Chapter 1

My mother started with nothing as a young woman and bought eleven tea-growing mountains in Jiangzhe.

I was only six when she died. Her will consisted of a single sentence:

“These mountains are for my little girl. As for who manages them, you may choose.”

My uncle worried I’d be taken advantage of, so he sent his most talented student, Han Xu, to manage the tea estate for me.

Han Xu truly was capable. He turned our Maojian tea into a nationally acclaimed, gold-medal brand.

As for me, I returned to the mountains for only half a month each spring—to bask in the sun, drink the new tea, and watch butterflies flit by.

That was until Han Xu married a woman who had just returned from studying abroad.

On their wedding day, she locked me out of my old family home.

“We’re renovating the old house into a gallery. Find yourself a rental.”

After that, she even used my name to register a company, while listing Han Xu as its legal representative.

Yesterday afternoon, she brazenly announced in front of everyone:

“You’re not a child anymore. It’s time you learned to take care of yourself.”

“Your profit distributions are being cut off. From now on, we’ll give you only three thousand a month. Learn to manage your money. Stop wasting it.”

Han Xu raised his glass and nodded.

“Xiao only wants what’s best for you.”

I looked at them both and found it all rather amusing.

A monthly profit distribution of thirty million, reduced to three thousand?

Didn’t the land certificates for all eleven tea mountains bear my name?

…

“Miss Shen, you only need to take a quick look at this proposal to optimize the shareholding structure. It’s just a formality, after all.”

Xiao’s voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.

She slid a beautifully bound packet of documents in front of me, her nude-polished fingernails tapping twice on the table.

The conference room was kept at a comfortable temperature. The faint scent of white-tea essential oil lingered in the air.

Around the long purple-sandalwood table sat all the tea estate’s key senior managers.

I didn’t open the packet. I leaned back in my chair and silently looked at her.

Today, Xiao wore a perfectly tailored ivory suit. Her long hair was neatly pinned up, giving her the look of a successful businesswoman who’d studied abroad.

When I didn’t move, her smile grew even gentler.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, little sister. This isn’t aimed at you.”

“Han Xu turned our Maojian into a nationally acclaimed, gold-medal brand. We’re at a critical stage now, preparing to expand across the overseas market.”

She folded her hands on the table. Her voice carried the kind of professional authority that left no room for argument.

“To retain top talent, we need to establish a modern stock-option pool.”

“The seventy percent of founding shares you hold have long been sitting idle, creating a serious obstacle to capital circulation and corporate restructuring.”

“So Han Xu and I discussed converting your shares into a fixed-yield interest.”

Han Xu sat at the head of the table, a bone-china coffee cup in hand.

He nudged his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and looked at me with the concern of an elder.

“Xiao’s right, A Chi.”

“Times are changing. The tea estate can’t keep being run like a family business.”

“You don’t take part in management. You come back for half a month each year to admire the view and drink tea.”

He set down his cup, his tone mild and unhurried.

“Hand over the management rights and those complicated shares. You can relax and be the young heiress you are.”

I lifted the tea in front of me and blew away a few leaves floating on the surface.

The tea was clear, but its fragrance had faded.

“If I remember correctly, my mother’s will didn’t include anything called ‘shareholding optimization.’”

I didn’t raise my voice, but in the quiet conference room every word rang clear.

I was six when my mother died.

She’d started from nothing in Jiangzhe, bought these eleven tea mountains, and poured her heart into them.

Before she passed, she held my hand and left me only one sentence:

“These mountains are for my little girl. As for who manages them, you may choose.”

Afterward, my uncle worried I’d be taken advantage of, so he brought Han Xu—his best student—to the tea estate.

Han Xu really was talented. In more than a decade, he’d turned a local tea garden into a nationally renowned gold-medal brand.

Everyone said he deserved the credit. They were even beginning to forget who the mountains belonged to.

“Miss Shen, that’s not fair,” Zhao Jingzhi, the business director seated to Xiao’s left, interjected.

He was a man in his forties who usually treated me with polite deference. Today, though, he wore the expression of someone lecturing a child.

“We respect the late chairwoman’s will, of course. But that was twenty years ago.”

“For more than a decade, President Han has led us through business battles and banquets with clients. He’s the one who built this tea estate into what it is today.”

“You can’t just sit on a mountaintop counting butterflies and then demand most of the profits everyone else risked their lives to earn.”

Chen Lan, the head of operations, nodded in agreement. Her voice was soft, but her words were barbed.

“Exactly, Miss Shen. Everyone wants what’s best for the company.”

“Director Xiao has brought us the most advanced management ideas from overseas. We all support her.”

“Please spare a thought for the employees below you. Just sign and let things go smoothly.”

I glanced around at them.

Every one of them had once been a university student sponsored by my mother. Every one of them was a trusted subordinate Han Xu had promoted himself.

Now they sat in the conference room my mother had left behind, calmly telling me to hand over everything.

I set down my teacup. It made a soft click.

“What if I don’t sign?”

The smile on Xiao’s face didn’t waver.

She only sighed gently and gathered the documents.

“Little sister, you’re still so stubborn.”

“But it’s fine. This is a major decision. Take your time to think it over.”

She stood and straightened the hem of her suit.

“That concludes today’s meeting.”

The senior managers rose one by one. As they passed me, they looked at me with condescending pity.

As if I were an inconsiderate freeloader.

Han Xu was the last to leave. He paused beside me and patted my shoulder lightly.

“A Chi, don’t blame Xiao. She only wants what’s best for you.”

“Go home and think it over. I’ll explain it to your uncle.”

The explanation Han Xu mentioned came sooner than I expected.

The next morning, I was still standing in the sun by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the top-floor office.