On a snowy night in Jinling, as Wang Xifeng draws her last breath, all she can see is the bleakness of being wrapped in a straw mat. The Jia family has fallen, and after a lifetime of scheming, she dies a lonely, wandering spirit. When she opens her eyes again, neon lights glare and traffic roars. She has become Lin Xi, the heir to a trading company on the verge of bankruptcy in the 21st century.
Faced with an empty finance department, a defecting core team, and relentless pressure from a rival company, the woman who once ran the Rongguo Mansion's household affairs lights up with a sharp gleam in her eyes. When it comes to reading people and managing resources, the modern business world is no different from the Jia family's inner quarters. It just plays by a different set of rules.
She swiftly cuts redundant staff and uses her knack for judging people to recruit brilliant talents from the industry. When her rivals deliberately cut off her supplies, she goes straight to the source of the raw materials and uses the old tactic of striking at the root to revive the supply chain. Even the thorniest family infighting is easily resolved with tactics like “killing with kindness” and “keeping the balance of power.” In just six months, she brings the near-bankrupt company back to life and astonishes the entire business world.
Her bold style unexpectedly catches the attention of Shen Yu, a venture capital mogul. He has seen plenty of hypocrisy in the business world, but is uniquely moved by the decisiveness and ruthlessness in Lin Xi's eyes. Whenever she runs into trouble, he offers crucial information, but never interferes beyond that. He understands: this phoenix reborn from an old era has never needed anyone to hold her up.
When Lin Xi's company goes public on the ChiNext market and becomes an industry leader, Shen Yu offers her a glass of champagne at the celebration banquet. “President Lin, your tactics are even more impressive than Wang Xifeng's in Dream of the Red Chamber.” She raises her glass with a faint smile, the dazzling lights reflected in her eyes. “This may be a different life, but I've never lost my fire.”
