Hours later, Li Meili found herself standing in front of a large mirror inside her walk-in closet. She had to admit that she was surprised to find out that her older brother had kept one of her earliest creations in his possession.

  Li Meili, who had made quite a number of dresses and evening gowns since she started, never kept the tab on who purchased her creations, but she could absolutely remember each of the dresses she created with her own hands and the dress she was wearing tonight was one of them.

  The fitted off-shoulder black sheath gown gave her both a contemporary and classic look. What Li Meili liked about this dress was it was so comfy to wear that she didn't need to be worried about her movements. It wasn't bulky and oversized but flexible enough to allow her to move around without worrying about her dress being caught on something.

  It also followed her body shape and was made with light materials. It may seem a little too plain for someone who wanted to stand out, but it was alright for Li Meili who didn't want any unwanted attention from anyone at the moment.

  Anyway, unlike Liu Ruoyan, Li Meili was confident with her body. She wasn't as blessed as the empress in the c.h.e.s.t department, but at least she wasn't as flat as Kansas. The sheath silhouette would emphasize the wearer's curves and is especially effective for those women with curvy and hourglass body types.

  Li Meili heard a knock on her door and looked over her shoulder and saw her brother standing in the doorway. He was dressed specifically for tonight's event and was looking dashing himself.

  "Ready to leave?" Li Yuanyi asked her, pleased that she looked better now. The light makeup on her face had effectively concealed the darkening under her eyes, but it wasn't enough to bring back the glint on it.

  "Ready when you are." Li Meili replied, taking a clutch on top of her vanity table, following her brother outside. A car was waiting for the two of them and they wordlessly entered the backseat.

  Once the car started driving away from the mansion, Li Meili glanced at her brother and then looked out the window on her side. There weren't too many differences between Beijing and Shenzhen, but she had to say that she preferred the latter as she was already accustomed to its weather. Plus, she felt more at home being close with her friends as compared to being here with her own family.

  It reminded her of what Tang Moyu once told her when they were younger. The empress told her that it didn't matter if they didn't share the same blood, because for Tang Moyu, Li Meili was the younger sister she could never have. Perhaps because she was inspired by Tang Moyu's persistence that she had chosen to stay with the empress for such a long time.

  "Say, who are you trying to make a deal with?" She asked Li Yuanyi, breaking the silence between them. It was rare for him to ask her for a favor.

  "You might know him since the two of you attended the same high school. He's Zhang Jiren. I'm considering accepting his business proposal, but his older brother and our parents are making it hard for me." He confessed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he remembered his last argument with their father.

  Li Meili cupped the side of her face and kept her eyes outside, watching as the lights from the road flashed by. She contemplated if she should back out and return home or help her brother.

  "What about him? You think I can help you? If you couldn't convince Dad, what made you think I can?" She questioned. Li Yuanyi was a capable businessman, that Li Meili was sure about, but she couldn't understand why their parents kept getting involved in their private affairs.

  Being their parents didn't mean they could dictate the way she and Li Yuanyi live their lives. Parents do not own their children. Providing for her and securing her future when she was younger should be their obligation, not an investment to secure her future prospective husband.

  As their parents, Li Meili had also expected them to develop mutual respect for each other, but that never happened, hence, the reason why she chose to leave the Li family.

  "I just want you to give Dad a hint that Zhang Jiren is more trustworthy than his older brother. I did a background check on Zhang Liang and I can say for sure that he's bad news to our family." Li Yuanyi explained. He was a bit skeptical about telling his sister that Zhang Liang was also asking for her hand in marriage, something he would never sit back and let happen.

  There was no f.u.c.k.i.n.g way he would allow that motherf*cker to marry his little sister! Also, Zhang Liang had a bad record with gambling addiction, that was why he lost his chance to become the Zhang family's successor to Zhang Jiren.

  Li Yuanyi felt like it made the most sense for the Zhang family to hand their company to the younger Zhang Jiren, because their future would be bleak if they passed the family business to Zhang Liang. They sent Zhang Liang abroad in hopes that he would be able to change his ways, but the effort clearly failed.

  Li Yuanyi had already met both of them and he could tell that Zhang Liang had this unconcealed arrogance that made him instantly wary of him. If he was to choose between the two Zhangs, he would rather work with Zhang Jiren, who had proven himself as a capable and professional businessman with an excellent track record, as compared to his older brother.

  Zhang Jiren was the one who made the drastic move to improve the status of Zhang Corporation, so how could Zhang Liang have the audacity to act as if he was the one responsible for its current status?