Why was he afraid? He asked so earnestly, it certainly wasn't about slapping himself twice.

“A little!” Gan Tang had a rough idea and decided to strike first. “Dad, you’ve been an entrepreneur I admired since I was in college—calm, wise, and with a strong sense of social responsibility. I really don’t understand why you would sell drugs?”

Seeing that his daughter had asked the question herself, Lu Zhengqian was very pleased and joked, "Since you think your father is a bad person, why don't you hand him over to the police?"

"How do you know I don't want to? I just haven't had the chance!" Gan Tang retorted half-jokingly, but then moved closer to Lu Zhengqian, wrapped her arms around his arm, leaned on his shoulder, and advised, "Dad, it's okay to earn less money, it's too unethical!"

"Shameless?" Lu Zhengqian asked in surprise.

Sure enough, too much talk leads to mistakes. Gan Tang thought she had said something too harsh and angered him, but Lu Zhengqian just thought his daughter's evaluation was too naive.

Instead of answering her question directly, he asked, "Why did you choose Cao Yunbo as your boyfriend in the first place?"

Gan Tang didn't understand why Cao Yunbo was suddenly brought up and didn't know how to answer.

Lu Zhengqian answered for her: "Because he is hardworking, kind, has a strong sense of justice, and is willing to speak up for the disadvantaged?"

Gan Tang asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

Lu Zhengqian retorted, "Why would such a kind and righteous man deceive you, harm you, and disregard your life or death for a mere fifty million?"

"I was blind!" Gan Tang lowered her head in embarrassment.

“No!” Lu Zhengqian shook his head. “It’s just human nature. Honesty, kindness, and morality are just fig leaves for people’s poverty, incompetence, and laziness. They live in their own beautiful dreams, using ethics and morality to protect themselves, and condescendingly criticizing others to gain a sense of validation.”

But do they really like those things?

Once they have the opportunity to acquire wealth and power, they will immediately reveal their ugly true colors and abandon all morality and righteousness.

After his speech, Lu Zhengqian declared passionately: "In this world, there is no such thing as virtue, so how can there be talk of lacking virtue?"

Gan Tang sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She weakly retorted, "But whether they are virtuous or not, it's not a reason to hurt them."

"Did I hurt them?" Lu Zhengqian didn't think he had done anything wrong. "Every dose of drugs I sold was bought willingly by them. I never used any means to deceive them."

"Tang'er, you are still young and do not understand the hypocrisy and wickedness of people's hearts."

Seeing his daughter's blank expression, Lu Zhengqian gently reminded her, "Last night, Cao Yunbo lay on the ground like a dog, letting you whip him. What do you think that made you stand out?"

Gan Tang's throat hurt: "It's all thanks to my father's wealth and power!"

“That’s right!” Lu Zhengqian stroked his daughter’s hair with satisfaction: “Benevolence and morality can’t educate them at all. Only wealth and power can make them submit. That’s the real good thing.”

"But..." Gan Tang ultimately dared not argue with him as freely as she had with her father who had raised her for over twenty years. All her unspoken words turned into a compromise for self-preservation: "Dad, I don't want anything to happen to you!"

I don't want anything to happen to you!

How familiar those words were, echoing once again across the long river of history. Lu Zhengqian embraced his daughter and promised, "If you don't like it, Dad will clean up the Lu Group little by little. After all, it will be handed over to you in the future."

"Really?"

“Really.” Lu Zhengqian nodded. “It won’t be long before no one knows about the Lu Group’s past.”

No one will ever know...

Gan Tang suddenly realized a serious problem: Cao Yunbo and Lü Jiao both knew that the Lu Group was involved in drug trafficking, so how could Lu Zhengqian possibly let them go?

Although they bullied me in the past, that's enough. I shouldn't have to pay with my life. But how can I save them?

Gan Tang thought of the joke Mo Huaixing had made.

Is it a joke or an implication?

Gan Tang asked Lu Zhengqian, "Dad, are you still angry with me?"

"Dad was a bit harsh yesterday, don't take it to heart." Lu Zhengqian didn't mention Lü Jiao's matter, but comforted his daughter: "Tang'er, you will always be my good daughter."

“Dad, I don’t blame you, I only blame myself.” Gan Tang looked at Lu Zhengqian, her eyes full of anger: “I can’t let the person who lied to me get away with this. Dad, I want to ask you to promise me one thing.”

Seeing such strong desire in his daughter's eyes was rare for Lu Zhengqian, and he was very satisfied: "Go ahead!"

"They like to mess around, right? Well then, I'll grant their wish and send them to nightclubs, one as a prostitute and the other as a gigolo. They dare to lie to me; I'll make them regret it for the rest of their lives."

"Good!" Lu Zhengqian was very happy that his education of his daughter had finally paid off. After his daughter left, he immediately notified Ali to postpone the murder plan, but it was only a postponement.

...

When Gan Tang heard news of Cao Yunbo again, it was in a beautiful bay.

Using Lu Zhengqian's illness as an excuse, Gan Tang did not go to the United States with him. Chu Jiahe then found a bay and personally demonstrated the principle of tidal power generation to her.

Heaven knows the agony of a liberal arts student, bundled up in a thick down jacket, waiting from high tide in the morning until low tide in the evening, all while listening to Chu Jiahe explain those profound physics concepts.

"Jiahe, why do you like these things but not go into business?"

"I prefer studying the mysteries of nature to understanding human nature."

"That's true!"

Hearing him say that, Gan Tang didn't find the things in front of her so boring anymore. She looked at the man beside her; his eyes were bright, his complexion was rosy, and his mind was clear—he didn't look like a drug addict at all.

But how could I have so easily believed that he was a drug addict?

Besides the evidence, there was Chu Jiahe's unusual concealment. Gan Tang still didn't understand why he would hide such a common asthma from his parents and everyone else.

"What's wrong?" Feeling a little embarrassed by Gan Tang's stare.

"It's nothing!" Gan Tang shook her head. If he didn't want to talk about it, why should she ask? Facing the person she was going to marry, she didn't really want to know him that well, and it wouldn't be worth it to create unpleasantness.

After sunset, Chu Jiahe took Gan Tang's hand and walked towards the embankment. Two cars were parked on the embankment. Mo Huaixing leaned against the car door, heard the sound, turned his head to look, and then hurriedly turned back.

Chu Jiahe gently embraced the pretty girl beside him and lightly kissed her rosy cheek.

"Xintang, it's my uncle's birthday in a few days, and I'd like to ask you to come with me!"

"Why?" Gan Tang stopped and asked him with a smile, "Because your mother can't get angry at your uncle's birthday banquet?"

Having his thoughts read, Chu Jiahe didn't know how to respond.

Gan Tang continued, "Since your mother doesn't like me, why won't you let me see your father? Because your father would be even less likely to agree, right?"