chapter 5

Everyone in the industry knew the name Ming Ye. Not because he chased attention—he never did—but because ignoring him wasn’t an option.

Raised in a state orphanage on the outskirts of a small city in China, Ming Ye had no family name, no background worth tracing. He never talked about his childhood, and no one dared to ask. What they knew was this: by the time he turned eighteen, he had already registered his first software license under a private shell firm. A few years later, he founded Obsidian Core Technologies.

No one expected a company started in a rented office, staffed by two silent engineers and led by a man barely out of school, to grow the way it did. But contracts started landing quietly—first cybersecurity, then AI frameworks, eventually infrastructure systems used by government and military sectors alike.

He didn’t appear at press conferences. He didn’t attend the galas. Ming Ye moved like smoke—unseen, unbothered, and impossible to contain.

Obsidian Core didn’t compete with other companies. It rewrote the rules and let others struggle to catch up.

And Ming Ye? He never looked back. He didn’t believe in roots. Likewise, he believed in results.

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Born into the renowned Yan-Shen family of Country X, Yan Zhiqiu was raised with grace, intellect, and discipline woven into her bones. Her family was the kind whose name alone carried weight—respected in elite circles, feared in boardrooms, and envied in silence.

Her mother, Shen Qingyu, was the embodiment of elegance and quiet power, a woman who's every word carried authority. Her father, Yan Junhao, was a figure of diplomacy and influence, having spent decades building international relationships that reinforced the family’s reach. Above them stood Grandfather Yan, the family patriarch. He was a man of traditions, commanding the household with his sharp eyes and long-standing expectations.

Zhiqiu’s older brother, Yan Zhiqing, bore the burden of being the heir. Talented and driven, he was being groomed to carry the family legacy, both in business and name.

But not all relatives walked in harmony. Her aunt, Yan Weijing, harbored quiet ambitions, endlessly pushing her son, Zhao Yang, into family matters. And her cousin, Yan Ruoxi, while always polite on the surface, played subtle games under the mask of charm.

Amid this environment of influence and veiled agendas, Yan Zhiqiu chose her own path—one not of power plays or business politics, but of science and life. From a young age, she had a fascination with the human mind and body. Calm under pressure and naturally precise, she became a doctor, specializing in neurological medicine. Her medical skill and emotional detachment earned her deep respect in professional circles.

She didn’t need the family name to stand tall—her own name was enough.

Cool-headed, indifferent, and fiercely independent, Yan Zhiqiu was not one to be easily shaken. She did not chase affection, nor did she seek approval. She walked a path of her own, guided by knowledge, logic, and the quiet pride of her upbringing.

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