In A City, X Province
The Qianxun Group is one of the Ouyang family’s companies, overseeing a host of subsidiaries that span various industries. Currently, the ones running Qianxun Group are the two heads of the family: the eldest Ouyang daughter, Ouyang Ya, and her younger sister, Ouyang Ting.
The Ouyang family has been operating in A City for generations, building the wealth and status they hold today. That said, they’ve faced their share of crises. When Ouyang Ya first took the reins, the company hit a rough patch for a while.
Plenty of people were waiting for the Ouyang family’s businesses to collapse entirely—hoping they’d go bust and end up drowning in debt.
No one had much faith in the Ouyang sisters.
Yet, against the odds, the family’s companies pulled through. Now, the Ouyang family is thriving more than ever before.
With Ouyang Ya and Ouyang Ting at the helm, the sisters are among the youngest players in the cutthroat world of business tycoons. Ouyang Ya turned twenty-seven after the New Year, and Ouyang Ting is a bit younger.
The third and fourth sisters are of similar ages and currently work in the family business too. But being younger, they haven’t yet made the same mark as their elder sisters. In A City, mention the eldest and second Ouyang daughters, and everyone knows who you mean—they’re household names.
The third and fourth sisters, though? Most people wouldn’t recognise them.
With the family’s immense wealth and its leadership in the hands of young, attractive women, the sisters naturally attract a lot of attention.
Among those watching is the acting head of the Long family from the neighbouring city.
Mr. Long has visited Qianxun Group several times, requesting a meeting with Ouyang Ya, only to be told by reception to book an appointment and wait his turn.
Since seizing power, even without securing the family totem and token—meaning he can’t fully claim the Long family or become its official head—he’s still the acting head. Within the clan, he calls the shots and gets what he wants.
Compared to the Feng family of Jiang City, the Long family is far more formidable.
The Feng family in Jiang City changed hands once, and decades later, it somehow ended up back with the descendants of the previous head.
That living example gnaws at Mr. Long’s nerves.
He doesn’t want to end up like Feng Yue—working tirelessly for decades only to hand everything back to the main lineage. It took immense effort, starting from his grandfather’s generation, with careful plotting and scheming, to finally succeed in his time.
But without the family totem and token, he can’t command many of the clan’s elites or experts—they won’t bend to his will.
The true heir, who vanished, would be about three or four years old now, by his reckoning. If that child grows up capable, they’d be around thirty or so. Then, like Madam Shang from Wan City, they could return with their kids and niece, storming Jiang City to reclaim what’s theirs.
He’d be another Feng Yue.
That’s the last thing Mr. Long wants to see.
He’s never stopped searching for the toddler who took the totem and token. If he remembers right, the kid’s name is Long Ting. He’s of the same generation as Long Ting’s father, making him the boy’s uncle by clan ranking—since he’s the eldest of their generation.
While sending people to scour for Long Ting’s whereabouts, he’s also tirelessly networking with powerful families. He figures if Long Ting ever returns, he’ll have enough clout to force the boy to hand over the totem and token himself.
That way, he’d become the rightful head of the Long family.
Then, the Long family could pass to his descendants without them ever needing to bow to the main lineage again.
As for Long Ting? He wouldn’t let him live. Once he gets what he wants, he’d eliminate him.
Wipe out the main lineage for good.
Once he’s in charge, his children and grandchildren could shed their side-branch status and become the new main lineage.
