The next afternoon, Wen Xinya was sitting in the living room with Si Yiyan over a game of Chinese chess.
The purple rosewood chess board was covered with black and white chess seeds. Si Yiyan was amazed by Wen Xinya's talent in the game. She merely read through a few chess manuals and seemed to be able to figure out a few strategies on her own. When he tried giving her some tips, she was able to understand quickly and even devised advanced techniques from them!
"Have you decided?" Si Yiyan looked at Wen Xinya, who was deep in thought, with a piece of black chess seed between her thin, long fingers. The black seed contrasted with her pure, fair skin. The chess game had reached a difficult stage. As a beginner, it was already quite impressive of her to arrive at this stage.
"Here?" Wen Xinya placed the seed on the chess board without releasing it. She looked up to see Si Yiyan's reaction.
Si Yiyan laughed with amusement. Does this young lady know the rules of Chinese chess? It was an unspoken rule that once the chess piece hit the chess board, it was considered a move and could not be undone. She still had a lot to learn about the etiquette of Chinese chess. However, Si Yiyan was amazed by her child-like nature and playfulness. "Hmm. This is a good move. As long as I don't interfere with the pieces in this area you will be able to conquer it."
Wen Xinya happily retracted her hand. It's considered a move and cannot be undone. Then she asked as if she suddenly thinking of something, "What if you choose to interfere?"
"If I were to interfere..." Si Yiyan looked at her smilingly and then pointed to the position right beside her chess piece.
Wen Xinya glanced towards the position he was pointing at. She immediately withdrew the black chess piece she placed earlier, realizing the possibility of losing all of her other black chess seeds with that move. "How can you cheat!"
Si Yiyan laughed harder at her furious expression. He took a piece of white chess seed and placed it at another position.
Wen Xinya happily removed a few seeds from the chessboard and counted them. She then took another piece of black chess seed and asked, "So, what should be my next move?"
Si Yiyan looked at her but remained silent.
Wen Xinya then placed the seed in her hand on the chessboard and peeped at Si Yiyan to see him frowning slightly. She retracted her hand, content that she had made a good move.
Si Yiyan was well aware of everything she did, though she thought she was discreet. He was just playing along. It was a bad move that caused a great downfall to the black seeds.
Wen Xinya looked at the defeated black seeds and it became clear to her that she was being misled. "You did it on purpose," she said angrily.
Si Yiyan responded with a smile, "This strategy is known as 'luring the opponent with an illusion'. The concept of Chinese chess strategies is similar to deploying troops on a battlefield. Deceiving the enemy is a tactic commonly used."
Wen Xinya was devastated. He was giving her guidance earlier so that she would be off guard and he could defeat her in a single move. "You are cunning."
At this moment, Mother He led Qiu Yifan and Ouyang Feng into the living room.
Wen Xinya walked over with a smile. She invited them to the agarwood chairs beside the tea table for a seat. "Attorney Qiu, Ouyang Feng, please take a seat."
From this situation, Si Yiyan knew she was going to have a serious discussion with the gentlemen and would prefer not to have an outsider around. He looked carefully at Ouyang Feng. He was around 25 or 26 years of age with a sturdy built. Though his face was swollen, it was obvious that he had defined features and looked quite handsome. When did she come to know this young man?
Si Yiyan took his time to clear the chess board before moving to the backyard.
Wen Xinya brewed some tea with smooth and skillful moves, then served the tea to Qiu Yifan and Ouyang Feng.
Ouyang Feng was taken aback by the affluent status of the Mo Family. During his stay at the hospital, he had secretly investigated Wen Xinya's identity. He found out she was the lost granddaughter of the Wen Family and had just returned recently, and was now staying temporarily with her Grampy Mo Xianqi.
Though he had already guessed that her identity was unique, what he found out from the investigations was far more shocking.
Qiu Yifan took a sip from the teacup. Then he pulled out the agreement of debt from his briefcase and handed it over to Wen Xinya together with her bank card. "It has been my honor. The matter has been settled."
Wen Xinya received the items without even looking carefully at them and said, "I have absolute trust in Attorney Qiu to handle this. I think it was overkill for your talent to deal with such a small task."
Qiu Yifan laughed. "It is an attorney's duty to deal with all tasks assigned by our clients. It won't matter how big or small the task is."
Wen Xinya smiled with satisfaction and replied, "I would like Attorney Qiu to become my personal lawyer. What do you think?"
Qiu Yifan said, "I have been serving both your Grampy and Mother for their personal properties and other matters. I have no objection to Missus Wen's request."
Wen Xinya raised her teacup with respect and said to Qiu Yifan, "I look forward to our pleasant cooperation!"
"We'll have a pleasant cooperation!" Qiu Yifan cheered.
Wen Xinya turned to Ouyang Feng and said, "I have the intention to start an investment firm. Based on your experience, how much capital do I need to start with?"
Her thought of starting an investment firm only came about after she met Ouyang Feng, and she had given it some serious consideration. Firstly, she would be able to quickly get some cash flow. And secondly, an investment firm could be diversified, hence minimizing her risks. It would also allow her to sharpen her financial and business skills by closely monitoring the direction of market demand. With the help of the future internationally famous financial genius, she wasn't worried at all.
And the most important reason of all it would be once the investment firm was set up, there will be future opportunities for her company to work with other influential businesses and wealthy individuals, providing mutually beneficial relationships in the financial world. Building such strong connections would be an important asset for Wen Xinya.
After all, her objective was to build assets and capital for herself.
Ouyang Feng wasn't surprised at all. However, he was a little amazed by her decisiveness. "For the investment firm, which categories of clients will it be serving?"
Wen Xinya's eyes sparkled. "Global enterprises, well-known tycoons and some rich and powerful people."
Right from the beginning, she locked her vision on what Ouyang Feng had achieved in her previous life about 10 years from this day. With this goal in mind, she believed she could attain it with his help.
Ouyang Feng was shocked by her ambition. "The startup capital is estimated to be around 20 million dollars."
Wen Xinya frowned. She had just returned to the Wen Family, and the amount of money currently in her possession was the sum of 15 years' living expenses her Father had given to her. That was approximately five million dollars, far from the required 20 million dollars. Though Grampy was wealthy and 20 million dollars to him was only the tip of the iceberg, she felt sorry at the thought of him having to sell off his antiques in order to get this amount of money.
Was borrowing from Grampy her only option?
Previously she was almost driven out from the Wen Family, and Grandpa was guilty towards her for this incident. If she were to borrow from him, he wouldn't reject her. But on the other hand, she didn't want Grandpa to know she was starting her own investment company.
Ouyang Feng also guessed that Wen Xinya was vexed over the amount of money required to start the investment company. He wouldn't expect her to have that much money on hand. Though she was Missus Wen from the Wen Family, she had only just returned recently and did not have a strong relationship with the family. It would be difficult for her to raise 20 million dollars in a short amount of time.