lighting in the back rows wasn’t very bright. She held the microphone with both hands, her figure looking somewhat slender and fragile.

“Sorry, I’m a bit nervous.” She gave a self-deprecating smile and took a deep breath.

“I’m a senior about to graduate. I’ll be graduating next June. But today, I don’t want to ask you anything about prospects or wealth. I kept raising my hand just now, standing there to attract the staff’s attention, simply because I wanted to personally say thank you to you.”

As the girl spoke, she bowed deeply toward Meng Yanxi.

“Thank you, Senior Meng!”

If this was an unconventional opening, then she had successfully captured everyone’s attention—even Jin Zhao turned back in curiosity.

“Perhaps you carry too many halos, and this matter of mine is just the tiniest, most insignificant thing to you. But the ‘Banling Tongxing’ Single-Parent Growth Fund you established eight years ago truly, genuinely changed my destiny.”

The girl fell silent for a moment, as if gathering courage for herself. When she spoke again, her voice carried a bit more calm acceptance.

“I grew up in a single-parent family. My parents divorced when I was in elementary school, and later they each started new families. Children from normal families can’t really understand the difficulties people like us face—material ones, emotional ones, all of it. Back then, the court assigned me to my mom. Every week I had to go to my dad to ask for living expenses. My dad had a new family and had younger siblings, and every time I went, I had to watch their expressions. By the time I was in my third year of middle school, my dad directly, very irritably, told me—could I stop bothering him? Every time I went to ask for money, it would make him and his wife argue, and because of me, his household was never at peace.”

The girl gave a bitter smile. “Adolescent girls have very strong self-esteem. Back then I thought—then I won’t study anymore. Life isn’t only about school. Maybe if I went out to work or start a business, I’d become a rich woman too? I told my homeroom teacher that I wanted to drop out. Oh right, my homeroom teacher’s name is Chen Nuo. You might not know her, but she has an older sister named Chen Shu, who used to be your high school homeroom teacher.”

“Teacher Chen seriously stopped me at the time, and told me about your ‘Banling Tongxing’ Single-Parent Growth Fund. Actually, I had asked around about many funds specifically helping children from single-parent families before, but the thresholds were all especially high. My family conditions were considered okay, so I couldn’t apply to any of them. Only your ‘Banling Tongxing’ had almost no thresholds set at all, and besides financial assistance, it also provided psychological support and legal aid.”

“I don’t know how to describe that feeling. I can only use the simplest words of us small-town girls—it was like a bodhisattva manifesting.”

As the girl reached this point, the heaviness of her emotions seemed to have been released, at least somewhat, and she herself let out a soft laugh.

“Really—don’t even mention someone outstanding like you. Even my best friend, she might stand on my side, but with her perfect family, she still can’t fully empathize with my predicament. But you seem to be able to. You considered, one by one, all the difficulties children from families like ours might face, and then provided help with godlike precision. Because of your sponsorship, that year I barely made it into Sui University Affiliated High School, and later got into university, receiving support all the way until now. Although I don’t have much talent—even after entering Sui University Affiliated High School, I was always in the regular classes, and even studying at university, I can’t become someone as outstanding as you, able to give back to society. But at least, I now have a bright, open future. I don’t have to fall into an abyss because of the pain of adolescence, carrying regret for a lifetime.”

The girl went on to say more words of thanks afterward, but Jin Zhao no longer listened. All that echoed in her ears was the name of that single-parent growth fund.

Ban ling tongxing.

Which ling?

As if possessed, she lowered her head, opened her phone, and searched.

Banling Tongxing.

Ling as in ling—feather.

Applause suddenly thundered at that moment, shaking her eardrums. Compared to everything earlier combined, it was twice as fervent and overwhelming.

Jin Zhao abruptly lifted her gaze, meeting the man’s pitch-black peach blossom eyes on stage.

The stage lights blazed, illuminating his sharp brows and eyes. When he lowered his gaze, his eyes were like the sea—deep beyond measure.

Later, the principal forcibly ended the interaction, allowing Meng Yanxi to rest. The remaining time was filled by Lu Jingyue, who went up to take one for the team.

Meng Yanxi had barely sat for a short while after coming down when he excused himself to go to the restroom and left.

Jin Zhao stood up in the aisle to let him pass.

As he passed by her, the man’s eyes met hers, a brief contact—then separation.

Soon, Jin Zhao went out as well.

The lecture hall had two exits. Not far outside the front door were several student activity rooms.

At this hour, all the students were packed into the lecture hall listening to the talk. The activity rooms were completely empty, not a single person inside, not even the lights turned on.

Jin Zhao didn’t remember how she had been pulled in.

By the time she came back to her senses, she was already pressed against the wall by Meng Yanxi.

The classroom, with no lights on, was dim and obscure. The lights in the corridor were distant and faint. Jin Zhao could only vaguely make out the man’s defined, striking silhouette.

Her arms were wrapped around the back of his neck. One of Meng Yanxi’s hands braced against her back; the other slipped inside her coat, separated by the cashmere sweater, roaming over her lower back—absorbed, yet restrained.

From far away, the sound system of the lecture hall drifted in, faint and intermittent, making the ambiguous air even more hushed.

Jin Zhao could hear nothing but the rapid, disordered breaths at her ear, tightly entangled together, impossible to separate.