She really was tired. That Saturday morning she was at the provincial port in the South. She visited a shipyard where their ships are being maintained. She discussed stuff with the officer-in-charge there and was not able to come back to the city until late in the afternoon. She then stopped to the office first to do some checking, making sure that everything runs smoothly during the weekends, before she went home to the apartment. She took a shower and picked out a dress for this night's dinner. Then she drove to the mansion herself.
She sighed.
Reminiscing the happenings during dinner, she grew all the more tired.
'I still have to be strong for the family. Guangxi.. He'll come around. I trust him.'
But she closed her eyes and felt that that time would not come too soon.
'Everything that they said is true. But I can still hang on. Marriage is not an option either. I hope Grampa will just drop the idea.'
She massaged her head, lied down and prepared to sleep.
Then she heard a soft knock on the door. "Sis, are you asleep?"
"Not yet. Come in."
Guangxi entered the room with his head lowered. He could not look at his sister's eyes. How could he face her? 'This is the only thing that I can do now.'
He wished to clarify his point with his sister. With whatever courage he had, he collected it and walked into the room. With his head still looking down on the floor, he stood in front of Xue Jinxu. He looked like a child who was caught doing something wrong and is ready to be reprimanded.
"Sit down."
He did as he was told. He rubbed his fingers together worriedly. He was waiting for the verdict although he came here on his own accord, to explain his side of the story. He believes that his sister will understand him. He looks up to her and respects his sister, and had deep trust on her too. It breaks his heart not to be of help to his sister, and to disappoint her tremendously just when she needed him most.
"Tell me, what's on your mind."
"Sis, I'm sorry I'm a disappointment to the family."
"It's just that I-I'm scared. I don't know if I can do it. I'm not like you. You were always so strong and brave and smart. You're so talented. Everyone respects you and listens to you. While I.. I don't know anything about running a business…"
"All I do is play. I admit, Father and Mother made it easy for me. I was spoonfed while growing up, nobody wanted to be on my bad side, and people always try curry favor towards me. I'm a pampered child, I'm well aware of it. So.. I don't know if I can do significant things for the family. I'm really scared."
She completely understands him. "You think so highly of me."
Guangxi glanced up to look at his sister. He was flabbergasted by this remark. "But that's just the truth."
She sighed again. "My courage comes from this family. All the things that you said - all of it have crossed my mind before. I was also scared when brother left us. But I did not have a choice. With his passing our family would have been subjected to be scrutinized closely by the whole industry. Grandpa and our parents know this. That's why they kept news of big brother's passing under the covers."
"It's our fate, our obligation. Our parents, their parents and our ancestors before them faced this turning point in their lives too. I bet most of them, if not all of them, were scared too. It's quite normal."
Guangxi started crying. He was wailing like a kid who was wronged or bullied.
"Sis, I.. don't know if I can do it too…" He wailed. "All I do is play. My grades aren't that high too. I don't want to disappoint you or the elders. It's just that if I try, I might disappoint you even more. I might even be laughing stock of our family. I'm afraid that I might destroy the reputation of our family."
She pitied her baby brother. But she also thought that he should toughen up a bit. She took this opportunity to change the tables.
"Don't cry now. I have a proposal. How about you become my apprentice first. Follow me wherever I go, and try to observe and learn just by watching. You can keep hidden in my shadow. You don't even have to let other people know of who you are. But because of that, you won't receive any special treatment too. Isn't it fair enough for you?"
"Be my assistant for a few months. During this period no one will talk or convince you to take over anytime soon. I will make sure of it. I will discuss this with the elders. They will leave you be for the time being.
"You can make the most of this opportunity. You will be able to see unfiltered version of this world, to your advantage. But I have to warn you, not everything that you will see will be to your liking. It could be shockingly dirty, that's how business is sometimes."
"Think about it. Give me your answer tomorrow."
She does not take no for an answer but she did not rub it on his litter brother's face. She could already see the results.
She knows her brother does not entirely abhor becoming heir to their business. He was just young and naïve, and that is his flaw. Being inexperienced, when faced with the old vultures of the business world will really become a weakness that might even bring him to his own downfall. At least the child knows of it. His fears were not unfounded.
'I won't let those vultures take advantage of him. I will protect him until he can stand on his own.'
Xue Jinxu and her twin brother Xue Minhe were both trained early at such a young age. Their Grampa and Father frequently brought them to the office and shipyards while they were young. Gradually it was instilled in their young minds that the company, and all their subsidiaries will be theirs to command. Honestly, all the training was only intended for her twin brother, Xue Minhe. However the elders did not want her to feel left out. They did not want her to feel that the treatment to Xue Minhe was more special. So they let her tag along. In the process, what her twin brother knew, she knew too. What her twin brother experienced with the grooming, she experienced too.
That was why when she took over, it appeared to have ran smoothly. That was what Guangxi witnessed. He thought that she was a natural, and that she did not get scared at all. Perhaps the real talent was that she was able to mask her emotions inside. She was just an eighteen-year-old girl before – even more pampered than Guangxi had ever been because she's the beloved princess of the family. Her major in the university was not even related to business. She was majoring in Art.
Yet, she decided to take up the responsibility. That was five years ago. Guangxi was only eleven years old then. Anyone in Beijing would know that no matter how powerful a family is, it would not matter if they do not have an heir. It was also this period that her Grampa had been insinuating marriage to her.
So far she'd successfully turned down all the candidates. Grampa Xue surely knows of this, and had taken a break in his plans of betrothal.