-

Mr. Zou is in a good mood today.

This was the consensus of everyone at the banquet, yet no one dared to approach. As the president of the Zou Group, Zou Minchen was as famously wealthy as anyone else, but also for his extremely bad temper. Not to mention the bloody power struggles during the Zou Group's transition years ago, even now, it's common for someone to be crippled by Zou Minchen if they're not careful.

The Zou Group spans both the legal and illegal worlds, making it a behemoth that dominates the entire country. Zou Minchen's ability to prevail in family power struggles and secure his position as the head of the Zou family is naturally due to his notorious temper.

However, the Zou family patriarch, who made everyone at the banquet cautious and even unconsciously lower their voices when talking and laughing, was now feeling restless, as if being scratched by a cat.

Was he in such a hurry? He didn't even ask the young man's name.

It has been more than an hour since he left, and the young man still hasn't called him!

He shouldn't have let him leave; he should have stayed in his arms and not gone anywhere. Zou Minchen's eyes turned dark and deep, and as they became completely black, a hint of helplessness slowly surfaced. How could he bear to force that little guy?

He sighed inwardly and drank the wine in his glass.

He beckoned his secretary over and said in a deep voice, "Check who checked into the hotel today."

After saying that, he seemed a little uneasy and frowned as he added, "We've found all the cases from the past week."

After the banquet ended, Zou Minchen, who never stayed away from home, walked out of the hotel. Suddenly, he paused, turning to look at the trash can by the door. A folded, gold-embossed business card was stuck on the edge of the trash can, gleaming under the light; clearly, the previous owner hadn't even bothered to throw it away.

Zou Minchen pursed his lips.

What a naughty little thing.

-

As the year drew to a close, Qingyun did not return to the Xiao family home for the New Year. He had just angered Xiao's father and had also come out as gay. Xiao's father was furious at the moment, and if he went home, he would probably lose both his legs.

Fortunately, Xiao's father was probably too angry to think straight and forgot to freeze Xiao Chengnuo's assets, so Qingyun has been enjoying herself outside these past few days.

He took advantage of his free time to learn more about the Xiao family's businesses. It wasn't that Qingyun intended to compete with Xiao Chengzhe for the Xiao Corporation. Qingyun was always incredibly arrogant and wouldn't stoop to fighting with the protagonist.

Moreover, in his previous life, Nie Chenyuan's businesses were so wealthy that they rivaled those of a nation, and Qingyun, the "CEO's wife," looked down on the Xiao family at all.

Closing the documents in her hand, Qingyun rubbed her temples, a malicious smile playing on her lips. More than snatching the Xiao family business from Xiao Chengzhe, Qingyun was curious about Xiao Chengnuo's expression when, after all his scheming, he finally acquired the Xiao family business only to find himself still penniless.

After pondering the course of the world for a while, Qingyun glanced at the time, stood up, picked up her coat from the door, and stepped into the biting wind and snow of Yancheng.

His goal was Yenching University.

By this time, students had long since left for summer vacation, and most of the faculty and staff had also left, leaving only a few students scattered around the campus.

Zhao Bowen was one of them. Right now, he was huddled under the corridor of a small shop, eating a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe).

The cold wind, carrying bits of snow, made him feel so congested that all he wanted to do was burp.

The crunching sound of footsteps on the snow echoed and eventually reached Zhao Bowen's side.

Looking up at Qingyun, who was only wearing an overcoat and seemed completely out of place in the northern winter, Zhao Bowen took a bite of the hot sausage and shivered for him.

Qingyun stopped in front of him instead of continuing forward.

Zhao Bowen lowered his head and ate his pancake for a while before realizing something was wrong. He looked up, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You... were looking for me?"

His face was suspicious; he clearly couldn't guess why this well-dressed young man had come to see him. Zhao Bowen was a doctoral student at Yancheng University. This year, a project he had applied for was snatched away, and he had been lying lifeless in his dormitory for a long time, feeling utterly dejected.

Today was the first time I ran out of the school to find food.

Qingyun followed his example and squatted on the steps, but she clearly avoided the greasy jianbing guozi in his hand, so she kept a distance.

"Would you like to join my biopharmaceutical company?"

Zhao Bowen glanced at Qingyun with slight surprise. After pondering for a moment, he asked not about salary, but rather, "What's the direction?"

"Fights cancer."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Bowen immediately scoffed, spitting out half a meter of pancake crumbs.

In recent years, every pharmaceutical company has been moving towards cancer treatment, but even the world's top research institutes haven't figured out anything about cancer. For a pharmaceutical company to make cancer its main focus is simply out of its mind.

Zhao Bowen was exceptionally gifted and had a clearer understanding of this matter. However, he didn't say anything, only shook his head.

Doing scientific research was the path Zhao Bowen had originally chosen, but he was disheartened when his research project was snatched away this year. Now, someone suddenly appeared late at night to invite him, and he thought it was some kind of stroke of luck, but now it seems that it was just a rich young master playing around.

Qingyun glanced at him, offered no explanation, and simply handed him a stack of documents.

Zhao Bowen didn't even bother to connect, just glanced at it casually, but that one glance made him stop, even forgetting to chew the jianbing guozi in his mouth.

The old butler standing to the side glanced at his trousers, which had been burned through by sparks, and his shoes, which were covered in ash, and kindly advised, "Young master, it would be best if you didn't go to see Mr. Qing in this state."

Qingyun has severe mysophobia, and if she saw Nie Chenyuan like this, she would probably kick him out without saying a word.

Nie Chenyuan paused for a moment, but couldn't resist and strode upstairs.

Upstairs, Qingyun's door was open.

Then several bodyguards carried a few people out.

The lead bodyguard saw Nie Chenyuan and immediately walked over, whispering in his ear, "These men are quite skilled; they are all martial artists at the fifth level of the Acquired Realm. They followed Mr. Qing here, but before they could even make a move, Mr. Qing dealt with them."

At this point, a hint of fanaticism flashed in the bodyguard's eyes. In just a few breaths, he dealt with the siege of several martial artists at the fifth level of the Acquired Realm. He truly lived up to his reputation as a Perfected Acquired Realm expert.

Nie Chenyuan's expression darkened further. It was the Nie family's oversight that these people were able to enter Qingyun's room.

"Which faction do they belong to?"

The bodyguard shook his head: "There are no markings on his body, not even fingerprints. It seems he's a bodyguard kept by that family."

Nie Chenyuan had a plan in mind. Who else but Lin Yuhao would want to kill Zhi Qingyun? Lin Yuhao seemed to have close ties with the Ancient Martial Arts Association, so it was probably their doing.

He nodded and walked towards Qingyun's room, but was momentarily stunned upon entering.

Qingyun had obviously just returned from outside and was still wearing her school uniform.

But he was spotless from head to toe, except for the bright red bloodstains rolling down his hands, which left no trace on his clean hands.

Pure and innocent, yet stained with the color of blood, it is decadent.

Nie Chenyuan's Adam's apple bobbed twice as he loosened his collar before continuing to walk inside. He had indeed been overthinking things; Qingyun would never be so weak as to be unable to withstand Lin's mother's words.