Chapter 4 — The Mighty, All-Powerful Genie

Three weeks after the funeral, life in the Duong family's villa gradually returned to a new order, although that order was colder than anything Bách Nguyên had ever imagined when he heard Vĩnh Bảo talk about family happiness. Nhã Kỳ moved her private office to the third floor, locked the door with a fingerprint just for her, and Bách Nguyên's room was arranged in the annex behind the garden, so far away from the main house that he had to walk nearly five minutes to get to the dining room.

"This is the minimum condition I can accept," Nhã Kỳ said during the rare meal they both sat at the same table, her voice was cold as ice, her eyes not bothering to look at him. "You have your own room, have a credit card enough for personal expenses, don't have to worry about money. In return, you don't interfere in my work, don't appear in the media as my husband unless absolutely necessary for the marriage contract, and most importantly, don't ever think that you have the right to speak up about any decision in the Đường Gia group."

"I get it," Bách Nguyên replied briefly, still holding chopsticks in his hand and picking up the food slowly, still getting used to the feeling of taste - a magical feeling that he had never experienced in his thousand years as a genie. The sour soup in front of him had the sour taste of tamarind, the sweetness of pineapple, and a bit of spiciness from chili, all blended into an experience that he couldn't describe in words, even though his face still maintained its usual calm expression.

Nhã Kỳ glanced at him eating, a bit uncomfortable with this man's calmness. She was used to the opportunists around her always trying to please and flatter her, or conversely, showing resentment and resentment when being treated coldly. But Bách Nguyên did not belong to any of those types. He just quietly accepted all the conditions she offered, without resistance, without flattery, as if how he was treated didn't matter to him.

"Aren't you going to object?" She asked, her voice a bit sarcastic. "This house is so big, you can ask for a room closer to the main area, and ask for things that match my husband's status on paper."

"I don't need those," he replied, looking straight at her. "I'm here because of a promise I made to your grandfather, not because of fortune or status. You can treat me however you want, I won't complain."

That answer made Nhã Kỳ pause for a moment, but she quickly regained her familiar cold look, stood up and left the dining table without saying another word.

In the following days, she began to openly despise him in front of others. At a small party for Đường Gia's senior leaders held at the villa to commemorate Vĩnh Bảo and stabilize staff morale, when an elderly deputy general director asked about her "husband", Nhã Kỳ only smiled faintly.

"He's just a condition in my grandfather's will, not someone I chose," she spoke bluntly, not paying attention to the fact that Bách Nguyên was standing just a few steps away, completely able to hear every word. "People don't need to pay much attention to him. He doesn't participate in any corporate activities."

The deputy general director was a bit confused by that brutal straightforwardness, glancing at Bách Nguyên with concerned eyes. But he only nodded slightly in greeting, his face not revealing any hurt feelings, even though inside his chest, a strange, sharp feeling was creeping in - a feeling that he later learned to name: being hurt by the words of the person he cares about.

After the party, when all the guests had left, Lâm Đắc Tường went to Bách Nguyên's room in the annex, carrying a pot of hot tea and an apologetic look on his face.

"Master, I'm sorry for the way Mistress treated you," he said, placing the teapot on the table. "I know the boss told me part of your story before he passed away. I don't understand everything, but I know you're not an opportunist like the boss thinks."

"You don't need to apologize for her." Bách Nguyên poured tea and smiled slightly at the old butler - the only person in this villa who treated him with genuine respect. "Nhã Kỳ has reason to be angry. She was forced into an unwanted marriage, right after losing her only remaining relative. If I were in her position, I would probably react similarly, or even worse."

"Are you really not angry with her?" Đắc Tường looked at him, a bit surprised by that tolerance.

"I'm learning how to be human." Bách Nguyên looked out the window, where the late moonlight shone down on the back garden. "For a thousand years, I have never had to learn how to endure contempt, because I have never had the feelings to be hurt. Now I have feelings, and I realize that suffering is also a part of living, it cannot be avoided." Đắc Tường was silent for a moment, then asked a question that he had been pondering for a long time. "What do you plan to do in the next five years? Just suffer silently like that?"

"No." Bách Nguyên shook his head, his eyes shone with determination. "I promised my boss that I would protect her and help her stand firmly on the path to inheriting the corporation. I will keep that promise, whether she ever knows or not, no matter how much she hates me. That is not a burden for me. It is the only thing I can do to repay the person who gave me the opportunity to live a real human life."

That night, after leaving Bách Nguyên's room, Đắc Tường passed by Nhã Kỳ's office and saw the light still shining through the door. He knocked softly, bringing in a cup of hot tea according to old habits.

"Mistress still hasn't rested yet?" He asked, placing the cup of tea on the table.

"I'm reviewing all the personnel files of the departments," Nhã Kỳ replied, not looking up, her eyes still glued to the computer screen. "Tomorrow I officially accept the job. I don't want to reveal any loopholes to those who still doubt my abilities just because I have the surname Duong."

"Mistress doesn't need to prove anything to anyone," Đắc Tường spoke softly. "The boss trusts you absolutely."

"I know." Nhã Kỳ stopped typing and sighed. "But because you trust me so much, I can't let you down. This is the legacy you've built all your life, Uncle Tuong. I don't have the right to ruin it just because I'm young and inexperienced."

Đắc Tường looked at her, his heart filled with deep sympathy for the invisible pressure that this young girl was placing on her shoulders, completely unaware that, just a few hundred meters away, another man was also staying up all night, silently worrying about herself in a way that she could not expect.

The next day, Nhã Kỳ officially entered her office at Đường Gia Group headquarters as a senior intern, a position designed for her to gradually familiarize herself with the operating system before officially taking over higher leadership positions according to the succession roadmap that her grandfather outlined many years ago. But right from the first day, she felt the eyes of scrutiny and skepticism from many longtime board members - people who thought that a twenty-five-year-old girl, even though her last name was Duong, was still too immature to shoulder the huge responsibility that Vĩnh Bảo left behind.

"Ms. Nhã Kỳ, the project to develop the southern inter-regional transport route is facing difficulties in terms of logistics partners." An older department manager reported at the first meeting she attended as the person in charge, her tone was more challenging than supportive. "This is a strategic project that the old boss assigned our department to be in charge of before he passed away. I wonder if you have any plans to solve it?"

Nhã Kỳ looked around the meeting table and immediately realized that this was a deliberately arranged test - a complex, risky project, assigned to her from the beginning to see if she was truly capable or just a name supported by her family. She clenched her hands under the table, but her face remained absolutely calm.

"I will study the project file in the next two days and propose a specific plan in the next meeting," she replied, her voice calm even though an unprecedented pressure was rising in her heart. This was the first time in her life that she had to face a real business challenge on her own, without her grandfather behind her, without anyone to rely on.

That night, when she returned to the villa, she brought a stack of project files to her private office, sat quietly until midnight under the desk lamp, trying to find a solution to the problem that even experienced department heads were stuck on. She was completely unaware that, not far away, in the row of annexes behind the garden, Cảnh Bách Nguyên was standing quietly by the window, looking towards the still bright light on the third floor of the main building, silently deciding not to let her face this first challenge alone, whether she was ever grateful to him or not.