Fang Zhi immediately shared what had happened that day with Lin Yisheng. It felt so good to have someone to share both good and bad news with. To Fang Zhi, Lin Yisheng was like a close guide who led her on a path of growth.

The two discussed it over the phone and arranged to meet Fang Zhi after school for dinner.

-

President's Office of Cheng's Group.

The afternoon sun was warm and bright, and the office, decorated in dark tones, was grand and elegant. A refined man sat on the sofa, leisurely flipping through the newspaper beside him. Sunlight fell on his cool, handsome profile, making him look as elegant and noble as a jaguar taking a nap.

As Cheng Shiyan came out of the conference room, he heard his assistant, who was standing guard at the door, report that his friend was waiting for him in the office.

The man went straight back to his office, and as he pushed open the door, he caught a glimpse of Qi Shen on the sofa. His tone was indifferent as he asked, "What brings you here today?"

Qi Shen put down the newspaper in his hand, smiled, and said, "I was just passing by and stopped by to discuss a business deal nearby."

As Cheng Shiyan walked past him, he glanced at him and scoffed, "Save those words for someone else."

Who would believe someone who only visits temples when they have a reason?

Qi Shen didn't care much about his attitude. He leaned on the edge of the sofa with his arm slightly bent, propped his head up, and looked at the man who had sat down. He said lightly, "Xiao Chen will be back from Beijing soon. He is my own brother after all. If you meet him, please go easy on him. He was just lusting after Lin Yisheng because she was pretty. I educated him and he knows he was wrong."

Cheng Shiyan rubbed his clean-cut index finger and thumb together, then gave a soft "hmm".

Qi Shen gazed quietly at Cheng Shiyan.

On the surface, the man appeared unusually calm, as if it were a trivial matter, but in reality, he was holding a grudge against Qi Chen for flirting with Lin Yisheng.

So he had no choice but to make this trip.

Put yourself in their shoes: if Shao Si, Bai Chuan, or Shi Yan had younger brothers, and those brothers tried to seduce Fang Zhi...

Qi Shen's eyes darkened; he was not one to mince words.

Cheng Shiyan lifted his eyelids and looked at Qi Shen, adding in a low voice, "Tell your brother to avoid my wife after he returns to Haicheng."

"Of course." Qi Shen nodded slightly, then chuckled, his eyes seemingly full of meaning. "Shi Yan, I remember you didn't have much feeling for Lin Yisheng at first, how come you've fallen in love with her so quickly?"

When the topic of his relationship with Lin Yisheng came up, Cheng Shiyan's usually cool and indifferent eyes softened slightly. "The bond between people may have been formed the moment I first saw her."

He just hadn't realized it before.

He had also thought about this question. The Cheng Group meant nothing to him, and he wondered if he could achieve his goal through a marriage alliance.

Given his status, countless women would flock to him if he wanted to find someone, but he remained completely unmoved by them.

Upon first meeting Lin Yisheng, he decided that she was the one, and that he could marry her and spend his life with her.

"The bonds between people..." Qi Shen repeated his words, his voice very soft.

Yes, it was there at first glance.

To outsiders, he appeared refined and gentle, but the blood flowing through his veins was cold. He was the kind of man who wouldn't even lend a helping hand to a beggar dying in front of him, yet thirteen years ago he brought back that pitiful little girl.

Cheng Shiyan lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and as the smoke dissipated, he looked at Qi Shen and asked calmly:

Have you ever regretted it?

The latter raised an eyebrow, "Regret what?"

"I regretted rejecting the career path my family had arranged for me and turned to the business world instead."

Qi Shen answered without hesitation, "No regrets."

He could follow the path laid out by the Qi family and the old man, without having to work hard, and with everything going smoothly, without having to worry about the first few years of starting his business. But he knew that if he did that, the final result would be no different from Jiang Yuze's, or even the same as his father's marriage and divorce.

How many people can succeed?

Looking down from upstairs, you see countless people going bankrupt, failing, and committing suicide every day in this world.

To someone like Qi Shen who would gamble away all his glory, Cheng Shiyan could only describe him as "a madman."

Qi Shen smiled noncommittally, "You talk as if you're not crazy." They were the same kind of people. He looked at the man behind the desk, "So what are you regretting?"

Cheng Shiyan paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at the sky behind him and slowly said, "I regret coming back so late. I should have stayed in China many years earlier." He could have witnessed Lin Yisheng's youth, that arrogant and domineering girl, and accompanied her from her youth to marriage.

The two men sat in the office and talked for a long time, their conversation shifting from their feelings to their future business plans.

As the sun began to set, Qi Shen glanced at his wristwatch, knowing he could still pick up his little girl from school.

He stood up. "I should go."

Just then, Cheng Shiyan received a call from Lin Yisheng. He glanced at the man standing opposite him, then answered the phone, and a soft, alluring voice came from the other end.

"Honey~ I'm having dinner with friends tonight. I'll leave you alone at home for dinner. Bye-bye, don't worry about me."

The woman hung up the phone decisively without even giving him a chance to reply.

Cheng Shiyan: "..."

The office was quiet, so quiet that Qi Shen could hear Lin Yisheng's voice on the phone. He looked at Cheng Shiyan, who was still holding the phone, and curled his lips in a mocking smile. "Looks like you don't have a very high status with your wife. Congratulations, you'll be enjoying a whole table of food by yourself tonight."

"Heh." Cheng Shiyan sneered.

As he finished speaking, Qi Shen's phone rang in his pocket.

Looking at Fang Zhi's voice message, Qi Shen had a bad feeling. He stood still and clicked on the voice message.

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