**Chapter 42: No Borrowing, Only Selling**

Inside the nanny van, Qin Mang’s exquisitely glamorous makeup was still intact. The slight upward lift of her eyes gave her a look of cold, scorching beauty—especially when she wasn’t smiling.

Meng Ting didn’t dare make a sound.

Only the automated clacking of a wooden fish echoed softly through the quiet car.

**“Tok, tok, tok—”**

Meng Ting glanced at her once, then again, finally clearing his throat.
“Well, as long as President He doesn’t respond, the buzz will die down soon.”

Qin Mang let out a cold laugh, folding her arms as she gave him a chilly sideways look.
“President He? Isn’t that your *‘husband’*?”

She spat out the word *‘husband’* with exaggerated emphasis, laced with danger.

Meng Ting stiffened for a second as he scrolled through Weibo, then shot back seriously,
“Tch, you’ve got some nerve!”

“If I hadn’t reacted quickly, you’d already be trending right now!”

“I even thought of the headline for you: *‘Actress Crashes Moon Landing to Clout-Chase National Husband—A Fall of Morals or a Twist of Humanity?’*”

“You call that human speech?”

“I’m clout-chasing *him*?”

“That guy?!”

Qin Mang couldn’t believe it. She was a top star with representative works—what did He Lingji have?

Just a cover on a financial magazine!

How was she the one clout-chasing?

Meng Ting opened Weibo to show her the numbers:
“You have 67.28 million followers.”

“Your husband? His Weibo account hasn’t posted a single thing and already has 68.88 million followers. They’re rising so fast he might become the first non-celebrity to hit 100 million.”

“And again, not a *single* post.”

Qin Mang, now even more annoyed, pulled out her private phone, ready to call He Lingji for an explanation.

What kind of respectable man takes *those kinds* of “racy” photos? And even lets them be published on a financial magazine—his waist on full display for the world to ogle in high-res!

At her mention of “racy,” Meng Ting rolled his eyes.

*Racy*, really?

President He had been fully covered—probably the most restrained and proper cover photo in magazine history.

**“Beep, beep, beep—”**

The sound of the call not connecting overlapped eerily with the wooden fish’s knocks.

It felt like mockery.

“Heh?”
“He’s famous now and acting like a diva?”

Qin Mang was fuming: she was *this close* to causing a scene!

Just then, Secretary Cong messaged on WeChat:

**[Ma’am, is this urgent? President He is in a high-level meeting and didn’t bring his personal phone.]**

Qin Mang coldly replied:

**[Oh really? I thought he was too busy counting how many Mrs. Hes he has now.]**

Secretary Cong: “……”

As He Lingji’s ever-alert chief secretary, he instantly picked up on the subtext.

To protect the harmony of the He household, he quickly typed:

**[Ma’am, President He has always kept a low profile and rarely appears in public. The magazine shoot only happened because the Chairman owed someone a favor from his youth and asked President He to help out. He couldn’t refuse. This wasn’t voluntary—he’s actually a victim here.]**

Qin Mang lowered her lashes, reading his message.

She recalled how, two months ago, He Lingji had been summoned to his father’s study—something about a magazine came up then. But at the time, she was too guilty about skipping New Year’s dinner to pay attention.

Who knew!

He would end up on the cover.

And go viral!

Secretary Cong: **[As for the explosive popularity, it was completely unexpected.]**
**[The company’s stock will definitely soar. In the end, it’s all *your* money!]**

You had to admit—Secretary Cong was skilled at his job.

First, he gave a logical explanation. Then, a bit of a pity story. And finally, he highlighted how she benefits from it all—leaving her no grounds to keep questioning He Lingji.

Qin Mang’s red lips curled into a lazy smirk:
**[Secretary Cong, without you, our family’s harmony would fall apart.]**

Secretary Cong: **[You flatter me, ma’am. *awkward smile emoji*]**

Qin Mang: **[Maybe *you* should be Mrs. He instead?]**

Secretary Cong: **[!!]**
**[Mercy, ma’am! I’m on my knees! *crying emoji*]**

Qin Mang ignored him.

She accidentally returned to her Weibo homepage, only to find the launch screen was a full-blown shot of He Lingji’s infamous helicopter-waist photo.

Annoyed, she tossed her phone aside.

Wrapped herself in a small blanket and shut her eyes.

*So much for manly virtue!*

The words “Mrs. He” kept echoing in her mind.

Mrs. He.
Mrs. He.

That was all she was.

Her lashes drooped, concealing the fleeting trace of sadness in her eyes.

She tried not to care about Lou Tingdai’s words, but her mind wouldn’t cooperate.

After two straight months of non-stop work, Qin Mang finally had time off and arranged a hot spring outing with Wu Yuxi. As for her husband? She shoved all thoughts of him far, far away.

Wu Yuxi was terrified of water.

The type to need a floatie even in shallow hot springs. Totally lacking a sense of security.

In the steamy mist, she lay sprawled on an oversized float, staring at Qin Mang’s pale, flawless skin. Soaked in the mineral-rich waters, Qin Mang’s body had taken on a breathtaking, seductive flush. Unable to resist, Wu Yuxi poked her and teased,
“Hot springs are made for couples’ play! You brought a landlubber like me? What a waste.”

The double entendre wasn’t lost on either of them.

Qin Mang let out a lazy laugh, eyes half-lidded from the steam:
“He has plenty of wives now.”

Being a veteran online surfer, Wu Yuxi naturally knew the details.

Apparently, ever since that financial magazine hit the stands, it had *smashed* all previous sales records.

Sold out offline.

Uncountable sales online.

Stats couldn’t even keep up with the spike.

It was the first time a *financial* magazine went viral like this.

Even global top-idol magazine sales couldn’t compare.

National husband status: confirmed.

Hearing Qin Mang’s words, Wu Yuxi’s fox-like eyes gleamed with amusement. She poked her snowy-white shoulder again and said slowly:
“I get it.”

Qin Mang opened her eyes.
“Get what?”

“You’re jealous.”

“Who—”

Qin Mang sat bolt upright, ready to deny it.

Wu Yuxi cut in:
“You’re bitter.”

“You’re the jealous little lion.”

“You’ve fallen for him.”

“You’re screwed.”

“!”

Qin Mang turned into a bristling white lion, grabbing for Wu Yuxi’s watermelon float.
“Nonsense!”

“I am *not*! ”

“Then why the sour face?”

“I’m the *only* legal Mrs. He! Now there’s a bunch of extras—shouldn’t I be mad?”

“You should. Totally justified.”

Wu Yuxi clung to her float, looking into Qin Mang’s burning dark eyes and declared:
“Possessiveness is the beginning of love.”

“You’ve always been possessive. Anything that’s yours—no one else can touch.”

“If a kid touched your favorite shiny gem without asking, you’d beat them black and blue. But if it was your piano, something you use daily, and someone touched it, you’d just give it to them and buy a new one.”

“So answer me: if someone kissed President He, would you give him away? Or beat her up?”

Qin Mang was silent.

Her fists clenched.

A few seconds later—

Qin Mang suddenly stood up from the water. Barefoot, with skin as white as jade, she stepped up the pool’s edge. Her slender frame, soaked and seductive, shimmered as water ran down her smooth body like flowing silk. Droplets scattered into the misty surface below.

Looking down, she said coldly:
“Get up.”

Wu Yuxi looked up, “What for?”

“Taking me to beat someone up?”

“We’ll need more bodyguards then.”

After all—right now the entire internet was full of “Mrs. He”s.

Qin Mang wrapped a large towel around her body, revealing only her bright, radiant face. Her lips, moist and dewy, parted slowly—

**“We spend money.”**

Ha.

Didn’t Secretary Cong say that the trending buzz and skyrocketing stock meant it was all *her* money?

“Whose money?”
“Mine!”

Qin Mang said it with absolute certainty, no hesitation.

It was *all hers*!

Knowing Qin Mang either never had time to spend money or, when she did, spent sums that required more than ten fingers to count, Wu Yuxi silently lit a candle for President He.
P

Qin Mang had always acted on impulse—once she decided on something, she did it right away.
She never made any plans.
That held true until she boarded the plane to Country F, the capital of high-end jewelry.

In first class, flipping through a booklet for the luxury gem auction, Qin Mang sighed, “The last time I dared to look at a high-end jewelry auction was… well, the last time.”

That was back when her little uncle hadn’t taken back his secondary credit card.

High-end jewelry auctions were nothing like the small-time ones she’d attended before. These auctions featured only the finest pieces of jewelry gathered from all over the world, as well as top-tier uncut gemstones.

Qin Mang felt like a hamster that had snuck into a grain warehouse—she wanted to hoard every single gem!
She fell in love with each one she saw.
And she swiped her card for every one she loved.

She ended up spending so much that her older brother, Qin Yan—who’d never worried about money a day in his life—was so depressed he dragged her home that night and confiscated her secondary card.

The key issue—
Was to quickly find someone rich enough to marry her off.
The Qin family couldn’t afford her anymore.
He couldn’t afford her.
No one could!

Back then, Wu Yuxi had witnessed everything. Now, worried, she asked, “Little Lion, did you bring enough money?”
“We’re not gonna get kicked out, right?”
“I mean, I’ve got tens of millions of followers. I can’t embarrass myself overseas!”

Qin Mang gave her a side glance, pulled out a small designer handbag, and flashed a sleek, beautiful card between her slender fingers. “This young lady has plenty of money.”

Wu Yuxi immediately recognized that card—it had a minimum limit beyond her reach!

She gasped. “Damn, you hit the jackpot?”
“Are A-list actresses really this rich?!”

Truth was, Qin Mang hadn’t made much since entering showbiz. Fu Yuan and Meng Ting had mapped out a path for her as a cool, aloof film actress, with no TV dramas in her portfolio. Apart from top-tier luxury endorsements and first-tier magazine covers, she spent the rest of her time honing her acting skills. There wasn’t much room for making big money.

According to Fu Yuan: “It’s easy to make money in entertainment, but hard to build a legend.”

And Qin Mang didn’t need to earn a living anyway. Whether she had more or less money didn’t matter.

Calmly, she put the card away.

Before takeoff, she sent Meng Ting a WeChat message:

**[On vacation. Don’t disturb.]**

Meng Ting immediately checked her Weibo, fearing she might’ve done something outrageous and run off.

Clean.
No recent posts.
He let out a long sigh: “…”

Good. A vacation is fine.
As long as the little ancestor wasn’t causing drama on Weibo, all would be peaceful.

He Lingji learned about Qin Mang’s vacation abroad at 1 AM.
After attending back-to-back meetings, he casually loosened his tie, unfastened his watch strap, and leaned back in his office chair with a lazy air, his cool demeanor softened.

Behind him, the floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a night sky like a bottomless ocean.
The city’s neon lights had dimmed, leaving just a few scattered dots of light.
It felt rather lonely.

Cong Zhen brought in a cup of coffee. “Madam seems to be upset?”

“Upset?”
He Lingji smirked, playing with his phone. The screen showed multiple large transactions from a few hours earlier.

If not for the system notifications, he would’ve forgotten he’d given her a secondary card.

Cong Zhen respectfully handed over the chat logs with Qin Mang. “The magazine cover you shot last time was released yesterday. It’s very popular online.”

Then, almost deliberately, he added, “Seems like Madam is a little unhappy.”

He Lingji glanced at the message.

It read: *“I thought he was counting how many ‘Mrs. He’s’ he had.”*

His thin lips curved slightly, a faint smile surfacing in his grey-blue eyes—
Gone in a flash,
But Cong Zhen caught it.

He pretended not to notice and said lightly, “Madam really cares about you.”

“Do you want to ask if she’s enjoying her vacation?”

He Lingji rubbed his brow with a finger, placing the phone—still chiming with transaction alerts—off to the side.

No need to ask.
Madam He was clearly enjoying herself.

Far away at the high-end jewelry auction—

Qin Mang was absolutely ecstatic.

This auction had all the types of jewelry she didn’t yet own.
Especially the final item: an extremely rare pink diamond, nearly 50 carats. A one-of-a-kind gem with flawless clarity.

Stones of this caliber usually ended up in private collections before the public ever saw them. They were rarely auctioned.

Qin Mang was raring to go.

She had already swiped her card for countless jewels and jade pieces. Before the auction, she and Wu Yuxi had gone on a shopping spree and bought everything in sight.

The more she swiped, the more natural it felt.
Even the little bit of frustration she had been feeling vanished with every high-value purchase.

Mmm~
Those people online could only talk. She was the only true *Mrs. He* who could swipe He Lingji’s secondary card.

While bidding, she opened a secret Weibo account.
One of the top hot comments that day: *“Everyone’s Mrs. He today.”*

Underneath it, she replied with her alt:
**@MightyRoaringLion:** *“As long as I’m alive, the rest of you are just dreaming.”*

So arrogant.

It immediately triggered an attack from the other so-called ‘Mrs. He’s.’

Netizen: *“Husband belongs to everyone! Why are you so possessive?!”*
@MightyRoaringLion: *“Mine, not yours. He belongs to me alone!”*

The internet exploded.

Wu Yuxi watched in amazement as Qin Mang single-handedly provoked an all-out war with the entire “Mrs. He fan club.”

Truly impressive.

Until that pink diamond came out.

Qin Mang finally put down her phone, ready to bid.

Wu Yuxi quickly stopped her. “Wait!”

“That pink diamond starts at ten million USD. Are you sure there’s enough money on that card?”

“I remember that’s how you maxed out your uncle’s card last time!”

Qin Mang never checked balances when swiping, nor did she care about prices.

So had she spent that much already?

Wu Yuxi pointed at the ten-plus jewelry boxes already delivered.
All were open for buyer inspection.

She did a quick calculation of the total cost, added an estimate for the pink diamond, and concluded, “Even the world’s richest man wouldn’t have that much liquid cash.”

Qin Mang lazily set down her bidding paddle.

“Tsk—”
“He Lingji is really poor, huh.”

*Pfft.*

You’ve already spent billions and *you’re* calling your husband poor?!
Are you even human?!

Hearing the auctioneer’s call, Qin Mang’s fingers itched.

After a brief hesitation, she picked up her phone and video-called He Lingji.

This time, he actually answered.

“Hubby~”

“Is there still… money on the secondary card?”

She got straight to the point and reported Wu Yuxi’s estimated price, all while listening to the auctioneer’s current bid.

In Deep City, it was early morning.

He Lingji had been sleeping at the office lately.
He sat in his chair, casually glanced at the alert on his phone, and instead of answering, asked, “Oh? What are you buying?”

Madam He’s spending habits had already blown past his expectations. He was genuinely curious how she had managed to max out his card in just three days.

Qin Mang’s eyes sparkled like spring water. She raised her hands naturally to the camera. “Look at my new manicure. Isn’t it pretty?”

He Lingji paused for a second, gaze resting on her slender, delicate fingers. He nodded slightly. “Pretty.”

He never lied.

Qin Mang smiled sweetly. “With such a pretty manicure, of course I need to pair it with a custom diamond dress from brand C.”

She set her phone on a stand
and twirled in her dress.

Tilting her head, she asked, “Does the dress look good?”

He Lingji replied, “It looks good.”

Qin Mang was very satisfied with his honesty. She lifted the hem of the dress again, took two steps back, and pointed at her silver high heels with delicate straps. They were encrusted with tiny diamonds that sparkled under the lights—bling bling.

They were beautiful.

Qin Mang continued, “Naturally, it also needs to be matched with fairy-like high heels, right?”

He Lingji, as if it were only right, answered, “Right.”

Qin Mang then shifted the camera toward the image of a pink diamond that was currently up for auction and said slowly, “Then… don’t you think this fairy is missing a stunning, unparalleled pink diamond?”

He Lingji casually undid the button at his collar, nodded nonchalantly, and said slowly, “The secondary card is already maxed out.”

Large transfers couldn’t be completed immediately.

So, Mrs. He was destined to lose out on the pink diamond she *so desperately needed*.

Qin Mang’s sugary-sweet smile instantly disappeared upon hearing that. She sighed faintly, “Honey, you’re so poor.”

Click.

She closed the video.

Qin Mang watched helplessly as the pink diamond she loved was auctioned off at a high price to a foreigner.

The more she watched, the angrier she got.

It was all his fault—for being poor.

A few seconds later.

Qin Mang opened He Lingji’s WeChat nickname.

She changed [Cold-blooded Capitalist] to—

[He Poor-Poor]

Then she sent him a screenshot along with a message:
**[Change your name. Don’t be He Lingji anymore, just be He Poor-Poor. Our family is seriously broke!]**

Looking at the WeChat message—

He Lingji let out a half-smile.

*He’s poor?*

At the He Corporation’s CEO office, the morning meeting had just ended.

Cong Zhen brought in coffee.

He saw He Lingji tapping his pale fingers against the desk and saying, “Look into where there are any pink diamonds available recently.”

Cong Zhen was a bit surprised.

But he was quick. That very day, he found out that a top-tier pink diamond was in the possession of a private collector.

The diamond was sixty carats, and its clarity rivaled the centerpiece from the High Pearl auction. It was also uncut, meaning it could be shaped however the buyer pleased.

Even in its raw form, it was breathtaking.

The best part? Its natural shape resembled an adorable little lion.

He Lingji glanced at it casually and was immediately taken.

He said lightly, “Buy it.”

Cong Zhen inquired about the price.

After a few seconds of silence: “…”

Nervously, he said, “President He… your account doesn’t have enough funds.”

A rare flicker of surprise crossed He Lingji’s eyes.

He had never in his life been restrained by money.

But this month, he had just purchased a private jet, a helicopter, and poured money into their maintenance—his hobby was extremely expensive and required a regular, hefty monthly budget.

The remaining funds were earmarked for upgrades and replacements.

And the wife he married… also had extravagant taste.

From clothing to food to hobbies—everything cost a fortune.

Coincidentally, Rong Huaiyan needed to borrow a private jet for an urgent matter overseas.

He Lingji sent him a simple message:

**[Not lending. Only selling.]**

Rong Huaiyan thought he was seeing things.

Or that He Lingji’s account had been hacked. He called directly—the first thing the noble heir of a century-old family said was: “You went bankrupt?”

He Lingji paused for two seconds: “…”

“No.”

Rong Huaiyan: “Then you’re actually willing to sell me a plane?”

He Lingji’s love for collecting private jets, yachts, helicopters, and limited-edition luxury cars was well-known throughout their circle. Especially to his childhood friend Rong Huaiyan, who knew better than anyone how obsessive he was about it.

Each month, massive sums went toward maintaining, storing, and upgrading those machines.

Over the years, He Lingji had amassed collections across several countries.

“I can’t afford it anymore.”

“You help shoulder some of the cost.”

He Lingji spoke as if it were only natural, his cool voice calm and light: “Do you want it or not?”

Rong Huaiyan: “I want it.”

Everyone knew—

Every jet in He Lingji’s collection was carefully selected from the world’s top aircraft. The He Group had a dedicated engineering team that could optimize them to perfection.

Top of the top.

Money alone couldn’t buy them.

For He Lingji to voluntarily let go of one—was rare.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Who knew when it would happen again?

Rong Huaiyan: “You sure?”

He Lingji gave a short laugh. “Wire the money.”

Then hung up.