Click.

The door outside opened, and Chu Zhiye walked in carrying a lot of clothes. He said slowly, "This is an old neighborhood, there's no soundproofing, so please keep your voice down so as not to disturb the neighbors."

Upon seeing Chu Zhiye, Xu Man's previously anxious heart gradually calmed down.

Xu Man took a sip of water: "Where did you go so early in the morning?"

"I went to the rooftop to collect the clothes."

Chu Zhi also sat on the sofa, folding his clothes.

"Oh, I see." Xu Man said dismissively, then turned and headed to her room to catch up on her sleep, saying casually, "The sun's out today, why bother putting it away?"

"I plan to leave today."

Xu Man stopped abruptly and turned around: "What do you mean? You're going on a business trip?"

Chu Zhiye explained softly, "I've already rented a place and plan to move out."

As soon as he said that, the room became heavy with tension, as if the air itself had stopped circulating.

Xu Man's voice turned cold: "What do you mean by this? What have I done to wrong you that I would act like this? You haven't paid a single penny of rent to stay here, and this is how you treat me?"

"Chu Zhiye, give me an explanation."

Chu Zhiye's expression remained unchanged. He folded his clothes, went into the bedroom, and put them in his suitcase.

He said, "You've already gotten what you wanted, so why bother explaining?"

"I don't understand." Xu Man's thoughts slowly sank.

Chu Zhiye said calmly, "You know what I mean, you're just making excuses."

"Our first meeting was purely by chance, our second meeting was also by chance, but our third meeting was not by chance."

"And the second time, just as you are facing your father's demand that you find a boyfriend in order to get company shares."

"This led to our third 'accidental' meeting, under the umbrella-shaped pavilion, amidst the raging wind and rain, and your weeping."

"You devised a perfect plan."

"You asked me to pretend to be your boyfriend, gain your father's trust, and then seize company shares. In the end, your father was fooled by you."

Xu Man bit her lip: "I don't understand what you're saying. I asked you to pretend to be my boyfriend because we're familiar with each other, not because you're indispensable. I can find any man to pretend to be my boyfriend and still achieve the same effect."

"Chu Zhiye, don't be so narcissistic!"

Chu Zhiye's expression remained unchanged, even with a faint smile; "It's not that I'm narcissistic, but without me, you really can't complete your plan."

"You'd be hard-pressed to find someone like me, um... a rich kid?"

"You need to find the perfect fake boyfriend."

"By sheer coincidence, I appeared and became your tool."

Actually, this matter is very simple.

Xu Man wanted to seize control of the company, so she wanted Xu Hui to hand over his shares. Coincidentally, Xu Hui asked her to find a boyfriend, so she used this as a stepping stone to find Chu Zhiye and make him her boyfriend in order to get Xu Hui to hand over his shares.

Xu Hui naturally couldn't hand over the shares just because of a so-called boyfriend. In order to hand over the shares, Xu Man's boyfriend would have to have extremely rare attributes.

This created a sense of urgency for Xu Hui, leading him to quickly hand over his shares.

Chu Zhiye is that tool person with extremely rare attributes.

First, Chu Zhiye and Xu Man had a chance encounter, which facilitated communication.

Secondly, Xu Hui needed to know that Chu Zhiye was a second-generation rich kid and that he was willing to give up his company shares because of their marriage.

Third, Xu Man was able to manipulate Chu Zhiye and make him do what he wanted.

In the bedroom, Chu Zhi was packing his luggage, while Xu Man remained silent for a long time, her voice filled with endless weariness: "When did you find out?"

"Hmm... I guessed you had ulterior motives by the third time we met, but it wasn't until the night of my birthday, when you told me about your mother and father's experiences, that I fully understood your whole plan," Chu Zhiye replied softly, then commented, "This plan is quite good."

Judging from the results, it's really impressive.

Xu Man understood human nature; her father wanted to have connections with Founder Investment and the Chu family, hoping that her company would grow bigger and stronger.

Xu Man used this one point to whet Xu Hui's appetite and control him.

Throughout this whole affair, both the father and daughter had their own demands.

Xu Hui wants to get involved with the Chu family; Xu Man, on the other hand, is after the shares held by Xu Hui.

What an excellent father and daughter.

Unfortunately, Xu Hui, who had been in business for decades, was ultimately outmaneuvered by his own daughter.

Could this be described as the younger generation surpassing the older generation?

Xu Man leaned against the wall and asked softly, "Since you know all this, why did you help me?"

Since Chu Zhi also knows everything, why should he play along with her in this charade?

Chu Zhi put down what she was doing and replied, "The braised pork ribs are delicious."

Xu Man frowned: "What?"

"The braised pork ribs you made on my birthday night were delicious."

In an instant, Xu Man felt dizzy and almost couldn't stand up.

She had imagined countless possible answers from Chu Zhiye: that he liked her, wanted to acquire Xu Hui's company, or even that he was just bored and looking for trouble, typical of rich kids... But she never expected that Chu Zhiye would help her because of braised pork ribs.

This reason was unacceptable to her, and it caused her even more heartache, a kind of inexplicable heartache.

Now, Xu Man stopped making excuses and lowered her head, saying, "I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize." Chu Zhi smiled as usual. "Since I helped you with that, I was naturally willing. There's no need for an apology."

Xu Man suddenly realized that her apology was completely meaningless, because in Chu Zhiye's view, it was not a mistake, but just an ordinary thing, without any emotional fluctuation.

This made her even more desperate.

Chu Zhi packed all his belongings into his suitcase and then prepared to leave.

Xu Man suddenly came to her senses: "Chu Zhiye, you have... you don't..."

Unfortunately, the door was already closed, and the person had disappeared behind it, leaving the room empty.