Don't meet me in your next life.

"Secretary Zhang, could you have Miss come to see me?" Su Mingli instructed his secretary.

"Brother, why did you call me?" Su Qiaoqiao walked into the study.

"Qiaoqiao, tell your brother the truth, do you really like Lin Lubai that much? Even if he doesn't love you?" Su Mingli asked his sister.

“Brother, if he has no one by his side, no one who loves him, I will choose to stay by his side,” Su Qiaoqiao said.

"But he doesn't love you, so why are you doing this?" Su Mingli asked.

“I love him. You know I’ve liked him for years,” Su Qiaoqiao said.

"Are you so fixated on him? Why don't you try dating someone else?" Su Mingli asked.

“I’d rather not marry anyone but him,” Su Qiaoqiao said firmly.

"Is that Xiaoling Media related to you?" Su Mingli sighed.

"Um, brother, what are you thinking about?" Su Qiaoqiao stammered.

“Since I’m asking you this, it means I already know. If I know everything, isn’t it only a matter of time before Lin Lubai finds out?” Su Mingli said.

"Brother, please, please help me. We can't let Xiaobai know. If he finds out, we're finished," Su Qiaoqiao pleaded.

"Do you know that you're dragging down the Su and Lin families? If we're not careful, we could lose hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in market value. You're gambling with both families. How dare you!" Su Mingli was a little angry as she looked at her stubborn sister.

“If I don’t do this, won’t he just break off the engagement? You see, at the banquet, he told the reporters that we were just like brother and sister.” Su Qiaoqiao knew that what she was doing was a bit excessive, so her voice became much softer.

“But what’s the point of tying someone down if they don’t love you? If they don’t care about anything and insist on severing ties, how will you face them? The money our two families lose will be your life’s loss.” Su Mingli pointed out the crux of the matter.

"I didn't think that much. I just wanted to try my best. Without him, I'd be like a walking corpse. Now that I have the chance, why shouldn't I try my best to seize it?" Su Qiaoqiao said with her head down but her tone was firm.

"You!" Su Mingli sighed. "Things are already like this, so don't do anything more. Otherwise, given Lin Lubai's personality, he'll be willing to go to extremes to sever ties with you."

"Okay, brother," Su Qiaoqiao pleaded with Su Mingli, "Please help me, brother—."

“You’re my sister, so of course I want the best for you. But Lin Lubai is a pit of fire, and I don’t want you to jump into it. The overseas owner of Xiaoling Media has been transferred to my friend. I’ll handle this matter; you don’t need to worry about it anymore,” Su Mingli said helplessly to Su Qiaoqiao.

"Okay, I got it. I'm going now." Su Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, go ahead." Su Mingli twirled the pen on the table a few times.

Seeing his sister turn away, Su Mingli leaned back in his chair without saying a word for a long time. He wouldn't turn back until he hit a brick wall; he wouldn't give up until he was badly hurt. He had once loved deeply, and how could he not understand that love?

"Secretary Zhang, please talk to Miss and transfer the overseas owner of Xiaoling Media to someone else's name. Don't let Lin Lubai investigate us. Be quick, Lin Lubai is already investigating." Su Mingli called Secretary Zhang over.

"Okay. I'll go take care of it right away." Secretary Zhang turned around to find someone to handle the matter.

After struggling for a while, Su Mingli made a decision: since Qiao Qiao liked Lin Lubai so much, he would help her out, even if it meant losing some money.

Having made his decision, Su Mingli left the room to find his grandfather.

Su Qiaoqiao was about to go out when she saw Su Mingli going to her grandfather's room, so she secretly ran to the door to eavesdrop.

“Grandpa, Qiaoqiao really likes Lin Lubai, you can tell, right?” Su Mingli said.

"Grandpa knows, Grandpa also knows that Lin Lubai doesn't like Qiaoqiao." The Su family patriarch was no pushover either; after decades of navigating the business world, how could he not see through all of this?

"I want to give Qiaoqiao a chance. She's liked him for years," Su Mingli said with a hint of helplessness.

"You know perfectly well that Lin Lubai doesn't love her, yet you still want to fight for her? No matter what we do, we won't gain anything. Have you thought about that?" Old Master Su asked Su Mingli.

“I’ve thought about it. At worst, we’ll just lose some money. But if we don’t put in more effort, Qiaoqiao might keep hanging on to Lin Lubai. If we put in more effort, we’ll either fulfill Qiaoqiao’s wish or lose some money,” Su Mingli said.

"This isn't like you. You've lost your mind for Qiaoqiao," Grandpa Su Mingli said. "Tell me, what do you plan to do?"

“I want Grandpa to go and discuss their engagement with Lin Lubai’s maternal grandfather, and to put the engagement ceremony on the agenda. Also, I want AY to appear and have her make a custom dress for Qiaoqiao,” Su Mingli said.

Su Qiaoqiao's eyes lit up; her brother really knew how to do things.

"You want to use these two things to force Lin Lubai?" The old man of the Su family was also a smart man.

“Yes, otherwise the two of them would be too much of a hassle,” Su Mingli added.

"I still don't think it's appropriate. What if Qiaoqiao isn't happy? Wouldn't we have done something foolish then?" said the old man of the Su family.

"Grandpa, I agree." Su Qiaoqiao, who had been eavesdropping at the door, opened the door and came in.

"Have you been at the door the whole time?" Su Mingli asked.

"Yes. Grandpa, brother, please grant Qiaoqiao's wish. Qiaoqiao only loves Brother Xiaobai. If she can't marry him, I will suffer in life." Qiaoqiao knelt down and said to her grandfather with tears in her eyes.

"Alright, Grandpa will go to the Lin family tomorrow. I'll risk my reputation and fight for my granddaughter. Alright, get up now," said the Su family patriarch.

"Thank you, Grandpa." Su Qiaoqiao wiped away her tears.

Su Mingli looked at his younger sister with a complicated expression. He suddenly realized that his suggestion was a mistake.

The next day, Mr. Su went to Lin Lubai's maternal grandfather's house to discuss the engagement ceremony between the two.

“Old Lin, now that the news about the children has spread, shouldn’t we strike while the iron is hot and set a date for their engagement, and also have AY make their wedding dress?” Old Master Su said to Lin Lubai’s maternal grandfather.

“I’d like to too, but Xiaobai is a bit resistant. He says he wants to handle the wedding arrangements himself,” Grandpa sighed.

“That’s true, but he’s already in his thirties. If you don’t get anxious now, no one will be able to help him. I know he doesn’t really like our Qiaoqiao, but the two girls get along quite well. They can develop their relationship after they get married,” said Mr. Su.

"Yes, if he doesn't get married, I won't have the face to see my wife and daughter in the afterlife," the grandfather said sadly.

"So we'll just do it first and ask questions later. We're already in the same boat, neither of us can escape, so we might as well give them a hand," suggested the head of the Su family.

"What do you want to do?" Hearing what the Su family patriarch said, Lin Lubai's maternal grandfather knew that he had come prepared today.

"Let's strike while the iron is hot and invite the media directly to announce their engagement. You call Lin Lubai back, and I'll call Qiaoqiao back. We'll give them a surprise. Of course, you need to get AY to design Qiaoqiao's wedding dress. Let's expand our influence first."

"This isn't good, is it? They don't know anything, what if they do something later..." Grandpa was still a little worried.

Although Xiaobai listens to him in everything, he has told himself many times not to get involved in matters of the heart.

"There's nothing wrong with it, trust me. Besides, it concerns the interests of both our families. The losses are in the billions, so he wouldn't dare to act recklessly," said the Su family patriarch with a smile.

"I suppose you came prepared, Old Su. Alright, but I can't say for sure that Xiaobai won't resist," said Lin Lubai's maternal grandfather.

"That's not a problem. At worst, we'll just lose some money. You know that Qiaoqiao likes him, so I'll take this gamble," said the Su family patriarch calmly.

“Alright, it’s settled then. If you’re not afraid, I’ll take the gamble too,” Grandpa said.

Despite not being optimistic, the grandfather decided to take a gamble for his grandson's sake, otherwise Xiaobai would never be able to get out of that woman's shadow and would still be searching for her everywhere.

The two played two games of chess and also arranged the marriage of their grandchildren, deciding to hold an engagement ceremony for the two children five days later.