The security guard couldn't help rolling his eyes.
That's right. Inside the Starry Sky Group, nearly ninety-nine percent of the employees were women, and what's more, they were all young, beautiful, and single. Because of this reputation, every few days some rich second-generation heir would show up trying to pick up women, all claiming to have a wife working here. Yet almost all of them were frauds and had been thrown out.
Never had he expected that even a bumpkin would try to pull that stunt today. Truly, all sorts of people existed in this day and age.
The security guard laughed in exasperation, casting a look of utter contempt. "You want to pick up girls? Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? Do you even deserve to look at them, you bumpkin? Get lost right now, or I'm calling the police."
Chen Tianyang frowned. "My wife really does work here."
The security guard sneered dismissively. "I suppose you won't give up until you see a coffin. Go on then, what's your wife's name?"
Utterly displeased by the guard's disdainful attitude, Chen Tianyang sneered, "Why should I tell you my wife's name? I'm warning you, if you don't move aside right now, bear the consequences!"
"Oh ho? What's that? By the sound of it, you're actually planning to throw punches?"
The guard scoffed mockingly. And honestly, it wasn't his fault; judging purely by appearance, Chen Tianyang looked rather slender and utterly incapable of a real fight.
Chen Tianyang let out a cold laugh and raised his hand to make a move when suddenly, the screech of brakes echoed from behind.
A beautiful woman dressed in professional black attire stepped out, her extraordinary poise easily rivaling Liu Shuangshuang's.
Ye Zhiqi walked forward, frowning as she asked, "What are you two doing here?"
"Deputy CEO Ye," the guard said, immediately flashing a flattering smile the moment he recognized her. He continued, "Deputy CEO, some country bumpkin showed up out of nowhere trying to flirt with women here, so I stopped him."
Chen Tianyang glanced at her casually and said, "I'm here to look for my wife."
Ye Zhiqi looked Chen Tianyang up and down with curiosity and asked, "What's your wife's name?"
"Su Muyu."
This single statement was so startling it practically dropped jaws. Ye Zhiqi and the security guard gasped in unison.
The reason was simple: Su Muyu was none other than the president of the corporation and the goddess of all Guanghua City.
Now, a country bumpkin had suddenly appeared before them claiming that Su Muyu was his wife. Who on earth could possibly believe that?
The guard laughed mockingly at him. "Get real! A guy looking like you actually expects President Su to be your wife? What a delusional pipe dream, completely overestimating yourself!"
"You claim your wife is Su Muyu—do you have any proof?" Ye Zhiqi was equally shocked, yet deeply skeptical.
"Look, I happen to have a photo of my wife right here." Chen Tianyang took out a photograph.
The beauty in the photo possessed an peerless face and a frosty disposition. It was undoubtedly President Su Muyu.
"Good kid, you actually managed to steal a photo of our president!"
The security guard had caught glimpses of Su Muyu from afar before and recognized her appearance, so he was dead certain that Chen Tianyang had stolen the photograph.
Upon seeing the photo, however, Ye Zhiqi was genuinely shocked.
She could tell at a glance that this was a private snapshot of Su Muyu, the kind that would never be handed over to strangers. Since Chen Tianyang possessed a photo of Su Muyu, there had to be some connection between them.
Furthermore, she knew that even if someone were to lie, they wouldn't pick a lie so easily exposed.
Being a woman of breeding, Ye Zhiqi decided to play it safe. She asked for Chen Tianyang's name, then walked over to a corner to make a phone call.
The security guard was still sneering and mocking Chen Tianyang. "I don't know where you managed to dig up a photo of President Su, but let me give you some advice. There are plenty of delusional dreamers in this world, but what kind of status does our president hold? How could she ever deign to look at someone like you? Now that Deputy CEO Ye has gone to make a call, your lies are going to be exposed any second now. If you don't want to humiliate yourself any further, I suggest you clear out right now."
Chen Tianyang stood quietly in place without saying a word.
Before long, Ye Zhiqi walked back over with a look of utter astonishment.
"How did it go?" Chen Tianyang asked with his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow.
The security guard chuckled derisively. "Hh, how else could it go? His lies were exposed, obviously."
Ye Zhiqi looked Chen Tianyang up and down, finding it harder and harder to believe. "President Su has asked you to go up. Follow me."
"Heh, what did I tell you? I knew it was a scam..." The security guard stopped mid-sentence as the realization suddenly hit him. He gasped in shock, "What? President Su invited him up? C-Could it..."
Chen Tianyang walked forward calmly. As he passed by the security guard, he suddenly said, "Remember this: when you look down on others through biased eyes, you're the one who ultimately suffers."
The security guard's face instantly turned ashen, and cold sweat streamed endlessly down his forehead.
Only a single thought echoed in his mind: *I've offended President Su's husband. It's over, I'm completely finished, I'm going to get fired.*
Ye Zhiqi felt a profound sense of surrealism. She never would have imagined that Su Muyu—who had always held herself so high and treated everyone with absolute indifference—already had a fiancé.
Even more mind-boggling was the fact that for a proud daughter of heaven like Su Muyu, her fiancé ought to be an extraordinary man among men. Who could have guessed he would turn out to be such a bumpkin!
The sheer contrast left her utterly astonished.
With this thought in mind, Ye Zhiqi kept stealing curious glances at Chen Tianyang, trying to spot any hidden extraordinary qualities he might possess.
Yet she was disappointed. No matter how she looked at it, apart from having rather delicate facial features, Chen Tianyang looked utterly rustic from head to toe.
It was truly impossible to imagine how such a person could become Su Muyu's fiancé.
Ye Zhiqi couldn't help feeling a sense of injustice on Su Muyu's behalf, feeling that Su Muyu was being utterly wasted.
"Hmph."
Ye Zhiqi let out a cold huff with a rigid expression, leaving Chen Tianyang completely baffled.
Before long, Chen Tianyang followed Ye Zhiqi to the president's office.
A woman even more beautiful than the one in the photograph was sitting behind the desk, busy with her work.
She wore a white suit ensemble, with exquisite facial features, skin as white as snow, and an ethereal temperament.
Upon seeing Su Muyu, Chen Tianyang felt thoroughly satisfied.
In the flesh, she was more than a hundred times prettier than her photograph. She was without a doubt the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on.
It seemed the old man had decent taste after all, finding him such an peerless beauty for a wife.
"President Su, I've brought him up. I'll be heading out first," Ye Zhiqi said.
"Alright, sorry to trouble you."
A smile bloomed on the corners of Su Muyu's lips, one that could effortlessly eclipse all flowers.
As soon as Ye Zhiqi left, Su Muyu's smile vanished instantly. Her clear eyes sized up the "legendary" Chen Tianyang, unable to conceal her disappointment.
Though she had always opposed this match, Chen Tianyang was, after all, her fiancé, and she couldn't help harboring a shred of curiosity about him.
Yet now, meeting him in person failed to live up to the rumors; she was utterly disillusioned.
One had to realize that her suitors were countless. If they were to line up, the queue would stretch all the way from Guanghua City to the imperial capital, and every single one of them was a scion of a wealthy family.
Even so, Su Muyu had always treated them with utter indifference, let alone a rustic bumpkin like the one standing before her right now.
Chen Tianyang stepped forward and grinned. "Wife, we've finally met."
Su Muyu frowned. "Don't call me wife. I never said I was going to marry you."
Chen Tianyang replied, "The two of us have a marriage pact between us. If you don't marry me, who else could you possibly marry?"
Su Muyu was left momentarily speechless. If not for that marriage contract, Chen Tianyang wouldn't even have been allowed near her office.
She took a deep breath to steady her emotions and said, "This marriage pact was set down by my grandfather without my consent, and I personally do not acknowledge it. Furthermore, I could never take a totally worthless man as my husband, but..."
"But what?"
Chen Tianyang couldn't help frowning, a trace of displeasure already rising in his heart.
Just as Su Muyu was about to continue speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.
The office door was pushed open without warning, and a handsome man dressed in a sharp suit strode in, holding a large bouquet of roses.
That man walked right in, ignoring Chen Tianyang entirely, and strode straight up to Su Muyu. Wearing what he believed to be a charming smile, he said, "Muyu, these are for you. I've booked an entire restaurant for tonight. Would you do me the honor of having dinner with me?"
Chen Tianyang's face darkened instantly.
To think someone would actually try to poach his wife right in front of his face—this was simply too brazen!
When Su Muyu saw who it was, a flash of disgust crossed her brow. She said indifferently, "Li Yuanze, I appreciate the thought, but no thank you. I have a guest here right now and it's not convenient to talk. Please leave."
A flicker of gloom crossed Li Yuanze's expression. Only then did he notice Chen Tianyang's presence. After a casual scan, assuming he was just some low-level employee, a look of contempt surfaced in his eyes as he demanded, "Who are you? Can't you see I'm discussing something with President Su? Why haven't you rolled out of here yet?"
Chen Tianyang sneered, "I'm her husband. What kind of piece of trash are you, you pighead? Can't you see I'm flirting with my wife right now? Why don't you hurry up and get the hell out of here!"
"What? President Su's husband?"
Li Yuanze was utterly shocked. He first looked Chen Tianyang up and down in disbelief, then burst out in a mocking laugh, speaking with haughty arrogance, "A loser dressed in street rags like you actually expects to be Su Muyu's husband? Why don't you go take a look in the mirror? What a delusional pipe dream! Isn't that right, President Su?"
Li Yuanze was extremely confident. He was Li Yuanze, the young master of the Li family—one of the top prominent families in all of Guanghua City, controlling a full third of its economy. As for low-level trash like Chen Tianyang, it would take just a single word from him to make the guy vanish mysteriously from Guanghua City.
Heh, what was Chen Tianyang anyway?
To his astonishment, Su Muyu merely glanced at him indifferently and said, "What he said is correct. He is indeed my husband."
"What?!"
Li Yuanze let out a cry of disbelief. He looked back and forth between Chen Tianyang—dressed in cheap street-stall clothes—and the peerless Su Muyu, utterly unable to connect the two.
Chen Tianyang felt quite pleased and said, "You would normally have to pay a price for threatening me, but I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off. Why aren't you getting lost yet? Can you afford to take the blame if you ruin the romance between me and my wife?"
Li Yuanze suddenly let out a derisive laugh, sneering directly at Su Muyu. "Rumor has it all over town that President Su is an ice beauty who shows no interest in men. I just never could have imagined that the president actually had a taste for this sort of thing. I've certainly learned something new today."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Su Muyu's face changed slightly with anger.
"What else could it mean? Isn't it obvious?" Li Yuanze mocked with a sneer. "You passed over so many outstanding young scions just to pick a poor loser—tsk tsk, your tastes are certainly heavy. I just wonder, when the two of you do *that* kind of thing at night, does President Su share such a heavy taste?"
"Y-You, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"
Su Muyu was still an unmarried maiden; when had she ever suffered such an insult? Her pretty brows instantly shot up in anger, her phoenix eyes widened, and she stood up from her seat.
"Hmph, how do you prove I'm talking nonsense? How about this—you sleep with me for a night, and let me verify it for myself to prove President Su's innocence?" Li Yuanze grinned.
"Shameless!"
Su Muyu trembled with rage, her full bosom rising and falling rapidly.
Li Yuanze's eyes lit up. "Well, what do you say, President Su? Want to consider my offer?"
Suddenly, Li Yuanze felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned back with a frown and snapped, "Let go. Don't soil my clothes, you couldn't afford to pay for them."
Chen Tianyang sneered, "You've got it wrong. Standing right here, you are the true source of pollution, making the air in this room filthy and turbid. On top of that, insulting my wife right in front of me means you're simply asking to die!"
With that, Chen Tianyang swung his arm outward. With a sharp *crack*, he delivered a vicious slap across Li Yuanze's face.
Li Yuanze stumbled back several paces, his head buzzing intensely. Even his back molars on the right side were knocked loose, and blood began to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
Su Muyu covered her mouth in disbelief. His strength was actually this great?
Yet deep down, she found it immensely satisfying.
In both pain and fury, Li Yuanze clutched his cheek and glared with vicious malice. "You actually dare hit me? Do you know who I am?"
"Who gives a crap who you are."
Chen Tianyang lunged forward instantly, closing the distance to Li Yuanze in a flash, and sent him flying with yet another slap. He sneered, "Dare to bully my woman, and even if the King of Hell himself shows up, I'll beat him just the same!"
Li Yuanze scrambled up from the floor with difficulty, hatred burning intensely in his eyes. He let out a yell and lunged viciously at Chen Tianyang.
"Careful!" Su Muyu couldn't help calling out a warning.
"Hmph, overestimating yourself."
Chen Tianyang sneered. He suddenly raised his leg, striking first despite moving second, and kicked Li Yuanze flying.
As Li Yuanze tried to scramble back to his feet, Chen Tianyang closed in on him again, delivering one kick after another straight into his body while cursing furiously, "Moron, flirting with my wife right in front of me—tell me, aren't you just begging for a beating?"
"Stop... stop hitting me, Big Brother! I won't ever dare do it again! Please... stop, you're going to kill me!"
Feeling as though every bone in his body had been shattered, Li Yuanze shrieked like a slaughtered pig.
Su Muyu was completely dumbfounded; wasn't this Chen Tianyang a bit too violent?
Still, it felt utterly satisfying!
The corners of Su Muyu's lips curved upward into a smile, and the gaze she cast toward Chen Tianyang grew a fraction softer.
As Li Yuanze's pig-like shrieks continued to echo, Su Muyu worried that things might actually result in a fatality, so she spoke up to persuade him: "I think that's about enough. How about... how about you let it go?"
Only then did Chen Tianyang pull back his fists. A brilliant glint flashed in his eyes as he said in a deep voice, "Fine. Since my primary wife has spoken, consider it your lucky day. I'll let you off this time, but if you ever speak insolently to my wife again, it won't end as easily as it did today."
"Yes, yes, I was wrong. I really won't dare do it again!"
Having long since been beaten into a pulp resembling a pig's head, Li Yuanze had shed every shred of his rich-kid arrogance. He behaved as submissively as a grandson and bolted out the door in panicked flight, though the moment his back was turned to Chen Tianyang, a look of bone-deep hatred flashed in his eyes.
Sensing something amiss, as if trying to warn Chen Tianyang, Su Muyu said, "Li Yuanze's father is the chairman of the Guanghua Trading Group, and he holds immense influence in both the underworld and legitimate circles. The Li family has always been vindictive; since you humiliated him today, he will definitely come back to exact revenge."
"So what?" Chen Tianyang stretched out his fist and said with haughty arrogance, "Let his influence tower over the heavens—I will suppress it all with a single punch. If they dare come looking for trouble, I'll just smash them to pieces."
Su Muyu shook her head inwardly. As someone born and raised in Guanghua City, she naturally knew the power of the Li family. Even compared to the Su family, they were three parts stronger. Forget a grassroots nobody like Chen Tianyang, even her own father wouldn't dare boast such big words here.
The trace of favorable impression she had just formed toward Chen Tianyang instantly vanished into thin air, and she said coldly, "In any case, you'd better watch your own back."
"Wife, are you worried about me?"
Chen Tianyang grinned. Having just projected an aura of absolute arrogance, he instantly reverted to a cheeky, playful expression, leaving Su Muyu dizzy with exasperation.
Su Muyu glared at him fiercely. "Who is your wife? If you keep running your mouth, I'm calling security. Now sit down, I have something to say to you."
Faced with this commanding tone, a trace of displeasure flickered in Chen Tianyang's eyes, but he sat down opposite Su Muyu anyway and said indifferently, "Go ahead, I'm listening."
Su Muyu frowned, as if pondering something. After a moment, she spoke slowly, "Although you and I have a marriage pact, you are currently drifting aimlessly and have accomplished nothing. Given the massive gap in our status and standing, if I refuse, this scrap of paper holding our engagement can be instantly voided. However..."
"Oh? However what?" Chen Tianyang asked calmly, his expression giving away neither joy nor anger.
Su Muyu continued, "However, since it was an agreement made by our elders, I ought to respect it. I will give you one year. During this year, the engagement remains valid, and I am willing to support you financially, but I will not announce our relationship to the outside world. One year from now, if you still have no achievements to your name, or fail to make me fall in love with you, then this engagement..."
Before she could finish, a flash of inscrutable light crossed Chen Tianyang's eyes. His usual playful expression calmed completely as he said, "You support me? Are you looking down on me? Do you think I came here today begging you to complete our marriage? I hope you get one thing straight: the marriage pact back then was something your grandfather begged my master to establish. It's not like I have to marry you."
Chen Tianyang continued, "I'll give you a year as well. If you can't perform in a way that satisfies me, a single letter of divorce will cast you aside."
"Y-You... what did you say?"
Su Muyu was both shocked and infuriated. As a celebrated daughter of high society, she had already taken the initiative to show goodwill, yet not only did the man reject her appreciation, he even threatened to divorce her.
How could she possibly stomach that?
Faced with his enraged fiancée, Chen Tianyang remained unmoved. "I mean what I say. Take care of yourself."
With that, he turned and walked away without a shred of lingering attachment.
"Chen Tianyang, you hateful jerk! I'm going to see what kind of mess you can possibly make of yourself in a year!"
Su Muyu stamped her foot in anger.
Unfazed, Chen Tianyang opened the door and walked out.
Ye Zhiqi was standing right by the doorway. Upon suddenly seeing Chen Tianyang emerge, she offered an awkward smile.
Chen Tianyang gave a slight nod and walked off on his own.
Watching his receding figure, Ye Zhiqi shook her head secretly. She had no idea how Chen Tianyang had managed to become President Su's fiancé, but she knew one thing for certain: Chen Tianyang was utterly unworthy of President Su. They belonged to entirely different worlds and were destined never to intersect.
"An unblemished beauty like President Su actually has a fiancé now. Chen Tianyang, oh Chen Tianyang, it won't be long before your name spreads through high society. By then, you'll become the public enemy of at least a third of high society's young masters. Under that monstrous pressure, I'm afraid you'll end up running for your life in panic."
Ye Zhiqi let out a secret sigh.
After walking out of the Starry Sky Group building, Chen Tianyang began to ponder what he should do about his future.
According to his original plan, he was supposed to come down the mountain to marry Su Muyu, and afterwards figure out a way to break through his cultivation bottleneck. But now, the entire plan had been completely upended.
When he descended the mountain, his master had only given him five hundred yuan. Now, counting every last coin, he had less than two hundred left—even basic survival was becoming an issue. Thinking about it now, letting that little minx Su Muyu support him actually didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.
Sure enough, acting cool felt great for a moment, but the whole family pays for it in the end.