Seeing his genuine trust in Han Mi nearly brought tears to her eyes.
Everyone else had believed Han Mi was adulterous, even her own husband, yet here stood her eldest grandchild.
Her other grandchildren were too young to remember, yet this man believed her with such fervor.
All she could do was tell him the truth.
"You're right. Han Mi never committed any type of adultery, those were all rumors based on fabricated evidence. Han Mi adopted me when I was eight years old."
She sighed as she remembered Han Mi and their good memories, feeling melancholic.
He patted her head, comfortingly, and she looked up.
"Alright, I have come to a conclusion."
She put both of her hands and cupped his face, pulling his face close to hers.
They were looking eye-to-eye and she clarified, "I see a golden thigh dropping in, I will take advantage of you. But how do you expect for me to be your partner-in-crime?"
He chuckled, finding her behavior adorable, and he mischievously smirked.
"My dear grandmother in the other room didn't just arrange this celebration out of her good will. By all the pointing clues, the old hag wants to marry me to some non-influential family to weaken my claim to my inheritance. Instead of allowing her a chance, I will counterattack. And this is where you come in, Flower."
"Me?"
Even her genius intelligence didn't understand the connection that the man was aiming for.
"Yes. You'll be my girlfriend."
When she heard his last word, she choked and released his face from her hands.
She has had enough of dating anyone from the Zhou family.
Be it Zhou Feng, whom she almost dated, or Zhou Lang, whom she actually dated, the Zhou family were too much for her.
"No way. Sorry, I'll have to back away from your insanity. I'm not interested in you, no matter how much you try to claim that I'm 'yours'."
He laughed and his obsidian eyes remained expressionless.
She found herself getting lost in the dark pools that were hypnotic.
"Fake girlfriend until we get our shits together. Flower, you're a beauty, but I'm not interested either. A femme fatale is what you are, scorching to the touch, even more dangerous to tame."
She gulped.
Once upon a time, being called a femme fatale would've made her overjoyed, especially in her previous lifetime.
But now, the man was mocking her.
It was almost like he could see beyond her fake exterior that was too beautiful to comprehend.
"No..." she muttered, "I still think you're insane. I'm out."
"Before you make any type of decision, consider this fact: you're doing all of this for what Han Mi had sacrificed for you."
Remembering how Han Mi could've used the money she had to cure her leukemia to raise her, guilt hit her deep.
Their eyes locked again and the strong sense of hypnosis overcame her again.
Finally, she nodded.
"Alright, whatever. I hope I don't come to regret this."
She knew that she would, but at the moment, she didn't want to think about the consequences.
He muttered incoherent words underneath his breath and cleared his throat.
"But I do have a question: even with my great connections, I could not figure out who you were before your adoption by Han Mi..." he mumbled, his deep voice laced with curiosity and wariness.
"That is something you will find out later." She replied vaguely, brushing it off.
Or maybe never.
But Xiao Yunhua didn't say that part out loud and only decided to leave the identity of being a 'Zhou' adopted granddaughter for a surprise that she would take advantage of later.
The greatest element was the element of surprise.