Half the morning had already passed when I finally felt a little hungry. I stayed with Chen Jin and ate the beef buns Xiao Ya had bought. During this time, Chen Jin and I talked about work, but I couldn't concentrate, so I just gave him half-hearted replies…

I'm not kidding. At least for the past two days, I've completely lost the desire to work and strive... I feel like I've lost my soul, sometimes thinking it's a dream, sometimes accepting it as a fact.

Chen Jin finally got a little impatient with me. He tapped the table and said, "Dude, I'm talking to you about work... Can you concentrate for a second?"

I glanced at him, paused for a moment, then lit a cigarette and replied, "Go on... I'm listening."

"I'm still talking about Cao Jinbo's 16 commercial properties... Do you think there's any chance of things turning around?"

"I don't understand what you mean by that."

"You broke up with your girlfriend, right? So there's no need for him to use these shops as bargaining chips with your girlfriend anymore... because that relationship is over."

I closed my eyes and shook my head, and after a long while replied, "There's no hope... She has already signed a project transfer contract with the original developer of Cangshan Villa. Cao Jinbo and his group of friends didn't get anything... They're probably hating her right now."

Chen Jin's mood instantly plummeted. He took out a cigarette from his pack, lit it, and said to me, "If you ask me, there's really nothing to hate about you breaking up with her... She completely failed to consider things from your perspective. She didn't just ruin Cao Jinbo, she ruined both of us... Even if Cao Jinbo didn't make any money from this project, he's still rich and powerful... But what about us?"

“This isn’t something she can decide on her own.”

"Surely she has the ability to find a compromise, right?... The idea you came up with before was pretty good... Why didn't she use it?... In the end, it's because she didn't take you, Michael, seriously... And you, of all people to mess with, you had to mess with such a ruthless woman... Now you're reaping the consequences!"

Looking at Chen Jin, I felt as if I had been slapped hard across the face, and I was completely speechless... I really couldn't find anything to say in rebuttal, because Ye Zhi had done the same thing in many other ways.

Chen Jin put a cigarette in his mouth, then took out a contract from the briefcase beside him. He threw the contract in front of me and said, "Yesterday afternoon, I signed another one... Shouldn't you be working on your side as well?" After a slight pause, he added, "Don't neglect the business development work... What truly turns money into cash isn't how many shops I sign, but what kind of merchants you bring to this street."

"I know."

Chen Jin glanced at me again, then relentlessly berated me: "Look at the state you're in now, no wonder she doesn't like you... It's just a breakup, is it necessary to ruin your spirit?... Believe me, even after she breaks up with you, she'll still go about her business as usual... You two are even in a 'personality' situation, she's the stronger one, how can you expect her to have a romantic relationship with you? You're obviously a loser!!"

I looked up at Chen Jin, not angry, but just took a puff of my cigarette and said to her in a low voice, "You're wrong. My current state has nothing to do with whether I have a strong personality or not... I was just more serious than her in this relationship... When you break up, the one who is serious will definitely be the one who gets hurt the most. You should understand this better than I do."

Chen Jin was speechless for a long time before replying, "Back then, you were the one who advised me to be a bad man, and I actually did it... Can you please advise yourself again... There are so many women in the world, is it worth ruining your career for one woman... Open your eyes and look at me, who dares to say that I, Chen Jin, am not doing well now... Tell me, who dares?... I'm not kidding you, sometimes when it comes to matters of the heart, you can see through things in an instant, it just depends on whether you have the 'understanding'!"

I don't want to talk.

Chen Jin pointed upstairs and said, "I can tell that the girl upstairs is interested in you... If you have the guts, go upstairs and sleep with her now. I guarantee that after it's over, you'll open up a whole new world... Then you'll know what true freedom is."

I stared at Chen Jin in astonishment, and after a long pause replied, "I think you're twisted... I don't want to use my lower body to see this world and other women..."

"How many devoted men actually have a good ending?"

"That's all... Let's all go about our own business."

"Let me remind you again, you've already fallen behind in what we're doing right now, fallen far behind."

"I know."

I responded with that, grabbed my coat, and walked out of the house... But the moment I stepped out, I felt as if I had been isolated by the whole world... I had no friends, no one to comfort me, and all I had around me was abandonment, blame, and mockery.

Chen Jin blamed me, Yang Sisi teased me... and Ye Zhi abandoned me, and she is the one who hurt me the most.

I stood in the sunlight, feeling like I was suffocating...

It's like I've become a different person. I've lost my hair, I have no one to talk to, and I can't even confide in myself anymore... So all I see is my bad side. I've lost the motivation to do anything. I just want to drift along like this, and then when night falls, I'll turn myself into an alcoholic again!

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!