Chen Qiushou lay on the bed, seemingly tired, but his eyes suddenly brightened.
It appeared that whenever business matters were mentioned, a certain gene within him was awakened, and his spirits lifted.
"No need to ask—if there's an opportunity, we should swallow the Leng family. But if Leng Qingqiu has someone powerful backing her, this could be very difficult."
"Leng Qingqiu is no pushover. You need to be careful with her. That girl has been calculating since she was a child. Among all the kids playing together, she was always the one with the most schemes. Often, she'd get others to do what she wanted while keeping her hands clean. The ones who ended up getting scolded or beaten were always the others."
Lu Chengwen laughed. "She's still like that now."
"However, her weakness is also obvious. A few years ago, when she was in college, I met her a few times. I noticed she was becoming more and more withdrawn. Heh, a girl like that, a strong-willed woman, might actually be a romantic at heart. She could easily do something foolish for a man, throwing caution to the wind. If she can overcome the trials of love, then from now on, nothing in this world will be able to stop her."
"What about Xu Xuejiao?"
Lu Chengwen grinned as he peeled an orange for Chen Qiushou, feeding him piece by piece.
Chen Qiushou chewed, juice dripping from the corners of his mouth, still full of enthusiasm.
Lu Chengwen carefully wiped his chin.
"She's a good kid, just too mischievous. Her parents were too strict with her early on, then later too lenient. I think she'll be a troublemaker in the future. But you know what? That girl has a real talent for medicine. Achieving so much at such a young age—her parents must be overjoyed. If I were her grandfather, I'd be laughing in my sleep."
"Chen Mengyun is great too."
Chen Qiushou shook his head. "She's not cut out for it. She can't express her emotions."
"Haha, Grandpa, you even know that?"
"She's usually excessively kind to people, with a genuinely good heart—no doubt about that. But if someone disappoints her, she becomes emotional, even hysterical. Someone like that, I don't think, can handle major responsibilities. Ah, just mentioning the Chen family's kids gives me a headache. Moqun only knows how to have fun, Mohuan is even worse. His older brother is at least filial and principled, but Mohuan doesn't even care about his own parents, let alone me…"
Lu Chengwen's mind was heavy.
The situation he faced was becoming increasingly complicated.
Although he had won again this time, this victory was undoubtedly a double-edged sword, possibly provoking even more frenzied retaliation from Long Aotian.
Whether he could survive until the end was something he had no confidence in.
Looking at Chen Qiushou, he thought to himself: *I might not even outlive you.*
"Grandpa, these past couple of days, I actually helped Leng Qingqiu protect Qianfeng Group," Lu Chengwen said with a smile. "I did consider taking the opportunity to swallow Qianfeng and even make Leng Qingqiu work for me. But…"
"You softened, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"But Chengwen, do you really have that much influence now?"
Lu Chengwen lowered his head. "This time was actually very risky. I stumbled through it by sheer luck. A lot of things exceeded my expectations, and many steps were improvised on the spot. Like you said, I don't even know if this counts as a win."
"Hey, don't worry about that. We can't change the past, and no one can predict the future. The important thing is to handle the present well. You're righteous. If the Chen family ever faces trouble in the future, and you put in the same effort as you did for the Leng family, regardless of success or failure, this old man would thank you from beyond the grave."
"Grandpa, don't say that. We're family. The milk powder, bicycles, school bags—even my tuition when I was a kid—were all paid for by you. I'm your grandson."
"Hahaha, good grandson, good grandson. Grandpa… *cough*… Grandpa… *cough cough*…"
Chen Mengyun, who had been standing behind them for a long time, suddenly spoke up. "Grandpa is tired, Chengwen. Let him rest for now."
"Oh."
Lu Chengwen stood up. "Weren't you supposed to be on a flight tonight?"
"So you deliberately avoided me and came to see Grandpa, is that it?"
Lu Chengwen immediately felt awkward and scratched his head. "Not really, I just happened to have time at noon."
Chen Mengyun walked to the bedside. "Grandpa, Chengwen is very busy now. Should we let him go back?"
"Mmm, yes, yes. Being busy is good. A big CEO—my grandson, hahaha…"
Chen Mengyun tucked the old man in.
Perhaps having talked too much today, Grandpa drifted off to sleep.
Walking through the Chen family garden, Lu Chengwen felt awkward.
No matter the circumstances, being alone with an ex was always awkward.
The idea that you could still be friends after a breakup was nonsense. After a breakup, you should cut ties completely and never interact again.
If you stayed in contact, you'd either rekindle old flames or grow to resent each other.
Or… like now, feel so awkward you'd rather claw at the walls.
Chen Mengyun watched Lu Chengwen's discomfort. "Are you trying to come up with an excuse to run away?"
"Huh? N-no, of course not. Even though we broke up, we're still friends."
Chen Mengyun stopped and lifted her chin, staring at Lu Chengwen. "Lu Chengwen, remember this: you and I can never be friends in this lifetime."
"Wh-why not?"
"Have you forgotten how you used to trick me into corners when we were kids, making me take off my shorts so you could 'check my body'?"
Lu Chengwen was mortified. "I… we were kids back then. I… I'm embarrassed too."
"When I grew up and understood, I realized I was already 'tainted.' Other than you, I can't be with anyone else."
"It's not that serious. We were just two dumb kids fooling around, and nothing even happened."
"And what else did you want to happen?"
"Never mind… Mengyun, can we not talk about this? Let's just leave those absurd, stupid, naive memories of youth in the past."
"They're not in the past for me. In my heart, they'll never be in the past."
Lu Chengwen sighed. "Then what do you want? Will beating me up make you feel better?"
Chen Mengyun burst out laughing. "You think I'm like you, always picking fights?"
Lu Chengwen laughed too.
After a few steps, Chen Mengyun said, "Let's have dinner tonight. I'll make reservations."
"Uh… we'll see. I might not have time tonight."
"I'll wait for you, no matter how late."
Lu Chengwen looked at her. "Mengyun, thank you."
"What do you mean?"
"Just… thank you. I understand what you're trying to say, but… I can't give you any response."
"Because you still like Leng Qingqiu?"
"It's not just that," Lu Chengwen said. "I… I don't know how to explain it to you. The point is, right now, I can't afford to mess with anyone or let anyone down. There might come a day when I suddenly… disappear from this world. When that happens, I hope all of you can accept it calmly."
Chen Mengyun didn't understand at all. "Disappear? Where are you going?"
"I… don't know. Disappearing isn't about going somewhere. It's just… disappearing."
"Stop talking nonsense. Xu Xuejiao asked your family's medical team—your health is perfectly fine. You're not sick!"
...
Lu Chengwen got into the car with a bitter smile. Zhao Gang asked him what he was laughing about, but Lu Chengwen didn't answer.
After a long silence, Lu Chengwen spoke. "Zhao Gang, if something happens to me one day, what will you do?"
"Huh? What kind of thing?"
"Never mind. I'll make arrangements."
"Oh."
...
Back at the company, Lu Chengwen convened a high-level meeting.
He listened to the reports from the executives without saying a word.
Everyone felt that something was off about Lu Chengwen lately—extremely off!
The old Lu Chengwen was all swagger and mischief, grinning and flirting with any beautiful woman in sight, criticizing this, scolding that, full of himself.
But the recent Lu Chengwen was eerily quiet when he returned to the company.
During presentations, he'd lean slightly to one side in his chair, lost in thought.
Frankly, the current Lu Chengwen exuded the aura of a true CEO, commanding respect.
After listening for a long time, Lu Chengwen finally looked up, his gaze calm as he surveyed the room. "Any other additions?"
He set down the report. "Director of Business."
"Yes, President Lu." Qin Shouyi stood up.
"Summarize the recent situation concisely."
"Yes." Qin Shouyi didn't dare sit back down. "Recently, under President Lu's wise leadership and guided by the overarching principles outlined in *The Strategic Business Layout Plan for Dasheng Group's Near-Term Operations*, we have…"
"Cut the crap." Lu Chengwen waved impatiently. "I said *concise*. Do I need you to tell me how wise I am? Just talk about your work!"
"Oh, yes."
Everyone felt the tension.
Lu Chengwen's calm demeanor was already unusual.
Normally, meetings were filled with relentless flattery until he was satisfied enough to address the real issues.
But today, he couldn't even stand the praise.
Something was definitely wrong.
The business director was sweating. "Overall, Dasheng Group's finances remain stable. As of today, our stock prices have stabilized, with recent gains totaling 43.697 billion."
"The largest investment project is, as everyone knows, the slum redevelopment initiative. This project is a money pit, with an initial lump sum investment of 12.03457 billion."
"However, the Xu family's Houde Group, the Chen family's Xiangyun Group, and the Leng family's Qianfeng Group have collectively transferred 36.9 billion. These funds are jointly managed and supervised by our project team, financial representatives from the three families, and a dedicated government department, strictly allocated for the slum redevelopment project."
"Additionally, we've already contributed a total of 30 billion, including the initial 12.03457 billion, into this dedicated account. That means we still owe 20 billion to fulfill our commitment."
"According to the contract, we must deposit the remaining 20 billion before the second phase of the project is completed."
Lu Chengwen smiled, nodded, and even clapped his hands. "Excellent. You know the numbers like the back of your hand."
"Yes." Qin Shouyi exhaled slightly in relief. "Knowing President Lu attaches great importance to the slum redevelopment project, I dared not be careless. I've been monitoring it closely, ensuring not the slightest oversight."
Lu Chengwen said, "Your dedication is commendable. I need seasoned veterans like you to anchor the company's foundations."
"President Lu's foresight is unparalleled. We merely follow your directives and dare not claim credit for achievements beyond our reach."
Lu Chengwen continued, "Yesterday, I reviewed the account books—perfect!"
He stood up and walked over to the deputy director. "*Too* damn perfect, in fact!"
Lu Chengwen stared at the deputy director, who immediately rose to his feet, not daring to meet his gaze.
"The initial investment of over 10 billion had no issues. *But!*"
Lu Chengwen slammed the table. "I still found over 200 million unaccounted for. The books may be clean, but that doesn't mean the money was spent where it should have been. Isn't that right, Deputy Director?"
The deputy director looked up, panicked. "President Lu! I—I've been diligent in my duties, I swear! I haven't embezzled a single cent!"
Lu Chengwen's eyes flashed with anger. "Did I say you embezzled?!"
He whirled around and roared at the room, "Who here heard me accuse him of embezzlement?!"
Everyone was stunned into silence.