Before Yanagi Shishi, Shō Unkai had already dated another starlet—none other than Liu Tianxian herself, Yanagi Kasumi.
The two first met in the winter of 2005, right after Shō arrived in Dragon Kingdom as an exchange student.
Faced with Kasumi's status-obsessed mother Yanagi Rina, money alone wasn't enough, so he came clean about his identity.
He was Crown Prince of the Xinhan Kingdom, first in line to the throne. The micro-state in Southeast Asia covered just 12.14 thousand square kilometres and held 17.3 million citizens, yet its monarchy wielded real power: everything but private property belonged to the king, land and resources included.
Once Rina heard that, she stopped objecting, phoning often to ask after his health and invite him to dinner. Between her mother's encouragement and Shō's honeyed words, Fairy Kasumi soon fell, and the relationship blossomed.
All went smoothly until two months ago, when Kasumi and a friend caught Shō on a secret date with Shishi. Discovering his two-timing, Kasumi flared up and shouted for a break-up.
Shō wasn't about to let that face-ranking beauty go. He figured he could enjoy her company for another decade without growing bored, so he took the tantrum lightly. Yet from that day on, their relationship entered a free-fall. He called over a dozen times and even visited the Yanagi home, but Kasumi refused to speak. Shō wasn't the sort to press a cold shoulder forever, so he backed off. One month of silent war had passed.
Rina, however, still treated him warmly, as if nothing had happened.
"Where'd you drift off to?" Yanagi Shishi tapped Shō's chest, pulling him from his thoughts.
He set the water bottle on the nightstand, slid back under the quilt, wrapped an arm around her silky waist, and kissed her. "Thinking about you, of course."
"Sure, like I'd believe that."Her eyes narrowed. "Bet you were picturing that little fox spirit."
COUGH COUGH
Shō winced. Women's intuition was terrifying. "That hurts, you know. What other woman could rival your beauty?"
"Hmph, smooth talker."
She was confident in her looks.
"So, what are you shooting lately?" Shō changed the topic.
Shishi tilted her head. "You never care about acting."
"Nonsense. You're my girlfriend—I have to care. I heard the circle is messy. No kissing scenes, okay?"
"I never do my own kisses, always a double."
"Good. And no intimate contact."
"What counts as intimate?"
"Hugging, holding the waist, that sort of thing."
"Eh? Then how do we film? That's normal."
"I don't care. Just use a double."
Shishi sighed. "Directors will call me a diva if I dodge every touch. No one will hire me."
"Then don't act. I'll support you."
Truth be told, Shō would love Shishi to quit. Watching his woman cuddle other men on screen felt like swallowing a dung ball.
Prince or not, the wealth he controlled could sustain her ten lifetimes. Years ago, his father, King Shō Kōkei of Xinhan, had given him a $100 million allowance—the standard sum bestowed on royal children when they came of age, followed by a monthly stipend of $200 thousand.
That generosity rested on early investments in Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Apple, Oracle, and Dragon Kingdom giants BAT and NetEase. Apart from trimming Yahoo and Intel, the palace had barely sold a share. By 2009 those holdings were worth over $100 billion.
Armed with his $100 million, Shō founded Oasis Investments, poured money into YouTube and Facebook, and in under two years grew the stake to $1.1 billion. During the financial crisis he leveraged up, shorted several banks, then bought back shares dirt-cheap, netting $17 billion.
Now he commanded $18.3 billion—top-thirty wealth worldwide.
"Support me?" Shishi burst out laughing.
"Don't think I can?" he asked, eyebrow cocked.
"I just want to earn my own way." She knew he wasn't short on cash—the BMW 3 Series she drove was his gift, and he'd bought a courtyard home on Beijing's Houhai for twenty million. They always stayed in five-star hotels.
Did that look like a poor student?